[SOLVED] Inbuilt microphone not working Debian Bulleye/sid

[FreewheelinFrank]

I'm not either. I just want to work out if the microphone started working because you fixed the mute led and installed the sof firmware, or just because you fixed the mute led.

I believe it's the latter. There are some kernel modules loaded to do with DSP (digital signal processor), which is how the kernel gets digital microphones to work now, but they seem to use closed-source firmware and not the open-source sof firmware.

https://thesofproject.github.io/latest/ ... ction.html

In other words, it was the mute led fix that worked, and you can uninstall the sof firmware if you want. Probably.

[4joeyirosh1]

Does your laptop have a led for the webcam microphone? Might be worth trying this:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/HP ... x#Mute_LED

It might just be a fix for the led itself, but maybe there is some sort of hardware mute on the mic by default and this will fix it.

I couldn't find the specification for your exact model, but the HP site for a couple of HP Pavilion - 15-au106 models lists the microphone as "dual array digital microphone". I believe the driver for this type of microphone changed in Windows, and Linux is playing catch-up. It may be a case of backporting kernels and firmware until it works, unless anybody else can suggest otherwise.

Thanks FreewheelinFrank the mute LED instructions from the link work.

I have noticed the solution isnt stable.For instance once I restart the machine,sometimes the microphone works and other times it doesnt.Also,if I test the mic again a few hours after it was working,the mic stops working,

I was hoping for a permanent solution.

[FreewheelinFrank]

Oh, dear.

I assume the mute led isn't on?

Code: Select all

$ pacmd list-sources | grep -e 'index:' -e device.string -e 'name:'

When the mic is working and when it isn't, to see if there is more than one input and if there is which one is default.

Run

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pavucontrol

(Probably same as Gnome- sound- settings).

Check inputs. Make microphone default. Launch sound app. Go to "Recording" "from" (you should see the sound app). Check the source is right.

Edit: Checked on my Gnome system - had to install pavucontrol - similar to Gnome settings but has some extra features.

[FreewheelinFrank]

A few wild guesses and avenues to explore:

HP had a similar problem with these laptops a few years ago:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks ... -p/5855159

Did they hack the Windows driver to fix buggy hardware? Is the Linux driver experiencing the same bugs? Is there an alsa.conf hack to fix them like the led mute hack?

Is the laptop actually behaving as expected, ie muting the mic on inactivity? Does Linux lack a switch in the driver to turn the mic back on again? Is there a .conf fix? Is there a hardware setting in Windows that will carry over into a Linux boot, such as "Don't mute on inactivity"?

I think there is a function button for microphone mute: what happens when you tap that when the microphone isn't working?

[4joeyirosh1]

Oh, dear.

I assume the mute led isn't on?

Code: Select all

$ pacmd list-sources | grep -e 'index:' -e device.string -e 'name:'

When the mic is working and when it isn't, to see if there is more than one input and if there is which one is default.

Run

Code: Select all

pavucontrol

(Probably same as Gnome- sound- settings).

Check inputs. Make microphone default. Launch sound app. Go to "Recording" "from" (you should see the sound app). Check the source is right.

Edit: Checked on my Gnome system - had to install pavucontrol - similar to Gnome settings but has some extra features.

Now something weird is happening.When I go to pavucontrol -> Input devices when my headphones are plugged in I see microphone plugged and internal microphone unplugged as per screenshot below.With this setting,I cannot record sound.



When I remove headphones then,internal microphone is active while microphone is unplugged then I can record sound.I wanted to record sound while headphones still connected to the computer as I could do that yesterday.

When I run the pacmd list-sources | grep -e 'index:' -e device.string -e 'name:' command output is as below

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$ pacmd list-sources | grep -e 'index:' -e device.string -e 'name:'
    index: 0
	name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo.monitor>
		device.string = "0"
  * index: 1
	name: <alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo>
		device.string = "front:0"

Output is the same whether I can record sound with headphones off as explained above or when I cannot record sound with headphones plugged in.

This situation keeps changing and getting weirder

[4joeyirosh1]

Now I have restarted my machine and I can record sound while headphones still conencted.Pavucontrol shows microphone unplugged with internal microphone active with headphones connected.

Its just weird.No consistency.If I restart machine,sound recording may or may not work while headphones plugged in

Output of pacmd list-sources | grep -e 'index:' -e device.string -e 'name:' still as shown in my last post.

[4joeyirosh1]

After further research,I think I found a solution on link https://askubuntu.com/questions/1218136 ... headphones and it seems the solution that talks of

Code: Select all

apt install alsa-tools-gui

hdajackretask

also works for my Debian.I will monitor for a few days if there are any challenges with this solution before I indicate this post is solved.

[FreewheelinFrank]

Yes, hdajackretask is the fix I alluded to previously, although you have experienced the problem with different symptoms.

I saw some posts about this card/codec combination that say there is an issue where the internal microphone doesn't work except when a headset with microphone is plugged in (when of course it shouldn't). Might be worth checking out if that happens because there is a fix.

The driver is looking for an external microphone on that pin, and plugging in headphones confuses it. With hdajackretask you can retask the jack from headset with microphone to headphones so the driver won't get confused. Don't forget to install the boot override if the fix works so it will stick after reboot.

Hope that works for you.