# 5.1 Speaker problem (loose contact / faulty cable?)



## Black Panther (May 31, 2013)

To explain it simply, it's like there's someone very quickly plugging and unplugging the centre/subwoofer (orange) cable from the back of my pc, bringing up crazy quick popups from realtek hd audio manager.

It usually happens as soon as I start up the pc. Though today it happened at random while I was watching youtube.

I temporarily solve the problem by physically unplugging the cable and immediately plug it back. It might not happen again for a week or more, or it may happen again within 15-30 minutes. 

I'm using onboard sound, and Z-5500 speakers.

Nothing seems loose, and the cables look brand new, they're not twisted or kinked.

When it happens it's bewildering (lol) since I can't click anything on the screen, and can only make it stop by unplugging and replugging the cable.

(Just put the video below on a loop and you'll get what I mean)


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## FordGT90Concept (May 31, 2013)

hmm... why not swap rear (black) and center/sub (orange) cables--on both ends, of course.  It'll eliminate the cable as the cause.

Alternatively, I think there's a way to disable Realtek Manager from opening when a cable is plugged/unplugged.  That would probably be the easiest solution (albeit not really a solution).


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## Black Panther (May 31, 2013)

FordGT90Concept said:


> hmm... why not swap rear (black) and center/sub (orange) cables--on both ends, of course.  It'll eliminate the cable as the cause.



Oh, thanks, it didn't cross my mind  Great way to check if it's really the cable or not.



FordGT90Concept said:


> Alternatively, I think there's a way to disable Realtek Manager from opening when a cable is plugged/unplugged.  That would probably be the easiest solution (albeit not really a solution).



I tried that.. then wondered why the sound in my game was going 'tic-tic-tic'... so nope, not a solution.


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## FordGT90Concept (May 31, 2013)

Black Panther said:


> I tried that.. then wondered why the sound in my game was going 'tic-tic-tic'... so nope, not a solution.


I'll just throw this out there: I have a Realtek chip too (889 something I think) and it actually works best using Microsoft's generic HD audio driver.  When I tried Realtek's driver, it started having all kinds of strange audio artifacts.  I rolled it back to Microsoft's and it was all good.


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## AsRock (May 31, 2013)

You tried cleaning the connectors ?, maybe even in side the female plug too but be careful if you use a cotton bud as it could get  hooked up in it.

Have you rechecked that 5.1 is selected in the sound options ( though windows not realtek software ) ?.


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## Black Panther (May 31, 2013)

Strange, when I swapped the wires the sub didn't work in Realtek's control panel (screenshots below) where I click on each speaker. But it works fine for normal sound (tried bass-testers so I'm sure it's working fine).

Also, I'm not sure if this has got anything to do with the current problem, but to have all my speakers functioning I have to set my sound at 7.1 and disable the side speakers (which obviously I don't have). If I set my sound at 5.1 the option to select the rear speakers is greyed out, and if I select the side speakers I get no rear speaker sound.

Illustration below of the 2 options:







Edit: My motherboard supports 7.1
Perhaps that's the problem? I'm pretty sure there's some setting I'm missing, and it's not in Realtek...


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## Black Panther (Jun 2, 2013)

FordGT90Concept said:


> hmm... why not swap rear (black) and center/sub (orange) cables--on both ends, of course.  It'll eliminate the cable as the cause.



OK that being done, today the problem repeated itself, _with the orange socket flashing_ exactly like before even though I swapped cables.

It quit flashing when I unplugged the black wire... from the orange socket... and plugged it back in.

So if this excludes a faulty cable what could it be?


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## McSteel (Jun 2, 2013)

Perhaps the integrated amp is going bad (possibly bad caps)? It's not exactly a paragon of quality, as I've seen from repairing my friend's Z5500s recently...


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## Black Panther (Jun 8, 2013)

Hasn't done it since, now it did it again this morning (just to see how random this is).

By the way, it happens even if the speakers are switched off. In fact they were today.

Since it's not the cable, it can be either the control pod of the Z5500 (that's what McSteel is referring to or is that something else?) or the motherboard, huh?


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## Bo$$ (Jun 8, 2013)

Have you tried turning off Jack Sensing to eliminate the motherboard or a driver issue?


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## Black Panther (Jun 8, 2013)

Bo$$ said:


> Have you tried turning off Jack Sensing to eliminate the motherboard or a driver issue?



How would I do that?


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jun 8, 2013)

Black Panther said:


> How would I do that?



Try this-

http://earsonfire.com/thextramoney/2010/05/16/how-to-disable-jack-detection-on-windows-7/

If that's a bit old or not really for Realtek, try this-
1) Open Realtek HD Audio Manager, click on AudioI/O on the menu bar.
2) look for connector setting small circular 'knob'.
3) Click on it.
4) Uncheck 'Enable auto popup dialog, when device has been plugged in'.
5)Click OK.
6)Close the Manager.

Just trying to help 

tigger


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## Black Panther (Jun 8, 2013)

tigger said:


> Try this-
> 
> http://earsonfire.com/thextramoney/2010/05/16/how-to-disable-jack-detection-on-windows-7/
> 
> ...



Oh, _that_. Sorry language barrier! 



Black Panther said:


> I tried that.. then wondered why the sound in my game was going 'tic-tic-tic'... so nope, not a solution.



Also, though I don't get the popup, the red realtek icon on the taskbar starts flashing like mad.


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