Skype With headset

From Knowledge76

First be sure ALSA is working right. If it is not, then please post your problem at the system76 forum.[1]

At this point I recommend you plug your headset into a USB and reboot if you haven't already, as it will be easier to do this from a cold boot. This Howto was driven by a Logitech headset, but may work for additional such usb headsets.

Next, see what usb devices are detected:

lsusb

You might see one or more listings for Logitech such as:

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 046d:c223 Logitech, Inc.

Check which sound cards are recognized:

cat /proc/asound/cards

Here is what mine shows:

0 [Audigy ]: Audigy - Audigy 1 [SB0090]
Audigy 1 [SB0090] (rev.3, serial:0x511102) at 0xdf00, irq 74
1 [Headset ]: USB-Audio - Logitech USB Headset
Logitech Logitech USB Headset at usb-0000:00:02.0-8.2, full speed

So card 0 is my Audigy and card 1 is my 350 headset.

Check which sound devices are recognized:

cat /proc/asound/devices

Here is part of what mine shows:

17: [ 1- 0]: digital audio playback
18: [ 1- 0]: digital audio capture
19: [ 1] : control

So my headset is recognized as soundcard device 1-0 (yours may be different).

Now the part of the puzzle to make this work (thanks to Josh Goodwin):

gedit ~/.asoundrc

and enter the following:

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "combined"
}

pcm.combined {
type asym
playback.pcm "playback"
capture.pcm "hw:1,0"
}
pcm.playback {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024
slave {
pcm "hw:0,0"
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 4096
rate 44100
}
bindings {
0 0
1 1
}
}

ctl.dmixer {
type hw
card 0
}

Note the line above: capture.pcm "hw:1,0" You can change it to 2,0 or whatever your system recognizes your headset is as per the command output above.

Next adjust headset sound levels with this command:

alsamixer

Turn both up appropriately and press "m" to unmute if need.

Test the sound by playing a song with your favorite media player. Both XMMS and Beep Media Player have a sub-menu for "Device settings" then "Audio device" and you can choose "Logitech USB Headset". If you cannot hear music, then go to your main menu at System -> Preferences -> Sound and change settings as needed until you can hear.

To test recording, use Applications -> Sound & Video -> Sound Recorder. Try to record something then play it back. If you cannot pick up anything, again go to your main menu at System -> Preferences -> Sound and change settings as needed until it works.

Now that we have out headset working, we can install Skype. Gone are the days of drudging up obscure QT libraries and running "hijacker" programs. Simply:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Then add this line:

deb http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/debian/ stable non-free

Then do the following:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install skype

Run via Applications -> Internet -> Skype

Under Skype, be sure to select Tools -> Options -> Sound Devices and choose "Logitech USB Headset" where appropriate.