Can't play sound on TV through HDMI - ASUS, Windows 8.1

epitomeofcait

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Aug 16, 2014
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Hi everyone,

I have been struggling with this for weeks - whenever I plug my computer into a TV through an HDMI cable, the screen visual transfers perfectly but no sound comes through the TV.

Please note that I have scoured the forums and have tried all of the basic suggestions that people have given:
-HDMI or similar does not show up in 'Playback Devices'
-All of my drivers are up to date

I am running Windows 8.1. I have an ASUS Q550L notebook (can see all the specs here: Asus 15.6" TouchScreen Laptop Intel Core i7 8GB Memory 1TB Hard Drive Q550LF-BSI7T21 - Best Buy)

Please help!! Thanks!
 
Solution
If I had to guess, I'd say it's a handshake issue (your laptop and television are not communicating the HDMI signal appropriately). In Windows 8.1, if you bring up the Windows audio controls in the lower right task bar, you'll likely find that your television does not appear as an audio choice.

I'd recommend trying two things to see if it solves your problem:

1) Restart the Windows audio service. Press your Windows key + R to bring up the Run dialogue box. Type in services.msc and select the Windows audio service. Restart it. Now try to select your television as the audio device.

2) If the above step is unsuccessful, restart your computer while the television is on and connected to your laptop through HDMI. Audio should play...

crisan_tiberiu

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i dont know for sure but i think you have switchable graphics, so, i guess that you need to have in your device manager not more than 3 sound devices: Speakers, intel HDMI and nVidia hdmi (i think). In my case, windows 8 did change automatically from speakers to hdmi when i connected the laptop to the TV, but when i use windows 7 i need to change the sound device manualy in control panel / sound and devices. Try that and set your hdmi as default (should be there in the list)
 

Dayvy

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If I had to guess, I'd say it's a handshake issue (your laptop and television are not communicating the HDMI signal appropriately). In Windows 8.1, if you bring up the Windows audio controls in the lower right task bar, you'll likely find that your television does not appear as an audio choice.

I'd recommend trying two things to see if it solves your problem:

1) Restart the Windows audio service. Press your Windows key + R to bring up the Run dialogue box. Type in services.msc and select the Windows audio service. Restart it. Now try to select your television as the audio device.

2) If the above step is unsuccessful, restart your computer while the television is on and connected to your laptop through HDMI. Audio should play automatically.
 
Solution
Jan 9, 2015
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I have the same laptop and have had the same problem for the past year. I just found a solution this last Christmas when my family was messing around with it and trying to get it to work. It is a hassle still but it works for me now. We realized tat if the hdmi is plugged into the TV and you restart the computer with the hdmi cable still plugged in when the computer restarts the sound will play through the TV.

It's a hassle because once you unplug it you have to restart the computer again. For some reason the laptop doesnt recognize the TV as a speaker unless you restart the computer. Anyway, I hope this works if you haven't found a solution yet or for those others who may come along with the same problem.

ASUS Q550L notebook: Asus 15.6" TouchScreen Laptop Intel Core i7 8GB Memory 1TB Hard Drive Q550LF-BSI7T21 - Best Buy HDMI sound not playing on TV. HDMI Picture coming through but no sound.
 

Supermanchad23

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Jan 11, 2015
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Supermanchad23

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Jan 11, 2015
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To all you Asus Laptop users,
I have been struggling with this issue too. I tried this resolution twice and it works!!
Plug in your HDMI cable then simply restart your PC. The sound will automatically choose your TV, go int your control panel, then select Sound and you will see that it has already chosen the HDMI port and set it as default. if you unplug it then try to reinsert it, it will not recognize it until you restart your PC again.
 

Supermanchad23

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Jan 11, 2015
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Trying to restart my Windows Audio Service did NOT work, I tried to shut off and restart with no success. Only means to fix this issue is to restart computer while HDMI is already plugged in.
I own a Asus X550LA I am running Windows 8.1. Asus 15.6" Laptop Intel Core i7 8GB Memory 1TB Hard Drive
 

johnnysix

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Jan 12, 2015
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I have every sympathy with the OP because people are not getting the point... not just here but across many forums. He & I are suffering from the fact that the HDMI output device has totally disappeared from the Sound devices list... not even present as a Hidden or Disconnected device.
Within Device Manager my HDMI Sound Device somehow turned into "Intel(R) Display Audio" instead, and even that doesn't show up as a Playback Device either.
So, simply re-powering with HDMI plugged in will NOT magically make it unveil itself and become the default output. It seems to have been thoroughly masked by something.
I have never yet found a solution to this (tried totally obliterating device and reinstalling Intel's drivers) apart from going back to an earlier disk image. But I don't have that option right now with my Mac Mini (Intel HD 4000 graphics). I can't play back my newest 6-channel movie! (aka. film).
 

johnnysix

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Jan 12, 2015
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I now believe the problem is EFI boot related. By using WINCLONE to flip the Win8.1 partition between EFI and Legacy (MBR) booting, I can reproduce the problem 100% under the former, and 100% successful return of HDMI audio device to the Sound panel under the latter.
 

mysubs

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Jan 22, 2015
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Another workaround I found without restarting the laptop.
After you connect your hdmi and get the picture on the TV but no sound, click on the little speaker icon next to the clock. Next click on the icon above the volume slide bar. In the speakers properties window, under Device Usage, select disable this device. The sound should be on the TV now. When you are done and unplug the HDMI cable, you will have no sound on the laptop. Click the Xed out volume icon again and it should restore the sound on its own.
Hope this helps.
 

Suur-Wasara

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Feb 1, 2015
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From the Microsoft Community ("Windows 8 audio through a hdmi cable doesn't work on desktop"), found the advice to install the graphics driver again with

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx

The automatic system worked for me (did not have to select a driver by hand).

My problem was the same:
No HDMI was to be seen/selectable anywhere, rebooting with TV on and HDMI connected made no difference, neither did updating audio drivers via the device manager. The problem existed since getting a new motherboard:

Asus H97M-E Intel H97 LGA 1150
Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
HDMI to Sony Bravia

Now 'Sony TV' appears in playback devices and there is sound.
 

ottoryd

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Feb 11, 2015
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johnnysix said:
I have every sympathy with the OP because people are not getting the point... not just here but across many forums. He & I are suffering from the fact that the HDMI output device has totally disappeared from the Sound devices list... ...

I think I get your point !! , just RIGHT CLICK in the Sound devices list and you will se all unvisible deactivated devices...happy happy :lol:

 

mnos12

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Feb 12, 2015
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I had struggled with the same issues many times with my Asus and Windows 8.

I have found that when I would go to Control Panel > Sound, only "Speakers" would show for the device. When I right-click on "Speakers" I am able to toggle "Show Disabled Devices" and "Show Disconnected Devices". My TV shows up and when I click it the sound plays through it.

I hope this helps someone!!
 

Hewarmsjeans

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Mar 3, 2015
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Hi, I have exactly the same issue! Running an Asus N550L and Windows 8.1. Tried all the results on various forums but to no success. The only way to make it work is to connect the HDMI and then reboot the computer.

When the HDMI is not connected, there is no option for this under the sounds tab in control panel, even when 'show all disconnected' etc is ticked.
 

PeterGG

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Mar 4, 2015
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The answer can be found here. It is simpler to just right click on the Intel driver and select Driver Update as opposed to what is shown in the video. Either one works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywBPZnEJ-zg






 

florinus

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Mar 6, 2015
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hi. same problem solved. windows 8.1, 64 bit, asus x550L, x5, intel hd 4400, nvidia geforce 720m.
i have an antique panasonic viera th-42pv80p. and just bought an pioneer htp-073. direct connect hdmi to tv no sound. connect hdmi to receiver and then to tv, no sound.
first solution, with restart the computer works for me, but it was so annoying.
so, folowed sugestion from Suur-Wasara. just go to https://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx
install automatic driver detection tool. for me it says that i have some custom driver.
so, manually downloaded driver for intel hd 4400, uninstaled old intel graphics driver and installed the latest one from intel. 15.36.14.64.4080 (Latest) Date: 01/12/2015. there were some restarts. i saw that the graphics drivers installed some audio thing...
and now everything just works fine.
with the cable connected, when i turn the receiver on, the notebook sound automaticaly select the receiver as output.
when laptop is direct connected to tv, when power on the tv, it is detected and i have the sound to tv speakers.
just update your graphics driver.
and i forget to mention. i have some cheap noname 4$ and 3 meters ver. 1.4 hdmi cables.
good luck.

update12.03.2015
windows just auto "update" my graphics driver from the last one 15.36.14.64.4080 (Latest) Date: 01/12/2015 to a previous version from 2014. the problem is back again. just roll back driver (device manager-display adapters-intel hd graphics family) . i also block a intel video update from windows update.
 

moking73

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Mar 9, 2015
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nlacombe13

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Mar 18, 2015
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I have been having the same issue for the same ASUS laptop.
The only solution I have found is to restart the computer with the HDMI cable still plugged in. That will end showing the TV in the sound settings once the computers reboots and will play sound through the TV like it's supposed to.
However, once the computer goes in to sleep mode and is awoken to use again, the TV no longer plays sound and the option for the TV on the computer is gone.

Help me Tom's Hardware forum. You're my only hope.


 

dancallaghan

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Apr 5, 2015
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I had the same problem everyone here is complaining about. For some reason my Windows 8.1 with Media Center, running on my ASUS S500CA laptop just suddenly stopped playing audio-out on my Panasonic Viera SmartTV using HDMI output. I know it seems counter-intuitive to reinstall a display/video driver, but that's exactly what finally resolved my problem. I did attempt to use the Intel automatic driver update, but that failed since Intel's update utility said I was running a manufacturer supplied driver and refused to update it for me. So instead I went back to the ASUS support website, and searched for the latest Intel display driver for OS Win 8.1. I've previously installed this same driver, so I have no idea why it suddenly stopped working properly. However, long story short, as soon as I reinstalled the driver my HDMI audio output was instantly working again on my Panasonic Viera SmartTV. Hope this info helps someone.
 

destefano7313

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Apr 13, 2015
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please tell you have found a solution for this. i have been searching for over a year now and have no been abe to figure it out. few days ago reverted back to windows 8 because had to system restore and hdmi worked but it auto updated to 8.1 after a few days. i have figured out that the only way to bypasss this is have your laptop plugged into hdmi and then reset your laptop. it works but is pain to do everytime. let me know if you recieved a better solution
 

spewns

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Apr 24, 2015
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Here's what worked for me:
Plug in the HDMI cable.
Open your Control Panel and enter your Device Manager.
Open your Sound Device drop down and disable all drivers not Realtek (in my case the nvidia drivers), beginning with the extensions and ending with the basic drivers. If it is something like nvidia (letterslettersletters), disable it first and then disable nvidia sound.
After disabling those, disable your Realtek driver.
It should ask you to restart your computer. If it does not, you will be restarting anyway.... but seriously it should be asking you to do this.
KEEP THE HDMI PLUGGED IN DURING RESTART
After you have restarted your computer and waited for all your shit to load up, (I'm talking about you Steam you pos) you'll be navigating back to your Device Manager again.
Re-enable your drivers beginning with Realtek and move on in the opposite order in which you disabled them.
Check your Playback Devices (you can right click on the speaker icon in the tray) and make sure that your default is set to your TV or other hdmi device.
Play something with audio.

I hope this helps someone as it seems to be a constant problem for a lot of people.