Headphones

[Chilimon]

I received a set of smaller headphones for Christmas with the two jack plugs, one for the headphones, the other for the microphone attached to the headphones. I plug them into the proper connection on my laptop and nothing, the sound does not transfer. Here is the dilema, I have a set of headphones with a USB plug and they work fine, as soon as I plug these in, it switches the sound over immediately. I tried another set of headphones with the jack style and they do not work either. I tried everything I know even by going into Control Panel>Sounds and switching to Headphones, Apply and Save, restarting the computer after changes, nothing seems to work. Does anyone know what the problem may be ?

[soybean]

Do these sets of headphones you've tried have their own volume control or on/off switch?  Are you sure you did not plug the two plugs (mic and headphone) into the wrong jack/port?  Your computer should have a tiny symbol for mic and headphone beside those plug-in jacks, or some way of indicating which jack is for which plug.

Can you try the headphones on another computer to confirm that they work?

[Chilimon]

Do these sets of headphones you've tried have their own volume control or on/off switch?  Are you sure you did not plug the two plugs (mic and headphone) into the wrong jack/port?  Your computer should have a tiny symbol for mic and headphone beside those plug-in jacks, or some way of indicating which jack is for which plug.

Can you try the headphones on another computer to confirm that they work?

I tried 2 other computers, all computers running WIN XP. They are plugged into the correct ports and I even tried switching ports in case the manufacturer got the wires and plugs mixed up (very rare). Neither set of headphones have an on/off switch or volume control on them. Both sets of headphones are from a different manufacturer.

[soybean]

What brand and model is your laptop?  Your OS?

[Chilimon]

What brand and model is your laptop?  Your OS?

Dell Inspiron E1505 running WIN XP

[Computer_Commando]

Dell Inspiron E1505 running WIN XP

Media Control buttons on front:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/om/about.htm#wp1107948

[Chilimon]

Media Control buttons on front:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/om/about.htm#wp1107948

Thanks anyway but that's already been tried. I'm out of ideas and was hoping this would be the place to get the right answer.

[Computer_Commando]

Something has turned Media Control buttons off, either Muted or Turned Volume Down.  They should have priority over software.

You said "...as soon as I plug these in, it switches the sound over immediately..."

Switches the sound over from what?

[Chilimon]

Something has turned Media Control buttons off, either Muted or Turned Volume Down.  They should have priority over software.

You said "...as soon as I plug these in, it switches the sound over immediately..."

Switches the sound over from what?

As soon as I plug my USB headphones in, the sound automatically switches from the speakers that are built into the laptop to my headphones.  If I use the jack type headphones, with the sound turned on and the volume up, the sound still goes through the speakers on the laptop no matter which setting I use in Control Panel>Sounds. I went into Sounds, clicked the Volume Tab, then clicked Advanced under Speaker Settings, and switched to Stereo Headphones, clicked Apply, then OK and still no difference.

[BC_Programmer]

The Media control buttons simply send specific Extended scan codes to the software, same as a standard media keyboard. (They aren't hardware based- how would "next track" possibly be implemented in the hardware?) Volume Up/down might be but most laptops less then about 5 or 6 years have had exclusively software control for the volume, even if it is a dial.

Chilimon: I assume you've tried Both of the Phono plugs on the right side (above the card reader I believe)?

[Chilimon]

Chilimon: I assume you've tried Both of the Phono plugs on the right side (above the card reader I believe)?

Yes I have