[PLUG] Headphone plug broken on my Acer box running Ubuntu

[Abhijit Bhopatkar]

On Friday 15 May 2009 12:30:06 am plug-mail-request at plug.org.in wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have an Acer 6930 running Ubuntu 8.10 . Sometime back my headphone plug
> broke inside the jack, and I am having a hard time getting it out. The
> hardware guy out here says he might have to open the motherboard, and I am
> a bit apprehensive about doing that.
>
> Here are some options I think I have (I need some advise on which of them
> might be best on a Linux system)
>
> 1. Bluetooth headphones
>     How easy are those to configure on Linux, are there any brands that
> work/don't work? Unfortunately I cannot try them before buying them.
>
I have a bluetooth headset (stereo). But it was exceptionally painful to use. 
Even in windows there are usability issues. You never know when the charge is 
going to drain, the reboot will not immediately connect to headset (its flaky 
anyway you might have to do it manually like 20% of times). 
Plus in linux pulseaudio (hardy and intrepid) won't make things easier. I 
think jaunty things are much better, but still not all apps can use it without 
a nifty config hack in alsa.conf. YMMV

Basically both technology itself and the linux usability are not at par with 
the convenience of the wired headset.

I will basically not recommend it as your primary audio device.

Note: the flaky stuff in connection could be a consequence that these are really 
cheap headsets with poor quality battery/hardware. But the configuration stuff i 
had to do is itself a big turn off for me.

> 2. USB adapter
>     Will a USB-headphone jack type adapter work on a Linux system?
> 3. USB Headphones
>     Do these work out of the box on Ubuntu? Are there any preferred brands?
I am not sure what difference do you mean in the above two.
However, USB audio is exceptionally well supported in linux. Hardy had some 
problems with using it as default, but pulseaudio/alsa fixes later have made it 
perfectly usable.

I currently own the logitech funky headsets which came along with usb audio 
dongle, these are really good and sound quality is exceptional. I use them 
even on the laptop without broken port just for the quality. but they are on 
the costly side.
There are lot of cheaper choices available, I have tried various ranging from 
200Rs to 500Rs and they all work with same accuracy and convenience.

BAIN