Front jack not working for Realtek HD Audio on Windows 7

Hi all,

I've just installed Windows 7 and was very happy to see all the hardware working, even my Realtek HD Audio sound card, except the front jacks.

On windows XP I could solve this by with the Sound Manager that comes with the realtek drivers, and select the "Disable front panel jack detection" check box. Unfortunately, after installing the Vista drivers, I could not start he Sound Manager app beause it said it worked only on Windows Vista.

So, if someone knows a way I could start the manager or how I could set the "Disable front panel jack detection" by modifying the registry, or ofcourse, any other way to make the front jacks work, please help.

Thanks

I installed it and run it as is and have no problems, everything's working. I don't have to run in compatibility mode or anything. Maybe uninstall it and reinstall
Realtek

What is your soundcard chipset? Mine is 'Realtek ALC883 8 Channel Audio Code'.
And please post me a link to the driver you've installed

Thanks

You want to install at least 2.11, that was the first one that actually worked with windows 7, 2.14 is the latest but I found that I could not play COD WAW with that driver installed, so if that doesn't bother you go for that one.

Download it here!

Um if i were you (i had this problem b4 in Vista and 7 with Realtek).
OPTION 1: Download this: RapidShare: Easy Filehosting
Then extract it, go to task magaer, kill 'RTHDCPL.exe'... then run the file you downloaded, ignore the OS warning [If you can't continue from here, right click troubleshoot compability....>Try Recommended Settings>Start the program> now hopefully it can run] then open the Sound Manager (ignore the OS warning), and 'disable front jack audio detection' like you did in XP... then re-boot..

OPTION 2: Go to your BIOS and see under HD Sound/Audio something, then see front jack something change that so "AC' 97".. it STILL may not work if you follow option 2..... (coz i haven't tested it)...

PS: the file i told you to download it Realtek's Sound manager (WINDOWS XP version)....

BTW, latest realtek HD audio driver is R2.26 not R2.14

get the R2.26 (if you want) from: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

I assembled a new system with dual boot of XP and Win7. I have a ALC 888 sound chip on my Gigabyte EP43 mobo. The front audio jack has a AC97 connector which goes to the motherboard.

I get the same audio on front/rear with realtek HD drivers in XP(no issues in XP).
However, I do not need to install any drivers in Win7(it detects and starts installing drivers on its own).
It never detects the front headphone/microphones. System keeps displaying that they are installed but not connected.
I tried to install R2.26 realtek drivers. They dont affect the rear audio, but now the system does not even display the front headphone/microphone in the playback devices list.

What should I do to make the front audio jack work on Win7 ?

Read my Option 1 above your post and see that works or not...
PS: It seems that realtek HD chips are gonna spoil 7 release date... T.T
SOO MANY ISSUES!

I cant find "RTHDCPL.exe" in the process list..

I dont even see this file name even after installing realtek.
I do see some RAVCL64.exe after installing realtek 2.26.

Am I missing something ?

I got it to work!!!!

OPEN up sound manager. Look for the little yellow folder ICON up right corner below DEVICE ADVANCE SETTINGS. Click on it. Select disable front detection... It was there all along

Not there now

The latest driver 6.0.1.5910 doesn't appear to have the option to "disable front detection," as previously. Now the only option is: "Enable jack detection when device is plugged in," which doesn't help the problem. Front jacks work fine for me on XP boot but not on Win 7.

Hey nedinc, try going to the yellow folder (on top of the jacks), that lets you choose to "disable front panel jack detection". It worked for me

Thank you for responding. Unfortunately, my yellow folder in sound manager, which is the R237 update published on 11/20/09, only has "Enable jack detectcttion when device is plugged in" as an option. I have a check mark in this box. If I click on the front jacks no headset is recognized on Win 7. It works fine when I boot to XP on the other hard drive.

I noticed one other anomaly. In the Win 7 control panel, if I go to: "Sound, Spekers, Properties, Levels," and slide the microphone volume left and right, I hear a changing hiss volume in the ear phones (the ear phones are plugged into the pink ear phone jack). I notice no sound changes when I slide the "Front Pink In" bar left and right.

Note: When I did the R237 update, both of these levels came with red-x muted marks on them, which I removed. Checking the muting status may solve the problem for someone.

nedinc, hmm, I'm pretty sure the pink jack is for microphones. try plugging it into the front green jack.

Thank you again. I was doing it right (headset in green hole, microphone in pink hole) but reported it wrong due to confusion in the Win7 control panel. If I go to "Sound, Spekers, Properties, Levels" in the control panel, I see a microphone slider. Below that is a "Front Pink In" slider. Below that is a "Front Green In" slider. With the headset plugged into the front green hole, I hear changes in the hiss level when I move the "Microhone" slider. I don't hear any sounds when I switch the front jacks or move any other sliders. Attached are screen shots for my Win7 Control Panel, and the Realtek Connector Settings folder. These are with the R237 update.

Again, everything works as it should when I boot to XP on the second hard drive.

Bob

Hmmm I wish I could help you further more with the issue, but I unfortunately ran out of ideas LOL. Try giving a look in the Device Manager and see if there is something else missing a working driver. I know it sounds dumb, but it`s just an idea that popped up here...

i wish i had more ideas too... ive set up Windows 7 Pro on two separate motherboards (1. Cubecove 2. Skyberg) The funny thing is that on the Skyberg, methinks the MB is defective since it only gave sputtering sound (on for a few seconds, silent forever until re-plugged) but on the Cubecove the back jack is fine. The front panel gives me nothing but grief. The Driver is current but the detection is still faulty.
Will be testing other methods...

My OS is Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, with a ASUS M2N68-AM PLUS motherboard. My PC does not detect my headphones/microphones when plugged in into the front jacks. I can see no yellow folder, nor any Advanced settings option. My driver version is 6.0.1.5995,which I upgraded from 6.0.1.58(something) since it was giving me the same problem.

I also tried using the XP Realtek Audio manager, but that wasn't showing me anything either (2nd and 3rd screenshot).

Any suggestions guys?

How i did it

This is how i got the headphones working under windows 7.

My System is no particular make with an Asrock motherboard and on board HD audio by Realtek.

If a previous version of the driver is installed.

1 download the latest driver from the motherboard manufacturers site.
2 extract the new driver to a file.
3 Run the driver setup, It will carry out an uninstall of the old driver first.
4 reboot as instructed when uninstall has completed.

To install the new driver and set up the bios.

1 open the folder you extracted the driver too and run the setup.exe.
2 when the driver has installed allow the system to restart.
3 when the system is restarting press whichever key takes you into the bios, before windows starts.
4 in the bios (typically a blue, keyboard controls menu system) right arrow across to the ADVANCED tab.
5 in this tab you are looking at a list of settings.
6 down arrow until you see FRONT PANEL, it should be set to [AUTO]
7 The selection should be Hilighted, Press ENTER to open the menu.
8 arrow down to select [ENABLE] and press enter.
9 Now goto the exit tab click the SAVE & EXIT option.

Your computer should now restart and boot into windows as normal.

to complete the setup you need to check/change a couple of settings.

1 open the CONTROL PANEL.
2 click on the hardware and sound option
3 at the bottom of the list Find the Realtek HD Audio Panel.
4 click on this option.

5 on the right of the display, you will see a graphic of the Audio connection sockets. Analog shows the rear panel. there will be a new set called FRONT Panel.
this isn't present if you don't do the BIOS change above.

6 there is a little yellow folder near the Analog channels.
7 click it and TICK the Disable front panel detection. then close it.
8 on the top right of the Audio Panel just below the EXIT X, you will see the text Device Advanced Settings underlined.
9 Click to open and check the dot is in the Mute rear output device when front headphone plugged in and not in the other one (the other one allows both channels to play sounds at the same time).

This is how i did mine hope it helps someone else, i'm not sure if this will work with laptops, i would suspect there will be something in the bios to this effect on many newer laptops.

NOTE not everyone will need to do the bios settings, you can tell easy enough once the driver has installed. open the audio panel and if there is no support for front panel or the yellow folder and you have no sound from you phones, you need to do the bios part.

Just a driver update solved...

I have a ECS A780GM-A motherboard and for me a simple driver update solved the problem in 7 Professional.

I've searched for the latest version of the audio driver for my motherboard in the ECS site and found this: http://www.ecsusa.com/ECSWebSite/Downloads/DownloadFile.aspx?catid=1&driverid=4180&areaid=2&LanID=12, and it's referred to as "IDT High Definition Audio Driver".

After reboot, a new device appeared in the audio devices list, and, incredbly, this worked.

VJ