Karmic/9.10 doesn't auto-detect external microphone

[Chris Dickinson]

I use Skype on my Lenovo X61s laptop a lot (often for calling regular phones, businesses, etc.). When I'm at home, I use a headset with a microphone jack. When I'm not at home, I use the built-in microphone of my laptop. It happens quite frequently that the person I'm calling cannot hear anything and hangs up again. The problem: My OS doesn't automatically change from the external mike to the built-in one (and vice-versa). I have to go to System -> Preferences -> Sound -> Input and select "Microphone 2" if I want the built-in mike, etc.

I'm presuming this is a bug in Ubuntu 9.10. I don't have the same problem with the built-in speakers vs. headphones. It switches automatically.

Is there a known solution for this??

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Linux my-PC 2.6.31-22-generic #69-Ubuntu SMP Wed Nov 24 08:51:08 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux
Ubuntu 2.6.31-22.69-generic

[Naveen Agarwal (nav.coder)]

This is a User Support Question not a Bug.