Hi. New to Knoppix and linux.

I recently installed Knoppix on an HP Compaq NC6000 laptop. The primary drive is going bad, so I'm using an MBR to boot off USB install. It's very nice.

Anyway, everything is going quite well, except I can't seem to get my microphone to work with a few programs. Most notably, Skype or Audacity.

Here's the hardware side of things:

Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M)
AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)

If I type

$ amixer get MIC

amixer: Unable to find simple control 'MIC',0

likewise if I try

amixer set MIC unmute capture
amixer: Unable to find simple control 'MIC',0

Likewise if I run AlsaMixer Gui, the recording buttons appear in red. HOWEVER, if I push the volume settings under MIC up to the highest, it sounds like I can hear a slight ringing- which means it might be ramping up the volume on the mic. Confused? I am.

Any ideas?