front panel audio does not work

[bobby64]

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.

 

[fireberd]

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.

 

[bobby64]

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?

 

[fireberd]

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.

 

[bobby64]

thanks for the information