Asus Sabertooth 990fx audio and microphone not working

Hello all!

I recently had to re-install windows for reasons but basically as I did this everything went smooth except my headphone and microphone jacks won't detect any devices. I didn't plug in my front audio ports because I never plugged it into my motherboard because I can't stand the interference and it just looks ugly in cable management.

 

I know it isn't a windows problem because I had the same issue when I got into Lubuntu.

 

I feel like it isn't a physical issue because I plugged both the headphones and mic into my laptop and phone and they work perfectly on these devices. 

 

I uninstalled and re-installed my audio drivers, went through all of the windows updates, I am stuck. Do I simply have a DOA and need to buy a cheap sound card? I looked around the forums lightly, mostly just Tom's hardware and I haven't been able to find a solution aside from buying a sound card so that is why I'm posting here. Has anyone found a solution since these were posted? 

 

To be honest if I don't have to buy a sound card then I would really appreciate that because I am down to my last expansion slot that is open. 

 

Any help is appreciated, thanks. 

Did you plug in the front panel header when you installed the mobo?

i was on my way to ask the same.

What happens if you plug your headphone, into the back?

Check to see if the sound chip is enabled in the bios and that it not in ac 97 mode.

I actually never plugged it in because I would never use it. I always use the back panel I/O.

I'll look for that. Can you explain what ac 97 mode is? Also if you are familiar with the asus bios, can you kinda guide me in the right direction to find it?

AC97 or HD audio doesnt matter much as far as i know. that setting is only for the front io pannel.

If it does not work, then i think you have to rma the board. Asus gives 5 year warrenty on tuf boards so yeah.

Try a different headphone and microphone, check the audio software/driver for the audio chip, try blowing the holes with airblower.

Stay tuf, bro.

I don't have any other options to plug into these jacks but I know the microphone on my webcam (which is USB) works perfectly fine.

Oh and like I said originally, the headphones and microphone work fine on my laptop.

Thanks for clarifying that. Things like this are exactly why I went with the TUF series (really nice warranty/durable). Thanks for trying to help. Actually I might just go with a sound card instead of doing an RMA for now because it isn't exactly practical at the moment as I need my computer to be working for school. The only problem with this is that I'm out of expansion slots so...

Umm... I only plug it in to the back.

RMA the board

I got a 5 year warranty... I'll get a sound card as a temporary fix for now

Well, I have a TUF board too and to hear that this supposed to be a robust mobo having hardware problem is kind of a let down. Asus specifically mentioned that this mobos have passed a strict realibility testing... mmm.

Check out a USB audio device, cheaper, small and is mobile. For long term, yeah, buy a sound card but no need to spend on expensive ones. TekSyndicate did a review on this.

Good luck!

 

I don't think I'm gonna be buying another TUF board next time around... I saw on another forum, Tom's hardware maybe, and they were talking about how all of the TUF series boards are are just pumped up marketing so now I don't feel too confident about this product line at all. I'll look into a usb or PCI express, whichever I can find at my local frys :P I didn't even know that, USB solution are out there. That actually might be a better bet in my situation, thanks. 

 

On a side note, what was the board that supposedly had its reliability testing like mining litecoin or something for a week straight? Sorry it is something that popped in my head. 

No Asus doesnt mine testing as far as i know.

But every board can fail. TuF series boards do have higher class components on board, but this is baiscly on the vreg part. 

The thing with mobo´s is basicly that you just get what you pay for. Allot of reviewers dont have theire facts right about motherboards, or atleast they dont realy know what they are talking about.

for example, the Msi Z97 Mpower, they all state that this board is fantastic overclockers board, with a verry beeft 12+2 powerphase design, blalala. But this is basicly very missleading. Because if you look closer to the vrm design of that mobo, then you see why this board is posistioned as a sub $150 mobo. Because it isnt a true 12+2 phase board. its only a 6+1 true phase with doublers. And this is just an example, this happens by every vendors. also Asus does this.  for example the Asus maximus 7 Ranger vs Hero. The reason why the Ranger is so much cheaper then the hero, is because the RAnger is a 4+1 true powerphase board with doublers, and the Hero is a true 8 phase board.

Asus TuF series boards, are just more expensive, because they are true 8 phase boards. in your situation a true 8+2 powerphase board. this makes those more reliable and stable for overclocking.

Like i said you just get what you pay for, boards per price range are mostly very similar, But some use better components then others.

If we now take the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P for example, this is a lower priced 970 board with a 8+2 powerphase. The reason why i personaly never recommend this board, is because the specs are missleading. Because its just a 4+1 true phase board with doublers.

This offcourse does not mean, that all boards with doublers are bad, because they are totaly fine for what they do. But this just indicated the diffrence between midrange and highend boards.

With all TUF series you get a 5 year warranty, they have to test some components because 5 yar warranty on a mobo is quite a lot, specially one that is suposed to handle 9000 cpus's, so I would go with BIOS update set up defaults, and if that doesn't works RMA it, it's your right to rma, use it.

 

good luck bro

Thank you for this insight. I'll most definitely not overlook the motherboard next time. I got this one mostly off pure recommendations rather than in depth research.  

Yeah I'll get into the RMA soon, just can't right now in my situation as I need an operable computer for school and waiting for a motherboard isn't practical. Thanks.