HRD 6.5.0.183 Caution

Ian1

There was a release yesterday 01/17/19 of HRD 6.5.0.183 be very cautious of it.
Upon install it needs to Load VisuCalc C+++ 2017. This product alone corrupted all DAX drivers and while still installed allowed no Dax comm.
The Antenna Rotor program graphics with regard to Great Circle Disappeared.
I spent approximately 2 hours trying to recover from this mishap.

On 01/18/19 HRD sent out this

Following yesterday's release of Ham Radio Deluxe 6.5.0.183 version, we received a few calls that relate the three common points.  I wanted to take a moment to let you all know (a) what they are and (b) what needs to be done.
 
It's worth pointing out that we have about 25,000 users and we've received less than 50 reports total on these three topics.

Wait for a FIX don't make the mistake I did.
Best Of Luck
Ian

WK2Y

Thank you so much for the heads up.  Had planned on doing the upgrade this PM. I will definitely wait. 
73,
Bob, WK2Y

Dave, KY0L

That’s another reason you should be taking periodic image backups of your computer. If you run into problems, you can easily recover your computer back in time, to a point in time when your computer functioned perfectly. Acronis backup imaging software works very well. Your computer can easily be recovered in less than an hour after starting the recovery process. I wouldn’t use the Microsoft backup software, because the recoveries using the Microsoft sometimes fail. I wouldn’t recommend doing a factory restore either because then you have to restage all the software and configuration. It’s best to be prepared to easily recover your computer before the disaster occurs. The Acronis backup software is dirt cheap compared to going through a lot of hassles and frustration fixing computer problems. I recovered a lot of servers using backup imaging software. In business, downtime costs a lot of money before I retired. The servers I managed we’re all backed with periodic automated imaging. There was very little stress for me to recover servers. Other servers that were managed by other people weren’t protected with imaged based backup. System updates always have some risk. Sometimes updates go very bad, even after testing the updates using test servers. When the production servers needed to be recovered, those people who didn’t have image based backups, were totally stressed out, taking days to recover their servers, instead of taking 30 minutes to a few hours, of very easy work recovering servers. It makes a huge difference if you’re prepared to quickly and easily recover a computer. Most people that work in IT never learn that lesson! Dave KY0L

Johan _ SE3X

Tnx ever so much from me as well! I had planned upgrade of HRD during the weekend.

John Wagner

It may be wise to not be an early adapter of updates, upgrade and the like to avoid issues like this. I almost always wait a month or so before downloading anything

Burch - K4QXX

Interesting. I downloaded and installed HRD 6.5.0.183 this morning and had no issues.  I have made many FT8 contacts this morning after the install and SSDR, DAX and CAT all work fine. 

WK2Y

Maybe you were already up to date with Load VisuCalc C+++ 2017?

Burch - K4QXX

I don't know.  Install went fine here.  I did recently update to Windows 10 version 1809 which did break my DAX drivers.  Maybe C+++ 2017 was included in that 1809 update.

Craig Williams

No issues here.

Jlawson40

Downloaded and installed this version of HRD on two laptops with no issues. I was asked to download C+++2017 during the HRD download with no problems. I’m running Windows 7 on both machines. John ,W8AGS

Rick Hadley - W0FG

The new version didn't mess with my DAX drivers, but it did corrupt/lose  my Flex Control settings.  It also lost memory of the positioning of SSDR on my 3-monitor setup, and the PC gave me "Something went wrong and your computer needs to restart" blue screen.  It did that twice but after doing a proper shutdown of SSDR and restarting it, It seems to be OK now.

Ian1

Glad some of you didn't have any troubles based on the E Mail HRD sent out I wasn't alone however.

best of Luck
Ian

Tom Worthington

I have had no issues with the new HRD/6.5.0.183.  Windows 10/1809

N8SDR

Hey I work in IT and I hound the heck out of my customers to setup image and disaster recovery and provide them with many options. With a few of them its all automated hands off they don't do a thing except call me if there is an issue and most times I know that even before they do with the RMM services.. Dave is 100% spot on. It only takes 15 minutes to few hours in very large data cases to do a full restore of an image which, will have you back up and running 100% like it was before the problem. No reloading, downloading, looking for program key numbers, and re-configuring. Acronis and Macrium Reflect are two very good options. Set them up, schedule your image/differential time, test it and forget about having to do a full re install of all your programs and operating system. 

WF7B

I had no problems with the update.

Robert Lonn

I let it load C++ first,,, then I waited about 2 minutes and HRD said please reboot your computer,,, I did that.. Then after I rebooted my computer, I had to go Back In and Run the Downloaded Set-Up file.. It then did the upgrade as it had in the past.. Everything appears to be normal... Windows 10.. Also did a JAVA upgrade BEFORE I did the HRD upgrade...  Smart SDR was Closed Down, and I did a fresh re-boot with all my programs CLOSED... Then I do my upgrades...

Robert

Mike W1BFA in Maine

so far so good here...  everything has been running all afternoon.

Chuck Sinclair

Same here installed without any issues.

Ian1

Last Update from HRD remember I have never contacted them about this issue only warned the Flex Community

This was in my E Mail today 1/19/19

Ham Radio Deluxe 6.5.0.184 Open Beta Given the comments from our clients regarding the 3rd party virtual serial port function in the 6.5.0.183 release of Ham Radio Deluxe, we have replaced this capability.
 
I'll admit - I didn't understand this well, as I don't use it.  But many folks who had SteppIR and various SDR connections were using this capability in ways that I'm glad to have learned about recently.
 
I made the decision to forgo the normal beta process and open this beta to all Ham Radio Deluxe users.
 
Download the Ham Radio Deluxe 6.5.0.184 beta here:
 
 
https://downloads.hamradiodeluxe.com/setupHRDbeta65_184.exe
 
 
IMPORTANT:
 
We want your feedback, however the support team doesn't support beta versions.  Here's how you can best communicate your findings.

Best Of Luck
Ian
KM4CQG
 

Ernest - W4EG

Ian and others HRD users,
I downloaded v6.5.0.184  last night. 
So far, I have not noticed any aberration and has been working well. 
However, there has not been much of an update that applies to Flex radios.
I sincerely hope that they improve their software for Flex equipment.

Russ K5OA

N1MM would have pulled it and had fix today