Audio suddenly stopped working through my Acer XV272U monitor on Windows 11. The problem first appeared on one local Windows account, then continued on another account after I disabled and re-enabled the monitor's audio device in Device Manager. I completely wiped the SSD and performed a fresh Windows 11 installation with the drivers installed, but the monitor still produces no sound. I also tested it with a laptop using both HDMI and DisplayPort, and the result was the same. The monitor volume is at 100%, mute is disabled, and I checked the relevant input and audio settings. Does this point to a hardware problem with the monitor, or is there another software or driver issue I should investigate?
1 Answer
Since the same monitor has no audio when connected to a separate laptop over both HDMI and DisplayPort, while Windows was also freshly installed on the desktop, the computer and its drivers are unlikely to be the cause. Check whether this particular XV272U variant actually includes built-in speakers; some monitor models only pass audio through to a headphone jack rather than having speakers. If it does have speakers, verify the monitor’s audio source and volume settings, then test its headphone output if available. If those checks fail, the monitor’s audio hardware has probably failed. Testing Linux from a live USB is a reasonable final way to rule out Windows, but the cross-device testing already strongly points to the monitor.
I wiped the SSD and installed Windows 11 from scratch, checked the monitor volume and mute settings, and also tested it with a laptop using both HDMI and DisplayPort. Since it fails on every system and connection, I’m treating it as a monitor hardware issue rather than a Windows problem.