Current settings and info here: http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=021ee315857ae0928de665f1f0924cc84c609576
When I record with these settings, I get a /lot/ of static, and discernible signal when I tap the microphone on my desktop, or scream into it. The static gets better when I reduce the capture level, but the signal is still barely discernible.
The microphone works in the same jack when the computer is running Windows. I've also tried a different mic, with the same results.
Playback works flawlessly.
I have seen some posts with people having problems that sound similar, and some of them seems to be resolved by enabling Mic bias. However, I don't have a control called that when I look at alsamixer. My system is running Debian Etch. When I started working on this problem, I used the packages from the "testing" (Etch) repository. I then pulled in alsa-base and alsa-utils from the "experimental" repository, and compiled the 1.0.18a drivers. This changed nothing in the recordings, nor did any new controls appear in alsamixer.
I added "snd-hda-intel: model=6stack-dig" to /etc/modprobe.db/alsa-base, and there was no change in the visible controls.
Regards,
Thomas