I have two problems and I'm not sure if they are related. I am running Ubuntu 16.04 with fluxbox in a Lenovo Thinkpad T470.
1) It seems that I have two microphones in my computer: 'internal microphone' and 'microphone (unplugged)'. This is the information given by pavucontrol, and not by the default ubuntu sound controller.
Problem: the 'internal microphone', which is the default option (and I am not being able to switch), makes a terrible noise, and I can't use it for online calls; while the 'microfone (unplugged)' works fine. So, every time I start a call, I have to open pavucontrol to switch the input port.
2) it also seems that I have two recording devices (I'm not sure if they are called 'devices'): (1) 'Built-in Audio Analog Stereo' and (2) 'Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo'.
Problem: Every time I start a Hangouts call, the browser (Firefox 59.0.1) asks me which microphone I want to use. And I choose (1) because (2) makes no sound. The problem is that it makes no sound anyway, and then I go to pavucontrol to find out that it chose (2), instead of (1). Then I change it back, and it works fine.
I've being trying to solve this problem for one month now and I've tried many things I found over the internet. I've tried to edit /etc/pulse/default.pa and probably I didn't do it properly.
1 Answer
Not sure if it solves your problem, but I have Thinkpad T430 and on 18.04 internal Mic also started to make a huge noise. I ran
pavucontroland in Input devices lowered Silence Base value. Now the internal mic works fine again.
