Dell Inspiron 5010 both Speaker and Headphone work together

Hi Mahesh,

My name is Shomprakash and I'm a member of the Dell Social Media Team. I would be glad to assist you with this query to the best of my knowledge and ability.

I noticed, you've mentioned that this issue began "recently" . Which hints at the fact that it was working fine earlier. In that event, i would suggest a simple solution: restoring your system settings to an earlier point in time. This will not erase any data, and will surely fix any problems caused by changes in driver/configuration. It will, however, remove any new applications you may have installed.

"System Restore" is a Windows feature and can be accessed by typing "System Restore" into the Windows Search Box (The search box at the bottom of the start menu)

The on-screen wizard will allow you to select a date to which you want to restore the machine. If your computer was working fine on a particular date, i would suggest that you choose a date prior to that, to be safe.

I hope this helps.

Alternativelt, if you require a followup/If you have any comments, kindly reply here.

Kindest Regards,

Dell_Shomprakash_R

Dell Social Media Responder

Hi Mahesh,

Thank you for responding.

Since "System Restore" is not an option, we can try a different approach.

1. Boot to Safe Mode (Tap the F8 Key repeatedly at the Dell Power-up screen and choose "Safe Mode" from the boot options list)

2. Open Device Manager (Start> Type "Device Manager" in the search box for start menu)

3. Expand "Sound, Video and Game Controllers"

4. Right click on the Sound Device Adapter (Usually Sigmatel or Realtek Audio Driver)

5. Click on Uninstall, and then check the box that says "Delete Driver Software for this device" before clicking on OK.

6.Once the driver is uninstalled, restart your machine.

7. Once you're back to normal mode, forst try using the headphones/internal speakers if the original mechanism of sound output switching is restored.

8. If i's working fine, you can proceed to download and install the latest HD Audio drivers from the Dell support website (http://support.dell.com)

Let me know if this helps, or if the issue continues.

All the best!

Kindest Regards,

Dell_Shomprakash_R

Dell Social Media Responder

@Shomprakash_R

I tried above steps. After restarting the PC, in "Device manager" under "Sound, Video and Game Controllers" i could see High Definition Audio Device. This time when i inserted headphone and played music, i could hear sound only from Speakers not Headphone.

I checked for any faults using Dell Diagnostic service and results look fine, there was no leak, could hear sound only from headphone when inserted.

By the way i have IDT audio driver and when i plug-in headphone it doesn't notify.

I hope above information will help you find the solution.

Hi Mahesh,

Thank you for trying the steps. If after removing the custom driver we're able to get sound only through internal speakers, it sounds like a fault with the I/O Audio Ports- where you connect the headphone jack/etc.

If that is the case, then a hardware part replacement will be neccessary. And I would need your computer's service tag to be delivered via Private Message Only (Please do not post service tag/contact details at a public forum). Instead, You need to click on my username and send me a friend request/personal message with the service tag of your machine. Depending on the applicable warranties on your system, we can get you to speak to the concerned teams at Dell.

To confirm that it's a hardware fault, there's a final step that we would like to try.

This is a 32-Bit Custom Test on Audio on your system, and it does not involve the Windows OS at any point.

We would need the Dell Drivers & Utilities branded CD which was delivered with your computer. The CD is likely to be black in color.

We need to boot from this Disc (Insert CD> Shut down system> Power back up and keep tapping 'F12' at the Dell Logo screen repeatedly> On Boot Device Menu select "CD/DVD" option> Press any key to boot from Disc immediately as you see the prompt)

You will receive options to select

1.Run Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics

2.Exit

Select Option 1 to run the diagnostics.

Next, It will Give you options to :

1.Test Memory

2.Test System

3.Exit

Select "Test System"

Next, It will load the diagnostic modules and present you with 4 different methods of running the  tests:

1.Express Test 2. Extended Test 3.Custom Test 4.Symptom Tree

We need to select "3.Custom Test"

Finally, on the left hand side of the new screen, you will see a list of all hardware deivces available for testing.

Select the "Audio" devices from this list and run the applicable tests. These tests are interactive, so they will try to play a sound directly through the speakers without channelling it through a driver/OS/etc.

Kindly do this process once with the headphones plugged in, and once without. Post the results here. If you get an error code, post that too. That would be a direct diagnosis.

Thanks again for troubleshooting with the Social Media Team.

Kindest Regards,

Dell_Shomprakash_R

Dell Social Media Responder

Hello Shomprakash,

                                     I tried the above mentioned steps. The results were positive. I could hear sound only from speakers in certain steps and when headphone was inserted i could hear it only from headphone.

Hello. I have been following this thread with interest because this is an uncommon problem and I would like to know the cause of it. I'd  like to make a comment at this point in the discussion.

There were problems related to the headphone jack when using either the manufacturer's driver (IDT) or the Windows native audio driver (Intel).  Dell_Shomprakash_R concluded that " it sounds like a fault with the I/O Audio Ports- where you connect the headphone jack/etc." He then suggested using Dell Diagnostics audio tests  "...to confirm that it's a hardware fault...."

I would just like to point out that .Dell Diagnostics audio tests cannot by itself confirm a hardware fault in the headphone jack. There are 2 possible results of the tests:

A.) The tests fail. If the hardware behaves the same during the tests as when in Windows, that does indeed confirm a hardware failure.

B.) The tests pass and all hardware functions normally during the test. This can mean the hardware is okay or it can mean the jack hardware has failed. That is because when you are in Windows switching is done by software that is triggered by the impedance sensing mechanism of the jack. But when the tests are running, switching is performed mechanically. As Shomprakash_R said, Dell Diagnostics "does not involve the Windows OS at any point."

I know this can be confusing, but what it means is that while in Windows you might have a software problem -- the switching function -- but the underlying cause can be the jack mechanism failing to give the software the correct information. When you are in Dell Diagnostics you do not use the switching software and all can appear to be working normally.

The only way to diagnose a bad jack definitively is to restore the laptop to the original factory configuration. If the problem remains after that process then it is confirmed to be hardware failure. However I do not think that is necessary. There are only 4 possible general areas to find the cause of the problem:

> configuration -- this can be fixed by re-installing the audio driver which restores the default configuration.

> audio driver corruption --  this is fixed by downloading & installing a fresh copy of the driver

> Windows -- but I do not know of any Windows problem that would cause this. Most problems with Windows audio just kills the audio entirely.

> hardware failure -- by a process of elimination this seems to me to be the area of concern. Usually hardware failure will be discovered by Dell Diagnostics audio tests. The exception is the impedance sensing mechanism of the jack. The tests cannot detect that problem  

The latest version was launched back in 2010, do you think latest copy of driver is missing in Dell website...

No. Dell rarely gets IDT to update their audio drivers. Dell constantly puts out new laptops and is not too concerned with last year's model. Speaking of models, I don't think you ever mentioned whether you have an N5010 or an M5010, but both use the same driver so it doesn't matter.

Regarding impedance sensing mechanism of the jack, we will get to it later after trying every possible solution to fix audio driver.

I doubt that there is anything to fix regarding the audio driver. Because you had problems with both the IDT driver AND the Windows native driver, then you can pretty much rule out a driver problem here. Remember when you wrote: "After restarting the PC, in "Device manager" under "Sound, Video and Game Controllers" i could see High Definition Audio Device." At that time you were using the Windows native driver. In the Sound properties it is identified as  "High Definition Audio Device". Now that you have re-installed an IDT driver you will see the words "IDT High Definition Audio Codec". The Windows native driver is a basic generic Intel driver and so does not name the audio manufacturer.

The reason you can rule out the driver is that when you have problems under both the manufacturer's and the Windows native drivers it is just too unlikely that both drivers have gone bad. That is why Dell_Shomprakash_R had you install the native driver.

@jimco

You have suggested this solution

audio driver corruption --  this is fixed by downloading & installing a fresh copy of the driver

I have downloaded and installed fresh copy of IDT driver from Dell, it didn't help.

The latest version was launched back in 2010, do you think latest copy of driver is missing in Dell website, if yes, can you suggest any ?

Regarding impedance sensing mechanism of the jack, we will get to it later after trying every possible solution to fix audio driver.

@Jim

I have a N5010 model.

Just to clarify, i would like you to know that, when Windows Native Driver was installed the sound could be heard only from SPEAKERS but not from HEADPHONE, inspite of HEADPHONE being inserted.

But when IDT driver was installed sound could be heard from both.

Thanks.

I understood that the symptoms were not exactly the same with both drivers, but under both drivers there were problems relating to headphone/speaker switching. I don't know yet - if ever - how to parse out the differences. As I said earlier it is an interesting problem.

@ Dell-shomprakash

Waiting for your reply.

Issue isn't solved, suggest a good solution quick.

Hello. Dell_Shomprakash_R might be off for the weekend. He is new to the Laptop Audio board and I don't know his schedule. If you want a hardware solution you can contact Dell Tech Support or send Dell_Shomprakash_R a private message with your Service Tag number.

If you are still unconvinced that it is a hardware problem, there is only one thing left to try and that is for you to return the laptop to the original factory configuration

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

. If that does not fix the problem then it is definite proof of a hardware problem and you should contact Dell to have it repaired under warranty. The repair will probably be to replace the motherboard which has the jacks on it. On the other hand if restoring to the factory configuration cures the problem then you will have a quick solution.

Never mind for delayed response, i thought may be you understood my last response, which looked as if the problem has been solved. 

( I tried the above mentioned steps. The results were positive.............)

I had replied just to let you know that issue hasn't been solved.

Now about the issue, even Jim had suggested a similar solution of Windows Re-Installation which he says would be quick fix. Please let me know the instructions once you are back to work.