No sound through headphones!

Hi guys,
I love my Dell Inspiron ... except for one thing. When I plug in my headphones I don't get sounds. The sounds only come from the inbuilt speakers. I checked the headphones and they work on other devices. I don't use the external mic so I don't know if that works or not, but don't really care. I would like to use the headphones though. I checked the sound settings and all seems normal. What is wrong do you think? :cry
I've never had that happen to any of my laptops.

I run Vista on my Dell Inspiron 6000

 

Have you updated your sound drivers?

 

Thanks for replying Spock, I just checked the drivers in order to update them. It said that I have the latest drivers for it.

I don't know if it's related but I can't use bluetooth with it either. I'm not so concerned about that though. I just thought I'd test my bluetooth also on it as I thought I might be able to listen to music that way. Do you think there might be something wrong with the socket? There has been no damage to it.

 

I've ordered a bluetooth card which I just discovered was not installed. So at least I may be able to listen to music etc. through wireless headphones. I'm going to check out your suggestions. I don't want to go installing systems as it was such a nightmare setting this thing up in the first place.

 

I did the diagnostics but all was well in everything... still no sound from headphones. If I reinstall the driver would it make a difference do you think? I'd still like to use the headphones. If I was to go back to xp (which I don't really want to do as it's such a pain and I'm not sure I can downgrade anyway) would that make it work? Under the sound thingy it says theres no headphone information.

 

It's not once I bought headphones but had to cut off the original jackpin and connect my own stereo pin - some phones even come with a mono jackpin, its a good thing most soundcard are wired to switch off to avoid frying them with mono jacks. Buy a stereo jackpin (the one where you can screw off the plastic) and wire-on the phones so that the segment closest to the plastic is common-ground, the other two right- & left-positive respectively. If you dont have a soldering-bit get your local geek to do it neat. Hope it works.

 

I'm still working on the problem, but I'm sure there's better folks out there who know a heck of a lot more than I do.
Anyway, I read the Inspiron 6000 manual and it says the audio card (speakers) is a Sigmatel STAC9751 AC’97 Codec. But, on my system info it says Sigmatel C-Major Audio. So my question is ... assuming that the audio in this laptop is the same as when it was bought then it must still be Sigmatel STAC9751 AC’97 Codec. When asked to install hardware it only comes up with Sigmatel C-Major Audio so I guess I can't change that uh? I'm a bit confused as to why this should be. I've tried everything, even blowing into the hole which was one suggestion I found. Maybe it is prone to dust bunnies. Still no change. I can't believe it'a a hardware problem. I mean when I plug in the headphones it stops sound going to the speakers ... or am I being a bit niaive? I've had Dells for years and never had a problem with the headphones. They are so well made. My bluetooth card should be here tomorrow. I don't like mysteries that I can't solve. I guess that's why I'm not a theoretical physicist. I'm just a store clerk with ideas above her station LOL.

 

Thanks Plodr, I was wondering why my head hurts.
So can I go back to xp then? How easy/hard is it? Will I have to reinstall from scratch and have to reinstall all my programs? Will microsoft let me?

 

Before you go to the point of reinstalling your OS and programs you have, I would recommend that you try a device like this and see if it suits your needs. I have not used one of these so I cannot vouch for quality.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/virtual-5-1-surround-usb-2-0-external-sound-card-22475

 

I got the bluetooth card installed and I managed, after a great deal of difficulty,
to pair it with my headphones. Everything says it is working fine. However, I am still
not receiving sounds through my bluetooth headphones. Is there some switch on that I
need to do. My headphones are on and paired and ready to receive. But nothing.

Incidently, I noticed a strange thing. In the sound setting the audio headphone jack...
the one for the normal headphones was indicated as being present. It wasn't before.
I quickly donned the wired headphones thinking, "Eureka!" But my enthusiasm was short
lived... no sounds. Looked hopeful though ... maybe a clue ... who knows. I am resigned
the fact that it's Vista and not my laptop. I guess it's pointless thinking I could
install Windows 7?

So, back to the bluetooth headphones ... no sound except a low groan ... from me!


tgell I am very tempted to try that site. I'll have a look and get back.

 

Can you jiggle the soundjack while listening? :wave

 

Yeah, I tried jiggling it. That was one of the first things suggested I think. No, I can't use the wired headphones with Vista because there is no sound driver for Vista. See Plodr, I have stopped banging my head.

The bluetooth wireless headphone are now what I am attempting to use. It's all installed ... hardware, drivers, pairing. I go to media player to play my music but it doesn't come through the bluetooth headphones. Now that's nothing to do with the headphone jack. There must be a software box to check to switch the sound to wireless. Where is it? It's my only hope for family peace as no one wants to listen to my music except me.

Tgel, thank you for that positive suggestion. I think that is the best way for my wired headphones. I'll buy one of those as they are cheap enough. I like good quality sound for music, but I'm not so fussy about spoken sound.

 

Just in case anyone wants to know:

Address 00:11:67:00:03:3d
Encrypted: Yes
Authenticated: Yes
Connection in Use: No
Paired: Yes

Hardware under Bluetooth Radios:
Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator
Dell Truemobile Bluetooth Module

 

I fixed the bluetooth headphones. I managed to find the correct driver and after 3 attempts to install ... it did it. So now I can listen to my music without disturbing anyone. It's all to do with finding the right driver.
Just out of interest ... Does anyone know if there are sites where you can download latest drivers without being conned out of $$$?

 

An update:
I got one of those usb devices for the headphones. Do I need to install something to make it work. There is no sound through my headphones. I get the sound through the system put not the logitech. Ill have a look on the logitech site, but if you have any ideas please reply.