# No Sound through HP XB4 Docking Station



## Thingamabob999 (Aug 31, 2010)

Hi, I'm having a little problem with my HP xb4 docking station, and I hope you guys can help me.

After following the instructions and docking the computer correctly, I'm receiving no sound output from both the Altec Lansing speakers nor headphones or external speakers plugged into the headphone jack on the dock. 

Current devices plugged in are an Ethernet cable (back), AC power input (back), wireless keyboard and mouse adapter (back USB), an HP PocketMedia Drive (hard drive port) and a wacom intuos 3 tablet (side USB 2). 

I've tried removing ALL peripheral devices with no luck. My laptop is an HP dv7-2170us, running Windows 7 64-bit. When not plugged into the dock, the laptop speakers work fine, as does the headphone jack. However, when I plug the expansion cable into the laptop, all sound ceases (I can still plug a pair of headphones into the laptop's headphone slot and get sound, but that's the only peep I can get out of the computer once it's connected to the dock). 

I've had the dock for about a year and 3 months (so the warranty is expired...), and I've never encountered problems like this. I talked with HP tech support both over the phone and via email and all they could tell me is that I needed to purchase a new one for $200. 

Can anyone help me with this problem? Or at the very least, can you give me some diagnostic tips beyond the basic 'make sure all of your sound control options aren't muted' deal. Thanks for any help.


----------



## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Does Win7 recognize the dock as a new audio output? It wouldn't think that it would, but I've not used a Win7 laptop, much less on a docking station. 

The docking station itself, is basically just an extension of the laptop. So the fault could be with the laptop or docking station. The only way to test, would be to attach your laptop to another docking station. If it works, you know it's the docking station, if it doesn't, you have a laptop issue.


----------



## Thingamabob999 (Aug 31, 2010)

No, the laptop doesn't recognize the dock as a new sound output. Under playback devices I have listed when the dock is plugged in:

Digital Audio (HDMI) --not plugged in.
Speakers and Dual Headphones --set as default device
Independent Dual Headphones --ready
SPDIF (Digital Out via HP Dock) --ready

And when it's not:

Digital Audio (HDMI) --not plugged in.
Speakers and Dual Headphones --set as default device
Independent Dual Headphones --not plugged in
SPDIF (Digital Out via HP Dock) --ready

I don't have an extra dock on hand, but I plugged another compatible HP laptop into the dock, and I experienced the same phenomenon with the speakers. Thanks for the feedback, though.


----------



## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Then if two laptops experience the same problem, it's most likely the dock.


----------

