No sound from PCI or onboard audio devices

[notadalek]

This problem has baffled me for quite some time. I hope I'm just missing something. Please bear with me here.
My PC has an audio jack in the back (the motherboard) and one in the front as well. I also have a sound card in a PCI slot. When I plug a device (headphone, speaker, etc) into any of these jacks I get nothing. I've already made sure everything is connected right, etc. When a device is plugged in the PC clearly registers this in the Control Panel. However, no adjustments or driver updates, etc have made any difference. No sound. I have rolled back drivers, updated drivers, uninstalled, reinstalled, all of that to no avail. The only way I am able to register any sound on my PC at all is through a keyboard (that I am not even using to type on) that has an audio jack built into it. Nothing else works. At this point I'm hoping it's not a hardware problem but if it is, how can I narrow down which part is causing the problem?

 

[house70]

That keyboard has a 3.5 mm audio connector, or it gets the sound from USB?

 

[notadalek]

Ah sorry, it has a 3.5mm connector.

Anything else I wasn't clear on please ask. I really want to figure this out!

 

[house70]

So, you might need to plug the headphones/speakers using the connector that the keyboard is using (unplug the keyboard form that audio jack and plug the speakers instead).

 

[Shaun o]

Are you by any chance using windows 7 ?

 

[notadalek]

house70, tried that and no dice yet.

Shaun o, yes I am using Windows 7.

 

[Shaun o]

Right click on the sound speaker next to the time.

1. Select playback devices a window will open showing you all the playback devices.
The one you have plugged the jack into needs to be set to default device.
Do this by right clicking, and selecting it as the default device.
That is how you switch the sound output from the front of the system to the back or use the pci sound card in the system depending on what the 3.5mm jack is plugged into ok.