configuring mono speaker

English Multimedia
#1

My speaker device only works in mono. So far, whenever I test to see if the sound works, only sound on the left channel works. If something plays on the right channel, I can’t hear it. How can I configure the sound to play in mono?

#2

So every time I have had sound in just one speaker, it was a problem with my cable and not the sound card. Tell us about your speakers and how they connect to your PC. Tell us about your computer sound chipset. I keep an old small stereo radio around which I can plug my speaker wire into to see if the speakers are working or if it is my sound configuration that is messed up.

Thank You,

#3

Sorry for not wording my question appropriately. The speaker device is a mono speaker on an Acer Aspire 5742Z laptop. What’s happening is that instead of playing stereo sound as mono (with both channels combined), my computer is just playing the left channel through the one speaker. Is there any way to get the sound to play as both channels combined?

#4

Sounds like you need to change your sound card profile to being mono then. Have a look at my blog on PulseAudio.

PulseAudio and Selecting the Proper Sound Card Configuration - Blogs - openSUSE Forums

I see that there are no pictures this morning as SUSE Paste is down again. You need to install the PulseAudio Volume Control. Open up a terminal session and run this command:

sudo zypper install pavucontrol

Once installed, you can just do an Alt-F2 and enter pavucontrol. Go to the configuration Tab and Select a mono profile for your main sound device. Make sure any extra sound devices not being used have a profile of off.

Thank You,

#5

Go to the configuration Tab and Select a mono profile for your main sound device. Make sure any extra sound devices not being used have a profile of off.

It doesn’t seem like I have any mono profiles to choose from. Everything in the list says Analog Stereo or Digital Stereo or Digital Surround.

#6

You could try this. Create a hidden text file called .asoundrc in your /home/username folder ($HOME/.asoundrc or ~/.asoundrc) which contains the following text:


pcm.card0 {
type hw
card 0
}
pcm.mono {
type route
slave.pcm card0
slave.channels 2
ttable.0.0 0.5
ttable.0.1 0.5
ttable.1.0 0.5
ttable.1.1 0.5
} 

pcm.!default {
type route
slave.pcm card0
slave.channels 2
ttable.0.0 0.5
ttable.0.1 0.5
ttable.1.0 0.5
ttable.1.1 0.5
}

Log out and then back into openSUSE and you should have mono as default. Removing or renaming the file and a log out and back in should restart normal operation. Make a note to yourself on how this works, if it does for future reference. For sound testing, look at my bash script you can find here:

S.T.A.R.T. - SuSE Terminal Audio Reporting Tool - Version 1.11 - Blogs - openSUSE Forums

Thank You,

#7

Thanks, jdmcdaniel3. Your solution did the trick. I hear everything. That’s a nifty little script you put together as well.

#8

Very happy to help and to get at least one success story today. Sometimes they seem long in coming. Don’t forget to create a backup of this info, like in Documents for future reference. If you keep your present setup long, you could forget how you got the audio to work. Trust me, it is possible to happen.

Thank You,