A Silent Computer

I have never had luck with the sound on my computers.
I bought a head-set with a microphone attached- when I plug it into the appropriate jacks in the back of the computer sometimes I hear sound in the ear phones- sometimes I don't.

I can never remember why I do manage to get it to work...

It's the same for the stupid built in speakers on the monitor. Sometimes when I plug the skinny little line into the back of the pc I hear sound piping out but most attempts fail.

I hate it. I just want to hear sound when I plug something in that's supposed to provide me with sound. This has been going on for years.
Any help would be appreciated.

I have to go out for a bit but will be back in an hour or so to see if anyone can give me some ideas of what to do. I know I should provide some more info but I'm not even sure what.

 

can anyone offer an explanation for what to do?

 

Well, you can start by letting us know what make/model# of your machine or your motherboard and/or soundcard make and model, if separate, is. Be aware that intermittent problems are the hardest to diagnose. Have you looked inside the machine to see if there's a loose cable etc. in there?

Oops, your OS too but I suspect XP .

 

O.S. is xp
No loose cables
I don't know how to find the brands of the sound cards and other devices- this is a generic computer like my last one.

 

bump...I don't think there is anything physically wrong with the computer. I had the same problem with my old computer.
...oh wow I got it working. My My I just plugged it in exactly like yesterday when it didn't work but now it does.
I'm still no wiser. Realtek sound manager on board by the way.

 

Spoke to soon. Realtek test makes noise for the test sounds...otherwise no sound. Stupid thing

 

Two of the best tools for attaining info on your PC are:

Belarc Advisor
or
EVEREST Free Edition 2.20

From here your mainboard (motherboard) will provide excellent info for further advice.

 

No one can tell me why Realtek allows me to hear sound but I can't get audio for anything else?
Edit: oh yes, after a reboot I had sound for everything then at some point I lost it.

 

Here I go again.
This is my setup.
Gray, black, orange then pink, green and blue holes.
Pink and green wires coming out of the back (sound card?)
Back of monitor has a line in (used to work with separate green line to line.)
Green and pink holes in front.

Can't get the head set to work.
Don't know if the little speakers can even work without the big one that broke.

What do I have to do to get this machine to emit the sound from songs, videos and the like?

I'm SO SICK OF THIS and do not want to download software because I have Realtek on this machine but it's a piece of poo as far as I'm concerned because it doesn't EVER help me.


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/12monthsOFwinter/majorgeeks/computer.jpg

And by the way, how to I get the newest posts to show up at the bottom not the top?

 

Can's seem to edit my post so will put what I forgot here:

System is XP.
Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K SE Rev 1.xx
Realtek High Definition Audio

I got this from Belarc advisor as suggested.

 

Funny how the default (not logged in) showed it last post on bottom.

As for the chipset drivers; I installed everything that was required from the original cds (chipset drivers as well to my recollection)
Are you suggesting downloading them again from the ASUS site and reinstalling?

 

I don't know what causes it to happen but somehow setting must get changed inadvertently- I didn't understand that you actually have to periodically go into Control Panel>Sounds And Audio Devices>under the Audio tab and TELL THE COMPUTER to use Realtek for Sound playback/recording.
I also didn't realize that Windows had no native ability to play music all by itself- or rather, it doesn't appear that there is any programming in place to run a sound card which I assume is what directs speakers and headsets to receive audio.
This is so stupid because it can play certain sounds (not music) and direct those sounds through the speakers on the monitor or through the headset which is confusing.
It follows then that if I use another device (tape converter) I will probably have to tell the computer to use the dedicated software to run and remember to change those settings again when I want to listen to music again.

Does that sound about right? That Windows XP itself is useless for playing music and relies on third party software providers? Because now that it's working I find that the two little speakers by themselves do pump out tunes although the volume without the matching speaker is only infinitesimally better than the monitor speakers.