Error regarding RTKVAC.SYS

spapakons · 05 Mar 2016

Hello again!

My Windows 10 32-bit installation in my Server test machine had some issues including a nasty BSOD when trying to install any cumulative updates. So I had to use the show/hide tool to block these updates and install all the rest. Not really convenient. So I decided to do a clean Windows 10 installation using a spare disk, so I can always boot with the old disk and use the PC until the new installation is complete. Since the server has 4GB RAM, I decided to install the 64-bit version to make it as fast as it gets.

My biggest concern was making the Realtek AC'97 onboard audio card work in Windows 10 64-bit. As you probably know both the last Windows Vista driver and the last Windows XP driver produce a BSOD because of some incompatibility with certain driver files. The solution in Windows 10 32-bit is to manually install a very old Windows XP driver, version 3.62, such as the Aopen 1558-JLV Realtec AC'97 driver for Windows XP. But what about Windows 10 64-bit? This driver is for Windows 2000 and XP 32-bit only!

After trying many drivers without success (BSOD in each one), I thought to do the same trick: manually install a very old driver for Windows XP x64. But this was rather hard to find. After some Google search, I found it at Gigabyte's support site for motherboard GA-8I865G775-G-RH. Once you go there, select OS Windows XP 64-bit and download the Realtek AC'97 audio driver 5.10.00.6160 for Windows XP 64-bit. Then boot into safe mode (see tutorials for help), open Device Manager, right-click the audio adapter and select Update driver. Don't let Windows search for it, select the last option and then again the last option and click on the "Have Disk". Browse to the folder where you extracted the driver contents (use WinRAR to extract the files) and select the first (signed) model. Proceed and restart. Finally, don't forget to use show/hide tool to block the Realtek Semiconductor audio driver, so Windows Update won't replace your working driver and cause BSOD!

Only drawback: No recording devices are installed, so you can play sound but not record. But who cares? It works! Don't worry about Skype, just use a USB webcam with build-in microphone and your are good to go!

I hope that helps!

PS: If anyone finds another working driver that also enables recording, please do post it here! Thank you in advance!

spapakons · 22 Oct 2017

Hello!

I recently updated my test Server machine (see my previous post) to the latest Windows 10 Pro v1709 Fall Creator's Update. As before each update I had completely disabled the Realtek AC'97 audio in the BIOS to avoid any BSOD that would interrupt the update and screw my installation. Once the update was complete I enabled the audio card again and went in Device Manager to change the driver. I saw there was a new Microsoft driver installed that did not give a BSOD! I don't know if this was a coincidence, but it seems the issue is fixed in the latest Windows 10 update! Please do me a favor, create a System Restore point and then update your Realtek AC'97 machine to latest Windows 10 build, then let me know if you also had success with Microsoft driver! I need to confirm that Microsoft driver solves the issue before trying that to one of my customers.

Thank you in advance.

PS: The old trick with the Windows XP x64 driver (see my previous post) had the drawback that installed only the Realtek AC'97 playback devices, not any Realtek AC'97 recording device, so you cannot use the microphone with Skype or the line-in to record sounds. The Microsoft driver installs all the devices and the Realtek AC'97 card is fully functional!

Error regarding RTKVAC.SYS

SUCCESS! Making Realteck AC'97 audio work in Windows 10 64-bit!