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

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-05-20T14:22:15+00:00

    The problem now is the Windows 8.1 ISO I am using is fairly new (as I am downloading this from the MS website) and I am assuming this ISO would have a number of the patches/updates baked into it.

    So now as soon as I install Windows then install the sound drivers, and reboot, the PC will not restart and it will sit with the Spinning Dot with the Samsung Logo screen.  (Please note I have NOT installed any Windows Updates at this time.)

    From here I have to boot into Safe mode and uninstall the Sound Drivers or Command Prompt and then delete the

     rtii2sac.sys file.  Then Reboot and the PC will work again.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-05-21T02:49:18+00:00

    Hi Amit,

    Per my April 1st response and EHarley's post below it seems that the update that broke the Realtek audio driver is now baked into the Windows 8.1 ISO.  If you can provide an ISO prior to March 2015 for the group subscribed to this thread we can then try updating one KB at a time and tell you which KB number caused the issue.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-05-30T13:56:54+00:00

    Hello Tom,

    Thank you for keeping us updated on the status of the issue and apology for the delayed response.

    I would suggest you to restore the system to an earlier point in time when the computer was working fine. After doing system restore try to install the Windows Update one by one and check which update causing this issue.

    For installing Windows Update individually, please refer this link: Windows Update: Frequently Asked Questions

    To restore your PC to an earlier point in time:

    1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.

    (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then clickSearch.) 2. Enter Control Panel in the search box, and tap or click Control Panel. 3. Enter Recovery in the Control Panel search box, and then tap or click Recovery. 4. Tap or click Open System Restore, and then follow the instructions.

    Disclaimer: When you use System Restore to restore the computer to a previous state, programs and updates that you installed are removed.

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

    Thank you

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-05-30T14:12:35+00:00

    Did you even read the thread it has been stated multiple times. system restore works but only because it uninstalls the updates and puts you back to windows 8.0. But it only works until you get the update that breaks everything.the only way to get your tablet working is to restore to a point b4 March and disable all windows updates and live with a tablet full of bugs and security holes.    Some of us have completely formatted and installed Windows 8.1 from a copy make after March so we don't have a working restore point to go back to for us we have to boot into safe mode or our computer gets stuck at the loading screen and completely uninstalls our sound card driver before our computer will run (with no sound. I am personally willing to bet that 9/10 people with this issue just toss  the tablet after they can't get it to boot and Samsung tells them it's out of warrantee.

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  5. Anonymous
    2015-05-30T14:41:58+00:00

    Hell Belkrem,

    Thank you for your prompt reply.

    System restore was not suggested as a resolution step here, it  was just to bring back the operating system to a stable stage to perform further troubleshooting steps. After doing system restore, we will try to install the Windows Update individually, to check which update is interfering the sound card driver.

    I hope this information helps.

    Please do let us know if you need any further assistance.

    Thank you

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