hi,

i've got an integrated AC'97 sound card (lspci-d as: 00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801EB AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)) in a SuSE 9.0 box which behaves strange: it installs OK, plays mp3 nice via XMMS, though will not "play" CDs (i.e. KsCD plays the CD but there's no sound on the output), nor would it record anything (does not sense input levels (via e.g. KRecord)).

i've checked and experiemented the relevant levels in KAMix (not muted, from 50% up to 100% each) to no avail

any good ideas anyone? thx in advance!

What sound system .. do you have running on your system, [OSS,arts,esd, or alsa ] ??

I'm sure you've checked, but is the audio cable between the CD and the soundconnector on the motherboard connected? As far as I know, many of them move audio cd data directly, to reduce load on the CPU.

bummmer! in fact i did not check the cable!!! there's none! i'll go and get one....

sound system: surprisingly i'm not sure in the control center / sound system section it is set to automatic. i tried selecting both ALSA and OSS but in both cases there was no sound outupt at all (and perhaps even warnings but i don't remember -- i'll get back when i've double checked them). automatic, though, produces sound output. i'd need to end up with ALSA -- i'd like to use skype; from their setup ( http://forum.skype.com/bb/viewtopic....707bc6b0c62f48 ) i conclude that i need ALSA with full-duplex mode enabled.

thx for your help!

FC

It's often I forget to check the simple before I start looking at the complex. I've left that cable out many a time, so it's just my personal experience.

i've got the solution to both problems!

1. The "no sound from CD" was solved as soon as i put the cable between the sound card (motherbord connector) and the CD drive... (THE SECOND LAW OF OPERATIONAL ERRORS from Murphy's Law: "If all else fails, try plugging it in and switching it on." )

2. The microphone issue ("no mic input level") was a bit trickier. Having no real clue, I experimented with alsamixer and accidentally found that it has a "Mic select" item (some 20th from left) which has discrete items associated with it (rather than levels), and it had to be set to Mic2 for the thing to work. (I'm not positive why but it may be due to the fact that I use the connectors on the front panel rather than the back ones. The motherboard installation doc, however, seems to say that one can use either one (based on jumper settings) but not both. Anyway. BTW it's an ABIT IS-10 motherboard should anyone try to search by that.)

Thanks again to everyone who tried to help!

FastCatch