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No sound from Latitude D620 notebook speaker but headphones work fine.
My wife informed me that there has never been sound from her notebook speaker but headphones work fine. Is this possibly problem with the audio driver or maybe a headphone jack problem? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Latitude D620
Default device: SigmaTel Audio
Sigma Tel version 5.10.0.4823
Sigma Tel version 5.10.0.4823
Thanks
Jim Coates
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December 2nd, 2007 01:00
Or it could be the headphone jack. The Dell laptops with a Sigmatel 92xx audio chip utilize Universal Jacks technology, which is somewhat complicated. In addition to the usual mechanical parts, the jack also uses current & impedance-sensing techniques to trigger software configuration and switching (to send the audio signal to the speakers). So there are three areas of potential failure: mechanical, electronic, and software. Sometimes, a little very gentle wiggle of a plug in the jack will get it to resume normal functioning, at least temporarily.
Normally I'd say to run the audio test part of Dell Diagnostics to confirm that there is a hardware problem, but we have seen that these Universal Jacks can cause a false result in Diagnostics. That is because Diagnostics operates in DOS, outside of Windows, so a Windows software misconfiguration is irrelevant to the test even though in this case it is caused by hardware. So the audio test can pass in Diagnostics, correctly signaling that software configuration is the immediate cause of the problem, but missing that a hardware problem, the bad jack, is the root cause. In these instances the only reliable diagnostic procedure might be to try a new motherboard. In other words, it can be tough to diagnose.
Jim
N5bz
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December 6th, 2007 12:00
Removing the drivers and allowing XP to reinstall them DID fix the problem.
Unfortunately neither fixed the OTHER problem I am fighting with the sound on this laptop, that being my inability to kill the beep. See my recent posting here on that subject.
-bz-
_Kai_
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July 17th, 2010 03:00
Hi Jim,
I have the same problem. I bought a used D620 and the headphones work but speaker doesn't. In the Dell Diag from USB the "Analog Sound Playback Test" works fine. So the Hardware is 100% working. Then must there be a software problem!
Is there any (new) solution? This problem is driving me crazy because the hardware can work!
Edit: I habe tried all thing I can imagine: reinstall XP; install linux; installed vista; reinstalled audio driver in different versions.
Jim Coates
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July 17th, 2010 05:00
Dell laptops like the D620 utilize reconfigurable jack technology in the headphone jack, which is somewhat complicated. In addition to the usual mechanical parts, the jack also uses current & impedance-sensing techniques to trigger software configuration and switching (to send the audio signal to the speakers). Sometimes the laptops with Universal Jacks develop this combination of symptoms:
* Speakers don't work and are not muted or deselected
* Headphone jack does work
* Reinstalling audio driver does not help
* Audio test in Dell Diagnostics passes
* On models with 2 headphone jacks, one may be "checked" in the control panel as if in use
* Sometimes but not always, a very gentle wiggle of a plug in the jack will get it to resume normal functioning, at least temporarily.
That combination of symptoms means that the sense pin is not working for some reason. There is a sensing pin in the jack (Sense_A pin) that is used to detect the presence of plugs. Failure of the sense pin results in the computer behaving like there is always a plug in the jack. The software switch that should route audio to the speakers does not get triggered.
There are 3 ways to confirm that you have a failed sense pin:
1. Check for the combination of symptoms that I listed. If you have all of them then it is pretty certain you have the failed sense pin. Note that when you run the audio tests in Dell Diagnostics you should hear audio through the speakers. That is the opposite result from what one would expect. There is a complicated reason for this behavior which I can post if interested. If you do not hear the audio through the speakers during the tests then there is some other hardware problem.
2. Replace the headphone jack. If that fixes the problem that confirms that you had a failed sense pin.
3. Restore the laptop to its original factory configuration. This is called PC Restore in XP and Factory Image Restore in Vista. If the speakers still don't work after PC/Factory Image Restore and you have the combination of symptoms listed above, that is a definite confirmation of a failed sense pin.
The only way to repair a jack with a failed sense pin is to replace it.
**************************************************************************************************************
Somebody with an Inspiron E1705 with XP said they were able to install 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.
_Kai_
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July 17th, 2010 06:00
Hello Jim,
thanks for the fast reply. I now understand why this is a hardware problem. Thank you for the description. I have all the symptoms you discribed. I wiggled with a plug in the jack and it's now working (after I rebooted). I hope this will last for longer, but if not I know the problem.
tahaawan
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June 17th, 2016 09:00
uzaif altaf
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June 17th, 2016 09:00
my lap top sound system not working however headphone work fine
Jim Coates
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June 17th, 2016 15:00
What operating system is on the laptop?