Windows 10: Dell E6400 - No Sound from Headphone Jack

Working on a really old Dell E6400 laptop. The laptop speakers produce sound but when you plug in external speakers using the headphone jack, power supplied through USB port, there is no sound. When you look at the various sound panels nothing indicates the external speakers have been plugged in. Yes speakers work, tested on alternate system. The system has Microsoft drivers for sound - High Definition Audio. Lots of reading on internet, think they should be IDT High Definition Audio. Went to Dell and found old Win 7 driver for sound. IDT_92HDXXX-HD-Audio_A03-R297613.exe. This is file listed in another thread here about crackling sound. First install attempt failed. Set compatibility mode for exe to Win 7 and ran again, still failed. Internet seems to be littered with sound issue from these old IDT devices. Wondering if any members with one of these older Dell devices knows a trick or two. All suggestions welcomed. Running Windows 20H2, all maintenance applied. No start date for problem, client needs sound to be louder so bought a cheap pair of external speakers. This issue could have been present for years. As stated, speakers work on other systems. Thanks

:)

 

Dell Optiplex , Win 10 , no sound from headphone jack

Dell Optiplex 790
Win 10 Pro
Intel Core i5
240gb SSD
8g RAM
On-board sound card which I believe is a Realtek...
I bought this refurbished today with Win 10 already installed , however it does not deliver sound to the headphone jack.
The control panel shows only "High Definition Audio Device (2x)" , and I can hear sound from internal speakers.
I have already seen posts on the Dell forum which suggest Win 10 not compatible with available Dell drivers.
Suggestions please ?

 

Assign Headphone Jack to 1 of 2 Sound Cards?


I have an RealTek internal PC sound card and a SignaLink USB external sound card for digital amateur radio communications with my HAM radio system.

Whenever I plug headphones into the PC headphone jack, it commandeers the external sound card instead of using the internal sound card.

Is there a way to assign the headphone jack to the internal sound card "permanently?

 

No sound through headphones

Hello Sander,

Thank you for keeping us posted.

I certainly understand your concern and will try my best to help you.

I really appreciate all your efforts in trying to fix the issue.

In order to understand the issue more clearly, I would request you to provide me with the following information.

• 
  What is the make and model of the headphones?
  
• 
  Have you tried connecting the headphones to another jack or another computer and checked if they are working?
  

Make sure your headphones aren't plugged into the line out (headphone) jack of your sound card or computer (unless you want to be listening with headphones rather than speakers). When you plug in headphones, most computers
automatically cut the sound to the speakers. Ensure the headphone is fully and firmly inserted into the correct jack. Plug in the headphone and see if the same shows up in Device Manager.

I would suggest you to try the following methods and check if it helps.

Method 1:

Run inbuilt Hardware and Device troubleshooter and check if it works. Follow the steps given below.

Note:
If your computer is having problems with a recently installed device or other hardware, try using the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter to fix the problem. It checks for common issues and makes sure that any new device or
hardware attached to your computer was installed correctly.

• 
  Press Windows Key +R, type
  Control Panel.
  
• 
  Type troubleshooting
  in the search bar, click on troubleshooting.
  
• 
  Click on Hardware and Sound, click on
  Hardware and Devices.
  
• 
  Follow the steps from the wizard to run the troubleshooter.
  

If issue persists, follow method 2.

Method 2:

Check with the volume settings. Please follow the steps given below and check if it helps.

• 
  Right click on the speaker icon in taskbar and select volume control options.
  
• 
  Put a check mark on "All devices currently playing sound".
  
• 
  Make sure you have "The default communication device unchecked".
  
• 
  Place a check mark on both speakers and headphones. Click Apply and OK.
  

If issue persists, follow method 3.

Method 3:

This happens when you have the speakers set to default. We need to set the headphones as default. Please follow the steps given below and check if it helps.

• 
  Perform the task mentioned below to set speakers as default.
  
• 
  Go to Start and click on control Panel.
  
• 
  Click in Sound, then a new window will open up.
  
• 
  In the new windows click on the tab "Playback" and right click in the window and click on Show Disabled devices.
  
• 
  Now check if the headphone is listed there and right click on it and choose enable.
  
• 
  Highlight that headphone and click on "Set as Default".
  

Also try to install latest chipset drivers in the system and check if it helps.

The above steps holds good for Windows 10 as well.

Also, I would suggest you to refer to the suggestions provided by
“Preethu” replied on April 22, 2015 in the following Microsoft Community link and check if that helps.

Headphones not working in Windows 10

I hope this information is helpful.

Please do let us know if you need any further assistance, we will be glad to assist you.

Thank you.

Jayant