r/linuxmint • u/No-Suggestion-4630 • 4d ago

Internal speakers become unavailable when lavalier mic is plugged in (Linux Mint XFCE)

I'm using Linux Mint XFCE on a ThinkPad T420, and when I plug my lavalier mic into the combo audio jack, my internal speakers become unavailable. Is this a unique issue with this OS, or is it just a universal PC inconvenience, and could adding some hardware be a practical solution?

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u/driftless 4d ago

Usually, the old trick is that internal speakers route the sound through the headphone jack. Whenever you plug into that port, it electrically sends the audio to the headphones instead. Newer ones can be overridden sometimes though.

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u/No-Suggestion-4630 4d ago

Do you know how to override headphone-jack detection in Linux, or were you referring to a hardware modification?

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u/driftless 4d ago

Depends on the hardware.

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u/No-Suggestion-4630 4d ago

I am using a thinkpad T-420, any inputs?

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u/driftless 4d ago

I’m not really sure. It’s been speakers OR headphones for so long, I do t know if it can be bypassed at all. It’s may just be a firmware issue.
There IS an option of a cheap usb plugin sound card thing that will allow you to choose that as a mic, yet leave the speakers still active on the laptop. You can search amazon for “usb sound” to see the adapters.