XPS 8930, audio jack problems, fixes discussed.

Since the changes to the realtek are based on security I would not recommend this ever.

CVE-2019-19705, the vulnerability could be leveraged to evade defenses and achieve persistence by loading an arbitrary, unsigned DLL into a signed process.An attacker targeting the vulnerability could load and execute malicious payloads within the context of the Realtek signed process. Windows Defender Application Control and Windows and OEM driver updates are issued to block known vulnerable software and drivers.

The full detailed description of the Realtek Audio Driver update version 6.0.1.8248 does not mention anything about it being a security update. The description only mentions supporting Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. The Importance of the update is Recommended. If the driver update was security related then usually the Importance is Urgent.

that statement is in complete denial

Realtek Audio Drivers for Windows –DLL preloading and potential Abuses

Security Risk High

Patch Legacy (non-DCH) driver

With Realtek High Definition Audio driver, the local user is able to gain privileges via a crafted DLL in the same folder as the running executable file.  The root cause is that Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 MFC is used in the named driver package which automatically loads a resource DLL. The VS2005 MFCuses a low-level function Ldr Load Library that also loads a code section, and thus there is a potential risk that unexpected code may be loaded.

Microsoft is changing the way that hardware drivers work on the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), Windows® 10 (and later), and Microsoft Windows* Server 2019 (and later). Hardware running on these operating systems can use Windows DCH Drivers.

As of November 2018, driver updates will begin transitioning to Windows DCH Drivers. After a driver has been updated to a Windows DCH Driver, it's possible to roll back to a legacy driver; however, rolling back isn't recommended as it can expose the user to security issues.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=t55wp

Realtek ALC3861 High Definition Audio Codec

I would be perfectly enthused if you could recommend a driver package that 1) works, and 2) has the latest security fixes.

That "very old" 6.0.1.8248 version you mentioned is the one that arrived from Dell, in a new machine delivered a week ago. What's a customer to do? The customer will wait for Dell to publish an updated driver package, that's what, and if said customer is technically savvy he might find a temporary work-around.

I would have done exactly what you did, find a work-around. The alternative is no working audio jacks. I am a little surprised that I have not seen this problem reported here. 

I apologize for writing on different topics.

I am having a problem with dell 5448 battery not being charged. The white led on the computer lights up when the power adapter is plugged in without the battery. the white light turns off when I insert the battery and plug in the power adapter.

I suspect the battery, paying $ 110 and bought a new battery, but the problem has not been solved. then I bought a $ 45 dc jack jack and plugged it in. Nothing has changed again. I said whether it is a charger and I paid a $ 55 and bought a charger. the problem still continues. my bios update version is A10. all my drivers are up to date. the battery is charging, but at a funny rate of 1% in 1 day. It works while connected to the charger but slow. There is no problem playing on the battery. very fast. I upgraded the existing 5448, considering whether to buy a new computer or improve my current one month before these problems. I am currently using 16 gb ram and 500 gb ssd. However, I cannot get SSD and RAM performance. It was the first time I regretted having bought dell. and I do not think I will choose again. Because of this problem, many people suffer and it is unbelievable that dell could not find a solution. I haven't tried searching through the forums, but there is still the same situation. When I plug in the charger, the white power light is on and off. The red light on the on-off button never lights up. How does the dell brand consider solving this problem? Also, when I was going to write a message to a man I was discussing, I saw that my private message was closed to send messages. Yes. what should I do.

I'm with you - if the drivers were totally bad, Dell would be getting MANY complaints and we would see more discussions here. My problem could just be a "one off" due to a faulty OS image load, or some other glitch. In fact, if I reloaded the Dell supplied driver package it would probably work fine. I didn't really test out the audio jacks fully until after I had installed quite a bit of software and then migrated the HDD to a new SSD. There are lots of places for a glitch to happen. But, I thought I would post my work-around in case anyone else had the same issue. I'll just let things stand for a while and see if RealTek,  followed by Dell,  will release updated HD Audio drivers to mitigate those security concerns.

So mine with dch drivers and win 2004 has

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=6.0.1.8642

the dch realtek driver is

https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER04985201M/3/AURORA-R7_Realtek-Audio-DCH-Driver_PGHD1_WIN_6.0.1.8443_A08.EXE

since that is 2 years old i suspect it will update afterwards

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=6.0.1.8443

Compatible Systems
Alienware Aurora R5
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XPS 8920
XPS 8930

Thank you.  I had exactly the same issue on my XPS 8930 with no sound.  Rolling back the driver as you described resolved this

@Anonymous there are many similar threads reporting sound problems with this PC.  Please provide an official fix..

What I finally ended up doing was to remove (with delete) the RealTek High Def Audio Device drivers, disconnect from the internet and reboot. The Microsoft default generic audio drivers (Microsoft 10.0.19041.264 dated 5/9/2020) were installed. Then with group policy configured to exclude that device from updates (as described in my original post), that's how I continue to operate.

The MS default generic drivers provide all the basic functionality I need, and it all seems to be working properly. I like the idea of using the MS generic drivers as they are fairly recent, compact, and give fewer concerns about the older down-version RealTek package. I periodically check Dell driver downloads to see if they have a newer RealTek package, but the issue seems to be on the back burner.

Sadly, my XPS 8930 came with Windows 10 Home so I do not have access to Group Policy Editor. I also don't have access to a functioning headphone jack! How about a real fix Dell?