windows 7: Can't get HDMI audio - the hdmi device does not appear under the playback devices

Anonymous
2009-05-22T05:38:40+00:00

so yeah you've probably gathered my problem from my title.

i have an integrated intel graphics chip (interestingly enough the intel control pane,l through which i used to control the majority of the devices functions, did not survive the upgrade... it is nowhere to be found)

so i've updated the drivers, and checked the playback devices, and my hdmi cables are plugged in

i get video but no audio, and am not sure i am just missing something simple.

eitherway i've done a lot of searching and have yet to find an answer any help would be much appreciated!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2011-11-07T04:20:01+00:00

Hello spedlifeshow,

The issue here can be one of several issues, the following may apply:

  • The HDMI graphics card may support HDMI Video, but may not support HDMI Audio
  • You may need to set the HDMI audio device as the default sound device
  • You may need to update your HDMI video card drivers for your version of Windows
  • If your HDMI video card does not support audio, you may need to connect additional audio cables between the PC and TV

For the steps for some of these issues see the following No sound tutorial (look on the Check your Hardware tab under HDMI cables).

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/no-sound-in-windows

Hope this helps

LD.

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  1. Anonymous
    2009-09-03T20:28:00+00:00

    I have a homemade PC with onboard Sigmatel audio and an nVidia GTX260 graphics card... I'm using a S/PDIF passthrough from the motherboard to the graphics card, and audio is passed to the TV.

    I did have one problem...  When I upgraded the video card driver, I was not prompted for a reboot; however, my system required a reboot before the audio started working again. 

    I can play tracks from Zune, and system sounds also come through.  I also have a Dell XPS1530, and Samsung LCD.  With Win7 Beta, it worked.  I haven't yet tried with Win7 RC.

    I didn't really have to configure anything to get it to work...  It just did.  Guess I was lucky, but this is not necessarily an inherent flaw with the Win7 RC.

    Im using  a spdif cable aswell hooked up to my nvidia 9500GT with HDMI running to the tv. I´m using vista but i don´t get the HDMI option displayed in the audio output deivce list. anyone?

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  2. Anonymous
    2009-08-21T20:31:54+00:00

    Yes, video card drivers are important (as I stated above).  Your video adapter is what outputs the HDMI signal...  After all, it's producing the video.  The audio gets to it from your sound card hooked up via a S/PDIF digital connection.  This digital data is injected, by the video card, into the HDMI datastream.  Therefore you need both your audio drivers (the sound card/chip is still required as the audio device), and the video drivers.  HDMI as an audio device is actually courtesy of your video card due to the reason above.

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-08-21T20:03:34+00:00

    Good news!  I talked to a friend that worked in the Windows 7 development at Microsoft and he had the same prob with 2 of his computers and figured out the solution.  While it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, the HDMI Audio comes from the video card drivers.  I went to Intel's website and chose my video card, and they had Windows 7 RC drivers up, I downloaded those and installed, rebooted and my HDMI audio is now back in the soundcard list and I tested it, worked great! So to all of you above, go get the latest video card drivers and try again. Worked for me!

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  4. Anonymous
    2009-08-21T05:44:01+00:00

    I for 1 use Razor HDMI headphones and the sounds come up fine for me. i also have the onboard audio ports hooked up to my surround sound system and i can swap sounds back and forth without problems and even run both at the same time (music on speakers games on headphones) all devices come up fine for me in the playback menu. Have you tried the showing disconnected devices?

    RCx64

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