Jan "Jenkings" Škoda - blog

So, another step towards making that machine work the way I want it to. It's not perfect yet, but I finally made progress with the sound. I failed to set up any relevant original drivers as there was always a problem. However, I was advised to use a more up-to-date utility called Unisound. After initial problems when the utility reported an inability to detect any device, I asked for advice again, and the solution was to run it with the /nopnp switch.

Now, the system correctly detects the sound card. But I am still facing problems. This time, however, it is possibly a hardware issue rather than a software issue.

The sound works perfectly when the jack is plugged in. Sound goes to the headphones without any problems. However, I am struggling to get the internal sound device to work. The problem is that when I semi-unplug the jack and press the top of the notebook jack connector slightly, the internal sound starts working magically. The next step is to find a way to make the sound work properly without this glitch. I must find out what the semi-plugged jack does. Is it just a detector switch being pressed or is it a question of creating some capacity for the detection circuits? I'm not sure, but I'm really reluctant to disassemble the notebook because of the fragile old plastic. So, first I will try to do some more research on plugging in, and I would rather make a micro-device to plug into the jack to make it work than disassemble the chassis and repair the board. I'll see...