technical problem: sound

[ritaxis]

So I started recording my songs.  That is, songs I sing.  I have a bit less than forty recorded.  However, as of today -- not yesterday, when everything was behaving normally -- I can only hear the songs I recorded, period, no other sound files, and only when I have the headphones plugged in.

Previously, if I unplugged the headphones, the speakers would work normally.  I have checked what I know to check: connections, volume/mute settings.  I know something changed somewhere because when I test the speaker jack a new dialog box comes up I've never seen before.  It's a RealTek settings popup I've never ever ever seen before asking me whether I've plugged in a headphone, a line out, or a rear speaker.  By clicking around in its settings, I was able to tell it to stop muting the speaker when the headphones are plugged in (though I must reiterate that the problem is not when the headphones are plugged in, it's when they are not).  No change to the basic problem.  I don't even know where to begin troubleshooting this.

Comments

[ellarien]

General suggestion, if you haven't tried this already; reboot. If it's just a software confusion (drivers loaded in the wrong order, maybe, or one has crashed, or something has quietly updated itself and needs a reboot to install properly), that might fix it.

Hardware hypothesis: something has gone wrong with the hardware inside the headphone jack, and it still thinks things are plugged in when they aren't. I don't think this is very likely, given the other symptoms. (You might try plugging in different headphones if you have any.)

Software hypothesis 1: The recorded songs are playing in a different program from everything else, and you accidentally muted the sound in the one that plays everything else. (Check which program the other sound files are opening in, and make sure it isn't muted.)

Software hypothesis 2: Corrupted sound card driver. (If the reboot didn't fix it, try updating/reinstalling the driver.)