General Question

augustlan's avatar

Computer audio problem: Is it my speakers or my computer?

Asked by augustlan (47745points) November 7th, 2012

My computer keeps telling me that the speakers aren’t plugged in, but they are. It happens periodically, not constantly. I fiddle with the connection, and it doesn’t fix the problem. It seems to just go away on its own, only to come back later.

How can I tell if the problem is with the speakers (the cord?) or the speaker port on the computer or the computer itself? I’d hate to have to buy new speakers only to find it doesn’t correct the issue. Not to mention, there is NO money in the budget to fix this issue.

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7 Answers

jrpowell's avatar

Do you have any headphones from a old walkman or iPod to test it with?

augustlan's avatar

Hmm, I have a set of headphones/mic for skyping, but the jacks for that are in a different place on the computer. Will the headphone part still work if I plug it into the speaker jack?

jrpowell's avatar

There is a set of audio ports on the front and the back. I would just switch them around to see if the problem persists. The jacks for headphone and speakers are the same. I assume you mean the one for headphones is on the front and speakers in back. They are functionally the same.

One of three things could be wrong:
1: Bad speaker port
2: Bad Speakers
3: Bad Software

augustlan's avatar

Yes, that’s what I meant, front vs back ports. Okay, I’ll give it a shot. Thanks!

augustlan's avatar

Okay, I switched the speaker cord to the front port and it works fine there. I’m assuming this means the back port is bad. :(

Berserker's avatar

@augustlan Okay, I switched the speaker cord to the front port and it works fine there. I’m assuming this means the back port is bad. :(

I have the exact same problem with my speakers (and headphones) only mine is reversed. The computer won’t recognize anything if I plug the stuff in the front, it only works in the back. :/ So if you figure it out…let me know please?

augustlan's avatar

@Symbeline I was talking to @johnpowell in IMs, and he said I could try cleaning the ‘bad’ port with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol (turn the computer off first!). We should try that, and see if it fixes it. :)

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