unable to use USB mic

[Former user]

I have Ubuntu 12.04 with a USB mix/headphone combo. I switched to make sure the mix was on in alsamixer, but when I tried it out on your demo (and locally after I installed the software), it always told me that no speech was detected. Is there somewhere where I might change the input source? Sphinx, for example, has a place in their config.xml where one can set the mic index.

[Matthew Henderson]

I think we have got it working on 12.04. Are you using the latest Chromium? Does the demo at this page work:

http://webaudiodemos.appspot.com/input/index.html

[Casey Kennington]

I have the latest Chromium as far as I know (at least in terms of Ubuntu updates). When I try the above link, the little drop-down asks if I want to allow use of my microphone (which is the USB mic I have plugged in and activated). When I click on "Allow" it goes into the "Aww Snap!" screen denoting a crash.

I turned off my firewall and still have the same issue. The only extension I have installed on Chromium is Google Slides.

[Matthew Henderson]

It sounds like an instance of this bug: https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!topic/chromium-bugs/4xR_J_wIw7M
I can't find anyone who's fixed it though.. Are there multiple audio inputs on the computer? If so do any of those work, when the USB mic is unplugged?

[Casey Kennington]

That didn't fix my problem directly, but it pointed me in the right direction.

In Chromium, on the right side of the address bar there is a camera icon. When I press that it gives me options as to which mic I want to use, and I changed it to the USB mic and it worked. I tested it on your online demo (the one on the Get Started page) and on my local version and both worked.

Thanks!

[Matthew Henderson]

Great, let's get this working! I wonder if the webaudio demos still work when you select the USB mic directly? http://webaudiodemos.appspot.com/input/index.html

I've found that they, and the recording to wav file and saving to server, only work when the chromium mic choice is set to 'default'. Default should mean the USB mic if it's selected in the mixer.

Hopefully these bugs get fixed soon in updates to Chromium

[Casey Kennington]

It have three options for the Microphone: default, built-in, and the USB. I tried all three options one at a time, and each time I got the Aw, Snap! (dark-blue screen of death?) for the webaudiodemo link you provided. I'm pretty sure the problem is with Chormium, though I am also positive that I have the latest version ( Version 28.0.1500.71 Ubuntu 12.04 (28.0.1500.71-0ubuntu1.12.04.1). I'm happy for the moment that the local version works, but it's probably not comforting for you to know that your demo crashes.