I tried several things suggested in this thread... still no luck :-(
Alsamixer does not even recognize that the microphone exists.

I should also say that it does not work on Vista either, where it gives a message that "this computer has no sound capabilities for skype".

Do you think it could be a hardware proble, or do i just not have the correct driver (in both windows and ubuntu).
I have a Dell XPS, with an Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) soundcard.

Any suggestions appreciated, best regards

Hey guys,

I also have a problem with the mic, but it is slightly different from most people here. When I start Skype, the microphone works, but after one or two calls, the microphone no longer does. If I try to record from the microphone, the microphone seems still working, but when I call with Skype it does not.

I'm using Debian with latest Skype. Is it a bug?

I too have been having a problem with the Microphone, and Skype, for well over a year. I finally found a workaround to my particular problem. Here is my setup:

Fedora Core 6 w/KDE
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
2GB RAM
160 GB SATA
Via Onboard Audio
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 PCI card

I originally had my mic plugged in to the mic jack on my SB card. I fiddled with config files, and uninstalled, re-installed. I eventually enabled my onboard audio (which Skype recognized immediately) and just plugged my mic into the mic port there. Now everything works. My speakers run through the SB card, but my mic runs through the onboard audio. I can voice chat and everything now. It's great! I haven't been able to figure out why it wouldn't work on my SB Live card, but I don't really care now.

Anyways, this was my workaround. Anyone else with a similar problem may want to try this too.

"- switch to the alsamixer view 'Capture' with TAB or start it with alsamixer -V capture -c CARDNUM
- make sure you have 'Mic' and 'Capture' sliders marked selected as CAPTUR ... to do this hit space"

Yup, exactly the same problem here...I'm on a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M1450 (I think thats its name)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I tried most things that were said in this thread that didn't surpass my knowledge of Computers.

Same prob here ...

Gentoo, Alsa-1.0.14_rc2, onboard-Intel8x0. arecord works, audacity works, skype works not.



done. no change.

Any further hints?

Many thanks - you've provided the answer for me. Capture was not switched on by default. Greg
Via mini-itx, VIA 8235 sound, KUBUNTU 7.04, Skype 1.4.0.74 beta

Hello!

I am using ubuntu feisty, in a toshiba with an HDA intel ich7 sound card. I installed alsa driver 1.0.14 but Microphone is not working.
In Alsamixer I followed the steps you recommended, but as soon as I try to record something, it lost the "tab" CAPTURE settings that I introduced. I opened the volume control at the same time of the sound recorder and clicked on preferences of the Mic. and I see that even if the mic is open, as soon as I try to record something the microphone changes to muted. what can I do? justo_yo@yahoo.fr

SUSE 10.2/KDE and 1.4.0.74-static.tar.bz2 and Intel ICH5 AC'97 here. Not working capture. Amarok works. Mic works locally. KMix claims capture is enabled, but alsamixergui shows blank for capture and red dots above the Mic column. I have no idea what red dots are supposed to indicate. /var/log/messages shows "kernel: ALSA sound/core/pcm_lib.c:1997: capture read error (DMA or IRQ trouble?)". Other than -devel packages, I have every package with alsa in its name installed.

Guys and gals, after upgrade to __ALSA 1.0.14__ your microphone WILL NOT work.

Please, remove /etc/asound.state and restart your alsa modules. (Then set your volume levels as appropriate using mixer software).

This is some sort of incompatibility in ALSA it seems.

Some cards also have an "igain" control that dows not show up in alsamixer. Mine was set to 0 and thus my microphone was not working. Aumix works for me to adjust it and if've read that kmix can do so, too.

I have the same problem with a 00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
will this work?

You can also switch the capture device into "Microphone" using aumix application, instead of alsamixer.

1. From console mode /terminal:

Scroll down to "mic".
Press space and make sure the letter on the left side of the "mic" scale is RED "R", not Green "P"

2. From X-Windows:

Search the "mic" volume scale.
There is a square button on the left side of the "mic" scale.
Click this button using mouse and make sure the button turn into red, not green/other color.

3. To store alsamixer setting, as root you can do:

alsactl store

See also alsactl --help or alsactl -h

The next time the computer boot up, it will use the stored setting / microphone as the default capture device.

4. To store audio / microphone setting using aumix:

Saving to ~/.aumixrc (store setting hidden file on home directory).

aumix -S

Restoring fom ~/.aumixrc

aumix -L

To check microphone setting:

aumix -L | grep mic

Output: "mic is set to xx, yy, z"

xx: numeric: volume of left channel.
yy: numeric: volume of right channel
z: one character, either "P" or "R". For skype, make sure that the setting is "R".

You can also modify "~/.aumixrc" file using ordinary text editor.

To restore setting every time you boot up the computer you can modify automatic initial setup scripts inside "/etc/init.d" directory or other places (depend on Linux distro type).

I have a nForce2 AC97 chipset, with Ubuntu 7.04 (kubuntu actually) and just had a tiny bit of a problem with the mic.

To make it work I had to:

• enable mic capture
• set mic capture volume
• enable "Mic Boost" (extra mic gain)
• set "Mic Select" to Mic1
• disable IEC985 capture (from alsamixergui)

Specially the last one (IEC985) turned out to be a tricky one, as Skype seemed to work except for the mic, but then hang mysteriously after finishing the first call.

Does anyone have new solutions for the mic problems on the 1.4 Skype beta version for Mandriva, using iphone? My mic is dead----again! (Didn't work in previous versions, either, needed a workaround.)

Hi,

I do have exactly the same problem as naiveone. The change does not last. Everytime I restart the computer. I have to apply the change again. I Skype itself overwriting it???

Any idea?

Thanks

Heinz

I'm quite desperate. Can anyone give an 'idiots guide' to fixing my mic problem. I've just installed Ubuntu 7.10 and Skype 1.4 for Linux but can't get my mic to work. I can hear the voice on the Skype test call. I've been trawling the Forum for solutions, but some are quite complicated for me.

i just wanted to say thx i really appreciate this post it helped me out
solving my issue

Big ups to Martin, this worked for me on Debian Etch. Had to install alsamixer and other assorted alsa bits first of course.