Realtek Audio device Code 10 cannot start and unable to update

(1) Sorry to hear the problem remains unresolved. I guess I'm leaning toward a chip failure too. I would upgrade the BIOS, if it has reverted to an earlier version. Your site has version 4.40 dated 2020/1/2. I would rather you get this to work too. Are there hardware tests in your BIOS that I didn't see in the User Manual?

(2) Here is the Steinberg CI1 site...

https://www.steinberg.net/en/support/downloads_hardware/downloads_ci1.html

Steinberg CI1

Ensure you have the latest driver which is version 2.0.3. What is your gaming headset make & model? Looking at the Steinberg CI1 Operation Manual, it looks like you'd need a headphone mic splitter such as one of these...

https://www.amazon.com/slp/headphone-mic-splitter/ceuun2nq7wpk4e9

Amazon's headphone mic splitters

Good luck, & keep us informed.

No I'm not using it for anything like that.

I removed the CMOS battery and it did reset the bios. Onboard audio, hd audio, and front panel are all enabled for sure after doing this.

Reinstalled realtek, still nothing happens, same as always. Is there any way at all to use a gaming headset through an external sound card such as my Steinberg CI1? When I tried it before I reset windows it would not recognize the mic, though I did get audio through the headphones. I'm nearly convinced my board is simply defective and would rather try to make my other sound card work but I'm not sure it's possible.

Are you using your soundcard as a oscope by chance?

(1) That could be a good idea. Afterwards, report the status of these three...

"

Onboard HD Audio

Enable/disable onboard HD audio. Set to Auto to enable onboard HD audio and automatically disable it when a sound card is installed.

Front Panel

Enable/disable front panel HD audio.

Onboard HDMI HD Audio

Enable audio for the onboard digital outputs.

"

Edit:  Well, a reset to defaults in BIOS won't be a problem unless you've switched from UEFI to Legacy mode before installing Windows. You said you haven't done that. Going to Defaults just affects settings you have done.

But I'm unsure what pulling the CMOS battery will do -- will it restore the factory state BIOS of the computer? Then be prepared to flash it afterward with the latest version from your site.

(2) I might, though, just before that...

(a) Replace the Asus VP278 monitor with the one that has no speakers.

(b) Uninstall...

     both High Definition Audio Controller's under System Devices,

     Asus VP278 under Audio Inputs & Outputs, &

     both of them under Sound, Video & Game Controllers.

(c) Reboot.

Good luck.

So I did have the nVidia hdmi driver before but uninstalled it hoping to de-complicate my problem (at the beginning before I fresh installed windows, hasn't been there since).

That taking the battery out on the board seems like a solid idea, though. I will attempt that later and report back after resetting to BIOS defaults as well.