Headphone jack not working - Inspiron 1720

The headphone jack all of a sudden stopped working. I tried restarting my computer and it still doesn't work. At first I thought my headphones died, but testing it on another source, it still works. When I unplug it, the integrated speakers work, plugging it back in, nothing.

 

Are you using the IDT audio drivers? If so, delete them. They're terrible and have jack detection issues out the wazoo. Just uninstall them, reboot and let Vista install its own HD audio driver. You'll be much happier with them.

 

I checked the device manager. I don't see anything that says IDT so I'm assuming there isn't any. I use both ASIO and Sigmatel High Definition Audio Codec.

It just stopped working all of a sudden the next day. I didn't go through any system updates, upgraded any drivers, or made changes to my system. Maybe something is physically wrong inside the laptop?

Edit: I got it working again by putting the computer in standby and waking it up again. Weird... Standby>Restart? Restart usually solves everything, but I guess standby wins.

 

That definitely makes it sound like a driver error. I suggest you try removing the drivers and letting Vista install its own anyway, just to see if that gives you any better luck. Worst case, you can always reinstall your current driver from Dell's support page.

 

IDT took over Sigmatel after the release of this series so we still have Sigmatel branded drivers rather than IDT. Sounds like the drivers are fine.
Sounds like the audio board has a hardware problem - does the jack sit solidly in the socket or does it move around a little?