[PLUG-AV] Network kit(s), was Re: Another experiment in updating our AV workflow

[James Henstridge]

On Tue, 8 Jun 2021 at 23:28, Nick Bannon <nick at ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au> wrote:
> The presentation ran, but there were at least 3 glitches:
> - Webcam feed from the network froze at 30min, 62min (on the wired display laptop)

We ended up using my laptop in the end, which was connected to
Spacecubed guest wifi (I hadn't brought my Ethernet dongle, and we
were short on time to try other solutions).

I don't see the 30 minute mark glitch in the recording, so I believe
the problem was on our end rather than Benjamin's.  It is quite
possible that we could have avoided them with a wired connection.

> - Client dropout on a wifi monitoring laptop at 84 minutes
> They all seemed to reconnect OK by themselves, within about 20 seconds.

A few more notes from my side:

* Ubuntu's default Pulse Audio config loads "module-switch-on-connect"
by default, which which alters the default source/sink when new USB or
Bluetooth devices are connected.  I think this caused some of the
confusion.  For example, when I tried to mute the built-in mic with
the hotkey, I think I ended up muting the mixing board mic input
instead. I needed to undo that for question time.

* I wasn't able to change BBB's mic input via pavucontrol, which I'm
pretty sure I used to be able to.  I think this is from Firefox
improving its media APIs in the interim.  What I should have done was
click the phone handset icon at the bottom of BBB, and select the
different input there.

If we do another remote presentation, I think we need to fix:

1. We need a laptop with a working headphone/line out jack. If the one
on our main AV laptop is fried, perhaps that means getting a cheap USB
sound card as an interim measure.
2. We should have a usable Linux install on the hard disk rather than
relying on a live USB key. This means backing up what's currently
there, and installing a modern distro release (probably the latest
Debian or Ubuntu LTS).
3. We need to check that the install can mirror displays to a projector.
4. It might be worth disabling PA's module-switch-on-connect in the
install, so that audio input/output assignments are conscious
decisions, rather than changing as things get plugged and unplugged.
5. Consider setting the install to automatically log in with the
screen saver disabled.  That would be one less variable to worry about
on the night.

James.