Microsoft is now blocking the Windows 11 22H2 update from being offered on some systems with Intel Smart Sound Technology (SST) audio drivers.
Redmond also put a safeguard hold in place because this known issue triggers blue screens of death (BSODs) on affected systems.
"Intel and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues with certain versions of drivers for Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel SST) on Intel 11th Gen Core processors and Windows 11," Microsoft said in a Windows Health dashboard update.
"Windows 11 devices with the affected Intel SST driver might receive an error with a blue screen."
Intel SST is an integrated audio DSP (Digital Signal Processor) that enables the company's latest Core and Atom processors to handle audio, voice, and speech interactions without a performance hit.
Microsoft recommends not to manually update affected systems to Windows 11 22H2 using the Media Creation Tool or the 'Update now' button until the problem is addressed and the safeguard is removed.
"The affected driver will be named Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel SST) Audio Controller under System Devices in Device Manager and have the file name IntcAudioBus.sys and a file version of 10.29.0.5152 or 10.30.0.5152," Microsoft explained.
The same issue is behind a compatibility hold blocking customers from upgrading to Windows 11 21H2 since November 2021.
Workaround for some affected systems
Microsoft added that some of the impacted Windows 11 customers might be able to work around this issue by checking if Intel has an updated driver for their systems.
"To mitigate the safeguard, you will need to check with your device manufacturer (OEM) to see if an updated driver is available and install it. This issue is resolved by updating the Intel Smart Sound Technology drivers to a version 10.30.00.5714 and later or 10.29.00.5714 and later," Microsoft said.
"Once you have updated to a compatible version of the Intel Smart Sound Technology drivers, you should be able to upgrade to Windows 11."
If you cannot find an updated driver that addresses this issue, you need to contact your device manufacturer (OEM) for more information.
After updating the affected Intel SST audio driver, it can take up to 48 hours before you can install the Windows 11 2022 Update.
The Windows 11 22H2 update is also causing a significant performance impact on systems with NVIDIA GPUs, with users reporting stuttering and massive lag while playing games due to substantial drops in CPU usage.
NVIDIA has acknowledged this known issue and released a GeForce Experience Beta version that addresses the performance issues.
Comments
MisterVVV - 2 years ago
Hi,
Maybe it would help to disable the audio device in BIOS and then remove the respective drivers from Windows, until this is resolved or install a USB sound device (headset)
Best regards,
me
TsVk! - 2 years ago
or just refrain from using W11 until it's out of beta.
h_b_s - 2 years ago
"or just refrain from using W11 until it's out of beta."
Roughly around the time Win 12 is released.
But this very reason is why I don't recommend upgrading to 11 from 10 even if Microsoft claims your hardware is supported on a piecemeal basis (CPU, chipset, video are individually theoretically in their supported list). With many systems, it's just not enough to depend on generic drivers from Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Realtek, etc which may be missing OEM specific customizations. This is particularly true of laptops where audio profiles are customized for a specific model's audio inclusion range, sound shaping, and audio range exclusions, power management profiles, wireless RFI profiles and mutual interference issues. Dell immediately comes to mind as one of the bad actors here. Some of their laptops the Bluetooth & WIFI NIC(s) interfere with each other if both are set to the 2.4 GHz band. If an OEM explicitly states your device will not be supported for Windows 11 (but still supported for 10), given all the above, it's foolish to expect anything like a smooth experience going forward with 11 - certainly since Microsoft regularly forces driver upgrades either due to compatibility problems or security issues which could permanently break device usefulness or cause BSODs. The painful bit though is that supposedly 11th Gen devices should be well supported with Win 11 as they were the last generation released before the public release of Win 11, and yet their support even from Intel is spotty. Quite frankly, Intel drivers have been historically bad: audio, video, and board support packages. I don't know who they're hiring for the software support side of their hardware, but they really need new teams. It's the main reason there's no way I'll be touching ARC graphics any time soon even if they 'work' with AMD CPUs without gotchas (which I'm not willing to grant, either).
BH0 - 2 years ago
TsVk!'s advice sounds very reasonable. Betatesting Windows is like counting holes in emmentaller cheese.