Windows 7 5.1 surround problems (realtek)

This is ridiculous. What the heck are they even updating in these useless driver updates? I really miss my surround sound. Some smart guys need to develop 3rd party drivers or something :/

i found a patch solution until comes out the fix of this problem (windows 7).. go to the volume icon on the start bar> open volume mixer. Then you have to select your sound sistem and will open a menu. Select improvements and there must be an option speakers fill or something. that will simulate a sorround sound using the rear speakers.
i apologize if the options arent right.. im chilean and i have mmy windows 7 in spanish.

mutha88 said:

Dear chocho,

Thanks for the help, but this trick doesn't work on my Realtek .

Guys, there is a NEW Realtek 2.40 driver! I'll test it, hope it works! :)

No, 2.40 doesn't fix the problem. Like everyone else here I have been waiting for Realtek to put out a driver to fix this, but I doubt they are going to. I also shot a couple emails abouth this issue to the Realtek U.S.A. support, but never got any replies.

It is a bit weird that the Win7 Control Panel\Sound\Playback tab will let me "configure" the Speakers (which I don't use), yet the configure option will not work for the Digital Output (which I do use, SPDIF optical). It almost seems like Win7 just needs to be told, "Hey look here, this is a 5.1/7.1 playback device too!"

After trying the last 12 driver updates from Realtek, I'm giving up and buying a soundcard. I hate to, because the onboard sound hardware is capable of handling what I want from it, but Realtek is obviously not going to help us software-wise.

I had this same problem, no 5.1 surround.. so this is what i had to do to "work around" the problem...and its does not involve that stupid speaker fill option which is not true surround. (took me 10min to solve, also im a pc tech) and im using microsoft provided drivers for realtek

Control panel -> sound -> click realtek sound speakers (wording will be different 4 ur sound card mine says AC97 audio) -> properties -> Enhancements -> click the "environment tab" -> look down and you will see "setting" -> select the "room" setting (and only that if u want normal sounding sound) -> Next scroll down the list of available enhancements and click the "room correction" tab -> now look down and you should see a setting tab, click that and a window opens -> now in here your settings will vary but i had to bump up both rear speakers by +9DB and my center by +3DB and now i have full surround.

Hope this helps
Tyler2569

I believe the problem is "shared mode". When the audio output device is in shared mode, it can ONLY output 2 channel (stereo). There are options (Control Panel/Sound/Playback/<device>/Properties) that will tell you about this; see the "Supported Formats" and "Advanced" tabs. Supported Formats can test "Dolby Digital" mode and it will prove that the card can output 5.1 sound in Windows 7. "Advanced" tab will show you some limited options about "shared mode"; I think I heard that shared mode is new with Windows 7; if so, the problem is probably that the boneheads from Realtek have not yet figured it out.

Of course, troubleshooting software from HP (my brand) shows me a chair surrounded by speakers, and only the two front speakers are selectable. I am using S/PIDF cable, not speakers, so much of the discussion here does not apply to me. Presumably the HP troubleshooter is intimately tied to the Realtek drivers, and therefore subject to the same defects.

When I look the informations about my last drivers (R2.40), I see it dates to 25/12/09

Is it normal it's not more recent ?

Hah, y'all are lucky, even if the new drivers don't fix anything, at least you can install them - I have a GA X48 DQ6 with that abhorrent ALC889A chipset and I can't even install official Realtek Drivers for the device instead only those on my motherboard website which are special Gigabyte ones that are 1 month old - and of course the 5.1 doesn't work.
If I had money to buy a Creative X-Fi I would tear the Realtek off the motherboard and mail it to those incompetent smuts in Taiwan or wherever they are located telling them to shove it where you can't see it.
It is unbelievable.