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    broken headphone jack

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by gukarma, Mar 16, 2008.

  1. gukarma

    gukarma Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey guys,

    I have an acer 5672wlmi with a broken headphone jack. It works if I plug in a headphone (sound plays through it), but when I take it out the speakers don't work - the computer perpetually thinks there are headphones attached to it. If I look into the Jack a red laser is always shining out of it. Is there any way to disable the headphone capability and make it so that the speakers work again?

    Thanks
     
    gukarma, Mar 16, 2008
    #1
  2. Bog

    Bog Losing it...

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    Can you wiggle the jack around when you have headphones in? If you can, it means that the jack has broken off of the motherboard and you'll need to solder it back on. But, since it interferes with your speakers, chances are that its still partially attached. Have you tried playing music and moving the jack around to see whether the speakers still get interrupted?
     
    Bog, Mar 16, 2008
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  3. gukarma

    gukarma Notebook Enthusiast

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    The headphone jack still works when I plug a headphone in, so it HAS to be completely attached. The problem is whatever mechanism it is that figures out whether a headphone is in the jack is permanently turned on.
     
    gukarma, Mar 16, 2008
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  4. allan_huang

    allan_huang Notebook Deity

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    Maybe your sound driver has gone bad somehow, have you reinstalled it?
     
    allan_huang, Mar 16, 2008
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  5. gukarma

    gukarma Notebook Enthusiast

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    It's not the sound driver. I have reinstalled it, formated my computer and tried older drivers too. It's definitely physical.
     
    gukarma, Mar 16, 2008
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  6. FusiveResonance

    FusiveResonance Notebook Evangelist

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    [​IMG]

    Heres how it actually works. If current can flow between the red and green leads, it will activate the jack. Because the jack is turned on, the mainboard will use the jack and disable the on board speakers.

    Whats interesting in your case, is that somehow the connection between your "red" and "green" contacts isnt being broken when you unplug your cans.
     
    FusiveResonance, Mar 16, 2008
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  7. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Do the speakers work when you don't have the headphone plugged in?

    If so, then you don't have a problem. The laser shines all the time (it's for the optical out). I've seen this on my Zepto 6024W but there's an option in the Realtek driver to turn the digital signal off.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Mar 16, 2008
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  8. gukarma

    gukarma Notebook Enthusiast

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    The speakers don't ever work. They are always muted even if the volume is turned up all the way. I did turn off the digital out on realtek minitray but that didn't make a difference. It turned off the red laser, but the sound didn't come off still.

    fusiveResonance:

    Interesting, thanks for the informative post.
     
    gukarma, Mar 16, 2008
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  9. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

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    Based on the photo fusiveResonance posted turn it upside down and tap it a few times by the headphone jack, see if the speakers come on? I am suspecting maybe broken spring in bottom of photo.
     
    powerpack, Mar 16, 2008
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  10. deputy963

    deputy963 Notebook Evangelist

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    Mechanical switches like this suffer a lot of abuse. Oftentimes dirt and lint will work it's way into the switch and prevent it from making contact. You only have a couple choices:
    1. Give is a quick shot of compressed air from a can.
    2. Repeatedly plug and unplug the headphone plug. Some night when you're watching TV set a song to play in a loop and plug, unplug, plug, unplug, etc, etc, etc, etc (repeat).
    3. replace the jack.
     
    deputy963, Mar 17, 2008
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  11. FusiveResonance

    FusiveResonance Notebook Evangelist

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    I'd warn against this. Laptop jacks are very fragile, and in the event that your problem isn't mechanical, you're probably going to make it mechanical by following the above.

    I just don't see it as a very good idea deputy963. Maybe you can unplug and plug for just a short amount (maybe 3 or 4 times), but be careful.

    To the OP:

    Have you been using any adapters with your headphones? Perhaps your headphones use 1/4" and you use a 3.5mm adapter. Often times those adapters place a lot of strain on the jack, as the lead tends to push up into the chassis.
     
    FusiveResonance, Mar 17, 2008
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  12. penrynTech

    penrynTech Notebook Guru

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    I spent along time studying this problem in various machines and the fault is always the same. The fault is with the jack on the mainboard. The only way to fix it is to attach a new headphone jack. unfortunatley this is quite a big job with that model so it may be easier to send it back to the manufacturer to get it fixed. The only other problem it could be is that the speakers were not plugged into the mainboard during assembly at the factory. Hope this helps
     
    penrynTech, Mar 17, 2008
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  13. deputy963

    deputy963 Notebook Evangelist

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    Really it's not that bad. It's a mechanical switch and that's one of the ways to try to fix it. I've done it before with professional audio 1/4" TRS connectors.

    That said, there is no way he can put a 1/4" connector in a 3.5mm hole.
     
    deputy963, Mar 17, 2008
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  14. gukarma

    gukarma Notebook Enthusiast

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    I plugged and unplugged about 30 times to no avail. Thinking back I was using a 1/4 adapter for my Sennheiser headphones and that's probably what broke them. Where would I buy a new jack to replace this one? Will I lose the digital out?
     
    gukarma, Mar 18, 2008
    #14