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Sound recording with microphone on Mint 7

Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 1:38 pm
by spnoe
I previously had the microphone working but now I have a problem in that the microphone icon under Volume control, Recording keeps getting muted. I click the mic icon to get rid of the X, come out of the screens and the mic ill not work; go back in to the Volume control and an x has appeared again. I have tried many times altering this and that but to no affect; the Device is set to HDA Intel (ALSA MiXER). If I tap the mic I can hear sound but I can not use to record or on Skype

Could anyone advise as to what possibly is the problem.

Thanks
Steve

Re: Sound recording with microphone on Mint 7

Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 1:54 pm
by igorzwx
QOUTE: "the Device is set to HDA Intel (ALSA MiXER)"

Do you have a native mixer for your soundcard?
Or do you have only one option?

Some info about your soundcard:

sudo lshw -C multimedia

aplay -l

lspci -v

Re: Sound recording with microphone on Mint 7

Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:17 pm
by Husse
I think it is the standard HDA problem - look here
You may have to test a whole bunch of alternatives

Re: Sound recording with microphone on Mint 7

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:08 am
by spnoe
Thank you gorzwx, as requested I send the output of your code. I hope it is of help. Steve

stephen@stephen-desktop ~ $ sudo lshw -C multimedia
[sudo] password for stephen:
*-multimedia
description: Audio device
product: 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1b
bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
version: 01
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=HDA Intel latency=0 module=snd_hda_intel
*-multimedia:0
description: Multimedia controller
product: SAA7131/SAA7133/SAA7135 Video Broadcast Decoder
vendor: Philips Semiconductors
physical id: 1
bus info: pci@0000:02:01.0
version: d1
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=saa7134 latency=32 maxlatency=32 mingnt=84 module=saa7134
*-multimedia:1
description: Multimedia controller
product: SAA7131/SAA7133/SAA7135 Video Broadcast Decoder
vendor: Philips Semiconductors
physical id: 4
bus info: pci@0000:02:04.0
version: d1
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=saa7134 latency=32 maxlatency=32 mingnt=84 module=saa7134
stephen@stephen-desktop ~ $ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC883 Analog [ALC883 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: ALC883 Digital [ALC883 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
stephen@stephen-desktop ~ $ lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ/P/PL Memory Controller Hub (rev 81)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ/P/PL Memory Controller Hub
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: intel-agp

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ/P/PL PCI Express Root Port (rev 81)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 0000d000-0000dfff
Memory behind bridge: f4000000-fbffffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000d8000000-00000000dfffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at fdff8000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable)
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
I/O ports at ff00
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
I/O ports at fe00
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
I/O ports at fd00
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
I/O ports at fc00
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
Memory at fdfff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1) (prog-if 01)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=32
I/O behind bridge: 0000e000-0000efff
Memory behind bridge: fde00000-fdefffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000fdd00000-00000000fddfffff
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt, intel-rng

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
I/O ports at 01f0
I/O ports at 03f4
I/O ports at 0170
I/O ports at 0374
I/O ports at fb00 [size=16]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix

00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 8f [Master SecP SecO PriP PriO])
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
I/O ports at fa00 [size=8]
I/O ports at f900 [size=4]
I/O ports at f800 [size=8]
I/O ports at f700 [size=4]
I/O ports at f600 [size=16]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7204
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 10
I/O ports at 0500 [size=32]
Kernel modules: i2c-i801

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 6700 XL (rev a2)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 0350
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at f4000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64M]
Memory at d8000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
Memory at fa000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at f8000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: nvidia
Kernel modules: nvidia, nvidiafb

02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)
Subsystem: Belkin Device 5005
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 16
I/O ports at ea00 [size=256]
Memory at fdeff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at fdd00000 [disabled] [size=64K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: r8169
Kernel modules: r8169

02:01.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7131/SAA7133/SAA7135 Video Broadcast Decoder (rev d1)
Subsystem: Creatix Polymedia GmbH Device 0007
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
Memory at fdefe000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: saa7134
Kernel modules: saa7134

02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 204c
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 18
I/O ports at ec00 [size=256]
Memory at fdefd000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at fdd10000 [disabled] [size=64K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: 8139too
Kernel modules: 8139too, 8139cp

02:03.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6306 Fire II IEEE 1394 OHCI Link Layer Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 10)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 204d
Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 19
Memory at fdefc000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
I/O ports at ef00 [size=128]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ohci1394
Kernel modules: firewire-ohci, ohci1394

02:04.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7131/SAA7133/SAA7135 Video Broadcast Decoder (rev d1)
Subsystem: Creatix Polymedia GmbH Device 0008
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 20
Memory at fdefb000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: saa7134
Kernel modules: saa7134

02:05.0 Communication controller: Agere Systems Device 0620
Subsystem: Agere Systems Device 0620
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 9
I/O ports at e800 [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>

Re: Sound recording with microphone on Mint 7

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:42 am
by spnoe
Husse wrote:I think it is the standard HDA problem - look here
You may have to test a whole bunch of alternatives

Thank you Hussse, I tried your suggestion but no luck. The microphone icon under capture, recording, still has a cross through it despite me clicking it to activate the mic.

Thanks anyway.

Steve

Re: Sound recording with microphone on Mint 7

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:54 am
by igorzwx
QUOTE: "Recording keeps getting muted. I click the mic icon to get rid of the X, come out of the screens and the mic ill not work; go back in to the Volume control and an x has appeared again."

QUOTE: 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)

Hi Steve and Husse!

This is really a special case, and it deserves a special treatment.
It should be a well-designed empirical test, otherwise it might be a mess.

I know this soundcard. It is problematic with ALSA and it is problematic with OSS4.
Some weeks ago, I was asked to fix sound on a Dell notebook (Latitute 820, Dual Core, exactly the same soundcard).
It has two Ubuntu 8.04 installed in dual boot.
Sound vanished for no apparent reason (many similar stories are on Ubuntu forum).
Installation of OSS4 into one Ubuntu, fixed sound in another Ubuntu.
It was a BIOS related problem, perhaps.

To make a clear-cut empirical test you need two Mints 7 installed on the same box (10GB for each Mint).
These two Mints are for experimental purposes and it should be a fresh clean installation.

!!! Fresh clean installation !!!

1. In one Mint, you can try ALSA+ESound solution
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=32725

2. In another Mint, you can try OSS4 solution:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OpenSound


************************************************************

Howto for dual boot:

Step 1: Preparation

1. Boot LiveCD (I tend to use Ubuntu 8.04 LiveCD for this purpose)
2. Run GParted
3. Free some space on the disk (10GB is enough)
it should not be formatted ("unallocated space") !!!
You may need to make swapoff, perhaps, before you can edit a logical partition.
4. reboot

Step 2: Installation

1. Boot Mint 7 LiveCD
2. Click on the icon "Install" (on Desktop)
3. Answer some questions (language, time zone, etc.)
4. Select option "install to largest continuous free space" (if you have such "unallocated space", that is, not formatted, no partitions)

Everything will be installed automatically

*****************************************************
How to run GParted

1. Boot Ubuntu LiveCD

2. System -> Administration -> Partition Editor

or on Terminal

gksu gparted

It will not ask you for password

I have not tried GParted with Mint LiveCD
I tend to use Ubuntu 8.04 LiveCD for this purpose.

HOWTO with pictures for GParted
Modify Your Partitions With GParted Without Losing Data
http://www.howtoforge.com/partitioning_with_gparted