"The audio service is not running"

Si_Clist

I have a problem with my 18-month-old Lenovo ideapad laptop, which is running the current version of W10.


When viewing a YouTUbe video with the sound turned up to 100% on account of the video soundtrack being extremely quiet, the sound started distorting Dalek-style and slowing down, as did the video. Neither volume minus or mute buttons on laptop had any effect. Loudspeaker icon in taskbar sported a red circle with a white cross in it, and upon right clicking (I think that's what I did) it said "The audio service is not running".


This has happened a few times now, and the common factor seems to be watching videos which have quiet soundtracks with the laptop volume turned up to compensate. I have also noted a few cases of YouTube videos not starting (i.e. rotating arrows displayed) and the message if the video doesn't start soon, re-start device, but don't know if there's any connection between this and the Dalek effect.


Anybody have an explanation for this please? Also, the laptop has about 6 months to go on the guarantee, so I'd appreciate opinions as to whether or not this might indicate a potential hardware problem ...

Neil_Jones

Your guarantee is hardware, not software. If you claim under your guarantee the first thing the place of repair will do is wipe/reset the machine to see if it clears the problem which it most probably will. You can do this yourself if needs be.

If the issue only ever occurs on YouTube, try it in a different browser first of all. If the issue fixes itself in another browser but is only limited to one browser that's not a hardware issue. If you can reproduce it 100% in four different browsers (Edge, Firefox, Chrome and the fallback IE11) then consider resetting the machine (back up your stuff of course).

If after a reset on a brand new installation the issue continues then you'll probably have cause to claim under your guarantee. If the reset fixes it, it was a software issue.

Si_Clist

Thank you very much indeed, Neil. I'll make time tomorrow to check this out like you suggest, and then report back in due course ...

pramsay13

For sounds issues I would normally try different browsers as Neil says but also try headphones or plug-in speakers rather than using the built in speakers.
YouTube also has sound on the video itself (hold mouse over video to see options increasing sound) so check that is at a reasonable level.
Try watching videos on another website to see if they are affected. You could try watching something on https://www.bbc.co.uk as they have their own video platform.

that

first thing to try is to right click n the speaker and select Troubleshoot Sound Problems.

The next thing ro try is to download the latest version of driver. Some say you should get them from the Laptop manufacturer, other like me say you should get them from the sound card chip manufacturer - get the latest for win 10

Some like mine have a realtek audio manager for their chipset, but on other it could be under properties. There will hopefully be at least two lots of controls (1) volume of various bits, (2) audio devices.

The first one is obvious, The second one make sure the configuration is stereo, and under properties levels and valance set, select Loudness Equalization, Equalizer:powerful, Environment:room

GunJack

Sound and Network drivers are, in my experience, the first to give problems in W10....especially with older hardware where the vendors have stopped support. This wouldn't be the first time that an under 2-y-o machine has suffered similar, though.

Si_Clist

Thanks for all the help with this. One thing I'm stuck on though is exactly how I go about updating the driver(s). How do I first of all find out what it is that I need to update? The only relevant maker's name I can see anywhere is Realtek ...

Neil_Jones

Go to the website of the company who made the unit and look it up by model number.

Si_Clist

Thank you, but my problem stems from the fact that I don't know how to find out the model number of the audio thingy. All I know is that the maker appears to be "Realtek".


ETA OK, I managed to sort this outmyself and I now know that the latest drivers are installed. I also now know that I can't (at least as yet) now replicate the problem ...

GunJack

Si_Clist wrote: »

ETA OK, I managed to sort this outmyself and I now know that the latest drivers are installed. I also now know that I can't (at least as yet) now replicate the problem ...

...until a future W10 update borks the sound again

hamer

Hi guys, I have a similar problem with the Realtek drivers. I have updated them and overwritten them a few times but still keep getting the message Error code -0001. When updated the sound works for a few minutes then dies. Does anyone know how to get rid of this error code?

Cheers,
Hamer