What this is
When you rename an audio port with portname, it needs to restart PipeWire (the audio system) so the new name shows up immediately in Sound Settings — without you having to reboot or manually restart anything.
That restart is tested and working on Linux Mint (which is what portname was originally developed on). But Mint uses a different internal path than Arch and Fedora do. We've verified the file operations on Arch and Fedora automatically via CI, but we haven't confirmed that the audio restart actually fires correctly on those distros with a live audio system running.
Why it's hard to test automatically
You can't run a real audio system inside a Docker container or on GitHub's servers — there's no sound hardware. So this one has to be tested by hand on a real machine.
What needs to be tested
On a real Arch or Fedora machine (not Linux Mint):
- Plug in or confirm you have an audio device showing up in Sound Settings
- Run
sudo portname rename <route> "Test Name" and check that the new name appears in Sound Settings straight away — no reboot needed
- Run
sudo portname revert <route> and check the original name comes back
- Simulate what happens when a package upgrade overwrites your rename:
- Run
sudo cp /usr/share/alsa-card-profile/mixer/paths/<route>.conf.orig /usr/share/alsa-card-profile/mixer/paths/<route>.conf
- Run
sudo portname check
- Confirm the custom name reappears in Sound Settings automatically
Why Linux Mint doesn't count here
Mint is based on Debian/Ubuntu, so it uses a tool called dpkg-divert to protect renamed files from being overwritten. Arch and Fedora don't have that tool, so they use a different code path (a plain JSON file to track renames instead). We've tested the logic of that code path thoroughly, but haven't confirmed the audio restart fires correctly at the end of it on a live Arch or Fedora system.
Current status
- Linux Mint: ✓ manually verified
- Arch/Fedora file operations: ✓ verified automatically by CI
- Arch/Fedora live audio restart: ❌ still needs a real machine
What this is
When you rename an audio port with portname, it needs to restart PipeWire (the audio system) so the new name shows up immediately in Sound Settings — without you having to reboot or manually restart anything.
That restart is tested and working on Linux Mint (which is what portname was originally developed on). But Mint uses a different internal path than Arch and Fedora do. We've verified the file operations on Arch and Fedora automatically via CI, but we haven't confirmed that the audio restart actually fires correctly on those distros with a live audio system running.
Why it's hard to test automatically
You can't run a real audio system inside a Docker container or on GitHub's servers — there's no sound hardware. So this one has to be tested by hand on a real machine.
What needs to be tested
On a real Arch or Fedora machine (not Linux Mint):
sudo portname rename <route> "Test Name"and check that the new name appears in Sound Settings straight away — no reboot neededsudo portname revert <route>and check the original name comes backsudo cp /usr/share/alsa-card-profile/mixer/paths/<route>.conf.orig /usr/share/alsa-card-profile/mixer/paths/<route>.confsudo portname checkWhy Linux Mint doesn't count here
Mint is based on Debian/Ubuntu, so it uses a tool called
dpkg-divertto protect renamed files from being overwritten. Arch and Fedora don't have that tool, so they use a different code path (a plain JSON file to track renames instead). We've tested the logic of that code path thoroughly, but haven't confirmed the audio restart fires correctly at the end of it on a live Arch or Fedora system.Current status