How to configure a default soundcard

[Tony Moretti]

kpfuser wrote:
> The need to configure a default sound card arose from the installation 
> of an external USB sound card (Creative Sound Blaster Extigy) in a 
> system that has an on-board sound card. Based on instructions in
>
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoundTroubleshooting
>
> the shell command cat /proc/asound/modules returned
>
> 0 snd_intel8x0
> 1 snd_usb_audio
>
> showing that the on-board sound card was set as default automatically. 
> Following a suggestion in
>
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DebuggingSoundProblems
>
> I disabled the on-board sound card using the BIOS setup trying to make 
> the external sound card default. However, this failed as cat 
> /proc/asound/modules now returns
>
> 1 snd_usb_audio
>
> To make the external sound card default, the first of the above listed 
> documents suggests the following:
>
>    *
>       Now type sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
>    *
>       At the very end of the file, add the following (assuming you
>       have 3 cards with module names A, B and C and you want to have
>       them in the order CAB
>
> options snd-C index=0
> options snd-A index=1
> options snd-B index=2
>
> I take this to mean that I should run the command sudo nano 
> /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base options snd-usb-audio index=0
> Is this correct?
>
> If it is, the output reads
>
> # autoloader aliases
> install sound-slot-0 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-0
> install sound-slot-1 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-1
> install sound-slot-2 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-2
> install sound-slot-3 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-3
> install sound-slot-4 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-4
> install sound-slot-5 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-5
> install sound-slot-6 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-6
> install sound-slot-7 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-7
>
> # Cause optional modules to be loaded above generic modules
> install snd /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd $CMDLINE_OPTS && { 
> /sbin/modprobe -Qb snd-ioctl32 ; : ; }
> install snd-pcm /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-pcm $CMDLINE_OPTS 
> && { /sbin/modprobe -Qb snd-pcm-oss ; : ; }
> install snd-mixer /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-mixer 
> $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --Qb snd-mixer-oss ; : ; }
> install snd-seq /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-seq $CMDLINE_OPTS 
> && { /sbin/modprobe -Qb snd-seq-midi ; /sbin/modprobe --quiet 
> snd-seq-oss ; : ; }
>
> # Cause optional modules to be loaded above sound card driver modules
> install snd-emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-emu10k1 
> $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe -Qb snd-emu10k1-synth ; }
> install snd-via82xx /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-via82xx 
> $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe -Qb snd-seq ; }
>
> # Load saa7134-alsa instead of saa7134 (which gets dragged in by it 
> anyway)
> install saa7134 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install saa7134 $CMDLINE_OPTS 
> && { /sbin/modprobe -Qb saa7134-alsa ; : ; }
>
> # Load snd-seq for devices that don't have hardware midi;
> #   Ubuntu #26283, #43682, #56005; works around Ubuntu #34831 for
> #   non-Creative Labs PCI hardware
> install snd /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd $CMDLINE_OPTS && { 
> /sbin/modprobe -Qb snd-seq ; }
> # Prevent abnormal drivers from grabbing index 0
> options snd-bt87x index=-2
> options cx88-alsa index=-2
> options saa7134-alsa index=-2
> options snd-atiixp-modem index=-2
> options snd-intel8x0m index=-2
> options snd-via82xx-modem index=-2
> options snd-usb-audio index=-2
> options snd-usb-usx2y index=-2
> # Ubuntu #62691, enable MPU for snd-cmipci
> options snd-cmipci mpu_port=0x330 fm_port=0x388
>
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>                                                                       
> [ Read 38 lines ]
> ^G Get Help               ^O WriteOut               ^R Read 
> File              ^Y Prev Page              ^K Cut Text               
> ^C Cur Pos
> ^X Exit                   ^J Justify                ^W Where 
> Is               ^V Next Page              ^U UnCut Text             
> ^T To Spell
>
> This output leaves me utterly befuddled! What am I supposed to make 
> out of it? Is it a sequence of shell commands I am supposed to run one 
> after another, excluding those preceded by #? If not, how can I 
> interpret this output and, most important, what am I supposed to do next?
>
> **
What you have here is the configuration file displayed in the command 
line word processor nano. It looks like your usb audio value (options 
snd-usb-audio index=-2) is set to "-2". You can try setting this to 0 by 
using the cursor keys to highlight the -2, pressing the delete button 
when the cursor is over the - and 2, and then type 0. After this hit 
ctrl+O then enter and then ctrl+X to exit. I don't know if this'll help 
you solve your problem, but it'll hopefully help you out, at least a 
little bit with nano.

Tony Moretti