[millennium turtle]

I recently took on the task of fixing up a computer to give to a friend of mine by replacing the motherboard. All the drivers are good and the device manager shows the audio as installed and working properly and all the necessary software is installed, but when I plug in the speakers to the line out on the back of the mobo all I get is some static. I always thought the mobo handled the on-board audio itself so I have been going nuts with drivers and uninstalling and reinstalling and all that (no good deed goes unpunished)until I noticed the same issue on my computer.
Now I had been switching the mobos between the two cases and when I put my mobo back into my case the only thing I hadn't done is connect the cables from the case's front audio panel to the audio connector on the mobo. When I did so the line out on the mobo worked and I got audio.
Is it necessary to connect the wires from a case's front panel audio to the mobo audio connector for the line out audio on the back of the mobo to work?

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Is it necessary to connect the wires from a case's front panel audio to the mobo audio connector for the line out audio on the back of the mobo to work?

Recent boards, no, as a general rule.
Older boards, yes, as a general rule.

A lot is dependent on the chipsets of the board and the audio controllers in question. The board's manual will hold the definite answer.

[Neil Jones]

Is it necessary to connect the wires from a case's front panel audio to the mobo audio connector for the line out audio on the back of the mobo to work?

Recent boards, no, as a general rule.
Older boards, yes, as a general rule.

A lot is dependent on the chipsets of the board and the audio controllers in question. The board's manual will hold the definite answer.