Audio devices take long to initialize on reboot

[sjoerd1044]

Hello, 

First of all, I don't have a password set and so when I start my PC it automatically signs me in and brings me to the desktop. 

Now for the issue; whenever I reboot, for the first roughly 10 seconds I have no audio devices (red x next to speaker icon). This is a problem because NVIDIA's shadowplay starts before this, which makes it so that I have no audio in my clips. A workaround is to disable and re-enable instant replay but that's not ideal. I've followed a cleanup guide from @MoKiChU and tried his drivers as well as Asus'. No difference. The Audio FW and BIOS are updated. Fast boot & hibernation off.

Another workaround I found is to disable automatic sign in and wait for about 10-15s on the lock screen and then sign in, that works too. Also not ideal though 😕

System: Strix X670E-E, 7800X3D, 2x16gb 6000CL30, 2x1tb NVMe, 4070 Super.

[achugh]

Hi @sjoerd1044 can you check if any of the audio services in your Services Control Panel are set to Automatic (Delayed Start). Typically on a fresh Windows installation these are all set to Automatic Start. Also, did you follow any guides or Youtube videos to reduce the number of services running on your system which is supposed to increase Windows System Performance. This is typically another reason which could cause this type of an issue. Lastly, what version of Windows are you using and how is this version installed on your computer?

In the Windows Services Control Panel find Realtek Audio Universal Service. It should be set to start Automatically. Right click on this service and choose properties. Then click on Dependencies tab and check the Startup Type of each of this dependent service. On my computer I see the following services are Dependent on this Realtek service whose name you can see in the Title Bar of this screenshot.

[sjoerd1044]

Hi, thanks for the reply and suggestions. Yes they're all set to automatic and no. Like I said fully fresh windows reinstall with just audio drivers and it still happens 😞

[sjoerd1044]

I did make a workaround that's OK btw, created an autohotkey script that toggles instant replay off and back on. Then made a task in task scheduler to do that after 30s after logon, does the job. 

[achugh]

The workaround sound about right. If I could not figure out the root cause, I would so something similar.

Have you tested with a completely fresh default Windows installation just to find out if the problem is with Windows or some Driver installation or some software you are installing?

For this test:

1. Download all the drivers from your board's support page, followed by downloading any other drivers you need say for your monitor, keyboard, mouse, printers, wireless devices etc.
2. Download the Windows media from Microsoft and Rufus to create your bootable USB drive.
3. Remove the network cable to disconnect the ethernet/wired connection, if any.
4. Perform a clean installation of Windows without connecting to the internet (like an airgap system with no network connection. This is why you need all your drivers).
5. During the Windows installation, when you get a prompt to connect to a network, DO NOT connect to your WiFi network or connect your ethernet cable. Follow the online instructions to complete the Windows installation wizard without network connection.
6. Upon entering the Windows desktop, you will get a prompt to install your LAN driver so that ASUS Armory Crate can be installed, choose NO to not install this older LAN driver which is part of your BIOS since you will be installing newer drivers that you downloaded from your support page.
7. Without installing a single driver, simply reboot your machine to complete the Windows installation.
8. Upon booting back into Windows, do you hear any sound. Windows may have installed a generic Microsoft Audio Driver to give you basic sound.
9. In any case, start installing the drivers from your board's support page while staying completely disconnected from the network.
10. As you continue installing drivers, keep checking if there is any change to your audio system.
11. Assuming all drivers are installed and your audio is still working, you now start installing your application.
12. I believe this is where you will notice that installing some application (say nVidia application) maybe causing this issue.
13. It is also possible that following this fresh install your issue goes away because the installation is done better over the generic installation where either Windows or Armory Crate was installing things for you.
14. Once everything is installed, now connect to your network either via wired connection or via WiFi. This will install all the Windows updates as necessary.

If you need help seeing all these steps in action in a video format, you can see my post https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/gaming-motherboards/can-asus-support-fix-realtek-audio-drivers-with-bo...

Good luck!

[sjoerd1044]

Yeah I've done multiple fresh installs and issue remains. And I don't connect to internet, I bypass it and create a local account instead. 

[achugh]

So at which point you begin to see this RED X for your audio device? On a fresh install you will not have nVidia app or anything else installed.