P-6831FX = Now dead headphone out

That's rather frustrating, since I usually connect headphones or speakers via the headphone out, and now it's dead, absolutely no sound coming out of it. It was working fine last night, and ever since I got it.

I even thought maybe it was a driver issue, so I uninstalled, reinstalled, updated the IDT drivers, and nothing is working... still figuring maybe it was a driver problem, I loaded up my Ubuntu Linux install to see if it worked there, and nothing... It's a hardware problem. I really don't feel like ripping my laptop apart again, especially since it's probably just dead anyways.

Now I'm kind of upset

 

Akk, wierd!

Have you tried using the Generic HD Audio drivers that Windows Provides?
Other than that, it sounds like it IS dead.

Just out of curiosity, what do you think made it not work?

 

I have no idea why it stopped working.... it was for sure working last night, I think even this morning. I unplugged the speakers, put in my headphones a little later and that was it. Headphones still work in my other laptop.

Well, I was going to make a DIY USB DAC and headphone amp, so I guess now I have all the more reason to do it

 

are you sure your volume is not muted?

 

I wish.... Change volume with nothing plugged in, windows beeps. Plug in speakers and change volume, no sound. Unplug and change volume, beep. Plug in headphones, no beep.

As I said in my first post, I am 100% sure it's not a driver problem, or a mute problem... I went into a physically different operating system: Ubuntu. Sound worked fine there before. Same problem. Sound with nothing plugged into the headphone jack, and as soon as I plugged something in, no sound out of anything. Completely different OS with different drivers, and still nothing coming out of the headphone jack.

Headphone out jack = dead

 

You could always check to see if you can see a red light in there when you enable S/PDIF and if so get a pair of digital speakers with an optical input.

 

Sound seems to be working again... very strange. It was COMPLETELY dead on Friday! Nothing coming out, I was moving the headphone plug around in it... couldn't even get the red light for optical to come on like I've seen before like iaTa suggested.

Strangest thing... hope the problem doesn't come back... I seriously use headphones or speakers through the headphone jack ALL the time on this laptop!

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

 

has happened to me once too. re-started comp. and bam! started to work again. lets hear it one more time for vista+gateway drivers.

 

That's the really strange thing though.... I changed drivers, rebooted, nothing worked for me on Friday... tried in Ubuntu, a linux distro to completely eliminate the chance of a bad driver... didn't work.

But now it does. I'm guessing it was a loose connection... but I haven't moved it at all

 

Hey this has just happened to me - first time since I've had the laptop!?

How odd that this happens to us at the same time?!

Haven't got it working yet, need to try reboot.

 

hahah Jinx!

Sorry man... it didn't work for me all day....

 

Reboot fixed it. How weird.

 

********* off topic

Etymotic er6i in-ear phones on amazon for 49.99$
that is for anyone who wants to make a really good use of his working headphone jack

 

In-ear? Get some big sennheiser... Theyll blow away those Etymotic in-ear ones I have both.. and I stopped using the Ety ones - the sound wasnt up to par with what I expected...!

 

i got a pair over 6 months now, couldn't be happier.
all you boom box mega bass hip hop fans stay clear
but if you appreciate precise sound these are a steal.

and try jogging with your big cans or carry arround when you just make a short trip in the subway, etc.

these fits the bill for me, i have no use of cans, to each his own.
disclaimer : classic music takes most of my my music folders space.

i just bought two more sets for friends.

 

True that!

I would probably look like the biggest douche on earth if I ever tried jogging with my sennheiser on - no doubt about that
When Im out in public, I usually just use my standard iPhone earphones So I know what you mean... but when Im in the privacy of my own home, aint noone stopping me from listening to the " boom box mega bass hip hop"!!!

 

Hmm... so these headphones are good for Classical Music?
**Runs off and gets some!**

 

Koss KSC75's for me. You can get them on sale for around $10, just recently at Radioshack for like $6, normally $20 though... they are GREAT headphones, close in quality to $80 Grado headphones.

 

Yeah I have the older (and some say slightly better) KSC-35's and they're pretty good. Etymotic hf2's (ER4s basically) blow every other headphone I've ever heard out of the water though. Stunning sound. iPhone earphones are awful.

 

I wouldnt call them awful! Not the best I admit - but I barely use them for 10 mins a week... So I dont need them to be any better, as they were free

 

I am having the same problem on my P-6831fx, no Headphone sound. I have installed the IDT drivers, reinstalled the most up to date one from Gateway, and still nothing. I have made sure the headphones are plugged in right, mute is off. Could it be a bad jack? Has anyone had this problem? This lappy is running Vista 64bit with the most resent update. The sound has worked even after the most resent updates, but I seem to have a problem with the head phone out off and on. The speakers work fine too.

 

"Update"
The sound works after rebooting with the headphones pluged in, if I boot up without them pluged in, thats when the problem seems to happen more often. I guess the solution is to plug in the headphones before booting the lappy, that just does not "sound" right.

 

I find it really odd that we are all getting the same problem at the same time after months of no issues. Very bizarre.

 

Happening again to me, restarting doesn't help, with the jack in or out when rebooted.... lame. Hopefully it comes back tomorrow I guess.

 

I have the same problem... does anyone have a solution?

 

Insert and take out headphones, reboot, reinstall drivers.

Any of the above seemed to fix it for me.

 

none of the above worked... any other suggestions?

EDIT: I suspect it had something to do with vista x64 drivers (since 6831fx does not come shipped with 64bit and neither does gateway provide 64-bit drivers) However, this problem seems to persist even in XP pro sp3 32-bit (dual booting)

 

My jack has been good for a while... what usually helped me was not just a reboot but shutting the computer off for a few minutes and then restarting it. It happened a few times to me but has been good for about a month