Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Audio coming through headphones- old hard drive

Jul 2, 2012 6:01AM PDT

Hi,

A while ago my laptop (a HP) battery died so I put the old hard drive into a different model (Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21M). Recently I've been having the problem that when plugging my headphones into the jack, the sounds still only comes out of the speakers.

I've tried the blanket solution of setting my headphones as the default audio device but this makes little difference. I think it may be something to do with needing to update the drivers but I really don't know how to start/what to do!

Thanks in advance for any help

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Clarification Request
Which OS?
Jul 2, 2012 6:40AM PDT

Which Operating System, (OS), is this?

If it is Windows, any Windows OS, then I am surprised you have a working OS at all. Windows does not routinely transfer to different makes, not even to different models in the same make, as drivers for the new machine are needed. And in any case Activation will nearly always fail.

So if this is Windows, (which?), at the very least you probably need soundcard drivers, but I suspect you also need the whole lot, motherboard/chipset drivers, video card, ethernet card, and any others.

Mark

- Collapse -
Windows 7!
Jul 2, 2012 7:00AM PDT

I was surprised at how well everything went actually. The odd thing is that at first after the switchover the sound was coming through the headphones fine, so I'm not even sure if it is anything to do with the drivers (Just thought it could be a possibility as the regular fix didn't work)

- Collapse -
Yep that makes sense
Jul 2, 2012 7:08AM PDT

Windows 7 is much better at finding generic drivers than previous versions of Windows.

That said you should go to the Sony site and find all the drivers for this model system + Windows 7 and install those.

Mark

- Collapse -
As opposed to using the old HP drivers?
Jul 2, 2012 7:17AM PDT

The old drivers have proved useful in things like the webcam (its still the same application but works on the new laptop), I'm not CERTAIN the problem stems from the drivers, but if you're confident in that I guess I will

- Collapse -
Single Bump
Jul 2, 2012 5:50PM PDT

Just for clarification

- Collapse -
Well it's better to do it
Jul 2, 2012 8:32PM PDT

I don't know why the sound was working through the headphone jack and then suddenly stopped, and it could well be a hardware fault, eg faulty jack or faulty headphones. But my consideration is that this system needs the correct system drivers for this model.

Faulty headphones can be checked of course, try them in a different computer and try different headphones in this computer, but a faulty jack is much more difficult to test, especially on a laptop. Unless something is clearly bent out of shape, any fault is going to be internal.

Other than that, what changed on this system when the headphones last worked? Any updates or malware or anything else?

But overall I believe that this system needs proper motherboard/chipset, sound card, video card and ethernet drivers. Not from Microsoft, although Windows 7 does seem better at finding drivers we still recommend going direct to the make/manufacturer.

I found this link for your model Sony Vaio; http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VGN-FZ21M/tips-and-solutions but I see this model was for Vista and although Win 7 is mentioned, a quick glance didn't find me those drivers for Win 7.

Note the link is the UK branch. If you are in the US the search term was [url sony vaio vgn-fz21m drivers

Mark

- Collapse -
Just to be clear
Jul 2, 2012 8:33PM PDT

The search term was sony vaio vgn-fz21m drivers . You can copy/paste it.

Mark

- Collapse -
Fixed!
Jul 3, 2012 3:42AM PDT

Thanks a lot mate, this worked a charm!

I know installing the new drivers probably seemed like the most sensible thing to do but I didn't want to do it without some advice first, so thanks very much for your patience!

- Collapse -
That's great
Jul 3, 2012 5:06AM PDT

and glad you got it sorted.

Mark