Internal microphone malfunctioning under Kubuntu but not under Windows

[Calubuntu]

Dear all,

I have a Dell XPS 15 L502X am I dual-booting with Windows 7 64 bit and Kubuntu 12.04 64 bit. Under windows, my internal microphone is working perfectly while using Skype. However under Kubuntu, my contacts are receiving an enormous amount of static/buzz, which makes it difficult for them to understand me. I however can hear my contacts without any annoying additional sounds (both under Windows and under Kubuntu).

Because my mic works fine under Windows I can rule out that my mic is broken. Thus probably the issue is related to software/drivers/settings. This is what I have tried to do already:

- Substitute the Gstreamer backend by the VLC backend
- Check settings in pavucontrol
- Make test calls in Skype to verify whether setting changes were effective

Could someone suggest me how to remove the static from my Skype calls while using my internal microphone (please do not suggest buying an external microphone, I might do this after all however firstly I want my laptop to work properly).

Kind regards,

Calubuntu

[dmeyer]

Dear all,

I have a Dell XPS 15 L502X am I dual-booting with Windows 7 64 bit and Kubuntu 12.04 64 bit. Under windows, my internal microphone is working perfectly while using Skype. However under Kubuntu, my contacts are receiving an enormous amount of static/buzz, which makes it difficult for them to understand me. I however can hear my contacts without any annoying additional sounds (both under Windows and under Kubuntu).

Because my mic works fine under Windows I can rule out that my mic is broken. Thus probably the issue is related to software/drivers/settings. This is what I have tried to do already:

- Substitute the Gstreamer backend by the VLC backend
- Check settings in pavucontrol
- Make test calls in Skype to verify whether setting changes were effective

Could someone suggest me how to remove the static from my Skype calls while using my internal microphone (please do not suggest buying an external microphone, I might do this after all however firstly I want my laptop to work properly).

Kind regards,

Calubuntu

I have a Dell XPS17 L702X. I know exactly the issue of which you are talking of. It used to irritate me a ton but the solution was super easy. Run alsamixer from the terminal. Then just reduce the mic boost by say 15% then check for static. Repeat if necessary.

Skype will try automatically readjust the settings but this can cause problems so open SKype > Options > Sound Devices > untick "Allow Skype to automatically adjust my mixer levels"

Close skype entirely, then test one last time. See if this helps. On my computer I had to take mic boost down quite a lot!

[Calubuntu]

Thanks dmeyer for your reply. But it did not help. According to alsamixer my mic boost was already turned all the way down (dB gain: 0.00, 0.00) and yes I have unticked "Allow Skype to automatically adjust my mixer levels".

[dmeyer]

Strange. Did you try just turning mic volume down a little as well?

[Calubuntu]

I have tried both maximizing and minimizing all channels related to the microphone. It appears as if the microphone is not responding to alsamixer because I have not noticed any changes.

[dmeyer]

Well I have heard that there is an actual hardware fault. Even my laptop has it. The speakers and mic on the Dell XPS range seem to have some serious issue. I get the issue whether in Windows or Linux. It seems to only occur though while using an ethernet connection. WiFi causes the same issue but to a much lesser extend. To be honest, I think you might just be stuck with the issue.