[11:58] <melodie> hello
[11:59] <cfhowlett> melodie, greetings
[11:59] <melodie> I do have a very basic question, how does one restart alsa nowadays? :D
[11:59] <melodie> hi cfhowlett
[12:00] <melodie> I am trying to configure my headset (Logitech) connected by USB with the help of this one tutorial: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/UsbAudioDevices
[12:00] <melodie> and I would like to avoid rebooting the whole system to try my configuration
[12:01] <cfhowlett> melodie, reboot shouldn't normally be required for a usb device
[12:03] <melodie> cfhowlett, so what would be the magical command to restart alsa ? It seems not to be a service anymore since some time
[12:04] <melodie> I just avoided the problem so far, too many things needed to investigate at same time made me lazy on that one
[12:04] <zequence> melodie: That tutorial is about 6 years old, and not very relevant
[12:04] <cfhowlett> melodie, I'm on 12.04 - alsa in a terminal gives the options including force-reload
[12:04] <zequence> no need to do any alsa configs of that kind
[12:05] <zequence> melodie: Are you using your device with jack?
[12:05] <melodie> hi zequence no the headset is plugged in with a usb connector
[12:06] <melodie> zequence, so I can forget about the config? :'(
[12:06] <zequence> melodie: jack is a pro audio server
[12:06] <melodie> I was so happy to think it might be possible to use it with alsa
[12:06] <zequence> melodie: Yeah, just forget about that page
[12:07] <melodie> fortunately I did a copy of the conf file before starting
[12:07] <zequence> the desktop audio system is called pulseaudio, which uses alsa as its backend
[12:07] <zequence> so, you are already using alsa
[12:08] <zequence> There are some devices that might work with alsa, but not with pulseaudio, in which case it will work with jack
[12:08] <melodie> I don't like pulseaudio because each time I tried with that headset it was a pain in the ass : 1) to get the headset to work, trying each configuration ; 2) to get it to work again when I didn't want to use the headset ; 3) to get it to work again when switching back to headset
[12:08] <melodie> I mean finding which output device to use
[12:09] <melodie> so I should try installing Jack?
[12:09] <melodie> pa is not the default in my install because it is a custom remix
[12:09] <melodie> light, with openbox and some all made configs (not as in crunchbang, it has another type of setup)
[12:09] <zequence> in that case, a 6-10 year old tutorial might actually be what you want
[12:10] <zequence> ..since most of us went on to use PA since then ;)
[12:10] <melodie> zequence, I could give it a try : is there a way to restart alsa ?
[12:10] <melodie> well once I did a mistake:
[12:10] <melodie> I bought a USB headset
[12:11] <melodie> and that worked before, with p-a, but the way I tell you, not without lots of time used for very little - since then I once tried it in Windows and of course this headset works out of the box there. (grumpf!)
[12:17] <melodie> cfhowlett, I want for alsa force-reload, thanks
[12:17] <melodie> it does not like my backup file btw :D
[12:23] <melodie> ok I tried and configured and reconfigured and retried, the config is ignored.
[12:23] <melodie> is Jack easier to configure than P-A or not really?
[12:26] <cfhowlett> melodie, I've never found jack especially easy, but then I've never needed it for my work.
[12:28] <melodie> it would be nice for me to get this headset to be instantly seen by the system when I plug it in, and to be removed when I plug it out, then allowing the speakers of the laptop to start working again
[12:30] <cfhowlett> melodie, agreed. since this issue isn't specific to ubuntu studio, ask in #ubuntu   to get more eyes on it.
[12:31] <melodie> cfhowlett, thanks
[12:49] <melodie> he the configuration works after all! I had to restart fully the system and now the headset works
[12:49] <melodie> ^^
[12:49] <melodie> I have to digg further to see if I can make it switchable
[12:52] <cfhowlett> melodie, progress
[12:53] <melodie> cfhowlett, I think I could get it to work "normally", perhaps...
[12:53] <melodie> would you know how to create an udev rule?
[12:59] <melodie> I will be rebooting now