2.6 Windows 10 BlueScreen - fixed

Dave

Installing 2.6 has blue screened my laptop and prevents it from booting! BEWARE!

Mike-VA3MW

Hi David

I am going to open a support case for you on this.  

Are you still not able to reboot your laptop?  Can you provide messages or a picture of what messages you are getting while trying to reboot?

Mike

Ken Wells

Dan-N7HQ

Dave

This is getting complicated... Initially, it blue screened 3 consecutive times after the install. Then it booted, but blue SCREENED after 15 to 20 seconds. Now it's back to blue screening continuously..

Dave

If I can get it to boot, I'm uninstalling it!

Dave

I always uninstall the previous version (2.5.1) before installing new software.

Dave

I have successfully uninstalled it and the blue screens have stopped...

Andy M5ZAP

Dan I have exactly the same blue screen issue (portcls.sys) with the previous version of V3.0.27 (not the new release). Same symptoms and uninstalling SmartSDR resolved the issue. I sometimes have to boot 10 times to successfully get my PC to boot. I think portcls.sys is part of the virtual audio device (audio DAX)? See my post https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/page-fault-in-nonpaged-area Hopefully now other people are having the issue it will be resolved. Unfortunately I am away from my station so can’t supply any other info apart from what’s in my original post

Ken Wells

Andy M5ZAP

Ken If you see my reply to Dan Quigley’s post above. This is not a new issue and happens to me with 3.0.17

Dave

Of course the computer was rebooted after the uninstall. And if the software upgrade fails on a "clean" computer, you have serious issues you need to deal with!

If you read my entire post you would see that the computer did eventually boot and would blue screen after 15 to 20 seconds, then started blue screening continuously again. 

So, no, the computer did not "maintain proper operation" after a successful boot...

Robert Lonn

I would NOT uninstall the old software, just install the new software. I dont believe Flex recommends to uninstall old versions before loading new versions... In a way it is an UPDATE not a all new version.. 

Andy M5ZAP

If it were only an update, how would a new user be able to install it.

Dave

You're incorrect.  Each release is a stand-alone version, which is what allows you to return to a previous versions simply by selecting them when you start SDR....

Pat N6PAT

Dan-N7HQ

John - AI4FR

Dan-N7HQ

David, the software that runs above the driver level on a PC is installed as "stand-alone" or side by side.  DAX and other common components are shared across versions.  DAX operates at a much lower level in the Windows architecture.  While you can uninstall DAX when you switch versions we don't recommend doing so.  

We're not sure what is happening in your case and we'd like to help out.  Mike Walker created a ticket for you in our helpdesk system, can you please respond there and we'll get on it. 

73,
Dan

Andy M5ZAP

How come reverting back to an older version of smartSDR Cured the issue.
Has the version of portcls.sys that you supply with the installation changed?
If you read my post when I installed 3.0.27 on a new clean PC I had the issue. Reverting back to 2.5.1 and issue was resolved. Reinstalling 3.0.27 and the issue returned.

I have just had to live with having multiple attempts to boot my PC each day.

Dave

Since DAX/VSP etc, are separate from SDR, I consider them standalone unto themselves. SDR is a stand-alone application, which allows you to select different versions at will.

I personally do not care to keep older versions of the software on my computer and will continue to uninstall previous versions when new ones are released.... To each his own...

Tim - W4TME

David,  You have an open HelpDesk ticket on this issue.  I believe I can resolve this issue for you.  If you want to move forward with v3.1.7, just update the HelpDesk ticket with your desire to get this resolved and I'll see what I can do.  

For anyone else having repetitive Blue Screen crashes, please open a HelPDesk ticket.

Andy M5ZAP

Tim. I was having this issue on 3.0.27 I am unable to access my station for 6 weeks. Is it worth opening a ticket to provide you information to help resolve as I did quite s lot of tests to try and understand the problem. Or do you fully understand and the next release will contain a fix which will probably beat me home.

Mike-VA3MW

Andy

If you need help with this, yes, always open a ticket to ensure it gets tracked correctly.

Mike

FISHULA X

Burt Fisher

Why didn't you rectify it BEFORE you released it?

Dave

Tim,

Thanks, but that won't be necessary...

I attempted a second install on the laptop and had another interesting experience....

I downloaded a fresh 2.6 install file and while the install went without incident, starting  SDR for the first time resulted in some odd behavior.  The SDR window popped up and seemed to be normal, but then completely disappeared from the screen after 10 seconds. I noticed the DAX window was hung (had a "not responding" error in it). So I manually closed DAX and CAT windows and tried to restart SDR.  Same issue.  Then I rebooted the laptop and, at the moment anyway, SDR, DAX and CAT seem to be working fine.

This has been the oddest install of SDR I've ever experienced by a long shot!

Something to consider:  Since the second install went without a single blue screen incident, it might indicate the blue screen issue is related to the install process itself and not necessarily the code that's being installed...

Mark NS9N

I had the exact same issue with the 2.6 update. The install seemed to work fine but when I booted the computer later, I got the Recovery Screen. I followed the recovery process and that even failed a number of times. But on the 4th reboot the recovery error message did not appear and the computer booted fine. Then I uninstalled 2.6.0 (see my other post "Ver 2.6.0 Update DAX Driver Error). Again I received the recovery error after manually uninstalling and reinstalling the DAX Drivers. Again it took a number of reboots before Windows seems to have recovered. But now per my other post, I get the DAX driver error every time I open SDR. I have opened a help ticket but this sure seems to be something wrong with the DAX update file??? Windows 10 and a 6600.

Burt Fisher

I am staying miles away from that update. Laptop? Desktop?

Jon_KF2E

Pat N6PAT