Spin 5 SP513-54N: internal speaker stopped working after updating Windows to 20H2

Hi,

Yesterday I upgraded my Windows 10 to version 20H2 from 1909 that came with the laptop. Today I noticed that the internal speaker of my laptop stopped working. If I plug a headset into the laptop it also does not play any sound. However, if I plug a TV via HDMI, then the laptop successfully plays sound via the TV's speakers.
Before I ran the update I had a whole day of video-conferencing with sound going through the internal speaker. So, I am pretty certain it happened after the update.
Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Accepted answers

KyryloSnizhko

I have now repeated the update to 20H2. The situation repeated itself, but this time I have figured out a solution.

By comparing the versions of all the audio drivers before and after the update, I have figured out that there are only two possible culprits: Intel Display Audio Driver and a bunch of three DTS drivers (these are under "Software components" in the Device manager, see the picture).

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/er/5fqrq637wice.png

The Intel Driver turned out to be irrelevant (it is the one that provides sound when an external TV is connected via HDMI - and it works ok).

I have rolled the three DTS drivers back to the previous version (right-click on the driver, Properties, the "Driver" tab has the relevant button). After this the internal speakers started working. Then I updated the drivers again to the new versions — and the speakers kept working! And they continued working after rebooting the laptop.

Then I plugged the headphones — again, the headphones had no sound, while the internal speaker worked perfectly. I repeated the procedure of rolling the same three drivers back and updating them again. After this also the headphones started working.

Now both the internal speakers and the headphones plugged into the audio-jack work, also after rebooting the laptop, without any further manipulations.

So, this is a weird glitch, which is, luckily, fixed by a one-time manipulation.

All comments

billsey

Fire up Device Manager to see if it's reporting any errors. Microsoft may have updated drivers while installing the update...

KyryloSnizhko

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/bg/0wjbg7lzoax3.png

No, no errors are shown. In particular, for the "Lautsprecher" (the German for "speaker", the computer is bought in Germany). Moreover, I have checked the version of the Realtek Audio driver: it is 6.0.8929.1, the same as the one available on the laptop official page (https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/8338?b=1&pn=NX.HQUEG.002). Not sure whether it was updated during the upgrade or not, but it doesn't show any problems.

KyryloSnizhko

Ok, I have now reverted to the pre-upgrade state. On 1909 the speaker works and the headset works. The Realtek Driver version is the same 6.0.8929.1.

billsey

How about the audio components under System Devices? Perhaps something there was changed...

KyryloSnizhko

Wow, it's a long list there. I haven't looked into System Devices, so can't confirm or deny. In any case, no item, including System Devices, showed errors on the top level (which, I presume, means that no subitem had errors).

One person told me that waiting for a day or two could help as after a Windows upgrade there can come a number of device-specific updates, but they don't always come immediately.

In any case, I am not going to roll back and forth right now. So, I'll come back to the issue in a few weeks, when I can afford a few days without the speaker.

KyryloSnizhko

I have now repeated the update to 20H2. The situation repeated itself, but this time I have figured out a solution.

By comparing the versions of all the audio drivers before and after the update, I have figured out that there are only two possible culprits: Intel Display Audio Driver and a bunch of three DTS drivers (these are under "Software components" in the Device manager, see the picture).

The Intel Driver turned out to be irrelevant (it is the one that provides sound when an external TV is connected via HDMI - and it works ok).

I have rolled the three DTS drivers back to the previous version (right-click on the driver, Properties, the "Driver" tab has the relevant button). After this the internal speakers started working. Then I updated the drivers again to the new versions — and the speakers kept working! And they continued working after rebooting the laptop.

Then I plugged the headphones — again, the headphones had no sound, while the internal speaker worked perfectly. I repeated the procedure of rolling the same three drivers back and updating them again. After this also the headphones started working.

Now both the internal speakers and the headphones plugged into the audio-jack work, also after rebooting the laptop, without any further manipulations.

So, this is a weird glitch, which is, luckily, fixed by a one-time manipulation.

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