Theoretically it is possible to use the front panel and rear panel speaker jacks independently, so e.g. skype ring would go desktop speaker (rear panel jack), while talking would go to headphones (front panel jack). Or music could be directed only to headphones. Under Windows I had success, but under OpenSuse I cannot achieve this. The front and rear panel speaker jacks always play the same. In skype audio setup I see 5 devices:
HDA Intel (hw:Intel,0)
HDA Intel (plughw:Intel,0)
HDA Intel (hw:Intel,1)
HDA Intel (plughw:Intel,1)
hdmi
What are these? Everything works fine if I select HDA Intel (plughw:Intel,0) as playback device. If I select HDA Intel (hw:Intel,0), than only the left speaker works. The others don’t give any output on the speaker jacks. For recording only HDA Intel (hw:Intel,0) works.
In KMix it is possible to mute Headphone and desktop speaker (called Front) independently, but how can I order skype, or amarok, or VLC to playback only on the specified jack.