Microphone is being used by svchost.exe and can't be recognized in other applications
Hey guys, I can't get any application to recognize my mic because according to Windows it is being used by svchost.exe. Does anybody know anything I can try to fix this?
96 Replies
I've tried everything I can think of, like restarting the PC
The only other thing I can think of is maybe sfc and DISM
I uploaded my svchost.exe to VirusTotal just to be safe and it came back clean from all AV vendors
So I guess SFC and DISM now
Check if your mic is set to "listen" to in the old Windows sound panel
Do that for pretty much all of your recording devices
This you mean?
Yep, but for all the recording devices
I only have one and it is this one
Which is my audio interface
Your audio interface is through line in instead of USB?
Anyways, can you try enabling that, hitting apply, then untoggling that and applying again
Yeah, I tried that as well and it didn't help 😦
Also it isn't a "line in" but the device is named "Line (RODE AI 1)"
Ah weird
Can you confirm that if you right-click on that device and disable it that the message you were getting disappears
And do you have the Rode app?
I don't have any Rode apps installed, no
Also the message doesn't disappear if I disable it
What's the interface?
So that is weird
Rode AI-1
I'm looking it up online and svchost and rundll32 shouldn't affect the microphone at all
Try downloading Rode Central and seeing if it helps
https://rode.com/en-us/interfaces-and-mixers/ai-series/ai-1
AI-1 | Single-channel Audio Interface | RØDE
The AI-1 is a studio-quality audio interface well suited for recording vocals, instruments, and voice-overs into your Mac or Windows computer.
One thing I did just to check, my Wave XLR is being shown as used by rundll32 in the Windows privacy settings menu, so I just toggled the "Let apps access your microphone" off and back on and rundll32 is no longer showing as using the mic
I tried that as well and it didn't work, I'll try running Rode Central though
My device isn't listed, should I still try it?
I thought I remembered it saying it wasn't supported or something, but it has been a bit since I last tried
When I went to the AI-1 page the Rode Central software was listed as specifically supporting it
RØDE Central is an easy-to-use companion app for the AI-1 for contextI downloaded it and installed it, then the app opened and said it needed to update something and it crashed to the desktop with no error message, and now my interface has a solid amber light and I can't get Windows to recognize it
Can you trey unplugging and replugging it, and if that doesn't work try a PC restart
My guess is that it wanted to install the newest drivers / firmware but the interface is being a lil shit about it
IF that keeps happening I'd contact Rode about it
Yeah every time I open the app it says it wants to update the firmware and then hard crashes to the desktop once it says "update in progress"
If I unplug it and replug it back in it recognizes it, but then it keep doing the old thing it was doing
What USB port is it plugged into on your PC? Can you try other ones and see if it keeps happening?
And can you try it with everything disconnected from the interface except the USB cable for it?
One of the rear ports, the only things that are plugged in are my mouse, keyboard, Stream Deck, and my audio interface. I'll try one of the front ports and see if it improves.
Also yeah I'll try with only power
I plugged it into the front USB ports, and removed the XLR and headphone from it and it does the same thing
I did update the firmware when I first got it and it said it was fully up to date
But that was using the Rode AI-1 firmware tool
So not sure if one or the other is better for that
The website doesn't make it clear
At this point I'd contact Rode directly since clearly something is up
Could it not be Windows though? Seems odd svchost.exe would be marked as the one using it.
I tried disabling "allow devices to give exclusive device access" or whatever and that didn't fix it either
Some other things I've been trying:
- Nothing unusual in event viewer
- Used Revo to uninstall a bunch of things
- Restarted PC a few times
- Uninstalled and reinstalled some drivers
When looking online pretty much everyone that reported svchost or rundll32 as using their microphone had no effect on the actual usage of the mic, but knowing windows I don't doubt it
Rather hear that from Rode themselves though cause with the way things are looking the interface seems to have some problems
I suspect Windows more since there was a Windows update recently, but I just want it to work
Unknown User•17mo ago
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The standalone firmware updater was what I ran when I first got it
Not sure if there has been a firmware update since, but I will look into that
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yeah, I'll see if that one manages to update it
Unknown User•17mo ago
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That's how I have been running it, yeah
I don't personally use ASIO for anything
Unknown User•17mo ago
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I just tried the standalone firmware updater and it said the firmware needed to be reinstalled, and it reinstalled the firmware, and no more amber light! The only issue is now I'm back to having the same issue with svchost.exe 😅
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yeah, and it persists through reboots
I only have one audio input on this interface
I have a 3.5mm headphone jack and XLR for my mic
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Oh, the 3.5mm jack on my motherboard does work, yes
But audio has never been the issue, only my microphone
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Not currently, no
I am thinking about backing up my data and reinstalling Windows tbh
I have sort of run out of ideas
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yeah, not sure what else to try though
I could contact Rode, but I'm sure they'll give me a page and a half of things to try I've already tried before
Unknown User•17mo ago
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I have been looking into it via Process Monitor and Autoruns, but haven't found anything unusual
Unknown User•17mo ago
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In Process Monitor?
Unknown User•17mo ago
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I'm not getting a services tab in the properties of svchost.exe
Unless I'm doing it wrong, which is possible
I usually use Process Hacker, tbh
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Unknown User•17mo ago
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I'm kinda tired and it's getting late, but I'll leave my computer to do some routine checks and monitor it a bit while I'm asleep, but if none of that works, then I will continue backing up stuff and reinstall Windows tomorrow
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Alright, I am currently working on getting things ready for a reinstall
In the meantime, I am doing a full security audit just in case. I am currently doing a full Windows Defender scan on my main system (and I'll probably do a couple second opinion scans as well), and I will also be changing my network password and monitoring which devices connect to it as I slowly bring additional devices onto the network
I am going to fully update all the devices in the house as well
I'm not sure if I even need to be worried, but I'm just being cautious
Is the “let software take exclusive control” thing checked in the sound properties for the interface
I tried with it on and with it off as well
Neither works
and it still says svchost.exe is using it
Very weird
Unknown User•17mo ago
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"Capability access manager service"
Which I guess makes sense?
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yes
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Both are on, yeah
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Uh, that seemed to break that whole page 
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Oh, it automatically restarts itself
The privacy settings page
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Some things I have tried since:
- Running SFC/DISM
- Restarting services
- Uninstalling and reinstalling more drivers
Things I'm doing right now:
- Windows Defender scan
- Norton Power Eraser
- Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool
- AdwCleaner
- Malwarebytes scan
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yeah, I tried disabling all of them except the ones I wanted as well
😕
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yeah, IDK man
I have tried pretty much everything I can think of
Considering there was a recent update to Windows, I'm guessing something about the update borked it
But that's just speculation on my part
Unknown User•17mo ago
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It did before the update, yeah
But then after the update it didn't work at all
I updated right before a stream and that's how I found out
Unknown User•17mo ago
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I'm also in the middle of auditing my network and other devices on the network since there were a bunch of other weird things that happened all at the same time, but I guess it gives me an excuse to backup what I really care about and get a fresh start
I haven't reinstalled in forever, so it'll be good to have a clean slate I guess
Unknown User•17mo ago
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I have tried that already, and it didn't work unfortunately 😩
I am really hesitant to go to Windows 11, but it is an option I guess. The only issue is my CPU isn't technically supported so that could cause it's own issues.
IDK how much luck people have had installing Windows 11 on unsupported devices
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Does Rufus have that built-in now? That's kinda cool
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Besides the right click menu, is there anything else I might need to worry about?
The only things I can think of are the CPU/GPU scheduler changes and maybe my context menu replacement software
I use Nilesoft Shell
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yeah, I'd probably run Chris Titus Tech's tool just like I normally do
Unknown User•17mo ago
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GitHub
GitHub - ChrisTitusTech/winutil: Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility...
Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility - Install Programs, Tweaks, Fixes, and Updates - GitHub - ChrisTitusTech/winutil: Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility - Install Programs, Tweaks, F...
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yeah, I'll look into both, I've noticed Nilesoft Shell has been not starting on boot sometimes and it breaks right click in a lot of apps
Unknown User•17mo ago
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Yeah, I think I'll just reinstall Windows 10 and see if that fixes it
If not then...I am not sure what I'll do
But I'm guessing that'll fix it
I'm still backing up data and going through all my files, and it's taking longer than expected 😅
Why don’t you just run Linux off a thumb drive and see if it works
Huh, I didn't think of that. I'll have to try that tonight.
It didn't work in Linux either, tried a couple live distros, but I'm not too worried about it because it works in a live WinPE image, so I'm just going to reinstall
Unknown User•16mo ago
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Seems like my hunch that it's a busted interface was right
That or some USB issues with the board
I don't think it's the interface based on what I'm seeing. It appears to be related to Windows. We'll see when I reinstall in the next couple days.
Alright, reinstalled Windows 10 tonight, going to be installing and setting up software tonight 😄
So far it seems like whatever was using my mic isn't an issue, but I will do more thorough testing tonight and tomorrow