Inspiron E1505, Microphone not working

When folks say their mic won't work they usually mean one of three things.

 

1. They can't hear the mic through the computer's speakers. That is because Dell has the monitoring function turned off by default, either in the Windows Registry or the inf files of the audio chip's driver. There are instructions for altering the Registry in the thread How to Enable Input Monitoring.

 

2. The mic works except when used for voip.

 

3. The mic will not record when used with a recording application such as Windows Sound Recorder. 

 

There are numerous causes for #3. If the computer is properly configured with "microphone" selected as the input source but it will not record, then no signal is getting from the mic to the recording application.

 

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/ Sigmatel and check the 'allow popups' box. Then plug in the mic again, answer the configuration question, and test it.  

 

If enabling popups doesn't solve the problem then next try 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 doesn't test the rest of the audio hardware, so you still need to let Dell Diagnostics run after the pre-boot tests finish. Dell Diagnostics plays an instrumental piece of music complete with drums, so if you only hear some tones then you have only run the pre-boot assessment test.

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.

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.

 

 

PS if you have Vista there is a configuration setting for activating an external mic. 

#3 is my problem. I attempt to use Skype and Ventrilo with my mic and in both programs no one is able to hear me. I ran a diagnostic last night and the results showed that the comp is not hearing my mic I believe. When it asked me to speak I did and I didn't hear myself when it played it back.

Jim,

I have the same problem that you have answered over and over, but I still can not figure out how to fix it. I have an Inspiron E1505, I have tried 2 different mics (one desktop mic and one headset that came with the webcam) the mic do not work on skype, or more importanty in powerpoint 2007 ( I really need to narriate my presentation for school), I have ran the dell diagnostics and the mics work beautifully. I've notice people on here mentioning downloading drivers; I have no clue how to do this or if that will even help. I also see that you say there is a Vista configuration; I am using vista so maybe that is the problem.

 

Can you please help?

Thank you so, so much
Tammy

Tammy,

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/ Sigmatel and check the 'allow popups' box. Then plug in the mic again and test it. I'd test it with a recording program such as Windows Sound Recorder instead of Skype or any voip program. If the mic can record then it is working.

*****************************************************************************************************

Another forum member once posted this, something that I had never heard about before or since, regarding an E1505/6400 with Vista:

I have a problem that bothers me quite a lot. In the Control Panel Area "Audio" there is no more recording device (=microphone) showed since i deactivated it. I am now wondering wether I need to install a new driver for my external microphone or whatelse the problem might be. It seems that no mic is activated at all.Non of my external microphones gets displayed there / is working when I plug it in. I have a Inspirion 6400 and use Windows Vista.Thanks 4 help, PPR

Then he later posted:

Thanks guys! But now I found out myself how to make the microphone appear again. I have to right-click in the space where it was displayed before and then press "activate" at the relevant mic shown.

Jim,

 

The pop ups are enable, apparently have been all along since the box was checked when I went in to check it. I do not a popp up for either mic when I plug them in. I've tried windows sound recorder-nothing. I've tried to configure the mic under the control panel and when I read the test sentence I have to cup my hand over the mich and pratcially yell into it (but it doesn't playback so that I can see what it is actually picking up) I've checked volumes and they are all the way up. When a mic is pluged in a volume setting is added to my sound mixer, so it knows that something is there. As I said it worked beautifully with the dell diagnostic test, so I know that the mic is working. Maybe trying a new mic will solve it, but I'd hate to spend the money on a new one and have the same problem (the webcam one is a cheap-o and the desk top is ancient, but I did try the half way in trick and that didn't work either)

 

The popup box is a dialog that lets you specify whether you plugged in a microphone or a line-in. If the popup is not popping up then the input jack is defaulting to the line-in configuration. The mic will not work properly with that configuration. I don't know where else to change it except the box.

I believe that the fault is in either the audio driver or the sense pin within the jack. If reinstalling the audio driver does not help then I think you have a faulty jack, although I can't be one hundred % sure.

When a jack has a faulty sense pin, it will function all right during the Dell Diagnostic test because the test does not utilize the software that is triggered by the pin. Try inserting the plug into the jack and very gently wiggling in an effort to get the sense pin to trigger the popup box. That is all I know to suggest.

 

No matter what I did I could never get a pop up box to appear. My mic is now working. I did 2 things, not sure which it was but for future reference. I went into the control panel, then manage audio divices; under recording I went into the microphone properties and deleted '/inline' from the name. Now it only says microphone.

 From that same same place that I changed the name I again went into properties, then change settings, under driver I hit disable. I let the computer restart. After that to re-enable the driver I went to the control panel, then divice manager, then sound, video, and game controllers, then clicked on SigmaTel and followed the directions to enable. Now everything works.

I know I probably broke this down more than ou needed, but hopefully it will help someone else.

I think my problem is no. 1 but I cannot find the FAQs you are referring to.  Can you please illuminate further.

 

thanks.

 

Fred

When folks say their mic won't work they usually mean one of three things.   1. They can't hear the mic through the computer's speakers. That is because Dell has the monitoring function turned off by default, either in the Windows Registry or the inf files of the audio chip's driver. There is a solution in the FAQ -- the 1st thread on this board -- for the models where it is turned off in the Registry.   2. The mic works except when used for voip.   3. The mic will not record when used with a recording application such as Windows Sound Recorder.    There are numerous causes for #3. If the computer is properly configured with "microphone" selected as the input source but it will not record, then no signal is getting from the mic to the recording application.   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/ Sigmatel and check the 'allow popups' box. Then plug in the mic again, answer the configuration question, and test it.     If enabling popups doesn't solve the problem then next try 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 doesn't test the rest of the audio hardware, so you still need to let Dell Diagnostics run after the pre-boot tests finish. Dell Diagnostics plays an instrumental piece of music complete with drums, so if you only hear some tones then you have only run the pre-boot assessment test. 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. 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   PS if you have Vista there is a configuration setting for activating an external mic.

 

 

Fred,

I need to edit that post, because since I wrote that over a year ago there have been major changes here on the Dell Forum and unfortunately our Audio FAQ has been lost. Here is a link directly to the relevant thread, How to Enable Input Monitoring.

 

My Laptop has the same problem and must say that Jimco's response it the most informative response I have yet to see on this problem.

Jimco writes:  "The mic works except when used for VOIP"

I use Skype for my Telephony.  Does this mean that my Inspiron E1505 mic will not work on Skype?  Currently when I receive a Skype phone call I can hear what the caller is saying but they cannot hear me which is not very conducive to productive conversation. :emotion-1:

If this is so, what is the best alternative method to use Skype on my laptop? 

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

 

Does this mean that my Inspiron E1505 mic will not work on Skype?

 

The E1505 does not have a built-in mic so you must use an external one.

You wrote that you have "the same problem". If that means that you are using a headset mic then test it using a recording program like Windows Sound Recorder which is simpler to configure than Skype. If it works in the recording program then the problem is in the Skype program's configuration.

If you are using a usb headset, then you must set usb audio device to be the default audio device for both playback and recording (instead of the Sigmatel audio system).