Laptop sound.

Hi all.
Had a bit of an accident with my Acer Aspire 5738Z laptop.
Apparently it isn't partial to a cup of tea!
The liquid went mainly at the top area across the on button, the speaker grill, volume buttons, etc.
I thought i'd gotten away with it as all seemed well.
Until I tried to play a dvd and discovered no sound.
Device manager still shows no problems and all volumes are enabled and turned up.
My daughter has a similar model laptop so I unclipped the grill, disconeccted the volume button ribbon cable and tried that but mine worked on hers so it's not that.
Could the sound card have blown but still be showing as ok in device manager?
Seems unlikely to me but hey, computers.............
Also, there are two speakers so wouldn't have thought both had blown
Most worryingly, headphones don't work either.
Just trying the 'hairdryer' method and letting it air a bit.
Any suggestions welcome.
Cheers.

 

The fact that headphones dont work either makes me think it aint the speakers. Not likely to have blown the Soundcard either as that is on the motherboard. I am slightly concerned that you tested things before being happy that it was dry. Liquid doesnt kill electronics... Applying current to damp electronics does, hence the golden rule with an spill is turn the thing over and pull out the battery... Straight away... Still I guess we are passed that now. My money is that the sound is disabled somewhere. Loo in control panel under sound to make sure your soundcard is selected as default output

 

CAN'T STRESS THAT ENOUGH!!!

:major

 

Thanks for the replies.
It wasn't me that did the deed, it was the wife and I wasn't in when it happened so I couldn't shut it down and the wife aint savvy as far as computers go.
I've tried all I can think of.
I'm pretty sure the sound card is ok as when I 'play' a tune the volume bar in control panel>sound is active and the same happens when I tap the speaker icon on the task barThinking about it I suppose the headphone socket is connected to the speakers as when you plug phones in it mutes the speakers.
Like i've said my daughter has a similar lap top.
Could I take stuff out of hers to try or is everything soldered rather than plugs?
Cheers.

 

Where are the speakers located?

 

I shall explain what I have done.
I took the laptop apart. Keyboard off, split the case, had a good look, blasted two hairdriers at it for a while to dry any residue.
No suagr was involved thankfully.
I googled replacing speakers in a acer aspire 5738z and got a few hits saying that the speakers on laptops are prone to short.
Now, if anything is going to make a electronic device short I would imagine a lovely warm cup of tea would do the trick nicely.

Tueur The speakers are along a strip directly above the F keys.
The cover clips off quiet easily and I see no tears or other type of damage.

gloozit They are actual buttons. They function fine as the volume bar rises and falls when I press them.
There are no crackles hisses or bangs, just silence.
I have checked every setting I can think of so far.

 

You could try swaping the strip (bezel) for the one on your daughters thus replacing the speakers. I dont think it will work personally as Im not convinced it is a fault with the speakers as the headphones dont work either.

What OS are you running?

 

Tried that (see op) it doesn't replace the speakers, only the volume buttons.
The speakers are a bit further embedded.
I know what you mean about the speaker/headphone thing but after thinking about it as the speakers and the headphone jack are connected in some way (the insertion of head phones silences the speakers) I'm wondering if there is some thing that has shorted that effects both.

 

I cant guarantee it but usually the headphone jack is directly soldered onto the Motherboard (or a secondary expansion board connected by ribbon) and sits either on the front or side of the laptop. The speakers are will be on a wire that also connects to the motherboard. The only common denominator is the motherboard so any hardware fault that is effecting both is likely to reside on the motherboard.

When you plug headphones in your soundcard picks up that there is a load (resistance) on the headphone socket and cuts the speakers. For them both to fail doesnt sound good.

It may be worth trying to swap out the speakers but my gut says it is either software or you motherboard. If it is MB you are very lucky not to have done more damage and I would make sure you have all your data backed up as water damage can sometimes take a while to show.

 

Bugger, this is frustrating.
Perhaps I should throw another cup of tea on it so it goes bang, then I know there's no point messing. :cry

 

Nope, the problem isn't staring me in the face, she's in the kitchen making my dinner. :-D
The frustrating thing is that everything else is perfect (apart from Vista!) and I'm looking at a few hundred quid to replace something that may only need a small part (Oooooeerrrrr!) :-o

 

Depends on how the volume buttons work and where the meter is. If they are analogue buttons that actually receive an audio signal then yes this may be true. On most modern laptops the volume control increases or decreases the output level on the soundcard. As such they dont receive any audio signal and they just transmit a data signal to tell the pc to turn sound up or down.

I think you need to route around in control panel > Sounds and make sure you have the right device selected for output. Also double check the audio settings in the application that you are using. Many players will jus take the settings from control panel but some will let you configure the audio output device.

 

I will have to take it to bits again to see where the cables go.
I take off the cover and a ribbon cable goes from the buttons and disapears inside the laptop. There is a small circuit board where the buttons are situated on the uderside of the cover.

 

Nah, I put it back together so the laptop fairies could fix it but it appears they have gone on holiday!

Firstly, ANY suggestion is appreciated, not just those that turn out to be the answer.
Many a time I have read comments that weren't right but put me on the right track or jogged something I already new from the back of beyond to the frontal lobe. So all help appreciated.

That block diagram is very interesting.
Unless I'm very much mistaken, which has been known, the part that is causing the problem is likely to be the integrated sound chip.
As you can see the speaker and the line out (headphone socket) are directly connected to that chip (marked OP AMP). As all else is well (the next chip along the chain is the mic and I can hear stuff going on through headphones when I plug in there so that has power) I would say that is the chip that has blown. If so it's a bit of an upsadaisy I'm afraid unless I can find someone with a very steady hand to solder a new one on. :cry

 

plodr, trying to work out what that is?
Do I just plug it in and sound comes out of it?
If so, how?

 

Ah right.
So I would need to plug headphones or speakers in.
I suppose i may as well get something like this then http://www.tesco.com/direct/technik...=215-7638&pageLevel=&sc_cmp=pcp_GSF__215-7638
or this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-984-000159-Laptop-Speaker-Z305/dp/B0041SKBBK/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t which is I think speakers with the sound card built in?

 

Hmmm, one grief with all the sound bars i've found.
No head phone socket.
Goddamn!

 

Plodr, your link wont work for me?

Gloozit.
That piece of kit is around £25.00 plus I would need speakers to plug in.
So, assuming my onboard sound is still working, (it appears to be because all volume bars are active when a music track is playing, it just can't get to the speakers or headphone socket due to a blown chip, see post #19) could I not use something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-2-0-3...A%2BFICS%2BUFI&otn=21&pmod=160729127080&ps=54

for my headphone problem (I think this is designed to utilise the onboard sound card and convert it to 5.1 thus bypassing the chip that I think has blown)

and this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ricco-Alumi...6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1339966376&sr=1-6

for my speaker problem?
Or is the tree i'm barking up not the right one?

 

If you are going to use an external sound card you will have to use a headphone/line out on the card. The headphone socket on the laptop will only give you the sound that comes out of your onboard sound which (from the sound of things) is dead.

What you want is something from this page.
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?page=1&sort=popularity&limit=10&store=2&cat=148&filtersubcat=1533
you can then plug either your headphones or existing extenal speakers in.

You may need to change your default audio device to the external one in control panel > Sounds or windows will continue to route the sound to your dead chip.

 

Take your pick from here for speakers
http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Peripherals/cat/Speakers

 

Bought a USB sound card with headphone and mic sockets.
It's a bit of a pain but hey, beggars and all that.
Now for the speakers.
If they get on my nerves as well, i'll have to think about a new laptop.
Thanks for the help all.

 

I'm going to get speakers with a built in sound card. See post 27. £20 with pretty good reviews.
Moral of the story, women should be left to make the tea and bring it to the man who is using the laptop.
The myth that women can 'multi task' has been blown out of the water!

 

Hahahahahahahahaburntfacemanhaha.
Touché :-D

 

Yeah, put my foot right in that one didn't I?
I suppose it should have read "my WIFE should be left to make the tea....." :-o