My headphone jack is broken on my Dell Latitude Cpx J & i have no sound through my speakers because of this. Is their a way i can change something in the settings so the sound plays through my laptop speakers without the headphone jack keeping my sound from playing through?

these are fairly passive in that if a headphone or earpiece is plugged in, they switch the output from the internal speaker to the external speaker. So, it's usually one of a few problems.

• The jack is mucked up, and needs replaced.
• The headphone plug wires have a broken connection
• The headphone needs power to amplify, and that's not working.

If trying another headphone or earpiece you know is working doesn't work, it's the jack itself. They can only handle so many uses before they either fail closed, or open or completely. Depending on which one, either:

• neither speakers nor headphones work.
• only speakers work
• only headphones work

Replacement necessitates opening the case and replacing the jack. For that, there's no help.

andys_cars,

You may need to go into the sound properties and then to deviceto change the settings to enable the speakers and change it from headphones to speakers.

Thank You,
Dell-Jesse L
Dell Social Media and Communities

May be your headphone is not good, so let's check your headphone. If headphone is good, lets' install newest audio driver for your laptop to see whether the problem is fixed.

What? Is it time to wake up?

Oh yeah, Dell Latitude CPX,

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude-Notebook-650-MHz-Pentium/dp/B00005UJYF

AC adapter example for above,

http://www.prontocharger.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=d1161

DC Power Jack example,

http://www.all-power-jack.com/Dell/Dell-Latitude-CPx.html

I see the dilemma. The plug from the AC adapter has 3 socket holes, and the DC Power Jack has 3 prongs.

DC electricity has a Positive connection, and a Negative connection.

To find out which socket holes are for Positive, and Negative, let's look again at the DC Power Jack,

http://www.all-power-jack.com/Dell/Dell-Latitude-CPx.html

The Top view shows the jack upside down, and turned around. (In relation to how it mounts on the motherboard )

The bottom left view shows the jack primarily how it sits, (Mounted), on the motherboard.

The bottom right view shows the jack turned over, laying on it's front.
Also laying over to it's right side.

Note the three prongs. (Flat bladed pins )
The one in the middle is Positive.
The two outer prongs are Negative.

Looking at the bottom Left view, the Top prong is Positive, and the two bottom prongs are Negative.

Match it up to the plug on the AC adapter cable.

Going to test the Voltage coming out? (20 Volts)
The red Positive probe lead goes into the top socket hole, in the plug.
The black Negative lead goes in either bottom socket hole.

What if I'm wrong?

A Digital multimeter will just show a negative value. -20
An Analog multimeter's needle will go down towards the 0, instead of towards 20 Volts. (DC)

Just switch the probe leads around.

For additional questions, or if I am way off base, post back in a Comment.

Regards,
joecoolvette

I dont think the JACK is the problem, I suspect a bad headphone wire (intermittent) or an incorrect driver, headphone jacks in laptops are software controlled, (no mechanical switch inside) if you hear sound in both the headphones and the speakes it is a driver issue, try updating the driver, if the headphone wire is erratic it can fool the software that controlls the input and do crazy things also...

Good luck!

Does the main speakers work on the laptop? as you know when the headphones are plugged in, the internal speakers turn off. If the laptop speakers are fine then you have a problem with the ear phone jack, it needs to be replaced, or part of the original has broken free of the motherboard and needs to be resold-ed. If on the other hand you have no sound at all, the ear phone jack has comletely broken free or the audio ic is the problem. Regardless of the issues the laptop needs to be dis-assembled to address the problem.

Connecting headphones to the system will disabled the internal speakers until the headphone jack is disconnected, at which such time the internal speakers should function again.

If you disconnect the headphones and the internal speakers are not re-activated, then there may be damaged to the microswitch in the jack. (Try rebooting after the headphones are disconnected too)

I figure there are two possibilities here. First, there is an Fn function on the keyboard that will enable/disable the speakers on command. This function is shared with the "End" key at the upper right of the keyboard, and is used in conjunction with the "Fn" key, found next to the left "Ctrl"key. Holding down the "Fn" key while pressing the "End" key will toggle the speakers on or off. Second, there is the possibility that the headphone jack has been physically damaged while the headphones were plugged into it. That jack has internal switches that disconnect the speakers while headphones are in use. If the jack is damaged, the speakers will not operate. Unfortunately, most repair shops are not equipped to replace this jack, and the jack itself is nearly impossible to buy for replacement anyway. Hopefully your problem is just the "Fn" key.

Well, the drivers for the Dell C600 should work the same with any changed palmrest, I have swapped the same parts many times, so I would first assume the speakers to be bad, if nothing on the mainboard or software changed

When you plug into the headphone jack, it should automatically override the speakers. This will be either a driver issue or a device faliure (headphone jack) Start by updating the sound drivers from Dell's support site. Then update your media player. If these don't work then it's the jack.