Well, those of you that have installed Skype on your favourite Ubuntu family distro may have run into this problem:
I have all of my audio devices up and running, but my microphone captures no sound input!
Thankfully, the solution is only one package and a slider drag away!
NOTE: I have only experienced this problem with built in microphones, but if your internal mic has a left and right channel, like on the Dell Studio laptop I own, you shouldn't have to worry about any of the contents of this guide. External mics should work without problems in Skype as long as you have chosen them as your default input device on your distro, not on Skype because if you have PulseAudio, it is the only choice on Skype.
Using the package manager for your Ubuntu distro, find the package 'PulseAudio Volume Control,' and install it.
If you are more familiar with the Terminal, you can run this instead:
sudo apt-get install pavucontrol
Next run that program. It should be under Menu->Multimedia-> Volume Control. (That is where it is on Kubuntu, I believe Ubuntu calls it 'Pulse Audio Volume Control' under the gnome menu. I switched to Kubuntu this year from Ubuntu, so I know where it is, but my main knowledge is KDE.)
Choose the 'Input Devices' tab. My netbook has the mic labeled as 'Internal Audio Analog Stereo, and yours may be different.
Now make sure the option 'Lock Channels Together' is not chosen. Drag the 'Front Left' slider all the way to the left. If the little bar below it doesn't move to indicate sound input, drag the 'Front Right' slider to the left instead.
There you go! Now you can log in to Skype and ring up the nice Echo Sound Test Service lady to see if it's working!
TROUBLESHOOTING F.A.Q.:
-Problem: My device is not shown under the 'Input Devices' tab!
-Solution: at the bottom, click on the dropdown box next to 'Show:' and select 'Hardware Devices'
-Problem: The Left and Right Front sliders move together!
-Solution: You did not disable the 'Lock Channels Together' option like I said to earlier.
-Problem: I am under the 'Input Devices' tab, and have chosen to show hardware devices, but there is still nothing there!
-Solution: Go to the 'Configuration' tab and choose 'Analog Stereo Duplex'
This is my first 'howto thing.' I've been running Linux for about a year and a half, so it's good for Linux noobies that need a simple fix.
Feel free to make any comments/suggestions.
~Zeke
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