SmartSDR v1.6.17 DAX channels interferring with VMWare Workstation 11 USB audio devices

K5CG

The PC is a Dell Inspiron (Core i5, 8 GB RAM) running Windows 7 Ultimate (X64).

I run VMware Workstation 11 with 2 sound cards, the default sound device on the Inspiron and a USB dongle based sound card to connect a headset for conferencing in Skype for Business.

When SmartSDR v1.6.17 is installed VMware Workstation no longer recognizes the USB dongle sound card. I uninstall SmartSDR and it returns to visibility.

I am presuming this is due to DAX since these are all sound devices but I am not 100% sure.

This behavior was not occurring in SmartSDR v1.5.

Since I am running a Flex 6300 and I can only use the first 2 DAX RX channels, would it be possible to have the installer recognize the radio, or at least give the operator the choice of the radio to know how many DAX channels to install drivers for? I can't access channels 3 to 8 so it is just polluting the devices list with extraneous channels in every software package I use. Can the extra channels be safely disable/uninstalled from the Windows Devices panel? This may or may not have any effect on the VMware workstation issue above.

Danny
K2DMS

Jim Gilliam

I would physically remove the dongle, go to the control panel and uninstall the driver to the dongle. Once uninstalled, plug the dongle back in and the computer should recognize it as new hardware and reinstall the driver. Perhaps that will cure the problem.

Jim, K6QE

K5CG

Thanks Jim, the dongle is still working fine on the host Dell PC. The problem is that the sound card device is no longer presented to the VMware workstation hypervisor as something that even can be connected.

I would add that everything is fine after removing SmartSDR, without making any changes to the host.

Jim Gilliam

I have had similar problems but not related to yours and seem to get it back for recognition by uninstalling it in the device manager and, then, reinstalling.

Jim

K5CG

Yeah, mine is a pretty obscure issue I admit. I don't expect it to be resolved but just to give awareness. If I update to VMware Workstation 12 the problem could go away, I guess I'll know soon enough and update accordingly. For now I just can't have SmartSDR on THIS machine.

Jim Gilliam

When I loaded 1.6 out of the blue,  my Bluetooth speaker stopped working and it wasn't recognized as a list of possible audio devices in my volume mixer. I deleted the device and let Windows reinstall the drivers. All of a sudden everything was back to normal. Have no idea why but loading 1.6 seemed to do strange things I couldn't put my finger on and reinstalling the Bluetooth took care of the problem.

Jim, K6QE

Drax

This sounds like my issue where the new CAT/DAX keys up my SignaLink USB even though it's a separate sound card.  I think there's a bug where DAX is grabbing at sound devices it doesn't own.

Tim - W4TME

It isn't DAX, per se; it was only the triggering mechanism when the old DAX drivers were unloaded as part of the installation.  It is how Windows handles audio device enumeration and changing the designation of the default sound devices.  They did all these changes to make things automatic and it resulted in making PCs with multiple sound devices problematic.

Jim Gilliam

Yes, I think you hit on it. When I loaded in 1.6, as I mentioned my Bluetooth stopped working and DAX RX 1 was my selected device without my doing anything to the mixer. After I reloaded the Bluetooth speaker, it showed up again as the selected device in my volume mixer.

DH2ID

It pays to set up a dedicated pc for ham radio use only. I have successfully used a separate pc for business use, and one for my wife ;-)

Jim Gilliam

Yep..Simon Lewis has made me his disciple. A small fanless computer sitting on top of my 6500.

K5CG

Good advice Alex. I have a dedicated HP Envy 17T for Ham/personal use. This desktop needed SmartSDR installed for testing a new version of HRIAgent when I found this anomaly.