I'm using a LiveUSB of Ubuntu 10.10 to see if this bug I reported in Aug 2009 has been fixed. Sadly, it seems like it has not.
This is what I did to test: I booted with a Ubuntu 10.10 LiveUSB, I updated everything using Synaptic: including pulse and other sound related packages, everything except the kernel. After that I opened Sound Preferences,made sure sound input was not muted, moved the input volume all the way, opened Sound Record and tried to to record some sound. I could hear only static. Basically I cannot get any sound from the microphone that is on the chasis of this lenovo x300 laptop.
My theory is that pulse or alsa are only able to get sound input if I connect an external mic to the jack. I tried using an external mic a few months ago and it worked. But I don't want to use external mics, I want to use the mic on the laptop itself.
Any suggestion on how to solve this problem?