My earbuds work but the built in microphone doesn't work on laptop

[phantomamber]

My toshiba AMD A8 laptop won't pick up any sound from my microphone.
I have a pair of iFROGZ earbuds with a built in microphone in them. They've worked for a little over a year now and just last week my partner noticed on Skype that my sound would cut in and out and now there's no sound at all.
The microphone works just fine when plugged into my phone and the earbuds work fine. I have cleaned my audio port thoroughly and I only have one port for both my mic and earbuds
They are not muted and my laptop says the realetek driver is up to date and I can't configure it (it won't let me). I've tried to set up a mic by going through my control panel and it picks up no sound from the microphone. If I run trouble shooting on my laptop it says that my headphones are not fully plugged in and they are.
I'm in a long distance relationship so this is really kind of the worst thing that can happen and I need help

 

[webworkings]

Sounds like the 3.5mm port just may not be functioning correctly and need repair or replacement. You can do that (or contact the manufacturer if it is under warranty). Or, if it isn't or you don't want to do the repair, you have the option of getting a 3.5mm to USB adapter and using that to connect them to the laptop.

 

[phantomamber]

Sounds like the 3.5mm port just may not be functioning correctly and need repair or replacement. You can do that (or contact the manufacturer if it is under warranty). Or, if it isn't or you don't want to do the repair, you have the option of getting a 3.5mm to USB adapter and using that to connect them to the laptop.

Thank you so much for this! It's been driving me crazy lately. The speakers work just fine but the mic is broke no matter what I do!

When buying an adaptor, should I get one that also only has one port? And when using it I'm assuming I would have to go into recording devices and set it up that way

 

[webworkings]

If your headset/headphones only has one 3.5mm plug then you would get one that is like this... https/www.amazon.com/LZYCO-External-connector-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B018YV3ALM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1486193340&sr=8-9&keywords=3.5mm+to+usb+adapter

Now if you have a headset/headphones that has the dual 3.5mm plugs, then I would get one that has two 3.5mm ports.

You shouldn't need to set it up, except maybe some tweaking. The system should register it all as soon as plugged in. USB ports have way better connections than 3.5mm ones.

 

[phantomamber]

If your headset/headphones only has one 3.5mm plug then you would get one that is like this... https/www.amazon.com/LZYCO-External-connector-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B018YV3ALM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1486193340&sr=8-9&keywords=3.5mm+to+usb+adapter

Now if you have a headset/headphones that has the dual 3.5mm plugs, then I would get one that has two 3.5mm ports.

You shouldn't need to set it up, except maybe some tweaking. The system should register it all as soon as plugged in. USB ports have way better connections than 3.5mm ones.

So I just tried it our and it still doesn't work?
The laptop recognized it and everything but it still didn't pick up any sound after plugging it in and configuring it.

When I configure it, the sound is picked up then but only then.

 

[webworkings]

So they do work. OK, is it just in one program that you get no sound? Or in multiple ones? Also have you tried going "Control Panel", "Sound", "Playback" tab, and then double click the item you are changing the sound for. Click the "Levels" tab and check that they are set to the right one you want?