Loose Cabling Posted July 20, 2004 at 12:00 am

I tackled a problem with a workstation dropping audio during DVD playback today. The problem was perplexing in that it was limited to a specific part of a specific DVD; other DVDs played fine. That left the DVD itself in question, but it played without event on a nearby system. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling software, rebooting, etc. Nothing worked. I eventually noted a dull hum coming from the speakers even at minimum volume. I checked the audio jack and discovered a loose connection. With the audio jack firmly in place, all playback issues disappeared. I expected an all-or-none relationship, but I was proved wrong here. Lesson learned: check your cables.