External Microphone not picking up sound (gnome)

roidemai · November 16, 2008, 5:07am

Hello.

I’m having trouble getting my microphone to pick up sound (under Gnome). I can hear my microphone through my speakers when it is turned on, but it does not record anything during tests. Thanks in advance for any advice. Here’s what I know:


$ rpm -qa | grep alsa
alsa-oss-1.0.15-48.1
alsa-1.0.16-39.1
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.15-48.1
alsa-plugins-1.0.16-57.1
alsa-plugins-pulse-32bit-1.0.16-57.1
alsa-utils-1.0.16-35.1
alsa-plugins-32bit-1.0.16-57.1
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.16-57.1

$ rpm -qa | grep pulse
pulseaudio-0.9.10-26.5
pulseaudio-utils-0.9.10-26.5
libpulse0-32bit-0.9.10-26.5
libpulse-browse0-0.9.10-26.5
pulseaudio-module-zeroconf-0.9.10-26.5
alsa-plugins-pulse-32bit-1.0.16-57.1
libpulsecore4-0.9.10-26.5
pulseaudio-module-gconf-0.9.10-26.5
pulseaudio-esound-compat-0.9.10-26.5
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.16-57.1
libpulse-mainloop-glib0-0.9.10-26.5
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth-0.9.10-26.5
libpulse0-0.9.10-26.5
pulseaudio-module-lirc-0.9.10-26.5
gstreamer-0_10-pulse-0.9.7-42.pm.1
pulseaudio-module-x11-0.9.10-26.5

$ rpm -q libasound2
libasound2-1.0.16-39.1

$ uname -a
Linux linux-1g5x 2.6.25.18-0.2-default #1 SMP 2008-10-21 16:30:26 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound
options snd slots=snd-hda-intel
# u1Nb.iJWhLrosxI5:ThinkPad T61
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel model=thinkpad

when running wget http://home.cfl.rr.com/infofiles/tsalsa && su -c ‘bash ./tsalsa’, I get an error

lsof: WARNING: can't stat() fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon file system $HOME/.gvfs
 Output information may be incomplete.
uploading /tmp/tsalsa.txt to nopaste.com
Uploading /tmp/tsalsa.txt: #-------------------------------------------------] 0.2 Seconds
 tsalsa completed in 39 seconds
paste this url in #alsa:

without any url,
I tried trimming down the report to fit it here. If I’ve mistakenly omitted any significant section, i’ll repost it.

tsalsa version 2008-09-14 Sat Nov 15 20:56:09 CET 2008	
Problem: microphone not recording	


PC type/make/model:          laptop : Thinkpad T61	
        Plugs: 2 	
        Surround sound system: no	
        Model options: no	
        Number of speakers: 0 	
        Linux install is an upgrade from a previous version: yes 	
        PC age (approximate): 7 months 	
        Groups: user is in these groups:         Hardware Mixing: enabled if count is greater than 1: subdevices_count: 1	

Distro: Welcome to openSUSE 11.0 (X86-64) - Kernel	

Release: SuSE-release	
2.6.25.18-0.2-default	
System: Linux linux-1g5x 2.6.25.18-0.2-default #1 SMP 2008-10-21 16:30:26 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux	

Vendor/dev id: 	
        8086 284b	

Vendor/dev module: 	
      	

Vendor/device: 8086:284b Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T61	

Lspci info: 	
      	00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)	

Alsa driver: 1.0.16rc2	
dpkg path:   	
Alsa utils: 1.0.16	

Alsa modules:	
        snd_hda_intel	

Snd/soundcore: 	
      snd                    96248  18 snd_seq_dummy	
      snd_pcm_oss	
      snd_mixer_oss	
      snd_seq	
      snd_usb_audio	
      snd_usb_lib	
      snd_hda_intel	
      snd_rawmidi	
      snd_pcm	
      snd_timer	
      snd_seq_device	
      snd_hwdep	
soundcore              26000  1 snd	

Alsa cards: 	
	 0 [Intel          ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel	
	                      HDA Intel at 0xfe020000 irq 17	

Codec: 	

	Codec: Analog Devices AD1984	



cardcnt: 0 	
Amixer item options for card 0 [Intel] _________________________________	
  : values=[AES0=0x04 AES1=0x00 AES2=0x00 AES3=0x00]	
'IEC958 Playback Source'  ; Item #0 'PCM'  ; Item #1 'ADC'--  	
'Input Source'  ; Item #0 'Mic'  ; Item #1 'Internal Mic'  ; Item #2 'Mix'  ; Item #3 'Docking-Station'  : values=0	
'Input Source',index=1  ; Item #0 'Mic'  ; Item #1 'Internal Mic'  ; Item #2 'Mix'  ; Item #3 'Docking-Station'	

Amixer contents for card 0 [Intel] _____________________________________	
amixer set 'Master',0 100% on	
amixer set 'Headphone',0 on on	
amixer set 'PCM',0 69% 69%	
amixer set 'Mic',0 81%,81% on	
amixer set 'Mic Boost',0 0% 0%	
amixer set 'IEC958',0 100% off 100% off	
amixer set 'IEC958 Default PCM',0 on	
amixer set 'IEC958 Playback Source',0 Items: 'PCM' 'ADC' Item0: 'PCM'	
amixer set 'Capture',0 Capture 5 9%,Capture 5 9% on	
amixer set 'Capture',1 Capture 39 72% off Capture 39 72% off	
amixer set 'Beep',0 0% off 0% off	
amixer set 'Docking Mic',0 0% off 0% off	
amixer set 'Docking Mic Boost',0 0% 0%	
amixer set 'Input Source',0 Items: 'Mic' 'Internal Mic' 'Mix' 'Docking-Station' Item0: 'Mic'	
amixer set 'Input Source',1 Items: 'Mic' 'Internal Mic' 'Mix' 'Docking-Station' Item0: 'Mic'	
amixer set 'Internal Mic',0 0% off 0% off	
amixer set 'Internal Mic Boost',0 0% 0%	
amixer set 'Speaker',0 on on	

raw amixer output:	
Simple mixer control 'Master',0	
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined	
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right	
  Limits: Playback 0 - 65536	
  Mono:	
  Front Left: Playback 65536 [100%] [on]	
  Front Right: Playback 65536 [100%] [on]	
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0	
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch cswitch-joined	
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right	
  Limits: Capture 0 - 65536	
  Front Left: Capture 6068 [9%] [on]	
  Front Right: Capture 6068 [9%] [on]	


aplay -l: 	
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****	
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: AD198x Analog [AD198x Analog]	
  Subdevices: 1/1	
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0	
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: AD198x Digital [AD198x Digital]	
  Subdevices: 1/1	
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0	

arecord -l: 	
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****	
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: AD198x Analog [AD198x Analog]	
  Subdevices: 2/2	
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0	
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1	

aplay -L: 	
front:CARD=Intel,DEV=0	
    HDA Intel, AD198x Analog	
    Front speakers	
surround40:CARD=Intel,DEV=0	
    HDA Intel, AD198x Analog	
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers	
surround41:CARD=Intel,DEV=0	
    HDA Intel, AD198x Analog	
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers	
surround50:CARD=Intel,DEV=0	
    HDA Intel, AD198x Analog	
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers	
surround51:CARD=Intel,DEV=0	
    HDA Intel, AD198x Analog	
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers	
surround71:CARD=Intel,DEV=0	
    HDA Intel, AD198x Analog	
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers	
hdmi:CARD=Intel,DEV=0	
    HDA Intel	
    HDMI Audio Output	
null	
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)	

Devices: 	
  2:        : timer	
  6:  0- 1]: digital audio playback	
  7:  0- 0]: digital audio playback	
  8:  0- 0]: digital audio capture	
  9:  0- 0]: hardware dependent	
 10:  0]   : control	
 11:        : sequencer

oldcpu · November 16, 2008, 8:20am

Your installed rpms look ok. You do have a very large number of pulse apps, and pulse has been known to cause problems with openSUSE-11.0, especially with gnome and KDE4 (KDE3 was less troublesome).

That option (and the syntax) looks good, as I noted an AD1984 for your T61 from the script you provided. That is the correction option.

Have you restarted your alsa driver since applying that setting? For example, you can do so by rebooting or by sending the appropriate alsa command for restarting.

Its possible your mixer needs tuning:

roidemai:

‘Input Source’ ; Item #0 ‘Mic’ ; Item #1 ‘Internal Mic’ ; Item #2 ‘Mix’ ; Item #3 ‘Docking-Station’ : values=0
‘Input Source’,index=1 ; Item #0 ‘Mic’ ; Item #1 ‘Internal Mic’ ; Item #2 ‘Mix’ ; Item #3 ‘Docking-Station’
Amixer contents for card 0 [Intel] _____________________________________
amixer set ‘Mic’,0 81%,81% on
amixer set ‘Mic Boost’,0 0% 0%
amixer set ‘Capture’,0 Capture 5 9%,Capture 5 9% on
amixer set ‘Capture’,1 Capture 39 72% off Capture 39 72% off
amixer set ‘Docking Mic’,0 0% off 0% off
amixer set ‘Docking Mic Boost’,0 0% 0%
amixer set ‘Input Source’,0 Items: ‘Mic’ ‘Internal Mic’ ‘Mix’ ‘Docking-Station’ Item0: **‘Mic’ **
amixer set ‘Input Source’,1 Items: ‘Mic’ ‘Internal Mic’ ‘Mix’ ‘Docking-Station’ Item0: ‘Mic’
amixer set ‘Internal Mic’,0 0% off 0% off
amixer set ‘Internal Mic Boost’,0 0% 0%

You should switch ON and move up the boost (don’t leave it at 0%).

I see you have your docking OFF - ok. I also see you have your Internal mic off, … that should be ok, although in the off chance there is bug in the alsa driver, you could try switching ON that setting to see if it makes any difference. You also have capture 1 OFF. I assume that is associated with your docking station, but I’m not sure. You could try switching that ON in at least one test (switch it off if it does not help).

I did a search on the alsa site for the AD1984, and I did not see any mention of updates to the AD1984 in the alsa driver after version 1.0.16. So your driver version should be ok.
Search results - AlsaProject

How are you testing your mic? When I test my mic, I typically use a simple arecord command. ie something likearecord -d 10 myrecording.wavorarecord -d 10 -f cd secondrecording.wavwhere “-d 10” sets a 10 second recording. I then play back the recording with xine or mplayer or xmms (or any audio playback program).

roidemai · November 17, 2008, 12:08am

I just didn’t know how to change those settings in amixer from the command line. I found a gui, gmerlin alsamixer, which allowed me to make the necessary changes so it’s functional.

I can make test recordings just fine, but my main motivation was to use skype. No sound is communicated from my microphone with skype (though the test call with ekiga performs well). I guess this is a software issue now…

The only hint I got was:


RtApiAlsa: underrun detected.

I’ll look around for more documentation.