Windows 7 headphone detection

Shrimply

Hi, I think this might be a really stupid question but hopefully you'll humour me (again)

I have a computer which i built myself with a lot of help from an online forum and it runs windows 7, when I plug headphones in the headphones are detected and override the speakers. But in the volume mixer the icon changes from speakers to headphones and if I want in play back devices I can switch the speakers on to work even if the headphones are plugged in if I wish.

I also have a laptop, a Dell 1564, but when I plug headphones in they work and override the speakers but the laptop doesn't recognise them as headphones so to speak. The only playback device shown is the speakers.


Now obviously the first set-up is a lot better, the fact the PC knows when you have headphones plugged in is really good. I'm wondering if there is a setting somewhere to make this happen on the laptop.

But really I'm just confirming my suspicion that it has to do with the audio configuration on the motherboard and that there is nothing I can do.

Many thanks.

Shrimply

Must of been a stupid question I guess :embarasse

kwikbreaks

Not really I think it's just that nobody who knows for sure saw the post.

I think the difference is in the hardware rather than in any settings - the soundcard in the machine that supports both speakers and headphones probably has two different amp outputs but the laptop just has the one and that is mechanically switched between the socket output and the internal speakers by plugging in the jack. But I may be wrong as I've never seen one like the first.