Windows 7: front panel audio does not work

Hello everyone
I have an hp media center PC m7350n and I have upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7, I also installed a new graphics card AMD Radeon HD 6450. When I was working on Windows XP my front panel audio was working for my headsets and microphone. Since I've upgraded my headsets and microphone don't work anymore. I tried many different things but didn't work. I first checked the connections inside the PC then I upgraded to the last Realtek HD driver, I looked in the bios nothing there to be done, I don't even have an option for front panel. The only option I have is onboard audio- auto/enable and disable which only works on enable. Then I looked in Realtek audio manager and the front panel connectors are greyed out or lighter than all the other connectors. When I plug in my headsets and microphone nothing happens and speakers still work. I checked mark disable back connectors when headsets are plugged in and nothing changes. The only change I have is when I check out mute microphone boost I have a squelching sound in my headsets. All the forums talk about Bios and front panel enabled and alc97 which I do not have as an option. Please help or I will go crazy after 1 month of reading all forums and trying every possible option that doesn't work.

Do you have the correct sound driver installed? You need a Vista/Windows 7 driver as the old XP drivers won't work (Vista/Windows 7 handles some of the sound functions differently). You need the HP supplied driver for your PC, if available, as many times non-Vendor drivers either do not work or do not work correctly.

Check with HP for a Vista/Windows 7 sound driver as a first step.

Hi fireberd

yes installed 32bit_Vista_Win7_R268 from the motherboard manufacturer who directs me to realtek. I've also tried other versions but still doesn't work. Thanks anymore suggestions?

HP does not list any drivers for Win 7, but they do for XP. Thus HP does not support Vista/Win 7 on this model so you are stuck using the generic RealTek drivers. Without HP drivers you may never get the front panel jacks to work on this model.

I do a lot of support on the Dell users forum and we see this frequently with older PC's that were upgraded to Win 7 but there are no Dell drivers, as only XP is supported. On desktop systems, the most common "fix" is for users to install a new sound card that is Win 7 compatible. However, on older Dell systems, a proprietary (and undocumented) front panel connection is used so the front panel headphone and mic jacks cannot be used.

thanks for the information