The HD audio ports on the back of your PC, are connected directly to the motherboard. This is the optimal place to connect audio devices. If you cannot hear the audio from these ports, it may indicate faulty hardware or connections. However, you cannot rule out software related issues such as audio settings, services or drivers.
Before we begin, ensure to insert the audio output and input connectors into the proper ports, green and pink respectively. Also, check if the volume settings is set high enough.
Connect Audio Device to Another Device
First, determine if the problem lies with your computer or the audio device itself. To do so, connect the audio device to other computers or devices. Also, check the enable/disable button on the device and enable it if necessary.
If the issue persists, it’s likely the device is damaged and your only solution is to get a replacement.
Check Ports and Connections
When the audio device are working fine, check if the problem lies on the audio ports and connections. This issue mostly occurs due to loose connections and physical damage to the ports.
If you also can’t hear any sound from the USB device, it indicates that some software component is responsible for the error.
And if the device works on the front panel, your motherboard audio ports have likely been damaged. Sometimes you may see the damage on the ports easily. But in some cases, the damage is internal and difficult to observe. So first, you should try cleaning them.
Clean Audio Ports
Your I/O ports can gather dust and debris over time if not cleaned regularly. This dust and debris can prevent audio connectors from properly connecting to the ports.
Try cleaning them using canned air or a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol. ensure to use different angles while spraying the air to clean all internal surfaces thoroughly.
Enable Onboard Audio From BIOS
Sometimes, your system disables the motherboard audio (especially analog audio chipsets) if you install a discrete graphics card with an audio interface, such as HDMI. Then, your system starts using the HDMI audio interface to send audio signals.
You can check if this is the case and change it fromyour BIOS or UEFI settings. The exact steps may vary between the different manufacturers, but the general steps are as follows:
Check Default Audio Device
When your computer has multiple audio option, it could choose one of them as default.
Some updates or system changes may also alter the default audio device and prevent audio output through desired device. To fix this, check and adjust this setting from your Sound Options.
Run Audio Troubleshooter
Windows provides dedicated troubleshooters to diagnose and fix your system components. So, if you have any issues with your audio, it’s best to run the Audio troubleshooters before trying to change other settings on the system.
Check Microphone Permissions
If your speaker or headphone works but the microphone does not, your permission settings are likely restricting their usage. Microsoft includes permission settings for many components such as microphone, camera, location, etc., in order to protect your privacy. So if the permission for the microphone is not enabled, you can’t use it. To enable it,
Enable Audio Device and Services
Windows uses services such as Windows Audio to run audio functions on the system. So, you must ensure that all the required services are running properly. If they are already running, you can restart them to resolve any minor issues with their operation.
Update or Reinstall Audio Drivers
Corrupt audio drivers may also be responsible for this issue. We always recommendupdating the driveras soon as possible as they roll out patches for previous bugs. Also, rather than using the Device Manager to check for updates, it’s better to use Windows Update for this task.
You can also check on your motherboard’s official website for any driver updates and install them.
If you can’t update the driver, you need to reinstall it.
Repair or Replace Audio Ports
If none of the solutions worked for you or the audio ports are broken, you should get the ports replaced.
Check if your motherboard or computer is still under warranty. In such case, contact its servicing center or distributor to repair the ports free of cost. Although it might not be the case, we still recommend seeking professional help. As many things can go wrong when you try replacing these components yourself.
Alternatively, you can try using USB audio devices instead or install a PCIe sound card.
