Headphone Jack busted

Gilder0y · Aug 22, 2013

I did a factory restore of my dell inspiron 640m which runs win xp, and the headphone jack is still dead. the speakers on the laptop work fine. The sound card is SigmaTel STAC9200 I tried to set the headphones as the default in the control panel, but they don't show up, just sigmatel audio.

Since the inspiron 640m supports universal jacks, i'd like to remap the headphone jack with the mic jack. anyone know how to do this in the registry?

Thanks

hang-the-9 · Aug 27, 2013

You don't do it in the registry, either in the BIOS or in the sound driver software.

The headphones will not show up as a default audio device unless they have their own processor like a USB set.

Did you try both front and rear jacks? Try a diferent set of headphones?

Gilder0y · Aug 27, 2013

Well, it's not a desktop so there's no front and rear jacks, just a headphone jack and a line in / mic jack, both located on the left panel of the laptop.

I checked the BIOS. On this laptop, the BIOS is really simple it just basically allows u to turn things on and off, not to do anything more complicated than that.

Also, I tried different headphones that didn't work.

As of now, if I turn off the laptop then unplug the RCA cable (this is all going to an amplifier and then to speakers), then turn it back on, then plug in the cable in, it'll work just fine.

Nevertheless, I would prefer a more permanent fix for this problem if possible.

Gilder0y · Aug 30, 2013

Well, my solution just went out the window --- restarting the comp then plugging in the jack no longer works. If anyone has a solution, please let me know about it. I'm all ears.

Thanks,

Mike

hang-the-9 · Aug 30, 2013

How is this connected? You said it first goes to an external amp? What if you plug it into the laptop directly? If the jack is dead, you may need to get a set of USB headphones if you can't find a way to switch the mic jack though the sound card software.

Gilder0y · Aug 30, 2013

ya, i fixed it again...i found out that if i unplug the power cord, power it off, then power it on, then plug the jack back in it works...but i think that its still iffy...

i have an RCA cable (the Y cable, 3.5 mm to RCA) plugged into my laptop headphone jack, then that goes to the AUX input on my vintage amplifer, and that is connected to my speakers.

Gilder0y · Aug 30, 2013

if u'd like i can give u a screenshot of my registry, where i think the pin keys are. i just don't know how to exchange them, to switch them

Gilder0y · Aug 30, 2013