Audio Driver Issues Envy x360 Convertible 15m-ee0013dx - Resolved

[Orvy]

Since the more recent threads have been locked, this information is provided as an update and resolution (for my system, anyway) on threads listed as "Sound problems on Envy x360" or "Cannot find sound device" or "Loud Buzzing Noise".

Device: HP Envy x360 Convertible 15m-ee0013dx

Problem:  Following installation and updates, the sound system would stop working, or could not find the devices, or would emit a loud buzzing, or video would freeze, most notably when using a video chat app such as Zoom or Skype.  FTR, the sound on this HP Envy is controlled by the Radeon GRAPHICS card (that was a key discovery).
Cause: The HP community localized the problem to the AMD Radeon Graphics card and supporting drivers.  System drivers were overwritten with updates.  The AMD Radeon Adrenalin drivers auto identification and installation did not resolve the issue.  With a variety of drivers available, and, sometimes a delay where the problem did not manifest itself immediately after installation, the issue has taken some time to resolve. 

Failed Solutions:  Removal of Radeon software and reinstallation of Radeon Adrenalin software and drivers (20.8.3, 20.9.1, or 20.9.2) did not resolve the sound problems. 

Solution/Resolution:  The Radeon Software should be removed using the "Uninstall Programs" utility in Windows 10/64 bit.  A reboot may be required.  I also recommend using the AMD Cleanup Utility, (amdcleanuputility.exe) available from the AMD support website, amd.com.

From the HP support site, download and install sp-105744.exe, the June 24 driver release.  I apologize for not providing the direct reference for this driver package, but the date of June 24, 2020 should be the key identifier.  I installed this driver and noted that it did also install the Radeon Settings Lite utility.  After 21 days in service, I have experienced no additional failures - no buzzing, no freezeups, no reboots, no additional audio issues.  This appears to have resolved the issue for me.  All the buttons work correctly (Camera on/off, mic on/off, sound on/off), and sound is consistent.

UPDATE:  After posting this, I returned to the HP Support, Software & Drivers page to look for versions.   I see that, on the day that I installed the June 24th drivers, there was a new graphics version released, sp-110299.exe.  While I have not installed this version yet, it may also be a solution.  Additionally, there is an audio driver available as well, sp-105839.exe.  Although it sounds weird, it's the graphics driver you need most!

[Ozzuneoj]

What version of Windows 10 are you using?

I ask, because I have an unusual opportunity to diagnose this here, in that I have access to TWO nearly identical Envy x360... one has the problem and one doesn't! I bought my wife one of the x360 systems (R5 4500U, 8GB, 256GB SSD) online from BestBuy in early summer, and I have deliberately kept her system on the 1909 (September of 2019) version of Windows.

My wife's laptop started having problems either losing audio devices in Zoom or losing wifi connectivity, a few weeks after we bought it. I am a PC repair tech (not exactly a "pro", but I've been doing it for 20 years and I regularly build and repair computers for people still), so I'm pretty comfortable with Event Viewer, and experimenting with drivers. I did several driver updates, including Intel WiFi, Realtek sound, AMD video and a BIOS update. Eventually I got her system all sorted out (see details below)

Around this same time a friend later bought an X360 directly from HP (identical, except for the higher nit screen). Their system took a while to ship, and when it arrived, it came with Windows 10 2004 (April 2020). I updated it with all of the drivers I had used on my wife's computer to ensure that it wouldn't have the problems hers had at first. Sadly, her computer seemed to end up with these problems (loss of audio device or garbled noise, requiring a reboot to fix) despite me updating the drivers twice. I have disabled Windows' driver updates and disabled Windows updates all together to diagnose the issue. One day she can Zoom on it for two hours and it's fine. A few days later, she's using it and the audio goes out three times during a 2 hour meeting and she has to reboot to get it back each time.

After doing some further digging just now, my friend's computer has reverted only the AMD Radeon driver, despite the fact that I've disabled Windows driver updates (using Winaero Tweaker), not installed any drivers via Windows update manually (an option in Win10 2004) and I have paused all updates until the end of November.

My wife's computer, on the other hand, does not revert back to broken drivers. It works fine in the same exact Zoom meetings.

For the record, I installed the following drivers on BOTH MACHINES:

First round of drivers installed in late August on my wife's PC and in early September on my friend's PC:

AAFAudioPackDCH-6.0.8996.1.exe (Alan Finotty's realtek audio driver pack)

sp107510.exe (HP BIOS update)

win10-radeon-software-adrenalin-2020-edition-20.8.2-aug17.exe (AMD Video drivers from the website)

Then in late September, my friend's PC went back to having issues, and my wife's PC still had a wifi issue from time to time. I found updated wifi\BT drivers, which I installed on both:

WiFi_21.120.2_Driver64_Win10.exe (Intel Wifi driver from September)

BT_21.120.0_64_Win10.exe (Intel Bluetooth driver from September... updated because wifi\bluetooth come from the same device)

At the time I also found some brand new realtek audio drivers I had to pull out of a .cab file, which I installed on my friend's computer, hoping it would fix her issue (I didn't put them on my wife's computer, since her's worked). I can't locate this driver, but in the end it didn't seem to help...

My wife's PC has had no problems since these updates, but my friend's PC went back to having Zoom audio issues.

This evening, I checked both computers and here is what I found:

Friend's computer, which is still having problems:

From the "System" screen:

Edition= Windows 10 Home

Version=2004

Installed on= 9/1/2020

OS Build= 19041.508

Experience=Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.31.0

Driver Versions in Device manager:

Amd Radeon(TM) Graphics (old!):

DriverDate: 5/19/2020

Driver Version: 26.20.14052.0

AMD Audio Device (same):

Driver Date: 3/27/2020

Driver Version: 2.0.0.33

AMD High Definition Audio Device (same):

Driver Date: 4/1/2020

Driver Version: 10.0.1.16

Realtek(R) Audio (seems to be correct for the version I found and installed manually):

Driver Date: 8/13/2020

Driver Version: 6.0.9005.1

Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160Mhz (same)

Driver Date: 9/6/2020

Driver Version: 21.120.2.1

Intel(R)Wireless Bluetooth(R) (same)

Driver Date: 9/1/2020

Driver Version: 21.120.0.4

(I notice the machine has a ton of devices listed under bluetooth that my wife's system does not have...)

Wife's computer, which has had zero problems since I updated the drivers and disabled updates in Aug\Sept as mentioned above:

From the "System" screen:

Edition= Windows 10 Home

Version=1909

Installed on= 7/2/2020

OS Build= 18363.1082

(There is no "experience" line on this system... I have no idea what that means?)

Driver Versions in Device manager:

Amd Radeon(TM) Graphics (exactly what I installed in August):

DriverDate: 8/11/2020

Driver Version: 27.20.2001.16003

AMD Audio Device (same):

Driver Date: 3/27/2020

Driver Version: 2.0.0.33

AMD High Definition Audio Device (same):

Driver Date: 4/1/2020

Driver Version: 10.0.1.16

Realtek(R) Audio (Exactly what I installed in August):

Driver Date: 8/11/2020

Driver Version: 6.0.8996.1

Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160Mhz (same)

Driver Date: 9/6/2020

Driver Version: 21.120.2.1

Intel(R)Wireless Bluetooth(R) (same)

Driver Date: 9/1/2020

Driver Version: 21.120.0.4

So... what does this tell us?

There is clearly an issue with Windows overwriting the AMD video drivers for some inexplicable reason. Other than the Windows version, the video driver is the only major difference I can find between them.

My next step is to do all Windows updates (not drivers) on the problem machine, reboot, double check that I've disabled driver updates completely and paused system updates for a month, and then remove all traces of AMD video drivers. Then I'll try to reinstall the AMD Radeon drivers from August which obviously work fine on my wife's machine. I see no reason to experiment with newer drivers and risk other problems. If the drivers revert again, I would feel comfortable saying that it is a Windows 10 version 2004 issue, since 1909 on my wife's PC has not forced driver updates in two months.

I'll try to report back with my findings. If I don't, please post or PM me. I want to help sort this problem out. These are otherwise fantastic machines.

[Orvy]

You asked for some specs:

Model: HP Envy x360 Convertible 15m-ee0013dx

OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit 10.0.19041Build 19041

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.488"

Processor AMD Ryzen 5 4500U with Radeon Graphics, 2375 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 6 Logical Processor(s)

All Windows Updates through 10/13/2020

This system has been functioning now for more than 3 weeks without error.  As noted by at least one other reader, he applied the June 24 and Sep 24 updates, but his errors continue.  He noted that he did NOT do the uninstalls and AMDcleanuputility first. 

And, I just saw that AMD has released a new version: 20.10.1 (up from 20.9.2).  It does fix some video issues, but there was nothing in the Release Notes to indicate these Zoom audio/video issues were addressed.

[CWatters59]

[Quote]As noted by at least one other reader, he applied the June 24 and Sep 24 updates, but his errors continue.  He noted that he did NOT do the uninstalls and AMDcleanuputility first. [/quote]

I believe thats me. Since then my sons have reported several sound buzzing events with both the June and September Graphics driver.

Today I have updated one of them again using the AMD Driver Cleanup tool. Specifically I ran Windows Update, uninstalled the Raedeon Graphics driver in Device Manager, ran the AMD Driver Cleanup tool, restarted, ran the 24th June driver exe. I will report back in a week or sooner if he still gets the issue.

Just for info both of our laptops are

Model 15-ee0002na

Ryzen 7 4700U (2.0GHz)

8 MB L3 Cache

16Gb ram 

[CWatters59]

I forgot to add that after doing the 24th June update today the Device Manager says I have version..

AMD Radeon Graphics..

Driver Date: 5/19/2020

Driver Version: 26.20.14052.0

[CWatters59]

IMPORTANT

I think I can confirm that it is ESSENTIAL to do more than just install the 24th June Graphics Driver update. I tried just installing the update on TWO laptops and that didn't work. Four or Five days ago I repeated the exercise but this time I did the following on one of them and that one as been OK since. 

1) Backed up Documents and made a restore point.

2) Ran Windows update

3) Went to HP support and downloaded the June 24 Graphics Driver.

4) Opened Device Manager, found the AMD Radeon Graphics driver, right clicked and uninstalled it. Screen resolution changed.

5) Went to the AMD website and ran their driver cleanup utility. Followed iinstructions to restart in safe mode. Agreed to any prompts etc.

6) Restarted in normal node. I think screen resolution went back to normal at this point but can't remember exactly.

7) Ran the June 24 Driver exe downloaded in step 3).

8.) Restarted

9) Paused Windows updates. Not sure if this is necessary but I have had conflicting opinions. I plan to enable updates in another week or so when I'm sure the problem is gone to see if a update makes it come back.

I'll be happier when I've been able to do the same to our other laptop and they've both been problem free a bit longer but its looking good at the moment.

[CWatters59]

I've now updated our second laptop as above. Had a minor issue in that we had to run the driver installer twice. After the first attempt and restart it was still saying it was using the Microsoft basic graphics driver. Ran it again and it successfully installed the 24th June AMD Radeon driver.  Not convinced this was finger trouble but..

So as an extra step at the end  recommend restarting and double checking that it is actually using the AMD Radeon driver by looking in the device manager -> display adaptors.

[Chewy718]

Hi Orvy, 

You have been very key in helping pinpoint this issue. Has the June 24th drivers still stayed consistent with you until today?

Also might this also be a cause?

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lvozWb3HKFgJ:https://support.hp.com/lv-en/docu...

[Orvy]

Chewy718, per your question, the June 24th drivers downloaded from the HP support site as sp105744.exe and dated June 24, have been working correctly and  consistently since installation on 9/30/2020 with no errors, no freezes, no loud buzzing.  The pause that I placed on Windows Updates has expired, so I am back to "normal operations".  I will say that one other HP Envy user who was experiencing the same problem (I have forgotten whom) indicated that they HAVE had symptoms reappear, HOWEVER, they did not run the AMD Cleanup utility prior to installation.  That may be the significant difference.  Thus,  from a purely technical point of view, the June 24th drivers may not be the "best" drivers, but, along with the AMD Cleanup Utility, they are the best combination of drivers and processes that I have found so far.  My intention is to stay put here and continue with what I have.

I have received emails from AMD indicating that they have additional updated drivers, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 20.10.1 now available.  This appears to be a point release superseding 20.9.2 and is available from AMD Support, https://www.amd.com/en/support .  NOTE:  I have not tried this release and I am reluctant to do so given that "It ain't broke" anymore and the previous "fixes" only repaired specific gaming defects.   May I suggest, IF ANYONE DOES TRY THE NEW AMD DRIVERS (20.10.1 OR LATER) PLEASE SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE with this group.  We need to know if we will have to continue with the "lite" version we currently have installed or can move to a more robust AMD driver.  Thanks in advance!

[Ozzuneoj]

Just wanted to post an update. It has been 10 days since I fixed my friend's laptop and it has stayed working.

I can confirm, this does *NOT* seem to require a specific driver version!

The most important thing seems to be to use the AMD Cleanup Utility to uninstall AMD video drivers and prevent Windows from installing drivers from Windows Update.

Here are a couple of ways to disable Windows 10 automatic driver updates. Personally, I just use Winaero Tweaker to do this because you don't have to mess with the registry manually, it's fast and the program also gives lots of other nice options (disabling Telemetry, advertisements, Cortana, etc.).

Once you've done this,reboot and confirm in Device Manager that the computer is using the generic Microsoft video driver. If it is using the generic driver, then it cannot replace whatever you install.

Once you've done this, install any video driver that is confirmed to be working. For me, I used the following on two laptops and it seems to be fine.

win10-radeon-software-adrenalin-2020-edition-20.8.2-aug17.exe

Some may want to use the older June 24th driver available from HP, since others have confirmed that it works. Personally, I'd stick with a newer driver since these machines are new enough to benefit from newer drivers. Even the latest drivers from AMD likely work fine using this method, if anyone wants to experiment with them. I wouldn't go any OLDER than the June 24th driver from HP however.

Keep in mind, there's a possibility you may need to do this again later if you install a major Windows 10 update (2004 or whatever comes next). Some times those updates will revert\overwrite registry tweaks, which may allow it to download the broken driver again. It's unlikely, but something to keep in mind.

In summary:

1. Use the AMD cleanup utility to remove all AMD video drivers.
2. Prevent Windows from downloading drivers from Windows Update.
3. Reboot and confirm you're using the generic Microsoft driver under "Display Adapters" in device manager.
4. Install whichever video driver you want. I can confirm that this one works.