summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/share/man/man5/mixerctl.conf.5
blob: 4a83e40c635fcad6d4440c0ed4fac9a3c12d650b (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
.\"	$OpenBSD: mixerctl.conf.5,v 1.6 2015/07/27 17:28:39 sobrado Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2008 Jason McIntyre <jmc@openbsd.org>
.\"
.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
.\"
.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
.\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
.\"
.Dd $Mdocdate: July 27 2015 $
.Dt MIXERCTL.CONF 5
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm mixerctl.conf
.Nd mixerctl configuration file
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm
is the configuration file for
.Xr mixerctl 1 .
It allows the user to specify settings for the audio mixer
at system startup.
The exact set of variables available are
largely dependent on the audio device driver,
and vary from device to device.
The file is made up of variable assignments
.Pq Ar name Ns = Ns Ar value
with comments designated by a hash mark
.Pq Sq # .
.Pp
Some audio devices have _sense variables
which can help identify connectors.
The connectors' state will be one of
.Ar plugged
or
.Ar unplugged ,
depending on whether a jack is inserted.
.Pp
The connectors on audio cards are generally as follows:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -width "orangeXXX" -offset 3n -compact
.It pink
Microphone in.
Used to record from a microphone.
.It green
Line out.
Used for stereo speakers or headphones.
.It blue
Line in.
Used to record from an external source.
.It orange
Speaker out; subwoofer.
.It brown
Speaker out; rear speakers.
.It S/PDIF
Optical connector;
TOSLink, RCA, or 1/8" mini stereo.
.El
.Sh PLAYBACK
Most devices have a number of digital to analogue converters (DACs),
used for sound playback,
and each DAC has a corresponding output mixer.
The mixers are labelled
.Dq mix
or
.Dq sel .
Each DAC represents two channels of playback.
.Pp
Verify that playback works by playing an audio file
(see
.Xr aucat 1 )
or CD
(see
.Xr cdio 1 ) .
Check that any relevant inputs.* variables are unmuted
and set to a high enough value to permit playback.
For example, if playing a CD,
.Xr grep 1
for cd variables to adjust.
Check also that the variable governing the general audio level,
such as
.Ic outputs.master ,
is set to a sufficiently high value.
.Pp
Some cards are capable of multi-channel sound.
In some cases _dir variables detail the direction
(input or output)
of the various connectors.
Check that the direction of the corresponding connectors is set to
.Ar output .
Other devices may need to set _source variables to work correctly.
The maximum possible value of the
.Xr audioctl 1
variable
.Ic play.channels
shows the number of channels available.
.Sh RECORDING
Most devices have a number of analogue to digital converters (ADCs),
used for recording sound,
and each ADC has a corresponding input mixer.
The mixers are labelled
.Dq mix
or
.Dq sel .
Each ADC represents two channels of recording.
.Pp
Connect line in on the audio card to an audio source,
such as an amplifier.
Many devices have an auxiliary connector
.Pq Dq aux
available for recording,
or a headphone socket could be used.
.Pp
Check that the variable that determines recording volume,
such as
.Ic record.volume ,
is set high enough to provide a high enough sound level,
but not so high as to distort the sound being recorded.
It is also a good idea to mute any record.* variables not being
used for recording.
Obviously the recording source itself will have to be unmuted.
.Pp
A simple test that recording works may be done using
.Xr aucat 1
whilst playing back audio from an external source.
The example below creates a .wav file of any audio being played.
The file can then be played back to determine quality.
.Pp
.Dl $ aucat -o test.wav
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width "/etc/mixerctl.confXXX" -compact
.It Pa /dev/mixer
Default audio mixing device.
.It Pa /etc/mixerctl.conf
.Xr mixerctl 1
configuration file.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr aucat 1 ,
.Xr audioctl 1 ,
.Xr mixerctl 1