Dell ships the Inspirons with the ability to monitor the input at the mic jack turned off. On models with the Sigmatel stac975x chip this can be restored by editing the Registry subkey 'DisableMicFromPlayback'.

[NOTE: This set of instructions is ONLY for models with the Sigmatel STAC9750 audio chip. There are different instructions available for those with the newer 9250 chip.]

1. Go to Start menu and click on Run. Type 'regedit' without quotes and click OK to open the Registry.
2. At the top of the list, highlight My Computer.
3. Under the Edit menu, select Find.
4. Type in 'DisableMicFromPlayback' without quotes and click 'find next'.
5. Highlight DisableMicFromPlayback. Right click on it and select Modify.
6. Highlight 01 and change to 00. Click OK.
7. Optional (but 8600 users should do this) find "EnablePoPBypass" and set the value to 00.
8. Optional (but 600 & 6000 should do this) find "DisableMicSelect" and set the value to 00.
9. Exit the Registry and restart the computer.

Next, configure the system mixer:

1. Open Volume Control by right clicking on the speaker icon on the taskbar, or go to Start/Control Panel/ Sound & Audio Devices Properties/Advanced (button).
2. Under the Options menu, select Properties.
3. Under 'show the following volume controls' check the box next to Microphone. Click OK.
4. A mic control appears in the Volume Control. Make sure the mute box is unchecked.
5. If your external audio source (a stereo or tv tuner etc that you have connected to the mic jack) has a way to control its volume level, turn it down to control excessive input volume.

Jim


NOTES:

This Registry edit was originally posted in a basic form first by dilleyo and then jk79. I have put it into this step-by-step format for those of us who are not familiar with editing the Registry.

This works for Inspiron 1100, 1150, 1200, 2200, 5100, 5150, 5160, 6000, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 500m, 600m, 700m, xps and xps gen2 and some others with the 9750 chip & driver.


This is the direct Registry path to the key:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ControlSet001\Control\Class\
{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0005\Settings.

Another thing you can do while you are in the Registry is to find "DisablePeakmeters" and set the value to 00. This will place an input level meter on the Recording Control panel and an output level meter on the Volume Control panel. These are useful when you are recording with a barebones program like Windows Sound Recorder that doesn't have meters.

It is wise to create a System Restore point before editing the Registry. If you accidentally make incorrect edits while in there you could cripple your computer, but using System Restore should correct any problems.

To create a new Restore Point go to Start/Help & Support/System Restore and tick 'Create a restore point'.

Ah I just did what you were talking about; it records but no realtime feedback.. Why are laptops configured as machines with disabilities (the word ret?rded was rejected)?? Did you know that Dell and Microsoft also turn off the ability for your laptop to recognise "Dynamic Disks", the standard method of partitioning hard drives in Win2K/XP?? Sheesh.