Toshiba S55t-A5377 Note: Toshiba manual is total crap. Does not
explain anything useful.

Very low laptop speaker sound level.

Was also garbled !

Update the audio two different Toshiba drivers and garbled went away but
sound still low.

Went to Mixer and all are at 100 %

Went to Speaker properties and tried there but no joy.

Tried Loudness but that turned off all audio and to fiddle until I got
audio out back on. Same with other settings.

What is ATAPI Internal ATAPI Jack? Currently set to Right Panel 3.5 mm
Jack.

Do not have headphones.

Some headphones with mic only have one plug. Will that work ?

I do not have any spare USB ports ! So a USB headphone & mic is not an
option.
Do not want to complicate more with a USB hub either.

Suggestion please.

Recommend cheap (~ $20 US) stereo headphone mic that I can use please !
Reasonable quality is acceptable since only use to listen occasionally.

On Thu, 4 Nov 2021 at 13:15:14, Jordee <Jordee@Noplace.com> wrote (my
responses usually follow points raised):
>Toshiba S55t-A5377 Note: Toshiba manual is total crap. Does not
>explain anything useful.
>
>Very low laptop speaker sound level.
>
>Was also garbled !

My first thought is that the physical speaker is damaged ...
>
>Update the audio two different Toshiba drivers and garbled went away
>but sound still low.

.... though that suggests not.

I'd still try plugging in an external something though - speaker,
headphone, or audio lead to something else.
>
>Went to Mixer and all are at 100 %
>
>Went to Speaker properties and tried there but no joy.
>
>Tried Loudness but that turned off all audio and to fiddle until I got
>audio out back on. Same with other settings.
>
>What is ATAPI Internal ATAPI Jack? Currently set to Right Panel 3.5 mm
>Jack.

(Cant answer that - I'd say right panel jack refers to the physical
socket. Some PC audio systems allow you to plug things into the wrong
sockets and still work, though I haven't heard of them being on
laptops.)
>
>Do not have headphones.
>
>Some headphones with mic only have one plug. Will that work ?

If the one plug has three insulating (e. g. black) rings on it, so it
has body, tip, and two rings - four contacts in all - then it probably
is indeed stereo headphones and microphone.

(If they've only three contacts - two insulating rings - but still have
a microphone, the headphones might be mono. Try them on your hifi or
some other similar source - ideally something with a balance control,
but failing that using recordings where you know bits are on only left
and only right channels.)
>
>I do not have any spare USB ports ! So a USB headphone & mic is not an
>option.
>Do not want to complicate more with a USB hub either.

You might have to, if the audio out circuitry is damaged! If it's only
the speaker, you still might, if you're not willing to use an external
speaker (or headphones) and aren't willing to take the thing apart to
replace the speaker. (If the speaker is damaged but the circuitry isn't
- i. e. it works OK with an external speaker - don't use it with just
the (faulty) internal speaker in use, as this might eventually harm the
chip that's driving it; they've usually got _some_ protection against
incorrect loading, but that's really intended to protect against brief
overloads, such as might happen while you're plugging or unplugging,
rather than a continuous fault.)
>
>Suggestion please.

Definitely I'd say first thing to establish, by use of external
speakers/headphones (even just borrow some), is whether you have damaged
hardware.
>
>Recommend cheap (~ $20 US) stereo headphone mic that I can use please !
>Reasonable quality is acceptable since only use to listen occasionally.
>
[I was recently amazed to find some stereo headphones being sold in one
of the British poundshop chains for 50p - which I bought just out of
curiosity to see how bad they were at that price - and found them very
good, certainly far better than I'd have expected! But they don't have a
microphone.]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

How could you be expected to know that picnics were originally held indoors,
or that a slow loris has poisonous elbows?
- Sandi Toksvig on QI, in RT 2018/9/15-21

Jordee <Jordee@Noplace.com> wrote:

> Toshiba S55t-A5377

The reviews that I saw for this are dated back to 2013, so that's when
the laptop came out, or perhaps a little earlier. No mention if you
bought this used or new. For an 8+ year old laptop, especially if it
travels a lot, it can get dirty.

Could be with an old laptop that debris got behind the speaker grill or
into the speaker ports. In the online pics, I couldn't see where are
the speakers for that laptop.

I've had old speakers where the surround (outside edge of the cone that
attaches cone to chassis) deteriorated. Just touching the surround had
it crumble. That can cause misalignment of the cone to the voice coil,
and it the coil doesn't move perfectly in alignment to the neck then the
coil snags, and volume is reduced, scratchy, or both. For my old
Infinity speakers, I found a kit that let me glue on a new surround, so
the cone could bounce up and down its full stroke, but I had to be very
careful with alignment to prevent the coil from snagging. For your
laptop, you can buy replacement speaker sets, but you'll have to open
the case to replace the old speakers.

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=toshiba%20S55t-A5377%20speakers

You can find disassembly videos at Youtube. Once apart would also be a
good time to dust it out.

Although you don't have headphones, your friends might. Or go to
Goodwill/Thrift Store to get them cheap. Walmart has over-the-ear
headphones for cheap at under $10, and on-the-ear for $15. That would
test if quality and volume were okay for the headjack output. If the
headphones sound okay, you have a hardware problem with the internal
speakers.

On 11/4/2021 4:15 PM, Jordee wrote:
> Toshiba S55t-A5377  Note: Toshiba manual is total crap.  Does not explain anything useful.
>
> Very low laptop speaker sound level.
>
> Was also garbled !
>
> Update the audio two different Toshiba drivers and garbled went away but sound still low.
>
> Went to Mixer and all are at 100 %
>
> Went to Speaker properties and tried there but no joy.
>
> Tried Loudness but that turned off all audio and to fiddle until I got audio out back on.  Same with other settings.
>
> What is ATAPI Internal ATAPI Jack?  Currently set to Right Panel 3.5 mm Jack.
>
> Do not have headphones.
>
> Some headphones with mic only have one plug.  Will that work ?
>
> I do not have any spare USB ports ! So a USB headphone & mic is not an option.
> Do not want to complicate more with a USB hub either.
>
> Suggestion please.
>
> Recommend cheap (~ $20 US) stereo headphone mic that I can use please !
> Reasonable quality is acceptable since only use to listen occasionally.
>

The audio is possibly Conexant brand, but I don't know any more than
that. The Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) Properties on the item,
Details tab and Hardware ID, might hint at what it is.

Loudness would be loudness compensation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_compensation

"ATAPI Internal ATAPI Jack" is the four pin audio header, that
used to get cabled to the back of CD drives. CD drives support
DAE (digital audio extraction) over the digital ribbon cable,
so that negates the need to use analog. The CD drive used a
1-bit DAC to generate stereo audio to be fed to the AC97 or
HDAudio chip on the motherboard. Of all the computers I have
here, I never ever wired this up :-) Even when I had the
cable for it.

https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/CD_audio_connectors

*******

On DVD drives, the interface is two-pin, and motherboards
never seemed to have an interface to pick up the signal.
There is an example of the cable here, and the advert is declaring
that "S'PDIF" is on the cable. Motherboards can have S'PDIF,
but the connector doesn't look like this.

https://www.cables.com/digital-cddvd-audio-2-pin-cable.html

The motherboard S'PDIF is an *output* connector. Very few motherboards
have S'PDIF *input*. Such an input could be on a sound card. That is,
if the sound card had documentation.

The reason for a lot of mystery, is the industry did not want
people making "perfect copies" of audio. They were afraid
tech like S'PDIF would enable making perfect copies, if
computers had an input for it. But they also played some
games with S'PDIF, like the standard may say there is 24 bit
audio, when the hardware has hobbled the eight least significant
bits, and it's actually being allowed to send only 16 bit audio.

In other words, for most people, this is a giant don't care.
As the industry tried to cut corners, and the users used
ripping software to teach them a lesson about copying.

*******

Even if I knew what chip was used on the laptop, the mystery
of what is going on there would only be apparent with a schematic
as a means of verifying things. While the motherboard audio chip
could have a 2 watt amplifier in it, it might be just as easy to
use a separate amp chip for that part of it.

Laptop audio is generally not done with 7.1 audio chips. The
HDAudio chip has fewer channels. But it need not be "special"
in any way, and could be made by simply disconnecting channels
a laptop would not be using. It still needs

Front speaker out - to amplified tiny speakers imaginary "2 watt" max
Headphone jack <=== plugging in headphones, mutes Front speakers in software
Microphone jack <=== more sensitive than LineIn on desktop
CDaudio (probably only in the AC'97 era would this be popular) Line level input 1VAC

and the laptop audio chip has 48 pins, just like a desktop
audio chip has 48 pins for its 7.1 channel audio function.
The laptop software need not have a "mode" menu to select
Stereo, 5.1, 7.1, as fewer channels are advertised in it.

On HDaudio, you might be able to drive Front Speakers
at the same time as Headphone jack. But then, I don't
know how the proprietary Conexant control panel would
handle this possibility (if present). Some of the things
the hardware is capable of, don't make it into the
control panel GUI for easy access.

Just like there is a "what you hear" input on most all
audio chips, but this may not be documented in a useful
way. Since they don't want you copying audio (even if in
this case, the copy is not "perfect" and has background
noises), there is a tendency to hide such things.
In Windows, you can tease out the hidden function, but
it takes an effort.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/9MhtwTPY/Windows7-what-you-hear-Unhidden.gif

Paul

I bought a $20 U.S. stereo headphone with mic attached and the volume
there is overpowering until I turned it down. The mic is also very loud
and requires no boost. Just the speakers are very poor. Must be a fault
in the speaker hardware drivers. What else ?

Jordee wrote:
> Toshiba S55t-A5377  Note: Toshiba manual is total crap.  Does not
> explain anything useful.
>
> Very low laptop speaker sound level.
>
> Was also garbled !
>
> Update the audio two different Toshiba drivers and garbled went away but
> sound still low.
>
> Went to Mixer and all are at 100 %
>
> Went to Speaker properties and tried there but no joy.
>
> Tried Loudness but that turned off all audio and to fiddle until I got
> audio out back on.  Same with other settings.
>
> What is ATAPI Internal ATAPI Jack?  Currently set to Right Panel 3.5 mm
> Jack.
>
> Do not have headphones.
>
> Some headphones with mic only have one plug.  Will that work ?
>
> I do not have any spare USB ports ! So a USB headphone & mic is not an
> option.
> Do not want to complicate more with a USB hub either.
>
> Suggestion please.
>
> Recommend cheap (~ $20 US) stereo headphone mic that I can use please !
> Reasonable quality is acceptable since only use to listen occasionally.
>

On 11/7/2021 10:13 AM, Jordee wrote:
>
> I bought a $20 U.S. stereo headphone with mic attached and the volume
> there is overpowering until I turned it down. The mic is also very loud
> and requires no boost. Just the speakers are very poor. Must be a fault
> in the speaker hardware drivers. What else ?
>
>
> Jordee wrote:
>> Toshiba S55t-A5377  Note: Toshiba manual is total crap.  Does not
>> explain anything useful.
>>
>> Very low laptop speaker sound level.
>>
>> Was also garbled !
>>
>> Update the audio two different Toshiba drivers and garbled went away but
>> sound still low.
>>
>> Went to Mixer and all are at 100 %
>>
>> Went to Speaker properties and tried there but no joy.
>>
>> Tried Loudness but that turned off all audio and to fiddle until I got
>> audio out back on.  Same with other settings.
>>
>> What is ATAPI Internal ATAPI Jack?  Currently set to Right Panel 3.5 mm
>> Jack.
>>
>> Do not have headphones.
>>
>> Some headphones with mic only have one plug.  Will that work ?
>>
>> I do not have any spare USB ports ! So a USB headphone & mic is not an
>> option.
>> Do not want to complicate more with a USB hub either.
>>
>> Suggestion please.
>>
>> Recommend cheap (~ $20 US) stereo headphone mic that I can use please !
>> Reasonable quality is acceptable since only use to listen occasionally.
>>
>

--
Ken

On 11/7/2021 10:13 AM, Jordee wrote:
>
> I bought a $20 U.S. stereo headphone with mic attached and the volume
> there is overpowering until I turned it down. The mic is also very loud
> and requires no boost. Just the speakers are very poor. Must be a fault
> in the speaker hardware drivers. What else ?

Please don't top post.

Do your speakers have drivers? They normally don't.

What else? Volume control on speaker turned down? Defective speakers?

If it's not the volume control on the speakers, try borrowing speakers
from a friend. If that fixes the problem, throw yours away and buy new ones.

> Jordee wrote:
>> Toshiba S55t-A5377  Note: Toshiba manual is total crap.  Does not
>> explain anything useful.
>>
>> Very low laptop speaker sound level.
>>
>> Was also garbled !
>>
>> Update the audio two different Toshiba drivers and garbled went away but
>> sound still low.
>>
>> Went to Mixer and all are at 100 %
>>
>> Went to Speaker properties and tried there but no joy.
>>
>> Tried Loudness but that turned off all audio and to fiddle until I got
>> audio out back on.  Same with other settings.
>>
>> What is ATAPI Internal ATAPI Jack?  Currently set to Right Panel 3.5 mm
>> Jack.
>>
>> Do not have headphones.
>>
>> Some headphones with mic only have one plug.  Will that work ?
>>
>> I do not have any spare USB ports ! So a USB headphone & mic is not an
>> option.
>> Do not want to complicate more with a USB hub either.
>>
>> Suggestion please.
>>
>> Recommend cheap (~ $20 US) stereo headphone mic that I can use please !
>> Reasonable quality is acceptable since only use to listen occasionally.
>>
>

--
Ken

Ken Blake <ken@invalidemail.com> wrote:

> If it's not the volume control on the speakers, try borrowing speakers
> from a friend. If that fixes the problem, throw yours away and buy new ones.

From the OP's description, he is using the speakers integral inside the
laptop's case. Except for piezo speakers used for beeps, regular
speakers have a surround that attaches the cone to the frame, and it
deteriorates over time. The OP's laptop is 8 years old, so a bit short
on deterioration of the surround, but not if the laptop were left in the
sun or otherwise in high heat for a long time. Debris behind the
speaker grill or in the speaker ports is another possibility. No idea
of the OP ever dusted the inside of his laptop. No mention if the OP
bought it new, or bought it used. If used, could be someone damaged the
speakers by blowing to hard on them to crush the center dome which could
reduce the throw length of the cone. No mention if this is an old
problem (from the day he got the laptop), or a new problem.

On Sun, 7 Nov 2021 at 09:13:39, Jordee <Jordee@Jordee.com> wrote (my
responses usually follow points raised):
>
>I bought a $20 U.S. stereo headphone with mic attached and the volume
>there is overpowering until I turned it down. The mic is also very
>loud and requires no boost. Just the speakers are very poor. Must be a
>fault in the speaker hardware drivers. What else ?
[]
When you say "Just the speakers are very poor", do you mean the
headphones were OK after you'd turned it down, but the speakers were
not? If that's the case, then the driver (both in software terms of a
"driver", and the actual amplifiers that drive the speakers) are OK, and
it is the internal speaker(s) themselves that are at fault - as VLH
says, torn surround, and/or dust buildup, or other fault. Although it's
unusual for both speakers to develop hardware faults identically -
usually only one is affected, or at least one is worse than the other.

You originally said I think that the speakers are low volume - are they
actually distorted, or just quiet? If just quiet, it _could_ be a loose
connection (in the switched socket is most likely), or something having
gone high resistance; however, that's unusual - a loose connection
usually causes distortion too.

If the internal speakers _are_ damaged (but headphones sound OK once
you've turned the volume down), I wouldn't continue using them, as it's
likely to harm the electronics driving them if you do so over a long
period. (Modern-ish such circuitry is designed to survive a short-term
bad load, such as switching transients when you plug something in, but
not long-term.) Leave the headphones plugged in (or just a lead or dummy
plug [as long as it's not a mono plug]).
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Abandon hope, all ye who <ENTER> here.

On 11/7/2021 12:13 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> Ken Blake <ken@invalidemail.com> wrote:
>
>> If it's not the volume control on the speakers, try borrowing speakers
>> from a friend. If that fixes the problem, throw yours away and buy new ones.
>
> From the OP's description, he is using the speakers integral inside the
> laptop's case.

Now that you say that, it sounds like I had seen and had forgotten that
in his original message. It wasn't in the message I replied to, so ...

To the OP: Sorry, for an inappropriate reply.

> Except for piezo speakers used for beeps, regular
> speakers have a surround that attaches the cone to the frame, and it
> deteriorates over time. The OP's laptop is 8 years old, so a bit short

An eight-year-old computer is a very old one. That might be the only
problem now, but there will likely be more very soon. It's probably time
to replace it.

--
Ken

Ken Blake <ken@invalidemail.com> wrote:

> An eight-year-old computer is a very old one. That might be the only
> problem now, but there will likely be more very soon. It's probably
> time to replace it.

For computers, yes, that's old. One computer year is the equivalent of
ten human years. However, that's not long for the hardware itself
(software changes more often, and why it's called "soft"ware). The
surround of a speaker should last a long longer than 8 years, but that
depends on the quality of the surround material. It isn't just age that
damages the surround. High volume can tear the surround, people poking
their fingers into the speaker can damage the surround, high pressure
air blown at the speaker or using a pin to clean out debris can damage
the surround.

It was about 30 years before I had to replace the surround in my ancient
Infinity bookshelf speakers (to repair them instead of replace them).
The surround would crumble into itty bitty pieces as I lightly ran my
finger across the surround. As I recall, the speakers were getting mush
sounding, and volume was less at the same setting on the stereo control.

https://www.speakerworks.com/speaker-repair-kits-s/65.htm

Never used this site's products. Just found it in a search. For my old
Infinity bookshelf speakers, I replaced the surround about 12 years ago,
so I got my kit from elsewhere. The glue on the surround (contacting
the cone and the frame) takes a little time to dry, so you have some
time to reposition the cone and surround to check the coil doesn't snag.
I first glued the surround to the cone, let it dry, and then glued and
positioned the surround on the frame. Giving you time to reposition the
surround is why the glue should be slow drying. The coil needs to be
perfectly centered inside the magnet.

Laptop speakers are way too tiny to be replacing the surround. Plus, by
the time you dismantle the case to get at the speakers, you might as
well as replace the entire speaker, and do them in pairs. With
bookshelf or floor speakers, you can remove the speakers to repair them,
and working on removing the old surround and installing a new surround
is easy. Laptop speakers are too tiny.

You can get a replacement speaker pair for the OP's laptop for $10
(https://www.ebay.com/p/1739489783). You could also get a broken laptop
for cheap to salvage its speakers. Lots of computers are sold cheap for
parts.

If you look closely at the eBay pics, you'll see the foam surround in
the speaker. It's width is about the size of one of the wires in that
photo, so extremely hard to replace the surround, plus a surround kit
would probably cost more than getting a whole replacement. When I
repaired my bookshelf speakers, the surround kit was $20 while the 3
speakers were over $200. For $10 laptop speakers, and a pair of them,
and being tiny to work on, replace the surrounds would be only to test
if you could do it, not such was financially plausible.

Because they're so tiny, it wouldn't take much debris to muffle the
laptop speakers. Before replacing the speakers, I'd make sure to clean
off and around the speakers.

On 11/7/2021 3:49 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> Ken Blake <ken@invalidemail.com> wrote:
>
>> An eight-year-old computer is a very old one. That might be the only
>> problem now, but there will likely be more very soon. It's probably
>> time to replace it.
>
> For computers, yes, that's old. One computer year is the equivalent of
> ten human years.

Then an eight-year-old computer is older than I am.

> However, that's not long for the hardware itself

Maybe, maybe not.

> (software changes more often,

Yes, we agree on that.

> and why it's called "soft"ware).

Not as far as I'm concerned. The reason it's called software is that, as
opposed to hardware, it can't be touched and felt.

--
Ken

On 11/7/2021 5:02 PM, Ken Blake wrote:
> On 11/7/2021 3:49 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
>> Ken Blake <ken@invalidemail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> An eight-year-old computer is a very old one. That might be the only
>>> problem now, but there will likely be more very soon. It's probably
>>> time to replace it.
>>
>> For computers, yes, that's old. One computer year is the equivalent of
>> ten human years.
>
>
> Then an eight-year-old computer is older than I am.

Sorry, I meant "...not as old as I am."

>> However, that's not long for the hardware itself
>
>
> Maybe, maybe not.
>
>
>> (software changes more often,
>
>
> Yes, we agree on that.
>
>
>> and why it's called "soft"ware).
>
>
> Not as far as I'm concerned. The reason it's called software is that, as
> opposed to hardware, it can't be touched and felt.
>
>

--
Ken

Ken Blake wrote:
> On 11/7/2021 12:13 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
>> Ken Blake <ken@invalidemail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> If it's not the volume control on the speakers, try borrowing
>>> speakers from a friend. If that fixes the problem, throw yours away
>>> and buy new ones.
>>
>>  From the OP's description, he is using the speakers integral inside the
>> laptop's case.
>
>
>
> Now that you say that, it sounds like I had seen and had forgotten that
> in his original message. It wasn't in the message I replied to, so ...
>
> To the OP: Sorry, for an inappropriate reply.
>
>
>> Except for piezo speakers used for beeps, regular
>> speakers have a surround that attaches the cone to the frame, and it
>> deteriorates over time.  The OP's laptop is 8 years old, so a bit short
>
>
> An eight-year-old computer is a very old one. That might be the only
> problem now, but there will likely be more very soon. It's probably time
> to replace it.
>
>
Yes I have replaced it with two much older used Windows XP Pro laptops,
Lenovo. These actually work better than any later Win 7 Pro laptops or
desktops I have.

>

Ken Blake wrote:
> On 11/7/2021 5:02 PM, Ken Blake wrote:
>> On 11/7/2021 3:49 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
>>> Ken Blake <ken@invalidemail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> An eight-year-old computer is a very old one. That might be the only
>>>> problem now, but there will likely be more very soon. It's probably
>>>> time to replace it.
>>>
>>> For computers, yes, that's old.  One computer year is the equivalent of
>>> ten human years.
>>
>>
>> Then an eight-year-old computer is older than I am.
>
>
> Sorry, I meant "...not as old as I am."
>
>
>
>>> However, that's not long for the hardware itself
>>
>>
>> Maybe, maybe not.
>>
>>
>>> (software changes more often,
>>
>>
>> Yes, we agree on that.
>>
>>
>>> and why it's called "soft"ware).
>>
>>
>> Not as far as I'm concerned. The reason it's called software is that, as
>> opposed to hardware, it can't be touched and felt.
>>
>>
>
>

We are all too old !