Crackling sound while playing music in HP SPECTRE X360 Ultrabook

[andrewiam_com]

[Information in violation of the Rules of Participation removed]

[Technocrazy]

Started a HP Case with a live chat last Thurs, Nov 5th.  They did the remote control support, installed some different drivers than the latest ones that I had. Looks like older ones.  It definitely made a difference.  The intervals between the cracklings are much longer - hours instead of 15 minutes.  Tested it for hours over the weekend and today and it is still better but not completely fixed. 

HP Called me back today and this is the summary of our conversation:

They said that they were getting the same issue from other customers and had a team working on it.  They also asked me to hang tight that they are working on it and would contact me when they had a solution.  They also mentioned the Windows 10 update coming out and wanted to test that to see if that will cause any more problems or fix the existing one.

I have the Spectre X360 i7 with 512 SSD

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5500U CPU @ 2.40GHz

Drivers that they changed:

RealTek HW Audio Codec

REALTEK - Date 7/13/2015 Version - 6.4.10041.127

Intel Smartsound Technology

Intel(R) Corporation - Date 6/25/2015  Version - 8.4.2.105

So I guess that is progress in the correct direction.  My support ticket is still open.  Will update this as things change.

[BinaryJay]

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@Technocrazy wrote:

Started a HP Case with a live chat last Thurs, Nov 5th.  They did the remote control support, installed some different drivers than the latest ones that I had. Looks like older ones.  It definitely made a difference.  The intervals between the cracklings are much longer - hours instead of 15 minutes.  Tested it for hours over the weekend and today and it is still better but not completely fixed. 

HP Called me back today and this is the summary of our conversation:

They said that they were getting the same issue from other customers and had a team working on it.  They also asked me to hang tight that they are working on it and would contact me when they had a solution.  They also mentioned the Windows 10 update coming out and wanted to test that to see if that will cause any more problems or fix the existing one.

I have the Spectre X360 i7 with 512 SSD

@INTEL(R) Core(TM) i7-5500U CPU @ 2.40GHz

Drivers that they changed:

RealTek HW Audio Codec

REALTEK - Date 7/13/2015 Version - 6.4.10041.127

Intel Smartsound Technology

Intel(R) Corporation - Date 6/25/2015  Version - 8.4.2.105

So I guess that is progress in the correct direction.  My support ticket is still open.  Will update this as things change.

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The drivers they installed are the exact same version that has been available on their support page since July.

I have my case escalated to a higher level of customer support, and spoke with them today on the phone.  They said HP is unaware of any issues with this model regarding sound.   I was informed the only course of action would be for me to send the laptop in for "repair" which means I would be without my computer for about a week and that there was a chance that it would be wiped in the process.

I am going to hold out (not much) hope for the coming major update to Windows 10 which hopefully will hit tomorrow.  If the problem isn't completely resolved after that update then I will let them have it and HOPE that they actually spend enough time with it to duplicate the problem as I have said it is inconsistent how long you have to be playing an audio stream before it goes south on you and sometimes can be upwards of an hour before it starts misbehaving.  If all you do is reinstal audio drivers or reboot you can sometimes get lucky for quite a while before it degenerates.

If it does get sent in --

Best case scenario - they duplicate the problem, cannot fix it reliably, and replace it or even just the motherboard with the newer revision with the conexant audio device.

Probable scenario - they say there is no problem, or say they fixed it but didn't really because they didn't spend enough time with it.

I find it hard to believe there is no official notes or file on this crackling problem considering how common it seems to be?

[TedSteel]

I'm inclined to go the route Andrew suggested and hope for the best. I'm starting a business and not willing to be (can't be) without the portability of this laptop at the moment. Normally I'd box it up and send it in... but I also feel this is a software issue so until they correct it, sending in a laptop is just a waste of time.

When I spoke with HP support, they informed me this was a known issue.  Sounds like others heard similar things from them. However, if that's the Tier 1 support giving consumers lip service, it's even more troubling because it sounds like Tier 2 and above have no clue about the issue based on BinaryJay's post. 

It's just super disappointing. I'm wholeheartedly disgruntled with HP on this issue. Both times I spoke with HP, I pointed them here. I even dragged a resistant support agent to this forum when they were remote controlled into my machine. It *sounded* like they would then monitor the forum. How naive of me.

Like I've been saying - if they would simply acknowledge the issue among the community THEY have built, I'd be much happier.

[TedSteel]

Ironically I got a survey about the helpfullness of this forum. I let it rip, gave some honest feedback and posted the link to this thread.  Maybe providing a link to this thread is just my continued naivety.

[marcolorenzo]

Have you guys done the bios update from yesterday (or the day before, can't remember now)? For me, it seems like the problem is not coming back. Of course, I'm not holding my breath but so far so good.

[BinaryJay]

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@marcolorenzo wrote:

Have you guys done the bios update from yesterday (or the day before, can't remember now)? For me, it seems like the problem is not coming back. Of course, I'm not holding my breath but so far so good.

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The BIOS update was from October 26 and I didn't notice it fixed anything related to sound.  God I hate how the driver page changes the "updated" date next to the files all the time when NOTHING changed - you have to click "details" on each particular item to see if the version or the actual release date has been updated.

[marcolorenzo]

Well for me, there was a BIOS update on the 1st of November and another one on the 8th. The latest version is F.2CAp1. Are we talking about the same one?

[BinaryJay]

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@marcolorenzo wrote:

Well for me, there was a BIOS update on the 1st of November and another one on the 8th. The latest version is F.2CAp1. Are we talking about the same one?

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Interesting, I suppose not!   Can you link your driver support page so I can see what the difference is between my particular model and yours?

[TedSteel]

Just checked. I have a new BIOS update waiting on me. Will install and report back..