Still having a problem getting SmartSDR CAT to load.

Kirk, K6KAR

I just went out to the computer to see if there might have been something I missed. SmartCAT is not present in installed programs. I thought that maybe my Edgeport converter may be giving me a problem so I not only disconnected it I also deleted all the now inoperable ports. Now, no ports are being used. Also uninstalled VSP Mgr. I then did a registry search for SmartCAT but only found a link to the executable. SmartCAT.msi. At each change, I’ve rebooted. Still no success. I’m running windows 8 but doubt that’s an issue. I’ve had no other problems 0.15.13. Other than rebuilding the OS, I’m not sure how to proceed. By the way, the radio was not powered up at any time while making these changes. Running Win8 x64 and (again), rebooted at each change. Perplexing!! Any ideas??

Jan - ON4PAL

I have been looking everywhere, rebooted as Kirk did alas no SmartSDR in the SmartSDRv0.15.13 folder. Is it anywhere else to be downloaded? Jan.

Al K0VM

I find mine from the window start menu > Programs>Flex Radio>SmartSDR v0.15.13>SmartSDR CAT SETUP.. The SmartCAT SETUp it load on the PC when in install SmartSDR but you must run the setup seperately to install SmartCAT. If you dont find it on windows8 start screen, you might try looking in "C:Program FilesFlexRadio SystemsSmartSDRModulesCatInstaller_64.msi" AL, K0VM

Kirk, K6KAR

I have no problem with finding the program, I just can't get it to load.. Kirk, K6KAR

BobT

What happens when you try to install? Do you get any error messages or does it just sit there and eat electrons :>) Check to see if SmartSDR CAT shows up in your installed programs. If so, let me know what version it shows. The installer should remove the old version prior to installing the new one but stuff happens. BobT

Kirk, K6KAR

See error message. SmartSDR CAT.msi is all I have. It is the version attached to the latest release and has never been installed. Kirk, K6KAR

BobT

Kirk, I assume you did have an earlier version of CAT installed on this machine. That is the message that you generally get when the old version has not been uninstalled or the computer was not rebooted after uninstallation. The virtual port driver is installed as a Windows Service and things go badly if that service isn't stopped before doing a new install. If you are certain that no version of SmartSDR CAT is installed on your machine, reboot and try the installation again. Let me know what happens. BobT

Kirk, K6KAR

Bob, No, I do not have an earlier version of cat on this machine. At least it isn't showing. I did take a look at the registry and the only thing showing is SmartSDR CAT.msi, the installation program. I've tried rebooting and reloading and each time it comes up with the same error. A puzzle indeed! Kirk

BobT

Yep, that is strange. Go to Component Services | Services (Local) and see if there is a service installed named Virtual Serial Port Kit service. If it exists, let me know and we can walk through the steps to manually remove it. BobT

Richard G7EIX

You can generate a log file when you install an MSI, doing this in VERBOSE mode will generally show you where the failure is occurring. MSIEXEC is the runtime that is used to install MSI files. Its on all Windows machines. So to produce a log - you could do this from the command line. (all on one line - no line break like it shows here) msiexec /i "C:Program FilesFlexRadio SystemsSmartSDRModulesCatInstaller_64.msi" /L*V "C:catinstall.log" Also, when you open the COMMAND prompt, make sure you do it as ADMINISTRATOR. You will then have a log file on the C: drive called CATINSTALL.LOG which you could then look at to determine the point of failure. This page give you more detail on the logging options and MSIEXEC http://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-guide/qa-log.html

Al_NN4ZZ

Richard, Great info on the installer logging. Do you mind if I repost? Kirk, If this works for you, please send me the log file, it would be a nice example to include for future reference. Regards, Al / NN4ZZ

Richard G7EIX

Not at all. Just sharing things that help me on a daily basis.

Ed baker

If you are getting the error message try this. 1. Run the install program even if it says it was not installed. 2. Re Boot your system . Make sure your flex is off. Make sure no variants of cat are running. If they are turn it off. And remove them. Please double check this . The computer must come up without running any cat program. Run the cat install. That should do it.

Ed baker

WOOPS 1. run the UN INSTALL Program

Richard G7EIX

Also, if you are not seeing the CAT Package in the installed programs list, sometimes it can be a red herring - and it may be there but hidden for some strange reason. Using WMI (Windows Management Interface) you can pull a complete list of everything installed on your machine. Again from the command line. WMIC product get /format:csv c:softwarelist.csv this will produce a CSV file with a complete list of what you have installed. Again, more information on the WMI Command Line tool is here... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc181088.aspx

K2CM

Kirk I had difficulties too; but, managed to get Cat to load. If it would help you, I would be glad to connect into,your computer remotely to see if I can help. I will be available to nite after 7pm est. email your phone number to me at george@gloria.us. I have software that I can use to connect. George K2CM

Tom

K0VM's posting seems to have solved my problem Thanks

Kirk, K6KAR

Richard, Ran the msiexec script as administrator but did not get a log. As a matter of fact it lead to the SmartSDR CAT install which (again), will not install. I am in CMD as admin. So no log yet. I did download and run advanced installer but did not find VERBOSE mode and am confused as to the operation of this package. So still looking for an answer. Thanks though. Kirk, K6KAR

Kirk, K6KAR

Richard, Ran WMIC product get /format:csv c:softwarelist.csv. What I got was "Invalid XSL format file name." Reading TechNet materials but so far, no answer. Still looking. 73, Kirk. K6KAR

Richard G7EIX

What you saw is correct. You won't see anything different - all you are doing is passing parameters to the MSI Installer (MSI Exec) and this is the same installer that kicks off if you simply double click on the Cat Installer package - but you are passing parameters to it. So if you formatted the command line correctly - then you should have a file on the root of the C: drive called CATINSTALL.LOG This is what you are passing when you enter the string I provided above: MSIEXEC /i (install) "name of program" /L*V (log all information in VERBOSE) "name of the log file" The log file is created even if the install is not completed.

Richard G7EIX

Sorry, I missed the pipe (>) WMIC product get /format:csv > c:softwarelist.csv

Richard G7EIX

You should then get a file that you can open in Excell or Notepad (or similar) that looks like this.. Node,AssignmentType,Caption,Description,HelpLink,HelpTelephone,IdentifyingNumber,InstallDate,InstallDate2,InstallLocation,InstallSource,InstallState,Language,LocalPackage,Name,PackageCache,PackageCode,PackageName,ProductID,RegCompany,RegOwner,SKUNumber,Transforms,URLInfoAbout,URLUpdateInfo,Vendor,Version,WordCount TARDIS-8,0,Snoop,Snoop,,,{C503AC04-2628-47B1-B231-6D43543F8E9D},20130826,,,C:UsersRichardDesktopSnoopInstaller,5,1033,C:WindowsInstaller3d71e332.msi,Snoop,C:WindowsInstaller3d71e332.msi,{B0E1C55C-3DA9-47B9-9B49-67080FB133F3},Snoop.msi,,,,,,,,Cory Plotts,2.8.0,2 TARDIS-8,0,IIDTool Updater,IIDTool Updater,,,{FC411EA6-B394-43A4-9680-EA69AAE9F876},20130201,,C:Program Files (x86)GAP-DiagnosticIIDTool Updater,C:WindowsDownloaded Installations{9A44C3BB-EFFB-4B67-A2D3-B70ADD3CA85E},5,1033,C:WindowsInstaller519182.msi,IIDTool Updater,C:WindowsInstaller519182.msi,{9A44C3BB-EFFB-4B67-A2D3-B70ADD3CA85E},IIDTool Updater.msi,,,,,,http://www.GAP-Diagnostic.com,,GAP Diagnostic,2.17,0

Richard G7EIX

Kirk, This is what you should see when you type in the MSIEXEC command line...

K2CM

Windows stops the loading process and the loading of CAT does not complete, Kirk and I determined this fact, this afternoon. Kirk has tried disabeling the antivirus and that doesn't fix it either.

Al K0VM

Ken, Kirk, I too, now have the same problem.. the CAT installer self interrupts before it completes.. I my case I had it working and then uninstalled it to investigate another comport problem and can not get it to reinstall.. I have been working off-line with Bob_T.. HOpefully we'll find the problem soon. What OS are you using ? AL, K0VM

Kirk, K6KAR

Al, I'm using Win8 X64 which isn't an issue as I've loaded SmartSDR CAT on an adjacent computer which is built exactly like the one I'm having problems. Please let me know if you resolve your issue. Thanks, Kirk, K6KAR

Richard G7EIX

Ok, couple of things you could try.... You can try and run the MSI as an ADMINISTRATOR by using this command sequence from a command prompt: runas /user:administrator "msiexec /i ""C:Program FilesFlexRadio SystemsSmartSDRModulesCatInstaller_64.msi""" It should look like the image below... Or you could install this little patch (recommended) which will enable the context menu for you then you can simply right click on the MSI and select RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR Here is the patch in CodePlex https://runasadminmsiexttink.codeplex.com/ It may not make an ounce of difference - I have tried re-create your issue with installing the old version and not uninstalling and installing the new one with no issues.

Richard G7EIX

AHA! I managed to re-produce your problem! So now I can dig deeper and see what the cause is (hopefully!)

Kirk, K6KAR

Richard, OK on your previous post. I haven't had a chance yet to run it but will before day ends. OK good on re-producing the problem. Obviously, I'm very interested in what you find. Kirk

Richard G7EIX

Ok...I found the problem on my virtual test machine. There is a log file when the installer tries to create the VSPK (Virtual Serial Port Kit) in the c:windowsinf folder.... The file is: setupapi.dev.log It logs the setting up of the VSPK device. Open that file and scroll to the bottom - it simply appends every time the installer is run. It reported that the service: ftvspenum was already installed and marked for deletion. So I rebooted, as that would normally clear the problem with a marked service. It did not and every time I tried to install it would log the same error "ftvspenum is marked for deletion" and the installer would stop. So.... I tried to use SC command to force a delete, but with no success. This command is done from a command prompt as so... sc delete "ftvspenum" But it failed every time. So I opted for removing it with the registry editor.... And I found a whole load of ftv* services that were still listed. So i removed the following keys: ftvspenum, ftvspksrv, ftvsport From: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServices Then rebooted and I could then install CAT64 with no issue.

Al K0VM

Ricfhard. it appears that I may have a different problem.. I did endup deleteing the three keys and they are no longer present after a reboot. However it still does not install...Here is the end of the setupapi.dev.log... [Boot Session: 2013/09/16 13:42:46.488] >>> [Device Install (UpdateDriverForPlugAndPlayDevices) - FABULATECHVSPENUM] >>> Section start 2013/09/16 13:57:15.410 cmd: C:WindowsSystem32MsiExec.exe -Embedding C1B1DEBAF449A8AD174FBB8CCE76D645 dvi: {Build Driver List} 13:57:15.427 dvi: Searching for hardware ID(s): dvi: fabulatechvspenum dvi: 0 cpy: Policy is set to make all digital signatures equal. dvi: Created Driver Node: dvi: HardwareID - FABULATECHVSPENUM dvi: InfName - c:windowssystem32ftvspenum.inf dvi: DevDesc - FabulaTech Virtual Serial Port Bus dvi: Section - FabulaTechBus_Inst.NT dvi: Rank - 0x00ff0000 dvi: Signer Score - Authenticode dvi: DrvDate - 09/26/2011 dvi: Version - 1.4.3.0 dvi: {Build Driver List - exit(0x00000000)} 13:57:15.437 dvi: {Build Driver List} 13:57:15.438 dvi: Searching for hardware ID(s): dvi: fabulatechvspenum dvi: 0 cpy: Policy is set to make all digital signatures equal. dvi: {Build Driver List - exit(0x00000002)} 13:57:15.440 dvi: {DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV} 13:57:15.440 dvi: No class installer for 'FabulaTech Virtual Serial Port Bus' dvi: No CoInstallers found dvi: Default installer: Enter 13:57:15.443 dvi: {Select Best Driver} dvi: Class GUID of device changed to: {4d36e97d-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}. dvi: Selected: dvi: Description - [FabulaTech Virtual Serial Port Bus] dvi: InfFile - [c:windowssystem32ftvspenum.inf] dvi: Section - [FabulaTechBus_Inst] dvi: {Select Best Driver - exit(0x00000000)} dvi: Default installer: Exit dvi: {DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV - exit(0x00000000)} 13:57:15.446 sto: {Import Driver Package: c:windowssystem32ftvspenum.inf} 13:57:15.448 sto: Driver Store = C:WindowsSystem32DriverStore [Online] (6.2.9200) sto: Driver Package = c:windowssystem32ftvspenum.inf sto: Architecture = amd64 sto: Flags = 0x00000000 inf: Provider = FabulaTech inf: Class GUID = {4d36e97d-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318} inf: Driver Version = 09/26/2011,1.4.3.0 inf: Catalog File = ftvspenum.cat inf: Version Flags = 0x00000001 sto: Driver package already imported as 'oem28.inf'. sto: Driver Store Filename = C:WindowsSystem32DriverStoreFileRepositoryftvspenum.inf_amd64_33075b5d64a19adcftvspenum.inf sto: {Import Driver Package: exit(0x00000000)} 13:57:15.455 dvi: Searching for hardware ID(s): dvi: fabulatechvspenum dvi: 0 !!! ndv: Driver package import failed for device. !!! ndv: Error 3: The system cannot find the path specified. <<< Section end 2013/09/16 13:57:15.467 <<< [Exit status: SUCCESS]