Solved DELL AC511 USB Soundbar no longer detected

[ZaphodB]

Hi folks,

Opened up my desktop to install a small SSD for boot-up.

I then had an issue when I plugged everything back in as the USB Soudbar that sits under my monitor is no longer working. Windows claims 'The peripheral does not appear to be plugged in.' It is - it hasn't been moved. The only thing that *may* have happened is that I put the plug for the soundbar into the wrong USB socket at the rear of the machine.

I've gone to Device Manager and tried scanning for new devices (Device Manager > Computer > Actions . 'Scan for Hardware Changes' but nothing seems to happen. The window appears to refresh and that's about it, still no sound.

I've also tried numerous different USB sockets on the rear of the desktop - the soundbar was initially plugged into one of them!

In actual fact, the Soundbar is plugged into the base of the DELL Monitor (as it has been for the past 18 months) and the monitor (a DELL P2719H) is plugged into the rear of the desktop. This arrangement has provided sound from the soundbar for the past 18 months and the Volume Control in the Notification Area usually reports that it is connected to a DELL AC511 Soundbar.

The soundbar has a volume control on one end with a LED and that is illuminated.

I went to Micro$oft support site but that helpfully tells me that support for Win 7 ended on 14 Jan 2020!

I also had a small dongle that connected my wireless keyboard plugged into a USB port on the side of the monitor and I've had to move that to a USB socket on the front of the desktop's tower.

There are no 'information' icons in Device Manager anywhere that suggests there is a problem.

Any ideas?

I'm stuck.

Zaph

 

[ZaphodB]

I've found the problem!

Whilst plugging and unpluggging the USB cables, it appears that the cable connecting the monitor (which is acting as a USB Hub) has become damaged in some way. Hence the computer and monitor aren't connected - even though the cable is plugged into both the monitor and pc. That's why the USB ports on the monitor (into which the soundbar was plugged) aren't working and hence the soundbar.

Swapping the cable over for a different one and everything now works as it did.

Glad to have resolved this.

Zaph