Microphone and audio jacks

Hi there,

I have recently built a new PC based on an ASUS A8N-SLI mainboard which
has Realtek AC97 audio and auto connector-sensing features.

I am having two problems related to audio.

1. Microphone not working
=========================

I am trying to use a regular PC microphone from Creative Labs which I
had been using without problems with a Soundblaster Live! card on my
old PC. The mic comes with a mini stereo jack, even though it inputs
mono sound of course.

When I try to connect the mic to the pink socket on my mainboard, I get
no sound. I have checked all the usual software-related stuff such as
ensuring that the mic is not muted on the playback mixer. However, as I
insert it into the jack I can hear cracking on my speakers which
indicate signs of life. Also, I have noted that if I insert the mic
around half-way through, it actually works!!! Of course, the mic is
very loose that way and as soon as I move it slightly I lose contact.
Then, when I insert it fully, I get no sound whatsoever.

I have also tried using Realtek Sound Manager from Control Panel, and
tried the Connector Sensing feature. It detects the mic as stereo
line-in rather than microphone.

Could that mini stereo jack on the mic be the problem?

2. Connector Sensing
====================

With respect to the connector sensing feature mentioned above, I have a
further problem. I currently have a four-speaker configuration (front
left/right and rear left/right), and yet connector sensing detects
powered speakers on my center/subwoofer connector, and passive
speakers/headphones on my side speakers!! I have nothing connected to
these sockets!

I also have a TV tuner card on my PC and loop-back its sound output to
line-in connector on the mainboard. Now this is working fine, because I
can hear sound perfectly when I switch on my TV application. However,
the connector sensing function says there is no signal on this
connector and displays a big red exclamation mark!

Why do you think am I having all these problems?

Any help and comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Clyde

Not at the moment, but I'll bring over a headset I have at work
tomorrow and will let you know. Trouble is, I think the mic jack on
that one is also a stereo connector.