Microphone not working on PC.

Mr. McMeowington · December 1, 2024

Hi everyone,

I bought a used HP Z240 workstation from the CSU surplus store about a year ago. However, I've never been able to get any microphones to work with it. Here's what I've tried so far:

Headphones with a built-in microphone plugged into the headset aux port.
USB microphones.
Microphones plugged into the dedicated microphone aux port on the back of the PC.
Tried the headset aux port on the front of the PC.

None of these methods have worked. And yes, I have checked the microphones on other devices, and they do work. Additionally, I have not been able to get sound to come out of the headset aux port on the front. I have tried on a second one of these workstations, and they both have the same problem.

For clarity, there are two aux ports on the front: one labeled with just a headphone symbol and the other labeled with a headphone and a microphone symbol. The one on the back is labeled with only a microphone symbol. Still, none of them have worked.

I'm looking for any advice or suggestions on how to resolve this issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

esCaPade1 · December 2, 2024

Hi

If you can't get a USB microphone - which has nothing to do with any part of the computer - to work either, then it is either user error, or a Windows audio subsystem issue. Sorry, but the former is far more likely.

Go into your various sound settings pages and ensure the correct device is selected for recording, that the level is at 100% and that it is not muted.

You mentioned 3 mic inputs that don't work, and one sound output that doesn't work. Does anything to do with audio on the computer work at all? Do you have audio devices showing up in your device manager, and are they showing all is well? For that matter, how are you determining if the USB mic was working or not? If you were waiting to hear something from the speakers and you have no audio drivers for them, maybe the USB mic is working? The best way is to keep an eye on the visual indicators, but you may have to yell a bit to see anything, depending on the mic.