Solved USB Logitech H390 Headphone/Mic Causing Windows 11 System Lockup

I have a USB Logitech H390 headphone/mic, and had used it in Windows 10 for years with no problem. I would use it to listen to music and input voice to Windows Speech Recognition. With my new Windows 11 system, I experience the following problem:

After plugging in the device to a USB port, it works satisfactorily for a short while, perhaps half an hour. Then, while listening to Spotify music, the music cuts out, voice still works, then after another several minutes, the entire Windows computer system locks up: no keyboard, no mouse. Have to hard power off the desktop to return to service.

I thought maybe the problem was with listening to music, but tried it with the headset plugged in and no music. It worked for about an hour, then the Windows system locked up again, no keyboard, no mouse.

I have tried the headset in several different USB ports and it occurs regardless of which port I use.

I also have a set of Bose QC Bluetooth headphones which I can use alternately, and the above problem does not occur. I would prefer to use the USB H390 headset because it gives more accurate voice transcription to Speech Recognition.

I have also noticed an error in the Reliability Monitor: “CTF Loader stopped working”. At times this has coincided with the USB headset lockup problem, but the CTF error also occurs at other times.

It is really strange to me that a headset could cause the entire Windows 11 system to freeze!

Any clues folks here might have would be appreciated.

Windows 11 Version 22H2 (OS Build 22621.1848)
HP Envy Desktop

The CTF loader definitely works with text to speech, whether the actual cause of your problem or not. On the other hand you may be getting the CTF loader errors due to a problem with whatever TTS app you use.
definition: The Collaborative Translation Framework Loader, aka CTF Loader, is an important Windows process that ensures that certain Windows components are always connected and can communicate with each other. Windows uses the CTF Loader to offer text support for alternate user input programs. The CTF Loader also helps activate different input languages in Microsoft Office, known as the Language Bar.

That said, if your Bose BT headphone/mic cause no problem but your Logitech wired one does, IMO that's a good indication the problem lies either in your headphones themselves (most likely since they are 10 years old) or there is some kind of interference with your usb ports(less likely with a brand new PC but possible). If you suspect the problem to be the headphones and since you like them so much, USB Logitech H390 headphones can be replaced for $22.

Now, you say you get the CTF error at other times. Most TTS apps run in the background at all times. Have you tested with disabling the app through task manager and just using the headphones while listening to music. It may not be a problem with the headphones at all. There could be a problem with whatever app you use.

glasskuter said:

The CTF loader definitely works with text to speech, whether the actual cause of your problem or not. On the other hand you may be getting the CTF loader errors due to a problem with whatever TTS app you use.
definition: The Collaborative Translation Framework Loader, aka CTF Loader, is an important Windows process that ensures that certain Windows components are always connected and can communicate with each other. Windows uses the CTF Loader to offer text support for alternate user input programs. The CTF Loader also helps activate different input languages in Microsoft Office, known as the Language Bar.

That said, if your Bose BT headphone/mic cause no problem but your Logitech wired one does, IMO that's a good indication the problem lies either in your headphones themselves (most likely since they are 10 years old) or there is some kind of interference with your usb ports(less likely with a brand new PC but possible). If you suspect the problem to be the headphones and since you like them so much, USB Logitech H390 headphones can be replaced for $22.

Now, you say you get the CTF error at other times. Most TTS apps run in the background at all times. Have you tested with disabling the app through task manager and just using the headphones while listening to music. It may not be a problem with the headphones at all. There could be a problem with whatever app you use.

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Will do more investigating along the lines you suggest. Couple of points:

• The H390 headphones were purchased in April, 2020, so they are 3 years old, not 10. Still, I may buy another set just to be sure.
• Not sure how to 'disable the app' as you suggest -- Speech Recognition is not an app per se, it is built in to Windows 11. Same with Voice Typing, which is another form of TTS that I use. No apparent way to disable either of those in the background, when neither is being used.

retexan599 said:

I have a USB Logitech H390 headphone/mic, and had used it in Windows 10 for years with no problem.

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Sorry, my dyslexia read that as 'used it in Windows for 10 years." I read it too fast. My apologies..

retexan599 said:

Not sure how to 'disable the app' as you suggest -

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Since you use the Windows app rather than a 3rd party one, you can disable it. Settings>accessibility>speech>toggle off Windows speech recognition. I'm really not sure whether a restart is necessary afterwards to stop its process and associated services in the background or not, but I would suspect so.

About those CTF Loader errors, I found this article. See if there is any info there that is of benefit. I strongly recommend you backup your system before attempting any of the solutions there though.

and here 5 Ways to Fix CTF Loader Issues in Windows
IMO i can't hurt to open a command prompt as admin and run SFC /scannow as well.
Sorry to be going all over the place with my suggestions, but I don't use TTS and have never seen CTF errors so I'm kinda flying by the seat of my pants right along with you.

Thanks for your suggestions!

I have done some further testing and have additional results, although none of them solves the problem.

• I have disabled speech recognition, but believe it is not related to the problem; the freezes still happen. BTW, turning off speech recognition, per se, does not disable voice typing.
• I ran SFC /scannow. It found and repaired some errors, but they were associated with Bluetooth which I don’t think is part of my problem.
• I have a several-year-old Bose QC25 hard wired headphone set which plugs in to the headphone jack on the desktop. When I use that set, there is no freeze or other problem. Of course, I can use my newer Bose QC45 Bluetooth set with no problem either.
• With the H390 USB headset plugged in, what I call a system freeze seems to actually be a Blue Screen, which has briefly shown during subsequent restart operation.
• I bought a brand-new H390 USB headset; using it lasted about five minutes before the Windows 11 system blue screened, so the problem was not with my previous H390.
• I have other devices plugged in to the USB ports (thumb drive, keyboard, etc.); they have no problem so I think the USB ports per se are ok.
• When the system freezes, here are some of the reliability monitor reports. As you can see, it says the computer has 'rebooted from a 'bugcheck'.

So the blue screening problem seems confined to the Logitech H390 headset plugged in to a USB port. I could look for another brand of USB headset...sigh...

Lastly, I still get those ‘CTF Loader has stopped working’ messages, but they seem unrelated to the H390 headset freezes; they occur at random and other times.

Since I am stumped, I plan to continue using the QC45 Bluetooth headphones, and not fiddle with the H390 until I come across something relevant.

Thanks again.

I had some similar trouble with a pair of Logitech headphones a while back. I am not totally convinced that their driver is completely up to the task. (My RGB lighted Logitech keyboard sometimes does not light properly and it loses the special function keys due to the driver not being loaded properly. In this case a reboot fixes the problem, but it shouldn't happen. Driver issues with that as well, leading me to think that you might be having a driver issue with your headphones.)

I solved my headphone problem by buying a pair of Corsair Void USB headphones. Problem went away and I have never looked back.

Catnip said:

I had some similar trouble with a pair of Logitech headphones a while back. I am not totally convinced that their driver is completely up to the task. (My RGB lighted Logitech keyboard sometimes does not light properly and it loses the special function keys due to the driver not being loaded properly. In this case a reboot fixes the problem, but it shouldn't happen. Driver issues with that as well, leading me to think that you might be having a driver issue with your headphones.)

I solved my headphone problem by buying a pair of Corsair Void USB headphones. Problem went away and I have never looked back.

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You are probably right re a driver issue, although I have no yellow check marks in Device Manager. The thing that bugged me was that the same set of Logitech H390 headphones worked great on my Windows 10 machine over the years.

I may look into those Corsair Void headphones; if I am not being too nosy, which model did you buy (I see there are several at different price points). Thanks.

retexan599 said:

I may look into those Corsair Void headphones; if I am not being too nosy, which model did you buy (I see there are several at different price points). Thanks.

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I got these ones a couple of years ago:


They often go on sale, and the wireless ones seem to be cheaper. I don't like wireless though.