After exactly the menus described above popping up when the speakers were put in, tonight it just sat there. Dumb insolence.
Reinstalling drivers and jumping up and down...all made no difference. We watched a filum on me laptop.
Here I am at 02:00 sparrows, and total silence still.
Before, sure enough, just pugging the speakers caused a second menu to go over the one above. It stated that it had detected the speakers being plugged in. On the picture above, the correct socket blinked. Kool.
Nothing registers, and it says I only have a digital output. No speakers.
It really does smell of a hardware/heat thing, but that's old fashioned thinking I know. There are NO JUMPERS ON THAT F_AUDIO plug, and no information AT ALL of what to do with that plug.
About ready to scrap this MB...t'would be very defeatist though.