I can play sound through notebook speakers but headphone socket does not work

[SoulSean]

Until recently this laptop (which I brought new 3 months ago) was working fine and I was pleased with it. Recently the headphone socket has stopped working. I have run the diognastics and sound fixes recommended by the HP agent several times and this does not resolve the problem. 

This is very frustrating as one of the key reasons I bought the laptop for was music. 

I have iTunes installed, when I press play with no headphones it works (mostly, sometimes it's frozen), when headphones are plugged in it freezes. Youtube videos play without sound, however I have just tried again and get the message 'Audio Renderer Error' and the video won't play.

[Echo_Lake]

@SoulSean

Welcome to HP Forums,  

This is a great place to get support, find answers and tips,
Thank you for posting your query, I'll be more than glad to help you out 🙂

I see that the headphone jack/port is not responding, 

Updating the audio driver

If the headphones or headset device is not functioning with your computer, updating the audio driver can sometimes resolve the problem. Follow these steps to check for and install audio driver updates:

1. Connect to the Internet.

2. From the Start screen, type device manager to open the Search charm, then select Device Manager from the search results.

1. Figure: Device Manager search results
   

1. Double-click Sound, video and game controllers.

2. Right-click the name of the sound hardware and select Update Driver Software.

1. Figure: Update Driver Software option in Device Manager
   Click Search automatically for updated driver software and wait for Windows to update the driver software.

1. Figure: Updated Driver Software: Search automatically for updated driver software

2. Windows checks to see if updated driver software is available.

   If an update is available, let Windows install the update.

3. When the update is installed successfully, close the Updater and test the device.

4. Figure: Windows has successfully updated your driver software

1. If there was no update available or updating the driver did not resolve the issue, continue to the next section.

Using the Windows troubleshooting tool

The troubleshooting tool can fix common problems with audio playback. Follow these steps to use the Troubleshooting tool:

1. From the Start screen, type troubleshooting to open the Search charm, then select Troubleshooting from the search results.

   Figure: Troubleshooting search results

   

2. Under Hardware and Sound, click Troubleshoot audio playback.

1. Figure: Troubleshoot audio playback

1. The Playing Audio window opens. Click Next.

   Figure: Playing Audio window

2. A new window opens. Select the device you want to troubleshoot. Then click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.

3. Figure: the Select device to troubleshoot

If a recommended action displays, select Apply this fix or Skip this step to continue to search for other problems. If the problem has not been resolved, continue to the next section of this article. Click here

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.

If I have helped you resolve the issue, feel free to give me a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon below,

Followed by clicking on "Accept as solution" from the drop-down menu on the upper right corner,

Thank you for posting in the HP Support Forum.  Have a great day!

[RiteshSahu]

n audio troubleshooting, there is no option for headphone / headset. 

[Echo_Lake]

@RiteshSahu

Thank you for posting back. 

I appreciate your efforts to try and resolve the issue.
The audio drivers seem to be corrupted. Let's clean install the Audio Driver for this computer:

First, Uninstall the Audio driver from the device manager as shown in Figure 1 ( refer above image- step 1 ) 

Once, its done install the Audio driver from HERE and restart your computer and check.

This should fix the issue, Keep me posted for further assistance.