iMac headphone jack nonfunctional in XP (Boot Camp)

I recently installed Windows XP Home SP3 on my late 2008 iMac 20". I installed the Boot Camp drivers from a recent retail Leopard DVD, Boot Camp is version 2.1. Today I discovered that the headphone jack doesn't work. I plug in headphones, and sound continues to be played through the system speakers. These same headphones in this same jack DO work as expected in Mac OS X.

I have noticed in the Realtek HD Audio Manager, when I plug the headphones into the headphone jack, the "Line In (Realtek HD Audio Input)" icon lights up instead of the headphones icon (looking at the Audio I/O tab). If the driver was confusing the line-in jack with the headphone jack, as this observation indicates, it would explain why no sound is getting to the headphones.

The only relevant KB article I could find was this one relating to the MacBook Pro: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3588 , however it seems to be addressing Windows Vista (it doesn't specify), and in any case I don't have an MBP. I cannot find any place in XP or Realtek's software to choose between internal speakers and headphones or to disable either.

I am going to try installing the latest drivers from Realtek's website, but I am curious if anyone else is experiencing this problem.

iMac 20", Windows XP

Posted on Jul 8, 2009 11:26 AM

18 replies

Tylon

Level 1

5 points

Jan 14, 2010 7:45 AM in response to atonaldenim

I have the exact same problem as the first post, and I have a early 2008 iMac 20". Have anyone found a solution to this yet? I've been looking around on the web for hours and hours, and haven't found anything.

Jan 25, 2010 4:39 AM in response to Tylon

I've posted the solution in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2008449&tstart=0&messageID=107 53059#10753059

Works for me. Cheers =)

Mar 11, 2010 11:14 AM in response to atonaldenim

THis problem has been confounding me for over a month now. I have tried every version of RealTek driver I can find. I tried reverting to the BC 2.x driver. I tried BC 3.0, 3.1, drivers from the RealTek site, all to no avail. The RealTek software detects the insertion of headphones, but will NOT play the audio through them! It plays through the built-in speakers.

Well guess what? I just found in my desk drawer a 10 year old Griffin iMic. On a lark I plugged it in. Windows XP recognized it, knew exactly what it was and loaded the driver in about 3 seconds.

AND IT WORKS!

If you can't fix the problem "properly", Griffin still makes this little gem. It'd stink to have to drop $25 to fix something that arguably shouldn't even be broken in the first place. But it IS a solution!

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iMac headphone jack nonfunctional in XP (Boot Camp)