Mic doesn't work in VoIP apps, but does with Audacity

**kansasnoob** · July 12th, 2015

I wonder if the BIOS update broke the firmware for the mic?

**Inoki** · July 12th, 2015

Do you think I should give it one last shot by settings even BIOS Defaults (not only boot priority and boot mode respectively) to Windows 8 (UEFI), then boot to a live session and try Ubuntu GNOME from there?

Even though now it made me think, that the setting for BIOS Defaults (either Other OS or Windows 8 UEFI) is just a shortcut that automatically sets everything to UEFI and when I did that manually and it did not boot any more it would not make any difference.

**kansasnoob** · July 12th, 2015

Well, I'm stumped. It certainly seems more and more like an actual hardware borkage issue.

**Inoki** · July 13th, 2015

Ok, you won't believe this, but when I tested over Audacity to record my own voice it worked. Through Audacity I could hear my voice. Through Skype or Hangouts, or Telegram I cannot.

I checked both my current BIOS settings (full legacy) and tried setting OS defaults to Win 8 and boot priority UEFI first, but with legacy support ON, and I got the same result via both settings.

I tried to launch LibreOffice and it crashes my session on either configuration, so something else is at play.

I have updated the thread title to match the problematic and added Telegram to the list of tried apps. I think this generally applies to any app that transmits data over the internet, but not local apps. How else can it be explained that I can hear myself over Audacity but not via Skype.

**kansasnoob** · July 13th, 2015

Well that's good news

I can't help with Skype, Hangouts, or Telegram because I don't use them. I'd first consider the source of those packages and if they're in the standard Ubuntu repos I'd file a launchpad bug against each package. OTOH if they're not in the repos I'd report directly to the source responsible for the package, eg; if from a PPA there is always a "For questions and bugs with software in this PPA please contact" link.

The session crash while launching LibreOffice is likely unrelated, is it the standard version from the repos? I seldom use LibreOffice in favor of the GNOME Office Suite, but I know LibreOffice is much more popular.

I'm still a bit curious about any effect the kernel version may have on any of these issues????? Have you tried Wily? It's in quite early development so major breakage may occur at any time but it's up to the 4.0.0.4.6 version kernel which purportedly brings a lot of changes (although none have been obvious to me). Maybe if you have enough disc space you could try dual-booting Vivid and Wily??????

**Inoki** · July 13th, 2015

I don't think filing a separate bug against every app I encounter is a good idea, especially those not in the repos, more like filing a bug against what they all have in common - a library/driver, which is most likely causing the hiccups.

So far I was only able to record my voice via Audacity, but that's a good enough sign, that my mic is not broken and in fact operational, but something is hindering it.

As far as kernel goes, I didn't have issues up to k3.16.*, but after k3.19.* it started, that inlcludes k4*.

**kansasnoob** · July 13th, 2015

I'll ask someone with a real brain to give this a look when he has time.

In the meanwhile - just thinking out loud here - I think the hardware section of the forums gets less traffic than the "general" section:

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=331

I'm not sure about that though ....................... but if you wanted to get the opinion of the forum mods you could click on the "Report Post" button at the bottom left of your OP and ask their opinion. They're all nice folks and won't mind you asking.

**Inoki** · July 20th, 2015

I am currently on Debian 8 k3.16.0-4 and since I've opened this thread I've tested about all the major distros with kernels from 3.16 up, to no avail. Sound is extremely low w/ distortion.

Tried workarounds such as installing gnome-media to open up gstreamer-properties and change device properties, to no avail. Skype e.g. uses pulseaudio and I can't change that.

I already filed a bug against pulseaudio assuming it's the culprit since Audacity which presumably uses ALSA detects my voice clearly.

Waiting and hoping that someone might come up with something.

**info-baehr-koenigsbrunn** · January 16th, 2016

I had to struggle with the same problem with SFLphone (v. 1.4.1) under linux Mint 17.3 and a Fritz!Box 7390 as VoIP provider. I finally got it working by disabling the g722 codec just after I installed pulseaudio 7.99 from git repository which didn't do any better than the stock 4.0. A quick check with my laptop with linux mint 17.2 (pulseaudio 4.0) approved its the g722 codec.