can't get mike/line input to show up in jack (qjackctl)

[ohnonot]

hello,
i recently started using my linux installation (debian wheezy based crunchbang) for making music.
i am getting on well with jackaudio and different audio apps.
however, i can't route any sound from my laptop soundcards mic/line 3.5mm input jack into any jack application.
meaning, i can hear it through the speakers, but it does not show up in qjackctl.
there's always the ominous capture_1 and capture_2 with the microphone icon, but connecting it to e.g. guitarix does nothing.
the hardware, nothing special, just onboard intel sound

any help?

btw, i uninstalled pulseaudio before installing jackaudio so there's alsa and jack now.
my guess is the line in signal somehow "goes straight to alsa" and jackaudio is unaware of it. just a guess.

thanks in advance!

daniel

[varpa]

I would use alsamixer or similar to make sure your microphone is not muted or set to to zero gain. Laptops sometimes have a mic input plus one connected with a video camera so you may have to experiment to figure out what control is for what mic. Also, laptop mic inputs are very low quality and not suitable for recording music - you should get an external sound card (USB or firewire).

[ohnonot]

thanks!
i found a solution that is good enough, for now.