Question Front audio port doesn't work

[Pimpom]

I hope this is the right section.
It's about my daughter's computer at work. They're a small government-funded organization and have no IT staff.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2
i5-10400
MSI Pro B510M-B
8GB DDR4
2 SATA SSDs - 250GB & 500GB

The problem is that while the rear audio output works fine, the front port doesn't.. It does not detect the presence of a headphone plugged into the front 3.5mm socket.

If I plug the headphone into the rear socket, clicking the speaker icon on the taskbar opens the volume control and everything works. When I plug the headphone into the front socket and click the speaker icon, it searches for a device but fails to find it.

I downloaded the audio driver from the MSI site and installed it. No difference. Device Manager shows no problem before or after installing the driver.

I checked the header-to-front panel cable with a multimeter. Each pin connects to the corresponding pin of a cable plugged into the front port.

Some search results advise opening the Realtek audio manager panel and enabling automatic detection of a device. I cannot find such a provision.

Any suggestions please?

PS: I may be a bit slow in responding to replies.

 

[Lutfij]

What's the make and model of your case? Did you verify that the front panel audio connector is hooked up to the motherboard? Perhaps the front panel itself is faulty, you could try and swap another cases' front panel module and see if the issue persists.

BIOS version for said motherboard? Make and model of your daughter's headset?

Some search results advise opening the Realtek audio manager panel and enabling automatic detection of a device. I cannot find such a provision.
Do you have Realtek's Audio Console?

What OS are you working with?

 

[stonecarver]

Here is the manual.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-H510M-B/support#manual

 

[Pimpom]

Here is the manual.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-H510M-B/support#manual

I already downloaded and studied the manual before posting here. Not much there to help with troubleshooting something like this.

 

[stonecarver]

If you have ohm out the wires from front panel to motherboard pins that's a stumper if there all working.

Being as this is a work computer you could have her get a mini pin audio cable extension cord and just plug it into the rear audio port and than put the other side on her desk tucked under her monitor stand, instant fix.

Also not sure if in BIOS there is a box to check to activate the motherboard header that runs the front panel audio port.

Been a very long time since I have had front audio issues.

https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Basic...locphy=9031499&hvtargid=pla-360812669204&th=1

 

[Pimpom]

What's the make and model of your case?

Cheap Chinese case. Couldn't cost more than $15 including the bundled so-called 500W PSU. The whole system was probably supplied by a local shop with the lowest bid.

Did you verify that the front panel audio connector is hooked up to the motherboard?

That's the first thing I checked.

Perhaps the front panel itself is faulty,

Maybe, but I kinda doubt it. As I said in my opening post, I checked each individual wire in the cable from the mobo header plug to the front panel with a DMM.

you could try and swap another cases' front panel module and see if the issue persists.

I'll do that tomorrow. It's past 3 AM here now.

BIOS version for said motherboard? Make and model of your daughter's headset?

BIOS E7E05IMS.A00
Date 01/31/2023

I used my own headset. An old mid-range Philips that I use every day.

Some search results advise opening the Realtek audio manager panel and enabling automatic detection of a device. I cannot find such a provision.

Do you have Realtek's Audio Console?

Not called that but it shows what's present or not: HDMI audio, rear speaker and second audio output.

What OS are you working with?

Windows 10 Pro 22H2 (stated in the first post).

 

[Pimpom]

If you have ohm out the wires from front panel to motherboard pins that's a stumper if there all working.

A stumper all right. To make sure the fault is not in the 3.5mm jack-to-socket contacts, I plugged in a male-to-male audio cable into the external socket and measured the continuity from the header block to the free end of the external audio cable.

(Just to clarify the situation: I do have 57 years of pro-level experience designing, building and troubleshooting electronics stuff).

Being as this is a work computer you could have her get a mini pin audio cable extension cord and just plug it into the rear audio port and than put the other side on her desk tucked under her monitor stand, instant fix.

I sometimes did just that when cases often came without front audio and USB ports. But I'd really like to get to the bottom of this issue. I'm inclined to think that this has more to do with software.

Also not sure if in BIOS there is a box to check to activate the motherboard header that runs the front panel audio port.

The BIOS does have provision to disable audio but I didn't see anything specific to the front port.

Been a very long time since I have had front audio issues.

Same here. In the old days, it could be a bit tricky to make use of the front port. Header pins weren't standardised and wires from the front panel had tiny individual plugs that had to be carefully plugged to the correct header pins. Moreover, some motherboards offered a choice of using either the rear or the front port, not both; and the selection had to be set with jumpers.