I’m having a problem where I can’t seem to record from my laptop’s internal mic.
My information is as follows
Laptop: HP Elitebook 8530w
OS: OpenSUSE 11.2
Desktop Environment: KDE 4.3.5
My problem is the same as the poster in this thread Mic doesnt work on 82801I Intel ICH9 - openSUSE Forums
and I tried the fix he applied which is to add the line:
options snd-hda-intel model=laptop
to the first line of /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf file
I then used KMix to configure the sound channels as recommended in the above thread but to no avail. If I set the master volume and internal mic volume too high, I receive what I assume to be feedback from the device (which in one instance I thought had deafened me).
In KRecord, the input level and frequency spectrum analyzers indicate noise is being picked up. If I deselect the capture channel in KMix, the input level and frequency spectrum analyzers don’t pick up anything.
I am at a loss as what to do next. I’m not sure if I missed something important or if I need to play around more with the channel configurations.
I am a new user of OpenSUSE 11.2 and would greatly appreciate any help anyone can provide.
I’m not very good at sound issues but I do notice something about the thread you posted. Did you try the last post in that thread?
The creator of the thread never actually confirm the suggestion to edit the 50-sound.conf file worked. I wonder if you remove the line from the file and use the bit further up instead:
Sorry to read your internal mic is not cooperating.
Further to Dexter1979’s post, note when testing your mic, I recommend you use a terminal with this command:
arecord -vv -fdat foo.wav
“foo.wav” is an arbitrary name I made up. Instead you could call it mydell.wav or thewindblows.wav or anything …
Then assuming mic does not work, please configure your mixer exactly the way you think it should be configured for your mic to work and then with your PC connected to the Internet, provide the information recommended to be provided here: Welcome to multimedia sub-area - openSUSE Forums and I will quote this for you:
please post … the following information:
provide the URLs (of a summary webpage) that are created by running the diagnostic script noted here: SDB:AudioTroubleshooting - openSUSE - Script to run to obtain detailed information. ie On openSUSE-11.2 that will ask you to run the script /usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh , select the SHARE/UPLOAD option and after the script finishes it will give you a website/address/URL (with your audio configuration) to pass to the support personnel. Please post here the output address/URL. Just the address/URL. You may need to run that script twice (the first time with root permissions to update in the /usr/sbin directory, and the second time to get the URL).
in a terminal, or xterm, or konsole, type: rpm -qa ‘alsa’ #and post output here
in a terminal, or xterm, or konsole, type: rpm -qa ‘pulse’ #and post output here
in a terminal, or xterm, or konsole, type: rpm -q libasound2 #and post output here
in a terminal, or xterm, or konsole, type: uname -a #and post output here
in a terminal, or xterm, or konsole, type: cat /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf #and post output here
Note that if for some reason the “/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh” script does not give you a website URL then run it with the no upload option this way:
/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh --no-upload
and that will create the file /tmp/alsa-info.txt. Open that file with a text editor and paste it here: New - Pastie and press paste and post here the URL it provides.
That will provide more information that can help in figuring out your problem.
Dexter1979, that is something I missed. So I went back tried it with the alsa-base file.
I went to 50-sound.conf and deleted the line:
options snd-hda-intel model=laptop
I then added the line to the alsa-base file in the same directory.
I tried recording a message with KRecord again. It recorded to a file but wouldn’t play because “can’t open soundcard. device or resource busy”
I took oldcpu’s advice and used the terminal command arecord. I recorded a message to a file. I didn’t know how to stop, so I pressed ctrl+c. I played back the file in SMPlayer and heard nothing.
I deleted the line from the alsa-base file and put it back in the 50-sound.conf file. I tried the terminal command arecord again but to no avail.
One thing I do note and mentioned before, is when I have the master volume and internal mic volume high enough, I receive a feedback signal from the speakers. If the volume is low enough, it sounds like a dull static, if high enough, it makes a horrible whiny sound. Thats enough to convince me the hardware is working.
Oldcpu and Dexter1979, I guess I’ll be taking this problem to the multimedia section. Thank you for your help here.
Note I do NOT recommend krecord for a test. I recommended
arecord -vv -fdat foo.wav
I think I was clear. No k in that.
As for sound device busy, if its busy, what do you think is using it ? You could follow that up ? One way to follow up is check which applications have files open associated with the audio device. You can do that by listing open files. Here is a way to list open files associated with locations that are used by the audio driver:
lsof /dev/dsp* /dev/audio* /dev/mixer* /dev/snd/*
note the syntax of the /dev/snd/* is DELIBERATELY different from the other directory checks.
… also, next time you are told the audio device is busy, try restarting the alsa sound driver with:
su -c 'rcalsasound restart'
…
other than that, and my ignored request for more specific information (which was not provided) there is not much else I can propose.
I stated that I took your advice and used the arecord command after seeing KRecord fail.
I was of the line of thought that if the Microphone works to record stuff, than any old recording program should work. However, that is not the case here I see.
and all of your rpms are associated with version 1.0.17 to 1.0.21 but no version 1.0.23.
So that tells me you have forgotten to tell us about some failed ( ? ) attempt that is quite possibly important. So whats the secret here that you have neglected to mention ? How did version 1.0.23 magically appear ?? rotfl!
It does appear you attempted to update your alsa driver. How can you be certain your update was properly done wrt your kernel version?
Now also when I look at your mixer settings:
!!Amixer output
!!-------------
!!-------Mixer controls for card 0 [Intel]
**Card hw:0 ‘Intel’/‘HDA Intel at 0xdb320000 irq 30’
** Mixer name : ‘Analog Devices AD1984A’ Simple mixer control ‘Mic’,0
Front Left: Playback 23 [100%] [0.00dB] [off]
Front Right: Playback 23 [100%] [0.00dB] [off] Simple mixer control ‘Mic Boost’,0
Front Left: 0 [0%]
Front Right: 0 [0%] Simple mixer control ‘Capture’,0
Front Left: Capture 29 54%] -15.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Capture 29 54%] -15.00dB] [on] Simple mixer control ‘Dock’,0
Front Left: Playback [off]
Front Right: Playback [off] Simple mixer control ‘Dock Mic’,0
Front Left: Playback 23 [100%] [0.00dB] [off]
Front Right: Playback 23 [100%] [0.00dB] [off] Simple mixer control ‘Dock Mic Boost’,0
Front Left: 0 [0%]
Front Right: 0 [0%] Simple mixer control ‘Internal Mic’,0
Front Left: Playback 18 [78%] -7.50dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 18 [78%] -7.50dB] [on] Simple mixer control ‘Internal Mic Boost’,0
Front Left: 2 [67%]
Front Right: 2 [67%]
You have some mic settings muted (and not just the docking station mic settings, but also others) and boost at 0% in one case.
However all that is a mute point if you have messed up your driver ?
I recall waiting for a while during one of the processes, so I restarted it. I was under the impression that it completed successfully, but apparently it didn’t?
Ahh!
I retested my mic with the other mic settings and it works. I originally tested with the boost settings too low for doc mic and mic. Since I received feedback (the whiny noise) with the Internal Mic, I assumed the others didn’t control the physical mic. Twas a dumb issue after all. Thank you however.
I should probably update my rpm’s to point to version 1.0.23?
Excellent !! I recommend you do a screen dump of the mic settings, and keep the image somewhere. That way you can find the settings again if for some reason the mic functionality stops.
I come from the school of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Its possible the next kernel update will break your mic (or sound) and if that happens, you could look at updating then … SDB:Alsa-update - openSUSE