HP Laptop whose sound drops out intermittently

[Britishblue42]

My HP Envy laptop started having issues with audio dropping out about 6-8 months ago... I've tested it with multiple browsers, cleared caches, updated drivers, deleted drivers and let the system rebuild them, updated the BIOS and OS, and have gone through the HP "assistant"... No joy... The sound will come back for a little while, and then it will start dropping out... The weird thing is, it drops out in the same way, every time... First, it will go dead silent for about 7-8 seconds, then come back on, and then in a minute or so, it will start dropping out and coming back in 1-2 second bursts... If I hit the keyboard or trackball, it will bring the sound back, but it's not consistent... And before anyone asks, I did swap out the track ball and keyboard, just in case that was an issue as well... No joy... Another strange symptom is that I can go through 3/4 of the day with no audio issues, and then it will suddenly start again... I've watched the Task Manager and Processes to see if anything jumps up or looks off; again no joy... Help?

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @Britishblue42,

Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Thanks for reaching out!

Your HP Envy laptop’s intermittent audio dropouts are most often caused by driver conflicts, audio enhancements, or power management settings rather than hardware failure. Disabling audio enhancements, reinstalling the Realtek/Bang & Olufsen driver, and checking Windows audio services usually stabilizes the sound.

Update the audio driver using Device Manager

Enable the audio device, and then update the audio driver using Device Manager.

In Windows, search for and open Device Manager.

Double-click Audio inputs and outputs and Sound, video, and game controllers.

If a sound device is listed with a down arrow, the device is disabled. Right-click the sound device name, and then select Enable device.

With the sound device enabled, right-click the sound device, and then select Update driver.

Select Search automatically for updated driver software.

Wait while Windows checks for and installs any updated drivers. If prompted, restart the computer.

If Windows updated the audio driver, test for sound. If the audio problem persists after updating the driver, go to Update the audio driver manually.

If the latest driver is already installed, continue with these steps.

In Windows, search for and open Device Manager.

Double-click Audio inputs and outputs and Sound, video and game controllers.

Right-click the sound device, and then select Uninstall device.

When the Uninstall Device window opens, select Attempt to remove the driver for this device, and then click Uninstall.

Restart the computer to reinstall the driver.

If your computer has Intel Smart Sound Technology, search for and open Device Manager, and then double-click System.

Right-click Intel Smart Sound Technology OED, and then select Uninstall device.

When the Uninstall Device window opens, select Attempt to remove the driver for this device, and then click Uninstall.

Restart the computer to reinstall the driver.

Test for sound. If the audio problem persists after reinstalling the driver, go to Update the audio driver manually.

Please refer to the following document for further assistance:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_4373370-3693947-16

I hope this helps

Take care and have an amazing day ahead! 🚀

Best regards,

Kuroi_Kenshi

[Britishblue42]

Thank you for those instructions; Unfortunately they are items that I had already tried several times… I did try it again, just in case… 

However, before I made one last attempt for the drivers, I noticed a change in symptom… Now it’s playing perfect sound for about an hour and a half maybe two hours, and then the sound starts dropping out again in much faster increments than it has in the past… I’ve tried so many things in the last 3 to 4 months, I’m not sure what would’ve affected the timeframe today, but that’s what it’s doing now…

I would certainly welcome any other suggestions that you have… I appreciate the help!

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @Britishblue42,

Thank you for the update.

Turn off audio enhancements. Right‑click the speaker icon > Sounds > select your playback device > Properties > Enhancements tab > check Disable all enhancements. These can cause periodic dropouts.

Run HP Hardware Diagnostics Extensive Test: Boot into HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI and run the Extensive Test.

Please refer to this link

If you get a failure ID, that confirms hardware involvement.

Best regards,

Kuroi_Kenshi

[Britishblue42]

I don't have "Enhancements" under my output device... I did a search for enhancements, however the page it took me to, didn't have that option either... My current output is thru my TV, which allowed me to triple check the driver and it's up to date... The issue is so strange, truthfully... I can be watching something for 2-3 hours with no issues, then suddenly the sound issue starts, and once it does, it keeps going until I shut everything down... I'm really at a loss at this point... 

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @Britishblue42,

Thank you for the update.

Please run the HP Hardware Diagnostics Extensive Test

Boot into HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI and run the Extensive Test.

Please refer to this link

If you get a failure ID, that confirms hardware involvement.

Best Regards,