No Sound

[xochiquetzl_xkvn]

Yeah, if I take a break (bathroom? fridge?) long enough for the screen saver to kick in, I'll need to restart my game because there'll be no sound.

[mayorbrenton]

Ya it's bizarre how this never used to happen when the sims 4 came out including the first couple of years & now all of a sudden it does especially within past months or so

[LarkRanger]

I hope someone here has encountered this becuase it's driving me up the walls.

My game will randomly, usually sometimes within 5 minutes and sometimes not at all, lose all sound. Not mute, just stop making any sounds at all. Then, once this happens, quitting the game becomes impossible as it will crash, and the only way to close it becomes through Task Manager.

I had thought this related to a Realtek issue I had where Realtek would pop random "What device did you plug in messages?" but I think I solved that one yet this bug still happens constantly.

I tried repairing the game, and also tried the deleting-the-Config-file solution, both of which did not help.

Anyone at all has any idea?

[puzzlezaddict]

@LarkRanger  When this happens, are you switching sound output devices, or is it possible the device you're using is disconnecting?  For example, a Bluetooth headset might drop the connection and reconnect again in a second or two, which you might just hear as skipping in other games.  To test, please play while your computer is connected to only one device, one that plugs in directly, e.g. built-in speakers or headphones that use a jack.  If you get a crash with one device, unplug it and plug in something else, then restart your computer and try again.

If you get another crash, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

[LarkRanger]

Yes, I just tried manually and this issue seems to happem whenever the current audio device is unplugged.

Unfortunately seems my Realtek issue has NOT been resolved, so what Realtek does it unplug my deivce and then "rediscover" it a second later but that's enough to but The Sims 4 out.

But also without Realtek screwing with me, I tried unplugging my headphones while playing and the same thing happened.

Attache dis the dxdiag info, but when getting it I did get a sound error. I found that my Realtek service isn't running at all (despite which Realtek itself is still acting up which is insane to me) so I'm at a loss, still.

[puzzlezaddict]

@LarkRanger  There's a current issue with Sims 4 losing sound and/or hanging when the audio output device is switched.  This is the bug thread:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/Sound-gone-after-leaving-game-alone-minimizing/td-p/10681938

Post 3 has a useful description, if you're interested.  If you'd like, I'll merge this thread into that one, but I did want to post a suggestion about the audio driver first.

Your Realtek audio driver is 2.5 years old, so it's not surprising that it would be having issues.  You can try updating it with Windows: hit Windows key-X, select the Device Manager, open the Audio tab, click on anything with Realtek in the name, and click the black and green Update icon at the top of the window.  If you don't find anything to update in the Audio section, check the Sound section too.  If Windows installs an updated driver, restart your computer and try to play.

If Windows can't find a new driver, Realtek may have one for your device.  Your current driver version is 6.0.8703.1, from May 2019.  If you find a newer one on the Realtek site, download it, take your computer offline, uninstall the current driver through the Device Manager, and install the new one, then go back online and restart.

[LarkRanger]

@puzzlezaddict Over the past week I have uninstalled and reinstalled Realtek multiple dozens of times. Both by windows picking it up automatically, and by installing manually from Realtek's website. If my driver is out of date that much then either Windows is crap at picking up the correct driver or... no, that's it.

Anyway a tech support forum advised me to nuke the driver and just let Windows' native driver take over, which I did and that fixed the issue for now. Hopefully thought the actual Sims 4 bug gets fixed soon.

[GreaseBones96]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.81.72.1030
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Vampires; Get to Work
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Just switch your audio output from speakers to headphones.
What happens when the bug occurs? The game loses all sound.
What do you expect to see? I expect my game to have sound 100% of the time whether I switch from headphones to speakers. The sound should not completely stop working.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure 

‌

I keep having this very frustrating issue where my game will lose all sound when I switch audio output from speakers to headphones, or vice-versa. Whenever this happens (which is frequently; 100% of the time), I must drop everything I'm doing to save and exit the game just so I can have sound again. I have checked in the Windows Volume Mixer to make sure my game isn't muted, and it is never muted when this happens. In game audio options, I have Audio Focus disabled. Sound immediately stops working upon plugging in headphones or pairing my Bluetooth earbuds, or when I unplug/unpair and go back to regular speakers. The game has to be restarted in order for this to be fixed... but as I've been dealing with this for 4 months now, I'm getting pretty frustrated.

Attached is my DxDiag log. I'm running Windows 10 64-bit.

[crinrict]

@GreaseBones96 Could be related to this issue: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/Sound-gone-after-leaving-game-alone-minimizing/m-p/10681938

[GreaseBones96]

I've also been having this issue since summertime, though I didn't take problem with it until just recently because it's gotten so annoying.

My game starts up with sound as normal, and sometimes when I switch to Bluetooth earbuds the sound is rerouted to them. But switching back from Bluetooth to my TV's speakers will kill all sound, and the game will freeze when trying to close it. I have to shut it down with the task manager just to restart and get sound working again.