[pulseaudio-discuss] Front mic not working properly

[Stefan Klug]

Hi everybody,

I'm totally stuck with a sound problem I fail to debug on my own.
Please tell me if my question should be directed to ubuntu or to this list.

My setup:
Asus P5Q Motherboard with Realtec ALC1200 soundchip. Stereo speakers 
plugged in to the rear output and headphone speaker/mic combo plugged in 
to the front jacks. System: Ubuntu 12.10
Desired behaviour: Sound is played back on headphones AND rear speaker. 
Front mic should "just-work"

Problem 1:
As soon as I change the Microphone volume the Mic Boost jumps up, 
leading to completely distorted sound. I think this is due to the setting
[Element Front Mic Boost]
volume=merge
in /usr/share/anaolog-input-front-mic.conf. If I change that to 
volume=ignore, the volume problem goes away. Is this the right way to 
solve the problem? - Why is the mic boost volume setting set to "merge"? 
In my understanding only the Mic Volume should change when modifying 
master microphone volume.

Problem 2:
This is the biggest problem.
As soon as I plug in the front mic, Inside gnome-alsamixer the volume 
for master, surround,center,lfe start to jump between on and off. Why is 
the Front mic jack controlling these values? How can I debug this 
behaviour? I just want them to stay the same, if the mic is plugged in 
or not.
Inside the gnome volume settings, the output port starts to jump between 
"Analog Output" and "Analog Headphones"

Any hints are greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Stefan