Incomplete DAX driver installation

Dana Borgman

About 3 months ago I opened a conversation about trouble I was having with WSJT-X.  The problem was that the audio dropdown only showed the default audio devices and no other devices I the setup menu.  G4WJS and W9MDB graciously offered their help on the WSJT-X group, but we never got to the root of the problem.

In the course of the investigation I learned that in my Registry, under ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftActiveMoviedevenum and ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftActiveMoviedevenum 64-bit only the "reserved" devices and the DAX Audio TX are appearing, and they are appearing as DirectSound devices.  None of the devices are showing up as wave devices.

I installed the software on a Windows 10 Desktop machine and see that all the DAX audio devices that I need are showing up in these two Registry locations as "wave" devices.  I don't know what is preventing the devices from showing up in the Registry on my laptop.

I would not have known there was a problem except for this issue on WSJT-X.  All the other applications show all the devices without a problem.  As a workaround I can set the DAX devices I need as the Windows default input and output audio devices and start WSJT-X.  Then these devices can be used by WSJT-X.  Once WSJT-X is running, I can set the default devices back to the built-in mic and speakers.  If I stop and start WSJT-X again, only the current Windows default devices show up.  I really would like to figure this out.  I am running Windows 10 Home, Version 1703, Build 15063.483.  SmartSDR 1.10.16.  I have been through the process of removing and reinstalling both SmartSDR as well as just the DAX drivers.

Thanks & 73,
Dana, KA1WPM

K5CG

I'm running Windows 10 Pro. I don't have a single Registry Key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Everything I see is in HKLM. I installed Smart SDR 1.10.16 as the Administrator. Perhaps that keeps it out of HKCU.

I find it odd that your DAX Audio entries show up under ActiveMovie. Ins't that a Windows media player? Maybe it is unrelated to the actual issue. I would think you would have entries in HKLM CurrentControlSet.

This is just an observation and I don't know what I'm talking about.

Michael Coslo

This is one of the reasons I do a deep uninstall of SSDR when having problems,  using Revo, and even clear out the registry pretty often. Windows does the darndest things, which in turn do the darndest things.

Kevin

I would not peg on the registry entries for ActiveMovie. I think you might need to look for the problem elsewhere.

ActiveMovie was the immediate ancestor of Windows Media Player 6.x, and was a streaming media technology now known as DirectShow, developed by Microsoft to replace Video for Windows. ActiveMovie allows users to view media streams, whether distributed via the Internet, an intranet or CD-ROMs.

Maybe you somehow installed this old program or some other program you are running loaded old libraries and it is interfering with your sound devices. Maybe remove any other optional programs that are using any sound devices?

As this has been going on for months I hesitate to offer any ideas as I'm sure you've been there already. If it were me troubleshooting I would be starting at device manager to make sure there are no device issues with the sound card drivers and within device manager, turning on show hidden devices to make sure you don't have a bunch of ghost drivers, and making sure your devices are enabled.

In your previous post you mention Realtek. It is a very common sound card chip maker so I'd be surprised if that's your problem. For DAX, I'm not even sure you need a sound card at all - internal or external - as DAX is the virtual sound card for your setup.

Good luck.

73,
Kev K4VD

Dana Borgman

It's difficult to say.  The only noticeable problem I am having is that the DEX devices are not enumerating in WSJT-X.  They all show up everywhere else -- Windows record & playback devices, JT65-HF, Fldigi.  The devices even work with WSJT-X when I set them as the defaults beforehand. WSJT-X is using Qt, which may be using some older method of enumerating devices.  G4WJS listed a small program in the Qt Development Forum when he was looking into it a few months ago.  The topic is listed here: https://forum.qt.io/topic/79320/qaudiodeviceinfo-availabledevices-not-working-correctly-on-latest-wi... .

The bad output came from my laptop -- the same one I am using now.

I compiled the program on my laptop too.  It reports that there are 17 wave in devices, but the enumerator only retrieves 1.  The second iteration returns a -1 instead of S_OK (0):  similar behavior to the WSJT-X case.  So when I load SSDR on my other computer and the DAX audio devices show up as wave audio devices under ActiveMovie, well, I do have to wonder.  All the devices are enumerated in WSJT-X on the desktop.

Thanks,
-- Dana, KA1WPM

KC4SW

While not installing on Win10 64bit I have also had some install issues.  mostly the drivers do not install properly and give various driver error issues.

I have found that i need to un-install all of the drivers using the uninstallxxx.bat file located in ...program files flex...version32bit-drivers.  Then i restart the computer and log in as Administrator.  you may not see this on your system but Google "win 10 administrator login" there are several links on how to make the administrator account visible.  then go back and install all of the drivers using the appropriate instalxxx.bat file. 

This has been an issue, for me, with the last several instances of SmartSDR v2.xx.xx and the solution indicated has always worked.

Dudley WA5QPZ

Make sure that you have not disabled the DAX drivers in the Sounds Properties of the laptop.  This will cause the drivers not to enumerate ..  Also Malware SW can **** the DAX driver installation too..

-Dudley