Headset won't work - help!!

I joined a SWToR guild that is starting to raid, and so I needed to get Vent going again. I have failed in my effort to get the required headset to work properly on my new DS system, so I need some help from you guys, who have proven to be *very* helpful and friendly in the past. Please bear with me as I try to explain my problem....incoming Wall of Text Alert!!!

My headset has two plugs, headphones and microphone. On the Toshiba laptop I used before I got my current beloved DS system, it had one port in the front - I plugged the headphones jack into it and it worked fine. I define "worked" as (1) the laptop's speaker was muted, (2) sound came through my headset, and (3) I was able to speak in Vent. This is totally the extent of my knowledge of and experience with a two jack headset.

With my DS system, things are totally different. First, I have two ports (is that the right term?) on the front of the system - a green one with a headphones icon and a pink one with a microphone icon. Great, said I, and plugged my two jacks into these two ports. Nothing happened, i.e., none of the results 1-3 listed above happened - nothing came through the headset, and the music continued to play throught the speakers.

My initial thought was that maybe the internal wiring from the mb to these ports was not plugged in, but before I opened the system up I decided that I would try the ports on the back of the system - I first assumed they were on a sound card, so this would be a definitive test, but then it occurred to me that my system might not have a sound card, in which case this would just be a plate to hold more wires from the mb. Anyway, my results with trying not just the same two but *all* ports (on the back of the system) in all combinations that I could think of were just as unsuccessful as with the front ports.

The right speaker of the pair of Philips desktop speakers I bought for the new system has two ports on its front - one has the "headphones" icon and the other says "aux in". Having no idea what "aux in" meant (I have very little hardware or stereo experience), I plugged the headphone jack from my headset into the headphones port and voila, the speakers were muted and the sound started coming through my headset. However, the mic plug was unplugged, so I did not expect to be able to speak in Vent. But when I fired Vent up and got in my guild Vent channel, they said they could hear me, but they said my voice was distorted and poor quality.

So I would really like to get my headset to work with the proper ports on the system itself, rather than the pretty much unacceptable performance I am getting from plugging into the desktop speaker (plus I would like to find out why they don't work now). I know you are going to tell me to open up the system and look at those ports from the inside, and I will do that if I have to, but I really have no confidence in messing with hardware, and my system is really working great otherwise. So before I do that, I wanna ask you guys if it might be something really simple like maybe a Windows command or a BIOS command to turn those ports on. So don't flame me for being such a tool, ok ?

Thanks in advance !!!!


Charlie Acord

Originally posted by Alex Try this, remove your speakers, etc...   Plug the speaker (audio) part of your headset into the motherboard I/O shield (green port). Then plug the microphone part of your headset into the (pink port).

Thanks for your reply !!!

I unplugged my speakers from the back of the system unit. The jacks in the front of the system unit were still dead, but when I plugged my headset into the jacks in the back of the system unit, I was able to hear through it, and my microphone worked. I can now use Vent and Mumble just fine.

This is a workable situation, although not a perfect one. Not only would I like for the jacks in the front of the system unit to work (it would make plugging and un-plugging way easier, and would give me a lot more of the headset cord to work with), but I wish I did not have to unplug my desktop speakers every time I want to use my headset. This is a real pain, and I am very doubtful that it is the way things are supposed to work. I mean, it's the 21st century, and I'm surprised and disappointed that I am not able to quickly and easily switch between speakers and headset.

Once again, thanks very much for the help, but is this the way it is supposed to work ?

Correct, the front I/O should work for you, the connector may have gotten loose. Feel free to contact our team directly as well, we can help you out.