Weird problem happening with my computer...

[Onionsoilder]

Alright, well I built my first computer about three months ago, and it's been working great except for this little quirk I just found... For some reason when I plug in headphones, the computer restarts, and then refuses to boot up. It gets stuck at the launch screen, and all input(keyboard, mouse, etc) doesn't work, so I can't go into Bios or anything. As soon as I take the headphones out though, everything works fine again. Perhaps the weirdest thing is, this doesn't happen all the time. If I had to guess, I would say around 80% of the time this happens, but the other 20% I can plug them in and everything keeps working(Incl. the headphones). Any idea what might be causing this?

 

[Turner]

Obviously a short of some kind.

Which headphone port is it? I have a port in the back for speakers and a port in the front for headphones. But that doesn't mean they have to be plugged in that way...it's just an audio out port.

And if you have a headphone jack on your speakers, what happens when you use that jack? I'd try plugging into the back and seeing what happens. And you might want to unplug your speakers in the back before plugging your headphones in, and seeing what happens.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

If its the front ports, you very likely have a short with the reset button. I had that happen in my case. I simply opened it up and reinsulated the connectors. The fact that afterwards it refuses to boot is intriguing though.

 

[Onionsoilder]

Well, I still have not found the short, but I might have some insight. I got a new USB headset(my old one was analog) and the same problem happens with the USB one as my old analog one. However, the restart only happens when I use a audio device, like a headset, in the slot. When I use something like a flash drive or wireless adapter in the USB slots, everything works fine. Obviously this means that the short is related somehow to the audio, rather then the actual port... Anyone have any ideas where this short might be?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Could it to do with the sound card? I don't know if USB works with sound card, though.

 

[Onionsoilder]

Sound is integrated into the mobo... I guess it could be, but that would suck because I'd have to replace the motherboard then...

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Maybe you could try disabling sound with the BIOS and see if anything happens then. Don't know if anything would happen, I'm not too good with hardwares.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

do you have the headers for the front panel plugged into the motherboard? Try unplugging the audio ones. If that doesnt help, you've got a short somewhere on the motherboard and you might want to look into warranty.

 

[GoodGame]

Well, I still have not found the short, but I might have some insight. I got a new USB headset(my old one was analog) and the same problem happens with the USB one as my old analog one. However, the restart only happens when I use a audio device, like a headset, in the slot. When I use something like a flash drive or wireless adapter in the USB slots, everything works fine. Obviously this means that the short is related somehow to the audio, rather then the actual port... Anyone have any ideas where this short might be?

It might not actually be a short but a driver conflict due to whatever sound device you have. I was going to suggest that the first time, since when you plug in any audio device, XP detects it and that should trigger your sound driver.

I suggest uninstalling all sound drivers on your computer. If you have any kind of audio software that boots on windows start-up, you might want to uninstall that too. Then boot without a headset. Then plug-in your headset. XP should detect a new device and ask for a driver. If you don't get a crash then, then it was a driver problem.
Solution would be to go to the manufacturer's website for the sound device (mobo or sound card).

 

[Onionsoilder]

I'm starting to think it's a driver issue myself. I got another new headset(returned the old one, it hurt my ears), and this one is analog but has a USB mini-sound card that converts analog to USB. Well, when I plug the sound card in I get the same reset problem despite that the computer is using the same speakers, but I can plug/unplug the headset all I want after the sound card is in and it doesn't reset. I'll try the driver thing.

EDIT: Well, forget that. I got a crash as soon as I plugged the USB soundcard converter thing in.

 

[GoodGame]

The external sound card might be opening a separate can of worms (e.g. it might need a driver, the driver might have its own conflicts, you might be having USB issues, etc..). I'd disable the onboard mobo sound via the Control Panel before I tried using a separate external device, myself.

The original problem still might be a driver issue, the mobo sound driver, or a conflict between that driver and some other software (probably sound) that you might be running. I would still suppose a driver issue, erase all sound drivers (other than XP provided), and test the detection of a plain jane headphone or other speaker. Again, if it doesen't crash, look for better drivers than what you had.

If it does crash:

If the mobo is defective in the region of the sound card (i.e. 'a short', and you can't get it replaced, you might also consider a workaround of a cheap internal soundcard in a free PCI/PCI-E mobo slot. To actually find out what's wrong the on the mobo, you have to buy a special card that reports mobo error codes. But it might be best to just isolate the mobo as the only possible cause of the crashes, and then see if you can get a work-around with an internal soundcard.

Beyond that you might just scrap the mobo and also investigate the health of the PSU (got a power tester? they're about $10).

 

[Onionsoilder]

Well, I tried the full driver uninstall again(this time using the analog ports without the USB sound card) and it didn't crash. In fact, nothing happened at all. My computer no-longer recognizes any headphone/heatset I plug into it, USB or analog. Non-audio USB devices still work fine, and the speakers in my monitor work as well.

Interestingly enough the analog audio input(microphone) still works, just the audio output doesn't.

 

[GoodGame]

Hmm, strange that XP didn't see your sound devices, including speakers.
When you go into System-> Control panel-> Sound, video, and game controllers there should be some kind of device listed like Realtek or AC97.

Anyways I suggest googling your mobo and looking for the most updated sound driver it has (probably is something like Realtek or AC97) and installing just that. Then try plugging in the speakers and see if it crashes. If your mobo isn't supported anywhere, then you could try your installation disk that came with the mobo, or googling the device online (e.g. Realtek). At least one source should have a update driver, but the one designed for your exact model of mobo will be the best one to use.

Strange that the input works but the output doesn't. Sure that your speakers are working ok?

 

[Onionsoilder]

Actually, I'm using Vista. The sound section has three tabs, Playback, Recording and Sounds, none of which list the device name(they all just say High-Def Audio Device). The speakers built into my monitor work perfectly, it's just when I try and use a headset it doesn't work(either in the front or back analog ports). The microphone on my headset works perfectly, and the headphones themselves work perfectly with anything except my computer.