Fedora-7 rant #3: Sound

[Karl Larsen]

Hi Tim,

    I too am trying to get skype working on FC6. I come from FC4 where 
it is a lot easier. Here is what I have learned:

    Volume control sucks on both FC6 and F7 but I think it suck worse on 
F7. At least on Gnome FC6 you can find a Volume Control. Every time I 
turn on this Volume Control it has reverted AUTOMATICALLY to a default 
setting. This default has the Mike turned off and the CD-Rom stuff 
turned way down. I have run extensive testing and if you set the Volume 
Control so the Mike is working, and then turn off the Volume Control it 
goes back to default :-!

    So now I have a work-around. Before you turn on Skype turn on the 
Alsa Volume Control and unblock the mike and reset volumes and the 
minimize the dam thing. It will be right for as long as your computer is 
turned on.

    When you get skype working Tim give me a call at "k5diusa" and we 
can compare notes.

Karl Larsen


Timothy Murphy wrote:
> I'm running F-7 with KDE,
> and I'm trying to get Skype working.
> My voice is not recorded on the Test call ...
> I guess I should start by testing the built-in microphone.
>
> But how?
> The sound system seems designed for sound engineers,
> not ordinary mortals.
> What on earth do all these symbols in KMix mean?
> (I've left clicked on the loudspeaker icon in my panel,
> and clicked on Mixer.)
>
> Whoever designed the sound GUI seemed to have a love affair with triangles.
> What on earth do these half-filled in triangles mean?
> And why do they have a smaller triangle beside them pointing to the right?
> Why am I given no hint of their meaning when I hover over them?
>
> And why does input have what looks like headphones as icon?
>
> When I try the CLI command "alsamixer" instead
> I get 19 (yes, 19) controls,
> none of them properly labelled.
> I see one called Mic, set to 0.
> It isn't at all obvious how to change this, or any, setting,
> but I go to the Mic icon with the right arrow key,
> and then use the up arrow to go from 0 to 81.
> Was that a good idea?
> I cannot tell, as I have no idea how to test the result.
>
> Is there a simple introduction to Fedora sound somewhere?
>
> When I get a new mobile phone, I take it out of the box,
> put in a SIM card and it works.
> There aren't 19 switches to adjust.
>
> I bought a DVD player yesterday.
> I connect it to my TV with a Scart connector,
> switch on and put in a DVD.
> I am asked one question - do I want to play the DVD?
> I answer Yes, and it plays.
>
> Sigh.
>
>
>
>