Conexant audio driver installs and works, then randomly disappears

[wmccrack]

Hopefully it doesn't appear that I'm trying to steal the lime-light from @Riddle_Decipher . The solution was only the first part of his suggestion. The second part would have reinstalled audio driver that has been the cause of the problem so it is important that anybody with this problem do only the first part.

Thanks to @Riddle_Decipher .

[DavidSMP]

Hi @wmccrack,

You've done great. Kudos to you. You are not doing anything like that.

It was also magnanimous on your part to share this information on HP forums that will assist several others to fix the issue by performing these steps. I thank you greatly for sharing this vital piece of information.

You are a valued HP customer. I take it as a privilege to share this platform with you. 🙂

Take care now and have a splendid week ahead. 🙂

[ourgangmn]

Did this actually fix the problem? I have been frustrated by this for the past month. Installing latest drivers from HP Support and then letting HP technician log in  remothely and do the same thing DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM.

[Robert016]

I wanted to jump into this conversation to say that I am having an identical issue with the same Conexant audio driver as the original post. My system is a brand new ENVY x360 - 15-aq100 CTO. I've only had the system for a week - it replaced a six year old MacBook Pro - and so far I love this machine, with the minor issue of the sound driver...

After updating the Conexant ISST audio driver to the one posted on my driver page, I am having the same issue with losing sound intermittantly. There is no single task that replicates the issue each time and sometimes it can go for several hours before randomly cutting out. My sound icon in the task bar switches a speaker with a red X and is marked as "there is no audio device" on the system. A simple disabling and re-enabling of the Conexant driver in the device manager immediately sorts out the problem, but does not solve the issue.

I greatly appreciate the steps posted above. I have performed all of the steps in the process and I am still having issues with the driver. I also notice a pop or chirp sound from my speakers before playing a sound, especially if a few minutes of silence has elapsed since the computer last played sound.

My only recourse at this point has been to install the Microsoft HD Audio Drivers from July 2017 until a newer Conexant driver is issued. With these drivers I obviously lose the Bang and Olufsen sound software and my maximum volume is lower, but there is no chirping sound and - so far - no loss of audio from the system. I can't help but think there is an issue with this driver release and it's causing some sort of conflict within Windows 10. I have updated all of my drivers, run HP Support Assistant and downloaded all of the new drivers it suggested, and checked the drivers for both Conexant and the Intel HD Audio driver listed along with it in the device manager and have had no luck curing the issue.

Is there any indication of a revised driver in the near future from Conexant? Having searched Google while troubleshooting this issue, it seems to be a persistant problem, especially with this version release. Obviously rolling back to the previous version is not an option with the security issues that are baked into that driver set.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to proceed from here, I'd be very grateful. Until then, I think I will have to stick with the generic Microsoft driver and hope for an update soon.

Edit: I should also add that unlike the OP, my drivers never list Conexant SmartAudio HD as an option. It is only the Conexant ISST driver that is listed for mine.

[wmccrack]

For those that are asking :

Please look at my post from July 10th (and marked as the solution). It outlines in detail what I did  that fixed the problem for me. It  is still working on my laptop so hopefully should work for others.

Good luck !!

[Robert016]

Thank you for the suggestion wmccrack - I appreciate it! I worked through the steps as posted but my sound driver continues to have the issue you originally posted about. I'm not sure if this is related, but the different sound driver that appeared for you on your driver list never shows up on mine, I remain locked with the ISST drivers and I'm wondering if that has something to do with it. If I could figure out a way to get the same drivers you have, that might sort out the issue. In the meantime, I can report that the Microsoft sound driver - while removing the Bang & Olufsen software and lowering the volume - does work consistantly, so that's something.

[VK18]

Thanks.Your post exactly describes the same problem I am facing too with my brand new HP envy x 360 laptop. connexant ISST audio disappers from playback devices. If I disbale and enable it in device manager it works again, or if I reboot the computer, audio comes back again. Recently also had BSOD problem, after a google search, I fremoved the McAffe antivirus program , and since then, fortunately I see no BSOD again. But I still see my laptop boots very slowly, I tried disabling unnecessary apps and services, in the start up organizer, but still it takes a good 4-5 minutes to boot, that is unusual. It seems there is obviously an issue with the connexant Audio driver that conflicts with Windows 10, and after a while Windows 10 is automatically disabling this audio driver. So far, I have not heard from hp about updating the audio driver and if they plan to release a new  driver. All the solutions suggested like disbaling Driver digital signure, uninstalling and reinstalling the audio driver did not solve the problem.

[wmccrack]

It appears that  many people are still having the same audio driver problem that I had. In order to try to help I just revisited what I did that ended up resolving the problem for me. 

For reference I have copied my post from July 10th below as I think it is the key even though it did not resolve the problem immediately.

So just in case it helps others, I believe that this is the sequence of events that I followed (to the best of my recollection - it was about 2 months ago after all!!)

• As you can see below, one of the first things that I did was to download and install (Conexant HD driver, version 8.65.203.1.F.3, download  SP80328) for the reasons stated. After that as I reported then I still had the Conexant ISST Driver installed and it did not resolve the problem.
• A couple of days later as recommended by an HP support agent (Riddle_Decipher) in Device manager I right clicked on the driver “Conexant ISST Audio”  listed under “Sound, video and game controllers” and  selected Browse my computer  for driver software.  It did not find the “High Definition Audio Device” driver that Riddle_Decipher had indicated it would. Instead it found two choices, the "Conexant ISST Audio" and  "Conexant SmartAudio HD" and I picked the second (i.e. NOT the ISST Audio one). 

So, my suspicion is that the "Conexant SmartAudio HD" was found on the laptop only because I had previously installed the service pack SP80328, and picking that driver resolved the problem. Two months later is is still working.

Hopefully I have remembered all of this correctly, and hopefully this resolves the problem for others. If it does you are welcome!

Final thought directed at HP: If this is the solution it should have come from you and not relied on a user support forum to essentially resolve a problem with HP provided software!! It appears that this model was shipped with a defective driver and that still apparently has not been fixed. There are likely many more users out there with this problem.

HP should:

1. Fix the defective driver
2. Identify affected laptop owners
3. Send notifications to all those affective regarding how to  fix the problem
4. Test your software more thouroughly in the future

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wmccrack wrote: 07-10-2017 08:53 AM

In an earlier visit to HP's site several weeks ago, this message popped up: "Conexant HD audio driver potential security vulnerability A potential security vulnerability has been identified with certain versions of Conexant HD Audio Drivers on select HP products. Check if your PC is affected and download software fix."

I checked and my laptop was listed as one of the affected computers so I applied the recommended fix. It appeared to work until about a day later when it stopped and the audio control in the taskbar indicated "No Audio Output Device is Installed" when I hovered over it.

Re-installation of the fix (Conexant HD driver, version 8.65.203.1.F.3, download  SP80328) results in the audio working again - for a few days and then I get the message "No Audio Output Device is Installed" again.  This has happened at least 5 or 6 times now. It stops in the middle of a session, not on re-boot. When I re-install  the fix it works for a day or two and then it stops working again.

In Device Manager when it is working I have the following:

Under "Sound, video and game controllers":

• Conexant ISST Audio
• Intel(R) Display Audio

Under "Audio inputs and outputs "

• Microphone Array (Conexant ISST Audio)
• Conexant ISST Audio

When it is NOT working the Conexant ISST Audio device s missing from "Audio inputs and outputs". Everything else appears the same. That device appears to sontaneously disappear.

Before the latest re-install I "Uninstalled" each of the devices, and then installed the recommended fix hoping that a clean reinstall might solve the problem. I also downloaded a fresh version of the fix first.

It just quit again after about two days !!! I get the "No Audio Output Device is Installed" message  again and the "Conexant ISST Audio" device is missing under "Audio inputs and outputs" in Device Manager.

Unless someone can convince me otherwise, my interpretation is that there is a bug in the security fix.

HP Please  help: Fix this driver or tell me what else I can do.

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[magflo]

Thank you wmccrack for replying and trying to help others.  I had tried to folllow what worked for you. I downloaded  and installed the driver from the SP80328 file but the problem I had was when I went clicked "browse my computer for available drivers"  I still only had one choice available, the "Conexant ISST Audio"  there wasn't the “High Definition Audio Device” driver that  HP suggested nor the  "Conexant SmartAudio HD" option that you found and that has worked for you.   

The latest thing that I have done is update my BIOS from the HP driver downloads page and I've not had the audio issue again yet but it's only been a few days, still too soon to call it resolved but at least that's another suggestion for others with this issue to try too and report back.  

Ultimately, HP needs to work on a fully functional driver for these devices if they want their customers satisfied with their product.  I'm still well within my return period for this device......

[VK18]

Following wmccrack suggestion , I have  downloaded and installed SP80328 driver, however, I could not update the  connexant ISST driver by finding the file from the computer, I see no other option apart from Conexant ISST Audio, like what you mentioned. So I followed your suggestion and updated my BIOS from hp support Assistant> My Devices> Updates . I will check for couple of days, to see if the audio driver works fine.

Thanks for the solution. Also , I was able to significantly improve windows boot performance by following the guidelines from here. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4002019/windows-10-improve-pc-performance

especially #8 helped me to get rid of corrputed Windows system files, using sfc /scannow and  

Deployment Image Service and Management Tool (DISM). Also I was able to get rid of BSOD by uninstalling McAfee antivirus program. Hopefully there are no more issues.

Venu