Express Gate Headphone Problem

I recently bought an Asus G50Vt - I like Express Gate - but when I am using it, I cannot plug in external speakers or a pair of headphones. The sound cuts off, and does not redirect to the plugged-in device. If I hold the plug in part-way, I get the sound from both the laptop and scratchy sound through the external device.

I do not have this problem in Vista 64-bit. I went to the website, and thankfully they fixed download speeds. I downloaded the most recent Express Gate software (3-10-2009) and installed it, but it did not fix the problem.

Version 0.8.6.0 is what Express Gate reports for a version number.

The phone tech had me hold down a hardware reset button at the bottom of the Asus (with a paperclip) for 10 seconds...also no help.

Anyone else have this problem and/or a solution?

 

It looks like a driver problem. Which in Linux means the kernel. Which for you basically means another ExpressGate version. So if you have no version that works, not sure what you can do.

At least, I think it's like this, I am not experienced with Linux.

Instead of ExpressGate you could use another Live Linux distro like Slax or Live Ubuntu or Knoppix. They offer more features and save power more efficiently, but they may take longer to boot.

They can also be put on a USB pen drive so that you don't carry a disk with you all the time.

 

I had Wubi installed on my last laptop, it's easy-peasy to do, so workarounds are not a problem.

I was hoping, however, for
1. validation / confirmation (other users with the problem so I know it's not my hardware)
2. get the attention of someone at Asus to pay attention to the problem.
3. Any existing solutions to the problem with ExpressGate (which boots faster than any Linux distro I've ever seen)