Windows 10: Windows not recognizing motherboard audio device

My computer has been working fine since a few weeks ago when I got it, but last night I booted it up, and Realtek HD Audio Manager failed to load with the computer. I tried to open it manually, but it never came up. I restarted, same problem. I checked on my playback devices, and my motherboard audio (Realtek) was not there. Hardware manager, show hidden devices, it shows Realtek is not plugged in. Went to BIOS, my on-board audio is enabled.
It almost spontaneously stopped working and being recognized. There was no software installed recently enough to show a causation.

The back audio jacks and the front headphone/mic jacks don't work at all, they aren't recognized anywhere in my computer, and any way I try to launch Realtek HD Audio Manager it doesn't load.

For the time being I am using my HDMI audio but my monitor is mono and there is no mic input. Terrible for gaming. Headphones don't work with it at all.

Obviously I'm here for help, so I'm open to ideas.

:)

 

Windows 10 not recognizing motherboard audio

Hello.

My audio was working fine yesterday, but now it is not.

I have freshly installed windows 10 on my ssd and windows is not recognizing the speakers I have plugged in to the green port on my motherboard.

I've done everything I could find online to troubleshoot.

on-board audio is enabled in my bios.

I've uninstalled both high definition audio drivers under device manager--> system devices and rebooted to find them both reinstalled, but my hdmi audio being the only one in the playback devices.

My speakers aren't even showing up grayed out.

I've went to the motherboard website and installed the drivers. Albeit they were for windows 7, they still went through the installation process.

I use the audio troubleshooter and it only allows me to select devices that it recognizes...

My computer specs are:

motherboard: dx58so

cpu: intel i7 920

gtx 1050 ti 4gb ssc

sandisk ssd plus ~240gb

and two others HDDS.

Beyond frustrated as ive been trying to get this to work all day.

 

Windows 10 not recognizing motherboard audio

Hi,

It looks like there are changes that occurred to your PC before the audio stopped working. It would help if you can provide us with additional information so we can identify what is causing the issue. Please answer the following:

• What is the current build and version of your Windows 10 device? To check, type winver in the search bar and press Enter.
• Have you made any changes or installed updates prior to the audio issue?

We will wait for your response.

 

It's very possible that the Realtek Audio hardware may have malfunctioned and failed, meaning you would either have to have it physically repaired, or replace the motherboard. Either way, not convenient.

The other possibility is that the driver has become corrupted in some way. You could go into Device Manager and remove the Realtek driver, then try to reinstall it. I would get the driver download from your motherboard manufacturer to be certain that you get the right one.

Please try that and post back the results.

 

Do a full power off (turn off at mains) and restart. If that doesn't work reinstall the Realtek driver.

 

The best way to test to see if a problem like yours is caused by hardware failure or software (drivers, OS) is to run a version of Linux on the PC and test to see if you get sound there.
No sound in another OS means it is Hardware.

I use Ubuntu for this diagnostic work (habit), but there are other flavors too.
You just want one that will boot and run off a USB drive. That way you do not need to install another OS on the PC. Ubuntu will do that, most of the others will too. Just choose the option "try without installing" when booting from the USB drive.

 

If the HD Audio device only appears in Device Manager as a Hidden Device (it displays with a transparent icon) then, yes, Windows is not detecting the device. Could be the chip failed. But here's a trick that sometimes works....

HD audio connects like this:Windows <===> HD Audio Controller <=======> HD Audio Device
Your HD audio device connects downstream to an Audio Controller. Sometimes the controller needs to be reset.

Look in Device Manager under System Devices. Do you find a device named something like "High Def Audio Controller" or "Realtek HD Audio Controller"?

• If not there, it's the controller that failed
• If you find the HD audio controller:
  • Right click it, select Uninstall. If asked, do not choose to delete driver files.
  • Reboot. The driver will reinstall and the audio controller will attempt to re-detect the HD audio device. Does it find it this time?

If that doesn't work, i'd also check if any BIOS updates.

 

I tried Ubuntu, installing Realtek drivers won't work(?) unless I install Ubuntu. I never realized how painful installing drivers is on Linux. It did not show up in the audio devices list though.

 

Done. It didn't show up in the list until I turned "Show hidden devices" on, and reinstalling it did not fix it.
I updated the drivers as well to no avail.

System Restore isn't working for me, so reverting to two weeks ago isn't an option. (Though I tried several times)


I could still update my BIOS, but I doubt that fix it. I'll get to it when I get some more free time.

 

I have a MSI board and the last 2 realtek updates from the msi website will not run after instillation the only one that works is 6.0.1.8010 have you tried going back to earlier releases ?

 

You misunderstood.
Ubuntu has it's own audio driver for sound. You are only checking to see if you get sound in Ubuntu.
If you don't, it is most likely because the hardware has failed.
If you DO get sound in Ubuntu, that indicates the problem is with Windows and drivers.

No point in playing with drivers and Windows fixes if it is a hardware problem.

Also: a BIOS update is a stab-in-the-dark kind of fix for this problem. If it is a BIOS problem then you will normally find the solution (if there is one) in changing your Audio settings in BIOS.

 

Understood. Ubuntu gets no sound, BIOS settings have been reviewed. I'll call the company soon and just send it in. They even pay shipping, so no skin off my back.

 

I've had a similar problem with an HP M2N68-LA Narra2 board with its onboard Realtek ALC888S audio and the HD audio bus controller disappearing in Device Manager in Windows and would never come back. It was happening with different versions of Windows, not only Win10. So I ended up replacing the motherboard and the new board with Realtek audio works fine.

Note to brianzion: MSI has v6.0.1.8059 drivers available here (basic package) and here (realtek v8059 drivers w/ nahimic & realtek asio drivers).

 

Of course there's an easier way I could have checked. MSI boards have a "Board Explorer" in the BIOS, showing connected devices. Nothing shows as connected to the audio jacks. Thanks guys!

 

Glad you got it sorted. Hope the RMA doesn't take too long.