Intel NUC11PABi5 - Audio, HDMI and Power Button Issues

[philmoore]

I recently purchased one of these devices. It also has 16GB ram, NVME SSD and 2TB SSD that has Batocera on it (dual boot). Am running WIN11 Pro.

Issue 1

In windows, the audio will not stick to 5.1 when selected, it goes straight back to stereo. I have it connected to a brand new Marantz reciever which can take multi channel audio. I also tried Dolby Atmos for home theatre, and I get no sound out at all. I seemed to trick the NUC into putting out multi channel audio by changing the format around. It was displaying as multi channel audio on the reciever - but no sound came out.

Issue 2

Unless you turn on the TV and Reciever before booting, the HDMI will not handshake. If you remove the HDMI cable and re-plug it in, it will not handshake. Ive tried connecting the NUC directly to the TV. Same issue.

Issue 3

The power light keeps flashing on and off constantly. According to Intel - this seems to indicate the BIOS is updating, which it isnt.

Ive updated to latest bios, drivers etc

About to thrown the stupid NUC out, these things should just work - but it seems really buggy

Thanks in advance

[Alberto_R_Intel]

philmoore, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

In order for us to provide the most accurate assistance on this scenario, we just wanted to confirm a few details about your system:

When did you purchase the Intel® NUC? (For Warranty Purposes)

At some point, did it ever work fine without showing these 3 issues?

When did the issues start?

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes, besides updating BIOS and drivers, that might cause this issue?

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?

Please attach the SSU report so we can verify further details about the components in your platform, check all the options in the report including the one that says "3rd party software logs":

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91600

It is important to mention, that most of the stores/places of purchase, have a 30-day warranty policy where they will be able to replace/refund the product for you. So, in this specific case, if you just purchase this Intel® NUC, within the last 30 days, then we recommend to get in contact directly with them to replace/refund the unit under their warranty terms.

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[philmoore]

When did you purchase the Intel® NUC? (For Warranty Purposes) - The NUC is brand new, collected 1 week ago. I bought and installed the RAM at the same time. I moved the SSD's from another second hand NUC which I initially was setting up for the same purpose (Media player and Batocera games). The NVME and SSD that I moved over are also brand new - maybe 2 months old.  

At some point, did it ever work fine without showing these 3 issues? - I dont think the power light was flashing on and off all the time, but initially the audio would not output over the HDMI, so I updated the display driver which got me stereo

When did the issues start? - Day one

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes, besides updating BIOS and drivers, that might cause this issue? When trying to get Audio, I took the option to upgrade to Win11. I also installed Chrome and some other utilities which were listed in th Intel support forum to try and force the HDMI to output 5.1. I didnt go through with that, but just installed the utilities

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment? Home

[Alberto_R_Intel · Accepted solution]

philmoore, Thank you very much for providing that information and the SSU report.

Based on the information shown in the SSU report, we can confirm that the latest BIOS version, 0042, validated for your Intel® NUC, is properly installed on your device: 

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19694/bios-update-patgl357.html?wapkw=nuc11pahi5

Same thing with the Memory RAM being used, it is the proper one and is properly detected as well: DDR4-3200 1.2V SO-DIMM. Did you try to test the Intel® NUC using just one memory stick in regard to all the issues presented?:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/205040/intel-nuc-11-performance-kit-nuc11pahi5.html

For issue number 1, in the links below, just in case, you will find instructions on how to Set Up Speaker Systems with Intel® NUC:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000008497/intel-nuc.html

And also troubleshooting steps to try related to audio problems while using the Intel® NUC. Even though the issue and the Operating System might not be the same as the ones you described, "In windows 11, the audio will not stick to 5.1 when selected", those steps should be useful in order to try to fix this problem:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000058314/intel-nuc.html

For issue number 2, you mentioned you tested the Intel® NUC directly connected to the TV. In that case, do you have the option to test the system with a different high-quality HDMI cable?

What is the specific model of the receiver(s) being used?

According to the SSU document, the graphics driver installed in your Intel® NUC is version 30.0.101.1994. For testing purposes, please try to install graphics diver version 30.0.101.1660, which is the latest one available on our website for your machine:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19350/intel-graphics-dch-driver-for-intel-nuc.html?wapkw=nuc11pahi5

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005629/graphics.html

And for issue number 3, even though the BIOS seems to be properly installed, still, we can try a BIOS recovery to that same version, 0042, to confirm if the issue with the blinking light gets fixed that way. Try first the "Power Button Menu" option and if it does not work then the "Security Jumper" method. Make sure the Intel® NUC is working at stock configuration with the default BIOS settings:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000033291/intel-nuc.html

Once you get the chance, please let us know the results.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[philmoore]

Hi Albert,

Thanks for your help, for Issue 1 - I worked out that I needed to configure the output device in Windows and tell it I have 5.1 speakers. The sound options in Win 11 arent clear. You would think you would set these here in the first image:

It was the Spatial sound option that would not stick when selecting 5.1

But you actually need to go here and set your number of speakers (the image below is of a different PC that I am using to reply on and only has 2 channel Stereo). The NUC shows 5.1 etc

Once you set this, you can set the Spatial sound on the first screen and get Dolby Digital / DTS etc in 5.1

Issue 2 - Seems to work sometimes, as you suggest I think I will get a new HDMI cable and see if it works better

Issue 3 - Fixed using the Jumper method!

Thanks so much for your support

Cheers

Phil

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hi philmoore, You are very welcome, thank you very much for letting us know those results.

Perfect, excellent, it is great to know that the 3 issues pretty much got fixed and the Intel® NUC is now working properly. Thank you very much as well for sharing the pictures, the steps done and the solutions on this thread, we are sure they will be very helpful and useful for all the peers looking at this conversation.

Any other inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us again.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician