Here’s a fun one I tackled recently; brand new Lenovo T15 laptop, fresh Windows install, but the built-in microphone is missing (in Windows)! Camera is working.
Going into Device Manager, I see an exclamation point next to “Intel SST Sound System Technology OED”, yet there’s another Intel SST device above it that looks fine.
Turns out there’s a driver issue, and the fix is to update the driver, but sometimes even after updating the driver, it still doesn’t work. These Intel devices are part of the Realtek sound package in the laptop, and you can find the updated Realtek driver here, which also includes the newer Intel driver:
Updating the Realtek driver to version 6.0.9045.1 should also update the Intel driver, as seen in the release notes:
[Problem fixes] - Update Dolby driver to fix crash issue caused by INVALID_POINTER_READ_c0000005_DolbyAPOvlldp.dll!Unknown. - Updated ISST driver v10.25.00.4706 to avoid mic lost issue. - Updated Realtek audio driver v6.0.9045.1 to fix WU issue.
I found that Lenovo System update already had the newer driver for both Realtek and Intel in place, yet interestingly if you try to select a new driver (from hardware list) for the OED device, it offers both a new and older driver. I tried both and neither work.
The Fix: I found this fix works; in device manager, un-install the OED device, making sure to check the “delete driver” checkbox, then do the same for the “Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller” device above it, also enabling the “delete driver” checkbox.
Once you do both of these, reboot the computer, and with any luck, you’ll get your microphone array back and life will go on! This may work for other makes and models, as googling found a simliar problem on HP and Dell laptops too. If it helps you out give me a shout in the comments below!