Headphone jack not working (Dell Inspiron 15 7000)

Brand new Inspiron 15 7000 running Windows 10.

Start up Windows with the headphones already plugged into the audio jack, and sound is correctly played through the headphones. Unplug the headphone from the jack, and sound comes through the built-in speakers. But now plug the headphones back in, and sound continues from the built-in speakers (and not the headphones).

If you startup Windows with the headphones unplugged, sound is never played through the headphones.

According to this article on Dell Support, the "solution" is to re-install the drivers. I tried this but this did not resolve the issue (headphones only work if Windows is booted with them plugged in).

In the registry the following are set:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"WavesSvc"="\"C:\\Windows\\System32\\DriverStore\\FileRepository\\wavesapo9de.inf_amd64_f0ed9cf2b4f48fab\\WavesSvc64.exe\" -Jack"
"RtkAudUService"="\"C:\\Windows\\System32\\RtkAudUService64.exe\" -background"

Could this be a hardware problem? Is there anything to check in the BIOS?

Update

Have completed uninstalled and then re-installed Realtek audio drivers but without resolving the problem (headphones only work if they were plugged in when the PC is booted).

Solution 1:

The laptop was plugged into an external monitor using HDMI. Known monitors that show this problem include:

• Dell U2419H
• LG M2362DP

This answer should apply to any HDMI monitor.

When the HDMI monitor is plugged in, a DELL U2419H playback device was installed, probably by the monitor device driver. This is unhelpful because the monitor does not even have in-built speakers!

When the headphones were plugged in, playback switched automatically to the Dell monitor and consequently no sound was heard.

When the headphones were unplugged, playback switched back to the in-built Realtek speakers and sound was heard as normal.

The solution is to disable the DELL U2419H playback device (or other HDMI monitor) as follows:

• Right-click the Volume icon in the Taskbar and select Sound. Alternatively, Windows Settings > System > Sound > Sound Control Panel.
• Select the Playback section
• Right-click the monitor playback device(s), in my case DELL U2419H, and select Disable
• Right-click in the list and select Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices to be reminded of devices no longer available for selection
• Reboot the PC