Input Level is greyed out

Hello there!

Question #1: Which app are you trying to use to record with?

Question #2: Is it possible that you need to give your recording application permission to use your microphone?

Please check the "Privacy" tab in the "Security & Privacy" preferences pane in the "System Preferences" app. On the "Privacy" tab, scroll down in the left-hand column to the "Microphone" entry and click on it.

Do you see your recording app in the right side of the window? If so, is it enabled?

Normally, when you first use an app, if it needs some special permission like this, you will be prompted to go to the "Security & Privacy" prefs pane.

If this does not resolve your issue, we will have to explore deeper.

I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand your response. Are you saying that it is now working once you reinstalled Mojave?

If it is still not working, then I suggest you try one or more of the following methods and see if that gets it working for you:

Method #1 involves quitting and restarting the coreaudio daemon. As a word of explanation, coreaudiod is the daemon that powers Core Audio, which is the low-level API for sound on macOS. In other words, it basically controls everything about sound on your Mac. A daemon is a process which runs in the background of your machine. Daemons can be identified by the letter "d" at the end of their names. So do the following:

1. Launch the "Activity Monitor" app in your "/Applications/Utilities" folder.

2. In the search field that is located in the top right corner of the window, type in "coreaudiod", without the quotes.

3. Select the "coreaudiod" process in the list and then click the "Quit Process" icon on the top left corner of the window. It is a little circle with an "x" in it.

4. In the little dialog, select "Quit" or "Force Quit". Either one will do.

5. At this point, the coreaudio process will automatically restart itself. You will know this because its PID number will change.

Hopefully, doing the above will resolve your sound problems. But if not, let's try method #2 below.

Method #2:

1. Launch the "Terminal" app in your "/Applications/Utilities" folder.

2. Type the following in the Terminal window, and then hit your "return" key:

rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.soundpref.plist

This action will delete the current sound prefs file that is stored in "~/Library/Preferences/". If you don't like using the Terminal, you do the same thing manually by dragging the file to the trash.

3. Restart your machine and see if your problem has been resolved.

If you still encounter an issue please check your audio configuration under Method 3.

If you are STILL having sound/recording issues after trying methods one and two above, then let's move to the third method.

Method #3:

This method will check your audio configuration to make sure that everything is set up right.

1. Launch the "Audio MIDI Setup" app in your "/Applications/Utilities" folder.

2. In the title bar it will say "Audio Devices".

3. Click on the "Built in Output" option in the left-hand sidebar.

4. Disable/uncheck any boxes under the "Mute" column in the right side of the window.

5. Verify that the "Format" dropdown menu is set to "44,100 Hz. If not, change it accordingly.

6. Shut down the app when you are done.

7. As an added step, reboot your machine.

Hopefully, one of the above three methods has cured your sound and recording ills. Please let me know. Thanks!

Hmmm . . . I really don't know what to tell you at this point. I have run out of ideas . . . well, except for one, and that is this:

You stated the following: "The problem started when I had to re-install my OS. Last week my system would not come up and I ended up re-installing Mojave."

So my question to you is this: What kind of reinstall did you do? Did you install on top of your existing Mojave installation? Or did you erase the disk and do a clean install?

Do you see where I am coming from here? If you installed on top of your existing Mojave installation, it may very well be that you carried over the problem. You didn't get rid of whatever forced you to reinstall in the first place.

I don't know yet what your answer will be to the above question, but it may very well be that in order to rid yourself of this, you may need to wipe your disk -- after you backup all important personal data via Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, or whatever -- and do a clean install. Yes, very time-consuming and a lot of work, but it may be your only solution.

If you perform a clean install, and you STILL have the same issue, then I would conclude that the mic is either defective, or else it is incompatible with Mojave. How old is it, and what brand is it? Mojave has broken a number of printers and scanners already, in case you didn't know.

I hope this helps. Let me know. Thanks! :)

Okay, so you did in fact do a clean install. And yes, that is more than likely why they told you to erase the disk first. I see you just told Luis that it is the built-in mic that is causing the problem. You hadn't mentioned that earlier, as I recall. I assumed that it was an external one. At any rate, yes, it looks like maybe you've reached a dead end with this issue. Sorry I couldn't help you more, but I really tried. :)

Which mic is this? The built-in mic or some external one?