G4 internal mic problems

[mortenstorgaard]

I have had my iBook G4 for a year, and never had any problems, and all of a sudden I start recording in Garageband and my mic doesn't respond... have any of you tried that ?
I have turned it up at the System Preferences, but there's just no signal coming in...
morten

 

[funkychunkz]

I have had my iBook G4 for a year, and never had any problems, and all of a sudden I start recording in Garageband and my mic doesn't respond... have any of you tried that ?
I have turned it up at the System Preferences, but there's just no signal coming in...
morten

Is their dust in it, you got clean them out with paper clips (being careful not to poke to hard).

 

[mortenstorgaard]

hmm I tried to clean it, but it didn't help, and there is absolutely no signal at all...
Can it be a software thing ? or is it surely a hardware problem ?

 

[funkychunkz]

hmm I tried to clean it, but it didn't help, and there is absolutely no signal at all...
Can it be a software thing ? or is it surely a hardware problem ?

Have you installed anything since it last worked?

 

[mad jew]

Is there no signal in both System Preferences and in Garageband? System Preferences should have a bar that responds to sound input (named Input Level), if the mic is working.

 

[funkychunkz]

Is there no signal in both System Preferences and in Garageband? System Preferences should have a bar that responds to sound input (named Input Level), if the mic is working.


View attachment 53811

He said he turned it up it SP, you'd think that he checked the signal there seeing as he had it open already.

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, but the original post could be read as saying Garageband isn't getting the signal or as the entire system isn't getting any signal. I imagine there was no input level reading in System Preferences, but just thought I'd confirm.

If I'm right, then a PMU reset may help as it'll restore some of the mic firmware settings to their defaults. If it's only Garageband with the problem, then we'll have to try a different fix.

 

[funkychunkz]

Yeah, but the original post could be read as saying Garageband isn't getting the signal or as the entire system isn't getting any signal. I imagine there was no input level reading in System Preferences, but just thought I'd confirm.

If I'm right, then a PMU reset may help as it'll restore some of the mic firmware settings to their defaults. If it's only Garageband with the problem, then we'll have to try a different fix.

Aye if it's not application specific, I'd still try a safe boot (for wonky installs) and a firmware reset first.

 

[mortenstorgaard]

Have you installed anything since it last worked?

I believe I installed Inkscape (vector painting program) before it started not to work...

 

[mortenstorgaard]

Is there no signal in both System Preferences and in Garageband? System Preferences should have a bar that responds to sound input (named Input Level), if the mic is working.


View attachment 53811

there's no input at the bar showed on that pic (the system preference bar responding to input sound)

 

[mortenstorgaard]

Aye if it's not application specific, I'd still try a safe boot (for wonky installs) and a firmware reset first.

First thanks a lot for taking time to help me!!!!

hmm
looks like I can try these things:
1) safe boot and a firmware reset

2) PMU reset

what should I try first ? and do I loose something (at the harddisc) by doing it ? other than the clock resets itself...

I found this at the link (concerning PMU reset):

Warning: Resetting the Power Manager on any PowerBook or iBook will permanently remove a RAM disk, if present, and all of its contents.

what does that mean ? do I loose some RAM by doing it ?

 

[telecomm]

I found this at the link (concerning PMU reset):

Warning: Resetting the Power Manager on any PowerBook or iBook will permanently remove a RAM disk, if present, and all of its contents.

what does that mean ? do I loose some RAM by doing it ?

No, a RAM disk (does anyone use those?) is a way of using the RAM as though it were a hard disk (for less power consumption, faster write times, etc.). If you don't know what it is, you certainly don't have a problem, since you'd have to do some digging around just to figure out how to enable a RAM disk (at least, as far as I know).

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, all these resets should keep your data intact. It doesn't really matter which one you try first.

 

[funkychunkz]

No, a RAM disk (does anyone use those?) is a way of using the RAM as though it were a hard disk (for less power consumption, faster write times, etc.). If you don't know what it is, you certainly don't have a problem, since you'd have to do some digging around just to figure out how to enable a RAM disk (at least, as far as I know).

Oh, I thought they meant like a DVD ram disk.

 

[mortenstorgaard]

thanks dudes, I'll try it

 

[mortenstorgaard]

I tried the PMU reset... and it didn't solve the problem.
I've tried to look around to find out how to "Reset Firmware", but cannot find the info. How do I do that ?

 

[Sathos]

I took this picture on my iMac G5 and not my PowerBook G4, but the only way I can get the internal mic to work on my G4 is by turning on 'Speakable Items.' Does that get it working?

 

[mad jew]

I tried the PMU reset... and it didn't solve the problem.
I've tried to look around to find out how to "Reset Firmware", but cannot find the info. How do I do that ?

There's some overlap with the PMU reset but I'm pretty sure funkychunkz wants a PRAM/NVRAM reset. Have you tried uninstalling Inkscape yet?

 

[Mord]

the cables that go up to the screen can get damaged very easily if not laid properly, contact apple and see if you can get them to fix it seeing as this type of fault is caused by bad manufacturing but takes time to manifest itself.