Windows 10 update #1709

Dave - WB5NHL

Three separate occurrences of the very large Windows 10 Creators update #1709 breaks the DAX drivers. One system running v1 SmartSDR and 2@ running V2 all had DAX drivers break following the update. Reinstalling SmartSDR fixed the problem.

Duane_AC5AA

Yes - both Creator's updates have broken the DAX drivers for me and required reinstall.  Am I surprised - no, it's MS after all . . .

Jim Gilliam

When you reinstalled did you do a COMPLETE uninstall or something less drastic?

Jim, K6QE

Dave - WB5NHL

I usually don't mess around. With the 3 cases I know of, it was a complete uninstall including DAX drivers but not VSP.  Just remember to export your profile just in case hi hi.

Jim Gilliam

Yea, I think the complete uninstall should be revisited. Tim's explanation accurate is fragmented in that one has to refer to other sources. It would be nice to have some one to rewrite it in it's complete form as newcomers can really get confused.

Jim, K6QE

Duane_AC5AA

I use Revo Uninstaller and do a complete (Revo) uninstall.  Seems to work fine for me.  I uninstall both SSDR and VSP.

Michael Coslo

Revo doesn't take much more time than the official method, and takes less time than if you have to do it twice.

I thought I had managed to avoid the Windows update fail with their latest creators update, but turns out the I/Q streams were wrecked. So I just did the Revo process and all is working again.

kr4k

Had same issue. Had to do a complete uninstall and reinstall. Now works.

Rick Hadley - W0FG

I've come to expect major Windows updates to break DAX, and like Duane, I use Revo anytime I do an uninstall to clean off absolutely everything Flex-related before I reinstall.  It's quick and thorough and has always solved the problems for me.

David

Curious. The last couple of major MS updates I have not had the normal SSDR issues forcing it to be uninstalled and reinstalled. This on a desktop and laptop.

Tim - W4TME

No need to export profiles.  They are stored on the radio.

Tim - W4TME

And all you need to do is manually uninstall and reinstall the DAX driver.  Uninstalling SmartSDR is not necessary either
https://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/204017069-How-to-Manually-Re-Install-DAX-Drivers

Martin AA6E

#metoo

Michael Coslo

The Windows 10 update failures seem to be almost random in nature other than what they affect. Usually audio driver issues with many softwares, and I've had a few others like VSP going south. 

Ned K1NJ

    Right.  This time I just did repair on VSP as a start and all was well.
                Ned,  K1NJ

Varistor

Couldn't resist posting an oldie...if Flex was a car manufacturer:

• For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

• Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

• Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason.  You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue.

• Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

• Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

KY6LA_Howard

Cute attempt at humor If it were not so obviously PLAGARIZED from an almost identical critique of MIcrosoft. Published several years ago.

Varistor

If it wasn't so obvious that the intro words make it clear it's an old one.

KY6LA_Howard

I see you added the first line after the original was sent

Bob - W7KWS -

I wonder why only SSDR breaks with new Windows updates and nothing else does.

Duane_AC5AA

It’s either VSP or DAX that breaks for me, not SSDR proper. But to be sure fixes get registered properly, I just do a full uninstall and reinstall. It only takes a few minutes. The big updates also corrupt my photo scanner drivers, so it’s not just Flex that is affected. After all, we all are beta testers for MS so we shouldn’t be surprised.

Gary Johnson

The perfect reason for purchasing a 6600M.  I want to talk on the radio, not deal with Microsoft any more than absolutely necessary.  My head hurts from banging it on the wall from normal day to day living.  Microsoft only makes it worse..

Bob - W7KWS -

Is the 6600M front panel the same, or nearly the same as my Maestro? If it is, it runs SmartSDR under Windows 10 Embedded. There is no escape from Microsoft.

Bill -VA3WTB

Yes as you said Windows embedded.,It does not go through the same updates as you home PC does,,it is very secure.

Gary Johnson

My understanding its a form of Microsoft only updateable by Flex.  No having Mr Gates update Microsoft at his whim and fancy.  Probably 50% or more of the problems discussed here appear to me to be Microsoft related.  I just choose not to have it interfere with my working (playing according to my XYL) on the radio.

Bill -VA3WTB

That is right, the only updates are Flex updates. I am still on Win 7, I do not have my flex computer connected to the internet, never an update, and I have not had a glitch in years. None...
I have another computer that I do all my online stuff on, it is a Linux computer using Linux Mint, It is a full stand alone operating system that replaces Windows. a beautiful thing it is.

Clay N9IO

If it were a pro football game the statement would have it been called back behind the line of scrimmage on a foul call for unnecessary roughness. So...

Tim VE6SH

Interestingly enough when I did the 1709 update today it fixed an intermittent problem I was having with the Flexcontrol! I did the update after closing out of DAX and CAT and had no issues.

Tim VE6SH

Michael Coslo

My Windows 7 SSDR install has never suffered any problem at all. Perfectly starts and operates every time. I trust it.

My Windows 10 install is botched by many updates.

If SSDR was the only program that was messed up by updates, it would speak to Flex making bad software, but other programs are messed up by Windows updates as well.

So it is incorrect to say that nothing else breaks, I spend alot of time making people's computers work again, and most W10 problems are based on fixing drivers that Microsoft decides need replacement. Windows 10 is perhaps not a panacea in Operating systems, at least it is better than Windows 8.

So FlexRadio is in the same boat as many other programs. A good program on a brittle operating system. 

Michael Coslo

My problem is that I really like having that big computer screen and all of the controls that the full SSDR program gives you. 

Ned K1NJ

   All of the above.  Have spent too much time with my "back up" win-10 machine
updating, installing/uninstalling, on and on.  A couple of weeks ago it bricked
itself from a background upgrade and I had to resort to a desperation USB
re-install of win-10 itself.
                        I had almost become a believer.
  My win-7 machine just runs.  I've added SSD's to replace hard drives
and replaced video cards with faster ones. It always seems to work in
spite of my interventions.

              Ned,  K1NJ