Dear friends

I am new to Linux, but not to Skype. I had Skype working under Windows for years. I switched to Linux Ubuntu and, in spite of all my efforts and readings, I am unable to make the microphone work.

After a week of efforts, I am ready to give up and go back to Windows. I also tried Teamspeak, but to no avail.

cat/proc/asound/xards returns :
0 [ICH6 ]: ICH4 - Intel ICH6
Intel ICH6 with AD1986 at 0xf0140800, irq 16
1 [M44 ]: ICE1712 - M Audio Delta 44
M Audio Delta 44 at 0x6800, irq 22

I am a amateur radio and use the Delta 44 with a software defined radio under Windows. My goal is to join a group of hams who are preparing a version of the software for Linux.

Any help, advice, recommandation will be greatly appreciated. TKS in advance.

José F5JD

If you record a file using arecord, example:

arecord -D "hw:1,0" -d 5 bla.wav

Then try and play it back:

aplay -D "hw:1,0" bla.wav

The reason I've specified the exact device name is so you can access the second card (M Audio). I'm assuming you are using this for your Mic as well as Speakers. The ICH6 here is your onboard sound.

Do you hear anything? (Or get any errors?)

If you do hear something, then try upgrading to 1.4.0.118, and make sure Skype is set to use the device at hw:1,0. You may get sound in only one ear in this configuration currently, and using hw: devices requires exclusive use of the audio device.

If you don't hear something, then you may need to enable a switch in the mixer somewhere to enable capturing from Mic.

We can try a few different things.

Andy.

You cannot make Skype and Teamspeak work at once together, because teamspeak uses oss.
You may try running TS through aoss and setting up dmix as described elsewhere, but generally TS is too fragile to run anything else audio alongside it on Linux.

Hi Friends

Because of my bad english, the message was not clear. Let me try again as I am completely desperate.


I do not intend to use Skype and Teamspeak at the same time. Skype is for ordinary chat ; Teamspeak is used with fellows amateur radio 2 times a week.

With Skype, I have sound coming from the mobo sound card or the Delta 44. The problem is with the mobo microphone. I tried every recommandation posted here and there, but to no avail.

I saw that this problem is plaguing many people. It acts as a brake upon switching from Windows. If you need more info on my setup or something else, please let me know.

Many thanks in advance.

José F5JD

Well, I have the same problem. Am trying to get microphone to work on one input of the Delta 44. I digged around for a couple of hours and am frustrated ..... I openend all channels on alsamixer in the capture view, but still no luck.

I tried

arecord -D "hw:1,0" -d 5 bla.wav

and I get:

ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1357:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card
arecord: main:545: audio open error: No such device

Can anybody please help?

If I understand your problem properly, this may be the Missing Mic Boost problem again?
You need to have Mic Boost on other wise your microphone will be very very quiet

Listen carefully to the skype test call recording to see if you can hear anything very quiet.

If you can, then this may well be due to an issue to Intel HDA, ICH, where linux does not recognise the HDA model properly and so the Mic Boost button is missing.


What you have to do is to add

'options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-dig'

to your modprobe.conf file

After that you can enable mic boost and everything will be fine.

See http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/sh...ad.php?t=555391 for details of Gruemaster's original article.

S

Use the default device:
arecord -d 5 bla.wav

And you must be sure the Mic capture is on.
Use alsamixer to check this.

Also please note your alsalib/alsamixer works better if they are of the
same version as your alsa driver.

Hey, I have much the same problem.

The weirdest thing IMO is that I can't make a test call: the first part where the nice lady tells me how it works is fine, then I can sometimes kind of hear the beep, sometimes nothing, then silence and after that just really distorted sound.

I have messed around with different settings, and at one point I got everything to work, but it the mic went dead again in the middle of a call without me changing anything.

Skype also tends to crash a lot, I have to restart it after ever try with the test call otherwise it crashes.

I run Ubuntu 7.10 on a Acer laptop with AMD Turion 64.

aplay -l gives

**** Lista över PLAYBACK hårdvaruenheter ****
kort 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], enhet 0: ALC883 Analog [ALC883 Analog]
Underordnade enheter: 1/1
Underordnad enhet nr. 0: subdevice #0

Sound out works ok but I can't seem to make any kind of recording.

I have tried different settings on the ALSA mixer, (everything on, just front mic, just mic, boost on and off ...) but nothing changes.

I'm a beginner on linux so please ask if there is any more info I can give that would be helpful. Thanks.

The echo123 problem Parikh mentioned is actually problem with echo123 itself, not with skype.

Spegru, thank you for your reply, but halas no luck here. My modprobe.conf looks like

alias eth0 8139too
alias scsi_hostadapter ata_piix
alias snd-card-0 snd-ice1712
options snd-card-0 index=0
options snd-ice1712 index=0
remove snd-ice1712 { /usr/sbin/alsactl store 0 >/dev/null 2>&1 || : ; }; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-ice1712
options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-dig

I simply do not see the Mic Boost level anywhere in alsamixer or gnome-volume-control. I did find out that with arecord I record a noisy and very low volume signal ....
Any help would be welcome, as I am currently clueless.

By the way, here is the output from amixer

Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
Capabilities: enum
Items: 'PCM Out' 'H/W In 0' 'H/W In 1' 'H/W In 2' 'H/W In 3' 'H/W In 4' 'H/W In 5' 'H/W In 6' 'H/W In 7' 'IEC958 In L' 'IEC958 In R' 'Digital Mixer'
Item0: 'H/W In 2'
Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Multi',0
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 96
Front Left: Capture 72 [75%] [on]
Front Right: Capture 72 [75%] [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Multi',1
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 96
Front Left: Capture 70 [73%] [on]
Front Right: Capture 70 [73%] [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',1
Capabilities: enum
Items: 'PCM Out' 'H/W In 0' 'H/W In 1' 'H/W In 2' 'H/W In 3' 'H/W In 4' 'H/W In 5' 'H/W In 6' 'H/W In 7' 'IEC958 In L' 'IEC958 In R' 'Digital Mixer'
Item0: 'PCM Out'
Simple mixer control 'ADC',0
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 163
Mono: 163 [100%] [18.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'ADC',1
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 163
Mono: 163 [100%] [18.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'ADC',2
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 163
Mono: 163 [100%] [18.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'ADC',3
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 163
Mono: 163 [100%] [18.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'DAC',0
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 127
Mono: 95 [75%] [-16.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'DAC',1
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 127
Mono: 95 [75%] [-16.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'DAC',2
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 127
Mono: 91 [72%] [-18.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'DAC',3
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 127
Mono: 95 [75%] [-16.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Deemphasis',0
Capabilities: enum
Items: '44.1kHz' 'Off' '48kHz' '32kHz'
Item0: '48kHz'
Simple mixer control 'Deemphasis',1
Capabilities: enum
Items: '44.1kHz' 'Off' '48kHz' '32kHz'
Item0: '48kHz'
Simple mixer control 'H/W',0
Capabilities: enum
Items: 'PCM Out' 'H/W In 0' 'H/W In 1' 'H/W In 2' 'H/W In 3' 'H/W In 4' 'H/W In 5' 'H/W In 6' 'H/W In 7' 'IEC958 In L' 'IEC958 In R' 'Digital Mixer'
Item0: 'PCM Out'
Simple mixer control 'H/W',1
Capabilities: enum
Items: 'PCM Out' 'H/W In 0' 'H/W In 1' 'H/W In 2' 'H/W In 3' 'H/W In 4' 'H/W In 5' 'H/W In 6' 'H/W In 7' 'IEC958 In L' 'IEC958 In R' 'Digital Mixer'
Item0: 'PCM Out'
Simple mixer control 'H/W',2
Capabilities: enum
Items: 'PCM Out' 'H/W In 0' 'H/W In 1' 'H/W In 2' 'H/W In 3' 'H/W In 4' 'H/W In 5' 'H/W In 6' 'H/W In 7' 'IEC958 In L' 'IEC958 In R'
Item0: 'PCM Out'
Simple mixer control 'H/W',3
Capabilities: enum
Items: 'PCM Out' 'H/W In 0' 'H/W In 1' 'H/W In 2' 'H/W In 3' 'H/W In 4' 'H/W In 5' 'H/W In 6' 'H/W In 7' 'IEC958 In L' 'IEC958 In R'
Item0: 'PCM Out'
Simple mixer control 'H/W Multi',0
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 96
Front Left: Capture 96 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Capture 96 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'H/W Multi',1
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 96
Front Left: Capture 96 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Capture 96 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'H/W Multi',2
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 96
Front Left: Capture 96 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Capture 96 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'H/W Multi',3
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 96
Front Left: Capture 96 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Capture 96 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',0
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 71 [74%] [-37.50dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 71 [74%] [-37.50dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',1
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',2
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',3
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',4
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',5
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',6
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',7
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',8
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 68 [71%] [-42.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi',9
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 96
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 66 [69%] [-45.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 66 [69%] [-45.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi Track Internal Clock',0
Capabilities: enum
Items: '8000' '9600' '11025' '12000' '16000' '22050' '24000' '32000' '44100' '48000' '64000' '88200' '96000' 'IEC958 Input'
Item0: '48000'
Simple mixer control 'Multi Track Internal Clock Default',0
Capabilities: enum
Items: '8000' '9600' '11025' '12000' '16000' '22050' '24000' '32000' '44100' '48000' '64000' '88200' '96000'
Item0: '48000'
Simple mixer control 'Multi Track Peak',0
Capabilities: volume
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right - Rear Left - Rear Right - Front Center - Woofer - Side Left - Side Right - Rear Center - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ?
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right - Rear Left - Rear Right - Front Center - Woofer - Side Left - Side Right - Rear Center - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ?
Limits: 0 - 255
Front Left: 0 [0%]
Front Right: 0 [0%]
Rear Left: 0 [0%]
Rear Right: 0 [0%]
Front Center: 0 [0%]
Woofer: 0 [0%]
Side Left: 0 [0%]
Side Right: 0 [0%]
Rear Center: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
?: 0 [0%]
Simple mixer control 'Multi Track Rate Locking',0
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi Track Rate Reset',0
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Multi Track Volume Rate',0
Capabilities: volume volume-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Capture channels: Mono
Limits: 0 - 255
Mono: 187 [73%]

If mic boost is still missing it may be that that option is switched off under Volume control preferences
Go to Preferences inside Volume Control, and make sure that Mic Boost is ticked. It should then show up as an option under the Switches tab.

Good luck

spegru

I see no option under volume control -> preferences to tick Mic Boost ..... it simply is not there. The only options I have are:

Mixer Names and Visibility

- ICE1712 - multitrack

Slider Style

- Single slider with pan
- Dual slider with lock

Slider toggle style

- Button
- Checkbox

... and that's it! I am clueless really, so any help is welcome.

Sorry, those were the options under preferences in the Gnome Alsa mixer. The options under preferences of
gnome-volume-control are only

Select tracks to be visible

- IEC958
- IEC958 multi
- IEC958 multi1
- IEC958
- ADC
- ADC 1
- ADC 2
- ADC 3
- DAC
- DAC 1
- DAC 2
- DAC 3
- Deemphasis
- Deemphasis
- H/W
- H/W
- H/W
- H/W
- H/W multi
- H/W multi 1
- H/W multi 2
- H/W multi 3
- Multi
- Multi 1
- Multi 2
- Multi 3
- Multi 4
- Multi 5
- Multi 6
- Multi 7
- Multi 8
- Multi 9
- Multitrack internal clock
- Multitrack internal clock default
- Multitrack peak
- Multitrack rate locking
- Multitrack rate reset
- Multitrack volume rate

No Mic Boost option thus .....

btw, gnome-volume-control says in the help that

"The GNOME Volume Control application is an audio mixer that enables you to mix audio for two-channel sound cards."

Clearly my M-audio Delta 44 is a 4 in 4 out card .... is there another application that can deal with multi channel sound cards,
i.e., more than 2?

I don't think this is a problem with Skype. I think there is some bug with the ALSA-drivers. I noticed that several people have problems with the microphone input of the AD1986 sound chipset.

OK, I got a webcam with camera and using the microphone from the camera works .... It's not elegant and smart, but hey it works for now. I still have no idea how to get the microphone to work with the delta 44. Indeed it is not a skype problem but an ALSA problem.

Thanks for the replies though.

Actually I think using the microphone in the webcam is elegant. Though with my newly bought Philips SPC 900NC the microphone sound from that camera is not good at all. Bad quality and bottle-like sound. This is very sad because otherwise it's a very good camera. My previous camera, Logitech Quickcam Fusion, had a microphone with very good quality, but the video-capture drivers doesn't work with that camera (yet).