Reinstall OS, now internal mic no longer works - help!

[barchamb]

Just got my T61p a month or so ago. It came with a corporate image, which had a ton of stuff I really didn't need or want. Plus, it had 20 thinkpad apps running. Took forever to boot and just seemed overall sluggish in performance. However, in this state, the internal mic did work. I was able to use Skype and Sound Recorder just fine.

Yesterday, I took the plunge and reformatted the machine and got all the correct drivers back on and all the question marks are gone from device manager. I had to install some Microsoft hotfix to enable HD audio so the SoundMax driver would install, but that all went smoothly and my output sound works just fine. However, now Skype and Sound Recorder don't work with the internal mic.

Is there some other driver I missed, or something I need to enable or tweak to get it to work again? I also tried turning on the mic boost, but that didn't help either.

[truk]

Have you tried an external mic to see if that will work?

[barchamb]

I have not, but I'm not really interested in using an external mic, so even if it does work, it wouldn't really matter to me.

My main concern is that it did work, and now that I've reinstalled everything, it doesn't. So, it makes me think that I somehow missed some driver or did something wrong during the reinstall.

However, if I'm going to use it for Skype and stuff like that, it's probably best to have a headset anyway, so maybe I will give it a try...

[truk]

Yah, the external mic is not a suggestion for a permanent solution, but a way to test the problem. I don't expect it will work. Have you checked to make sure the volume is not turned way down in windows? I would also check for an unknown device in the device manager that might be the mic.

[barchamb]

If I right click on the speaker icon in the system tray, choose "Adjust Audio Properties", click on the "Audio" tab, the click on "Volume" in the "Sound Recording" section, it is turned up all the way. If I press Advanced there, the mic boost is turned on. I have tried it with the mic boost turned off and on. Is that the volume you are talking about?

I only have 1 unknown device in the device manager, and that is the biometric coprocessor, which I don't care about.

[Padhead]

DID YOU DO A SYSTEM UPDATE? IT SHOULD PICK UP THE FILES.

IF NOT, GO TO:

CONTROL PANEL.

DOUBLE CLICK "SOUNDS AND AUDIO DEVICES" ICON

SELECT THE "VOICE" TAB.

DEPRESS THE "TEST HARDWARE" BUTTON

ALSO MAKE SURE NOTHING IS MUTED OR THE VOLUME TOO LOW.

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO ADD THE MICROPHONE VOLUME SLIDER CONTROL BY SELECTING ADVANCE CONTROLS IN THE VOLUME TAB, THEN DEPRESS ADVANCED BUTTON.)

YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIX THIS. BASIC STUFF.

[barchamb]

I ran the test as you suggested. It asked me to speak into the mic and I did. I snapped my fingers, I clapped my hands. Nothing would make the bar show any activity. When I finally clicked Next, it said, "The wizard could not complete the test because your voice was not detected."

The other wierd thing is that in that test wizard, there is a volume control for the mic (it is labeled "Recording"). It is set to the top. If I try to move it from the top, it automatically slides itself back to the top. If I press the Advanced button, there is a volume slider in there as well. If I move that slider from the top, it slowly moves BOTH sliders back to the top. Wierd.

[truk]

That's supposed to act like that. It's trying to auto adjust for your input (which you don't have, so it maxes out volume trying to find it,) and moves both channels equally unless told otherwise. I would try to re-install any sound drivers from the IBM website if you can. I have worked with the hotfix and had issues, so I'm thinking you may be able to overwrite any bad changes it made with a clean install of the driver.

[barchamb]

Okay, I went into c:\drivers\win\audio and uninstalled the SoundMAX driver, which asked me to reboot, which I did. After the reboot, I had no mic support or output sound, which I would expect. Then, I went back into that directory and ran the install, then it asked me to reboot again. After that reboot, I had full output sound, but the mic still does not respond to any program, or the test hardware wizard. I'm still toast...

[rkawakami]

I've read through all of the posts and I don't think I saw this being verified:

- Double click the speaker icon in the system tray
- Select Options/Properties
- Insure that the checkbox for Microphone is checked; this will enable display of the microphone input
- Make sure that the Mute checkbox is unchecked

[barchamb]

You are correct. The microphone was not checked, and when I checked it, it then showed up, and it was muted. However, those controls were for Playback, and if I select the controls for Recording, the mic does show up, and it's not muted. But, I went ahead and added the mic to the playback controls and unmuted it, and went through the tests again, and I've still got no love.

[Jerel]

I have the same issue with my internal microphone. The machine had the original image from the factory, then I did a MS 'repair" so I could install my company's Key ( removing the OEM ) everything is working, I install all MS and Lenovo updates. Everything seems to be working, but when I tried the internal microphone it does not function. I have tried the external jack and this is working. I also tried the "test" and this failed. Only when I insert an external mic and headset will it work..any ideas?

and yes, I have done everything listed so far in this forum...HELP!!

[icantux]

Did you guys apply this hotfix (I hope we're talking XP here!):
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-68974

Here is the explanation of what it does:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888111/

[blu3ic3]

I'm having the same problem. I installed that update, still no success.

[Jerel]

I have install the current version of the 888111 file. This did not correct the microphone issue. I can use a external microphone, but this would cause some issues, so I would like to have the internal microphone working.

On all machines that we have "rebuilt" by repair or installing a new OS have this issue. If I use a machine that has the "factory" load the microphone will function.

Does anyone have any other ideas about why this is occuring and have a solution?

Thanks for any help!!

[excel03]

I've got the same problem. PLEASE HELP.

I have reinstalled WIN XP PRO SP2, reinstalled the drivers. Now the only thing that doesn't work is the INTERNAL MIC. I have tried reinstalling Soundmax and the 888111 or something patch, no go. When I plug something (like headphones) in the mic input, then take it out, the internal mic works after. But if i restart my comp, doesn't work anymore...weird.

Thanks!!

[gpvillamil]

I am having exactly the same problem, X61 Tablet, Win XP SP2 (Tablet Edition).

Everything was working fine, then a System Update nuked my hotkey drivers, so I reinstalled. Everything works - except microphone input.

[icantux]

I'll try to confirm that this is caused by the new drivers. I'm in the process of re-installing XP on my thinkpad due to some unrelated problem I'm having with the original installation.

I have the "factory install" drivers and the ones downloaded from the Lenovo site so we'll see if these new drivers are the root cause. If it is, just goes to show you - don't update your system drivers if everything works ok.

Lenovo seemed to manage to bust something or another with updates on my T42 as well until I got tired of all the problems and just installed the original drivers (everything worked and I was happy with that).

[gpvillamil]

I found the old audio drivers, version 5410, and installed those, after removing the new drivers.

All is now working again.

=================

What I did, in more detail:

I used the Audio Setup program (in c:\drivers\win\audio) to remove the drivers completely, then rebooted.

I ignored Windows message about new hardware found.

I deleted the folder c:\drivers\win\audio

Installed the old drivers (version 5410). I was asked about a missing file from the Windows XP CD, I just pointed it to c:\i386 and everything proceeded fine.

Rebooted again, and now the microphone is working fine.

[Jerel]

Thanks to gpvillamil, I now have my internal microphone working.

Just follow his instructions and you should be able to correct this problem.

Here is the location of the older driver I found..

http://www.opendrivers.com/driver/23844 ... nload.html

Remove the new driver ( 5.10.1.5670 ) reboot, download the driver from the above location, and remember the driver's folder location.

Default location is : C:\drivers\win\audio

it will ask you to copy over the content of the folder. let it!! then go to that location and find setup.exe. Run this exe to install the older and working driver.

That's all I had to do , just reboot and test the microphone.

Good luck and thanks to gpvillamil for the information.

[icantux]

Just as a word of caution, make sure to install Microsoft's KB888111 patch (for SP2) before installing the audio drivers, otherwise the Lenovo drivers might not engage the hardware properly.

**EDIT
Following re-installation of XP and all the goodies on my T61, I can also confirm that the soundmax audio drivers v5.10.1.5410 brings back internal mic functionality.

[notismed]

Thanks to gpvillamil, I now have my internal microphone working.

Just follow his instructions and you should be able to correct this problem.

Here is the location of the older driver I found..

http://www.opendrivers.com/driver/23844 ... nload.html

Remove the new driver ( 5.10.1.5670 ) reboot, download the driver from the above location, and remember the driver's folder location.

Default location is : C:\drivers\win\audio

it will ask you to copy over the content of the folder. let it!! then go to that location and find setup.exe. Run this exe to install the older and working driver.

That's all I had to do , just reboot and test the microphone.

Good luck and thanks to gpvillamil for the information.

i can't seem to find the download link.....

i have the same issue as well. thx all in advance

[excel03]

thank you! Installing the old driver works good! Now mic works. Well...let me tell you, with this new T61, reinstalling a new WINXP and adding the drivers from lenovo is a pain in the [censored].

One last thing though...the only problem i have is in the device manager, the ATMEL TPM (the second one) have a '!' next to it..never knew what that was. Any ideas?

Thanks again!!

seeya

BTW..the link above (2nd reply from my last message) regarding the driver works fine. Try it again

[notismed]

can any1 tell me where's the actual link to download the old driver?

[icantux]

thank you! Installing the old driver works good! Now mic works. Well...let me tell you, with this new T61, reinstalling a new WINXP and adding the drivers from lenovo is a pain in the [censored].

One last thing though...the only problem i have is in the device manager, the ATMEL TPM (the second one) have a '!' next to it..never knew what that was. Any ideas?

Yeah, it's not pleasant doing a clean XP install on the T61. Don't forget all the MS XP hotfixes regarding multicore processors and other fixes.

The (!) on the second TPM device goes away with the installation of CSS... if you don't use CSS then just delete it, it won't cause anymore trouble.

[ffrut]

notismed -

The driver location listed by Jerel is good - just that Firefox renders the page badly and hides the download link.

Use IE instead and all is clear.

[Nolonemo]

Yeah, it's not pleasant doing a clean XP install on the T61. Don't forget all the MS XP hotfixes regarding multicore processors and other fixes.

I'm assuming all these hotfixes have been rolled into SP3?

[rborland]

I have learnt a lot from this discussion. My problem is slightly different. On my T61 the internal mic works fine but the external mic socket is dead and I want to use an external microphone not the internal microphone.

My T61 came with SoundMax 5410 drivers installed. I tried installing SoundMax 5520, with the MS KB88811 hotfix, but this doesn't fix the problem.

I have tried all the suggestions on this page but none of them fix the problem.

I'd appreciate any advice.

[burepe]

Same problem here on a x41 tablet.

I uninstalled the audio drivers and downloaded the link posted (there is an backup server below the non working one) and installed but I get an error like "You need a HD audio bus driver and it can not be found" (paraphrased from Japanese)

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[loyukfai]

Just found out the same problem on an X61T running Windows 7 64-bit. Already installed the driver (http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-67821) but still couldn't work.

Any idea...?

Cheers.