open up the system and see if the front ports are connected correctly
I had an HP which for years never had working front ports, and it was caused by faulty/poorly done wiring
but it could just be connected wrong/not connected
Okay, so the microphone jack in the back of the computer works fine. But I put the same device into the FRONT mic jack and NOTHING. I can get no audio through this mic jack as far as I can tell. The front USB port may have also fried my mp3 player. Anyone having similar issues??

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