Solved Realtek sound drivers and APPs

CountMike · Oct 17, 2022

Since I did clean install of 22H2 now at 22621.674 I have problems with Realtek drivers "Realtek® S1220A 8-Channel high-definition CODEC featuring Crystal Sound 3" is CODEC chip. First tried with driver backed up from previous installation and then more than dozen different UAD drivers all said to be compatible with W10 and 11. Most of them work but main problem is that no "Realtek audio console" Control APP works. Only combination that worked was with clean installation of drivers from Asus Version 6.0.9323.1 but Control APP worked only until it was updated from store and then it just stopped, Starts, "thinks " for couple of minutes and declares that it "Can't connect to RPC service"
Even when I try to download it from MS or anywhere else it comes up with "Something went wrong on our side"

Winuser · Oct 17, 2022

@CountMike, on my new desktop running the Dev builds I can't even get my speakers to work. I've tried just about every Realtek driver I could find. Realtek and MS need to get together and fix the driver problems that people are having.

Ghot · Oct 17, 2022

I never update my Audio drivers, and they seem to work perfectly. ??
Well, that's not completely true. I did update them once, a year ago, when they posted newer Audio drivers for my motherboard at ASUS' website.
I haven't noticed any problems with my Realtek Audio Console.

In other words... the ONLY drivers I don't get from my motherboard's page at ASUS' website are the chipset and the vid card drivers, which I get from AMD and Nvidia, respectively.

CountMike · Oct 17, 2022

Winuser said:
@CountMike, on my new desktop running the Dev builds I can't even get my speakers to work. I've tried just about every Realtek driver I could find. Realtek and MS need to get together and fix the driver problems that people are having.

Yeah, it's a shame, without proper sound many would find PC useless. If at least that damn APP would work so I can control in and out sound.

CountMike · Oct 17, 2022

Ghot said:
I never update my Audio drivers, and they seem to work perfectly. ??
Well, that's not completely true. I did update them once, a year ago, when they posted newer Audio drivers for my motherboard at ASUS' website.
I haven't noticed any problems with my Realtek Audio Console.

In other words... the ONLY drivers I don't get from my motherboard's page at ASUS' website are the chipset and the vid card drivers, which I get from AMD and Nvidia, respectively.

Could you please see which version your Realtek APP is ?

Ghot · Oct 17, 2022

CountMike said:
Could you please see which version your Realtek APP is ?

Sorry... ran to the store. Is this what you want?
For me, Win 10 and Win 11 show the same thing.
Device Manager also shows the same.

And this is the only Audio Driver I see at the ASUS webpage for my motherboard...
Download link if you want it, is.... HERE

I don't know if the Realtek Audio Console comes with the driver, or from MS, like the Nvidia Control Panel.

When I first installed Win 10 in May 2020, I had the internet disconnected, and just installed the Audio driver from the motherboard CD. I honestly don't know when/where the Console appeared. It was pretty far down my list of things to worry about. And... my Win 11 is just an In-Place upgrade from my Win 10.

These are ALL the audio drivers for my motherboard...

CountMike · Oct 17, 2022

Ghot said:
Sorry... ran to the store. Is this what you want?
For me, Win 10 and Win 11 show the same thing.
Device Manager also shows the same.

View attachment 42592

Ghot · Oct 17, 2022

I see that (only white), when I open the console, but it only lasts for 1/2 second.
I've only ever opened mine from the START Menu.

I "don't" see the stuff at the bottom though.
I don't see any settings IN the Console that have to do with how it looks or is displayed.

When I right click "Realtek Audio Console" in the START menu and choose More > App Settings, I see this...

CountMike · Oct 17, 2022

Ghot said:
I see that (only white), when I open the console, but it only lasts for 1/2 second.
I've only ever opened mine from the START Menu.

I think you might have HD Audio drivers, not UAD.

Ghot · Oct 17, 2022

CountMike said:
I think you might have HD Audio drivers, not UAD.

That I couldn't tell you. If there's somewhere to check, let me know and I'll check.
When I install my Nvidia vid card driver, I select these options... but the Nvidia HD Audio driver has a different version number.

But I've been doing ASUS AMD chipset motherboards and Nvidia vid cards for so long, I really have no idea how it all works.

I know @Brink has a few tutorials about HD/UAD sound drivers, but I've never really looked at them.

CountMike · Oct 17, 2022

Ghot said:
That I couldn't tell you. If there's somewhere to check, let me know and I'll check.
When I install my Nvidia vid card driver, I select these options...

View attachment 42609

Ghot said:
That I couldn't tell you. If there's somewhere to check, let me know and I'll check.
When I install my Nvidia vid card driver, I select these options... but the Nvidia HD Audio driver has a different version number.

View attachment 42609

That looks like a part of HDMI driver from GPU.

Ghot · Oct 17, 2022

CountMike said:
That looks like a part of HDMI driver from GPU.

I'm sure you're correct. Like I said, I don't really worry about this stuff.
It just works... so I pretty much ignore it.

Sound & Audio - Windows 10 Forums

Sound & Audio - Sound card and general audio support.

www.tenforums.com

I started to read them once, but it looked like ancient Sumerian to me, so I stopped.

Brb... I need to update Firefox... 45 seconds.

erpster4 · Oct 18, 2022

CountMike said:
I think you might have HD Audio drivers, not UAD.

Ghot said:
That I couldn't tell you. If there's somewhere to check, let me know and I'll check.
When I install my Nvidia vid card driver, I select these options... but the Nvidia HD Audio driver has a different version number.

View attachment 42609

But I've been doing ASUS AMD chipset motherboards and Nvidia vid cards for so long, I really have no idea how it all works.

I know @Brink has a few tutorials about HD/UAD sound drivers, but I've never really looked at them.

@Ghot

check the names of the INF files listed in Sound, video and game controllers section of the Driver Store Explorer (RAPR) app and post a screenshot of RAPR on your Asus board

Ghot · Oct 18, 2022

erpster4 said:
@Ghot

check the names of the INF files listed in Sound, video and game controllers section of the Driver Store Explorer (RAPR) app and post a screenshot of RAPR on your Asus board

Which I noted above. Realtek driver and Nvidia driver.

MoKiChU · Oct 18, 2022

Hi,

You both (@CountMike & @Ghot) have an ASUS PRIME Realtek motherboard, so :

You need Realtek Audio Drivers (UAD - ASUS ROG/TUF/PRIME RTK) from the first post of this thread : [DRIVERS] Realtek Audio (Intel 2xx/3xx/4xx/5xx/6xx/7xx & AMD 3xx/4xx/5xx/6xx).

Follow scrupulously your CLEANUP process then your INSTALL process, for the next drivers packages that I would release, you will can directly follow your UPDATE process.

Also, regarding the issue of @CountMike :

- Press Windows key + X > Task Manager :

- Startup tab : Check that Realtek HD Audio Universal Service is Enabled.
- Services tab : Check that DcomLaunch, RpcEptMapper & RtkAudioUniversalService services running.

- Right click on your Realtek Audio Control/Console app icon > App settings > Reset
- Restart your PC.

Ghot · Oct 18, 2022

@MoKiChU

Excellent info.
I don't use the UAD drivers though.
My motherboard is a work station motherboard.

Pro WS X570-ACE｜Motherboards｜ASUS Global

ASUS Workstation motherboards are designed for professionals in AI training, deep learning, animation, or 3D rendering. Featuring expandable graphics, storage, impressive connectivity and reliability, Pro Workstation motherboards are the ideal solution for creative professionals and IT...

www.asus.com

fruh · Oct 18, 2022

I had the same "cannot connect to RPC service" problem with the Realtek Audio Console app provided directly from my PC's manufacturer (Dell), which was way obsolete (1.14.226.0).
Hence I searched on Google for "realtek audio control" and I found a Microsoft Store link through which I was able to install the latest Realtek Audio Console version (1.39.279.0) and not the one automagically provided from the store for my PC. It needed a reboot but for now it seems to work fine

Hope this helps :)

CountMike · Oct 18, 2022

RPC service seems to depend on DCOM Server process louncher which I can see is set on Auto and currently running, some articles suggest restarting it but all's greyed out and unchangeable.

Ps. Tnx MoKiChu, I was just thinking about bothering you again. With your help I had everything running fine while on 22H1but since 22H2 (clean installation) I just couldn't make it run properly usindg same driver. Control APP actually worked until it was automatically updated. I suspect MS has changed something to affect it.
Ill give this last one a whirl now.
Right now

Control APP as of now.

Tried Reset and it still doesn't work.

MoKiChU · Oct 18, 2022

Ghot said:
@MoKiChU

Excellent info.
I don't use the UAD drivers though.
My motherboard is a work station motherboard.

Pro WS X570-ACE｜Motherboards｜ASUS Global

ASUS Workstation motherboards are designed for professionals in AI training, deep learning, animation, or 3D rendering. Featuring expandable graphics, storage, impressive connectivity and reliability, Pro Workstation motherboards are the ideal solution for creative professionals and IT...

www.asus.com

You're welcome,

Despite what you think, you are indeed using UAD drivers if you installed the audio drivers from your motherboard support page.

HDA Drivers are for Windows 7 to Windows 10
UAD Drivers are only for Windows 10 64 bit or more recent

HDA Drivers use Win32/Legacy apps (including Realtek HD Audio Manager)
UAD Drivers use UWP apps downloaded from Microsoft Store (including Realtek Audio Control/Console)

HDA Drivers have a tray icon (possibility to disable it)
UAD Drivers don't have a tray icon (without possibility to enable it)

Glossary :

HDA = High Definition Audio
HDA (Realtek) = Standard (NVIDIA) = Legacy (Microsoft & Intel)

UAD = Universal Audio Driver
UAD (Realtek) = DCH (NVIDIA & Intel now) = DCHU (Microsoft) = UWD (Microsoft & Intel before)

DCH/DCHU = Declarative Componentized Hardware Support Apps Universal API compliance

UWD = Universal Windows Driver.

CountMike said:
RPC service seems to depend on DCOM Server process louncher which I can see is set on Auto and currently running, some articles suggest restarting it but all's greyed out and unchangeable.
View attachment 42678
Ps. Tnx MoKiChu, I was just thinking about bothering you again. With your help I had everything running fine while on 22H1but since 22H2 (clean installation) I just couldn't make it run properly usindg same driver. Control APP actually worked until it was automatically updated. I suspect MS has changed something to affect it.
Ill give this last one a whirl now.
Right now
View attachment 42682
View attachment 42684
View attachment 42685
View attachment 42686
Control APP as of now.
View attachment 42688
Tried Reset and it still doesn't work.

In order to start on a clean base, download the last drivers package that you need (Realtek Audio Drivers (UAD - ASUS ROG/TUF/PRIME RTK)) & follow scrupulously the CLEANUP process then the INSTALL process from your motherboard category (ASUS ROG/TUF/PRIME Realtek motherboards) : [DRIVERS] Realtek Audio (Intel 2xx/3xx/4xx/5xx/6xx/7xx & AMD 3xx/4xx/5xx/6xx).

CountMike · Oct 18, 2022

Downloaded (as recommended) AUDIO_Realtek_UAD_ASUS_ROG-TUF-PRIME_RTK_v6.0.9414.1
Uninstalled and cleaned in several ways (From Programs and features, Device Manager and DDU as well as forced deletion of .inf using Rapr, all in safe mode.
In normal mode I run install.cmd (as Administrator) but that only uninstalled previous driver, restarted and that ended up again with some ancient MS driver (i'll show it in a bit). There's no control APP (it got installed with driver) at all now. Store can't find it at all and only one I can find is version from Dell as shown in my previous post.
Edit.
This is driver Windows installed (again) despite cleaning off.inf(s) from driver store.