# Can my sound card break? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-sound-card-break/392057 "2007-02-13T19:16:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-sound-card-break/392057/1 "2007-02-13T19:16:20Z")
I have connected my laptop computer to a mixing board in order to amplify the sound. I connected a cable from the headphone jack to the soundboard. It has worked like a charm for a week but now there is no sound coming out of the laptop whatsoever. I have tried all the troubleshooting. There are no mutes buttons clicked on etc. Have I fried my soundcard? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-sound-card-break/392057/2 "2007-02-13T19:29:20Z")
[QUOTE=solkoe] I have connected my laptop computer to a mixing board in order to amplify the sound. I connected a cable from the headphone jack to the soundboard. It has worked like a charm for a week but now there is no sound coming out of the laptop whatsoever. I have tried all the troubleshooting. There are no mutes buttons clicked on etc. Have I fried my soundcard? [/QUOTE] When you say you can amplify sound coming out of your headphone jack, does that include sounds made by windows programs (games or applications), or just playing back CD’s? If you cannot hear any systems sounds or application sounds, I would say yes, your sound card is fried. Many CD drives can playback direct to the headphone jack, and don’t need to go through the sound card. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-sound-card-break/392057/3 "2007-02-13T19:46:27Z")
My computer does this once in a while. I have to re-install the driver, then it works fine. Have you tried this? Can you tell us the exact model of computer you have, and details of the sound card? ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-sound-card-break/392057/4 "2007-02-13T20:40:20Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] When you say you can amplify sound coming out of your headphone jack, does that include sounds made by windows programs (games or applications), or just playing back CD’s? If you cannot hear any systems sounds or application sounds, I would say yes, your sound card is fried. Many CD drives can playback direct to the headphone jack, and don’t need to go through the sound card. [/QUOTE] There is no sound of anykind coming from the computer ('cept the whir of the hard drive). If you’re telling me that I should hear headphone sounds without a sound card then there must be some other problem. If my sound card is toast then what did I do to cause it. Is is a no-no to amplify sound from the head phone jack. Was there some sort power surge from the amp that cooked the card? ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-sound-card-break/392057/5 "2007-02-13T20:45:24Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] My computer does this once in a while. I have to re-install the driver, then it works fine. Have you tried this? Can you tell us the exact model of computer you have, and details of the sound card? [/QUOTE] It is a Tecra A3 computer running Wondows XP pro. The sound card is a Realtek AC97 Audio. The device manager tells me this component is working properly. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-sound-card-break/392057/6 "2007-02-13T22:11:34Z")
Drivers available for download here : [http://tinyurl.com/yrmf8v](http://tinyurl.com/yrmf8v) Give it a try, it works for me, it might work for you.