Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
2 Posts
0
7900
December 18th, 2013 20:00
Inspiron E1705 audio/jacks issue
My laptop speakers stopped working randomly a few days ago.
Now I've discovered that the headphones jack still works, but to get any sound to play from computer speakers, I need to have something plugged into the mic jack. Is there a way to bypass this problem? If i tap the jack in one direction it will stop the speakers from working, so I know that if I always leave something plugged into the mic jack, it will loosen over time and eventually not work at all.
No Events found!
Jim Coates
6 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
December 18th, 2013 20:00
Hello. The problem is probably the "sense pin" (the impedance sensing mechanism) in the jack is messed up -- when it is working right it senses when a plug is in the jack and cuts off audio to the speakers.
I don't think you mentioned your operating system. This workaround is for an Inspiron E1705 model with XP. You can get audio to work through the speakers by installing an audio driver from Toshiba (driver qg600audiox from the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV600) that bypasses the pins. You lose the functionality of both mic and output jacks, but the speakers work again.
Link to Toshiba driver qg600audiox.exe
http://www.driversdown.com/drivers.asp?ID=102232&brNum=3&show=0
Download and install the “Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV600 Notebook SigmaTel HD Audio Driver 5.10.4889.0 Windows XP”.
dumbythewise
2 Posts
0
December 18th, 2013 21:00
Thanks.
So if I do that I won't be able to use the headphone out jack? Thats not a reasonable solution. I wouldnt be able to switch a setting back and forth depending on wanting to use headphones or speakers? The output jack is more important than laptop speakers to me...
No other solutions, I gather?
Jim Coates
6 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
December 19th, 2013 05:00
Yes, there is a solution -- replace the motherboard. The jacks have failed but are not a replaceable item in your model, so if it were still under warranty Dell would replace the motherboard. A technician might be able to just replace the jacks with salvaged ones but I doubt it would be cheaper (used MB's are $25-$35 on ebay).
It was just a workaround, not the actual solution.
You could try the Toshiba driver and if it doesn't work then go back to your normal Sigmatel driver. If it works then you could get a usb audio adapter (less than $10 on amazon) to have mic & output jacks, and switch back between them in the audio properties dialog.
Or you could keep the Toshiba driver in a handy location and just install it those times you need to use the internal speakers.
Here is a different workaround.
All of the Dell models that have HD audio (your model was the first to have it -- now they all do) utilize impedance sensing technology to know when a plug is in the jack. Then when you are running Windows the audio driver uses software switching to allow or deny audio to the speakers. This software switching is strictly a Windows thing. If you run a non-Windows operating system like one of the Linux varieties the software switching is irrelevant. It just doesn't exist and so it doesn't matter if the impedance sensor is functioning of not -- the jacks work like normal pre-HD jacks. So if you had a dual boot system you could switch back & forth between Windows and non-Windows OS depending on your jack & speaker needs.