Microphone not working.

seanizzle · 12-14-2008, 06:36 PM

Last night my mic was working fine. When I logged on this morning, it had stopped working. No settings have been changed.

My soundcard is a Soundblaster X-FI Fatality Pro Edition, motherboard is the ASUS P5N-E SLI.

I tried plugging the mic into both my soundcard and my onboard microphone jacks - neither worked. Then I tried a different mic which I know works. No luck there either. Double and triple checked all my sound settings, made sure the mic is turned up and not muted, etc, etc, etc. Nothing. I have uninstalled and re-installed both my soundcard and onboard sound drivers three times now and still no luck.

Can anyone suggest something?

CSchuman · 12-15-2008, 12:10 AM

Same thing here. I have the exact same sound card. I just got back from Best Buy w/ some USB Headphones. STILL NO MIC. Sound works fine though.

Any help?

Ftmch · 12-15-2008, 10:07 AM

I have the same card... AND the almost same motherboard, and guess what? the microphone worked fine until I changed my motherboard to a ASUS P5E WS Pro X38 etc. So something tells me there's a conflict between the onboard chipset and the soundcard or something, I remember having a similar problem with my old Motherboard, which I think was solved by disabling the onboard sound device in the bios, this didn't help with my problem now though.

Just to check an extra thing, what happens if you enable microphone playback in the creative volume-panel thingy? For me, I can hear my recorded voice through the headphones, which indicate that the microphone is actually working, but isn't detected properly.

Are you using vista 32 bit aswell? (I am), when I check the sound-options in the control panel, it says my microphone is "temporarily unavaible" (not sure it says exactly that in english, I'm using the swedish version).

I also tried different jacks etc. for the microphone, but considering I can hear the playback when I have it enabled, it seems to be another issue. It only works in playback, not in games, the sound-recorder etc.

Also, for some reason I have TWO "High definition audio Device" in the Device Manager, and only one of them dissapeared when deactivating onboard audio in the BIOS, what can the other one be? (it installs each time I restart the computer).

Edit: And now.. it suddenly started working, and windows detected etc. but I have NO IDEA why, I don't think I changed anything, but it works, it is a mystery to me. I will now try restarting the computer and see if it can still detect the microphone.

Edit again: I think it might be because i disabled "auxilary" in my creative-settings, but I think I tried this before. Try it and see if it works, you can also try to disable Digital-in.

Anyway, having "auxilary", "Digital-in" and "Microphone" disabled in the "Playback"-part of Creatives "game mode"-console seems to work for me, but it might be that it works because i disabled the onboard sound, so try it and let me know if it works without disabling the onboard sound.

seanizzle · 12-15-2008, 08:35 PM

I'm using Windows XP SP3.

No luck with disabling Auxiliary, Digital-In, or Microphone. I tried every combination of disabling these four options (Aux, Digital, Mic, and Line-in) and nothing worked.

Onboard sound is disabled through the BIOS.

Ftmch · 12-16-2008, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanizzle

I'm using Windows XP SP3.

No luck with disabling Auxiliary, Digital-In, or Microphone. I tried every combination of disabling these four options (Aux, Digital, Mic, and Line-in) and nothing worked.

Onboard sound is disabled through the BIOS.

Ah, that's a shame. :/ Did you remove the drivers for the onboard sound through the device-manager before disabling it?

seanizzle · 12-16-2008, 07:49 AM

Sure did.

Ftmch · 12-16-2008, 09:02 AM

Hm, then unfortunatly I'm at a loss as to what you could do. :/ I don't really have much knowledge on these things, other than that what I did helped me. I sure hope someone else can help.

seanizzle · 12-16-2008, 05:07 PM

Thanks for the suggestions Ftmch, I appreciate it anyway!

**Pauldo** · 12-16-2008, 06:03 PM

When did you update to SP3?

Have you tried to re-install your chipset drivers? Not sure if that will help with a pci sound card but might be worth a shot.

Video card drivers can, on occasion, conflict with sound card drivers. Maybe re-install video card drivers.

Have you physically removed your X-Fi and put it back in, maybe in a different pci slot? Probably not the case here but I have seen weirder stuff happen.

Also, you mentioned that you made sure that your mic was not muted and that you have tried disabling your mic. Have you tried to just mute your mic? Seems to work for a lot of people.

Pauldo

seanizzle · 12-16-2008, 08:32 PM

Well, I discovered my solution - sort of.

It turns out that my "good mic" - the one that I knew worked because I tested it on another PC before I started all this - went out at some point between now and when I tested it originally. So, it appears it's not a soundcard issue at all, I just have two broken microphones.

It does raise a question though - is it possible for a soundcard to fry a microphone? I can't think of anything else that could have happened that would have killed my "good mic."

Thanks so much for everyone's quick responses and help on the issue.

12-14-2008, 06:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
seanizzle Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP SP3	Microphone not working. Last night my mic was working fine. When I logged on this morning, it had stopped working. No settings have been changed. My soundcard is a Soundblaster X-FI Fatality Pro Edition, motherboard is the ASUS P5N-E SLI. I tried plugging the mic into both my soundcard and my onboard microphone jacks - neither worked. Then I tried a different mic which I know works. No luck there either. Double and triple checked all my sound settings, made sure the mic is turned up and not muted, etc, etc, etc. Nothing. I have uninstalled and re-installed both my soundcard and onboard sound drivers three times now and still no luck. Can anyone suggest something?

12-15-2008, 12:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
CSchuman Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP	Re: Microphone not working. Same thing here. I have the exact same sound card. I just got back from Best Buy w/ some USB Headphones. STILL NO MIC. Sound works fine though. Any help?

12-15-2008, 10:07 AM	#3 (permalink)
Ftmch Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 17 OS: Windows XP Professional	Re: Microphone not working. I have the same card... AND the almost same motherboard, and guess what? the microphone worked fine until I changed my motherboard to a ASUS P5E WS Pro X38 etc. So something tells me there's a conflict between the onboard chipset and the soundcard or something, I remember having a similar problem with my old Motherboard, which I think was solved by disabling the onboard sound device in the bios, this didn't help with my problem now though. Just to check an extra thing, what happens if you enable microphone playback in the creative volume-panel thingy? For me, I can hear my recorded voice through the headphones, which indicate that the microphone is actually working, but isn't detected properly. Are you using vista 32 bit aswell? (I am), when I check the sound-options in the control panel, it says my microphone is "temporarily unavaible" (not sure it says exactly that in english, I'm using the swedish version). I also tried different jacks etc. for the microphone, but considering I can hear the playback when I have it enabled, it seems to be another issue. It only works in playback, not in games, the sound-recorder etc. Also, for some reason I have TWO "High definition audio Device" in the Device Manager, and only one of them dissapeared when deactivating onboard audio in the BIOS, what can the other one be? (it installs each time I restart the computer). Edit: And now.. it suddenly started working, and windows detected etc. but I have NO IDEA why, I don't think I changed anything, but it works, it is a mystery to me. I will now try restarting the computer and see if it can still detect the microphone. Edit again: I think it might be because i disabled "auxilary" in my creative-settings, but I think I tried this before. Try it and see if it works, you can also try to disable Digital-in. Anyway, having "auxilary", "Digital-in" and "Microphone" disabled in the "Playback"-part of Creatives "game mode"-console seems to work for me, but it might be that it works because i disabled the onboard sound, so try it and let me know if it works without disabling the onboard sound. Last edited by Ftmch; 12-15-2008 at 10:30 AM.

12-15-2008, 08:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
seanizzle Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP SP3	Re: Microphone not working. I'm using Windows XP SP3. No luck with disabling Auxiliary, Digital-In, or Microphone. I tried every combination of disabling these four options (Aux, Digital, Mic, and Line-in) and nothing worked. Onboard sound is disabled through the BIOS.

12-16-2008, 07:49 AM	#6 (permalink)
seanizzle Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP SP3	Re: Microphone not working. Sure did.

12-16-2008, 09:02 AM	#7 (permalink)
Ftmch Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 17 OS: Windows XP Professional	Re: Microphone not working. Hm, then unfortunatly I'm at a loss as to what you could do. :/ I don't really have much knowledge on these things, other than that what I did helped me. I sure hope someone else can help.

12-16-2008, 05:07 PM	#8 (permalink)
seanizzle Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP SP3	Re: Microphone not working. Thanks for the suggestions Ftmch, I appreciate it anyway!

12-16-2008, 06:03 PM	#9 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: Microphone not working. When did you update to SP3? Have you tried to re-install your chipset drivers? Not sure if that will help with a pci sound card but might be worth a shot. Video card drivers can, on occasion, conflict with sound card drivers. Maybe re-install video card drivers. Have you physically removed your X-Fi and put it back in, maybe in a different pci slot? Probably not the case here but I have seen weirder stuff happen. Also, you mentioned that you made sure that your mic was not muted and that you have tried disabling your mic. Have you tried to just mute your mic? Seems to work for a lot of people. Pauldo __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center]

12-16-2008, 08:32 PM	#10 (permalink)
seanizzle Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP SP3	Re: Microphone not working. Well, I discovered my solution - sort of. It turns out that my "good mic" - the one that I knew worked because I tested it on another PC before I started all this - went out at some point between now and when I tested it originally. So, it appears it's not a soundcard issue at all, I just have two broken microphones. It does raise a question though - is it possible for a soundcard to fry a microphone? I can't think of anything else that could have happened that would have killed my "good mic." Thanks so much for everyone's quick responses and help on the issue.