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- Notebook Audio
- Sudden loss of onbord audio (speakers and headphones)

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01-12-2021 08:43 AM
As many others have recently posted, I have experienced a sudden loss of onboard audio devices - the speakers and the headphone jack no longer work. I can still connect to audio via Bluetooth and HDMI. I have performed all of the diagnostics through HP and Windows but they do not detect a problem.
As far as I can tell, this has happened since an automatic driver update from Windows. I rolled back all possible audio drivers to no avail. I performed a system restore which temporarily solved my problem, however I wasn´t quick enough to disable to automatic driver updates, and now I can now longer use an old enough restore point, one before these drivers where installed. I prefer not to reinstall Windows, however this is looking like my only option until there is a new update rolled out.
Any advice would be appreciated,
Cheers.
Solved! Go to Solution.
Accepted Solutions
01-14-2021 07:23 AM
Ok, I´ve finally found the problamatic driver.
Windows 10 automatically updated a driver called "Sound Research Corp. - SoftwareComponent - 2.0.9.18".
This version is the cause of my loss of audio. I was unable to revert this driver to an older version, so I decided to delete the driver entirely. Upon restarting the computer, Windows shows in Device Manager, under SoftwareComponents - Sound Research Audio Effects Component - version 2.0.9.17. I now have full audio capabilties.
Hopefully this is helpful for anyone else having this problem!
Cheers
01-14-2021 07:23 AM
Ok, I´ve finally found the problamatic driver.
Windows 10 automatically updated a driver called "Sound Research Corp. - SoftwareComponent - 2.0.9.18".
This version is the cause of my loss of audio. I was unable to revert this driver to an older version, so I decided to delete the driver entirely. Upon restarting the computer, Windows shows in Device Manager, under SoftwareComponents - Sound Research Audio Effects Component - version 2.0.9.17. I now have full audio capabilties.
Hopefully this is helpful for anyone else having this problem!
Cheers
01-23-2021 07:34 AM - edited 01-23-2021 07:34 AM
Same problem encountered here. Complete loss of audio from laptop external speaker on 1/22. Headphone jack still works. I also had this driver installed as part of Windows update and sound stopped working.
Looking into how to get rid of this driver.
01-23-2021 07:48 AM
Rolling back the driver works as well. Here's how to do it ..
- Open Device Manager
- Expand 'Software components' - you will see 'Sound Research Audio Effects Component'
- click on it and go to the Driver tab
- click on Roll Back Driver
No reboot needed.
Mine rolled back to 2.0.9.73 (dated 10/7/2020) and audio started working immediately after.
01-25-2021 12:15 PM
I found success in rolling back all the drivers I could find relating to audio devices in the Device Manager. I'm unable to tell which one precisely fixed the sound problem, but after the roll backs and a restart the sound is back and working.
I just hope that Microsoft patch Windows properly with the next update so that I don't have to keep rolling back the drivers
02-19-2021 03:58 AM
I only wish to contribute as I've had a similar issue with a colleagues machine. The steps I took (after researching) were:
Use AMD Driver Removal Tool
Download the AMD driver tool
Uninstall anything in the audio devices that didn't mention AMD
Uninstalled anything that related to audio and Realtek.
I also disabled hardware updates by:
Control Panel > System & Security > System > Advanced System Settings > Hardware > Device Installation Settings. Then choose "No (your device might not work as expected). This information was from Tom's hardware.