Forum Discussion
MS Teams crashes *sometimes* during Video calls/meetings
Thanks, but I found what these instructions should say. (my updates are in BOLD)
Go into Control Panel and then “Programs and Features”
Remove the Realtek Audio Driver (Publisher Realtek Semiconductor Corp.) Program
It will prompt you to reboot the computer, do not reboot yet
Go into DEVICE MANAGER
Scroll down to Sound, Video and Game Controllers (expand)
Double Click "Realtek Audio"
Click Driver Tab
Click Update Driver
Click “Browse My Computer for Driver Software” (Locate and install driver software manually)
Click "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer"
Uncheck “Show compatible hardware”
For “Manufacturer” select Microsoft
For “Model” select High Definition Audio Device Version [most recent date]
Click Next
A pop-up will state "Installing this device driver is not recommended because Windows cannot verify that it is compatible with your hardware..."
Click Yes to the pop-up
You will receive a screen that states "Windows has successfully updated your drivers"
Click Close
Click Close again
Answer yes to RESTART YOUR COMPUTER NOW
ecmillion no, and I typically have half a dozen teams meetings a day with always with video. The convention wisdom would be to look at the devices and drivers, is there really nothing common between the users with this issue?
StevenC365 Not that we've been able to identify so far. There are about 15 different model Dell laptops with a variety of drivers out there. Issue has affected both Windows 7 and Windows 10 on those laptops. Typically only two types of headsets are used, though the issue has affected users that don't use headsets as well. We generally have only one model of webcam deployed, and again the issue has affected users not using an external webcam as well. We use two styles of docking hardware and a variety of dock models and firmware, and the issue has affected users that are not docked at the time of the issue. I've also seen this issue affect users with different versions of MS Teams.
Users with half a dozen teams calls/meetings with video daily (like yourself) will not have any issues for a week or two, and then the one day they have issues the circumstances aren't out-of-the-ordinary compared to the other numerous calls they had with no problems. This is probably the most challenging part of troubleshooting this.
As you might imagine, the diverse landscape is making it challenging to identify a common thread between users with the issue. We are continuously engaging users to ask about the circumstances of the crashes to try to identify any sort of pattern: are they docked, what dock are they using, what devices were they using (model headset, webcam, any Bluetooth or wireless devices), what was network speed & latency at the time, was VPN connected, what OS version are they using, what model laptop, what graphics, wifi and ethernet drivers do they have, what Teams version do they have, do they reboot their computer regularly, what other applications were open at the time of the crash. If you can think of any other data we should be gathering to aide in this investigation to narrow down a common cause, please do share!
ecmillionWe are seeing this issue in Dell AIO systems the past few weeks. What happens is that the audio and video drivers temporarily disappear. The first TEAMS call goes fine for any duration. When subsequent call is attempted, the program hangs and resets itself. Then all you can do is CHAT, because it shows that there are missing audio / video devices. Support has not been helpful beyond fundamental troubleshooting despite sending in the logs. Even a clean install of the operating system (WIndows 10 Professional 1909) does not solve the issue. Any advice?
ecmillion I would suggest using Call Quality Dashboard v3, and try to see if you can create a filter to identify failing calls, there may be little to show if it's a client-side hang (as you don't get reports form a failed client). CQD also records things like hardware used and driver versions, so it's useful to help identify common factors. It's hard when it's not easily repeatable, but the power of CQD is that you can analyse all your calls across the tenant.
StevenC365So far the issue that we are seeing in our own tenant and other corporate customers is that the crash manifests most commonly with back to back video conference calls that are one on one or repeat calls for a group. The first teams call/video conference goes smoothly and then when you are done, initiate an additional call and the person being called can see the incoming call, attempts to answer, and then everything locks up on both sides. The log shows that it fails and causes a reload of TEAMS, but the only way to clear the stability is a complete reboot of the computer. The reloaded teams is still unstable if you don't do this. Teams log also makes reference to the audio and video driver missing after the software crashes, but then the operating system will recover the audio and video devices on their own and works with other programs, just not teams.
