[Q] Fron mic not working - can I use the rear one? - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello XDA,
I recently purchased a new android phone off ebay (it's Motorola Razr xt912).
It turned out the front mic doesn't work at all. It doesn't matter wether I use stock android or my CM installation. It didn't stop working, it never worked since I got the phone.
First I noticed people couldn't hear me when I was making calls, so then I tested the mic with a recording application which allows to choose the source mic. While I was able to record sound using the rear mic without any problem (in the app and also using the camera app), I never could get any sound at all from the front mic, regardless of application or OS used. Therefore I think it can be concluded that it's a hardware issue.
I don't really know what to do about this, I could contact the seller on ebay, but unfortunatelly in the meantime I managed to scratch the back of the phone a bit (there is a small but clearly visible scratch on the back) so I'm not sure they'd be willing to replace my phone.
It occured to me that maybe I could somehow coerce the phone application to use the rear mic, is this possible? If so, how could it be done?
If not, what else would you advise me to do?
If need be, I suppose I could take the phone apart. I have succesfully repaired multiple pieces of electronics in past (multiple PSPs, ebook, etc...), however this phone is really tricky to open and work with and I'd really rather look for another solution prior to attempting to fix it myself on hardware level.
Any help is appreciated.

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Answer
vkral said:
Hello XDA,
I recently purchased a new android phone off ebay (it's Motorola Razr xt912).
It turned out the front mic doesn't work at all. It doesn't matter wether I use stock android or my CM installation. It didn't stop working, it never worked since I got the phone.
First I noticed people couldn't hear me when I was making calls, so then I tested the mic with a recording application which allows to choose the source mic. While I was able to record sound using the rear mic without any problem (in the app and also using the camera app), I never could get any sound at all from the front mic, regardless of application or OS used. Therefore I think it can be concluded that it's a hardware issue.
I don't really know what to do about this, I could contact the seller on ebay, but unfortunatelly in the meantime I managed to scratch the back of the phone a bit (there is a small but clearly visible scratch on the back) so I'm not sure they'd be willing to replace my phone.
It occured to me that maybe I could somehow coerce the phone application to use the rear mic, is this possible? If so, how could it be done?
If not, what else would you advise me to do?
If need be, I suppose I could take the phone apart. I have succesfully repaired multiple pieces of electronics in past (multiple PSPs, ebook, etc...), however this phone is really tricky to open and work with and I'd really rather look for another solution prior to attempting to fix it myself on hardware level.
Any help is appreciated.
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You clearly know that it is a hardware problem.
How can you expect the front mic to function using apps?
Use Voice Search and try to record through front mic.
There is an app which has an option to change the mic from where it must be recorded.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=yuku.mp3recorder.lite
I suggest you try to get the full version and moreover I never used that app before. So you are on your own.
If it still doesn't work, I suggest you to get that piece of hardware fixed in service centres rather than trying it out yourself.