Super Pissed! audio fail on my ROG STRIx G733zs Laptop

[Batmeat]

Pretty sure the Realtek chip is damaged.  I installed Windows Phone Link to transfer files from my phone to my computer. The audio quit working. No biggie I though, I removed phone link and disabled bluetooth.  Didn't work. Used system restore since I had a restore point a few days before I installed phone link. Rolled the laptop back.  Verified that phone link wasn't setup.  However, I noticed the speaker icon in my system tray had an x through it. Hovering over it said "No audio device installed".  I checked the device manager, sound and video game controllers.  The Nvidia one is there, but no realtek hd audio device. So, I do a factory reset back to the original setup the day I bought the laptop.  Same problem, no audio.  Here is the odd thing.  When you boot this laptop the ROG graphic displays and the audio works, you can hear it.  Windows 11 starts and nothing.  I manually added the drivers via a Realtek HD audio cab file to the device manager.  then scanned for hardware changes.  this yields nothing.   I'm pissed.  Laptop is from 2022. Out of warranty.  What do I do?  Contact Asus and mail it to a service center to try and have the chip removed from the mobo and replaced?  This laptop was $2400 when I bought it. Really don't want to have to buy another.

[Zalevskiy]

when you press factory reset, it does not mean reset to the original state. I have observed that the Asus.swm file can be overwritten if you upgrade Windows versions or update certified drivers. Your hope is to try to find the original factory Asus.swm from a hidden disk partition on the network, so that the file date is closer to the device's production date and store it for such cases. Moreover, through BIOS updates, there may be errors that damage NVRAM. Ideally, you need BIOS downgarde + old Asus.swm, terrible implementation of interaction with audio. You enjoy the first 6 months of the device, then with each update you lose functions due to low quality of development.

but that's not all, the drivers on the Asus download site can have the same date, but at one point they are replaced by an edited driver. a real Chinese puzzle.

[Batmeat]

Yea, the way they run things is ludicrous.  When I got the laptop I created my own recovery image incase I needed to reset it to factory conditions to bypass their solution.  I was hoping it was a software issue. after it didn't work is when I updated every single driver possible.  Still nothing.  I'm sending it to one of their repair centers which sucks.  They charge you to diagnose, then they will give you an estimate of the repair.