UPDATE: I began to have problems with my headset a few weeks later. It appears it was related to the Logitech Gaming Software but uninstalling it would cause my headset to stop working. I realized that the reset option in Windows 10 was likely using a bad image. I thought about using DISM to repair the files, but I ended up re-installing Windows 10 from scratch. I did not use Windows 10’s built in reset option and instead opted to clean the drive and re-install Windows 10 which also re-created the recovery partition. After re-installing Windows 10 my headset worked immediately without needing any drivers. The USBAUDIO.SYS file was present (as it should have been) and I did not need to install LGS. If you run into this issue, I highly recommend avoiding the reset option in Windows 10 and instead perform a fresh install. It appears the recovery image when upgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 10 could be corrupt. Hopefully Microsoft can issue a fix for the recovery image. If you’re interested, more information on using DISM to repair Windows 10 and recovery images can be found here.
When I upgraded my PC from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, my Logitech G430 USB gaming headset continued to work just fine. But recently I decided to reinstall Windows 10 fresh and found my headset would no longer be recognized within the Device Manager as the device appeared under “Other Devices” with an exclamation point. I searched and searched and all I could find was people advising to use the 3.5mm jacks instead. This isn’t a solution. But I eventually found one.
I tried the following:
- Re-installing Logitech Gaming Software.
- Installing previous versions of the Logitech Gaming Software.
- Uninstalling all disconnected Logitech and USB devices from the device manager.
- Updating the driver in the device manager by pointing to “C:\Program Files\Logitech Gaming Software\Drivers”.
Nothing seemed to be working. Then I decided to use Procman to see if there were any log files. Eventually I found this log file, C:\Windows\INF\setupapi.dev.log. Inside the log file I found sections which ended with “[Exit status: FAILURE(0x00000002)]”. Directly above these failures would be a reason such as file could not be found. As I sifted through the sections I finally came across an entry which quoted “Driver package references a missing external file ‘C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\USBAUDIO.sys'”. I tried looking for the “USBAUDIO.SYS” file manually and couldn’t find it. I checked another Windows 10 computer and the file was there. I have no idea why this file was missing but I copied “USBAUDIO.SYS” to “C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers” on the affected machine. Then I launched the device manager, right clicked the headset and selected Update Driver. I browsed to “C:\Program Files\Logitech Gaming Software\Drivers” and voila, my Logitech G430 Gaming Headset started working again.
I did run into one more issue. I could hear a hiss which turned out to be the Microphone. I checked if the option “Listen to this device” was checked but it wasn’t even though I could hear the feedback. To resolve this right click the audio icon in the task bar and select “Recording Devices”. Right clicked the Logitech G430 Microphone, select Properties, and then select the Listen tab. Check the box “Listen to this device” and then hit Apply. Then immediately uncheck “Listen to this device” and his Apply again and then click Ok. The feedback should be gone now.
Some sources: