internal speakers not working

i guess i have no reason to suspect an infection, just trying to think of any other reasons my speakers are not working. do you know if there is a way to turn off the head phone jack device to test if it is like you said a faulty "switch off" by the jack? or do you think that's not a possible reason? i can't figure out how i might turn it off temporarily. thanks for your help...

Is there any way that your display that has the integrated speakers, also has a mode switch to switch between headphones or speakers? Maybe it may be in the display setup menu? I was hoping the laptop had a separate speaker output jack since the headphone jack was already working. Did you use the built in Dell Diagnostic tests? The Custom Test is probably what you want to use first. Have you tried logging into Dell's LiveChat Service? They may not respond if your Dell is out of warranty, but that's worth a try if we don't get it here.

I can't think of anyway to test whether the headphone jack is the culprit or not. Whether it may be, depends on the usage it has gotten, rather if there was any rough strain placed on it and many other factors I can't think of at the moment.

Ron

Edited by Major Payne, 13 August 2007 - 07:33 PM.

hi again,

i will try all those things when i get home this afternoon. those are all good ideas. i can't think of any reason the headphone jack would have gotten any undue strain, i don't use it very much at all, but i guess you just don't know with these things.

it seemed so odd to me that this happened right after installing skype. like it almost has to be a system issue. i'm mostly annoyed that my system restore was turned off (for whatever reason!).

would the headphone jack be an actual device that i could find in the device manager?

thanks...

lina

Try to enter BIOS and see if there is anything related to sound. If yes, check if it's enabled. It really looks more and more like a system problem.

i don't know how to work BIOS. could you explain?

Enter BIOS by pressing Del or F2 repeatedly when starting the computer until BIOS tables show up. There are computers in which other keys have to be used to enter BIOS. You can find the correct key when looking at the screen right after pressing the start button. Look for what key you have to press to enter setup.

When the BIOS mwnu shows up use the arrows or Tab keys to navigate and the +/- keys to change values. It might differ from one BIOS to the other but the principle is the same. Look in the menus if there is a parameter related to sound or audio. If there is, set it to Enable.

Return to the main screen by pessing Escape key. Save the changes by pressing F10.

OK, here's what I have done so far:

BIOS - no sound or audio options at all, so I made no changes
Skype support advice - turn off "let skype set your audio settings" (no difference)
Display options - nothing here exacept the sound troubleshooter, which I have gone thorugh 3 times now...

Will try the Dell Diagnostics shortly.

Dell diagnostics results:

Intel ICH4 Audio - Analog Sound Playback Test
Fail
Error Code 1B22:061B
User's repsonse indicated a failure

(It asked me if I heard the song, and I said no)

My Dell warranty is expired, too...

What media player are you using? Is it possible that sound level is all the way down? Please check buy trying to play some music.

i normally use itunes but i have no system sounds either tho...

i also use windows media player sometimes. i checked the volume in itunes and it's all the way up. i can try to mess with all the volume controls in all my audio programs when i get home if you think that could be it.

As you may guess at this stage not I, nor other participants in this forum (so far), has a definitive answer to the problem. In situations like this I try everything that I have seen in the past related to sound and volume problems, even if the chances are slim. That's why I suggested checking the BIOS and media players.

The truth is that I don't even know at this stage if the problem is of hardware or software source. Earlyer you said that you checked everything in "sound and audio devices". If you did, and everything is OK we are nearing a point in Which I would recommend system recovery which is equivalent to clear format on Dell computers. If we reach this point and you agree to this (after backing up all your data, of course) we will get a definitive answer. If after recovery there is still no sound then something must be wrong with the sound card or with the speakers themselves (e.g bad connection inside the computer)

would the headphone jack be an actual device that i could find in the device manager?

thanks...

lina

No, this would not be listed. When you went into Device manager, did you thoroughly check each and every item for problems? You can go to the View menu in DM and select View by connection. I'm with The Skeptic on this if you have not found any choices in your Dell installation which allows you to toggle speakers on/off.? It may have been a Registry change by Skype that should have been changed back by an uninstall.

You seem to have sound via the phone jack, but you have not answered as to whether you have control over this with the volume level and muting on.off controls. Skype install may or may not be a coincidence, but as The Skeptic said, you may have a bad connection or speaker driver problem. I'm sure the sound card drives the speakers at a different level then the headphone. Your laptop does have a small speaker connector which is going to be beyond your level of access to check.

I would think about backing up all your data that you wish to keep to an external drive (thumbnail drive is good) should we not find a solution to this and it comes down to a recovery. If possible, backup any drivers you may wish to keep too.

Ron

Dell diagnostics results:

Intel ICH4 Audio - Analog Sound Playback Test
Fail
Error Code 1B22:061B
User's repsonse indicated a failure

(It asked me if I heard the song, and I said no)

My Dell warranty is expired, too...

From Intel on ICH4 Audio:

The 82801DB I/O Controller Hub (ICH4) makes a direct connection to the graphics and memory for faster access to peripherals. The latest AC '97 implementation delivers 20-bit audio for enhanced sound quality and full surround sound capability. Integrated audio solutions continue to enjoy success as a very cost-effective, yet high-performance solution

Here's info on the Intel ICH4 Codec Sound Driver: Driver Information. Where to get driver is also listed. This should be checked again in the DM if you would.

Do you have System -> Preferences -> Main Menu where you have a choice to enable your soundcard? may be on autodetect. Don't know if it would be under something like Multimedia Systems Selector or what???? This is a possible related problem/solution that The Skeptic can look at and see what he thinks: Intel ICH4 audio not correctly identified at install time.

Related topic:

Dell Inspiron 700m Sound Input Design Flaw?

Last one looks very interesting. I would still login to a Dell forum and search for related issues as well as try to get through a Support Ticket although your warranty has expired. Especially since Dell did have problems with your model.

Ron