Question DDU removed my PC's ability to see my sound card

[Aceina]

I used DDU to fix an issue I was having with a display driver. It said it was attempting to create a restore point when I opened it, so I figured it made one (no idea where though cause I don't see it as an option in the system restore menu)
Once I got the new Nvidia driver all set up, I found my USB sound card wasn't being detected. It's a Soundblaster X g5.

I've tried rebooting many times, searching for any sign of it in device manager, uninstalling and then installing the driver (which fails as it does not detect the device so it cancels the install)
My onboard sound is disabled in Bios, windows update can't pull any new drivers for it, the card has been unplugged for several minutes, nothing works.

The card lights up when plugged in, windows just has no idea it even exists. I've tried all the different USB ports on my mobo, none of them work.

Does anyone have any idea how to fix this without reinstalling windows? I presume DDU nuked some registry settings that it relied on to be detected.

Hardware:
Gigabyte AX-370 gaming 5
Ryzen 1700x
2 16GB sticks of ram
RTX 2080
Windows 10 v. 1809

Thanks for any help

 

[Ralston18]

Just for the record: add more detail regarding the initial display issues.

Did you try running Windows 10's built in troubleshooters?

"WIN" + "I" > Update&Security > Troubleshoot

Reliability History/Manager and Event Viewer may have also captured some related error codes and warnings. Check the logs. Reliability History is easier to work with. Event Viewer is broader and more cumbersome.

 

[Aceina]

Just for the record: add more detail regarding the initial display issues.

Did you try running Windows 10's built in troubleshooters?

"WIN" + "I" > Update&Security > Troubleshoot

Reliability History/Manager and Event Viewer may have also captured some related error codes and warnings. Check the logs. Reliability History is easier to work with. Event Viewer is broader and more cumbersome.

Sorry, the display issue seemed irrelevant. I was having an issue where the Nvidia control panel would not let me switch from Ycbcr422 to RGB. tried using Display Driver Uninstaller to fully uninstall the driver and reinstall the driver to fix that, but it didnt work. turned out my monitor was set to Displayport 1.2+hdr which was forcing it to use Ycbcr422. the Soundcard disappearing issues happened immediately after I used DDU (in safe mode).

The event viewer and reliability history do not seem to show any new information when I plug in or unplug my soundcard into a USB port.
I also tried to use the audio troubleshooter, but since windows doesn't even know it's plugged into a USB port, it fails to find any issues. (I don't see a troubleshooter for USB devices)

Also, I have confirmed the Sound card does work when I plug it into my laptop (but only on usb 2.0?)

 

[Ralston18]

No problem, you were not wrong with respect to dismissing the video issue as a separate problem.

I just tend to be leery of 3rd party tools such as DDU and what they may or may not be doing with respect to any given problem. I.e., what gets installed and de-installed; how correct and complete is the process? Especially with respect to Registry changes. Personally doubt whether they can truly keep up with it all....

If the display issue is resolved then that can be set aside.

What other, if any USB devices are installed on the PC? As I read the specs, the Sound Blaster X g5 gets its power via the USB port. Consider that you may need an independently powered USB hub to support multiple USB devices on the PC.

Compare the USB sound card drivers being used on the laptop to those being used on the PC. Not necessarily going be the identical but the comparison may flag something of interest.

Use Windows to disable the USB sound card and directly uninstall the drivers.

Download, reinstall, and reconfigure the USB sound card drivers via Creative's website and instructions.

A do-over may be all that is needed to get audio working again.

 

[Aceina]

Not exactly sure what fixed this, but it showed up again.
I uninstalled and reinstalled USB 3.1 driver and reenabled the onboard Mobo sound card, plugged it into 2 different ports without success. putzed around in device manager a bit, then plugged it into the original USB port that didn't work and it showed up all the sudden.

Thanks for all your support! Just glad it's working again