Picture of where the audio plugs gp.

BML wrote: Two questions; 1. I don't remember when I bought this computer because I have mislaid the paperwork so how and where do I ask to find out?   2.  I have an elderly cassette player that I used to use to play some equally elderly tapes and the plug was pulled out and not put back where it came from not by me I may add.  I wonder if its possible to obtain a colour picture showing the sockets on the back of the tower naming what they do.   I would be very grateful for some advice.  Many thanks.

You've given us very, very little to go on. Many details are missing.

The best I can give you is the standard audio input and output layout on a mother board's IO panel. Fortunately the audio input and outputs are a standard that has been used for a while now.

I also must assume several other important factors along the way, that I will mention and describe as best I can.

When you "... bought this computer", was it already assembled? Do you know if you have an ASRock mother board?

The PC must have some type of identification on it. If not, you would need to open the PC case to see who made the mother board or PC if it was sold as a whole functioning unit. Some pre-built PCs use proprietary connections, both internally and externally. If your PC is of that kind, this will be more difficult.

First I will mention that the cable connections on audio equipment are normally not a match to those used on PCs. Since we have no idea what your cassette player is, I will assume the cables you are currently using are compatible with a PCs input.

PCs use 3.5mm pin plugs and jacks. Stereo cassette decks use RCA jacks and plugs, which are not compatible with 3.5mm pin jacks. Dual RCA plugs to a single 3.5mm stereo pin plug are common, and the following assumes that is the type of cable(s) you have.

This is a picture of the audio inputs and outputs currently in use:




The blue 3.5mm input on the upper right is a mono or stereo input. That is where you would connect your cassette player.

The light green (called Lime Green) 3.5mm jack, just below the blue jack, on the middle right,  is the mono or two channel stereo output. That is where your amplifier or powered stereo speakers will be connected.

Most of the rest of the connections are for use with a modern multi-channel audio system.

The orange 3.5mm pin jack on the upper left is the center channel and subwoofer (also known as LFE channel) output.

The black 3.5mm pin jack below the orange jack, on the middle right, is the dual rear channel speaker output.

The pink 3.5mm jack on the lower right is a stereo microphone input.

The connector on the lower left is a TOSLINK optical digital signal output connector.

If none of this matches what you are using, you'll need to provide a decent description or picture of what you are working with.