[pulseaudio-discuss] Disabling monitor sources in Pulse

[Jeremy Visser]

Hey,

I have a webcam with a built-in microphone (that appears as a USB
soundcard without only a single capture interface) that works fine,
except when I first log on, my internal sound card's microphone is
always selected by default, even though I don't want it to be.

So in gnome-volume-control, I have changed my internal audio card from
"Analog Stereo Duplex" to "Analog Stereo Output", to force my USB
microphone to be the only USB microphone.

But now all that happens is that my "Monitor of Internal Analog Stereo"
is now the default microphone for all applications, despite my selecting
of the USB microphone as the default.

So, for some reason, PulseAudio hates my USB microphone, and refuses to
assign applications to it, even though it is the default.

So, I need a solution that does either or both of the following:

* Makes gnome-volume-control actually assign an application to the
microphone that is selected in the Input tab (*gasp* how logical).

* Removes and prevents the Monitor sources from ever appearing.

I'm fine with jumping through hoops and workarounds for 5 minutes prior
to ever using a microphone, but I am an extraordinary type.

I am actually asking this on behalf of a non-technical friend who got
into this exact situation today, and any form of workaround like what I
have to do for my situation is unacceptable. I need a solution that will
work for him, because until then, he is unable to use his microphone due
to (Pulse/GNOME/some app)'s poor logic.

Any ideas on how to get to the bottom of this?

Jeremy.