"Unknown audio device" dialog pops up every time I plug in headphones

[mark johnson]

I've got a combined headphone/headset socket on my Laptop. Every time I plug in my headphones, an "unknown audio device" dialog pops up asking whether I've plugged in headphones or a headset. This is isn't a great user experience as my phone can auto-detect the device.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-19.39-generic 3.13.6
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-19-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.13.3-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: mark 1949 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: mark 1949 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Mar 26 11:03:29 2014
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-03-24 (2 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Alpha amd64 (20140323)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:PCH successful
Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH
Symptom_Jack: Green Headphone Out, Front
Symptom_PulsePlaybackTest: PulseAudio playback test successful
Symptom_Type: None of the above
Title: [Latitude E7440, Realtek ALC292, Green Headphone Out, Front] Playback problem
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 02/18/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A08
dmi.board.asset.tag: DE004505
dmi.board.name: 07F3F4
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: DE004505
dmi.chassis.type: 9
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA08:bd02/18/2014:svnDellInc.:pnLatitudeE7440:pvr01:rvnDellInc.:rn07F3F4:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct9:cvr:
dmi.product.name: Latitude E7440
dmi.product.version: 01
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

!!Advanced information - PCI Vendor/Device/Subsystem ID's
!!--------------------------------------------------------

00:03.0 0403: 8086:0a0c (rev 0b)
 Subsystem: 1028:05cb
--
00:1b.0 0403: 8086:9c20 (rev 04)
 Subsystem: 1028:05cb

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/hda/patch_realtek.c?id=73bdd597823e2231dc882577dbbaf8df92fe1775

you may need to use a debug version of alsa driver to provide info in system log

send email to the author

[mark johnson (mark.johnson)]

Hi Raymond, Thanks for your response.
I'm afraid I'm having trouble understanding your message. Are you saying I should email my device ID to the author of the patch you've linked to?

Thanks
Mark

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

the driver show useful message in system log when compiled with debug option

nd_printdd("Headset jack detected iPhone-style headset: %s\n",
+ is_ctia ? "yes" : "no");

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

+ SND_PCI_QUIRK(0x1028, 0x05cb, "Dell", ALC269_FIXUP_DELL2_MIC_NO_PRESENCE),

your PCI SSID are included in the patch and use ALC269_FIXUP_DELL2_MIC_NO_PRESENCE

you have to ask the author why do the pop up dialog if the codec can detect headphone and headset

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/pulseaudio-discuss/2013-November/019263.html

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

Hi,

This is a feature, not a bug. Regardless of your phone's capabilities, your computer cannot distinguish between headphones and headsets, which is why we ask you.

You might be helped by this article: http://voices.canonical.com/david.henningsson/2014/03/07/headset-jacks-on-newer-laptops/

[Eddie Dunn (eddie-dunn)]

David,

It is indeed a nice feature -- the first time it pops up. Once the user has notified the system

[Eddie Dunn (eddie-dunn)]

(I accidentally posted before finishing my post, and there seems to be no edit function :( )

... Once the user has notified Ubuntu which audio device that has been connected, Ubuntu should remember this. Getting a pop up every single time I connect my headset is quite annoying.

[Vincenzoml (vincenzoml)]

This is a usability bug. It is terribly annoying to have to click on a dialog when plugging in headphones; I plug in headphones every time I turn on my laptop, and that additional click defeats the "just works" feeling of ubuntu. There may be technical reasons to pop that dialog out, but this is not a good end user experience.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Vincenzoml (vincenzoml)]

For those who really want to get rid of the dialog in the meantime, here is what I did in order to quick-fix my own system. I made a simple hack, and followed the steps listed here to rebuild the unity-settings-daemon package

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpdatingADeb

The hack (to be done in place of the "patch -p1" step in the guide) is to disable the new functionality; I did this in a possibly very inappropriate way, please don't blame me too much. I edited the file unity-settings-daemon-14.04.0+14.04.20140414/plugins/media-keys/what-did-you-plug-in/dialog-window.c and added "return 0;" as the very first line of the function wdypi_dialog_run. There may be better ways.

My two cents on the solution is to chose a fallback, issue a notification, and allow the user to configure the default behaviour in the audio settings. That would be less in the way.

[David Johnson (dcharles525)]

Was this ever fixed? I still get the dialog popping up a lot. Its so bad at times (like now) where I can barely even work with out it spamming.

[Dirk Mcbratney (djmcbratney)]

It's very annoying. The hardware detects whether or not there is a microphone present in the headset. If there isn't, I only have the one 3.5mm port, so it's not like I could attach one. I don't see any possible benefit to this feature, but creating a pile of little obnoxious dialog boxes is a very clear detriment, and it's the sort of thing Ubuntu normally avoids doing to avoid needlessly reducing new users' confidence in their system.

[Dirk Mcbratney (djmcbratney)]

Point of fact, I think it's actually failing to recognize the microphone in a corded headset that I normally don't use for the laptop itself. Not that clicking "microphone" makes any difference to that, since I'm understanding that it only affects whether or not the audio switches to the new hardware by default, correct?

[Nate Woods (woods-nb)]

This started happening for me when I upgraded from Trusty to Utopic. And yes, it is a bug, not a feature. Previous versions of Ubuntu always did The Right Thing without asking (admittedly, I've never tried to use a mic/headset, maybe that would have failed before).

I understand that there are technical subtleties here, but at the very least, the popup window shouldn't appear every time the device is plugged in. If there's no way to remember individual devices, there should be a checkbox or something for "assume this answer until I go into the sound settings and say otherwise." If you're worried that people will forget the checkbox and rage on the forums about their microphones not working, maybe add a small bubble on the corner next to the volume icon reminding people they can change, or a menu option in the sound icon dropdown to change settings. Whatever is done shouldn't steal focus from other applications, shouldn't block the view of the center of the screen, and shouldn't require user action under most circumstances.

[Gonçalo Marrafa (goncalo-marrafa)]

I second this! Very very annoying!

On Wed, Oct 29, 2014, 13:35 Nate Woods <email address hidden> wrote:

> This started happening for me when I upgraded from Trusty to Utopic. And
> yes, it is a bug, not a feature. Previous versions of Ubuntu always did
> The Right Thing without asking (admittedly, I've never tried to use a
> mic/headset, maybe that would have failed before).
>
> I understand that there are technical subtleties here, but at the very
> least, the popup window shouldn't appear every time the device is
> plugged in. If there's no way to remember individual devices, there
> should be a checkbox or something for "assume this answer until I go
> into the sound settings and say otherwise." If you're worried that
> people will forget the checkbox and rage on the forums about their
> microphones not working, maybe add a small bubble on the corner next to
> the volume icon reminding people they can change, or a menu option in
> the sound icon dropdown to change settings. Whatever is done shouldn't
> steal focus from other applications, shouldn't block the view of the
> center of the screen, and shouldn't require user action under most
> circumstances.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1297790
>
> Title:
> "Unknown audio device" dialog pops up every time I plug in headphones
>
> Status in “unity-settings-daemon” package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> I've got a combined headphone/headset socket on my Laptop. Every time
> I plug in my headphones, an "unknown audio device" dialog pops up
> asking whether I've plugged in headphones or a headset. This is isn't
> a great user experience as my phone can auto-detect the device.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
> Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu4
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-19.39-generic 3.13.6
> Uname: Linux 3.13.0-19-generic x86_64
> ApportVersion: 2.13.3-0ubuntu1
> Architecture: amd64
> AudioDevicesInUse:
> USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
> /dev/snd/controlC1: mark 1949 F.... pulseaudio
> /dev/snd/controlC0: mark 1949 F.... pulseaudio
> CurrentDesktop: Unity
> Date: Wed Mar 26 11:03:29 2014
> InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-03-24 (2 days ago)
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Alpha amd64
> (20140323)
> PackageArchitecture: all
> SourcePackage: alsa-driver
> Symptom: audio
> Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:PCH
> successful
> Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH
> Symptom_Jack: Green Headphone Out, Front
> Symptom_PulsePlaybackTest: PulseAudio playback test successful
> Symptom_Type: None of the above
> Title: [Latitude E7440, Realtek ALC292, Green Headphone Out, Front]
> Playback problem
> UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
> dmi.bios.date: 02/18/2014
> dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
> dmi.bios.version: A08
> dmi.board.asset.tag: DE004505
> dmi.board.name: 07F3F4
> dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
> dmi.board.version: A00
> dmi.chassis.asset.tag: DE004505
> dmi.chassis.type: 9
> d...

[Awal Garg (awalgarg)]

Important point to note here: plug in the device while Ubuntu is booting (or even sitting on the login screen), and the device would still work (or at-least it does for me) without the dialog to appearing (since we don't have dialogs while booting or on login screen). It is just the unity daemon causing the problem.

[Geno DCLXVI (genox93n0)]

I am not seeing any additional options besides "Headphones" and "Microphone" when I plug my headphones in on 14.10. Those are the only two things available, besides the "Cancel" and "Sound Settings" button.

Opening Sound Settings, there is no option available for handling unknown audio devices.

[Dan Smith (dansmith-r)]

I understand that it may be undesirable to clutter the UI with an extra tab but, please, at least provide a gconf setting e.g.
on_unknown_device_plugged
0 - show dialog
1 - automatically choose headphones
2 - automatically choose microphone

[Nicholas Brown (nbprofessional)]

I agree with Dan Smith's proposal.

[Stephan Henningsen (zta77)]

I'm getting this dialog whenever I jack in my ordinary stereo headphones in my laptop!

Please add: [x] Don't show this dialog again when a similar device is plugged in.
Or if that's too difficult: [x] Don't show this dialog again.

[Stephan Henningsen (zta77)]

Or what about:

http://voices.canonical.com/david.henningsson/2014/03/07/headset-jacks-on-newer-laptops/

[Stephan Henningsen (zta77)]

Crikey, someone should really add an edit button to posts!

I meant this link: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Sound#Handling_unknown_audio_jack_devices

[Jeffrey Finkelstein (jfinkels)]

This remains a problem in Ubuntu 16.04.

[manfreed (manfreed)]

In my opinion this problem could be easility fixed with by replacing the dialog with a few options in the sound incidator.

Also in the sound settings a few additional options would be nice, like having a default profile or having the ability to use the last one.

One dialog might still be a good idea, the first time an audio device is plugged a dialog could explain that Ubuntu couldn't detect the audio device so that the user has to go to the sound indicator and choose.

[Zoltan Kiss (zoltan-kiss-jr)]

I was on Ubuntu 15.10 for a long time and I did not have any issues. A week ago I updated to Ubuntu 16.04 and the dialog started appearing every time I plug in the same earphones I was using for more than 2 years now. Very annoying.

[Zoltan Kiss (zoltan-kiss-jr)]

This might be related https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-settings-daemon/+bug/1239605/

[Zoltan Kiss (zoltan-kiss-jr)]

Updated to 16.10 when it came out and the issue is still present

[twdkeule (twdkeule)]

Still an issue in 17.04, on a Dell Latitude E7450

[twdkeule (twdkeule)]

The dialog changed in Ubuntu 17.10. The behaviour is much friendlier now.
Keep up the good work.

[tom (tombuntus)]

Praise jesus. They finally fixed this bug.

[tom (tombuntus)]

LOL, I'm shocked to see past me as saying this bug was fixed. Whatever "fixed" it a year ago only did sotemporarily, I've been suffering it again as long as I can remember. But whatever "fixed" it then, probably just "fixed" it again today/yesterday. I'm free of the stupid dialogue (if only for a few days).