No audio after Windows 10 update, 'This device cannot start.' error displayed.

[Felix2015]

Windows 10 x64 HP Notebook has no audio after update. In system information app it says Problem Device is High Definition Audio Controller, pci\ven_8086&Dev_2284&subsys_80c5103c&rev_21\3&11583659&0&d8 Error Code this device cannot start. I have looked for drivers online and have downloaded a few, but after I try installing them, it says that the High Definition Audio Controller device (which is the problem) already has the correct devices installed.  In the Device Manager, the Sound, video and game controllers are hidden.  When I un-hide them, underneath them, there are the following: Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy, and two Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter entries, the second of which is not connected to my computer for some reason.  Does anyone have a solution for this?  Thank you 

[Felix2015]

Update:  I just ran the DirectX Diagnostic tool, using WINx  dxdiag.exe, and it says there is no sound card installed on this notebook, which I find ridiculous, because there was audio last week.  Does anyone know how to get the sound card to be recognized?  Thank you

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

See if this link is of help to you...

 https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06166393

[Felix2015]

This .exe would not run for some reason: http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4468550 and I have tried updating windows through the regular update methods, to no avail.  It is possible that the most recent update installed something mysterious that blocks the sound card from being recognized.  I am not sure how a sound card gets deleted entirely from a regular windows update because I thought a sound card was some physical entity in the hard drive.  Is there any way to figure out what is blocking the sound card and audio device from being recognized?  I also updated the BIOS, but that was useless. 

Thank you

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

If that link didn't help, I guess you are going to have to experiment with some things.

Your notebook has the Realtek audio system and I'm thinking the Intel HD audio device is part of the Intel chipset hardware--in other words, a device that communicates with the Realtek audio system that has a problem.

So the first experiment I would try would be to install the latest chipset driver directly from Intel, and restart the PC.

The 2nd file down on the left side of the page is the auto install file.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/20775/Intel-Chipset-Device-Software-INF-Update-Utility-?pr...

[Felix2015]

Thank you for the suggestion.  I tried it, but it did not work.  On the HPSupport websidte, I downloaded and installed the suggested Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio Driver 6.0.1.7944 Rev.A that was suggested for my computer.  So, how do I go about making it part of the the whole setup.  That is, how do I get that audio driver to be used?  I tried getting it to connect with the High Definition Audio Controller device (which is getting a code 10 error message) in Device Manager, but that does not seem to work.

In Device Manager, the sound, video and game controllers menu is hidden.  When I un-hide it, it has six microsoft streaming tee/sing=to-sink converter entries, but there is no RealTek device listed, which is what I downloaded.

Thank you

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Unfortunately, if the chipset driver didn't install the Intel device, I have no other suggestions for you to try other than to back up any files you don't want to lose, and do a factory reset of the PC.

Something has gone terribly wrong.

You can also try clean installing W10 as follows...

To reinstall W10...Use the Media Creation Tool.  Make the 64 bit installation media.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

You can make a W10 USB flash drive installer using an 8 GB flash drive.

W10 will find the product key in the BIOS, install and automatically activate once you are connected to the internet.

Here are the steps to create the W10 USB flash drive installer...

1. Select Download tool now, and select Run.
2. If you agree to the license terms, select Accept.
3. On the What do you want to do? page, select Create installation media for another PC, and then select Next.

4. Select the language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 10. You want 64 bit.

5. Select which media you want to use:
6. USB flash drive.  Plug in a blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space. Any content on the flash drive will be deleted.

After W10 installs, you can install the drivers and available software from your PC's support page.