So your microphone doesn't work?
Let's go through the troubleshooting steps to diagnose the problem.
Test the microphone in another Environment.
- If you have a dual boot setup, test the mic in the other OS that is installed.
- Try a live disc from a different distribution.
-- If neither of these tests result in a functional microphone it is possible that either the mic is malfunctioning, or the physical port on your machine is faulty.
Test on another physical machine
- If the mic is not functional on a different machine it is likely that the microphone is faulty.
Test other microphones in your machine.
- If a known-to-be-working microphone doesn't work, chances are that either the physical port on your machine is faulty, or there is a problem with PulseAudio / ALSA.
If after testing the physical hardware you determine that all works as expected, but you still don't have a functional microphone it might be possible that either PulseAudio or ALSA need additional configuration.
PulseAudio
Make sure the input device you want to use is properly selected in pavucontrol
. The Recording tab will show the active input device. The Input tab will allow you to select which input Port to use and to adjust the gain. Values over 100% are permitted. Additional configuration is available with the pacmd tool.
ALSA
Adjustments to devices can be made with amixer
from the terminal. Ensure that devices are not muted. You are able to set device volumes there as well.