[SOLVED] Microphone not detected in KDE environment

[peter_pclos]

I am having problems with the microphone in a KDE implementation of PCLinuxos 2012.

In the Sound Configuration panel in the Control Center the following legend appears:

Here you can select an alternative driver (either OSS or ALSA) for your sound card (Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI|Cedar HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5400/6300 Series]).

while the only option available in the drop-down list is:

Intel HDA driver (snd_hda_intel[ALSA])

Whatever changes I make in selecting the various options in KMix leave the microphone dead.

However the microphone and the motherboard (Asus M5A78L-M LX V2 with on-board sound) are obviously not giving rise to the problem, since if I boot the PC with an old live PCLinuxOS DVD, where the default configuration is Realtek ALC887, the microphone is live and responsive.

A look at Synaptic gives me no leads to a Realtek ALC887 solution in the current repositories, so where do I turn next?

[Just17]

What is the output of

arecord -l   (lower case L)

and

arecord -L

Your MIC should be listed there.

Do you have PulseAudio installed and enabled?

Qas mixer from the repository gives access to all the settings and might be helpful in locating the problem.

It is likely that the MIC 'volume' is turned down or it is muted.

[peter_pclos]

Response to the suggested commands are:

$ arecord -l
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 2: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

and

arecord -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=SB
    HDA ATI SB, ALC887-VD Analog
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=SB
    HDA ATI SB, ALC887-VD Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC887-VD Analog
    Front speakers
surround40:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC887-VD Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC887-VD Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC887-VD Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC887-VD Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC887-VD Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers

PulseAudio is not enabled at present.

Does this clarify things?

[Phil]

Any use?

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=133987

[Just17]

$ arecord -l
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 2: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Try the following command in a terminal

arecord -D hw:0,0 -f cd -d 10 > ~/test.wav

That will record a file      /home/<username>/test.wav
It will stop recording after 10 secs ........  -d 10
It will have the preset file format CD ......  f cd
It will record from the hardware at location 0,0 ........  hw:0,0

To play back that file, while still using the terminal do

aplay ~/test.wav


If the MIC is turned down completely or muted you will get silence ......  or if the hardware specified is incorrect you will also get silence.

hw:0,0 .....  the first zero is the card number which is correct and the second zero is the device on the card .....  if there are several inputs such as front & rear MICs and line in, for instance, then you might have to alter the second zero to correspond to the input you are using, like this ....

arecord -D hw:0,1 -f cd -d 10 > ~/test.wav

I much prefer to use PulseAudio, as is obvious from my posts on the forum  , as it gives a GUI method to select the input, the input 'volume' as well as the output and its volume.
While recording the input can be changed 'on the fly' and there is an indicator showing the input level so you can be sure it is recording some sound and not silence.
All those are available through PulseAudio Volume control (pavucontrol from the repository).

Anyway try without PulseAudio first and see if you can record something.

[Just17]

BTW ......  if you are considering using PulseAudio then this thread might be of interest ......

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,105160.0.html

The second post includes a small script which allows you to select an audio input to record from.

[peter_pclos]

just17,

Running arecord -D hw:0,0 -f cd -d 10 > ~/test.wav gave total silence on playback

Running arecord -D hw:0,2 -f cd -d 10 > ~/test.wav gave background noise on playback, but no mic input was picked up.

Where does that take us?

Your other suggested post is a bit above my pay grade (I'm fiendishly busy at the moment on non-IT stuff, so don't have the time to read it in the necessary detail) so I'm tempted to try PulseAudio, although I seem to remember other threads from about a year ago which warned that it, too, had its problems.  Any comments on that?

[Just17]

just17,

Running arecord -D hw:0,0 -f cd -d 10 > ~/test.wav gave total silence on playback

Running arecord -D hw:0,2 -f cd -d 10 > ~/test.wav gave background noise on playback, but no mic input was picked up.

Where does that take us?

Your other suggested post is a bit above my pay grade (I'm fiendishly busy at the moment on non-IT stuff, so don't have the time to read it in the necessary detail) so I'm tempted to try PulseAudio, although I seem to remember other threads from about a year ago which warned that it, too, had its problems.  Any comments on that?

Did you try with hw:0,1 also?  Should do if only to eliminate it.

Have you installed Qas as suggested to see if you could find the MIC muted or at minimum?

Even before that you should have a good look at Kmix and its settings .....  maybe the MIC is not displayed and you can change that and adjust its levels?

***

Comments on PulseAudio from about a year ago?
Once installed and working there were few if any problems met by most people.

But then, what happened a year ago is hardly relevant as no one is using the same software they were then .....  the OS has been updated and PA has been updated .....

Sometimes a glitch happens and PA does not work for someone .....  just as with all software ......  and there are a few threads suggesting fixes for the different events that have been met.

In my experience PA has been nearly fault-free in the past three years or more.

....  but I did warn you I am a fan 

[peter_pclos]

PulseAudio didn't make any difference to the problem, BUT installing Qas gave working control over the microphone channel, and now I'm in business with the recordings I need to do.

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread.

[Just17]

Glad you got it sorted 

I believe that the PA Vol Control would give you similar control.

[peter_pclos]

I had hoped so, but I was one of the minority for whom the GUI wasn't picked up by PA, so Qas was a quicker (if dirtier) solution.

[Just17]

I had hoped so, but I was one of the minority for whom the GUI wasn't picked up by PA, so Qas was a quicker (if dirtier) solution.

Did PA Vol Control launch correctly?

[peter_pclos]

No, it failed to appear anywhere, and attempts to rouse it from Konsole also failed.  At that point I took up the Qas solution, which enabled me to get on with the audio job which had been stalled by the lack of microphone input.  I've now de-activated PulseAudio on my system, and removed the associated packages.

[Just17]

No, it failed to appear anywhere, and attempts to rouse it from Konsole also failed.  At that point I took up the Qas solution, which enabled me to get on with the audio job which had been stalled by the lack of microphone input.  I've now de-activated PulseAudio on my system, and removed the associated packages.

In that case PulseAudio was not operating correctly ........  which explains why you did not have the controls.