Simultaneous headphone and speaker sound

[headphoned]

Suddenly, out of the blue, plugging in my headphones or external speakers no longer automatically mutes my laptop's internal speakers. I guess it could be a problem with the headphone socket/jack, but sending it in for this would be a pain. Is there any way simply to disable the laptop speakers without having to open the laptop? I use the external speakers or headphones for sound anyway, so that would do fine as a solution. Any ideas anyone?

System info:

BIOS flashed, chip set and audio drivers updated to latest versions already.

Acer Aspire 1350

Realtek AC'97 audio

TIA

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to TechSpot

Looks like either the jack has gone on the blink (unlikely), or one of its wires has come undone.
Either you open the laptop yourself and fix it by resoldering or replacing the jack one way or another, or send it in.
If it is still under warranty, the last would be your best bet. If not, it is cheaper to do a bit of DIY.

 

[headphoned]

Thank you

Thanks for the suggestion, but with a bit of lateral thinking, I have now managed to work around the hassle of sending the laptop in under warranty and the inconvenience of not having it for several days by buying an inexpensive piece of equipment known as a USB audio interface. Shuts off the internal speakers and provides an external jack to plug in headphones or external speakers. Thanks for your help though. I will exercise that option if something more serious goes wrong with the laptop. Then they might as well fix it all at once