I have an HP nc8430 Notebook with SoundMAX HD Audio.

My internal microphone stays on all the time even after I insert a 3.5 mm plug into the MIC audio-in jack. According to the HP manual, the internal microphone is supposed to turn OFF when the plug is inserted, but it doesn’t.

This means the MIC is ALWAYS ON! This may be a hardware problem or a SoundMAX software problem. The internal speakers do turn off properly when the headphone jack is inserted.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I am using ADI SoundMAX HD Audio Driver version 5.10.01.4321 from the HP website.

Thanks!

Have you tried turn off the microphone manually in Volume Control? Are these two mics uses the same volume slider?

It's likely to be a hardware problem with your mic jack. there is a small switch inside the jack, when you insert a 3.5mm plug into the jack, the switch should turn off the internal mic. When the switch failed, I guess you know what symptom your notebook will manifest then.

Thanks for your reply!

When I turn the mic volume all the way down, there is still volume. When I switch to Line-in (which this notebook does NOT have), then the mic volume is turn off for both the internal mic an the audio-in jack. Thus I believe the mic volume slider is for both built-in mic and audio-in jack.

I know what you mean about the mic jack. I have used many thoughout the years and soldered a few as well. They are simply and reliable, *IF* soldered correctly, so this could be a hardware problem. I will try one more thing using drivers from IBM.

Do you know if ANY drivers for any built-in sound card can distinguish between internal mic and external audio-in mic? If so that would give some weight to this being a software issue.