Hi,

I've got a toshiba tecra4 laptop with a built in microphone. I just migrated from windows, and thought that starting with suse would be a good idea. The sound output was working perfectly right out of the box, but the i seem to be having problems with getting the microphone to work. I first detected some sound after recording at a very low volume, and then after fiddling with KMix i can't hear anything anymore, but i do know that my mic volume is set to the highest level. Anyway here's what I was told to post in the sticky.

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Processor to DRAM Controller (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 04)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 04)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 04)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 04)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 04)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 04)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 04)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev d4)
00:1e.2 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 04)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller (rev 04)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M24 1P [Radeon Mobility X600]
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
06:04.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection (rev 05)
06:06.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx21/x515 Cardbus Controller
06:06.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
06:06.3 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated FlashMedia Controller
06:06.4 Class 0805: Texas Instruments PCI6411, PCI6421, PCI6611, PCI6621, PCI7411, PCI7421, PCI7611, PCI7621 Secure Digital (SD) Controller

Check your capture levels as well. The Microphone level actually controlls the mic gain, and recording will sound lousy when this is at maximum. Which version of Alsa do you have (cat /proc/asound/version)? Also, if you could post the output from "cat /proc/asound/card0/codec*" it would be helpfull. I do know that there have been some recent laptop patches to alsa since 1.0.11. Not sure if there was anything for your specific system without knowing the codec used, though. Intel HDA audio is a standardized interface from the ICH to the sound codec, and it currently supports multiple codecs from 5 vendors. The output from /proc/asound/card0/codec#* will tell me what exactly is being detected.

Also, open alsamixer in a terminal window, and see which microphone is selected (there should also be a button or scroll box in kmix).

Thanks for helping me out

I lowered the mic level, didn't work either so I did what you told me to do.

This is my ALSA version:

Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.11rc3 (Sun Jan 22 09:27:15 2006 UTC).

So i guess it needs patching according to what you stated before.

Here's the ouput from "cat /proc/asound/card0/codec*" although it gave me two files, but i think this is the right one.

cat /proc/asound/card0/codec97#0/ac97#0-0
0-0/0: Analog Devices AD1981B

PCI Subsys Vendor: 0x1179
PCI Subsys Device: 0xff10

Capabilities : -headphone out-
DAC resolution : 20-bit
ADC resolution : 16-bit
3D enhancement : No 3D Stereo Enhancement

Current setup
Mic gain : +0dB [+0dB]
POP path : pre 3D
Sim. stereo : off
3D enhancement : off
Loudness : off
Mono output : MIX
Mic select : Mic1
ADC/DAC loopback : off
Extended ID : codec=0 rev=1 AMAP DSA=0 VRA
Extended status : VRA
PCM front DAC : 48000Hz
PCM ADC : 48000Hz



AD18XX configuration
Unchained : 0x1000,0x0000,0x0000
Chained : 0x0000,0x0000,0x0000
frb@linux:~> cat /proc/asound/card0/codec97#0/ac97#0-0
ac97#0-0 ac97#0-0+regs
frb@linux:~> cat /proc/asound/card0/codec97#0/ac97#0-0
0-0/0: Analog Devices AD1981B

PCI Subsys Vendor: 0x1179
PCI Subsys Device: 0xff10

Capabilities : -headphone out-
DAC resolution : 20-bit
ADC resolution : 16-bit
3D enhancement : No 3D Stereo Enhancement

Current setup
Mic gain : +0dB [+0dB]
POP path : pre 3D
Sim. stereo : off
3D enhancement : off
Loudness : off
Mono output : MIX
Mic select : Mic1
ADC/DAC loopback : off
Extended ID : codec=0 rev=1 AMAP DSA=0 VRA
Extended status : VRA
PCM front DAC : 48000Hz
PCM ADC : 48000Hz



AD18XX configuration
Unchained : 0x1000,0x0000,0x0000
Chained : 0x0000,0x0000,0x0000

And when i click on the scroll button in kmix, it gives me mic1 and mic2, but i would suppose that the built in one would be mic1.

After looking over the code, My impression is that it should work, just probably needs tuning with the mixer controls. Unfortunately, I don't have a way of testing that hardware configuration, as I'm only setup for development on HDA audio (Intel's newer codec system).

I do find it insteresting that Intel actually has both codec types (ac97 & hda) available for the 915 chipsets. Must have been a transitional thing.

The only thing I can suggest is using alsamixer to tweek the sound controls. YOu can switch between playback, capture, and all settings withthe tab key, and the arrow keys will move between individual channels & controls. "m" will mute and unmute or toggle switches. Try maxing outthe capture and mux channels. Also, see which microphone is selected or if there is an option to change that.

It is also possible that you will need a newer version of alsa, but I'd hold off for a little bit. 1.0.11 is a bit buggy in some areas.

Well i played around with the mix settings again and maxed out almost everything. I can hear my voice better now, but it's still not the same result that i actually use go get on windows. I know that it's much weaker than it actually could be.

Could you please tell me what you've changed and where, I'm totally new with Linux and have the same problem as you (did).

I didn't really change much. I just raised the mic volume, so my voice is heard but it's really low. I still can't figure out how to fix that problem.

Try running alsamixer from a terminal window. Once in alsamixer, press tab twice to show all controls, then check your capture volume and mux volume (if they exist).

I think you mean Mix volume, but that one doesnt exist..

And my capture volume is set as high as possible and still no good result

No, I actually meant "mux" it's used to control the input to some of the mixers. Not all drivers use that term.

I'm not as familiar with the Analog Devices codec as I am with the Realtek and Sigmatel drivers. I'll try to look at it more closely this week to see if anything stands out. Might be a mic gain setting in the driver that isn't user controlled.