Realtek HD Audio front panel problem

danshewan

Hey guys,

I'm running Windows XP Pro 32-bit, with Realtek HD Audio Manager installed. I'm running an Asus P5SD2VM mobo. Today, I needed to switch from using the (functioning) back panel for my headphones, to the front panel. Now, I can't hear anything.

At present, there is nothing else plugged in to any of the rear jacks, with only a single set of headphones in front. Realtek HD Audio Manager won't even recognize the headphones as being plugged in at the front, but the rear jacks function perfectly.

I tried to adjust the panel detection in the Audio Manager itself, but the only option I'm presented with when I click the little wrench next to Analog reads 'Mute rear panel output when front headphone plugged in'. No other detection options available or device / panel options to change.





I've tried much Googling, but am coming up short. Do I need to change something in BIOS? If so, how? Anyone else encountered this problem? Any suggestions welcomed.

As ever, thanks in advance.

Eric Chadwick

Does the front output jack work if you uninstall the Realtek driver and cold-boot the system?

I would also check connections in the case.

danshewan

EricChadwick wrote: »

Does the front output jack work if you uninstall the Realtek driver and cold-boot the system?

I would also check connections in the case.

Thanks for the swift reply, Eric.

Haven't tried uninstalling Realtek as yet, but I'm downloading the latest XP driver from their site right now. I'll try uninstalling it if updating the driver doesn't work. If all else fails, I'll crack her open and check her plumbing.

Thanks again.

danshewan

Well, reinstalling the drivers did nothing, but I went into the Advanced > Chipset > Southbridge > Configuration menu in BIOS, and changed the front audio panel input from HD Audio to AC97, and bam! Functioning audio.

Thanks again for the speedy reply anyway.

kodde

never mind

renderhjs

consumer GUI art at its best, even I have to live with that shit on my system I wish I could uninstall that ugly junk without crippling the audio.
never encountered what you have though

Frump

Look for an option that says "disable front panel jack detection" I know myself and several friends all have this issue with realtek. I have an older version, by the looks of it, but it should still be the same.

It just makes it so that it always accepts input and output from the front jacks instead of only turning them on when something is inserted. And I guess what the problem is, is without that turned on, it never clues in that something was plugged in.

Edit: Well, you already fixed it, but this might help someone looking at the thread in the future.

acc

Unfortunately depending on the version of drivers you have, and if you're on Vista instead of XP, you might not even have the disable front panel option because realtek are incompetent bastards and took it out at some point. I've got a useless front jack sitting here because of that. Thanks realtek, you broke your own fix for your broken drivers.

But if you do have the option it works great.

pior

That thing is a nightmare ... hate it hate it hate it. Can't believe the number of times it shuts down the front panel audio when I plug a pair of headphones, because it thinks I just unplugged something. Since when audio are jacks supposed to be smart anyways?

danshewan

acc wrote: »

Unfortunately depending on the version of drivers you have, and if you're on Vista instead of XP, you might not even have the disable front panel option because realtek are incompetent bastards and took it out at some point.

Yeah, I didn't even have that option and after I installed the latest driver, it actually removed the option to mute the rear jack when the front was in use. Since when was updating drivers supposed to restrict your already-limited options even further? What a piece of crap.