March Windows 8.1 update broke Realtek I2S audio

Anonymous
2015-03-31T21:34:51+00:00

Hi, I have a Samsung XE500T1C slate that till the beginning of March was working great.  After a Windows update the slate never booted back into Windows.  A system restore worked fine till the next week when the Windows updates were re-installed.  Regrettably my restore point was gone and I had to restore to factory and then upgrade to Windows 8.1.

After the update to 8.1 I was again not able to boot up.  Restarting in safe mode and eliminating devices one at a time revealed the Realtek I2S audio device was causing the problem.  Searching Bing (ok it was Google that found it) shows other have the same issue. 

As long as I leave the audio device disabled my slate works fine.  When I enable it audio works but the camera operational LED turns on.  Then if I restart the slate it never boots back up and its back to safe mode to disable the Realteck I2S audio device.

Windows 8.1 is fully updated.  My slate system software is fully updated...All updates are in place so please don't suggest that!

Removing the Windows updates that came down on March 10th did not work.

Any ideas how to get audio back?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

85 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-05-11T11:11:49+00:00

    Hello John,

    Thank you for the information. I appreciate your efforts towards resolving the issue.

    I would suggest you to boot the computer in clean boot state.

    There could be possibility of some background programs conflicting with the smooth running of the computer. To help troubleshoot error messages and other issues, you can start computer by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This kind of startup is known as a "clean boot". A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts. Check if it helps.

    How to perform a clean boot in Windows: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

    Note: After troubleshooting, refer to this section ‘How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting’.

    Hope this information helps.

    Please reply with the results, in order to help you fix the issue.

    Thank you

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-05-11T17:04:44+00:00

    Clean install doesnt resolve the issue. I have personally installed windows 8.1 using a usb key completely formating my drive and installing the sound driver first before any other software or drivers. So it narrows it down as a conflict with windows 8.1 and the realtek i2s drivers as thats all i had installed and the issue presented itsself.  The only way to get the sound driver working is toinstall windows 8 not windows 8.1 and to never upgrade to 8.1 or if you have a windows 8.1 install created before the march update and disable updates.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-05-11T17:20:35+00:00

    Honestly, this latest troubleshooting step makes no sense and appears to be a solution for something that has nothing to do with the problem at hand...

    I have also performed the Windows 8.1 installation every way I could think of and have the same problem. 

    After the March update, booting with any i2s driver causes the machine to hang.  I have tried many versions of the driver, all with the same result.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2015-05-11T18:10:42+00:00

    Something I had hoped to try was getting Windows 8.1 install media that was older than March 2015 and doing a fresh OS install on the slate.  After the install run updates one at a time and see which one breaks the sound.  Once we know which update it is and if its not required for future update than you should just be able to turn that update off.  I just have not had time yet.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2015-05-11T19:48:33+00:00

    It will take a while before this problem is resolved my guess is most people toss the laptop because it is out of warrantee and not booting.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments