Pro Max 16 MC16250, showing BSOD when installing Realtek High-Definition Audio Driver

Well, I've setup 8 or 9 modern Windows-11 computers from scratch in the last few years and I can't say I've ever seen one BSOD (during build-up, while running over the years, or ever really). Of the nine, Windows-10 computers before that, lets say over 8 years ... maybe once. 

My determination is that a modern (UEFI-class Windows-10/11) computer has to be fairly broken (like actual hardware problem) for the OS to crash-down that bad and actually stop with a BSOD.

Sounds like a corrupt download. With your report, hopefully someone at Dell will look into it.

Did you try downloading it manually, un-block it, and verifying the checksum first?

Finally, if the Audio-Device works and is not actually "in error" in Device Manager, your need for this updated driver is questionable in the first place.

@Tesla1856​ Unfortunately this does seem to be a problem with the latest Realtek driver package for this model of laptop, we have several that do the exact same thing in our fleet. Since the driver package is noted as Critical I would assume that its something that needs to be installed but so far it just won't go.

@Jeff Notmyrealname​ it is good to know that this is something happening on several Pro Max 16, I don't have access to more of them to compare.

Thanks for sharing and lets hope they release a patch soon. 

@jmaqcr​ @Jeff Notmyrealname How many units are you working with that are experiencing a BSOD with this driver? While a custom image is indeed out of Dells scope of support, that shouldn't prevent Support from looking at a driver should multiple units be impacted with the same issue. If its possible to do, I would recommend reinstalling the OEM image on just one system and test that driver install. Should you get a BSOD on the OEM image, then that would ensure its a problem for Dell to address. That said, I don't see any documentation so far about this driver being an issue and since it has been out for a week, it would typically of been pulled by now should there of been a larger impact. 

@DELL-Daniel V​ I have another of the same model, I will download the Dell recovery image, install it, test it, and let you know.

We have seen this on at least 5 units but it is custom.

I have the same issue - Pro Max 14 and Win 11 Pro.  I fixed it by booting into safe mode with no network, settings - apps - uninstalled realtek from there, rebooted, then ran the dell command update app again and it installed.  

This is because it actually crashes on the uninstall of the realtek driver, not the installation of the new driver.

@wnell thanks for sharing this work around!

@DELL-Daniel V looks like cases are showing up, maybe it's worth to take a look to that driver with Realtek.

We are seeing the same issue with 20+ Dell Pro Max 16 MC16250, and more cases appear daily as the devices gets the Realtek High Definition Audio Driver - version 10.0.328.1 through Dell Command Update. 

There is definitely something wrong with this driver, which needs to be sorted out by Realtek and we would be grateful if the driver was pulled from DCU as this impacts more and more of our users daily. 

Observing the same issue for driver 10.0.328.1 (16 apr) and 10.0.244.1 (11 dec). We don't have a lot of these devices in our fleet yet so this is the first case I've seen.

We also run a custom W11 Enterprise image.

@jmaqcr​ Agreed, I've forwarded this information to our teams for additional review. I'll have more info to share once I hear back. 

@Backdrop0062​ As per my observations at least, since this is happening during uninstallation of the realtek driver it does not matter which one you are trying to install... It would probably be dependent on the driver you currently have installed.

@wnell​ Interesting! We installed the latest driver already, so then makes sense the issue occurs when trying to downgrade and uninstalling it. I'll try the safe mode downgrade tips shared by other here

We have 10 Pro Max 16s that are experiencing this exact same error.  Thank you @wnell for the workaround, will be pulling a device from stock to confirm the process before sharing out to users