I just bought an Acer Aspire 4530 on 1/1/09 -- and guess what? Like others who have struggled with this problem over the past two years that this thread has existed, the headphone jack is dead. Here are the details: Vista OS with Realtek HD audio codec ALC888S (driver v. 6.0.1.5624). The headphone jack has never worked for me, though I didn't try it before installing a lot of software, which may be the source of some conflict. In any event, I contacted both Realtek (at
pctech@realtek.com) and Acer technical service, through Acer's panamerican web site web-based response form.
Realtek responded over night and is trying to be helpful, providing me with a program by email that generates a data dump from the audio driver, which I returned for analysis. I'll let you know later how that works out.
But I thought many of you who are contending with dead headphones on Acer computers would be interested in the email response I received from Acer tech support. First, here is an excerpt from my message to Acer:
"Apparently like many other Acer users over the past two years or more, I've encountered a problem with a dead headphone jack. There is an entire 7 page forum devoted to this issue, what affects various Acer models using either the XP or Vista OS:
http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com...io-device.html . An emerging consensus on this forum attributes the problem to a persistent flaw in the Realtek HD audio driver, although other possibilities are also discussed."
Here is Acer's emailed reply (prepare to laugh):
"Thank you for contacting Acer America. I apologize for the inconvenience that you have experienced. This is not a known issue. All Acer recommended downloads for our products can be found at
www.acerpanam.com. Please choose Drivers & Downloads, then search for your Acer product.
Respectfully,
Acer America
Online Technical Support"
Not a known issue?! How on earth could that be? I even linked my message to this two-year thread, and of course, numerous other references to this problem are scattered elsewhere on the web! It really boggles the mind . . .