Adam Lenhardt

Headphone Jack doesn't work in Inspiron laptop

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could help me with a problem. I have a Dell Inspiron 9100 and I've generally loved it. There have been a few oddities; the microphone jack stopped working a few months ago but until tonight I blamed it on my headset's microphone. Then over the weekend when I was away the internal speakers stopped working. I never really was too bothered by it until tonight. On the way out the door, I noticed the F-2 unit which the headphone jacks within had come slightly ajar. I popped it back on without thinking, but then when I arrived at my destination and started to work, the headphone jack just isn't recognized at all. Plugged in or pulled out, the sound comes only through the internal speakers. I live in close quarters with a roommate, so going without headphones is unquestionable. Is there any quick fix to get my headphones back?

Anthony Hom

if it's still under warranty, Dell might fix it for free. Otherwise a Cardbus sound card might give you another sound out, or even a USB sound output unit could do the same.

Adam Lenhardt

Thanks for the information. I fully intend to make Dell fix it before the Warranty runs out, but I'm at college and didn't feel like dealing with it. In the meantime, I got an Audio Advantage Micro USB Sound Card at CompUSA for $25. It works great, and is really small; about the width of a Bic lighter and half the length. The only pain in the ass is giving up a USB slot for it. Excellent plug and play, too; just popped it in and Windows XP took care of the rest. Big thumbs up on the product