yes, I was also going to suggest software as well. Can you try a USB headset, and do the same test? As for a bad audio jack, it is also possible that the soldered electrical contacts have cracked with age. You could, if you can, reheat the audio jack contacts with a soldering iron and remelt them. They should be quite large and easy to access, but you'll need to crack open your computer and motherboard, which is a pain.

On Mon, 22 Sept 2025 at 07:35, bitmap via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Not sure if I misread the situation. But have you ruled out a software issue? Maybe some inadvertent change to your configuration. Try booting from a USB to see if same behavior.

On Mon, Sep 22, 2025, at 1:26 AM, William Park via Talk wrote:
I first noticed when viewing YouTube.  So, I tried "audio test" from 
System Setting (KDE here).  You get a popup, with "front left" and 
"front right" buttons.  And, sure enough, depending on headphone, only 
mono was coming out, left side only, right side only, or to both sides.


On 2025-09-21 23:46, Karen Lewellen wrote:
> William
> May I ask what is providing the audio for you?
> Before suggesting some possible causes, I would appreciate a better 
> picture of your setup.
> Karen
>
>
>
> On Sun, 21 Sep 2025, William Park via Talk wrote:
>
>> I'm using 3.5mm jack, not USB.  I don't think any internal contact is 
>> broken, because it's the same via front "headphone" or rear "line-out".
>>
>> On 2025-09-21 22:14, Don Tai wrote:
>>>  Do you use an audio jack or USB? If an audio jack, it is possible 
>>> that the
>>>  contacts are dirty and need cleaning. You can try a little electrical
>>>  contact cleaner. But this should not affect the stereo/mono settings.
>>>
>>>  On Sun, 21 Sept 2025 at 22:11, William Park via Talk
>>>  <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>      My audio used to work properly in stereo.  All of sudden, it 
>>> stopped
>>>      working in stereo.  Depending on headphones,
>>>           - only 1 side has sound, or
>>>           - both sides have sound, but it's mono (ie. same sound on
>>>      both side).
>>>
>>>      Anyone experienced this?
>>>      How long before the whole motherboard dies?
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>>

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