how to detect if microphone is working?

[Mike Klinke]

On Saturday 25 December 2004 10:12, GT wrote:
 
>
> This works, as root. As a mortal user, I can not get it to record
> anything. What permissions do I have to change for this?

I don't have any problems as a normal user here.  Make sure the 
permissions on the directory you are in allows "write" for this 
user.

>
> Also, the voice being recorded is really, really faint. There is
> an option called Mic Boost [+20dB] on alsamixer, but I can not
> seem to increase it at all.
> It is currently set at the lowest (non-existent) level, and I
> want to increase this. How do I go about increasing this volume,
> can anyone please tell me?

Using "alsamixer" I have a "Mic" volume control and a "Mic Boost" 
control.  The "Mic" control is a slider that I can vary between 0 
and 100, or mute with the "M" key.  The "Mic Boost" is just a 
on/off toggle using the "M" key.  With these I can control the 
volume from faint to loud.

Regards, Mike Klinke