Sound input settings not saved

[Michael MacEachern]

When attempting to set my preferred sound input device, simply leaving sound preferences and going back to sound preferences, and selecting input, causes the default SPDIF to be selected again, and not the internal microphone I preferred. I made a video to demonstrate what I mean by this here: http://youtu.be/9Q9EQvLl_rA

1) The release of Ubuntu you are using, via 'lsb_release -rd' or System -> About Ubuntu
14.04

2) The version of the package you are using, via 'apt-cache policy pkgname' or by checking in Software Center
I really don't know. It's just the sound preferences.

3) What you expected to happen
For my selected sound input to be saved.

4) What happened instead
Keeps defaulting to the top sound input

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-29.53-generic 3.13.11.2
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-29-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: brandon 23953 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: brandon 23953 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Jun 25 11:20:14 2014
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-04-26 (60 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140417)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaRecordingTest: ALSA recording test through plughw:PCH successful
Symptom_Card: Caicos HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6400 Series] - HDA ATI HDMI
Symptom_PulseAudioRecordingTest: PulseAudio recording test through plughw:PCH successful
Symptom_Type: None of the above
Title: [HDA-Intel - HDA Intel PCH, recording] Recording problem
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 01/24/12
dmi.bios.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.bios.version: MBP81.88Z.0047.B27.1201241646
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag#
dmi.board.name: Mac-94245A3940C91C80
dmi.board.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.board.version: MacBookPro8,2
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Mac-94245A3940C91C80
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAppleInc.:bvrMBP81.88Z.0047.B27.1201241646:bd01/24/12:svnAppleInc.:pnMacBookPro8,2:pvr1.0:rvnAppleInc.:rnMac-94245A3940C91C80:rvrMacBookPro8,2:cvnAppleInc.:ct10:cvrMac-94245A3940C91C80:
dmi.product.name: MacBookPro8,2
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Apple Inc.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/analog-input-internal-mic.conf

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/analog-input-internal-mic-always.conf

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/mixer/paths

seem missing element line , only Mic, front Mic and rear Mic not plugged switch to internal mic

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

Jack Mic]
state.plugged = no
state.unplugged = unknown

[Jack Dock Mic]
state.plugged = no
state.unplugged = unknown

[Jack Front Mic]
state.plugged = no
state.unplugged = unknown

[Jack Rear Mic]
state.plugged = no
state.unplugged = unknown

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

control.22 {
  iface CARD
  name 'Mic Phantom Jack'
  value true
  comment {
   access read
   type BOOLEAN
   count 1
  }
 }
 control.23 {
  iface CARD
  name 'Line Jack'
  value false
  comment {
   access read
   type BOOLEAN
   count 1
  }
 }

[Michael MacEachern (maceach-b)]

Not sure I understand what you said. This is for the internal microphone. It won't stay switched to the internal microphone as per my command. I don't know what to do with the files you gave me.

Please keep in mind I am a simple user, I'm not an expert.

[GwaiTsi (gwaitsi)]

i have same problem and also have no idea what is supposed to be done with the information you provided raymond

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

the dirty workaround may be retasking line in Jack to Mic jack

since pulseaudio logic expect notebook must have mic Jack, headset Michael or dock mic

   16.272957] autoconfig: line_outs=2 (0xb/0xa/0x0/0x0/0x0) type:speaker
[ 16.272960] speaker_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
[ 16.272961] hp_outs=1 (0x9/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
[ 16.272962] mono: mono_out=0x0
[ 16.272963] dig-out=0x10/0x0
[ 16.272964] inputs:
[ 16.272965] Mic=0xd
[ 16.272966] Line=0xc
[ 16.272967] dig-in=0xf

[Michael MacEachern (maceach-b)]

I would prefer no workaround. This is something that should just be fixed, not hacked to work.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=PulseAudio

file an upstream report with steps to reproduce the bug and pulseaudio verbose log

[Tom Inglis (tominglis)]

I have also just been affected by this bug.

I have been using Ubuntu 14.04 fine from June until now, but I just had a lockup which caused this issue for me.

I have the Asus Xonar DS PCI sound card in an Asus M5A97 EVO motherboard.

I was running DOTA2 via Steam at the same time as Mumble 1.2.8, with the audio outputted to my headphones, and the microphone on the soundcard selected (and being picked up from my headphones).

I Alt-Tabbed from the game to alter the volume for Steam / DOTA2 in the Applications tab of Sound, and when I returned to the game I got a lockup which required that I restart my machine.

After restart I now have the behaviour described in this bug - the SPDIF input is selected by default and if I select Microphone, and come back into Sound the SPDIF input has been reselected.

[Tom Inglis (tominglis)]

Let me know if you need any particular configs / files about this, and I'll be happy to upload them.

At the moment, if I leave the Sound menu open, and have selected Microphone, it continues to work as before.

I have tried deleting the ~/.config/pulse folder and reloading alsa, but nothing else.

[Tom Inglis (tominglis)]

I've also seen that I might be able to run this, to select the microphone after the Sound menu is closed:

pacmd set-source-port 8 audio-input-microphone

But this is a workaround that I'd rather not have to constantly do when changing volume etc, especially when it was working before?

[GwaiTsi (gwaitsi)]

this is so bloody annoying. everytime i have a skype call, i have to go to the sound settings and select the analoge mic before the mic will work. by instint i automatically close the dialog which sets the mic back to digital and interrupts the conversation.

Is there still no fix for this? this was working fine from 11.04 all the way till 13.10 and then only became a problem with 14.04

[Tom Inglis (tominglis)]

I can confirm that this is still a bug for me, two months later, but I've recently noticed that this also happens on my work computer, which has the same soundcard as my gaming PC at home (the Asus Xonar DS), but with a different motherboard (the Asus M5A88-M).

However, instead of SPDIF being at the top of the list, my webcam (which has a built in microphone) is in the same position. So while I do have the ability to capture audio by default, it is not of good quality (I normally select my headphones which use the rear microphone port on the sound card).

In this case I'm pretty sure there was no weird lockup with audio programmes running at the time, so perhaps this is just generally an issue in 14.04 that has been caused by an update at some point since release?

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/hda?id=ab16c6dd79389761eca1366d809a002b44b7f960

 capture source control will not be created when auto mic is enabled by

adding hint

spec->line_in_auto_switch=1;

for avoiding regressions, the line-in auto switching
feature isn't activated as default. It has to be set explicitly via
spec->line_in_auto_switch flag in a fixup code.

control.8 {
  iface MIXER
  name 'Capture Source'
  value Mic
  comment {
   access 'read write'
   type ENUMERATED
   count 1
   item.0 Mic
   item.1 Line
  }
 }

[Michael MacEachern (maceach-b)]

I'm sorry, I would rather not be a programmer to fix a simple bug. Can this please be explained so a casual user can just fix it? Linux shouldn't be for programmers only.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Drivers

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/hda/patch_cirrus.c?id=1077a024812d3b2d76a7a371df75795a276d9dd8

you need to file an upstream bug report

capture source still create when using hda-emu and latest patched driver

spec->gen.line_in_auto_switch =1;

similar to

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/hda/patch_sigmatel.c?id=e8b99a1dcb49b0d362b19a4831a00d85c76bd4b3

[Michael MacEachern (maceach-b)]

Once again, I do not understand any of this. You're asking me to do this but I am just a casual user who wrote this bug report because me, like others, are experiencing this only on Ubuntu.

If you can ELI5 (explain like I'm 5), I might be able to do something. Otherwise if not, I give up and will abandon all hope here. Linux should not require a user to be basically a programmer to fix something stupid like a built in microphone on my computer.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/log/sound/pci/hda/patch_cirrus.c

do this macbook using iphone headset ?

[Michael MacEachern (maceach-b)]

No, I am using the built in mic on this computer. Also, it's not using a Cirrus Logic sound chip, it's using all Intel. So, this patch you are linking me to is not likely to work or will make things worse.

[Michael MacEachern (maceach-b)]

Now this is affecting my desktop with Ubuntu 14.04.

This software sucks, I'm sorry. It's crap, I'm switching distro's at this point. It's only affecting Ubuntu. ONLY. And if no one is willing to fix this problem, screw it.

[Michael MacEachern (maceach-b)]

I meant with 14.10..

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Nikos Paraschou (niparasc)]

I am also affected by this bug. Is there any progress or a quick workaround? It's quite annoying to have to chose the input device every time you want to have a call.

[Tom Inglis (tominglis)]

I can confirm that this is still an issue for me on both my home and work computers, which have the same soundcard (Asus Xonar DS).

It would be great to have a fix.

I am surprised that more people haven't noticed it?

[Tom Inglis (tominglis)]

PS - I am still using Ubuntu 14.04, with the latest updates.

[Alexander Westrup (alexander-westrup)]

Hi
I registered here just to confirm that this bug still is around and its very annoying
I am also using Ubuntu 14.04 with the latest updates.
Please fix it :)

[th3hamm0r (th3hamm0r)]

+1
I have this issue on 14.04 too, very annoying!

[kerozoli (kerozoli)]

+1
Same issue on 14.04.03

[Alain and Marianella (alainztol)]

Same issue with Ubuntu 14.04.3

[Alain and Marianella (alainztol)]

P.s. Don´t understand user Raymond but appreciater that he is at least trying.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

ports:
  analog-input-microphone: Microphone (priority 8700, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
   properties:
    device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
  analog-input-linein: Line In (priority 8100, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
   properties:

 active port: <analog-input-microphone>

do you mean "Line in" is listed before "Mic" since L is before M ?

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

Pin default seem not internal mic byt mic jack and line in jack

Node 0x0c [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x41048b: Stereo Amp-In
  Control: name="Line Boost Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Line Jack", index=0, device=0
  Amp-In caps: ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x03, stepsize=0x27, mute=0
  Amp-In vals: [0x00 0x00]
  Pincap 0x00000024: IN Detect
  Pin Default 0x01813051: [Jack] Line In at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Blue
    DefAssociation = 0x5, Sequence = 0x1
  Pin-ctls: 0x20: IN
  Unsolicited: tag=03, enabled=1
  Power states: D0 D3 EPSS
  Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
  Delay: 1 samples
Node 0x0d [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x41048b: Stereo Amp-In
  Control: name="Mic Boost Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Mic Phantom Jack", index=0, device=0
  Amp-In caps: ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x03, stepsize=0x27, mute=0
  Amp-In vals: [0x03 0x03]
  Pincap 0x00001764: IN Detect Balanced
    Vref caps: HIZ 50 GRD 80
  Pin Default 0x01a19031: [Jack] Mic at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Pink
    DefAssociation = 0x3, Sequence = 0x1
  Pin-ctls: 0x24: IN VREF_80
  Unsolicited: tag=00, enabled=0
  Power states: D0 D3 EPSS
  Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
  Delay: 1 samples

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for pulseaudio (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for alsa-driver (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[bobptz (bobptz)]

I had the problem in the past, somehow it had disappeared. Came back again couple of days ago, probably after an update.

Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS
Kernel 3.19.0-49-generic

[Tom Inglis (tominglis)]

I can confirm that this bug still affects me on 14.04.4 on both of my desktops.

I still get round it by opening the Sound settings every time I start either computer, selecting the correct microphone, and then minimising the settings.

[Celine (ceruleanceline)]

Still having this issue as well, can work around it by selecting the application personally and then setting it to headset. Incredibly frustrating however as there doesn't seem to be an actual solution still.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/mixer/paths

The line in and internal mic conf ignore line jack, you need to force pulseaudio to switch to internal mic when line in is plugged

[fshapps (fshapps)]

For what it's worth I've found the input setting defaults back to the last device detected. Simply plug in the device you want to be default last and you shouldn't have to continually reset. That said it's quite surprising to me something this fundamental to the user experience has gone this long without a fix.

[Michael MacEachern (maceach-b)]

You can't exactly unplug and plug in onboard sound. Especially one with multiple inputs. It's purely a bug with Ubuntu preferences. In gnome it works just fine.

[Tom Inglis (tominglis)]

This bug has been resolved for me with a clean install of 16.04.

[hesediel84 (hesediel84)]

affects me to on Kubuntu 16.04 on the laptop 2 microphones showed microphone and internal microphone. The built in is the first one but after every reboot the settings gets a restart really stressing

[Davias (davias)]

...yep, here on Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS, amd64, years ago I was able to solve the bug...but now it is back again..

[Ville Ranki (ville-ranki)]

Looks like this is back in 18.04.

I'd like to use laptop's internal mic for telcos, but after boot Ubuntu always defaults to another sound input and it has to be manually selected. Can anyone reproduce?

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Normally we would ask you to log a new bug, but since comment #43 looks like it was not accompanied by a fix, and wasn't the original reporter, then we can reopen this one...

[Michael Weimann (m982)]

I also have kind of that problem on Ubuntu 18.10.

I don't want to have sound. So I mute every device.
After a re boot the sound is turned back on again.

It's a laptop in a dock. The system detects multiple sound devices. Internal speakers and dock output.

[Chris E. (c9e6-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

It's also in Ubuntu 19.04. Tested minutes ago with two different laptops.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Mute mic
2. Restart laptop
3. Check mic state/volume level
-> Mic ins't muted. Volume level wasn't saved. Really annoying bug, if want to use Ubuntu in production/telcos

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Ubuntu 19.04 (disco) reached end-of-life on January 23, 2020.