Annoying 3.5 mm Jack problem

Question

My 2 year old Inspiron 15R (N5010) has sometimes a little, but very annoying problem.

In an instance, it doesn't recognise the earphones anymore, and continues on speakers. Quite embarrasing sometimes if you're watching a film in a train or something.

The problem seems to be unsolvable. Whatever I try, it won't help. And as the problem began, it vanishes. I'm very happy with this laptop, but it is a good reason to dump it.

Dell-Rajesh R · Accepted Answer

Hi PieterJan,

Thank you for providing the update. I sincerely apologize for the technical troubles you have experienced with your Dell computer.

This can be a hardware/software issue. Follow below steps which can isolate the issue:

Check with a known good head phones/Speakers if available.

I would also recommend to uninstall and reinstall the audio drivers.

Click “Start”, type “Device Manager” and press enter.
In the “Device Manager” window, click the plus sign next to “sound, video and game controllers” to expand it.
Under “sound, video and game controllers” right click on sub option, click “Uninstall”.
Check the box “Delete driver software for this device”, click ok and follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall audio driver.
Restart the computer.

I have provided a link below for audio drivers:

http://dell.to/13r4NPt

Install the drivers from the above link and check if the audio works now.

Please let me know if you have any other queries.

ejn63 · Answer

This board is the part you likely need to replace. www.parts-people.com/index.php

PieterJan · Answer

I don't think it's a hardware problem. Almost everything is replaced, and for example: now it's working fine again, but maybe in a few minutes it won't be.... So confusing

sunshyyne · Answer

i have been facing the same problem for the last 2 weeks right after my headphones got lost. Since i had these headphones, i had never fallen into a situation of trying out any new ones. But now, i have realized that none of the other headphones get synced with my laptop. inspiron n5010.
i have alrdy tried uninstalling and then re-installing the drivers. But the situation is the same. the speakers work perfectly fine. Could you help me understand, why is this happening? and if it cannot be fixed, do i have to buy the exactly same headphones again? or can you suggest some good headphones/earphones that would work with my laptop. it gets pretty bugging, to have the whole room watch the same movies as i do. :/

FlyingD · Answer

I had to reinstall the drivers multiple times. The earphones I used to use were traded in for newer earphones, and rebooting the laptop for several times was the solution for me. It was temporary because the problem occurred times a month...

Jim Coates · Answer

none of the other headphones get synced with my laptop Did you use the word 'synced' because you are using Bluetooth headphones? Or do they plug into the headphone jack.

Jim Coates · Answer

i used the word sync b'coz the headphones get detected but the sound that i hear would be distorted.

I'm going to guess headphone jack, not Bluetooth or usb headphones. Is that correct?

Plug the headphones into the jack. Run the audio tests in Dell 32-bit Diagnostics. If you hear the distortion during the tests then the headphone jack is defective.

If you cannot run the Diagnostic tests then do this.

Open the Device Manager and expand "Sound, video and game controllers". Right click on "IDT High Definition Audio Codec" and select to uninstall. Put a check mark in the option to delete the files, and then ok. When you reboot, Windows will either install its own native driver or another IDT driver if there were any other versions on the hard drive. So go back to the Device Manager and check for an IDT driver. Keep uninstalling & rebooting until IDT no longer appears under Sound Controllers and "High Definition Audio Device" appears in its place. That will be the native Windows audio driver.

Test the headphones.

Now download and install the IDT audio driver for the N5010 model.

If the audio is distorted while using the native Windows driver and while using the IDT driver, then the headphone jack is defective (assuming that the headphones themselves are not defective).

sunshyyne · Answer

i used the word sync b'coz the headphones get detected but the sound that i hear would be distorted. It would either be no voices and only the jazz background becoming prominent or sometimes only the bass part is loud enough or the voices have altered pitches, making it very uncomfortable for me.

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Annoying 3.5 mm Jack problem

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