Hardware/Warranty: Reachy Mini Microphone Not Capturing Audio (Invoice REACHYMINI-4715)

Describe the issue
I’m looking for technical/warranty support for my Reachy Mini (invoice REACHYMINI-4715). I received the unit earlier this year but only recently opened and assembled it.

The robot is otherwise working well—motors, camera, Wi-Fi, speaker, and apps all work—but the microphone does not capture any audio.

(Note: I am posting this here because the support email directed me to Discord, but the invite link https://discord.com/invite/Y7FgMqHsub is expired/invalid).

Troubleshooting Steps Taken
I’ve done fairly extensive troubleshooting and have narrowed it down:

  • Reachy Mini Audio is detected over USB as 38fb:1001 Pollen Robotics Reachy Mini Audio.
  • Audio firmware reports bcdDevice 2.12.
  • ALSA detects the capture device normally.
  • Capture is enabled and the capture volume is at maximum.
  • Speaker/playback works normally.
  • /api/state/doa continuously reports speech_detected:false, even when speaking directly next to Reachy.
  • I stopped reachy-mini-daemon completely and recorded directly using ALSA with arecord. The recording completes normally, but playback is completely silent.
  • I inspected and reseated the MIC FPC cable. The “Main Board” side is facing up, the cable is inserted to the alignment line, and the ZIF latch is fully closed. I repeated the raw ALSA recording test afterward and it remains completely silent.

Hardware / Warranty Request
This seems consistent with the silent-microphone/FPC issue described in the Reachy Mini troubleshooting documentation.

Could you advise on the next step? If the likely cause is the MIC FPC cable, I would be happy to replace it myself if you can send me a replacement cable (ideally a couple of spares). If you believe the microphone/audio hardware itself is defective, please let me know how you would like to handle the warranty repair/replacement.

I can provide photos, logs, command output, serial information, or run any additional diagnostics you recommend.

Hi @mnavar,

Sorry about the expired invitation – here’s the correct Discord link: Pollen Community
Support for Reachy Mini is provided on Discord. Could you please copy and paste your issue onto the server? One of our engineers will do their best to get back to you as soon as possible!

Best,
Claire