Computer: Dell Inspiron 1720
Operating System: Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty
Problem: Couldn’t get Skype or other applications to work with an external analog microphone (similar to this one)
Background
The Inspiron 1720 appears to have two internal sound input devices – one is the built-in microphone near the webcam at the top of the screen, the other is the external mic jack at the front right corner of the laptop. The built-in mic seems to be regarded as a digital mic, and the mic jack as an analog mic.
Some information about fixing sound with Ubuntu and the Inspiron 1720 suggests that removing the Pulse audio system is required. Pulse seems to be fine, and its removal isn’t required.
These actions fixed the problem for me
- Open a terminal window, and run the command alsamixer. In alsamixer, set the Digital input to the value Analog I. Use the left and right cursor keys to navigate, up and down to change values, and esc to save and exit. Here’s a screenshot of my settings. Click the image to see a larger version.
alsamixer screenshot
- Open gnome-sound-properties by using System -> Preferences -> Sound, Terminal or Alt-F2. Match the settings to those shown here. Click the image to see a larger version.
Screenshot-Sound-Preferences
- Open gnome-volume-control-setting by using System -> Preferences -> Sound (I’ve ended up with two menu items called sound, that link to these two programs) , Terminal or Alt-F2. Match the settings to those shown here. Click the image to see a larger version.
Screenshot-Sound Preferences
- The external microphone ought to work now. Let’s test it. If you have the package padevchooser installed, perhaps because you followed the excellent advice in Part A this post, then you can run padevchooser and check these settings:
Screenshot-PulseAudio Manager
Click properties
Screenshot-Source: alsa_input
You may want to move the volume slider a little. Click Show Volume Meter.
Screenshot-PulseAudio Volume Meter
Check that the bars move when the microphone hears a sound.
- You can also use the GNOME Sound Recorder (Applications -> Sound and Video -> Sound Recorder) to verify that the microphone is working.
Screenshot- Sound Recorder
- Once the microphone is working, adjust Skype’s settings to match these:
Screenshot-Skype-Options
Good luck.
Other Information
I found these posts useful:
