asrock extreme4 z68 Audio Broken?!

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Whyibs

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Hello all,

I'm worried about my PC at this moment. I was doing a normal routine cleaning of the inside using compressed air, nothing out of the ordinary but it was awfully dusty to the point the graphics card fans weren't working properly.

Upon rebooting the computer I noticed there was no audio. Fast forward a week later and I can't for the life of me find a solution. I fear that somehow during the cleaning the audio jacks all got damaged because neither the audio nor microphone are working anymore. I have tried downloading drivers, cleaning it again, testing multiple headphones/microphones with no sucess.

I find myself going through a bit of a rough period where I'm not going to be able to go out and buy a new mobo (Like the Z97 which I'd love) for at least another 6 months. Can anyone offer some help or a solution? I literally can't enjoy my computer without audio anymore.

Thank you,
Dan
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
If you are unable to see the green Pick as solution button under everybody else's postings aside from yours, you can PM a moderator and they can fix it. You may have started the thread in discussion mode. Otherwise, just click any of the solution buttons, preferably on the most helpful or relevant solution, so the thread can close and other members will know you are not still actively seeking answers to the issue. BTW, did the soundcard solve your issue and you are now able to hear sound or is there still a problem with sound?
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Go back in and make sure you didn't accidentally knock the audio connector loose from the board. Also, if you're using HD audio and it's not working you can try unplugging it and using the AC97 audio connector if yours has one. Are you trying to use front panel connections or the I/O connections on the back? Is it the onboard sound or do you have an additional sound card?
 
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Whyibs

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Hello sorry for the late response. I am using onboard audio with I/O connections on the back. I have no other way of getting sound out.

The problem is the back I/O connectors are encaged in a small metal box (Look up a picture of mobo to get an idea). Do you recommend I somehow open that and check connectors inside? or is there a different connector I'm unaware of?

Sorry, I'm not the most hardware savy person in world so I may be misunderstanding you.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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No, you're good. I was referring to if you were using front panel connectors which connect via plug and socket to the motherboard on most modern cases. Since you're using the back I/O connectors it wouldn't apply.

Go into control panel>device manager>Sound, video and game controllers and see if your device is listed. Is it exclaimed, meaning is there a question mark, exclamation mark or other symbol next to the device if it is listed? If it's there try right clicking on the device and selecting uninstall. Make sure to check the "uninstall device driver" box during the uninstallation.

Reboot and see if windows automatically reinstalls the device driver. If not, go back into device manager and see what it shows. Then try right clicking on the sound device and selecting "update device driver" and then "update automatically". Let me know and we'll go from there.
 
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Whyibs

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I went in and it had two devices listed:

AMD High Definition Audio Device
Realtek high definition audio

No errors and both are "up to date with latest drivers".

Not that I'm questioning your judgement at all just thinking out loud but it seems odd to me that it would be a driver problem when I have had sound last few years and it wasn't until I sprayed compressed air that it just vanish, I'm starting to think maybe somehow something got damaged on hardware side.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Ok, true, but I wasn't interested in whether it was a driver issue. I simply wanted to see if there was a problem with the hardware. If it's showing up fine in device manager then the hardware is working. It's something else causing a lack of sound. Check the cables and make absolutely sure they are completely plugged in. Try a different cable.

As a another measure of being sure of the basics, it's a common measure and general procedure to uninstall the devices, like I said, and then let them be reinstalled. Sometimes devices can show up fine in device manager but have conflicts that the system doesn't see. You might also try going into sound properties and making sure the devices are set to be used.

In other words, they can be installed and recognized just fine, and even be enabled, but be shut off in sound properties under the listing for that device. I've seen stranger things happen. Also, not to question your abilities or anything, but make sure you're plugged into the correct port in the back. I've done that myself before, plugged speakers into the mic or visa versa and then went nuts trying to figure what was wrong with my hardware.
 
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Whyibs

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Hey darkbreeze,

Thanks for the explanation, sounds like I jumped the gun!

I went ahead and uninstalled the drivers, when system booted they re-installed just fine no problems. When I play a video you can even see the sound bars going up and down in the sound mixer with correct properties, but nada.

I've used three different pairs of headphones, I have made sure that it's plugged in to the correct spot and I've made sure it's plugged in all the way.

I am still unable to get any audio, please let me know if you have any other ideas we could try.

Thanks for your help.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Right click on the speaker icon in your system tray on the right side of the taskbar. Select playback devices. Make sure that in the devices listed in the window that opens, there is a green checkmark next to the device you want used as the default device.

In your case, since it sounds like you're not using external speakers or outputting to a media device, it would be your headphone device. There should be a headphone image and it should say communication headphones or something similar.

Also, look for any HDMI audio devices. You might need to disable HDMI audio. It usually tries to be the default audio device and if you unplugged everything and then plugged back in, it may have reorganized the default settings.
 
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Whyibs

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Alright I have spent the last hour looking up online and it seems there are a number of people with the same problem and none seem to have found a solution besides being a soundcard for $30 and using that.

Is there a disadvantage to doing this besides admitting defeat and spending the money? Is the sound compromised in any way?

I've also tried checking the BIOS and everything looked good, the mobo is clean and looks good, and the devices are there with the audio levels fluctuating based on the sound that is supposed to be playing. What do you think I should do?
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Right click the sound icon in the taskbar and select volume control options. Make sure "all devices currently playing sound" is checked. Click ok and the go back and left click on the sound icon. Make sure any volume sliders are not shut all the way down.

If no success, right the sound icon again and select playback devices. In the window that opens you should have three items listed.

Digital display audio (AMD high definition device) which probably says "Not plugged in".

Speakers (Realtek high definition audio) and also

Communications headphones (Realtek high definition audio).

In the greyed out area underneath each of those listings, make sure none of them say disabled. If they do, right click on the device, select enable, click ok and try the sound.

If none of them say disabled try right clicking on the communications headphones and selecting disabled. Click ok and try the sound.

If no success, go back in, re-enable the communications headphones by right clicking on it and selecting enable. Now disable the speakers, click ok and try the sound.

If that fails to work go back in and re-enable the speakers, click on ok and then right click the sound icon, select sounds, click on the communications tab and make sure "do nothing" is selected. Click ok and try the sound.

If still no success, right click the sound icon, select open volume mixer and make sure no devices with volume sliders are shut off.

After that if it doesn't work right click the speaker icon again and select playback, double click the "speakers" device listed in the sound window, note what is listed under Jack information on the general tab of the resulting window and tell me what's listed there.
 
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Whyibs

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Hello,

Did all the steps mentioned. No success on anything. Here is what is listed under speakers:

LR Front Panel 3.5mm Jack
RL RR Rear Panel 3.5mm Jack
C Sub Rear Panel 3.5mm Jack

Let me know if that's what you needed.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Ok, I think at this point you need to remove the side panel of your rig and locate the connector coming from the front audio jacks. There are probably two of them. One should say HD audio on it and the other should say AC97. If you go to the following link and look in the lower left hand corner of the image you will see a connector on the board that says HDAudio. Plug your HD audio connector coming from the front panel into this connector and start your computer. (Do this with the computer off, obviously, but you would be surprised how many people tell me, you never said to turn it off first.) Retry your audio using the front panel jacks.

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2011/09/asrock-z68-extreme4-gen3-review/asrockz687-1280x1024.jpg
 
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Whyibs

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Alright. I pulled out the cable that was connected to the front and it had the following pins: R-OUT, L-OUT, RET-R, RET-L, MIC IN, MIC PWR, GND.

I couldn't find on the manual how to connect them so after googling I went with this connection as follows:

2-------10
* * * _ *
* * * * *
1-------9

(Each star represents a pin, even on top, odd on bottom)

1) Mic In
2) GND
3) Mic PWR
4) emty
5) R OUT
6)RET R
7) empty
9) L OUT
10) RET L

Please let me know if I did something wrong or grabbed the wrong cable. If I managed to do everything correct (miracle) then there is still no audio being received please let me know how to proceed.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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There should be a single plug with several wires attached, nothing to figure out, that says either HD audio or AC97. It should look like one of these and should easily plug right in to the port I showed you. If not then you have a very old case because the AC97 spec has been around for at least about 15 years I think. The HD audio is newer than that but it's been around a while too. I'd double check to see that you didn't miss a cable somewhere.


plugs.png
 
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