Hello All,
I installed 2.4.1 and received this error “Could not find any audio devices.”
The Audio Host area/dropdown is blank as are the Microphone, and Speakers areas/dropdowns.
Audacity 2.3.3 was working fine prior to the upgrade. I went back and reinstalled 2.3.3 and it works.
A second install of 2.4.1 gives me the same error message…of “Could not find any audio devices.”
Anyone have any ideas?
I went back and reinstalled 2.3.3 and it works.
What’s the “it”.
Koz
Which operating system are you using?
The “it” is Audacity 2.3.3.
OS is Windows 10 64-bit
Hey All,
Mod(s) pleased excuse my lack of familiarity with the board as I haven’t posted in the past. So, I did not pick up on the fact that I should ask help in the OS system areas. Please delete the initial post in the “Feedback and Reviews” thread titled “No Sound Devices” so as to not end up cluttering up the forum with duplicate posts and forgive my indiscretion and allow me to re-post it below in the hopes of it being in a more appropriate area to draw more comment…
So…here’s my issue/question.
I installed 2.4.1 and received this error “Could not find any audio devices.”
The Audio Host area/dropdown is blank as are the Microphone, and Speakers areas/dropdowns.
Audacity 2.3.3 was working fine prior to the upgrade. I went back and reinstalled 2.3.3 and it (Audacity 2.3.3) works.
A second install of 2.4.1 gives me the same error message…of “Could not find any audio devices.”
Anyone have any ideas?
No problem, I’ve merged the two topics.
Perhaps you need to give Audacity permission to use the sound card.
I rarely use Windows, but this might help: Windows camera, microphone, and privacy - Microsoft Support
Thanks Steve,
I appreciate the link. From what I read there it is addressing the microphone and camera permissions and not the sound card. Also, of all the versions of Audacity that I’ve run over the years, I’ve never had a “permissions” to address and as I mentioned earlier my old 2.3.3 Audacity still plays just fine after re-installing it over 2.4.1. No “permission” needed. The sound devices work on all my other ‘players’ as well even my old Total Recorder software plays just fine. It’s just that I can’t get 2.4.1 to ‘see’ my sound devices at all. I don’t know why 2.4.1 can’t see the MME that is obviously there.
On most systems, permissions for “microphone” is an inclusive term meaning “all and any audio device”.
Both Microsoft and Apple have become more restrictive with permissions in recent updates.
It was just an idea as I am unable to reproduce the issue, and I’ve not seen any other reports of this problem on Windows 10.
Have you tried rebooting the computer?
Thanks Steve…
Sorry for the delay in responding.
I did reboot…and have several times over the past few days. I just tried to install again and it gave me the same error message. I even installed to a different folder and it gave me the error…
But version 2.3.3 re-installs perfectly every time…so there’s something in 2.4.1 that my Windows 64-bit OS doesn’t like…and for anyone wondering …Yes it does install in the ‘Programs File x86’ folder…
When you reinstalled Audacity 2.4.1, did you “Reset Preferences”? (It’s an option that appears during the installation)
If not, try reinstalling and enable that option.
When you launch Audacity after the reinstall, you will be asked to confirm resetting preferences, then you should see the “Welcome” screen.
Hey Steve,
Sorry…been out of pocket a few days… I applied the “Reset Preferences” radio button… Got the welcome screen but also got the error again… Any other ideas? At this point I’ll try standing on my head if you think that would help! Looks like I’m ‘stuck’ using 2.3.3… 
What sound devices do you have (including sound+video devices, virtual devices, internal devices, external devices, any other audio devices).
Which of them are enabled when you launch Audacity?
I have tried every combination at launch. All give the same error. Version 3.3 recognizes any/all of them BTW.
Here’s the list though…in case you might recognize something that’s a conflict. Thanks for trying to help…I do appreciate it.
Sound:
Dell U2518 (NVIDIA High Definition Audio)
Speakers (Total Recorder WDM audio driver)
Speakers (3-Logitech USB Headset)
Speakers (Total Recorder WDM audio driver)
Input:
Microphone (3-Logitech USB Headset)
Microphone (Total Recorder WDM audio driver)
Which applications have permission to use “the microphone” in Windows “Start > Settings > Privacy > Microphone”?
Okay…here is everything under “Start>Settings>Privacy>Microphone”
It is the same list for both Audacity Version 2.3.3 and 2.4.1.
There are 3 ‘areas/categories’ under “Microphone”
AREA 1:
Under “Allow apps to access your microphone”:
Allow access to the microphone on this device is set to “On”
Since I don’t see Audacity specifically listed I’m guessing this AREA would permit Audacity access to the mic.
AREA 2:
Under “Choose Microsoft Store apps can access your microphone”:
On:
3D Viewer
Camera
Feedback Hub
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Photos
Mixed Reality Portal
Skype
Voice Recorder
Xbox Game Bar
OFF:
Cortana
Desktop App Web Viewer
Messaging
Microsoft Store
OneNote for Windows 10
AREA 3:
“Allow desktop apps to access your microphone” is set to “On”
I’ve been asking around, but so far most of the suggestions have been things that we’ve already tried.
One thing that “may” give an indication is Audacity’s “audio device info”.
Please try this in both Audacity 2.3.3 and 2.4.1:
“Help menu > Diagnostics > Audio device info”.
Wait for the window to appear, then click the “OK” (or “Save”) button to save the info somewhere convenient.
Attach the “deviceinfo.txt” file to your reply.
If the device info is empty, try clicking “Transport menu > Rescan Audio Devices”, then repeat the above test.
Thanks Steve,
I’ve attached the 2 text files. Please note that the one for version 2.4.1 was AFTER I followed your instructions to perform: “Transport menu > Rescan Audio Devices”, then repeat the above test".
I hope you can make sense of the lack of information in the 2.4.1 file…it is almost completely void of information with the exception of Default devices.
2.3.3 deviceinfo.txt (7.47 KB)
2.4.1 deviceinfo.txt (123 Bytes)
Was it the same before doing the rescan?
Yes…both before and after the re-scan are the same. See attached…
2.4.1 Post_after-Rescan.txt (123 Bytes)
2.4.1 Pre-Rescan.txt (123 Bytes)
It looks like you have been getting away with an error in Audacity 2.3.3, but 2.4.1 is not allowing it.
The final line of the 2.3.3 file says:
Received -9999 while opening devices
Unfortunately that is a catch-all error that does not tell us what the error is, just that there is a device error.
You could try the three different “host” settings (in the Device Toolbar), Rescan audio devices after changing the host, and check if any devices have appeared.
If that does not work, one of our developers suggested uninstalling Total Recorder to see if that is causing an issue.