Description

I have a Lenovo Flex 14-IWL running Windows 10 Education (1909).

Recently, the built-in microphone stopped working. The computer still correctly detects the input, which shows up in Settings as Microphone Array (Synaptics Audio), however no sound is detected when I talk. When I plug in headphones into the audio jack, the same thing happens: the computer correctly detects the external microphone as External Microphone (Synaptics Audio), but again no sound is detected when I talk.

I read elsewhere that antivirus programs had caused similar problems. I have no antivirus software installed except for what Microsoft includes in Windows 10.

Troubleshooting

Drivers

My first thought was that it is likely a driver issue. Note that although the Synaptics Audio driver manages both the speakers and microphone, I have had no issues with audio output.

1. I verified all audio devices reported, This device is working properly. and they all did.

2. In Device Manager, I uninstalled the Synaptics Audio driver as well as the Microphone Array audio input and then scanned for new hardware. The devices were detected and installed, but the problem did not resolve itself.

3. I was going to revert back to a previous driver version, but "Rollback Driver" was greyed out, indicating that no driver updates had been installed.

4. I updated the drivers, and a new version of the Synaptics Audio driver was installed. This did not resolve the problem.

5. I uninstalled the devices again and ran the Lenovo System Update tool, and allowed it to install the recommended drivers. This also did not resolve the problem.

6. I then tried pretty much every combination of uninstalling drivers, restarting, then reinstalling drivers, etc., and none fixed the problem. As far as I can tell, the drivers are correct or the devices are being detected incorrectly, and thus Windows is installing the improper drivers.

Windows Updates

As far as I can remember, I believe the microphone stopped working after the 2020-04 Cumulative update. I tried uninstalling that update and then restarting my computer, but that did not fix the problem, so I then reinstalled it.

Checking Device Properties

I then checked to make sure the input device was not disabled (it was not) and that the levels were correct (i.e., that the microphone was not muted, and it was not).

Windows Troubleshooter

I then decided to run the built-in troubleshooter. The troubleshooter did detect a problem and I thought I would finally be able to fix it. The problem detected was:

Audio services not responding with a description of Both the Windows Audio and Windows Audio End Point Builder services must be running for audio to work correctly. At least one of these services isn't responding.

The troubleshooter restarted both services and reported the problem was not fixed. I then opened the Services window and ensured both services were running (they were). I also manually restarted both of them, but this did not fix the problem either.

Bluetooth Headset

I then decided to try connecting a Bluetooth headset, and the microphone works using the Bluetooth headset. After disconnecting the Bluetooth headset, the built-in microphone still does not detect any input.

Interestingly, when I run the audio troubleshooter with the Bluetooth Headset plugged in, the same error as above is reported even though it is working properly.

Opening Voice Recorder

So far, I had been looking in Settings to see if any audio was being detected. I then tried opening Voice Recorder (which has permission to access my microphone), and strangely, it reports, To get started, connect a microphone. The same thing happens when I plug in my headphones (which have a built-in mic) even though Settings does detect an External Microphone.

Voice Recorder does work using the Bluetooth headset.

Next Steps?

I'm at a loss as to how to resolve this. I assume that completely reinstalling Windows would likely fix the problem, but I'd rather not go to that extreme, as it would be a pain to set everything up again. I still tend to think the issue is with the driver as the same driver is used for both the built-in microphone and the wired microphone, but the Bluetooth headset uses a different driver and works. I find it very interesting that Voice Recorder doesn't even detect the microphone, which makes me think the built-in microphone is misconfigured.

Has anyone else had this issue and resolved it or noticed something is misconfigured? I attached screenshots, so hopefully, someone will notice if something looks wrong. Additionally, if someone else has a Lenovo Flex and would be able to verify that the drivers I have installed are correct, that would be great.

3 Answers

Solution:

1. Right-click Windows (Start) button > Device Manager
2. Expand "Sound, video and game controllers"
3. Right-click Synaptics Audio > Update Driver
4. Click Browse my computer for drivers
5. Click Let me pick...
6. Click High Definition Audio Device
7. Click Next, Yes on the warning
8. Close, and reboot
9. Uninstall SmartAudio because its presence causes an error

I stumbled on this after 3 hours of troubleshooting for my Lenovo Flex 14. Lenovo's own support system is worthless on this topic, as they are generally on anything I've ever asked them about. Lesson learned: this is my first and last Lenovo for my lifetime or the lifetime of anybody I can influence.

It turns out that the problem did end up being related to the 2020-04 Cumulative Update. I restored a System Restore point prior to that update and the microphone started working normally again.

I had this issue with my flex 14, too. I did all the steps you did as well. It was very frustrating. I finally played around in Zoom and discovered that when Zoom updated in October it added an advanced feature under the audio setting. "Signal processing by Windows audio device drivers" was on auto. I turned it off and now I can use the internal microphone with Zoom without any issues. I have no idea what all this means, but it worked!