No audio after RMA

[Rairun]

Just received my 5-month old 15.6 Recoil back due to a faulty screen. The screen has been replaced and seems to be working properly. However, the laptop no longer produces any sound (via speakers or headphones). This is what the device manager says:

The list on the left is only shown when I select "Show hidden devices" - otherwise, only "Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)" is listed.

Is there anything I can do to fix this issue on my own, or do I have to send it back once again?

 

[Tron1982]

The last time i saw a laptop with sound and speaker problems, the answer was a new clean install of windows ^^"
But you may try to reinstall the drivers (maybe the realtek drivers are missing ?)

Anyway, i know this is the "final" answer, but if the more knowledgeable people here don't give you a better answer, mine may work ^^"

 

[Rairun]

I'm nearly sure this isn't the case. the drivers seem to be installed correctly, but the device is not found. When I reinstalling the realtek driver from PCS, I get this message:

It appears to be an issue with the device itself? Keeping in mind that when I sent the laptop, the installation worked fine, and they don't appear to have messed with the audio drivers at all.

 

[kizcat]

I read that error as the speakers aren't physically plugged in, so would require you opening the laptop and plugging the connectors to their respective places on the motherboard

 

[ubuysa]

I would give PCS a call and talk this through with them. It sounds as though something became disconnected somehow.

 

[Rairun]

Cheers, I'm waiting for an email response. I might try to call tomorrow, also.

Interestingly, it appears there have been other changes. My Control Center no longer has 3 modes (office, gaming and turbo). Now it only has Office and Gaming modes. So it seems like they HAVE changed other things around, but I'm not sure to which extent.

Edit: oh wow, my Control Center has been severely downgraded. Several options to customize my GPU use no longer exist.

 

[Rairun]

Yeah, it also seems that they updated my bios without being asked to. Bios date: 31/08/2021, months after I purchased the laptop.

 

[ubuysa]

Cheers, I'm waiting for an email response. I might try to call tomorrow, also.

Interestingly, it appears there have been other changes. My Control Center no longer has 3 modes (office, gaming and turbo). Now it only has Office and Gaming modes. So it seems like they HAVE changed other things around, but I'm not sure to which extent.

Edit: oh wow, my Control Center has been severely downgraded. Several options to customize my GPU use no longer exist.

Phone them. Email takes forever.

 

[Rairun]

Update:

- We initially had no luck fixing my audio device. I did everything I could with the drivers. I created an image of my SSD and then tried a fresh Windows install, but it still didn't fix it.

- I asked PCS for the older version of the bios, since I was keen to try it before requesting an RMA again, but flashing it gave me an unexpected warning ("Check RomLayout: Fail"), so I aborted the process for fear of bricking the device.

- I told PCS what happened, and they sent me different BIOS files today. As I flashed it, the process ran without issues, but I noticed the version numbers were exactly the same as the ones they had updated the laptop to in the first place! I was upset about this, to be quite honest, since I couldn't see how this would fix the issue at all. The whole point was to install the older version to see if the new one was the issue.

- I rebooted the PC and... ta da, the audio device worked as if it had never malfunctioned in the first place. I don't have a clue why, but it is fully functional now!

As for the Control Center options:

- I initially managed to get the options back by restoring windows using a restore point pre-RMA. However, if I reinstalled Control Center, I would lose them again, and there was no way to get them back except by restoring Windows. Even when I did a fresh Windows install, the options were no longer there when I installed CC. I currently only have them now because I made an image of my system SSD when the options were still there.

- It is worth noting that when I flashed the BIOS with the files provided today, the Control Center options disappeared again, even though there were no apparent changes to the windows install. Using a Windows restore point from before the BIOS update fixed the issue, but I expect they will be gone again if I ever need to reinstall/update it. Currently waiting to hear PCS's thoughts on this.

 

[Rairun]

The plot thickens. Audio stopped working again, but I've been able to gather some more info:

- As soon as I flash the latest bios, audio starts working when I boot into Windows 10. This persists through system restores and any number of restarts.

- HOWEVER, when I power the system down completely and then turn it back on, audio is gone again and nothing seems to bring it back. The only thing that works is flashing the latest bios again, which will only work until I need to turn the laptop off again.

 

[Rairun]

This morning PCS sent me an OEM fix:

(1) Removing Control Center, (2) rebooting, (3) applying OEM fix, (4) rebooting and (5) reinstalling Control Center seems to have fixed ALL the issues. For future reference:

- Audio started working again after completing step 4. This seems to persist not just through restarts but through powering the system down as well.
- After step 5 (Control Center v3.1.35.0), not only does Control Center have SPC settings back, but Turbo Mode as well. The OEM fix also added Turbo Mode to the BIOS settings, where it was also missing.

They did not expect the OEM fix to do anything about the audio issues, only the Control Center ones, but it fixed everything! So if you have the same issue, you can point them to this thread and ask for the fix.

 

[barlew]

This morning PCS sent me an OEM fix:

(1) Removing Control Center, (2) rebooting, (3) applying OEM fix, (4) rebooting and (5) reinstalling Control Center seems to have fixed ALL the issues. For future reference:

- Audio started working again after completing step 4. This seems to persist not just through restarts but through powering the system down as well.
- After step 5 (Control Center v3.1.35.0), not only does Control Center have SPC settings back, but Turbo Mode as well. The OEM fix also added Turbo Mode to the BIOS settings, where it was also missing.

They did not expect the OEM fix to do anything about the audio issues, only the Control Center ones, but it fixed everything! So if you have the same issue, you can point them to this thread and ask for the fix.

Glad it all got sorted in the end.

 

[SpyderTracks]

This morning PCS sent me an OEM fix:

(1) Removing Control Center, (2) rebooting, (3) applying OEM fix, (4) rebooting and (5) reinstalling Control Center seems to have fixed ALL the issues. For future reference:

- Audio started working again after completing step 4. This seems to persist not just through restarts but through powering the system down as well.
- After step 5 (Control Center v3.1.35.0), not only does Control Center have SPC settings back, but Turbo Mode as well. The OEM fix also added Turbo Mode to the BIOS settings, where it was also missing.

They did not expect the OEM fix to do anything about the audio issues, only the Control Center ones, but it fixed everything! So if you have the same issue, you can point them to this thread and ask for the fix.

Well done, and thanks for feeding back the solution

 

[victorneon]

This morning PCS sent me an OEM fix:

(1) Removing Control Center, (2) rebooting, (3) applying OEM fix, (4) rebooting and (5) reinstalling Control Center seems to have fixed ALL the issues. For future reference:

- Audio started working again after completing step 4. This seems to persist not just through restarts but through powering the system down as well.
- After step 5 (Control Center v3.1.35.0), not only does Control Center have SPC settings back, but Turbo Mode as well. The OEM fix also added Turbo Mode to the BIOS settings, where it was also missing.

They did not expect the OEM fix to do anything about the audio issues, only the Control Center ones, but it fixed everything! So if you have the same issue, you can point them to this thread and ask for the fix.

Hey,
I ran into the same problem.
Could you explain to me what's the OEM fix that they sent you.
Also, where can I download control center ? I don't find my computer serie numero on clevo' website..

Thanks!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hey,
I ran into the same problem.
Could you explain to me what's the OEM fix that they sent you.
Also, where can I download control center ? I don't find my computer serie numero on clevo' website..

Thanks!

You'll need to contact PCS about this as they need to provide you with the packages.

Control center will be in your online account on the main PCS site under downloads, or if it's a clevo chassis, then you download it direct from Clevo.

 

[victorneon]

You'll need to contact PCS about this as they need to provide you with the packages.

Control center will be in your online account on the main PCS site under downloads, or if it's a clevo chassis, then you download it direct from Clevo

My downloads links doesn't work. They all get me either to a blank page/error 404.

My chassis is a TongFang GM5Z Series. Where could i find thoses drivers ?

 

[Martinr36]

My downloads links doesn't work. They all get me either to a blank page/error 404.

My chassis is a TongFang GM5Z Series. Where could i find thoses drivers ?

You'll need to talk to PCS as Tongfang doesn't have a driver repository for the general public

 

[SpyderTracks]

My downloads links doesn't work. They all get me either to a blank page/error 404.

My chassis is a TongFang GM5Z Series. Where could i find thoses drivers ?

You'd need to get your online account sorted out, you can only get it from PCS as above

Can you post a screenshot of your downloads page?

 

[victorneon]

This morning PCS sent me an OEM fix:

(1) Removing Control Center, (2) rebooting, (3) applying OEM fix, (4) rebooting and (5) reinstalling Control Center seems to have fixed ALL the issues. For future reference:

- Audio started working again after completing step 4. This seems to persist not just through restarts but through powering the system down as well.
- After step 5 (Control Center v3.1.35.0), not only does Control Center have SPC settings back, but Turbo Mode as well. The OEM fix also added Turbo Mode to the BIOS settings, where it was also missing.

They did not expect the OEM fix to do anything about the audio issues, only the Control Center ones, but it fixed everything! So if you have the same issue, you can point them to this thread and ask for the fix.

I sorted out, far away of PCspecialist and this bugged website..
As my Control Center was bugged. Now it works.

Anyone able to explain me a bit better what this process means. Mostly "OEM Fix".

Thanks in advance

 

[SpyderTracks]

Anyone able to explain me a bit better what this process means. Mostly "OEM Fix".

Yes, you need to contact PCS for the files.