Headphone port at the front of my computer no longer working

Hello,


I'm new to this site, so please forgive me if I make mistakes of some kind to begin with. A couple of months ago I picked up some malware through YouTube, and it was so severe that it caused blue screens of death. It prevented me from accessing safe mode, and it wasn't being detected by AVG, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, or the anti-virus/malware software used at a local computer repair shop. As a result, my operating system (Windows XP) had to be reinstalled, and this was done at the shop I just mentioned.

Once XP had been reinstalled, everything was fine again except the headphone (and possibly the microphone) ports at the front and back of the computer, which no longer worked. I took my computer back to the shop, told them of the problem I was having, and they told me I needed a new sound card. They installed the new sound card for me, but this didn't solve the problem, nor did going onto the C-Media Electronics website and downloading what I thought was the correct replacement driver for the sound card. I took my computer back to the shop, and I was told that the ports are faulty. They managed get sound through one of a line of coloured ports located at the bottom of the back of the computer (whether the ports have always been there or whether they were fitted by them I'm not sure), and told me what I need to do in order to get the headphone port at the front of the computer working again (they weren't able to fix the problem for me at the time).

Since I was told what I need to do in order to fix the problem, I've been busy moving to a place not too far from where I used to live, and I've forgotten what their solution was. Very recently, my computer was getting very hot and loud because the power supply fan had become stuck, so I took it to a different computer repair shop now that I've moved house, and they replaced the power supply because the fan would not move despite an attempt to get it moving again through the use of oil. I asked them if they could look into the problem with the headphone port at the front of the computer and try to fix it, and they did look into it, but they couldn't find a fix.

I need to use my earphones now more than ever, and most earphone cables would be too short for me to be able to put earphones in my ears and plug them into the headphone port at the back of the computer, so I could really do with some help. Is it possible that the reinstallation of XP caused the headphone port at the front of my computer to no longer work? Is there a way to fix this problem? Any help would be massively appreciated.


Thanks,

Jack.

 

The Windows XP re-installation would not have installed the requisite sound card driver which you attempted yourself.

Could you please supply your computer make and model along with the same sound card information? This will help the experts here determine a course of action.

 

Hello,


Thank you for replying to my message. I'll be in touch over the next few days to provide you with the information you need.


Talk to you soon,

Jack.

 

A headphone extension cable would facilitate connecting to the back of your computer. One source for them is Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...ters&field-keywords=headphone extension cable

 

Hi mdonah,


Below is all the information I've been able to find.



PC INFORMATION (TAKEN FROM DXDIAG UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)


OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600).
The General tab in System Properties says: Microsoft Windows XP, Media Center Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 3.

SYSTEM MANUFACTURER: Packard Bell NEC

BIOS: Award Medallion BIOS v6.00PG

PROCESSOR: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.93GHz

MEMORY: 1536MB RAM

DIRECTX VERSION: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)



SOUND CARD INFORMATION (TAKEN FROM SYSTEM INFORMATION)


NAME: CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device

MANUFACTURER: C-Media

STATUS: OK

PNP DEVICE ID: PCI\VEN_13F6&DEV_0111&SUBSYS_011113F6&REV_10\4&10A6A55&0&08F0

I/O PORT: 0x0000A000-0x0000A0FF

IRQ CHANNEL: IRQ 19

DRIVER: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cmaudio.sys (5.12.01.0643, 368.51 KB (377,358 bytes), 18/11/2002 15:51)


The sound card name shown above is different to the one shown on the box. The one shown on the box is: CMI 8768-8CH Sound Card. Like I said a few days ago, a while back I noticed this difference and downloaded the driver matching the name on the box, but I couldn't get it to work. Also, in the System Information area, above the information I've just given you, it says the following:


NAME: Realtek High Definition Audio

MANUFACTURER: Realtek

STATUS: OK

PNP DEVICE ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0880&SUBSYS_08800000&REV_0905\4&9DD7AAF&0&0201

DRIVER: c:\windows\system32\drivers\rtkhdaud.sys (5.10.0.6662 built by: WinDDK, 5.86 MB (6,141,584 bytes), 04/02/2013 16:45)


Is the above information shown because, although I'm not able to get sound through the green ports at the front and half way down the back of the computer, I'm able to get sound through one of the line of coloured ports at the bottom of the back of the computer?

I hope that I have provided you with all the infrormation you need. If you need to know anything else please let me know.


Talk to you soon,

Jack.

 

Just for your information, the green port on the back of the computer is the built-in sound card, and the row of coloured ports are the new card the shop put in for you.

By the looks of it the shop have failed to correctly configure the computer to use the new soundcard, and they might have failed to plug in the cable leading from the front port to the soundcard. I know you said the second shop had checked but I would like to be sure myself in case the shops both missed these steps.

There are ways of checking if these things have been done or not, but they could be complicated. We can talk you through them if you are willing to do this yourself.

 

Hi usafveteran,

I had thought about getting an extension cable for my earphones. I'll do all I can to get the two of three headphone ports working again with the support of people on this site, and if I'm not successful I'll buy an extension cable as a last resort. Thanks for providing me with a link to a place where I can buy one.

Jack

 

Hi collinsl,

Thanks for your message and the information you gave me. I'm willing, through your guidance and that of others, to find out whether the steps you mentioned have been carried out, so let's begin when you're ready.

Jack

 

OK, that's good to hear. We can start by seeing where the cable from the front ports is plugged into.

If you unplug the computer, lay it on it's side and open the case, you should see a card where the row of coloured ports are on the back of the computer. There should be a cable plugged into the card which leads to the front of the case and probably vanishes into the front panel somewhere. All we are checking for is to see if this cable is plugged in or not.

 

Hi again,

I'm on another computer at the moment. I've looked inside the computer that's been having problems, and there isn't a cable plugged into the sound card where the line of coloured ports are. If it's easy to fit one myself, do you know of a place online where I can order one from? Another thing I noticed when I opened up the case was that there is a label on the sound card, and it tells me the sound card name (CMI 8768-8CH). This name is different to the one shown in the System Information section (CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device), so does this mean I have the incorrect sound card driver? Do you have an idea as to why I'm not getting sound through the port half way down the back of the computer? I always used to get sound through that port before Windows XP was reinstalled. I'm sorry about all the questions, and I hope you can answer them.

Talk to you soon,

Jack.

 

Hi Jack,

Don't be sorry about asking questions, the only stupid question is the one that's not asked.

The ports half way down the back of the computer connect to a sound card built in to the motherboard of the computer. The first shop diagnosed these as not working and fitted a second sound card to replace the built-in one. This new card has it's own ports so you use those instead of the built-in ones that you used to use.

As for the cable, it's not a case of fitting a new one. There is one already plugged in to the motherboard which connects to the old, (probably) broken sound card. We just have to find it and move it to the new card. That will reconnect the front ports to the sound card.

To that end, we need to know the exact model of the computer you are using. We know from your dxdiag results that you posted before that you have Packard Bell, but we need the exact model. This will be on a sticker or nameplate somewhere on the computer.

As for your drivers, it is possible that you have the incorrect ones installed. These can be uninstalled quite easily. To start, please confirm if the page I have linked to below is where you downloaded your drivers from originally, and if so which one did you download?:

http://www.cmedia.com.tw/EN/DownloadCenter_Detail2.aspx?pserno=0&dtype=ALL

 

Hello,


Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of that to me. I've looked at the label on the back of my computer, and by the looks of things the exact model is UT0W-SUN. Below is some extra information taken from the same label.


MS WHQL No: SUN 935860

S/N: 044361420415

PID: 0443614

P/N: PB13222601


I hope that's all the information you've been looking for, but if it isn't then please let me know.

The page you gave me the link for is the one I downloaded the driver from, and it is the correct one because in another area of the computer other than in the System Information area (unfortunately I can't remember where now), I was given the full name of the sound card's manufacturer (C-Media Electronics, Inc.).

I would have downloaded either the CMI8768 for Windows XP/2000 one, or the CMI8768+ for Windows XP/2000 one (most likely the former one). I couldn't get it to work at the time, but I've just realised that this was because I was still trying to get audio through the old port because I didn't even know about the new one until later. So maybe the download and installation of the driver was successful, and I just didn't know at the time (the fact I can get sound through the new port now is evidence that it worked). Despite the fact that I can get sound, the difference between the name of the card according to the System Information area, and the name of the card according to the box and label on the card itself, still exists and makes me wonder whether I have the correct driver installed. Do you think it's worth looking into the driver issue some more because it could cause problems down the line, or do you think that so long as I'm getting sound through the new port it's okay to leave things as they are?

Once again, thanks for all your help.


Talk to you soon,

Jack.

 

Hi Jack,

As long as the card is working correctly I wouldn't worry about changing the drivers.

I have found this image online and it would be great if you could confirm if this is what your computer looks like inside (please ignore the writing about wires):

http://i42.tinypic.com/23ur19v.jpg

If this is what the inside of your computer looks like, then we can find out which cable is the one we need to move.

We also need to determine what connectors there are on the sound card. On the side of the card, can you see a block of two rows of four pins stacked in a 2x4 shape?

 

Hello,


Okay then let's not look into the driver issue any further.

The computer in the image you found looks almost the same as mine. The only obvious difference as far as I can see is that because I've had a new sound card fitted, the brown card on the bottom left has been replaced with a red one. The black box on top of the brown card has also gone, as has the white wire directly underneath the brown card, and the black wire that starts off below the brown card and does an s-shape, ending up towards the front of the computer. There may well be more slight differences, but no more really obvious ones as far as I can see.

I've had a look at the sound card, and there are two connectors underneath, side by side, and each one is a single row of four pins. Is this okay, or will I have to order an adapter of some kind?

Thanks for replying. I have to stop now and get something to eat, and I'm going to be busy all day tomorrow, so could you please message me back when you're ready, and I'll get back to you when I can.


Talk to you soon,

Jack.

 

Hi Jack,

I am sorry to be a let down but it would appear that as your sound card only has 4-pin plugs it can't be connected to the front port on the computer as those plugs on the card are for input and not output.

I am sure as a poor alternative you can find an extension cable for your headphones.

Sorry!

 

Hello,

It's a shame that the sound card can't be connected to the front port. If only the first computer shop I went to had fitted a better sound card. I'll order an extension cable soon. Thanks for all of your help.

Jack