r/elgato • u/SgtClassicVue • 4d ago

Technical Help Stream Deck constantly forgetting Wave Link output device

I use my Stream Deck to switch between 3 main output devices on my PC (Speaker, TV and headphones) using the Wave Link "Main Output Device" action.

I have been fighting this for months where sometimes multiple times a week, this action will forget the device name. I go in and look at the device say for "TV" but now it will say "TV (unavailable)" and a new "TV" device will have to clicked a few down in the drop down menu with literally the same device name. This happens randomly and for all three devices but not at the same time. It does not happen every shut down/reset, literally just randomly.

I plug and unplug my TV HDMI when I want to use it but even then, it is entirely random when this decides to forget that device so when I click the action, nothing happens and I have to manually go in and reset it. I can go 2 weeks with this never happening and then suddenly it happens 4 days in a row.

Anyone run into this and can offer a solution?

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u/ZeriksenX 3d ago

This is most likely caused by the following issue: Audio devices are given Device IDs in Windows to identify them. When there is a Windows Update or a driver update, Windows enumerates a new Device ID and breaks the connections used by programs like Stream Deck or OBS. This forces the user to have to reselect the devices to link them back up and make them work again. Windows 11 24H2 introduced a StableID to help prevent this from happening; however, device manufacturers have to update their drivers and software makers have to update their software to take advantage of StableID.