weird thing going on with laptop sound

[unoservix]

so my Dell Inspiron 3541 with Windows 8.1 is doing something weird. i have an AMD High Definition Audio Device, and every other time i start the computer, the icon in the task bar tells me that the audio device is unplugged, and so there is no audio. but when i restart the computer, it goes back to being enabled and usable. then i turn it off and turn it back on a while later and the audio is disabled again. i've updated and reinstalled the drivers but it's still doing this. it's been going on for about a month. i've been getting around it by just not shutting the computer off but i'd rather not do that. i've poked around online about it and it sent me into BIOS, but after making the appropriate sacrifices and jumping through the hoops necessary to access BIOS in Windows 8, i could not find any of the options i was supposed to be looking for. nothing is wrong with the audio when it is enabled, it just keeps disabling itself for some reason, and only every other time i turn the machine on.

 

so omg wtf

[DZComposer]

Yeah, that sounds more like a driver issue.

Try installing the driver from here:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/inspiron-15-3541-laptop/drivers

If that doesn't work, try the one directly from Realtek Be mindful of 64/32 bit:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

Also, did you install any audio software or 3rd-party drivers such as ASIO for All? Do you use USB Headphones?

[Arashikage]

Did you try updating/reinstalling your audio drivers?

[DZComposer]

Please post a screenshot of your device manager with the audio devices tree expanded. According to my Dell information, this laptop should have a Realtek soundcard, not an AMD one. I'm wondering it this is actually the HDMI Audio Out driver as the information does say it should have an AMD GPU.

[unoservix]

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for what it's worth i just rebooted the machine and the audio is still functioning so i dunno lol but i would like an idea of what happened in case it crops up again in the future

[DZComposer]

Looks like it's just as I expected.

Make sure that the "Realtek High Definition Audio" is set as your default audio device if that happens again. You can also try disabling the AMD audio driver in the device manager. It should be in the "Sound, Video, and Game Controllers" tree.

[unoservix]

Realtek High Definition Audio is already my default audio device. i disabled the AMD audio driver and that didn't have any effect. when this happens, the Realtek device disappears entirely from both the Sound setting window and the Device Manager. however, this only seems to happen when i select Shut Down from the Start menu. if i select Restart, then the Realtek device either reappears or stays enabled.

[DZComposer]

Next time it happens look for any "Unknown Devices." We need to see if this is a hardware issue. It may also be worth going into the BIOS and making sure the onboard sound is enabled/on. If it is set to auto, explicitly set it to on.

Also, have you noticed any other issues with the machine? Failing onboard soundcards can be an indication of impending motherboard failure.

[unoservix]

when the audio is disabled, Device Manager tells me that the Realtek HD Audio device is not connected. i didn't find any option in the BIOS for onboard sound, and it's been quite consistent in only disabling itself if i just shut the computer down instead of restarting.

 

the machine did just turn itself off for some reason, and i have the Extended Battery Life options enabled. every so often the system stops recognizing the battery for a few seconds, and then recognizes it again and resumes charging. but those are the only issues i've noticed, and none of them seem to be consistent problems; this is the first random inexplicable shutdown i can recall having with this machine. and i bought it new in December, so i'd be surprised if the hardware is dying on me already.

[unoservix]

i did not install any 3rd party audio stuff or use USB headphones, but reinstalling the drivers seems to have worked, so yay! thanks man