Highly annoyed with Realtek!

[Pawnless Endgame]

I have checked other recent threads in Sound City to make sure that I haven't repeated a query from anyone else. I am -very- surprised that I haven't read a similar problem on OcUK yet.

It's to do with motherboards that have the on-board Realtek sound card. There are two flavours of the device - Realtek AC'97 and Realtek High Definition Audio. The problem applies to both. All of a sudden, the driver will drop out. The system tray Windows mixer no longer appears. Any playback attempts in Windows Media Player will generate an error message - "no are no active mixer devices available". Etc etc. All sound-related apps are now soundless.

I work on a helpdesk supporting disabled students who were supplied with computers from many brands. The call volume has greatly increased because of Realtek drivers that keep dropping out. If you attempt a System Restore, you get a 50/50 chance of having the problem resolved or having the problem persisting. The more definite solution involves running Microsoft Update to the fullest extent and then reinstalling the sound driver. The fad started to happen last September i.e. half a year now.

For OcUK'ers who had the same problem, what was your solution in the end? Any idea what are Realtek doing about it?

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Thanks for the answers.

It's interesting that none of you people have seen this problem. We supply machines for disabled students. I'd say that 95% are Realtek-based and the lucky 5% will get M-Audio cards. The problem has hit about half of the machines that are working with on-board Realtek. The problem is no ealier than late August 2006. From September onwards, the problem kicked in and it has stayed consistent.

The OS is XP: Some Pro, some Home and some MCE. None on Vista yet. Many installations are customised for special needs but we find that even bog standard machines with just Win and Office get affected too.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

That's a good point, thanks Alex.

We are resellers of a range of machines, but they are all pretty much entry-level. I'm going to check those motherboards out!