No sound at all, possible hardware issue

Jthw · 05 Apr 2012

Ok so, for a few days now whenever i plug in any audio device into the front of back plug ins on my computer, headphones or speakers no sound plays at all. Windows doesn't think anything is plugged in at all. I know both the headphones and speakers work because they have on multiple other devices. It might be a hardware issue with the computer because i move it around a lot more than i probably should. This is all the information i can think of right now if you need anything else please tell me.

fireberd · 05 Apr 2012

Please fill in the "My System Specs". Without that we can only guess or offer general suggestions.

The first general suggestion, since this is a recent problem is to use the System Restore and restore the PC back to a date when it did work (if that doesn't fix it, System Restore has an undo function to undo the restore). System Restore can be accessed from Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools.

Jthw · 06 Apr 2012

system restore didnt work i am going to fill out my specs right now as best i can.

Jthw · 08 Apr 2012

and now my computer freezes at startup, should i add that on or start a new thread?

fireberd · 08 Apr 2012

Start the PC in Safe Mode - press F8 BEFORE Windows starts and then select Safe Mode (NO Networking).
You can run an "undo" on the System Restore, in case that caused the new problem.

Jthw · 09 Apr 2012

i have already tried to do safe mode, it freezes while loading, me and my friend are planning to just save the data on my hard drive, format it, and try a fresh install of windows.

Jthw · 11 Apr 2012

reinstalled windows along with all of the drivers for the motherboard and periphials. still nothing, its trying to output sound through the SPDIF port. thats the only thing that it is seeing as plugged in, and theres nothing plugged into it. out of ideas

fireberd · 12 Apr 2012

It sounds like a hardware problem on the motherboard if you have reinstalled everything and it still works that way. That motherboard is an ASUS motherboard, make sure you have installed the correct ASUS supplied sound drivers. Do not use drivers from other source or the generic Windows installed HD Audio Codec driver as they may not work or work correctly. Do you have a separate sound card you can install and use? Disabling the integrated audio in the BIOS and then using a separate sound card is one way around a suspected integrated (on the motherboard) sound chip problem. Or a separate sound card will at least prove whether it's hardware or you still have some driver or configuration error. If you don't have a separate sound card you can use, a cheap $20 sound card is better than the cost of a new motherboard, for testing.