I/O Panel Replacement....?

G

goldfishwars

New Member
Hello

I own a Dell Dimension 5150. The tip of my headphones jack has somehow broken off and is embedded in the socket and I can't get it out. Now I can't listen to anything through my headphones (even with a replacement) or through my speakers as the computer still thinks the headphones are plugged in.

As you have probably guessed i'm not the most advanced computer user, but does anyone know a) how I can get a replacement I/O panel (if that's what it's called) - I can't seem to find anything just by googling and Dell technical support was next to useless or b) a workround solution. The panel also has a mic port and two USB's and the power switch.

I'd be incredibly gratfeul for any suggestions
 
A bit of super-glue on the end of a toothpick then stick it to the end of the broken piece and then pull it out thats the way I got mine out:D
 
Yeah... I'm sure if you look around hard enough you could find a replacement, but it's probably not even worth it... I mean, why not just purchase a new sound card, if the only problem is the audio jacks? On-board audio is rarely very good anyway.
 
It's not the I/O panel... that would be easy to replace... that's just the thin piece of metal that covers everything except the jacks in the motherboard. What you are talking about is actually a component of the motherboard itself, and to be replaced would mean replacing the entire motherboard.

First, like wizle said, I would try to remove it with glue or putty + toothpick, or something of that sort. If you absolutely can not, like T_O_O said, you could disable the onboard sound and buy a sound card.
 
be careful when you are using the super glue + toothpick method though... my friend broke his headphone jack and it was inside his iPod... he tried the super glue...
im not sure what happened but he ended up making it worse... sealed up the headphone port completely with super glue... i guess he kinda touched the sides and in the end sealed the hole completely... no iPod for him now...

so ya be careful... just thought of letting you know this...
 
Thanks guys, i'll give the superglue and tootpick idea a go and be extra careful with it.

I'll look into getting a new soundcard if it doesn't work. Can anyone make any recommendations? I won't have an awful lot to spend so something in the budget range would suit.

I'm sorry to sound a bit retarded but how would I disable the on board sound? I bought my PC fully built so is there an easy way to tell if I don't have a proper sound card already installed without taking it apart?
 
I've got this old creative soundcard, I don't think I'm going to need it, if you want I could sell it to you for pretty cheap.

I'll let you know in a few days, if I decide to just RMA everything to newegg and get my money back(more than likely) you can have it, if I decide to keep my current broken build and just replace the broken mobo, than they're cheap on Newegg.

It's similar to b3rt's first suggestion, but it's older and has more ports on it. Works great, when my computer's working, I listen to music on it all the time, won't need it with my next build though.
 
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Ah neat, i'll probably go ahead and purchase a sound card. I actually don't have any PCI slots left, are USB sound cards any good?
 
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