Vista x64 - Realtek ALC885 Driver Crashing and Other Issues

Arklon · Jun 7, 2007, 10:12 PM

It appears the Realtek ALC885 Vista x64 drivers like to crash my computer. It seems to happen only during 3D gaming. Some games make the drivers crash more often than others. Supreme Commander is semi-playable (crashes within 30 minutes-4 hours). Doom 3 is completely unplayable (crashes within 2-15 minutes). Is there a known issue with a setting in these drivers that I can simply unset, or will I have to wait for another driver update for the crashes to possibly go away?
Another problem I've been having is that the left channel suddenly goes quiet (but not completely silent) for a little bit, goes back to normal for a while, does it again, etc. I'm not sure if it's the onboard sound or if my headphones are starting to give up (they've become pretty beat up now).

Judas · Jun 7, 2007, 10:22 PM

Try and disable the onboard sound completely (using the bios) and see if the problems persist.

That sounds like a defective realtek chip, i've ran into it just ONCE where for whatever reason, the audio output was weak, sometimes the center or rear analog or even the stereo channels would just simply seem to go quiet or disappear alltogether, and then the occasional crash for no apparent reason. Course this wasn't in Vista however.

Arklon · Jun 7, 2007, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

That sounds like a defective realtek chip, i've ran into it just ONCE where for whatever reason, the audio output was weak, sometimes the center or rear analog or even the stereo channels would just simply seem to go quiet or disappear alltogether, and then the occasional crash for no apparent reason. Course this wasn't in Vista however.

And your chip was defective?
... God damn it, why the hell can't things just work? My X-Fi died and I learned that Newegg won't RMA it because of the rebate, Creative's warranty is limited to only damages caused by them, and even my onboard sound is broken?

Judas · Jun 8, 2007, 12:59 AM

Erg, sounds like a bunch of things gone wrong at the same time....

That's pretty stupid about the warranty on the creative card and being void due to a rebate, i'd seriously look into this and blast newegg for that load of crap.

Arklon · Jun 10, 2007, 01:41 AM

Hmm, I read something about someone having a similar problem with an onboard Realtek chip and that it was actually RAM related, and that he fixed it by upping the RAM voltage. I think I should try that...
Edit: Mobo detected RAM voltage and timings incorrect, but changing them to what they should be didn't fix the crashes.

Arklon · Jun 12, 2007, 01:46 AM

Uhh... 63 errors in Memtest in less than 3 hours. They're running at 4-4-4-12 at DDR2-667 with 2.07V (timings are at adveritsed spec, speed is below spec, voltage is above spec). That's horrible beyond words. RMA's suck.

**dj_stick** · Jun 12, 2007, 12:23 PM

your headphones are beat up?

test with an mp3 player, or stereo, as i've had many pairs of headphones/earphones die due to cable tearing around the jack

Arklon · Jun 12, 2007, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_stick

your headphones are beat up?

test with an mp3 player, or stereo, as i've had many pairs of headphones/earphones die due to cable tearing around the jack

They are, but the problem with the left channel going quiet isn't the headphones' fault. It also does it with some 2.1 speakers I have.
And if you read further in this thread, you'll have seen that I found what's really causing the crashes.

Jun 7, 2007, 10:12 PM	#1
Arklon HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 163 Rep Power: 0	Vista x64 - Realtek ALC885 Driver Crashing and Other Issues It appears the Realtek ALC885 Vista x64 drivers like to crash my computer. It seems to happen only during 3D gaming. Some games make the drivers crash more often than others. Supreme Commander is semi-playable (crashes within 30 minutes-4 hours). Doom 3 is completely unplayable (crashes within 2-15 minutes). Is there a known issue with a setting in these drivers that I can simply unset, or will I have to wait for another driver update for the crashes to possibly go away? Another problem I've been having is that the left channel suddenly goes quiet (but not completely silent) for a little bit, goes back to normal for a while, does it again, etc. I'm not sure if it's the onboard sound or if my headphones are starting to give up (they've become pretty beat up now).

Jun 10, 2007, 01:41 AM	Thread Starter #5
Arklon HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 163 Rep Power: 0	Hmm, I read something about someone having a similar problem with an onboard Realtek chip and that it was actually RAM related, and that he fixed it by upping the RAM voltage. I think I should try that... Edit: Mobo detected RAM voltage and timings incorrect, but changing them to what they should be didn't fix the crashes. Last edited by Arklon; Jun 10, 2007 at 02:29 AM.

Jun 12, 2007, 01:46 AM	Thread Starter #6
Arklon HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 163 Rep Power: 0	Uhh... 63 errors in Memtest in less than 3 hours. They're running at 4-4-4-12 at DDR2-667 with 2.07V (timings are at adveritsed spec, speed is below spec, voltage is above spec). That's horrible beyond words. RMA's suck. Last edited by Arklon; Jun 12, 2007 at 08:32 AM.