Multiple headphones not working

As the title says, but under audio devices, it says my jack is working properly, and it detects when I plug and unplug the headphones, but no sound. I tried 3 separate headphones. I would think if the jack on the laptop was bad, it would not show or say it is working plus also detect when I plug and unplug. It just started out of nowhere. I updated sound drivers and still nothing. Any ideas? Thanks!
Firepiston

a reply to: FirePiston

Sounds like something after your jack, like your sound card maybe. Do your laptop speakers work?

originally posted by: smithjustinb
a reply to: FirePiston

Sounds like something after your jack, like your sound card maybe. Do your laptop speakers work?

Yes the laptop speakers work fine, and shut off like they are supposed to as soon as I plug the headphones in.
Firepiston

in cases like this if the system can sense the plugs internal switch then the plug as a whole should be fine (unless you have spilled something into it or there is a bit of fuzz or dust inside) if it senses the plug but no audio then its a driver/registry issue, ironically it used to be that when installing new cd drive drivers the sound almost allways went to hell i think it was old creative cards that did it, but in any case it became a commonly known issue that microsoft even ended up publically adressing of course this was back before xp sp1.

good luck getting it going again! keep us updated!


just saw the bit about speakers working, check to see if the plug is dirty or has fuzz in it...

a reply to: FirePiston

The only things I can think of is that either all 3 of your headphones are bad (a test in another device would confirm this), or your driver isn't set up properly. Maybe you can check to see if your jack is set up as your default device by right clicking on your sound icon in the bottom right corner toolbar and clicking "playback devices".

originally posted by: smithjustinb
a reply to: FirePiston

The only things I can think of is that either all 3 of your headphones are bad (a test in another device would confirm this), or your driver isn't set up properly. Maybe you can check to see if your jack is set up as your default device by right clicking on your sound icon in the bottom right corner toolbar and clicking "playback devices".

Yes it is. lol not sure what else to do at this point except maybe find a 4th set. Ill keep messing around.
Firepiston

a reply to: FirePiston
you might want check your laptop for fn keys ,, there might be a key combination that disables microphone/headphones/camera/wireless for your particular laptop

A lot of the switches that detect the presence of the jack are mechanical. Some of them are electrical, though. I thought they were all electrical until I just looked it up. So it could be and is likely dust or dirt in the jack as a poster above said.

originally posted by: FirePiston
As the title says, but under audio devices, it says my jack is working properly, and it detects when I plug and unplug the headphones, but no sound. I tried 3 separate headphones. I would think if the jack on the laptop was bad, it would not show or say it is working plus also detect when I plug and unplug. It just started out of nowhere. I updated sound drivers and still nothing. Any ideas? Thanks!
Firepiston

There may be a seperate volume setting for your headphones in Windows. I'm in bed now, too lazy get on my laptop to confirm... but try double-clicking on the speaker Icon. A box should pop-up with all your devices and the sound level for each device.

Another thing to try is start->control panel->sounds->adjust system sounds?

Again, going by memory. I do a lot of soundcard digimodes in ham radio. Getting windows to behave properly with sounds can be very confusing and counter-intuitive.

There may be a jack setting in your audio driver software that you may need to enable/disable. I know that on most Realtek audio chipsets there is an option to detect jack changes and if it's not set correctly you won't get sound through headphones.

Without knowing anything about your audio chipset there's not much more to suggest.

originally posted by: Thalestris
There may be a jack setting in your audio driver software that you may need to enable/disable. I know that on most Realtek audio chipsets there is an option to detect jack changes and if it's not set correctly you won't get sound through headphones.

Without knowing anything about your audio chipset there's not much more to suggest.

IDT audio. I gave up last night, and when I turned on computer this morning, just plugged them in for the heck of it, and now they work. I didn't do anything. Very weird. The only thing I can think of is that it was a total shutdown, and not a restart, that may have done something. Thanks so much to all of you who replied.
Firepiston