Jacked off

James H · Fri 03 Jul, 2009 23.55

I think the 3.5mm input for my headphones on my Philips laptop is broken - I can't seem to get it to 'connect' as it were to my headphones, and when it does it's only in the right ear.

Is there anything I can do to fix it, or does it have to go off to PC World?

Jovis · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 00.10

Sure it isn't the headphones?

James H · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 00.38

Sure - tried 5 different sets, and the ones it failed on work fine on my keyboard.

Nick Harvey · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 00.43

Pedant of Wiltshire here.

Surely it's an output for headphones.

I've seen sillier things on my travels, so I will ask the obvious question as to whether you're sticking it in the right hole?

Beep · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 00.45

Try going into Windows Volume control and seeing if speakers or Line out or Headphones (some sound cards vary) is not muted/disabled.

James H · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 00.47

Sorry Nick, I was referring to where I was inputting the jack, whether it's an output or an input for sound. Nevertheless you're right - but yes, I'm sticking it in the right hole.

It may be a case of overuse - I put lots of different connections in there over the past year for lots of stuff (all of them the right ones - I take care of my stuff!) so was wondering if there's anything I can poke to get it back to normal.

And Beep - it's not a software problem, as I'm using USB headphones right now and the sound's fine. However, they're also naff looking, bulky and I can't use them on the train without looking like a nonce.

Beep · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 00.49

James H wrote:it's not a software problem, as I'm using USB headphones right now and the sound's fine. However, they're also naff looking, bulky and I can't use them on the train without looking like a nonce.

Well, it could have became unsoldered from the main board. This means you need to take it in to a repair centre to be re soldered or you could risk doing it yourself.

Chie · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 01.18

James H wrote:I think the 3.5mm input for my headphones on my Philips laptop is broken - I can't seem to get it to 'connect' as it were to my headphones, and when it does it's only in the right ear.

Is there anything I can do to fix it, or does it have to go off to PC World?

Have you stuck something else in the output socket by accident, like the power cable for instance? I did this with my mp3 player once and due to the plug being wider at the end than a headphone jack, it damaged one of the two very small metal clips at the bottom of the socket that were supposed to grip the jack. As a result the headphone jack didn't fit quite right afterwards, and the sound only worked intermittently by twiddling it about. I eventually gave up and bought a new one.

Sput · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 08.17

Probably cheaper (though not necessarily very practical) than getting it repaired to get a USB sound thingy and use that

marksi · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 11.18

While it would likely be a very simple thing to fix, the problem is getting at the insides of a laptop. From experience it's not a fun job to do, so I'd say yes, a repair job or use a USB sound doofer.

Nick Harvey · Sat 04 Jul, 2009 13.51

marksi wrote:sound doofer.

Obviously another of those highly technical definitions from the BBC Manual of Audio!