Gigabyte P57Xv6 - Realtek HD Audio Manager Doesn't Switch Between Audio Devices

Pyrobug0

Prominent
Mar 1, 2017
2
0
510
Hello,

I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem with a newish Gigabyte laptop.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834233186&cm_re=p57xv6-_-34-233-186-_-Product
It is running Windows 10, and the audio driver is the latest available from Realtek.

The setup:
This laptop has three audio devices:
An onboard analog speaker system;
A 2-in-1 left panel jack that supports 3.5mm analog plugs, and optical digital audio.
Analog Speakers
3.5mm Headphone Jack
Optical Jack

As you can see, plugging headphones into the headphone jack disables the optical jack, complete with a "You have unplugged an audio device etc." popup.

The goal:
I want to be able to automatically play audio through analog headphones when they're plugged in, and the analog speakers when they are not.

To do this, I'm using the Realtek HD Manager window. This has an option called "Mute the internal output device, when an external headphone plugged in."

When this option is not selected, the speakers, headphone jack, and optical jack are all shown as separate devices in the Windows playback list.
Option not selected

In this case, every device can be manually set as the default device, and playback will occur through the default device as expected (including the speakers).

The problem occurs when I turn on the "Mute the internal output device" option. In this case, the onboard speakers and the headphones are combined into one playback device in Windows - which I assume is fine.
Option Selected
Jacks combined into one device

When this is the case, the audio will play through the headphones when they are connected. However, when I disconnect the headphones, no audio is played. In the Windows sound playback menu, sound is still shown as being directed to the "Speakers" device. However, no sound is being output.

I have tried disabling the HD audio device. While this does remove the HD Audio Device from the Realtek Manager, it does not solve the problem. I am not certain that this is not a hardware issue, but any other thoughts on what I can try would be greatly appreciated. This issue did occur some time after I started using the laptop, but I can't recall any specific software I installed at the same time the errors began. I will update if I recall any.
 
Solution
Well that should be just as easy to fix. When the headphones are unplugged, right click on the speakers and choose to make them the "Default Device".

Now if it isn't noticing when the headphones aren't connected that they aren't there, then that is a whole other problem.
1. Go to "Control Panel".
2. Click on "Sound".
3. Make sure you are on the "Playback" tab.
4. Right on the headphones (make sure they are plugged in).
5. Select "Set as Default Device".
6. Now remove the headphones and make sure that internal speakers are now set as the "Default Device".
7. If done correctly, every time you plug in the headphones the internal speakers should go silent.
 

Pyrobug0

Prominent
Mar 1, 2017
2
0
510
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, when the headphones are removed, the headphone jack device (Realtek HD 2nd Audio output) is still present in the Sound menu, so it the internal speakers don't get switched to default device.
 
Well that should be just as easy to fix. When the headphones are unplugged, right click on the speakers and choose to make them the "Default Device".

Now if it isn't noticing when the headphones aren't connected that they aren't there, then that is a whole other problem.
 
Solution