Where did my sound go?

jaysus · 14 May 2018 at 19:41

Recently, and for no reason I can fathom out my speakers have stopped working with a Windows 10 PC. They were connected via standard 3.5mm jack and had been working fine for years.
I've tried connecting headphones to the same 3.5mm port - no joy. Nor the one on the front of the case. I've tested both headphones and speakers elsewhere - they're working.
I can get sound either through my monitor (which has built in speakers) or connecting bluetooth headphones via a BT adapter.
I do seem to have two Digital Audio (S/PDIF} devices that appear identical in Playback Devices. When playing content only one appears to have anything coming through on the mixer.
I don't have any audio management software, just Windows. And I've tried disabling everything in playback devices - no change. I didn't make any changes (knowingly) to cause it to stop working.

Any ideas what's going on - hardware or software?

The Artfull Bodger · 14 May 2018 at 19:50

My mic stopped working properly after one of the window updates recently. Uninstalled realtek drivers after trying a load of things (including updating them) then I never bothered to reinstall. After this, works fine now, might be worth a shot if your using onboard sound.

Rannoch · 14 May 2018 at 19:56

Update drivers should sort it.

Glacius · 14 May 2018 at 20:28

I have had 2 people I talk to online have exactly the same issue since the latest Windows 10 update so it may have something to do with that, both of them had separate sound cards and had to remove them and resort to motherboard audio connections, no idea if or how to fix there issues either.

jaysus · 14 May 2018 at 21:05

I've tried updating drivers through Device Manager, no update.
No Realtek.
No separate sound card - motherboard audio only.

Odd. Would make sense if it was a Windows update as that might have been applied without my knowledge.

The Artfull Bodger · 14 May 2018 at 21:20

Can you not look for updated drivers on motherboard/pc manufactures website, and I deleted my realtek drivers through add or remove programs i believe, think everyone of my motherboards has used realtek onboard drivers. Is onboard audio enabled in your bios?

pacegod · 15 May 2018 at 16:58

I assume you've tried left clicking the speaker in the task bar bottom right and choosing a different source in the drop down above the volume indicator?

jaysus · 15 May 2018 at 19:11

The last driver update for my motherboard was released in 2012 (it's the one in my sig.) There was a Realtek driver for it so I've installed that and I've got sound - albeit it crackles when I adjust volume on the headphones.

Windows update break a driver maybe? I didn't have Realtek (knowingly) before - it just came up SPDIF when selecting audio sources.

The Artfull Bodger · 16 May 2018 at 08:47

I would agree, with my limited knowledge, that windows did break your drivers. Reckon it happened to me even with recent drivers, but at least you got audio now, which is something.

Marsman · 16 May 2018 at 11:06

Audio on Windows 10 gets broken more times than the panes of glass in a greenhouse would if placed next to a football pitch.

Either Microsoft have got worse when it comes to audio and updates, or it's because people have to install all the updates including those which cause problems. With previous versions of Windows, such updates people weren't forced to install, so threads about updates breaking audio on 7 8/8.1 were almost unheard of; just when it came to incompetence on the part of Asus and Creative.

jaysus · 3 Jun 2018 at 11:09

Sorry, should have replied sooner.
I installed the Realtek drivers for my mobo (dated 2012 IIRC) and it's working again. Windows does still seem like the most likely culprit but I've got sound at least now.

Marsman · 3 Jun 2018 at 11:29

Glad it's working; until the next update and it all goes pear shaped again.....

I suppose you never though; M$ might actually learn to release updates that don't break anything.