dead headphone jack... is there something i can do?

[Ashleyyyy]

so my zenbook pro has a dead headphone jack. if i turn it up to 100% there is some distorted mess that comes through, and the system does detect headphones if i plug them in, but i can't get any audio to play over it. 

 

i have tried reinstalling the realtek drivers on Windows and i tried Linux, both have the issue so i doubt it's the drivers. weirdly though, the internal speakers work perfectly still.

 

this computer has been opened up various times to swap drives and i even redid the thermal paste, the issue started happening in between those things though, my brother owned it at the time and he was just using it and it spontaneously broke.

[Husky]

The circuit for the headphone jack seems to be toast. Is there a setting in the Realtek Control Panel to change the headphone jack to Line or Speaker mode as that may turn off the headphone amplifier which could be the problem. Otherwise, that headphone output is toast and I don't think that there is much that you can do about it except for sending the machine in for service.

[Ashleyyyy]

3 minutes ago, Husky said:

The circuit for the headphone jack seems to be toast. Is there a setting in the Realtek Control Panel to change the headphone jack to Line or Speaker mode as that may turn off the headphone amplifier which could be the problem. 

doesn't work. both in headphone and speaker out mode it's garbled. 

 

4 minutes ago, Husky said:

Otherwise, that headphone output is toast and I don't think that there is much that you can do about it except for sending the machine in for service.

that's too expensive... i did notice while i had it open that the headphone jack is on a daughterboard connected to the main mobo with a ribbon cable. that board also handles the 2 usb 2.0 ports and sd card reader on that side of the machine. is it possible the circuit is on that board? because i could easily replace that part myself. 

[Husky]

Just now, Twilight said:

doesn't work. both in headphone and speaker out mode it's garbled. 

 

that's too expensive... i did notice while i had it open that the headphone jack is on a daughterboard connected to the main mobo with a ribbon cable. that board also handles the 2 usb 2.0 ports and sd card reader on that side of the machine. is it possible the circuit is on that board? because i could easily replace that part myself. 

It could be, but I doubt it since that daughterboard is probably purely physical port I/O and is unlikely that it actually contains any audio circuitry. Unless that daughterboard has any chips on it or other components. Also check if the other ports on that board work and if that ribbon cable is damaged (use a multimeter on continuity mode to check each pin of the ribbon if you can).

[Ashleyyyy]

Just now, Husky said:

It could be, but I doubt it since that daughterboard is probably purely physical port I/O and is unlikely that it actually contains any audio circuitry. Unless that daughterboard has any chips on it or other components. Also check if the other ports on that board work and if that ribbon cable is damaged (use a multimeter on continuity mode to check each pin of the ribbon if you can).

the rest of the ports all work fine. i can test the cable but i highly doubt that it's the issue. the next time i take this laptop apart to clean the dust out (i do that once a month) i'll take the board out to inspect it. 

[Kilrah]

Likely someone bumped into the jack at some point and bent the plug contacts. 

[Husky]

1 minute ago, Twilight said:

the rest of the ports all work fine. i can test the cable but i highly doubt that it's the issue. the next time i take this laptop apart to clean the dust out (i do that once a month) i'll take the board out to inspect it. 

That would be a good idea yes. I also doubt that it is the ribbon cable. When you inspect the board, look out for any burn marks or any scratches around the audio circuitry. If you don't see anything fishy then you know that the audio chip is bad or there is some internal damage.

[Ashleyyyy]

Just now, Kilrah said:

Likely someone bumped into the jack at some point and bent the plug contacts. 

well, i have had experience with broken headphone jacks and usually if you wiggle them or something the sound will be fine at some point. but the connection still feels firm in this case so i don't think that's the problem. 

 

if it was that would be a simple fix though... i'd just have to solder on a new connector... 

Just now, Husky said:

That would be a good idea yes. I also doubt that it is the ribbon cable. When you inspect the board, look out for any burn marks or any scratches around the audio circuitry. If you don't see anything fishy then you know that the audio chip is bad or there is some internal damage.

yeah, if there is a broken trace that i can see from a scratch or something i could also try to use a small bit of wire to fix it... 

[TetraSky]

Just to make sure since OP didn't mention it at all...

But you DID try with a different set of speakers/headphones, right?(and not just the internal speakers)

To rule out whether or not it's your listening devices that might be borked and not the jack itself on the laptop?

[Ashleyyyy]

Just now, TetraSky said:

Just to make sure since OP didn't mention it at all...

But you DID try with a different set of speakers/headphones, right?(and not just the internal speakers)

To rule out whether or not it's your listening devices that might be borked and not the jack itself on the laptop?

i tried it with 2 sets of known good headphones and both show the issue.