Audacity Forum

I just installed Audacity on a Gateway Laptop with XP, and I discovered I don't have any input selection. I did a quick look at some documentation, and I believe I read that the input selections are "generated" by the sound card. I believe I have a sound card, as I can listen to various different things via internet streaming. What might I be missing?

Also, I have exactly 0 of 137 topics available in the help index, and clicking on the link for the online documentation in the Help menu brings up a menu that the document is unavailable.

I also installed Audacity on a desktop just prior to installing on the laptop, and the only problem I had there was the same thing about the link for the online documentation.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I have EXACTLY the same problem. The input block is "greyed out". Hope someone knows what the solution is.

Please note, this Forum is about "failed downloads or failed installation" - Audacity did not fail to install. If Audacity installs, please post to the Forum for your operating system.

orgelizer wrote: I have exactly 0 of 137 topics available in the help index

If you click the "Index" tab in the Help in Audacity 1.2, it will show "0 of 137" until you either enter some term to search for and press "Find", or just press "Find" which shows all the topics. If you click the "Search" tab in the Help, this is a full search of all the text in the help, so will show all pages where that text occurs.

orgelizer wrote: ... clicking on the link for the online documentation in the Help menu brings up a menu that the document is unavailable.

The actual link:
http://audacityteam.org/help/documentation

is valid, but there is a bug that prevents the link being clickable from the help window. Unfortunately it won't be fixed now, because 1.2.6 will be superseded by a new 1.4.0 Stable version later this year.

orgelizer wrote:I just installed Audacity on a Gateway Laptop with XP, and I discovered I don't have any input selection. I did a quick look at some documentation, and I believe I read that the input selections are "generated" by the sound card. I believe I have a sound card, as I can listen to various different things via internet streaming.

You would be best to look closely at this page, if you haven't already:
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... bar_Issues

As you suggest, the input selections in the Audacity Mixer Toolbar are (on Windows XP and earlier) determined by the drivers of the sound device that is selected as "Recording Device" in the Audacity "Audio I/O" Preferences. You can access Preferences at the bottom of the Edit menu.

If there are no inputs listed, the ones you require are missing, or they aren't working (once you have chosen the correct recording device in Audacity Preferences), then you should make your input selection in the Windows Control Panel, then restart Audacity. If problems persist with the Mixer Toolbar inputs, try updating your sound device drivers so that all the device inputs are properly exposed to Audacity.

Balusman, the same advice applies to you, and if you are on Vista, then you have to choose your input sources in the Audacity Audio I/O Preferences, not in the Mixer Toolbar, as explained in this Frequently Asked Question.

Gale