Realtek died

Question

Worked last night, today I turned my pc on and there was no sound. I checked the device manager and Realtek was just gone. I went and installed the driver and Device Manager wouldn't see it. I added legacy driver to put it on and got a Code 45...google suggested I reinstall...so I did...got a code 10 and that's where I've been stuck

using the troubleshooter only wanted to use my tv, which I didn't want. I want to use headphones and that was Realtek. Device Manager won't see it when I install it and when I manually add it it does nothing.

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz 3.40 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB
Device ID 4B76AE21-ECA7-44BE-B296-3BB0DA713155
Product ID 00325-81492-21220-AAOEM
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition Windows 10 Home
Version 22H2
Installed on ‎4/‎28/‎2025
OS build 19045.5796
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19061.1000.0

I also noticed that now the Audio portion of Device Manager is just gone altogether, though Sounds, Video, Game Controllers is still there.

Update has been no help. And most of the help pages I find have an issue that doesn't actually match mine.

Windows has been reset three times and hasn't fixed the issue. Windows updater says I'm up to date and doing a sfc scan says there's nothing wrong.

Answer 1

The only drivers I can see are for Windows 7 or 8 and not Window 10. These may no longer be compatible with Windows 10 but I wonder what happened at the point where you had sound and then you didn't.

Any ref to the full model number from HP brings up the message you have already seen.

This is from HP but for the HP Envy 700 series HP ENVY 700-000 Desktop PC series Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Support

I don't think it will help but without trying you will not know.

If you have a folder called Drivers then look in that folder.

Answer 2

Sadly, the manufacturer is Hewlitt Packard BUT they no longer provide any type of support on my motherboard and pc so I cannot seem to go that route. I got this PC in August and it's already I guess too out of date to bother with.

Answer 3

So after several attempts, I cannot seem to get to the type of menu for the firmware settings. I've tried Del and F2 and googled some other ways. The keys didn't work so I tried the Settings>Update>Recovery>Advanced>Restart to get to the firmware menu and it said to reboot but the menu it took me to was a Startup Menu and those options didn't have firmware listed...I did try BIOS SETUP and there was no audio listed there, sadly. I tried doing it the way you said again and my computer decided to not even boot, so I had to again turn it off, unplug it, and plug it back in...I don't think my pc likes that.

It took two more tries to get it to boot...which was a problem my last pc had...it had also lost audio for some unknown reason and I was able to get it back, but alas can't seem to this time around.

This doesn't like me sending images for some reason the Startup Menu options were:
F1: System Information
F2 System Diagnostics (I had tried this and the scan said nothing was wrong)

F9 Boot Device Options
F10 BIOS Setup
F11 System Recovery
F12 Network Boot

I am gonna try boot device options but I don't think that's going to give me what you're needing me to get to.

Answer 4

Is the audio part of the motherboard. If so you need the drivers from the motherboard manufacturer. Or if it is a known brand or a laptop then the system manufacturer.

Carry out the routine posted by the other user first though.

Answer 5

Hi Aiko,

It's likely that the operating system has lost contact with the physical High Definition Audio controller that sits on the motherboard, without that controller in place the Realtek driver has nothing to attach to. The most direct way to restore the link is to force the firmware and Windows to re-enumerate the audio bus.

Begin by shutting the computer completely down, switching the power-supply rocker to Off or unplugging the cord, then hold the power button for ten seconds to drain any residual charge. Power up again and enter the firmware setup (usually by tapping Del or F2). Inside the firmware locate the setting often labelled "Onboard Audio", "HD Audio", or "Azalia". Make sure it is set to Enabled. If it already shows Enabled, toggle it to Disabled, save and let the machine restart straight back into the firmware, switch it to Enabled again, save and exit. This forces the board to re-initialise the codec.

Once Windows is running, open Device Manager, choose View > Show hidden devices, and remove every greyed-out entry named "High Definition Audio Controller" under System Devices and any greyed "Realtek High Definition Audio" under Sound, Video and Game Controllers, selecting "Uninstall device" and ticking the option to delete driver software each time.

When nothing remains, stay in Device Manager and choose Action > Scan for hardware changes. If the controller is healthy it should reappear within a few seconds and Windows will attach its own generic driver. Wait until the yellow triangle (if any) clears, then run the Realtek installer downloaded from your PC or motherboard manufacturer and reboot.

If after the scan no "High Definition Audio Controller" resurfaces under System Devices, the Realtek codec chip is no longer detectable at the electrical level. In that case an inexpensive external USB audio interface is the quickest permanent remedy.