Audio driver issues envy 15m-ee0013dx

[sjn60]

Last agent I talked to today made me change the settings in zoom claiming they were the source of my problems. I did. He told me to try it again, which I did, and the same problems (only that now I couldn't even log into zoom). I am talking to another agent. What a waste of time! I just blame myself for not returning this while I could....

[mrwagoo]

Thanks for your updates - I received a Windows update yesterday that 'rewrote the BIOS'  I felt like ZOOM worked like it should of yesterday - I was the meeting host for at least 2 hours and no problems.  Today I entered the ZOOM meeting as a guest and after about a half hour my audio died.  Then I tried to open a PDF and my computer froze...not what I'd like to be writing after using the computer for only 8 days : - /

[sjn60]

Mrwagoo, If you purchased your laptop recently, send it back for a refund. I am also experiencing continuous freezes after I sent it for "repair" to HP. I lost hope they are willing (or able) to solve this problem.

[Orvy]

Sjn60, we know that the root of the problem is not Zoom settings, but the video/sound/audio drivers.  However, Zoom uses ALL of those drivers extensively - that's what it does - video and audio!  As an end user and owner of an HP Envy x360 15m-ee0013dx, I certainly feel your pain in that I also use Zoom extensively. 

But we also think we have a pretty good fix to the problem.  Like Blyat and Mucispos, we figured out long ago that HP cannot answer this problem so we don't trust them to - at least not yet.  As a group, we have figured out that good drivers do exist - they are the AMD Radeon drivers.  We have figured out how to clean out the system (rather than "reinstall the OS"), and then locate, download, and install the good drivers.  Blyat pointed out that Windows Updates could come along and overwrite the good drivers with the old bad ones and, so he suggested postponing Updates to avoid overwriting. 

On September 9, it appears that a new set of drivers may have been released  under Windows - perhaps they are the good ones.  We're not sure yet, so we're keeping an eye on them.  One end user, Mmac05, installed these drivers and did not enable updates, and seems to be alright.  I did the cleanup and installed the Radeon drivers directly from AMD, then postponed Windows Updates.  I'm waiting to see if Mmac05 is successful.

Bottom line:  Many of us - myself (Orvy), Blyat, Mmac05, and others have gotten to a point of equilibrium with the 15m-ee0013dx and the video/audio graphics driver problem where they are currently working (I led a 4 hour Zoom meeting Saturday with no hiccups!).  It appears that a change in the Windows Update  downloadable drivers may happen, or may have happened so they don't keep breaking what we just fixed.  

Like you, I am appalled at the way HP has handled this mess.  It is clear from the volume of posts that just about everyone with a 15m-ee0013dx laptop has this problem and they (HP) are clueless.  The drivers are Radeon drivers from AMD, not HP.  The Updates are from Microsoft, not HP.  But they run on an HP box.  As Blyat has observed, it is impressive that the user community came together to help resolve this.  It is still an embarrassment to HP that they did not lead this. 
Don't give up on the computer -- It's really only got that one problem, and it's fixable.  We're frustrated at the slow speed of the fix - but we're pretty much there.  My recommendation - and I'm in the same boat as you as an enduser.  I'll repost here the steps that I followed that seem to have "fixed" my problem, as I wait to see if Mmac05's technique solved his:

AUDIO DRIVER ISSUES ON HP Envy x360 15m-ee0013dx laptop computers with AMD Ryzen CPU and AMD Radeon Graphics card. 

The issue is that the MIC and Speakers fail intermittently during Video Chat (Zoom, Skype) calls and occasionally "lock up" while emitting a loud noise (sometimes high pitch, sometimes a buzz) from the speakers.  The issues seems common to most HP Envy machines recently produced (since, say, July 2020).

This suggested fix is a compilation of information and advice received from other HP Envy users, most notably from Blyat, who really seems to have figured this out.  The information is anecdotal and appears to be unsupported by HP. 

The crux of the problem appears to be that the 15m-ee0013dx HP Envy x360 laptop is shipped with a minimalistic graphics driver version - a "lite" version, if you will.  This version either is not fully functional or is quickly replaced by Microsoft or Realtek drivers when system Updates are made.  The Updated drivers are broken and fail.

The sound on the Envy x360 is controlled by the Radeon Graphics controller (yes, sound controlled by graphics).

HP has not been able to solve this issue.  They see it as a "software" problem and try to charge users/owners an additional fee as a result.  In fact, this is a driver, or driver conflict issue and the problem has been in locating and verifying the correct, good driver to use.  It has been complicated by the fact that there is a Bang & Olufsen Audio Control, Realtek components, a Radeon Graphics Controller, Windows and Windows Update process - multiple hands in the pie.  This appears to be the best and most likely solution to date.

The apparent fix for the sound problems is a multistep process:

1) Remove the initial, old, or broken drivers

2) Clean up any remaining old AMD drivers

3) Install the new AMD Radeon software and drivers that correctly handle the hardware

4) Prevent the system from overwriting the newly installed correct drivers.

Here are the recommended steps:

1. If you want to be thorough, open the Device Manager (type "Device" into search line), open the "Sound, Video and Game Controllers", right click and UNINSTALL all the devices in there.  The one labeled "AMD High Definition Audio Device" is the MIC.  It should be uninstalled, too.
2. Although it may not be required, you can also uninstall the program "HP Audio Switch".  As Blyat notes, it really doesn't do anything.  You can find it at start > settings > apps or by searching for "Add or Remove Programs ..." on the search line.
3. Go to https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/gpu-601 , download, install and execute the AMD Cleanup Utility to remove all old, initial AMD software and drivers.  Reboot, if required.
4. Then go to the AMD Radeon Support page: https://www.amd.com/en/support , download and execute the Auto-Detect and Install utility.  As Blyat notes, this will not only install the most current and correct drivers, but will add Radeon Graphics software for your system - which is nice.  During this installation, make sure the "Factory Reset" box is checked - it should be by default.  Follow the prompts and reboot the system as directed. 
5. Finally, Blyat also discovered that you need to prevent the Windows Update process from reinstalling the broken drivers.  While there is no permanent and foolproof way to do this (that I know of), you can stave off possible reinstallation of the bad drivers by postponing Windows Updates.  This will at least give you time to confirm that the installation of the Radeon Drivers was correct.  To pause or postpone Updates, go to start > settings > update & security and PAUSE the updates for 7 days. 

I applied this fix per Blyat's recommendation and it appears to be working.  If you try this and it works for you, go to Blyat's post of 09-08-2020 11:19 AM and confirm this solution.  He deserves the credit. 

On the other hand, this fix could still be considered "beta" in that it has been used exactly twice with consistent results.  Your use of this will confirm that it is an "Accepted Solution".  If you try this, please report back so that those who follow us will know it works.

[Orvy]

MrWagoo, the "Updating the BIOS" update doesn't seem to have any logical connection to the video/sound issue.  I applied the same update long ago and it didn't seem to have any effect, good or bad, on the video problem on my 15m-ee0013dx.  The aggravating thing is that the video/sound issue is intermittent - it may happen immediately or after several hours - so you don't know for a while if your fix worked.  Now, if Windows also made other updates at the same TIME as the BIOS update, it could have made it look like the issue was caused by the BIOS.  But, having built, used, maintained and done troubleshooting on PCs and laptops since the '90s, I doubt that it's the BIOS's fault.  You need to get the right AMD drivers and get them installed.

[sjn60]

Thank you so much. I truly appreciate it. I am giving this a try. I will keep you posted about its results.

[Orvy]

Mahmoud471, let me clarify the problem a little.  This discussion is about the HP Envy x360 15m-ee0013dx laptop.   Most of us (all of us?) with this laptop have an AMD Ryzen 5 4500 CPU and AMD Radeon Graphics card.  Some other similar models also have the Radeon Graphics card and it seems that they all have the AMD Ryzen processor.  Do you have this model computer and are you having a problem with the graphics and sound freezing up during video chats like Zoom?  We have discovered that the Radeon Graphics card in our laptop requires some new and additional software drivers to run the video, camera, and sound.  In the Windows Update version, these drivers for the Radeon Graphics card are bad.  We needed to go to AMD and get the good drivers.

If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, and if you are having similar video/camera/sound issues, that's a different problem and the AMD Radeon Graphics drivers won't work.  That'd be like trying to put Ford parts in a Chevy engine.  However, if you ARE having a video/camera/sound problem, (and I'm just speaking logically here), you may want to investigate and find the appropriate drivers for your NVIDIA card and follow similar steps to upload them.  But, to answer the specific question you asked:  No, you can't use AMD drivers with an NVIDIA graphics card.

[l3v3l]

After updating driver to 20.8.3, has only crashed once. Hope it doesn't crash any more.

[MBG13]

I'll add my name into the pile of users experiencing this exact issue.  HOWEVER, after a clean install of Windows + driver rollbacks to replace with AMD drivers, my son experienced this issue within 30 minutes of Zoom class this morning.  After a hard reset, it crapped out again within 15 minutes.  

So, I've followed all the instructions noted here and it got me 30 minutes.  I'm typing this on my 7 year old MBP, which is still going strong.  It's not like this is a budget PC...very disappointed in HP and I would certainly return it if I could.  I ordered in July and it sat in it's box until school started a few weeks ago, and the issues started almost immediately.   Makes me wonder if I'll ever purchase another HP product in my life.  Very, very frustrating...

HP, are you listening?

[Musicpos]

The fix is no longer working for me. I just got an email from AMD: 

Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 20.9.1 Now Available! This release contains stability improvements for end user reported issues. View the release notes for details on updates and fixes or read the software blog. Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition — Explore Your Adrenalin Rush.