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**clintfan** · 12-10-2004, 12:12 AM

As you're no doubt finding, this sort of problem is really quite difficult to debug over the web.

If you're sure the cabling is OK --and you suggest that you do get stereo if you plug the same speaker setup into a different computer-- then the only other hardware problem you can check yourself is the jumpers. Your FPAUDIO1 header is between the AGP and PCI 1 slots, along the rear edge of the mobo. There should be 2 jumpers: one vertically across the center two pins (right channel), and another vertically across the far right two pins (left channel). For your reference, in the high-res. mobo-manual photo on page 17, these jumpers are blue.

If you're handy with electronics, armed with the proper alligator-clip test wires you could even tap off the lower pins at those positions I described, to see if you're sourcing both a left and a right audio signal at those pins. If you are, it would mean the mobo amps are OK and the problem is downstream, maybe a bad jack or a cut trace (maybe around the mounting screw just below the audio jack).

If the jumpers were removed because you've attached a front-panel audio harness, then all bets are off: I'd first try removing that harness and reinstall the jumpers, then attach the speaker to the green jack on the rear, and see if stereo sound returns. If it does, the problem is with the audio front-panel case wiring, not the fault of the mobo at all.

It sounds like you've already figured out it isn't software. Since reinstalling and reconfiguring didn't help, there's nothing software-wise that we can help with here, I'm afraid... if it turns out to be a software problem, you'll need to contact Asus and work through them to get a fix, since we're talking onboard sound here.

So if it's not the jumpers, and not the front-panel harness, then in my estimation it's most likely a blown chip on the mobo, probably a little tiny amplifier circuit deep inside the Realtek Codec chip, or some supporting chip, or maybe a bad mobo audio jack, cold solder joint, etc.. Again all of these issues require Asus factory service to fix.

One final option is to abandon the onboard sound altogether and use a PCI soundcard instead. This may be an attractive solution, since with a real soundcard you'll avoid some of the snap-crackle-pop common with the software-generated onboard sound Codec's anyway. Based on the table in 2.6.2, I'd suggest PCI slot 2 or 4 for a soundcard; 1 or 5 would be second choice, but don't use 3. I'd recommend something like a TurtleBeach Santa Cruz over any sort of Soundblaster, but it depends on what features you need.

Hope this helps,

-clintfan

12-10-2004, 12:12 AM	#6 (permalink)
clintfan Guru Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Silicon Valley, CA Posts: 2,655 OS: XP Pro	As you're no doubt finding, this sort of problem is really quite difficult to debug over the web. If you're sure the cabling is OK --and you suggest that you do get stereo if you plug the same speaker setup into a different computer-- then the only other hardware problem you can check yourself is the jumpers. Your FPAUDIO1 header is between the AGP and PCI 1 slots, along the rear edge of the mobo. There should be 2 jumpers: one vertically across the center two pins (right channel), and another vertically across the far right two pins (left channel). For your reference, in the high-res. mobo-manual photo on page 17, these jumpers are blue. If you're handy with electronics, armed with the proper alligator-clip test wires you could even tap off the lower pins at those positions I described, to see if you're sourcing both a left and a right audio signal at those pins. If you are, it would mean the mobo amps are OK and the problem is downstream, maybe a bad jack or a cut trace (maybe around the mounting screw just below the audio jack). If the jumpers were removed because you've attached a front-panel audio harness, then all bets are off: I'd first try removing that harness and reinstall the jumpers, then attach the speaker to the green jack on the rear, and see if stereo sound returns. If it does, the problem is with the audio front-panel case wiring, not the fault of the mobo at all. It sounds like you've already figured out it isn't software. Since reinstalling and reconfiguring didn't help, there's nothing software-wise that we can help with here, I'm afraid... if it turns out to be a software problem, you'll need to contact Asus and work through them to get a fix, since we're talking onboard sound here. So if it's not the jumpers, and not the front-panel harness, then in my estimation it's most likely a blown chip on the mobo, probably a little tiny amplifier circuit deep inside the Realtek Codec chip, or some supporting chip, or maybe a bad mobo audio jack, cold solder joint, etc.. Again all of these issues require Asus factory service to fix. One final option is to abandon the onboard sound altogether and use a PCI soundcard instead. This may be an attractive solution, since with a real soundcard you'll avoid some of the snap-crackle-pop common with the software-generated onboard sound Codec's anyway. Based on the table in 2.6.2, I'd suggest PCI slot 2 or 4 for a soundcard; 1 or 5 would be second choice, but don't use 3. I'd recommend something like a TurtleBeach Santa Cruz over any sort of Soundblaster, but it depends on what features you need. Hope this helps, -clintfan Last edited by clintfan; 12-10-2004 at 12:16 AM.