diff --git a/alsactl/alsactl.1 b/alsactl/alsactl.1 index 17c8cf9..ba1f29d 100644 --- a/alsactl/alsactl.1 +++ b/alsactl/alsactl.1 @@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ alsactl \- advanced controls for ALSA soundcard driver .SH DESCRIPTION \fBalsactl\fP is used to control advanced settings for the ALSA -soundcard drivers. It supports multiple soundcards. +soundcard drivers. It supports multiple soundcards. If your card has +features that you can't seem to control from a mixer application, +you have come to the right place. .SH INVOKING @@ -53,15 +55,15 @@ usually don't know about. The configuration file is generated automatically by running \fBalsactl store\fP. Editing the configuration file by hand may be necessary for some soundcard features (e.g. enabling/disabling -automatic mic gain, digital outputs, joystick/game ports, some MIDI -routing options, etc.). +automatic mic gain, digital output, joystick/game ports, some future MIDI +routing options, etc). .SS Configuration File Syntax There are some terms in the config file that bear explaining. The -"capabilities" comments before each line will tell you which flags you -can set for each channel. The comments start with semicolons. To set a -flag, simply add it to the channel() line you want. +"capabilities" comments before each line tells you some +characteristics of each channel. This is purely informational; these +are not flags you can set. Capabilities are listed below. .TP \fIhardware-mute\fP @@ -81,7 +83,7 @@ The channel is stereo. .TP \fIrecord\fP -Use the channel as a recording source. +The channel may be used as a recording source. .TP \fIjoin-record\fP @@ -90,23 +92,23 @@ and right at once; they cannot be toggled independently. .TP \fIrecord-by-mute\fP -Allow recording the channel even if it's muted, so you can avoid -feeding your record source to the speakers. Not all hardware supports this. +This channel can be recorded even if it's muted, so you can avoid +feeding your record source back to the speakers. .TP \fIexternal-input\fP -This flag is purely informational: it tells you that the channel +The channel controls a signal from an external input (like Line-In or CD). This serves to distinguish external source channels from onboard -source channels (like OPL-3 synth), which don't have this flag set. +source channels (like OPL-3 synth). .TP \fIdigital\fP -If you have a card with digital outputs and/or inputs, this flag -toggles digital output/input for the channel. +This channel is fed to an onboard digital mixer for possible hardware +processing (for instance, surround-sound processing if your card has it). .PP -Another feature of the configuration file is the \fIboolean\fP switches +The configuration file also has \fIboolean switches\fP which are used to toggle certain card-specific advanced features. For example: @@ -114,8 +116,8 @@ example: switch( "MIC Gain", false ) This shows that my card has a switchable mic gain, and that it's -currently turned off. To turn it on, just change "false" to "true" and -run \fBalsactl restore\fP. +currently turned off. To turn it on, just change "false" to "true," +save the config file, and run \fBalsactl restore\fP. .SH EXAMPLES @@ -124,11 +126,12 @@ Let's say I have this entry in /etc/asound.conf for my PCM output. ; Capabilities: stereo hardware-mute digital. ; Accepted channel range is from 0 to 63. - channel( "PCM", stereo( 40 mute, 50 mute ) ) - -When \fBalsactl restore\fP is run, volume will be set to 40 for the left -and 50 for the right, but both will be muted (by hardware). + channel( "PCM", stereo( 40 mute, 50 mute )) +When \fBalsactl restore\fP is run, the PCM volume will be set +to 40 for the left and 50 for the right, but both will be +muted. Since this card supports \fIhardware-mute\fP, muting will be done by +hardware rather than by zeroing the levels. .SH SEE ALSO \fB @@ -143,3 +146,6 @@ None known. .SH AUTHOR \fBalsactl\fP is by Jaroslav Kysela This document is by Paul Winkler . + + +