Re: [tlug] Sounds of Silence

[CL <az.4tlug@example.com>]

On 07/31/2013 03:27 AM, Christian Horn wrote:
> I use 'pavucontrol' as mixer for pulseaudio, it seems to be installed 
> on kubuntu too. This will help to show the available output sources 
> and whether output is reaching pulseaudio or not. Christian 
I had looked into pavucontrol earlier in the week but got sidetracked 
with someone else's suggestion and forgot to go back and install it.  
Short attention span, I guess, but I now have it installed and am 
playing around with it.

I think I have the desktop sound where I want it to be and I also have 
the webcam behaving.  I am embarrassed to say that it took me four or 
five tries before I realized that I couldn't share the cam / mike / 
headset devices between Kubuntu and VirtualBox WIN 7.  I had to give it 
to one or the other or both turned their drivers off. Now that it's 
assigned specifically to Kubuntu, everything seems to be staying in place.

Now, here comes the Fun Stuff ...

-  I want to be able to have my speakers configured to output all of my 
regular desktop stuff -- watch online video reports from CNN, BBC, and 
Gizmag, plus occasional YouTube silliness that gets forwarded to me by 
friends of lesser intellectual fortitude.  This part's the easy one.

-  I want to be able to configure Skype to use my new camera (it can) 
and the headset + mike (CM108 chip device).  Right now, Skype works with 
the headset, but it is also outputting to my speakers.  I want the 
headset + mike setup for a couple of very serious privacy reasons; the 
main one being that my work involves contacts with people who are 
paranoid about being overheard for a number of business and legal reasons.

At the present time, I am using a Sempron-powered HP t5730w Thin Client 
running XP.  It is connected to a Pioneer TF-FS55M-s Skype cordless 
handset / base station and a Logitech AF Orbit camera. Microsoft's 
takeover of Skype added complexity to the program that wasn't there 
before and the Sempron processor is just not up to the task.  Also, 
since the handset is a hand held, it tends to slip out from between my 
ear and shoulder and drop at odd times.  Since the advent of Bluetooth 
headsets for the masses, clients have become a whole lot less forgiving 
of the bangs of a handset on hard surfaces.  Hence, the desire to switch.

I am able to assign specific hardware to specific programs.  Kubuntu 
seems to lack the ability to identify hardware items that can be 
captured and piped to a specific location for the exclusive use of a 
particular piece of hardware.  I am looking for some fix that will allow 
that, but I haven't found any driver that causes the headset to pop up 
separately from PulseAudio, which only seems to have a single config set 
of options -- e.g. either I get my Skype from the speakers or I get my 
steaming audio from the headset ... but not both.

Kubuntu Forums searches seem to be running me in circles with no 
solution, but I may be missing something.  Anyone configured something 
similar to what I need?

--
CL