Hello Jon,

Please refer to the following thread on Microsoft Community and try the suggestions mentioned in it. Also try the audio troubleshooter which can diagnose and fix common sound playback and hardware problems. For more details, see Sound Problems in Microsoft Windows. 

Please try the steps and write back with results.  

Allan,

Thanks, but going through the thread and suggestions in it doesn't solve the problem.  (For what it's worth, the Microsoft Community thread linked above happens to be for a different scenario--it is for Windows 7 and for the case where sound is sent to both laptop speakers and headphone speakers simultaneously.  My scenario is Windows 8 and the case where sound is never sent to headphone speakers unless I disable the sound card device, reboot, and then reenable the device.)  

My best guess so far is that the audio device driver (I have the current one provided by Dell) is the problem.  Any thoughts on other possibilities or ways to fix this?

--Jon

Also forgot to mention that the troubleshooter and other links also don't solve the problem.  The Windows troubleshooter can't find a problem, the Microsoft list of things to try doesn't help either.

Hello Jon,

Apologize for the  inconvenience caused. Please help me understand if you tried updating the audio drivers. If not, please update the audio drivers. 

1. Open Device Manager (Start -- Control Panel -- Device Manager). 
2. Expand the tab for Sounds and right click the Realtek High Definition Audio Drivers. 
3. From the drop down menu, select “Uninstall”. 
4. Ensure to check the box “Delete driver software for this device”.
5. Restart the computer.
6. Download and install the latest drivers for the sound card from Dell Drivers and Downloads.
7. Restart the computer and check the functionality. 

Hope this helps!

Yes, have definitely done that (many times).  I'm currently using the most recent driver on the Dell website.  Uninstalling and reinstalling works for a short period of time (generally until the next time I close the lid), then I'm back to the same problem again.

Hello Jon,

Please help me understand what power plan have you set for closing the lid. Is it sleep, hibernate or do nothing. I would also request you to check if the issue occurs with native drivers. Open device manager and uninstall the audio drivers. Restart the computer and let the OS install the native drivers. Please so not install the drives downloaded from Dell Support Site. In case the headphones work, close the lid, open and check if the issue persists.

Please try the steps and write back with details. 

As best I can tell from trying the different scenarios, all of the above that you list can precede losing the ability to hear sound through the headphone jack.  I tried uninstalling the driver completely and letting the OS install the native driver itself at restart, but the result was still an inability to get sound from the headphone jack.  (For what it's worth, the driver version is the same whether I install the drivers from the Dell website or let the OS install its native drivers).  The only thing that reliably restores sound through the headphone jack is disabling the Realtek audio device (which requires a reboot) and then enabling it again after rebooting (which then typically requires a second reboot).

Thanks.

Hello Jon,

Try creating a new user account (please ensure to create an admin account). Update the drivers from the Realtek website and check if the issue occurs.

Just to close on this:  it looks like the problem was the Dell-provided drivers.  The Realtek drivers don't seem to have this problem.

--Jon

Hello,

I'm having the same problem as described above - but not competent enough to know how to download the driver from Realtek. If you could post some instructions i would be very grateful.

Thanks

Inigo

Hello. Click on the Realtek Website link in this thread a few posts above this one.

On the page you get to, click on "High Definition Audio Codecs".

Check "I accept" and then "next".

In the column named "Description" find the file named README. That has the instructions for installing or updating.

In the column named "Download", click on one of the server names.

In the column named "Description" find the driver for your operating system, either the 1st or the 2nd in the list.

In the column named "Download", click on one of the server names to download the driver.

If you need any more help please include the name of your laptop (if it is an XPS 13 say if it is the L321, L322, or 9333 model) and your operating system.

Many thanks for your reply. 

Downloading the driver in the way you described fixed the problem briefly but on startup I have the same problem as before: when i plug the headphones in the music comes through the speakers but not my headphones.

I have a Dell XPS 13 L322X with Windows 8.1

Thanks again.

Here is what I would do. First remove the Realtek driver. Open the Device Manager and expand the Sounds controllers section. Right click on the Realtek 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 a Realtek driver if there were any other versions on the hard drive. So go back to the Device Manager and check for a Realtek driver. Keep uninstalling & rebooting until Realtek no longer appears under sound controllers.

When you no longer have a Realtek driver, that means that Windows has installed its native audio driver. See if the problem exists while using the native driver. If audio works correctly that definitely means the issue is a bug in the Realtek driver. If you still have the problem even when using the native driver, that means it is probably a hardware failure.

There are a couple of versions of the Realtek driver available on the Dell site for your model with 8.1. Try both of them -- maybe one of them will work. When you switch from one to the other, uninstall first. The drivers are

6.0.1.7054 -- the current version

6.0.1.7016 -- older version

Great, thank you. It seems to have done the job. I'm very grateful for your advice.

Inigo

Good. But do you mean that one of the versions of Realtek works, or do you mean that using the native Windows driver works.

If you are using the native driver, it is just a basic generic driver. You might eventually find that some feature of your audio is not working or missing. That's the difference between the native and the Realtek driver. Someday you might want to try the 2 Realtek versions if you need the missing features. It could be that just one of those is buggy, so keep track of this thread with the links to the drivers and instructions for removing them.