Laptops internal speakers don't work but headphones do.

Question

Laptops internal speakers don't work but headphones do.

Anonymous

I'm a little annoyed as this problem has seemed to have randomly occurred. (This has nothing to do with installing/upgrading to 8.1 as I've had it for a while with no compatibility problems. Especially with sound.)

Making it difficult to pinpoint what caused this/finding a solution...

So after opening my laptop from sleep or hibernate (I think), I can't remember which specifically and want to listen to some music, I notice there is none. No sound from my speakers.

I plug in my earphones, and there is sound. Both times the sound mixer was indicating sound.

The speakers are the default device, green tick, and sound levels are picked up. "This device is working properly."

I actually let windows automatically find a newer driver version, which it surprisingly did, downloaded and installed - restart laptop. Still no sound.

I read somewhere that it appears for some that the hibernation and or sleep mode on Toshiba laptops cause the audio drivers to behave strangely. But I don't now what kind of troubleshooting to do, to fix this.

Or it could be hardware related, regarding the port/jack. I don't know. I pray its software. I want to solve it without having to delete and do a factory reset. That's the LAST resort for me. Hate starting from scratch.

I've updated, deleted and downloaded every audio driver there is, from Nvidia to Realtek. Nothings changed.

I found the Realtek Manager and it shows the headphone jack is in use (analog), when it is not. So I don't know what to do, which is frustrating. This is what I believe the problem to be, it thinks the headphones are still in use...

I plugged my phone into my laptop as an mp3 player using the speakers during sleep mode and they work fine. Now it's either software or something to do with the jack.

Please could someone help me and make me happy again,

Nigel

(Toshiba Qosmio X870)

EDIT: Any help with the Registry Editor; forcing headphone port off or something?

EDIT 2: I want to disable front jack detection and check the 2nd option: enable auto popup dialog when device has been connected in Realtek Audio manager but I don't have the 'yellow' folder to access these options :S

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5 additional answers

Answer 1

Hi Nigel,

Thank you so much for sharing the troubleshooting report details with us.

We have come across some instances on other forums where the users were able to resolve similar issues by uninstalling the existing sound card drivers from the computer and then reinstalling the latest Windows 8.1 compatible drivers from the computer manufacturer’s website. So, let us try uninstalling and reinstalling the audio drivers on the computer and check if that is helpful.

Uninstall and Reinstall the Audio Drivers

Step 1: Uninstall the Device Drivers

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “X” keys on the keyboard.

b) Click on “Device Manager” from that list.

c) Search for the Sound Card device from the device list, right click on it and then select “Uninstall”. On the un-installation window, if you have an option: “Delete the driver software for this device” you may select that and then remove the corrupted drivers from the computer.

d) Follow the on-screen instructions to complete it and the restart the computer if prompted.

After the restart, please open the Device Manager again and then click on the “Scan for hardware changes” button. Check if Windows 8.1 detects the Sound Card device and installs an appropriate driver automatically. If the issue still persists, then try the next step.

Step 2: Check Windows Updates for the latest drivers.

Check in Windows updates if any driver updates are available. If so, install the same and check if it helps.

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “W” keys from the keyboard.

b) Type “Updates” in the search bar and click on the icon “Windows Update” from the search result.

c) On the “Windows Update” window, click on the link: “Check for updates” from the left hand side of the window to receive a fresh list of updates.

d) If the updates are available, then install all the updates listed there.

If Windows Update does not offer the latest Windows 8.1 driver, then try the next step.

Step 3: Update Driver Software from the Manufacturer’s website:

Visit the Toshiba website, search for the latest Windows 8.1 compatible drivers for the sound card device and then download and install it on the computer. If you are unable to find an appropriate Windows 8.1 compatible driver for the computer model, then you may get the help from the Toshiba Support from this link:

CONTACT TOSHIBA SUPPORT

Hope this resolves the issue. Please get back to us with the troubleshooting result.

Answer 2

Hi,

Thanks again for your time. My laptop is a gaming laptop; so I install the latest sound and video drivers every month to improve performance (nvidia). I have already uninstalled and re-installed the latest Realtek audio drivers too.

I recently just had an update the other day, that did not fix it either. Currently there are only two optional windows updates that have nothing to do with sound drivers going by their descriptions.

Toshiba's website for drivers for my laptop are behind the times so I go straight to the manufctures of the respective drivers (nvidia, realtek)

I'm almost certain it's a hardware issue with the audio jack. It's very loose and any slight movement of it causes the sound to change, go quiet, no sound or go into a 'karaoke mode' where a certain sound range is almost muted, giving it a karaoke effect.

Regards,

Nigel

Answer 3

Thanks for helping.

My model is Qosmio 870-11R (but I do not believe it's model specific or to do with windows 8.1)

1.) None that I'm aware of. I honestly can't remember.

2.) Yes. I've had 8.1 since it was released officially and did all that then and there.

3.) I've never opened that program before this problem, so I don't know.

Regards,

Nigel

Answer 4

Playing Audio	Publisher details

Potential issues that were checked
Check audio device<br><br><br>Check audio device<br><br>There might be a problem with your audio device.	Issue not present
One or more audio service isn't running<br><br><br>One or more audio service isn't running<br><br>Both the Windows Audio and the Windows Audio End Point Builder services must be running for audio to work correctly. At least one of these services isn't running.	Issue not present
Audio device is disabled<br><br><br>Audio device is disabled<br><br>The audio device you selected is currently turned off in Windows.	Issue not present
Low audio device volume<br><br><br>Low audio device volume<br><br>Audio device volume might be too low to hear.	Issue not present
Audio device muted<br><br><br>Audio device muted<br><br>Audio can't play if the device is muted.	Issue not present
Audio device isn't set as default<br><br><br>Audio device isn't set as default<br><br>The default audio device is usually used to play or record sounds on your computer.	Issue not present
The speaker, headset or headphone is unplugged<br><br><br>The speaker, headset or headphone is unplugged<br><br>An audio device must be plugged in to play or record sound.	Issue not present

Potential issues that were checked	Detection details

		Check audio device	Issue not present		<br>	---	---	---	---
There might be a problem with your audio device.

		One or more audio service isn't running	Issue not present		<br>	---	---	---	---
Both the Windows Audio and the Windows Audio End Point Builder services must be running for audio to work correctly. At least one of these services isn't running.

| | 6 | Audio device is disabled | Issue not present | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | The audio device you selected is currently turned off in Windows. | | | Device state | | State information about the audio device. | | | State: | Enabled | | --- | --- | | Status code: | 1 | | --- | --- | | Help link: | http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa363230(VS.85).aspx | | --- | --- | | | --- | | | --- |

| | 6 | Low audio device volume | Issue not present | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Audio device volume might be too low to hear. | | | Volume level | | Level of volume used for audio playback. | | | Volume: | 36% | | --- | --- | | | --- | | | --- |

		Audio device muted	Issue not present		<br>	---	---	---	---
Audio can't play if the device is muted.

		Audio device isn't set as default	Issue not present		<br>	---	---	---	---
The default audio device is usually used to play or record sounds on your computer.

		The speaker, headset or headphone is unplugged	Issue not present		<br>	---	---	---	---
An audio device must be plugged in to play or record sound.

Detection details

| Audio endpoint | | Type of audio device being diagnosed. | | | Endpoint: | Speakers | | --- | --- | | Headphones | | Headset Earphone | | | --- |

| Installed audio devices | | This file contains the details stored in the registry for all installed audio devices. | | | File Name: | Registry log.reg | | --- | --- | | | --- |

| Collection information | | Computer Name: | NIGEL-TOSHIBA | | --- | --- | | Windows Version: | 6.3 | | --- | --- | | Architecture: | x64 | | --- | --- | | Time: | 08 August 2014 00:09:12 | | --- | --- |

Publisher details

| Sound | | Troubleshoot problems that prevent your computer from playing or recording sound. | | Package Version: | 1.0 | | --- | --- | | Publisher: | Microsoft Windows | | --- | --- |

| Playing Audio | | Find and fix problems with playing sound. | | Package Version: | 1.0 | | --- | --- | | Publisher: | Microsoft Corporation | | --- | --- |

| Hardware and Devices | | Find and fix problems with devices and hardware. | | Package Version: | 1.1 | | --- | --- | | Publisher: | Microsoft Windows | | --- | --- |

Answer 5

Hi Nigel,

Thank you so much for posting your query on this forum. I’ll try my best to assist you with this issue.

I would like to ask few questions regarding this issue to identify the real cause of it.

What are the recent changes that you have made to the computer just prior to this issue?
Did you install the correct Windows 8.1 compatible drivers for your laptop model from the Toshiba website?
Did you have the “'yellow' folder” option (to disable front jack detection) on Realtek Audio Manager prior to this issue?

You haven’t mentioned the complete model number of your laptop. There seems to be 4 different models of Toshiba Qosmio X870 laptop. So, please let us know the complete model number of your laptop.

For the time being, I would suggest you to run the Playing Audio Troubleshooter and check if that provides any relevant information regarding this issue. Follow these steps:

Run the Playing Audio Troubleshooter

This troubleshooter is an automated Windows 8.1 inbuilt tool which finds and fixes the common issues with the Playing Audio Settings and Hardware. Perform these steps to run this tool and check if that helps.

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “W” keys on the keyboard.

b) Type “Troubleshooting” in the search bar and press “Enter”.

c) In the “Troubleshooting” window, click on “View All” on the left pane.

d) Click on “Playing Audio”.

e) Click on “Advanced” and then click on “Run as Administrator”.

f) Click “Next” and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the troubleshooting process.

Please check the troubleshooting report and share the details with us. You may also try the suggestions given by the troubleshooter and check if that resolves the issue.

If you haven’t tried the latest Windows 8.1 compatible audio drivers from the Toshiba website, then install it and check if that helps. Please make sure that you download the correct drivers for your laptop model. You may refer to this Microsoft Help article: Download and install drivers.

Hope this resolves the issue. Please get back to us with the updates.

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Laptops internal speakers don't work but headphones do.

5 additional answers