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Jolicloud 1.1 Microphone FixBy: Carlos Gutierrez

http://triplethreat117.wordpress.com/

Proven to work on:Acer Aspire One Netbook Family

Asus Eee PC Netbook Family

Revised: February 24, 2011

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Problem D e scription

Okay so to make sure we are all starting on the same page here, lets go over what the issue is. You arerunning Jolicloud 1.1 and you absolutely love it! Everything seems to work perfectly – everything fromthe [Fn] combos to the webcam with the exception of your built-in microphone. In some cases, it doesnot work with the sound recorder, in others it does but the bottom line is:

it does not work as it should and that makes me mad!

Even if you'll never use your mic, you want to know you could if you wanted to so if the problemdescribed is the problem you're having, read on. If not, these links may help even if the arn't for yourspecific computer or OS:

Ubuntu Acer 1410/1810T/1810TZ with no mic or Fn+F5 functionalityGentoo Acer Aspire 4736z with no mic Finctionality

Credit

Though I am the author of this walk-through, I put it together using bits and pieces from other fixes forother issues (some similar, some not). I did my research through the internet and in addition to the twosites mentioned above, I gained insight into this issue from the following sources who deserve creditfor their contributions.

• leorolla,  jazzman, and islandBilly over at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=927270&page=3 

◦ Posts #24, #28, and #29 respectively

• viren22 over at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1559056&page=2

◦Post #12

• Robbie noWindows over at http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/thread?tid=736cd1781489ed50&hl=en

◦ Classified best answer at the time

• Jolicloud Knowledge Base

◦ Specifically http://help.jolicloud.com/entries/199142-my-speakers-headphones-don-t-work

• Bluetard900

◦ Used this tutorial solo before it went public (to test ease of use, clarity, and effectiveness)

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Skype

Many people use Skype and with good reason because it is a good program. If you dont, you can skipthis part but I recommend you download and install Skype, perform these steps and this way, in theevent that in the future you ever do need Skype, you won't have to dig around the internet for this guideso that you can get your mic working with it.

Open Skype, find the Main Menu (botom left), and go to Options.

1. Go to Sound Devices

2. Uncheck: “Allow Skype to automatically adjust my mixer levels”3. Make sure that box is not checked (empty) and click Apply

We are done with Skype for now so you can close it. At the end of this tutorial, I suggest you openSkype back up and call the Echo/Sound Test Service to test everything out.

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GoogleTalk

This is a bit trickier, but it is not hard so stick with me and I will have you through it in no time. Ifyou've made any changes to the google chat settings in terms of what mic to use or anything thing likethat, please go back and change them now because chances are that was not the problem. Microphoneshould be set to Default device.

Most importantly of course is that your Microphone be set to Default Device.

Close your gmail browser completely and to be safe, it is best you close out ALL browser windowsthough I don't think that would be necessary.

1. Open your file browser (Alt+F2 and then type nautilus)2. Navigate to your personal folder (the one named after your username)3. Go to View and click Show Hidden Files (Ctrl+H is a shortcut to doing this)4. Among the collection of new folders that soon appear, find and open the .config folder5. Open the google-googletalkplugin folder6. Find the plain-text file named options

7. Copy it to you Documents folder incase something goes wrong (though nothing really can)8. Open it with gedit Text Editor which is usually default9. Now you want to make sure that in that file, there is a line that reads: audio-flags=1

10. If that number value is anything else (2, 3, etc.) change it to 1

11. If the file does not have and audio-flags line at all, add audio-flags=112. Save and close the document which should look like the one below

On an Acer, the other values usually match and no matter what computer you use, they are often similarbut the important part here is that audio-flags=1. If you still had Gmail open, close it. You will reopenit shortly as we are nearing the end of the tutorial.

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Update Jolicloud and Install Pavucontrol

If you are not up-to-date, this fix might not work so to be sure, we are going to quickly update Jolicloudand while we are at it, we are going to install the meat and potatoes of this fix.

1. Open a terminal by pressing Alt+F1 (sounds cool and dangerous but it's not much of either)

2. Type: sudo apt-get update and if prompted, enter your password.• Note, when typing your password it will not display it or asterisk hidding it. All you will see

is a blinking square but rest assured, it is being entered so just type it and hit enter.3. Wait for the resulting process to finish (you'll see the blinking text square)4. Now type: sudo apt-get install pavucontrol and again, enter your password if asked5. Wait for the resulting process to be completed and once it is, you may close the terminal

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Pavucontrol

We first need to open up PulseAudio Volume Control or pavucontrol. You can find it in the drop-downmenu under Sound & Video if you added a menu but the easiest way to get to it is to:

1. Press Alt+F2 (brings up the “Run Application” window)

2. In the box simply type in pavucontrol

Under the Input Devices tab, for Internal Audio Analog Stereo, do the following:1. Press the lock/unlock icon to allow the sliders to be moved seperately2. Front Left = 100%3. Front Right = 0%

4. Press the green check icon once to save your settings

We are done and everything should work well but leave this open and I will walk you through a test!

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Test

If you followed the steps correctly, things should work right but I will cover some troubleshooting atthe end just incase. Try to have the Volume Control window we just finished up with open duringthese tests to monitor your microphone's input levels using that orange colored response bar.

1. Open Skype, Log in, and “call” the Echo/Sound Test Service• While you speak:

◦ You should see movement in the Volume Control window

◦ The levels we set (Front Left = 100% and Front Right = 0%) should remain set

• After recording you message with the Test Service, you should hear it played back2. Open Gmail, Log in, and go to Mail Settings (the gear in the top right portion of the screen)

• Under the Chat tab, click the link that says Verify your settings

◦ Option 2 shows a microphone and next to it, you should see movement when you speak

• You can also call a friend and ask one of the following questions:

◦ Can you hear me now?

◦ Is your refridgerator running?

◦ Why was Firefly canceled?!

• If you get a response to any of these questions, chances are the person on the other end canhear you.

Test your favorite chat sites or programs and see if everything checks out there. If you encounter anyproblems with other IM/Chat clients, be sure to check the audio settings and disable any options thatallow auto sound volume configuration by that program (like we did for Skype).

Thanks for having the patients to go through this walk-through and I hope it was useful to you. If youhave any suggestions or justifiable additions to this guide, please contact me through my site athttp://triplethreat117.wordpress.com/ .

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Troubleshooting

A common issue seems to be that once the machine has been restarted, the audio levels in pavucontrolreset themselves. If you are encountering this issue, follow the steps below and you have a good chanceof resolving this issue with little effort.

1. Re-open pavucontrol upon restart and re-adjust the settings to:• Front Left = 100% and Front Right = 0%

2. As mentioned when we first did this, be sure to click the green check mark icon once

• This will save the above settings as the default settings3. close pavucontrol4. Open a terminal using Alt+F1

5. Type: sudo alsa force-reload and if prompted, enter your password6. Once the resulting process is complete, you may close the terminal7. Re-open pavucontrol and make sure your settings are still set as you left them8. Reboot and test your mic using Skype or googletalk

This should fix the issue and whether you shut down or reboot the computer, your settings will beretained.

I would like to mention however, that in some cases, upon start-up, pavucontrol may adjust its levels abit. For example, on my machine, I set the levels to:

◦ Front Left = 100% and Front Right = 0%

However, when I rebooted for the first time, those settings had been modified slightly to:

◦ Front Left = 100% and Front Right = 22%

In all honesty, I do not know why this happens but everything still works as it should so it is not an

issue – please do not be alarmed.