No microphone settings in Volume Control

There is a way to get the mic control on the Volume Control, but the method varies according to your operating system and I don't see where you mentioned that.

Meanwhile, you can determine if your mic works with your computer by running the external mic test in the audio section of Dell Diagnostics. To run Diagnostics restart the computer and as soon as it starts to boot up hold down f12. Select 'Diagnostic' from the boot menu. The computer will run its pre-boot assessment tests for 3 or 4 minutes before the Dell Diagnostic starts. These pre-boot tests play some beeps and tones through the system speaker but this is not part of the Dell Diagnostics.

When Dell Diagnostics opens, select 'custom', then the audio test. This will test your audio system independently of Windows and drivers, meaning it doesn't matter if they are working correctly or not, or how the Volume Control is configured.

Dell Diagnostics will play some audio and ask you whether you heard it, etc. Eventually the external mic test should come up. If the test passes that means the hardware is okay but there is a problem with the software or configuration. If it fails that means there is a hardware problem such as:

mic doesn't work
mic works but the plug is incompatible with the jack
the jack is malfunctioning
the audio chip is malfunctioning
etc.

Jim

Thanks for your help.

I runned the diagnostics as you said and the test has passed : I heard exactly what I said in the microphone.
Sorry for not have saying what my operating system is :

Microsoft Windows XP
Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

Look at the sticky post 'Portable-Audio FAQ' (it's the very 1st post) and the question 'Why can't I hear sounds from a microphone or music player plugged into the Mic Jack?'

Follow the 2nd set of instructions, those for models with the Sigmatel 92xx chip. This should allow you to directly monitor the mic jack and will place an Input Monitor Control in the Volume Control. (The instructions are for XP only and won't work in Vista.)

Jim

Thanks again, but unfortunately it didn't resolve my problem.

If I understand well what it did, it just added for me the possibility to hear myself in my headphones when I speak in my microphone. But the problem is that my system don't recieve any signal from the microphone.

When I runned the pre-boot diagnostics, it showed that the computer can "hear" me when I speak, but when I'm in Windows, the computer stops "hearing" anything, although I've selected the microphone in the Record part of Volume Control.

Sorry it didn't make your mic 'work' but I believe it did give you what you asked for in your initial post.

When you insert a plug into the input jack, does a dialog box come up that announces that an insertion event has been detected, and asks you whether it is a mic or line-in? If not, go into the Control Panel and look for Sigmatel. Check 'allow popups' or something like that. When you next plug in a mic, select microphone on the popup. Make sure your mic recording level is all the way up and that 'mic boost' is selected. When you test the mic use a recording program like Windows Sound Recorder, not Skype because that can have other problems.

If you can record with the mic, then it is working perfectly fine and the signal is getting into the system. Any other problems are in the program you are trying to use.

Jim

Thank you very much!

Sorry but in the beggining I didn't myself really understand what worked and what didn't.
The first problem I mentionned was real but it wasn't the main one.
Now, thanks to your help, everything is working perfectly.

So, again, thank you very much!