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Most laptops are getting to the point that you don’t need a USB headset or microphone to make audio calls.  Sometimes it just makes sense to use one.

I had a new install of RHEL running on a new Lenovo x220 and could barely hear the incoming sound.  Then I remembered why.  I’ve posted on it before, but here it is again with a different title and hopefully easier to find if you are on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

  1. Plug in USB headset

  2. Run alsamixer from a command line

    $ alsamixer

  3. Hit to find and select the USB headset device

  4. Use the up and down arrow keys to adjust the volume

  5. Press ECS (escape) to exit

  6. Make the settings permanent with alsactl store

    $ su -c 'alsactl store'

    Photo credit wlef70