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Dandyman
Asked: 2012-05-09 04:40:07 +0800 CST

Mute sound on Headphone unplug?

  • 772

Is there a way of muting sound from my computer everytime I unplug my headphones (Like a phone does) to stop sound then playing out of my speakers?

sound headphones speakers audio-jack

4 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Howto detect an unplug

    Basically what worked for me was:

    # When plugged in:
cat /proc/asound/card0/codec#0 > pluggedin.txt

# When not plugged in:
cat /proc/asound/card0/codec#0 > notplugged.txt

# Then compare the differences
diff pluggedin.txt notplugged.txt

    For me the difference was in 'Node 0x16' under 'Amp-Out vals':

    Node 0x16 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40058d: Stereo Amp-Out             Node 0x16 [PinComplex] wcaps 0x40058d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x00, stepsize=0x00, mute=1         Amp-Out caps:ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x00, stepsize=0x00, mute=1
  Amp-Out vals:  [0x80 0x80]                                    |    Amp-Out vals:  [0x00 0x00]

    So I based the detection on the difference found.

    Howto mute

    With this knowledge you can have a script running in the background. If unplugged the scripts mutes your speakers like using amixer sset Master playback 0% (or any other command).

    #!/bin/bash
# This scripts detecs unplugging headphones.

oldstatus="unrelated string"
while [ 1 ]; do
    # The following line has to be changed depending on the difference (use diff) in '/proc/asound/card0/code#0'
    status=$(grep -A 4 'Node 0x16' '/proc/asound/card0/codec#0' |  grep 'Amp-Out vals:  \[0x80 0x80\]')
    if [ "$status" != "$oldstatus" ]; then
        if [ -n "$status" ]; then
            echo "Plugged in"
             amixer sset Master playback 80% # Set volume to 80%
            oldstatus="$status"
        else
            echo "Unplugged"
            amixer sset Master playback 0%  # Mute
            oldstatus="$status"
        fi
    fi
done

    You can make it executable with chmod +x scriptname.sh and put it in the startup applications. You will have to adjust the unplug detection though by finding your own difference in /proc/asound/card0/codec#0 (maybe even change the numbers here for multiple soundcards.

    Related Links:

    https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/PreciseJackDetectionTesting

    https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/25776/detecting-headphone-connection-disconnection-in-linux

    How to automatically change volume level when un-/plugging headphones?

    • 11

  2. This worked for me on Ubuntu 14.04:

    "with the headphones out mute it. Insert headphones and raise volume. Remove headphones and check for mute."

    Credit: RevDrStrangelove on https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/369k76/lpt_request_automaticly_mute_laptop_after_headset/

    • 0

  3. For ubuntu-16.10 I made few change in this answer.

    oldresult="Some Random String"

while [ 1 ]; do
        # incase of plugged out result will contain some data
        result=$(grep "EAPD 0x2: EAPD" /proc/asound/card0/codec#0)

        # checking for oldresult if not same then only go inside
        if [ "$oldresult" != "$result" ]; then
                oldresult=$result
                if [[ -z "$result" ]]; then
                        notify-send "Plugged In"
                        amixer sset Master playback 80% # Set volume to 80%
                 else
                        notify-send "Plugged Out"
                        amixer sset Master playback 0% # Set volume to 0%
                 fi
        fi
done
    • 0

  4. If you have problems with events catching in /etc/acpi/handler.sh see my answer. It's also without device codes as Node 0x16.

    • 0