Is not there any hope to fix Intel HD to show spectrum soon? I cannot use my new Vaio for Flex ope

Takeshi Yamada

My laptop (Vaio) uses i7-4500U and panadaptor/spectrum does not move at all and not usable probably because of the Intel HD graphics noted in the release note of SmatSDR v1.1
I hope that is fixed soon.

Tim - W4TME

Keep updating the video drivers whenever new ones are available. Hopefully one of them will resolve the problem.

Takeshi Yamada

Umm, I do not think that Intel does fix it without pressure by themselves.  I hope that FRS raises this issue and give them pressure.

rfoust

I have a Surface Pro 2 which has the Intel 4400.  I've seen the spectrum freeze before but usually it's after using it a few hours.  After I reboot (laptop, radio, or both), it clears up for a while.  In this case I think it is probably just software stability with SmartSDR but I could be wrong.

Takeshi Yamada

It was solved by updating to Win8.1, maybe with some drivers' update, too.

Thank you!

Reg

Robbie:

It has been widely reported for many months on this Community that there are issues with the Intel embedded graphics processors that are part of some, but not all, Intel CPU's.  I have a Sony SVE17132CXB Laptop with the fastest Intel mobile CPU (3840QM), 16 GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, a 512 GB SSD and using the embedded Graphics Processor on the CPU  and it will not run SmartSDR.  However, I have 3 machines which I built with Intel Core i7-477K CPU's, 32 GB RAM, SSD's, and stand-alone EVGA GeForce GTX 760 SuperClocked 2 GB graphics adapters and those machine run SmartSDR just fine. 

This isn't the first time that Intel has had a problem associated with the Core i7 CPU and chipsets.  Back in 2011, associated with the 2nd Generation Core i7 chipset, Intel temporarily suspended production while they fixed the problem.  "Intel® on January 31, 2011 announced the detection of a design error in the new Sandy Bridge-based Intel® 6 Series support chip The shipment of existing Sandy Bridge products has been suspended by Intel®, until the production of an updated support chip has commenced."

In the current case there is a problem known to Intel associated with overloading the built-in 4000 series video graphics adapter.  The HD4600 is embedded in some 4th Generation CPU's which are now shipping.  This incudes most mobile CPU's which means that virtually all Intel based laptops rely on the HD4000 series embedded video.  To update the related firmware you have to update all of the Intel CPU and chipset firmware.  They are all interconnected because the HD4600 talks directly to the CPU and two channels to the Z87 chipset, paths to 3 video displays, and 1600 MHz paths to DDR3-1600 shared RAM.

Intel’s original driver package was June driver is the 15.31.9.64.3165 version and they isused an update in September 2013, September driver is the 15.31.17.64.3257.  You should be upgraded to at least the September driver package.  Unfortunately, the community is waiting for the big driver fix that addresses more than minor problems and speeds up some games.

As you can see, my systems which do not use HD4600 embedded graphics run SmartSDR just fine.  My one notebook which relies on HD4600 graphics will not run SmartSDR.  (It runs for a few seconds before a video freeze.)  The common variable that leads to failure in my systems is the HD4600 embedded graphics adapter.

I believe that his all supports Tim's recommendation and at least partially disputes Robbies assertion that, "....it is probably just software stability with SmartSDR...."  Takeshi, keep checking for firmware updates, as Tim suggested, because one of these days Intel may release the fix.  In the meantime, while waiting for the Intel update, you probably will be well-served to use a different machine for running SmartSDR.

rfoust

Hi Reg, thanks for the reply. Just to clarify, you are using the terms "4000 series" and "4600" to refer to the Intel problem.  But which one is it?  Is the Intel problem only with the 4600?  If it is, then the 4400 should not be affected, and therefore the only thing left is an application issue (with the 4400 only).  This is what I was referring to in my original post.  All of the problems I've seen in the forums have been related to the 4600 only.

Nick

I have the same problem with a new HP Envy.  This is a high end laptop with a i5 processer I bought specifically to run SSDR so I could work DX setting out by the pool.  My 6 year old HP Laptop runs SSDR with no problem so I have a backup.  HW problems or limitations are almost always fixed with a SW solution so I hope the Flex team is working on this.  It sounds like there are quiet a few platforms SSDR can't run on.

Reg

Robbie:

I made broad reference, as does Intel, to the HD4000 series which includes both my HD4600 and your HD4400.  The issue has been reported on this Community as occurring with all models of the HD4000 series.  I'm not sure it is a good thing but I read every post on the Community. 

In some cases as we add more workload (CPU cycles) to the CPU, the performance of the HD4x00 begins to erode.  As an example, this has been reported with the addition of DAX in v1.1.  A few systems that could barely keep up started to lag and freeze.  This is easily understood because the "embedded graphics" uses CPU cycles for processing.  Clearly, the most elegant solution is a separate high-performance video adapter which frees up the CPU to only execute program code and no graphics code.  Unfortunately, laptops do not generally have the ability to plug in PCI-e graphics adapters as is the case with desktop computers.  

Reg, KD5RB

rfoust

Thanks Reg, that helps a lot!  The driver version I'm running is 10.18.10.3262 (7/31/2013).  It is an Intel driver, but supplied by Microsoft, so I'm not sure which Intel driver that version number maps back to.  Apparently tablet computers have to get drivers from their OEM, not directly from Intel.  But I found a post online where someone uninstalled the old driver and was able to install Intel's driver (the v15.x one).  

Looks like SmartSDR is only using a steady 25% cpu cycles.  I just tried bumping up the priority on the smartsdr process (in task manager) to see if that helps.  So far I haven't had a problem since making that change, but sometimes it takes a while for the sluggishness to show up.  I also need to test a theory -- I'm wondering if the problem is worse when I have my external 2nd monitor connected.  If I can find any pattern to it, I'll update the thread.  Even if we can't fix it until Intel does, maybe we can find a workaround or something.

Thanks!

-Robbie (KI4TTZ)

Reg

Robbie:

The latest driver on the www.intel.com website is 15.33.8.64.3345.  It is dated November 2013.  You can navigate to it at www.intel.com, Menu, Support, Download Drivers, Browse for Drivers, Automatically Find Drivers, and Check Your System for Updates.  It is a newer driver than the September 2013 version that I provided earlier.

Reg, KD5RB

Reg

Takeshi:

Be sure to install video driver 15.33.8.64.3345 using the link that I just sent to Robbie.  The same HD4000 driver works with all of these Intel HD chipsets:

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 2500

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 4000

4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 4200

4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 4400

4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 4600

4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 5000

4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® Iris™ Graphics 5100

4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® Iris™ Pro Graphics 5200

Reg, KD5RB

rfoust

Ok, I just force-installed the new Intel November driver on my Surface Pro 2.  In case anyone else sees this thread, basically I extracted the .zip to a folder, selected "update driver" and selected "have disk", navigated to the extracted zip folder, then the graphics subfolder, and selected the inf file.  After it finishes installing, reboot.

Anyway, now the installed driver version that shows up is 10.18.10.3345, dated 10/31/2013.

I have SmartSDR running again, lets see if the sluggishness comes back.

-Robbie

rfoust

At the risk of being premature, I do think it is better with the new driver.  Maybe not 100% better, but definitely an improvement.  For a while tonight I was decoding JT65 on 3 bands while listening to SSB on 40m through DAX.  No problems for quite a while, other than some audio choppiness while 3 JT65 programs were decoding signals at the same time (once per minute).  BTW, that is pretty amazing that this is even possible on a tablet computer and a single radio.  I am one happy camper, this is so cool.