[pulseaudio-discuss] usb headset microphone will not work with pulseaudio

[Tanu Kaskinen]

On Thu, 2012-10-25 at 10:45 +0000, John Frankish wrote:
> > > > > On Sat, 2012-10-20 at 09:44 +0000, John Frankish wrote:
> > > > > I've been trying to get a Logitech usb headset to work on two
> > > > > different machines both running the same software:
> > > > >
> > > > > pulseaudio-2.0, kernel-3.0.21, alsa-1.0.25
> > > > >
> > > > > Bus 002 Device 006: ID 046d:0a0b Logitech, Inc. ClearChat Pro USB
> > > > >
> > > > > mac mini:
> > > > > Things appear as normal, I can use pavucontrol to direct output to
> > > > > the headset speakers, but there appears to be no way to record
> > > > > sound from the headset microphone using gnome-sound-recorder or
> > > > > skype-4.0.0.8, the headset microphone appears in the "record" tab
> > > > > of pavucontrol,
> > > >
> > > > Do you mean the "Input Devices" tab?
> > >
> > > The usb headset microphone appears both in the "input devices" tab
> > > and, when an application tries to use it, in the "recording tab"
> > >
> > > > > but nothing is recorded.
> > > >
> > > > Is even silence recorded? On the "Recording" tab of pavucontrol, do
> > > > you see the gnome-sound-recorder or skype stream, and does the UI
> > > > say that it's connected to the usb headset microphone?
> > >
> > > No silence recorded, the "ping" marking the start of the skype
> > > playback is followed immediately by the "ping" marking the end of the
> > > skype playback, even though there was an attempt to record "testing,
> > > testing, 1, 2, 3". The skype stream shows the usb headset microphone.
> > 
> > Ok, the headset microphone device isn't working properly then. I don't know
> > what's wrong with it, maybe a pulseaudio log would have some information.
> 
> It works fine on the same machine with osx (mac mini) or windows (dell e6220).
> The pulseaudio log was attached to the first post.

As far as I can tell, you didn't post a log for mac, only for the dell
machine where the headset kept disappearing and appearing. I understood
that this "the headset is there, but can't record anything" problem
concerns only the mac.

> > > > > No pulseaudio error messages appear and the usb microphone will
> > > > > not work even when the internal sound card is completely disabled.
> > > > >
> > > > > dell latitude e6220:
> > > > > When the usb headset is plugged in, it appears for a few seconds
> > > > > in pavucontrol then disappears for a few seconds and then
> > > > > reappears again. This continues for as long as the headset is
> > > > > plugged in - see attached log. Note that it is not possible to
> > > > > disable the internal sound from pavucontrol, it is re-enabled as
> > > > > soon as the usb headset appears again.
> > > >
> > > > The log shows that udev reports the device getting repeatedly
> > > > removed and added, so that problem is at a lower level than pulseaudio.
> > > >
> > > > It's certainly possible to disable the internal sound card in
> > > > pavucontrol. Go to the Configuration tab and select the "Off" profile for
> > the internal card.
> > >
> > > I tried disabling the internal card, but the next time the usb headset
> > > reappears, the internal card is re-enabled.
> > 
> > Do you mean that you set the internal card profile to "Off", but after the
> > headset reappears, the internal card profile changes to something else than
> > "Off"? That's strange... Log of you doing that might be interesting.
> 
> Affirmative, when the headset reappears then internal card is reset to
> stereo output/mono input.
> The log was attached to the first post.

Ok, so you changed the internal card profile to "Off" in pavucontrols
"Configuration" tab when you took that log? I can't see that happening
in the log.

-- 
Tanu