Audio issues, seemingly not driver related.

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  1. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    Audio issues, seemingly not driver related.


    So, I transitioned flawlessly to Windows 10 on release day in 2015, everything was working flawlessly, beside the odd intermittent bug of little relevance.

    Now 1 year later things have been a lot less enjoyable. During this time of consistent updates, I've had numerous issues that have come and gone. The latest of these is audio related, and are more annoying than anything else that I felt I had to share my experiences with it thus far.

    Every day recently, I boot my computer and there is no audio coming from the HDMI output on my graphics card(s). Device manager shows the driver as being fine, troubleshooting finds no problems, and the sound settings claims "This device is working fine". I then proceed a process of elimination. I reboot my PC and/or my AV receiver, still nothing.

    So you'd probably be thinking this is an HDMI issue. Well, you'd be wrong.

    I try a variety of other audio devices and outputs, and still no sound. On every occasion however, I have plugged in some USB headphones, only for the sound settings to not default to those like it has done since owning them. On two occasions this has even mocked me, by then playing audio via HDMI into my AV receiver instead.

    This is not driver related, and a google search has been little to no good, as there is absolutely no information or help regarding audio besides the usual "device manager" workarounds that people like to share on YouTube, which only helps those with driver troubles, and is still only a workaround and not a genuine fix.

    I suspect this is entirely beyond my control, and I shall just have to wait for Microsoft to acknowledge it and fix it? So far the several computers I've migrated to Windows 10 (friends, family, personal) have all had different issues of different annoyance levels, even if the hardware is all very similar.

    Oddly enough, if I just leave my computer running for an 45 minutes or so, more often than not the audio does start working, without warning.

    So, now my opinion of Windows 10 is long and complicated. It's genuinely destroyed my confidence as the computer technician and network engineer I spent tens of thousands studying, not that I claim to be either of those.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 4,752
    Windows 11 Pro 64 Bit 22H2
       #2

    Go to Control Panel/Sound/Playback Devices. Select your HDMI audio, and move it to first device and set it as Default audio device.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #3

    spunk said:
    Go to Control Panel/Sound/Playback Devices. Select your HDMI audio, and move it to first device and set it as Default audio device.
    That's exactly how my audio settings are and have been since I've had this computer. I double check this when I'm plugging in headphones etc too.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 438
    Win 10 pro 1803
       #4

    have you tried switching the HDMI cable? where you plug that anyway? digital audio should be enabled automatically when you plug it on (by default, HDMI or DP) so if that reocognizion is working, its not driver related.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #5

    batlhilz said:
    have you tried switching the HDMI cable? where you plug that anyway? digital audio should be enabled automatically when you plug it on (by default, HDMI or DP) so if that reocognizion is working, its not driver related.
    I've tried multiple audio outputs, I've rebooted my AV receiver, I've done everything typical that could be done. Yes, HDMI audio is on by default. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the sound settings, there is just no audio output when I first boot my computer for the day, and this goes on for about 45 minutes, or whenever some background task finally figures its stuff out, regardless of whether its HDMI, USB, analogue, etc. It is all audio, not just the HDMI output.

    To make my point clear again, HDMI is and has always been my default audio output. Plugging in a pair of USB headphones as of recent hasn't changed that, unless I manually change that, and even still I will usually have no audio output, until for unknown reasons the audio randomly starts working again, which seems to be very much beyond my control.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 2,585
    Win 11
       #6

    HDMI audio is a function of the Video Card. The audio is generated on the video card (I have one HD7770).
    When you use a USB sound device, such as a USB headset, the headset gets digital audio data from the PC and converts it to analog in the headset and no PC audio device is used.

    Since you have two video cards, for testing remove one of the cards and see if the problem is resolved. If the problem is still there with one Video card, try the other Video card, by itself, to see if the problem resolves or is still there.
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #7

    fireberd said:
    HDMI audio is a function of the Video Card. The audio is generated on the video card (I have one HD7770).
    When you use a USB sound device, such as a USB headset, the headset gets digital audio data from the PC and converts it to analog in the headset and no PC audio device is used.

    Since you have two video cards, for testing remove one of the cards and see if the problem is resolved. If the problem is still there with one Video card, try the other Video card, by itself, to see if the problem resolves or is still there.
    The USB headset was just an example, I also have analogue audio outputs and spdif amongst my outputs, and regardless of what is plugged in and configured, there is absolutely no sound, as mentioned numerous times now, even the USB headset which was working absolutely fine a few months back.

    I'm 99% certain the bug is deeper than drivers and configurations, and it's certainly not faulty hardware either given how unlikely it is that all of my audio devices would have intermittent problems at the same time.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 2,585
    Win 11
       #8

    Post a screenshot of the Device Manager, Sounds section. That may help.
    Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Ten Forums - Windows 10 Forums
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #9

    fireberd said:
    Post a screenshot of the Device Manager, Sounds section. That may help.
    Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Ten Forums - Windows 10 Forums
    Windows 10 is showing no driver complications (and so it shouldn't, given it's across 3 or 4 different audio outputs), and the sound settings troubleshooter says everything is functioning fine. It seems very slim that this is a fault of all the audio devices and their drivers, and more a problem deeply rooted within Windows 10 itself. I also have a drive running Ubuntu, no troubles there whatsoever in regards to audio, but that's mostly irrelevant being a completely different OS.

    Audio issues, seemingly not driver related.-capture.png
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 2,585
    Win 11
       #10

    Disable the Hauppauge Win TV, in the device manager, then restart the PC and see if that makes any difference.
    If not, disable the Webcam and then restart and see what happens. I've seen webcam's cause many audio problems.
      My Computers


 

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