Windows 10 Work-Around for UD-PRO8 Docking Station Audio Issue

Update 11/4/2015 – At this time there is still no resolution for this issue and there has been some confusion about what audio is affected. The only audio that does not function after upgrading to Windows 10 is the audio output jack on the front of the Pro8 dock. The attached tablet’s built in speakers and headphone/speaker jack will work fine.

After updating to newly-released Windows 10, several customers have contacted us saying the audio in their Pro8 docking stations stopped working. Testing has shown that this happens only in 32-bit versions of Windows 10, not 64-bit. However, the majority of the tablets compatible with the UD-PRO8 are using 32-bit Windows and will experience this issue after the upgrade.

The malfunction appears to be related to a glitch in the driver installation process, and will prevent audio output when the “USB Multimedia Audio Device” is selected. If you are using a Plugable UD-PRO8 with 32-bit Windows 8.1, we recommend delaying the Windows 10 update until a fix has been found. However, if you have already upgraded to Windows 10 or don’t want to wait, there is a work-around.

Installing the following drivers will temporarily restore audio function, however, they must be manually reinstalled each time Windows 10 is restarted:

CMedia CM6300 1.04 Drivers

Restart Windows after installing the drivers and be sure to set “USB Multimedia Audio Device” again as the default audio device.

Restarting the computer after that is a two-step process:

1. Run the installer above before restarting, and allow it to remove the drivers.

2. Restart the computer, reinstall the driver, then restart again.

We will update this post once a more permanent solution is found.

If you’re a user of a Plugable UD-PRO8 docking station and are experiencing issues, we’re here to help! If support is needed, please run our PlugDebug tool found here to collect system logs, and send the resulting file to support@plugable.com along with a description of the behavior you’re experiencing and any additional details you feel are relevant.

30 comments on “Windows 10 Work-Around for UD-PRO8 Docking Station Audio Issue”

      • Dave Seguin

        I have the Stream 8, and am wondering if the audio problem has been fixed yet. I am definitely thinking about a purchase if it is fixed. This article was dated July 31st, and i am writing this on November 4th.

        • Joshua Henry

          Unfortunately there has not yet been an official fix for the issue. With the latest update of Windows 10 (Insider Preview Build 10565) installed, our Venue 8 Pro still does not work properly with the Pro8 audio output.

          We have had reports from other users that they do not have the issue, but we haven’t been able to determine why it works for them and not others (including us).

          • Dave Seguin

            As a very interested prospective buyer, i was confused when i came to this page after looking at the original page i was brought to describing the product. Am i correct in understanding that this issue is ONLY if you want to set up audio control through a SEPARATE audio input/output on the docking station itself? For instance, if i have my Stream 8 hooked up to the dock while charging with various usb ports running, i will still be able to connect external speakers to my tablet’s headphone jack, and receive perfectly good audio, correct? When i first read the article, i was under the impression that NO audio would be enabled as long as the tablet was docked, unless the audio driver for the chip was continually installed and reinstalled. What is it about the docking audio that would be so special that it’s even necessary? If the audio works o.k. through the tablet itself while it’s docked on the Pro8, it would be beneficial to others that think that there will be no audio whatsoever without the driver installs and continual reinstalls. I basically am asking if i can have my tablet’s audio while it is is docked without having to deal with this audio driver installation. I was corresponding with a representative over Amazon last night, and i don’t know if he was understanding my question regarding this.

          • Joshua Henry

            You were/are interacting with me on Amazon… 🙂

            I do understand what you’re asking. The built in audio of the tablet is completely separate and is not affected by the driver issue that is causing the audio output on the dock to not function. If you use the tablet’s internal speakers or it’s headphone/speaker jack, you will have sound. The reason this is a problem, is many users do not wish to use the built in speakers, or don’t like the idea of having to connect two cables to the tablet when the dock was originally designed as a one cable deal.

            I apologize if this was not made clear in our blog post.

          • Dave Seguin

            Joshua, could you tell me if running an extended ethernet cat-5 cable between my AT&T modem and the Pro 8 dock will improve internet performance on my Stream 8? If so, will it take away wi-fi strength from my primary device laptop, as well as my smart t.v. and phone? I don’t want to go through the work of running a 25′ cable from room to room if it is not necessary, especially if it weakens the connection to the other devices. I know the cat-5 is only 10/100 Mbps.

          • David Seguin

            I would also like to know if this driver is necessary for the Stream 8 if it has been updated to Windows 10, or if it simply carries over from 8.1.

            USB Network (ASIX 88772A driver) – Installation optional as it is supported with in-box drivers in Windows 8/8.1.

            On the third driver link from the home page (audio output driver), do I even need to install it if I do not plan on using the docking audio input/output? I know that there probably won’t be a fix for this anyway, and I don’t want to install unnecessary drivers.

            USB Audio (CMedia CM6300 driver) – Installation optional as it is supported with in-box drivers in Windows 8/8.1.

            I know for sure I need the first driver listed.

            USB Graphics (DisplayLink DL-165 driver) – Installation required.

          • Jim Downing

            It’s time for another update on this from Plugable!. I’ve updated to the latest version of Windows (1607) but the audio still doesn’t work. I even tried a clean install of Windows in case the problem is associated with upgrading from 8.1 but that didn’t work either. Do you think this problem will ever by resolved?
            Plugable audio does however work with my Toshiba laptop with a Conextant audio driver, leaving me to wonder if the problem is an incompatibility with the RealTec I2S audio driver on the Pro8.
            The other problem I encounter is that if I use wired Ethernet, when I unplug the Pro8 from the docking station, the WiFi driver often dies and I have to reboot to get WiFi. So with the Plugable, I can’t use the audio port and I can’t reliably use the Ethernet port. So half the functionality I paid for is worthless – not an impressive performance.

          • Joshua Henry

            Unfortunately we were never able to solve this. It’s actually a much larger issue than just our dock, many other USB audio devices are affected as well including our USB-AUDIO adapter and other USB headsets, speakers, microphones, etc that share the same chipset.

            Due to the severity of the issue we have been in contact with Microsoft about the issue and learned that it affects Windows 10 32-bit systems only. Something was changed from Windows 8 to Windows 10 in the USB audio class drivers built in. Unfortunately despite back and forth about the issue, the issue was never officially resolved. We have also been in contact with CMedia, the chipset manufacturer for the audio in our dock. They too do not have a driver fix available for Windows 10. Technically the built in USB audio class drivers in Windows 10 should work, and they do, but only for the 64-bit Windows 10 from our testing.

            We have had reports that some users have never had problems, but every system (Venue 8 Pro, HP Stream, etc) we have here in our lab is affected. Some users had reported that a clean OS installation resolved the issue, and we had thought perhaps only systems that were upgraded from 8 to 10 were ones with the issue, but that turned out to be a dead end as clean installs here did not help.

            Sorry that we do not have a solution!

  1. Auto Drivel

    Because the Dell Venue Pro 8 only supports 32-Bit (CPU restriction) and that’s what the majority of users of this Docking station are going to have, because it (the docking station) is aimed primarily at that tablet

  2. dwig

    … because their hardware only supports 32bit OSs. Almost all of the 8″ Windows 8.1 tablets in extant only support 32bit.

  3. Kevin

    I noticed this issue on my Dell Venue Pro 8 and dock with Windows 10 even following sleep mode. But, most of the time, a simple Shutdown and power-on causes the drivers to load.

  4. John

    I just switched my audio to be received from my tablet audio jack and plugged my headphones in through there are adjusted the audio settings to receive that jack instead of the plugable station one and get audio perfectly. Until a fix is provided this works without worries about reboots 🙂

  5. Jogfather

    I’ve had the same problem with my HP Stream 7. A simple restart sometimes results in the audio jack being recognized by Windows 10. Sometimes deselecting and reselecting the “USB Multimedia Audio Device” followed by a restart works.

    I’ve not tried the CMedia CM6300 1.04 Drivers solution.

    The problem seems to be Windows 10 identifying the ext speaker jack. Maybe the easiest solution is to use usb speakers. Has anyone tried that?

    • Joshua Henry

      Thanks for the suggestions!

      USB speakers should work assuming whatever chipset they have internally is not affected like the CMedia chipset in our dock is.

  6. Dario Pascucci

    I just purchased a Pro8 docking station and the audio does work without any problem with Win 10 32 bit, i.e. when I connect my Dell Venue 8 Pro to the dock the audio is automatically output from the speakers connected to the dock. I have Windows 10 Home 32 bit installed from scratch via USB key (no update from Win 8) and I just installed DisplayLink drivers V7.9 M3. Audio and Ethernet just worked out of the box without any specific driver. I am very satisfied of my Pro8 dock 🙂

  7. Jim

    Does Plugable have any idea when this bug will be fixed? – it’s been 3 and a half months now. Presumably they are in contact with Microsoft about it (although I realize that ‘Micosoft’ and ‘Support’ are incompativle terms) . It worked in Win 8.1 so i would think it’s not that difficult to fix, It’s annoying to have to plug in the audio cable every time I dock the tablet. Incidentally, the ‘workaround’ doesn’t work on my Pro 8 either, unless I’m doing something wrong.

  8. Yaroslav

    Hello, is there any news about permanent solution? It will be really great to get fix asap. This issue was reported almost half a year ago…

  9. Billy

    Considering buying one of these, but only if they come up with a fix for this issue. Any update!?

  10. Cedric

    The Audio problem is still avaible. HP Stream 7. Without audio its kind of unusual…

    • Joshua Henry

      Update: After installing all of the latest Windows 10 updates and drivers, the audio issue appears to never have been resolved by Microsoft. I’m terribly sorry!

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