Sound Stops Thru HDMI Acer TC-885 desktop

Kungfuey

Hello,

I have a brand new Acer TC-885 desktop computer.  Windows 10, 64 Bit, 8th Gen Intel Core 5 Processor 8400, 8GB DDR4 RAM.  Connected via HDMI to a Toshiba HD T.V..

This is the second TC-885 I've had.  Both the first one and this one exhibit the exact same problem so I believe the issue is a setting on the computer.
When watching a video (YouTube for example), the audio plays without problem.  If I pause or stop the video for 13 or more seconds, upon restarting the video or choosing a new video, there is no sound.  The video plays without problem but no sound ever comes out of the T.V..

I have used this TV and HDMI cable extensively for years with at least 3 other computers and never had a problem.  I've swapped out HDMI cables, I've checked for the sound problem with other computers but never had any problems with anything but these Acers.  

I can see on the TV that the sound should be playing but no sound comes out of the television after the initial view of the video.
However, if I turn the TV off, then on again, change the channel or change the input (example - go from HDMI to Antenna then back to HDMI), the sound comes back on every time.  The sound also comes back on if I unplug the HDMI cable then plug it back in.

Again, this is the second Acer Aspire TC-855 desktop to do this.  I know there is nothing wrong with my T.V. or my HDMI cable.  If I watch a video, the sound comes through without any problem as long as there isn't a 13+ second pause in audio output.  The only way to get the sound back on is to change the T.V.'s input (via the remote control), pull the HDMI cable out and put it back in, turn the TV off then back on again or restart the computer.  

There must be a setting that can be adjusted on this desktop.  Can anyone please help?

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

luketheduke

have you tried going into the sound panel and disabling audio enhancements?

billsey

Could easily be a power saving setting on the HDMI audio. Disable the 'let windows turn off' setting in the properties.

Kungfuey

Luketheduke, I do not have an enhancements tab when I click on Properties for the TSB-H84s Intel Disply Audio Default Device.

billsey, could you please tell me where the "let windows turn off" setting is in the properties?
I don't see that under "Power Options"  (which is set to "High Performance".

Thank you both for your help.

billsey

Typically that level of power control is found through Device Manager by bringing up properties on the device. My thought is that when you pause for more than a few seconds the system is turning the speaker output off, then forgets how to turn it back on when you continue the playback.

Kungfuey

Update:
I tried everything I could with no good result.  I returned the computer, got me a new one and the new one does exactly the same thing as the old one.

I could not figure out how to fix the problem with the sound but I did find a workaround.  Admittedly, on a brand new computer ANY workaround is B.S..  The computer should work perfectly out of the box.
However, since I have exhausted every available option to fix it and no one at Acer can figure out how to remedy the issue, at least I can still use the thing.

My workaround  ---  Play a song (MP3 file) on repeat using Windows Media Player immediately after starting the computer.  I turn Windows Media Player volume to zero and I can still watch videos with sound.
Every now and then I have to change the T.V.'s input to something other than HDMI then change it back to HDMI to get the sound to come on but after this daily dance with the computer, I never have any other sound issues.

Thank you for your help with this issue.

Raffi1968

First Method:

Try step #7 in this link:  https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4080  

Second Method:

If the First Method didn't work, try 1-8 below.  Look at the picture, below.

1). Right click the speaker icon in the lower right corner of your screen.

2). Select Open Volume Mixer.

3). Click on the picture icon under "Device."  A "Properties" window will appear. 

4). Click on the "Advanced" Tab. 

5). You will see two check boxes, a "Test" button and a "Restore Defaults" button. 

6). Click the Restore Defaults button. Now click the "Test" button. You should hear sound.  

7). Now click the "Levels" tab on the left side of the Advanced tab.

8). You will see a "Balance" button.  Click on it.  You should hear sound. You can also click on the Test button in the Advanced tab.

If you restore sound that means another application interfered with the computer's sound system or your Audio, Sound driver was corrupted. And Restore Defaults button corrected the fault.

If you lose sound again after restoring:

Repeat steps 1-6.  And uncheck the two boxes in step 5 that are shown in the picture above. 

Uncheck the two boxes that say:  "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" and "Give exclusive mode applications priority," shown in the picture above.

If that didn't work go to this link: https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4080 and try steps 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8.

If the steps above don't work at first, try step 7 in this link: https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4080

Then repeat steps 1-8 at the top of this page.  Good luck.

Kungfuey

Hi
Thank you very much for your detailed reply.  Long story short, unfortunately it didn't work.
Things are getting worse too.  Lately I will play a song from the hard drive, I'll hear it and have sound for 20 seconds or so then the sound will quit and I get an error message telling me there is an issue with the HDMI audio.  The next time I get the message, I'll post it here.  No matter what I do, I cannot get any sound to work and I have to restart the computer.  I did that 5 times today then just gave up on the ***** thing.  Every time, 20 or so seconds of sound then it just stops.  Restart and go through it all again.

Also, around 2 months ago I upgraded TV's to a new 4K Westinghouse television.
As time goes by, the Acer is working worse and worse.

Thank you again for your reply and your effort to help me.

Kungfuey

The error message that pops up says:

"Can't play
We can't find an audio device.  Make sure that headphones or speakers are connected.  For more ifo, search your device for "Manage audio devices."
0xc00d4e86
Send feedback
                                                  Close"

32149849465132132

Has anyone ever been able to resolve this problem? I just bought a TC-885, and am having the same problem.

When I first powered it on, I was able to get sound through the HDMI. Then I went to do a clean install of Windows, because I didn't want all the third party garbage, and now it doesn't work. I've tried updating the drivers through Windows, downloading from the Acer website, but nothing seems to work. I'd hate to return this computer over such a stupid reason, but it's looking like I'll have to since there's no solution.

Kungfuey

Welcome to my life.  I'm on my second Acer.  The first one actually worked better than this one!

No one has given me a fix to this problem.  If you find out something, PLEASE post it here so I can fix this piece of junk!!

JordanB

The link below says to contact Microsoft for a resolution.....if you have the driver(s) mentioned.......or at any point had the driver(s) mentioned.  Even if you don't currently have the faulty Intel/Microsoft driver, it may have messed up your system.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/devices-with-intel-audio-display-drivers-may-lose/e6b71763-5d32-4341-b4fc-43603c64ac47?tm=1542828490973&auth=1&ranMID=43674&ranEAID=je6NUbpObpQ&ranSiteID=je6NUbpObpQ-1H7hiYZp1_0rtHd_.eOhFQ&epi=je6NUbpObpQ-1H7hiYZp1_0rtHd_.eOhFQ&irgwc=1&OCID=AID681541_aff_7795_1243925&tduid=(ir__ghn6oaii3pvvbjupva3i21mx0e2xmygd0h1ivlgj00)(7795)(1243925)(je6NUbpObpQ-1H7hiYZp1_0rtHd_.eOhFQ)()&irclickid=_ghn6oaii3pvvbjupva3i21mx0e2xmygd0h1ivlgj00


https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-windows-10-1809-block-microsoft-halts-update-if-you-use-flawed-intel-drivers/

32149849465132132

JordanB said:

The link below says to contact Microsoft for a resolution.....if you have the driver(s) mentioned.......or at any point had the driver(s) mentioned.  Even if you don't currently have the faulty Intel/Microsoft driver, it may have messed up your system.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/devices-with-intel-audio-display-drivers-may-lose/e6b71763-5d32-4341-b4fc-43603c64ac47?tm=1542828490973&auth=1&ranMID=43674&ranEAID=je6NUbpObpQ&ranSiteID=je6NUbpObpQ-1H7hiYZp1_0rtHd_.eOhFQ&epi=je6NUbpObpQ-1H7hiYZp1_0rtHd_.eOhFQ&irgwc=1&OCID=AID681541_aff_7795_1243925&tduid=(ir__ghn6oaii3pvvbjupva3i21mx0e2xmygd0h1ivlgj00)(7795)(1243925)(je6NUbpObpQ-1H7hiYZp1_0rtHd_.eOhFQ)()&irclickid=_ghn6oaii3pvvbjupva3i21mx0e2xmygd0h1ivlgj00


https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-windows-10-1809-block-microsoft-halts-update-if-you-use-flawed-intel-drivers/

Interesting. The display driver listed in my device manager is Microsoft Basic Display Adapter, which would make me think I have the wrong driver as it's not Intel. But I downloaded and installed the AMT driver from here: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/7624?b=1&pn=DT.BAPAA.001

32149849465132132

32149849465132132 said:

 https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/7624?b=1&pn=DT.BAPAA.001

Okay, guys, unsurprisingly this was operator error. I previously said I downloaded all the drivers, which is exactly what I did. I downloaded ALL the drivers. I assumed all drivers there were for my computer. I used some common sense this time around, and thought, "the one's labeled NOT intel are probably NOT for my computer."

Everything works on my end now.

KungFuey, try installing the VGA Driver (I know! It says VGA, but this is what worked for my HDMI):

Version:

15.65.1.1

Vendor:

Intel

I hope this works for you, as it did for me.

32149849465132132

32149849465132132 said:

32149849465132132 said:

 https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/7624?b=1&pn=DT.BAPAA.001

Okay, guys, unsurprisingly this was operator error. I previously said I downloaded all the drivers, which is exactly what I did. I downloaded ALL the drivers. I assumed all drivers there were for my computer. I used some common sense this time around, and thought, "the one's labeled NOT intel are probably NOT for my computer."

Everything works on my end now.

KungFuey, try installing the VGA Driver (I know! It says VGA, but this is what worked for my HDMI):

Version:

15.65.1.1

Vendor:

Intel

I hope this works for you, as it did for me.

Oh, actually, I'm not sure if you would use the same driver since they give the same model name to pcs with different specs. Mine's the 8gb, i3-8100 version.

Tokogha

I have the same desktop sound works but the output is so low I have to have the tv volume on 30 for certain things my gateway I could only have the tv volume on 12 to 14. Anyways I got to reading this feed and I'm currently watching a movie on the desktop now and I'm getting more annoyed the only upgrades I did was ram 32gb swap hard drive same brand just bigger size all I did was clone it so I didnt have to redo the process of the whole welcome to windows but I have gone through every step on here to figure out what's going on but i noticed i have both Intel and VGA drivers but I only have the intel based output according to the software because it will not let me switch drivers it gives a click icon but nothing happens  just pops up with intel. If there is something I'm missing please I'd greatly enjoy the help 

billsey

@Tokogha it would be better for you to start your own thread rather than resurrecting this one. Give us your full model number, a description of the problem and what steps you have tried so far to resolve it. There have been several different TC-885 models and I'm not actually clear on you having one.