Asus Sonic Master Laptop - the 2 USB ports & audio jack on SAME side not working

[JanetBiggar]

I set up a donated Asus (i7; 64 bit; RAM 6GB) for a youth and while I always check the USB ports, WiFi and speaker sound, I did not check that the audio jack for a headset was working.  I only discovered this once the youth was checking it out.
So the issue is that 2 USB ports and the audio jack all on the same side (close to each other if that is important) do not work.

I cannot say if the USB ports and audio jack worked initially when it was running Windows 7 as I don't recall trying it out before switching it to LL 3.8

The USB port on the opposite side of the laptop WORKS and the non-working ports don't seem "loose" or "appear" damaged.  Since the audio jack doesn't work (However speaker sound does work) I wondered how I might investigate what might solve the issue if there is a fix.

I wondered if the "check for drivers" was the first step?

Any thoughts? 

[TheDead]

Hi,

USB first.
Check if the four pins are there in the USB ports, and the plastic tab not broken.
If tab broken, be sure that no metal pins touch each other.
If all is correct try a USB mouse in the diffrent portal individually.

If nothing works I would theorize either a broken motherboard component and/or some "liquid" was spilted inside the laptop in it's lifetime.

For the audio, sometimes, ports are not compatible with earphone/microphone jacks (three metal stripes on connector), try a 'standard' walman jack with two stripes on the connector.
Also, check if there is a 'button/switch' for the audio port. Rare, but sometimes, mute buttons are quite hidden.
Edit : Typos

[JanetBiggar]

Thanks for the ideas, I will check them out and report back.