When you open the Recording tab of the Sound properties, do you have an option to select "Mic/Line in", like this?

If you do not see it, then right click anywhere in the white (blank) area and select to show disabled and disconnected devices. If you see it in one of those areas then re-enable it and set it to be the default recording device.

Note that in the first screen shot above, all device are called "IDT High Definition Audio Codec". If you do not see those words in your Sound properties then you do not have the IDT driver installed. In that case you would be using the Windows basic audio driver that doesn't function well with the jacks. If you do not have the IDT driver you should install it. There are 2 versions for you model, an older and a newer one. I would try the older one first because some problems have been reported with the newer one.

Thanks so much for your reply! Ok, I uninstalled the new IDT, installed the older one you suggested, and I'm having the same issue. It's basically like the screen shot you have above - the green bar moves for "internal mic" but nothing for mic/line in. I called Dell support yesterday, they checked my drivers and bios, and then wound up suggesting I reset my computer to factory settings. I'm not going to do this b/c the last time I did this my internet stopped working and then they tried to charge me $300 to fix it (when it wasn't broken before I did the factory reset).

Any thoughts are hugely appreciated!

Missy

The green check mark is next to "mic/line in" and not mic array, but the mic array still works? If you are using Skype or something like that check its settings and see what is selected. Make sure it does not have mic array selected. Also check or uncheck "Automatically adjust mic settings" and see if it makes a difference.

Also if you go to the Sounds properties and if you have a "Communications" tab like in the earlier screen shot, check the settings in that tab.

Thanks so much, I did in fact try this, with both of my mics just to confirm again it's not my hardware. I also tried the USB option for mic #2. No matter what I do I just can't get sound recording to register from either USB input or the line in jack. I've tried every skype setting and every setting under sound properties, and still the only one that works is the array mic. I tried the "Communications" tab in Sound Properties and that just says something about "do you want to use noise cancelling?" so I've kept that at yes. Also the options under IDT and sound seem to indicate I'm using "Andrea" mic technology - not sure what that means.

Again, any help is hugely appreciated, since Dell support doesn't know what to do and I really need to be up and running with my Dragon voice activated software again ASAP to help with my repetitive stress injury.

I also tried the USB option for mic #2.

You have a usb mic? So what exactly happens when you plug it in -- does it appear as a usb device in the Sound properties? If it does, do you select it to be the default recording device?

I did in fact try this, with both of my mics just to confirm again it's not my hardware.

How did you confirm that it is not the hardware?

Dell support doesn't know what to do

They suggested returning your laptop to its original factory configuration. Anything that worked when you first used the laptop will work again exactly the same, unless hardware failure has occurred, so in that light what they are suggesting is a diagnostic test. If the mic jack worked when you first took the laptop out of the box, then either it will work again after the restoration or there has been a hardware failure. So their suggestion seems reasonable to me because if it is hardware failure then no amount of software tweaking will fix it.. I don't know of another way to confirm hardware failure except to replace the motherboard with another one that is known to have working audio jacks and see whether or not that fixes it. If restoring to the original factory configuration confirms that it is a hardware failure then Dell will have to fix it if you are still under warranty.

If it is a software problem then re-installing the audio driver should have fixed it -- after you set "mic/line" to be the default recording device. Since the mic/line in used to work for you then the problem probably is not in the driver itself, and anyway this is not a known widespread issue with the IDT driver. So if not the driver and not the hardware, that just leaves either a configuration setting which would have been fixed when you re-installed the IDT driver because doing that resets the settings to default (you would still have to set "mic/line" to be the default recording device), or the problem is something in Windows, possibly a corruption or a bad update, which means having to re-install Windows.

One more thing you could try is to get rid of the IDT driver altogether and use the Windows basic driver to see if you get any different results by using a different driver. Go to Start>Control Panel>Uninstall a Program. Find the IDT audio driver then right click on it and uninstall it. When you reboot the computer Windows will install its native audio driver. Check that it is installed by going to the Sounds properties. If it says "High Definition Audio Device" on any of the tabs then it is the native driver. If it says "IDT High Definition Audio Codec" then it is still an IDT driver, so repeat the procedure. (Windows will keep installing IDT drivers until all that have been downloaded are removed.) If mic/line in works with the basic driver then that suggests a problem with the IDT driver. If mic/line in does not work with the basic driver then that unfortunately doesn't prove anything, because the basic driver is iffy with jacks anyway.

If you need to insert a screen shot, here are my instructions for doing it on this forum.

P.S. When I say to set the mic/line in as the default recording device, I also mean that you have to enable it if it has been disabled. By the way have you tried disabling the mic array?

When you plug in the mic do you see on the screen a popup box asking whether you plugged in a mic or line-in device? If not, go to Start/Control Panel/ IDT and check the 'allow popups' box. This assumes that the IDT driver is installed.

If the box is checked but you still don't get the popup box when you insert the plug, that could indicate a failure of the sensing circuitry of the jack. If that fails then Windows won't recognize when a mic is plugged in.

I am having this very same problem.  I cannot disable the Microphone array.

and Sound shows both line in and array as active.  But ONLY the array is picking up sound.

I have spent over 2 hours with Dell and the result, go back to factory settings.  I cant believe this is necessary.  And this used to work fine.

I cannot disable the Microphone array. and Sound shows both line in and array as active.

I see that you have Mic/Line-in configured to be the default Communication device. Normally it is set up as the default (Recording) device. Try setting it up normally and see if you can then disable the Mic Array.

Can't you see that the problem is with you Dell ?? why don't you admit it ?? I have the same problem and a whole bunch of people have the problem it's all over the internet !! even on youtube that Mics don't work stop telling us that it's hardware It's not !! It's you. I am really an unsatisfied customer because of this