[24h2 / lts 2024] HP Elitedesk 800 - lost ability to play sound through headphone socket

[Scifigirl]

Hi all,

 

Just as a test I updated my PC to 24H2 so we can use it in earnest before rolling it out from January, however my lovely G5 PC has stopped playing sound through the headphone socket.

 

Now this is fine by me as i have a USB speaker, however we have an IT suite full of these things for students and they wont recognise headphones as an output.

 

I have unistalled and reinstalled drivers, made my way through the forums and HP support assisstant but no luck.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Hoyt]

We use HP devices in my district as well. I have had similar issues with different device drivers depending on where I got them from. We used to have this exact problem when Windows would install generic drivers. It seemed that those drivers didn't recognize the electrical switch when headphones were plugged in. As a test maybe power the computer off completely and leave the speakers plugged in, then power it on again. If it plays that way then a simple driver swap may get you going.

 

There are three or four different places we have had to get drivers from that come to mind. One is by using the HP Image Assistant. Run that and tell it do download and install the drivers. Another option is to identify the audio chipset in the device manager (probably Realtek) and download the generic drivers from them. Another option is just allowing Windows Update to download and install them.

 

Also in reading your post I am getting the impression that you upgraded from an older version of Windows 11. I have seen problems over the years like this when doing an in place upgrade. Maybe pick another identical PC from a lab or classroom and wipe the hard drive and do a clean installation of 24H2 and just let Windows Update install the drivers. If it works that way then hopefully a fresh Sysprepped image might get you going in January.

[Jobos]

On 06/12/2024 at 14:49, Scifigirl said:

Hi all,

 

Just as a test I updated my PC to 24H2 so we can use it in earnest before rolling it out from January, however my lovely G5 PC has stopped playing sound through the headphone socket.

 

Now this is fine by me as i have a USB speaker, however we have an IT suite full of these things for students and they wont recognise headphones as an output.

 

I have unistalled and reinstalled drivers, made my way through the forums and HP support assisstant but no luck.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Did you ever resolve this sound problem as we are affected too?

[Scifigirl]

Yes we swapped the driver to the high definition driver from the synaptics one. instantly fixed

[Jobos]

1 hour ago, Scifigirl said:

Yes we swapped the driver to the high definition driver from the synaptics one. instantly fixed

Thanks , that sounds like an easy fix. Can you remember the driver version number and was it from the HP support site?

[Hoyt]

On 26/06/2025 at 11:50, Jobos said:

Thanks , that sounds like an easy fix. Can you remember the driver version number and was it from the HP support site?

 

Have you tried using the HP Image Assistant to download and install their latest driver?  I've often found that is a quick and easy way to get drivers sorted after Windows "fixes" them.

 

HP Image Assistant (HPIA)

[Jobos]

13 hours ago, Hoyt said:

 

Have you tried using the HP Image Assistant to download and install their latest driver?  I've often found that is a quick and easy way to get drivers sorted after Windows "fixes" them.

 

HP Image Assistant (HPIA)

 

No, I was not aware of that. Thanks for the tip.

[Olliedawg]

 

On 26/06/2025 at 14:49, Scifigirl said:

Yes we swapped the driver to the high definition driver from the synaptics one. instantly fixed

We have just ran into this issue today. When you say high definition driver, do you mean this one "Synaptics High Definition Audio Legacy Driver"

[Scifigirl]

Ours just says High Definition Audio Driver - so I'm guessing its a generic not synaptics specific

[Olliedawg]

3 minutes ago, Scifigirl said:

Ours just says High Definition Audio Driver - so I'm guessing its a generic not synaptics specific

Ahh ok - can you remember where you got that from? Or is that just the generic windows driver?

Edited December 10, 2025 by Olliedawg

[Jobos]

In device manager on my PC it says under audio inputs and outputs headphones (Synaptics HD Audio) and it is version 10.0.26100.1 then again under sound, video and game controllers it is says Synaptics HD Audio but a newer driver 10.0.100.3624 as in the end I was trying all sorts to get it working.

[AlphamaleZed]

Yeah had the same thing here i posted not too long ago.

 

Switching to windows sound works but to do it all was a pain! Redployed throuh SCCM and windows updates gpo to block drivers works a treat!

[Olliedawg]

Last resort would be a re-image & blocking driver updates.. i'm going to try deploying the other Synaptics HD drivers & test those (most recent & legacy)

[sigma]

1 hour ago, Jobos said:

In device manager on my PC it says under audio inputs and outputs headphones (Synaptics HD Audio) and it is version 10.0.26100.1 then again under sound, video and game controllers it is says Synaptics HD Audio but a newer driver 10.0.100.3624 as in the end I was trying all sorts to get it working.

Two drivers, two different bits of hardware.

[Olliedawg]

Sorted! Ended up reverting back to the generic driver.