[BUG] [Index] No apparent way to switch between microphones

[JulianGro]

Describe the bug When there is two microphones on the Index, there is no apparent way to switch between them. In my case, I want to use my headphones, so I don't have to listen to the lighthouses whining all the time; But my headphones have an integrated microphone on the same connector. The integraded microphone of my added headphones is used instead of the Indexs internal microphone.

To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Connect headphones with a microphone on the same connector
2. Observe that microphone being used over the Indexs microphone

Expected behavior There should be a way to switch between them.

System Information (please complete the following information):

• Distribution: Linux Mint 19.3 (Ubuntu bionic based)
• SteamVR version: 1.10.31
• Steam client version: March 20 2020 18:25:30
• Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes
• Graphics driver version: 440.64
• Gist for SteamVR System Information: https://gist.github.com/jug007/a14393da6eb81c565452bd0dfec55712

Additional context If this is a hardware issue and cannot be worked around via software, I would appreciate that info as well.

Note: Commenters who are also experiencing this issue are encouraged to include the "System Information" section in their replies.

[ZarathustraDK]

SteamVR on Windows has a nice audio input/output switching setting where you can designate which devices should represent either input or output (even mirroring of output) when the Index is active. This would indeed be nice to have.

Workaround for me so far has been to manually change the input and output in my system settings to reflect my setup, note that sometimes it'll first properly switch if you change it up after you start SteamVR/VR-application. In Manjaro you can do this using the built-in "Audio"-app, I'm not sure what it's called in Mint, but it should be there as it's pretty basic sound-settings.

[JulianGro]

The different microphones are not reported to pulseaudio. When connecting a microphone to the headphone jack on the Index, pulseaudio still only reports the Index as one microphone, not two that you can switch between.

[ZarathustraDK]

Ah ok, you're using the jackstick on the HMD, my bad.

Are you sure the mic should detect as a separate device and not simply hijack the Valve-mic device (can't remember it's name, currently on a windows machine) it being a jack-stick? What happens if you attach a pair of headphones without mic? Do you get a separate device in your distro if attach the headset directly to the pc (if possible)? Utter speculation on my part, but perhaps the HMD's jackstick is simply a hardware-switch that'll automatically kill the connection to the speakers and/or mic on the HMD if it detects something suitable on the jackstick and prioritize those over the HMD hardware.

Sorry I can't be of more help, haven't used jack-sticks in ages.

[JulianGro]

It might be a hardware switch, but I am hoping that it is firmware and they can fix that.