Are there alternate Realtek Drivers for an HP laptop using ALC245 Codec?

[jmnielsen7]

I bought a new HP Envy laptop (17t-cr0000) and want to run Pro Tools on it for audio projects with varying sample rates. The problem is, the Realtek card is locked into 48kHz, and all my Pro Tools projects at 44.1kHz will not open because the chip "is not capable" of that sample rate -- at least according to what Windows shows me. But I'm not 100% convinced (yet) its actually a hardware limitation as much as it is a driver limitation of the HP provided RealTek Driver + whatever "Bang & Olufsen" throws into the mix.

I shared screenshots and a problem description on the HP forums here (*please view for OS specific details*). See there for screenshots from Device Manager, the Advanced Sound settings in Control Panel, and my Pro Tools error.

If I decoded the ID correctly (using this reference) for my Realtek chip here, based on 0245 it is using the ALC245 codec. Googling "ALC245" consistently brings up HP Envy search results, so seems to be barking up the right tree.

What I would hope to see is more PCM audio sample rates than 48000 Hz, like this example output from GitHub for an ALC256 codec shows:

I honestly don't know how those codec codes work, and if other codecs could be applied to the same chip, but I figured I would ask if there are non-HP versions of Realtek drivers I could use so I don't have to return this laptop that I just purchased (with only 7 days left on my return policy). (Is the ALC numbered codec independent of the actual hardware capabilities, meaning can more than one codec be used with the same chip?)

TL;DR Is there an alternate driver for the Realtek chip that my HP Envy has which might give me more Audio Sample Rates, or is it the hardware and I'm just stuck?

 

[Ferather]

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...-driver-for-windows-10-11.250915/post-5045791 < My original reply based on the @Ferather.
In terms of an alternative driver, probably no driver (Microsoft), it might show more formats, but it depends.

If the formats are being set in the .inf file, then installing a generic Realtek driver will show more (but not necessarily work).
If its a policy based config (chip), then it will need to be Microsoft, as all Realtek drivers will read the policy.

 

[jmnielsen7]

Thank you, Ferather. I can test uninstalling the HP provided driver and see what Windows 11 comes up with. Inspecting the inf files isn't a bad idea either, if I can find their path.

(Is the ALC numbered codec independent of the actual hardware capabilities, meaning can more than one codec be used with the same chip?)

And to fix my ignorance, so I don't misuse terms, from what I understand ALC is an acronym based on Avance Logic. What I don't understand is what is meant by ALC + Number + "Codec". When I think of codecs I think of software codecs that often are optional add-ons that you can download. But at a chip level does an ALC codec actually indicate the in-chip firmware encoding/decoding capabilities which cannot be changed? Or can the codec in fact be changed? One part of this that confuses me is that I simply expected to be able to inspect Device Manager's parameters for the Realtek driver and determine a Manufacturer "Chip ID", but an ALC# as a "codec" is not a Chip ID... er... unless in this case it actually is...

Any help there?

 

[Ferather]

ALC, Codec = Chip/SoC (physical, not changeable), its a bit confusing to start with. Here is an image from a site online, physical chip.

 

[jmnielsen7]

Nice. Thanks for the photographic evidence!

Aside from deciding that ALC245 is a fictional Realtek device (no such thing as an ALC245 so far as I can tell), I did find a workaround solution as far as Pro Tools is concerned.

I posted this in the other thread, but figured I ought to close the loop here:


After trying my Sennheiser headphones and bose speakers as attached through the 3.5mm audio out it did not 'unlock' and more kHz options in the OS's Advanced Sound menu for the Realtek device.

Nonetheless, I found a cheating/not cheating option to solve my problem with Pro Tools: I installed ASIO4ALL and it bypasses Windows' drivers and interacts with the Realtek chip itself, all the while allowing 44.1 kHz (incidentally proving the chip is indeed capable of supporting 44.1 kHz).

When Pro Tools is open it takes over the sound output completely for a given device (most notably meaning that if it was your OS' default audio device it mutes it, effectively; but it also passes control to you if you select the ASIO driver to use the ASIO4ALL control panel with its advanced Sample Rate selection options.

So in the end, I got Pro Tools working.

 

[Ferather]

Well that's good news, but not so good news for the ALC. That's a bit of an unexpected result, only having 48k and no other sample rate support, which is why I expected only the internals to be like that.
Makes me wonder if they locked the whole ALC to 48k just to suit the internal speakers, which is really quite silly. Regardless, at least you can use Pro Tools.

 

[erpguy53]

or any other app besides Pro Tools that can use ASIO4ALL

and ASIO4ALL works on any AC97 (non-HD, this was the standard before HD audio) and HDA device