Sound Input device (microphone) not working

Question

I have recently updated my laptop OS from Ubuntu 12.04 to 14.04

After updating the OS, my laptop's input device ie., microphone is not working.

Earlier it was working with Ubuntu 12.04.

Also there is no sound input device driver detected

Sound setting

I am using Dell Vostro 1014.

after running command $ gstreamer-properties, output is:

gstreamer-properties

I think my microphone is working but is not being betected by ubuntu as in above screenshot.

But after running Pulse Audio Sound Control, it shows input sound progress, it means input device is working but not being detected. Even by Sound Recorder.

After running alsamixer the output is:

gstreamer plugins are already installed, as click the link opens software-center and asks to remove instead of install — Anuj TBE, Aug 07 '14 at 17:33
I think there is some setting to select sound input device/profile. But, I don't know where it is. — Anuj TBE, Aug 09 '14 at 07:00
What outputs do you have available? Have you checked if your onboard sound card was disabled at the BIOS? — Waldir Leoncio, Apr 05 '15 at 11:42
I have windows 7 parallel to ubuntu. and sound input is working good in windows. If it was disabled in BIOS it must not work with windows as well. This issue is only with Ubuntu — Anuj TBE, Apr 05 '15 at 13:18
I was able to solve this problem once and for all. Here this solution! — Giordano Pedro, May 02 '17 at 17:47
link After following this instruction, the headset with the microphone started working. However, the built-in microphone in the laptop still does not work. Generally I have no any input devices in sound settings. Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro - Black Edition. — Mat Pa, Jan 11 '21 at 19:22

score 67 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 06 '21 at 04:59

67

I had a similar problem - no sound input device driver detected. I used pavucontrol, as explained in this Ask Ubuntu answer and it solved the problem:

Install pavucontrol: sudo apt-get install pavucontrol
Run:pavucontrol
Go to the Input Devices tab
Click the lock icon to unlock the channels
Under Port, select the correct microphone (front or rear)

edited Aug 06 '21 at 04:59

Zanna

70,465

answered Dec 21 '15 at 08:03

Erel Segal-Halevi

2,251

2

The problem was almost fixed after installing pavucontrol (all devices went mute). One step was left for me and I struggled a lot trying to figure out why I was getting false positives: Re-plug your I/O sound devices to get them working again. – George Dimitriadis Nov 16 '19 at 09:28
no working with my Plantronics WO350. Its fisible as "Savi Office Base Station Analog Sterio" and looks working, but still nothing to hear – SL5net Feb 12 '20 at 17:11
Thanks a lot, pavucontrol did the trick for me, only install and the mic was working, USB Kungber mic, on Linux Mint 20.2. – Raberg Sep 15 '21 at 19:46
1

+1 for recommendation of pavucontrol app, which wasn't installed by default in mantic. It did not fix anything automatically, but allowed me to see: 1) volume input from each device, so I could confirm my mic was working. 2) on the 'recording' tab when google Meet was actually running, it showed that Meet was listening to the wrong mic and let me fix it! – BobHy Jan 31 '24 at 02:41

score 18 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 01 '22 at 20:45

18

try this in terminal for no sound:

sudo alsa force-reload

restart device and check if sound is workin?

if it doesnt do this:

sudo apt-get remove --purge alsa-base pulseaudio
sudo apt-get install alsa-base pulseaudio

The following commands will also remove some important dependencies that may break Ubuntu. Type in the command sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop to reinstall the removed files.

Restart device and check ..This should probably do the job!

edited Jun 01 '22 at 20:45

Tim

32,861
27
118
178

answered Aug 07 '14 at 17:37

Tejas Ghalsasi

495

I tried this, but still nothing happend.... – Anuj TBE Aug 09 '14 at 05:29
26

These commands will also remove some important dependencies that may break Ubuntu. Type in the command sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop to reinstall the removed files. – authentictech Mar 29 '16 at 22:09
2

Warning!!!!! what @authentictech said is correct, remember that. – Mohd Abdul Mujib Jun 16 '16 at 14:38
This commands can potentially break Mint desktop, leaving you with no OS – Alvaro Rodriguez Scelza Jan 23 '22 at 19:05

score 11 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 21 '14 at 17:14

11

Open a terminal and issue the command alsamixer you will get a screen like this:

alsamixer

use the right arrow to highlight the Front Microphone

if it's muted as shown above, hit the 'M' key to toggle Mute off.

then use the up arrow to increase the gain (sensitivity) your end result should look similar to this. Hit the Esc key to exit. Your Microphone should now work as advertised.

alsa-gain-up

edited Aug 21 '14 at 17:14

Elder Geek

36,023
25
98
183

answered Aug 21 '14 at 14:37

Sergei

121

1

Can you please elaborate on how to use alsamixer and how to open it for those who don't know. A screenshot would improve your answer as well!! – v2r Aug 21 '14 at 15:36
@NoTime Answers like this are not more appropriate as comments. – Eliah Kagan Aug 21 '14 at 16:20
@EliahKagan you are right I should have just put I am unsure if this would solve any issue, already downvoted and flagged as low quality. – No Time Aug 21 '14 at 16:24
7

In my case, after running alsamixer, there are only three columns of Master,PCM and Beep. There is no column for microphone. – Anuj TBE Aug 22 '14 at 16:38
it worked! but You can barely hear the sound! – Salim Ibrohimi May 03 '18 at 17:07

score 7 · Answer 4 · edited Jan 17 '17 at 21:38

7

Had the same problem. Solved it like this:

Run pavucontrol from the terminal window.
Check microphone level and mute switch in tab Input Devices.
Open tab Recording.
In parallel, start the recording function in the wanted application. E.g. press record in Audacity or start a test call in Skype.
In the Recording tab of pavucontrol, now a source selection becomes available. Select the right one. Worked for me.

To me it is (was) confusing that the source selector is not always present in pavucontrol.

edited Jan 17 '17 at 21:38

Fabby

34,259

answered Jan 17 '17 at 19:13

oscar1919

1,707

@JuanAntonio, Could you please review my edits and also review the editing help to improve the readability of your own edits in the future... ;-) – Fabby Jan 17 '17 at 21:39

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 20 '17 at 05:29

6

Goto PulseAudio volume control --> Configuration, choose "Analog Stereo Duplex" under the Profile section.

Restart your machine.

*Tried in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

answered Sep 20 '17 at 05:29

N.Sinha

131

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 23 '20 at 13:11

If you don't see your Microphone in the Port selection under the input devices in pavucontrol: use pavucontrol -> configuration -> built_in Audio. Check if you have * Output + * Input choosen in your profile, otherwise your microphone isn't shown in the input devices section and cannot be used.

Waldir Leoncio · Answer 7 · 2015-08-07T22:05:25.717

3

The following might work for you:

Run gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf on terminal (if you have no access to a graphical interface in the moment, use sudo nano instead of gksudo gedit.
Add options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1 or position_fix=2 to the end of the file.
Reboot

Sources: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1893142 and https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/PositionReporting

edited Aug 07 '15 at 22:05

answered Apr 05 '15 at 13:50

Waldir Leoncio

1,895

The symptoms for that are listed as crackling audio.. the question's issue is with no audio at all. – Alkanshel Feb 23 '24 at 18:22

score 3 · Answer 8 · edited Jun 20 '17 at 04:53

3

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

add this line:

options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=laptop-dmic

edited Jun 20 '17 at 04:53

d a i s y

5,511

answered Jun 19 '17 at 08:11

Haendler

41

2

This made a microphone unit show up in Sound settings ("Internal Microphone Built-In Audio"), but it is stuck at 0% volume and greyed out. I'm on Mint 20, i.e., Ubuntu 20.04, and running a Dell Inspiron 7708 laptop. – CoderGuy123 Mar 21 '21 at 18:29
1

On Ubuntu 22.04, the internal mic shows up, I can change volume, but it registers no sound. – Rasmus Dec 02 '22 at 11:28

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 09 '16 at 20:53

I had the same problem. I found the solution after I upgraded to 16.04, but I think it works on 14.04 too! In Skype click "Open PulseAudio Volume Control". From there on move to "Input Devices" and change the Port. By some miracle my microphone started working after I changed my port to "Microphone (unplugged)". Good luck!

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 04 '17 at 08:09

0

For me everything looked correct, input device was selected correctly however I was unable to use the inner or the external mic. I solved it by enabling the webcam using the Fn keys. Apparently they are enabled and disabled by the same Fn key.

answered Jul 04 '17 at 08:09

Waqleh

871

score -3 · Answer 11 · edited Jan 29 '15 at 08:24

-3

I had a similar problem on 14.04, sound input source was blank in the 'Sound Settings'. I did the following, what did the trick is installing 'Audacity', for more info check the following link

sudo apt-get remove --purge alsa-base pulseaudio
sudo apt-get install alsa-base pulseaudio
sudo apt-get install audacity

edited Jan 29 '15 at 08:24

αғsнιη

35,660

answered Jan 27 '15 at 15:51

Swift Guy

97

9

Doind this somehow completely screwed with my system. Now I don't even have sound settings or a sound icon on the panel. Fixed it after reading http://askubuntu.com/q/453440/48105 and reinstalling ubuntu-desktop. – Waldir Leoncio Apr 05 '15 at 11:35
Purging packages should be done with great trepidation. It can kill things that you'll have a lot of trouble getting back. – Paul A. Aug 11 '20 at 01:42

Sound Input device (microphone) not working

11 Answers11

Linked