Solved Windows 8 audio suddenly not working.

Notme

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Member
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So suddenly when the my laptop sleeps or turns the screen off,

the audio device gets taken over by some hidden application

or the optional update was just faulty.

I've been experiencing this for two days now. Check the picture for more information

deviceinuse.PNG

And yes, I have tried every possible solution I can think of

- re-installing the drivers
- disabling then enabling the audio device (which somehow solves it. i wanna know why)
- restarting the laptop (yah solves the problem.)
- etc

except for buying a new laptop.

So maybe anyone can help me with my little situation here?

it's a hassle to restart the laptop/ disable-enable the audio device when someone needs to use it
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Well, one obvious choice is to find that device that's hogging audio. Skype ?, maybe some other comm program, music player ? etc.
If you disable some startup items, you could find what's doing that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Well, one obvious choice is to find that device that's hogging audio. Skype ?, maybe some other comm program, music player ? etc.
If you disable some startup items, you could find what's doing that.

wow thanks for the speedy reply.

i'm not sure what to disable here.
i believe none of these gets the audio device

startup.PNG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
That Power DVD would be one of my prime suspects but I have seen Deamon Tools wreck havoc with system in general. Had and seen many Realtec Codecs but I newer seen that "background service" on any of them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
disable all of them ,none of them need to run at startup
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
you guys reply so fast, thanks

unfortunately disabling startup items didnt work, it happened again when i woke my computer a few mins ago.

any other ideas?

edit: i believe it is not caused by a hardware problem since i got this laptop just a few months ago
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
just checking ,you did an optional update of the sound driver ,correct ,but have since rollback to the original driver .correct
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
so if you right click on the sound icon lower right corner and go to playback devices what options do you have ,what one is checked when its saying this device is in use .
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
so if you right click on the sound icon lower right corner and go to playback devices what options do you have ,what one is checked when its saying this device is in use .

well this is all i can see from the playback devices

playback.PNG

the device should be accessible/functioning properly if there's that small green check right?

edit: i also recently installed MSI afterburner (for monitoring gpu/cpu usage while playing)

would that application be the cause of the audio issue?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
I also found MSI afterburner troublesome if mo MSI (specially MB) exists in the system.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
I also found MSI afterburner troublesome if mo MSI (specially MB) exists in the system.

i see... so i better find another monitoring application then.

what would you suggest? im starting to love the on screen display of my cpu/gpu temp as well as ram usage and frame rates

in other news, the audio issue seems to have subsided when i uninstalled the optional update from windows.

winup.PNG

im not entirely sure, but since uninstalling the update the laptop wakes up with sound.

edit: if anyone else has this issue and happens to stumble upon this topic, my laptop model is ASUS X452CP
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Well if MSI AB is not the culprit in this case than... It's made for MSI HW and with it, it can change some parameters so can interfere with non-MSI stuff.
As far as "Optional Updates" goes it is a good form to check what they are for. Many times they are drivers/updates for drivers, for something. I was offered new drivers for my TV card that didn't work but another driver for Bluetooth device was good.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Well if MSI AB is not the culprit in this case than... It's made for MSI HW and with it, it can change some parameters so can interfere with non-MSI stuff.
As far as "Optional Updates" goes it is a good form to check what they are for. Many times they are drivers/updates for drivers, for something. I was offered new drivers for my TV card that didn't work but another driver for Bluetooth device was good.

from now on i'll check these optional ones, always thought they were just security updates.

Also, by observing my laptop for a day, i confirmed that the audio issue did not return upon uninstalling the said update.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Security updates are always "Important" unless for MS Office, maybe for some other MS products too but Office is all I have.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
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