Inspiron 1545 - No Bass

I recently purchased an Inspiron 1545 and the IDT audio drivers are not providing any bass.  I did some digging and it appears that the IDT driver "senses" if an external speaker set is attached.  If the external speakers are not attached the sound card filters the bass so the onboard laptop speakers are not over-driven.  This is great but for some reason my laptop is not sensing the Altec Lansing speakers (2.1) and doesn't provide any bass.

Does anyone have a solution?  Any ideas?  The 2.1 system works great in my other laptop and my desktop...

Thanks!