Conexant Sound not working on ASUS GL752VW. No Audio Device Installed.

A few weeks back I got an ASUS ROG GL752VW. During my initial set up in the first few days, I went into device manager, to my sound card, which is Conexant brand and updated the drivers. This caused the sound on my laptop to completely stop working upon a restart. Attempting to download the Windows 10 64bit drivers for the soundcard, uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling the newly download ones did not work. I have include screenshots of what is shown WITH the conexant drivers installed. When I try and look at playback devices when right clicking volume, NOTHING comes up.


As a work around, I uninstalled the conexant drivers and ran sound using the default windows 'High Definition Audio Device', which worked fine until the other day, when for some reason my sound quality took a massive drop and has started crackling and popping whenever sound plays. The ONLY thing I did software/hardware wise at the time this Crackling issue started was install Logitech Gaming Software for my new mouse. It does appear to be driver related as it does the same through either laptop speakers or headphones.

I have tried the fixes found in this thread: Windows 10 no sound SOLUTION (CONEXANT) - Page 3 - Windows 10 Forums including the final regedit idea, but nothing has worked. The only thing I haven't tried is the installing older Windows 7/8 drivers suggestion.

Two issues, first since Windows detected and install the generic High Definition Audio but it started the popping and cracking apparently, when you installed the Logitech. It sounds like possibly Logitech is using Wi-Fi for whatever reason. One of the known things that cause popping and crackling is Wi-Fi. There are other issues such as sound and video drivers but since you are using the generic HD Audio driver I would rule that out. Audio is considered a "low priority" device and is always assigned a shared Interrupt with a high priority device.

If you have a System Restore point that is BEFORE installing the Logitech software, use the System Restore and fall back to that point. That should give you sound again. If you don't have a restore point, uninstall the Logitech software, uninstall the sound in the Device Manager then restart the PC (don't skip the restart). When Windows starts it should detect the sound and reinstall the HD Audio drivers.

Why it won't install the correct sound drivers? You can try running the Intel Motherboard Chipset drivers and see if that helps. Sometimes when devices are not recognized or not properly recognized the Intel Motherboard Chipset drivers will correct that.

Thanks for the quick reply fireberd.

fireberd said:

Two issues, first since Windows detected and install the generic High Definition Audio but it started the popping and cracking apparently, when you installed the Logitech. It sounds like possibly Logitech is using Wi-Fi for whatever reason. One of the known things that cause popping and crackling is Wi-Fi. There are other issues such as sound and video drivers but since you are using the generic HD Audio driver I would rule that out. Audio is considered a "low priority" device and is always assigned a shared Interrupt with a high priority device.

I actually have the wi-fi on my laptop switch off as I don't need it.

If you have a System Restore point that is BEFORE installing the Logitech software, use the System Restore and fall back to that point. That should give you sound again. If you don't have a restore point, uninstall the Logitech software, uninstall the sound in the Device Manager then restart the PC (don't skip the restart). When Windows starts it should detect the sound and reinstall the HD Audio drivers.

Not having a System Restore point, I tried the second option and uninstalled the Logitech Gaming Software and went back to the HD Audio drivers. This did bring back sound, but didn't stop the speaker crackling. BUT... it gave me an idea. Maybe the new mouses receiver is causing interference? I'll check that out.
EDIT: Nope. Completely removed the new mouse and anything associated with it. No luck.

Why it won't install the correct sound drivers? You can try running the Intel Motherboard Chipset drivers and see if that helps. Sometimes when devices are not recognized or not properly recognized the Intel Motherboard Chipset drivers will correct that.

From what I gather, there are major problems with conextants driver software and Windows 10. All I know is that it seems installing Conexants drivers dont work and completely disable sound. How do I run the Motherboard drivers?

The Intel motherboard chipset drivers can be downloaded from the ASUS downloads.
ROG GL752VW | ROG - Republic Of Gamers | ASUS Global


The listed chipset driver is a 2015 version. Probably a later one around but install that and see what happens.
If it doesn't help, go to Intel | Data Center Solutions, IOT, and PC Innovation and download and install their updater program and it will scan your PC and probably will list a later chipset (.inf) file.

I need to get home from work tonight before I try reinstalling the conexant Audio drivers, as I need the time to play around with it.

But... in regards to the Audio crackling, I ran LatencyMon and got this message:

In my Power Settings I DO have minimum and maximum processor power managements settings at 100% however.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CONCLUSION
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. Also one or more ISR routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:12:23 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.




____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
SYSTEM INFORMATION
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
Computer name: POPCULTUREPOOKA
OS version: Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64)
Hardware: GL752VW, ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 16282 MB total




____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU SPEED
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
Reported CPU speed: 2592 MHz


Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.




____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.


Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 46502.734421
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 9.332204


Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 46499.968988
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 3.628605




____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
REPORTED ISRs
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.


Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 1015.324074
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation


Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.032722
Driver with highest ISR total time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation


Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.037731


ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 99146
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 167
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 1
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0




____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
REPORTED DPCs
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.


Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 61230.222994
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation


Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.149972
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation


Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.323507


DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 2601197
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 19937
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 193
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 3
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0




____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.


NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are
likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to
see which programs were hit.


Process with highest pagefault count: officeclicktorun.exe


Total number of hard pagefaults 5172
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 1871
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 277410.011960
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.069991
Number of processes hit: 28




____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
PER CPU DATA
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 53.903832
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 622.377315
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 2.208108
CPU 0 ISR count: 92200
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 61230.222994
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 16.228698
CPU 0 DPC count: 2333880
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 37.648041
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 548.699846
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.019268
CPU 1 ISR count: 4735
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 24230.388889
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.735467
CPU 1 DPC count: 37961
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 23.152299
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 171.876543
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.010193
CPU 2 ISR count: 1730
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 21018.640432
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.692670
CPU 2 DPC count: 69132
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 43.141365
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 1015.324074
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.004999
CPU 3 ISR count: 546
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1023.275463
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.193679
CPU 3 DPC count: 23309
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 22.436889
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 22.121914
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000561
CPU 4 ISR count: 101
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1533.293210
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.469797
CPU 4 DPC count: 54877
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 42.229091
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 11.297068
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000015
CPU 5 ISR count: 2
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 473.011574
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.109165
CPU 5 DPC count: 13432
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 23.919333
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 21123.067130
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.692994
CPU 6 DPC count: 76697
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 44.491505
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 463.274691
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.110464
CPU 7 DPC count: 12057
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____

Also look at the processes and drivers to see if something sticks out.
Latency Mon is clean on my system that I also use for my recording studio. I have very little in startup other that what is needed. I have my power set on "High Performance". I do not have any CPU throttling.

Latency Mon also has an "In Depth" Latency Test. You may want to download and run that to see if shows anything.

UPDATE: It appears that updating my Bios has fixed the sound popping error. Still not sure what to do about the conexant drivers, but I'm ok with keeping work HD Audio Drivers if they work.
I have a new issue as a result though, but that's for a different thread.