Loud Electric Snap at the end of the “Starting Windows” Boot Screen After Replacing ALC269

[DeathAngel]

Laptop: Asus K53SD
OS: Windows 7 Home Basic x64
Old audio codec: Realtek ALC269 C5A34Q1 GC19B5
New audio codec: Realtek ALC269 D6E13A1 GD24B5

The old audio codec failed to operate, so it was replaced with an equivalent new one. After the replacement a quite loud electric snap started to pop up at the very end of the “Starting Windows © Microsoft Corporation” boot screen right before the black screen with a cursor and a rotating blue ring. This thing had never happened before the repair.

I replaced the battery: I booted 1) with battery only, 2) with power adapter (battery inserted) and 3) with power adapter only (battery extracted) – nothing changed.

The snap doesn’t show up when

1. I reboot without shutting down the laptop completely (Start Menu → Shut down → Restart);
2. I use the external sound adapter.

I switched off the Realtek HD Audio Driver, rebooted after the complete laptop shutdown (reboot through power button) – the snap disappeared.

I deleted the Realtek HD Audio Driver, rebooted – there was no snap. Windows installed its own Microsoft HD Audio Driver. There was no snap during all reboots with this Microsoft audio driver.

I reinstalled Realtek HD Audio Driver – the snap returned.

What is the cause of this snap? A little driver↔codec conflict? Can it eventually damage software or hardware? Is it possible to fix this issue or should I just get used to it and relax?

After the complete loading of Windows I experience no problems whatsoever.

[Bruce]

g’day and welcome to the Forum.

my guess is the latest Realtek driver no longer supports Win7, as it no longer needs to and they are probably in the process of phasing it out of all their support services.

you could leave it as is, but the sound would give you the heebie-jeebies I reckon, it could be a feedback or interference issue, either way, I see it doing no damage. or you could rollback to the previous version, or use the Windows version, of the driver.

was there a reason for the upgrade?
if you reloaded the previous Realtek version, does it operate?
does the Windows audio driver suffice for your needs?

[DeathAngel]

g’day and welcome to the Forum.

my guess is the latest Realtek driver no longer supports Win7, as it no longer needs to and they are probably in the process of phasing it out of all their support services.

you could leave it as is, but the sound would give you the heebie-jeebies I reckon, it could be a feedback or interference issue, either way, I see it doing no damage. or you could rollback to the previous version, or use the Windows version, of the driver.

was there a reason for the upgrade?
if you reloaded the previous Realtek version, does it operate?
does the Windows audio driver suffice for your needs?

The audio driver before and after repair was the same - nothing was changed, nothing was upgraded: Realtek HD Audio Driver 6.0.1.6499.

Only the audio microchip Realtek ALC269 was replaced because it stopped functioning. The old one and the new one are of the same revision version - B5.

The Microsoft audio driver is of poor sound quality compared with Realtek, so it doesn’t suffice my needs.

[phillpower2]

Old audio codec: Realtek ALC269 C5A34Q1 GC19B5
New audio codec: Realtek ALC269 D6E13A1 GD24B5

From where are you getting these drivers from.

[DeathAngel]

From where are you getting these drivers from.

These are not drivers. These are Realtek audio microchips. I get them from a trusted retailer.

[DeathAngel]

Here are my thoughts on the issue:

Theoretically, the new microchip must be identical with the old one. But in fact, as it seems, they are slightly different, and that’s manufacturer’s fault. This unanticipated slight difference results in a little conflict of the microchip with the driver at the moment when Windows “awakens” the Realtek HD Audio Driver and the driver “awakens” the ALC269 microchip.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to fix it. I can only hope that this software-hardware conflict won’t affect the functionality of the laptop.

If you agree with this interpretation, the problem is… well… not solved, but at least clarified.

[phillpower2]

I deleted the Realtek HD Audio Driver, rebooted – there was no snap. Windows installed its own Microsoft HD Audio Driver. There was no snap during all reboots with this Microsoft audio driver.

I reinstalled Realtek HD Audio Driver – the snap returned.

The audio driver before and after repair was the same - nothing was changed, nothing was upgraded: Realtek HD Audio Driver 6.0.1.6499.

Sorry but hardware codecs belong on internal hardware as opposed to the OS forums, hence the reason why I asked about the drivers.

Being that the issue is not always present it may well be driver related so where are you getting the drivers from, your replacement chip/s still need drivers.

Never seen anyone go to the trouble of replacing an audio chip so fair play to you.

[Bruce]

@DeathAngel - any news?