Logitech z506 5.1 surround

[NathanSwift]

I bought my Logitech z506 5.1 surround system yesterday but i can't get my rear speakers to work. I do have a rear speaker jack to my subwoofer and then on my motherboard. I got a asrock z77 extreme 4 motherboard. When i go to my realtek hd audio manager, it says there is a signal from the audio jack but there is just no sound coming from it. I already got my settings to 5.1 surround and i checked if the cables are on all right spots and it should be fine. it's not the speaker itself because i but the speakers in the other jacks and they work fine. When i go to realtek and i enable 5.1 surround i can't enable rear speakers. i can only enable side speakers. i don't know if that is the issue. but on the motherboard it says rear too. the front speakers, center speaker and sub woofer are doing great. Do i need to get a sound card or is it the software? please help me.

 

[ssddx]

the back of the subwoofer is color coded and your pc outputs should be as well so its hard to not get it right but i'll list just in case.

green to green : front speakers
orange to orange : center and sub
black to black : rear speakers

now, in your audio options (you could look in either your realtech audio drivers or right click the volume icon, playbaack devices, configure) there may be two options for 5.1 audio. one is often with "surround speakers" (sides) while the other is with rear speakers (rear). it sounds like you have your system set to the prior instead of the latter. this will be SL/SR instead of RL/RR if abbreviated.

always run a speaker test to see if you get tone out of them as well.

example image of surround vs rear http://files.tested.com/photos/2012/03/16/55-16018-speakerplacement_7_1.gif
correct setup showing RR and RL http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Setup-Surround-Sound-in-Windows-7.png
what it probably looks like on realtech for you http://i.stack.imgur.com/IVPSN.jpg

if rear is still greyed out double check that you have them plugged into the right jack on the back of the pc for rear! if you do, it could be that your onboard might use shared jacks - make sure that the jack is set to rear channel if you have the option to do so.

 

[NathanSwift]

the back of the subwoofer is color coded and your pc outputs should be as well so its hard to not get it right but i'll list just in case.

green to green : front speakers
orange to orange : center and sub
black to black : rear speakers

now, in your audio options (you could look in either your realtech audio drivers or right click the volume icon, playbaack devices, configure) there may be two options for 5.1 audio. one is often with "surround speakers" (sides) while the other is with rear speakers (rear). it sounds like you have your system set to the prior instead of the latter. this will be SL/SR instead of RL/RR if abbreviated.

always run a speaker test to see if you get tone out of them as well.

example image of surround vs rear http://files.tested.com/photos/2012/03/16/55-16018-speakerplacement_7_1.gif
correct setup showing RR and RL http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Setup-Surround-Sound-in-Windows-7.png
what it probably looks like on realtech for you http://i.stack.imgur.com/IVPSN.jpg

if rear is still greyed out double check that you have them plugged into the right jack on the back of the pc for rear! if you do, it could be that your onboard might use shared jacks - make sure that the jack is set to rear channel if you have the option to do so.

Well i did check and i only have one option in my motherboard and it says rear. i got the black cable in the rear and in the subwoofer. well it does look like on the photo's but the rear pair is grey like the side pair is in the picture. but the side pair is activated on my screen. that could be the problem but how do i fix this if it's not the cables. i don't have a side pair input at the back of my computer. my motherboard is like this at the back. http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/mainboards/asrock-z77-extreme6-extreme4/back2.jpg
on my version of the motherboard the silver is black and it says what the jacks are for. you can't see that here but the black one says rear.

 

[ssddx]

completely uninstall all of your audio drivers. download the newest audio ones from the official site for whatever OS you have http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme4/?cat=Download
could be borked drivers for sure, i've seen stranger.

see if you have more features or are able to make the changes in realtech software then. sorry i can not guide you through it step by step but i do not use the realtech drivers on my motherboard (i use hdmi out to a home theater).

it definitely does sound like a driver issue to me but try making sure the wires are seated correctly in the plugs just to be sure.

you did not mention but please confirm here that windows test tone does not fire for rear when testing.

 

[NathanSwift]

i installed newest driver version and still the same issue. and windows test tone does not fire rear. i think i am going to buy a sound card then for other software. i asked on many other forums but no one knows how to fix this.