no audio devices found after 20H2 install

Zero audio after 20H2 upgrade from 1909. I am on build 19042.985. Dell laptop, 5 years old, Win 10 OEM, Conexant audio which has failed driver updates for a long time but still worked. Rarely use audio on my laptop so I did not notice I had none until recently. Device manager and sound settings show no sound devices other than MS. Audio controller in system devices appears to be working. Uninstalled it and rebooted to see if window wolld reinstall and then locate my sound card/chip. It did reinstall Audio Controller but still no audio devices shown even with show hidden devices enabled. Conexant/Dell's latest driver download fails to install even though message states install completed. System restore cannot go back far enough. Works but did not resolve the issue. MS Maintenance/Reliability reports show multiple driver install failures of the required driver. Is this driver issue fixed in the new 21 OS released recently? Windows update is ready to download it.

Considering the age of the PC, and the age of the Win 10 sound driver on the Dell downloads there can be hardware support issues with newer versions of Windows. This model is on the edge of being called a "legacy" model so probably no newer sound driver. To add we see more issues with the older PC's with the Conexant sound on the Dell forums. Sometimes, if the Conexant is uninstalled in the Device Manager AND drivers uninstalled, restarting Windows will install the generic "High Definition Audio" driver and basic audio functions (internal speakers and headset) are restored.

Its not that Windows is compatible with the hardware, its the hardware has to be compatible with Windows.