**This is an old revision of the document!**
Understanding Linux Audio
Traditional Linux (such as Slackware, and as opposed to something more progressive like Red Hat and Fedora) deals with audio in its own unique way. The background and history of how and why is unimportant to actually using it, so this is a pragmatic overview of how and why Linux audio does what it does, and what you need to understand about it.
Identify All Devices
The first step in forming a meaningful bond with the audio system of your computer is to do a full system scan of its audio devices. This sounds like it is a complicated technical process, but actually it's entirely non-technical:
- Sit down in front of your computer.
- Take an assessment of each physical audio jack.
Laptops
On laptops, the first thing you will probably notice is a headphone jack and a microphone line-in. These are analogue audio jacks.
Sometimes, unfortunately, a laptop design combines the headphone OUT jack and the microphone IN jack (yes, they combine an input and an output port into one). This not only cheats you out of versatility but it gets very confusing on the software side, so take special note of it should you have such a combined port.
idea: geez maybe i should try a php script with a little step-thru survey for each port…
If you boot your fresh install of Slackware and all the sound is working as expected