Ubuntu 20.04 - Headset mic not working

[Karl Auer]

On Sun, 2021-07-04 at 19:35 +0530, Devansh Soni wrote:
> I'm using Ubuntu 20.04 on an HP da0077tx laptop and my headset's mic
> is not working. The same headset is working fine with other devices.
> [...]
> I have my interviews scheduled this week and this issue can create a
> problem. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

My response does not address the root cause of your problem, I don't
know how to get your mic working. I have only some cheap suggestions to
get your interview happening.

Workaround 1: Given that a solution is time-critical, consider using a
different computer or your phone to do the interviews. Most
conferencing software has a phone app. I've used Skype and Zoom myself.

Workaround 2: If you have access to a good consumer electronics store,
get a cheap USB webcam with a mic and use the mic in that. Plug your
headphones into your laptop speaker/mic jack. Most conference software
(and definitely the big ones like Zoom, Teams, Google Meet etc) lets
you independently select mic and speaker devices, so select the webcam
mic and the laptop speakers. Your headset microphone will be inactive.
Test the webcam in the store if you can.

For the next three workarounds you will need a cheap USB sound dongle
with *separate* mic/headset inputs. Try to check in the shop that it
works, but most will. Or perhaps a friend has one you can borrow.

If the dongle does not come with a splitter (to separate a 4-pole jack
into separate input and output jacks), buy one of those too. Check that
your headset did not come with one either, they often do.

Then:

Workaround 3: Plug in the dongle, plug your headset jack into the
earphone input on the dongle. In your conference software, select the
dongle as the output device and the laptop built-in microphone as the
input device.

Workaround 4: Plug in the dongle, plug your headset/mic into the
splitter, plug the earphones jack from the splitter into the laptop
speaker/mic jack, plug the mic jack from the splitter into the mic
input on the dongle. In your conference software, select the dongle as
the input device and the laptop built-in speakers as the output device.

Workaround 5: Plug in the dongle, plug your headset/mic into the
splitter, plug the mic jack from the splitter into the mic input on the
dongle, plug the earphones channel from the splitter into the earphones
output on the dongle. In your conference software, select the dongle as
the input device and the output device.

Regards, K.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)
http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer

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