Are there VIA integrated sound board drivers available for Windows 8 that fix the left speaker crackling after sleep?

Question

In this case, the chip is a VIA 1708S (on an Asus M4A785T-M). It installs Windows 8 drivers by default that work in Stereo for the front speakers. However I could not push sound to all 4 speakers until I installed the VIA HD VDeck and Windows 7 audio codec, and enabled Speaker Fill. Things seem to work great after a restart, but when the computer resumes from sleep, the left speaker crackles but otherwise does not produce sound. The other 3 speakers are still getting sound.

I've attempted swapping out speakers and double checking the wire connection, but it's definitely a driver issue that occurs any time the computer has resumed from sleep. Restarting fixes the issue.

Answer 1

(As posted by Jason Beck)

I just discovered that Speaker Fill works from the built-in Windows sound device control panel. So I got rear speakers to work AND the left speaker still works after sleep.

I downloaded the latest driver from VIA for Windows 8, VIA 1708S from VIA and unzipped the downloaded file.

I went to the Device Manager (Windows + X -> Device Manager -> VIA High Definition Audio -> Update Driver Software -> Browse My Computer) and selected the unzipped folder and include subfolders.

After installing, I rebooted, right-click volume -> Playback Devices.

Clicked on speakers -> Properties -> Enhancements. Here you can check "Enable Speaker Fill."

I tested that all 4 speakers work, not just in the Volume Control, but with actual programs (for example Flash within Chrome). Put the computer to sleep. Resumed, and all 4 speakers were still working.

You may actually be fine with the Windows 8 selected drivers. The first step, if your front speakers are working fine, is to check for the Enable Speaker Fill option under Enhancements.