[SOLVED] Wrong Realtek HD Audio driver on Razer Blade Stealth 13" RZ09-0310 causing sound card to be lost by OS?

[diapolical]

I am using a 13" Razer Blade Stealth LAPTOP early 2020. Model RZ09-0310

The device in question is "Realtek High Definition Audio"
The hardware ID is ...........
HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0298&SUBSYS_1A581003
Current driver is 6.0.9088.1 (date-2020)

The sound does not work on 1 in 4 starts. The loudspeaker (sound) icon in the taskbar has a cross in a grey circle over it. When the card doesn't load I can still get sound on bluetooth but the sound is mono (each channel plays the same thing). When the sound card IS recognized it plays in true stereo.

On every restart where the sound card drivers are not loaded then device manager reports on the HD Audio Device that "Hardware Device Is Not Connected to the Computer (Code 45)" - (I can see it if I choose to view "Hidden Devices")

Even when the sound card is working a problem is listed in in Device Manager - "system devices" section
The device is detailed as ............
"Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel (R) SST) OED"
Double clicking on the devices in the "General" tab .............
Device Type - Sytem Devices
Manufacturer - Intel (R) Corporation
Location - HD Audio Bus Driver
The error is detailed as ..............
"The device cannot start (code 10)
The device was not loaded because it failed it's initialization call"
The hardware ID for the device..............
INTELAUDIO\DSP_CTLR_DEV_34C8&VEN_8086&DEV_0222&SUBSYS_10031A58
Reinstalling this driver just says "the best drivers for your device are already installed"

I don't think it is a hardware issue because on those occasions where the card is recognized at startup and the drivers load correctly, the sound card keeps working until the laptop is restarted (the sound card is not dropped). And the problem started after I tried to use the Ccleaner program to update all the drivers on my laptop. Some were updated successfully but the sound card disappeared from Device Manager until I installed a driver.

I have tried many different versions of the Realtek HD Audio driver. They all work but all have this 1 in 4 failure rate. I have also tried a HD Audio Driver for a Razer Blade laptop with the same result though I have not found a driver that was marked as being specifically for my laptop.

At first I would reinstall the sound driver if the sound card was not showing up and reboot. But even then the sound card wouldn't necessarily show up on reboot. So all I do now is restart. Sometimes I have to do that twice before the card is recognized and the drivers load.

I have tried every solution suggested on youtube and in different forums.
I have updated windows. I have run chkdsk. I have made sure the OS core files are good by running ..................
DISM /online /cleanup-image /checkhealth
I have cleaned up the registry too. I have tried many versions of this very common driver - all to no avail.

I really do not want to go to the trouble of reinstalling the OS completely. There are too many programs installed and carefully configured.
Mabe there is a way to get the sound card recognized without reloading?
"scanning for hardware changes" in device manager doesn't fix it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Razer Blade Stealth 13” (early 2020) | RZ09-0310 laptop
16gb RAM - 1tb SSD - Windows 11 Pro version-21H2

Audio services running at startup
-----------------------------------------
1/ Intel Audio Service (loaded in services -
" C:\Windows\system32\cAVS\IAS\IntelAudioService.exe")
2/ Realtek Audio Service (loaded in services -
"C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA\RtkAudioService64.exe")
3/ HD Audio Background Service ("C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA\RAVBg64.exe")
Loaded from registry - HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
4/ Realtek HD Audio Manager ("C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA\RAVCpl64.exe")
Loaded from registry - HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

 

[Lutfij]

The moment you start tinkering with the registry of the OS, would mean that your OS was corrupt to begin with. Did you recreate your bootable USB installer for your OS to rue out a corrupt installer? As for your laptop, check to see if you have any BIOS updates pending.

Windows 11 Pro version-21H2
We're currently on 23H2, soon to be 24H2. By your number, you're behind about 2 years.

I really do not want to go to the trouble of reinstalling the OS completely. There are too many programs installed and carefully configured.
+
And the problem started after I tried to use the Ccleaner program to update all the drivers on my laptop. Some were updated successfully but the sound card disappeared from Device Manager until I installed a driver.
Never use 3rd party apps to tell you if your platform is pending an update. You cross reference with your installed version and the version listed on your product's support site. You live and learn. Perhaps see if you can perform a system restore to a point prior to when the issue cropped up?

 

[diapolical]

Thanks for the contribution Lutfij.

I think the problem is sorted. It WAS a driver issue after all it seems. (I have restarted it 30 times so far with no issues)

NONE OF THE REALTEK DRIVERS WAS IN FACT CORRRECT
I needed a driver that also provided drivers for Intel Smart Sound Tecnology (Intel SST) device. Whats more the driver that installed for the Realtek HD audio is now listed in Device Manager with the suffix "SST". None of the other drrivers did that.

This driver excutable package was the only one that provided the driver for the Intel Smart Sound Technology too. I found the driver for the Realtek HD Audio while looking for this Intel Smart Sound driver.

The driver I found is called ...........
"Realtek-High-Definition-Audio-Driver_KPN1K_WIN_6.0.9597.1_A80_01.EXE"
Direct download link

It's one Razer just won't provide. The one I found is for DELL but fortunately they are using the very same hardware.

I guess that's someting that can be of use to other people with the same laptop as mine. Here is a driver that works!