Windows Gremlins - Alternatives?

Michael Coslo · July 2018

It's the old Installed user base issue. Because more people use Windows - even though most are not using it for anything like we are - Windows it is. I dream of SSDR on Linux.
By the way, MacOS and IOS are going to be melded together. So if Dogpark doesn't suit, you should be able to run the IOS app on a Mac.

Michael Coslo · July 2018

I'm not certain that a person should have to be running at that level of expertise just to use Windows. I mean yeah - it would be nice. I do hourly backups in two separate places and I'm imaged as well. But it seems so very odd to have to protect myself against Windows updates as if they were malware.

Anyhow, I've found that a scorched earth delete and reinstall is sufficient to restore SSDR, and the other programs that Windows updates ****. Just life when you use W10. But that is not the sign of an operating system that's ready for prime time.

Michael Coslo · July 2018

This! I've asked Flex to provide a program ostensibly calle "FlexRefresh". Any time you get a Windows update, you run this program to insure that your Flex Radio works. I think it beats angry people who are going to blame the problems on Flex (and they are not Flex's problem) and it would just be a regular part of living with W10.

Michael Coslo · July 2018

You aren't seeing a problem because you are doing what people have to do when they have a problem. Regardless, it is a smart thing to do. Much better to have the radio work when you boot it up than have it fail on you.

Michael Coslo · July 2018

Thanks Michael - and while the concept we get is that it is the Linux communities fault, there are other factors at play.

I control what is bought at our club station. Members have seen me using my Flex Radio, and thought it was very interesting.

But I find myself not reccomending my favorite radio in the world to our members because of Windows 10. The operating system has forced me into a "do not buy" recommendation.

Fortunately, the new Flex's with a on radio display make it easier to recommend, but it's just food for thought, when some folks don't recomment it because of the frail Windows 10 peripheral.

If I was a competent programmer, I would write the Linux version. But I'm not.

Bill -VA3WTB · July 2018

Ok so your steering them away from Flex? what are they buying instead?

Michael Coslo · July 2018

I'll second that again.

Michael Coslo · July 2018

Can you tell us what all the people who have problems are doing wrong? We need people like you to to guide us!

Neal Pollack, N6YFM · July 2018

How many specific problems are you having with Windows 10 that are not addressed by this support thread for the DAX drivers?
ref:
https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/most-common-fix-for-dax-driver-errors-in-windows-spring-update-1803-you-can-do-this

Lionel · July 2018

Linux OS has its own issues-different than MS but from experience changing from MS to any version of Linux can be frustrating. There seems to be more Linux documentation and how to's than all the books printed since Gutenberg - some outdated, some just flat wrong. Maybe its better now but the hunt for drivers was nonsense unless Linux is your profession or hobby.

That said, my point is that any OS will have some problems. W10 got me on the last update to 1803 and might on the next. But I am pretty familiar with W10 now, unfortunately, and would not be easily convinced to change and have to learn an entire new family of buggy software.
There are many days when I hate MS. Well most.

Some highly motivated Linux devotee should take on the challenge and demand for writing of a version of SSDR - though I see no way to pay for development and support - I see no business purpose for Flex to invest the six, or seven (?) figures it would probably take to develop a "bullet proof" Linux app. SSDR in my experience is extremely stable on W10 unless MS manages to foul it up. And Flex has, I think, a pretty deep institutional knowledge of W10 issues and fixes. They respond fast, and bend over backwards-that is their business decision.

I think everyone's gripe is rightly with MS and pretty much the same as we all have had for decades and I think we will into the future.

Rick Hadley - W0FG · July 2018

Agreed. I've been a Windoze users since V2.0, way back in the mid 80s, and in general have found W10 to be at least as stable as W7, and better than some of the old versions. (I did like XP) I did get bitten by the 1803 driver bug on one of my shack computers, and my wife's laptop (which knows nothing of SSDR and is only used for Quicken) actually was hit worse. My computers (and radios) here in the shack run 24/7, and I've found by setting the active hours to the maximum in Windows Update I've been able to prevent most unintended upgrades. When a major one comes along, I make sure that everything SSDR related is shut down before I let the computer restart and upgrade. I haven't had an issue since I began enforcing that policy. The driver issue with 1803 was a pain in the ****, but nothing that can't be solved with a bit of effort. As far as Linux goes; I've messed with it a bit, but at age 72, I'm too old to start over learning all the tricks of a new OS.

AA0KM · July 2018

All I can say if people buying a Flexradio then having to sell the radio because of windows 10 I don't see much of that happening.

At least not where I go looking for used gear.

I tell people if you get along with the aggravation of computers in general then

running a flexradio will should be really easy for them.

Upfront people need to understand the computer or tough enough to handle the aggravation of it all.

We all get aggravated but I would never turn someone away from the idea of a flexradio..;)

2$cts

WX7Y · July 2018

I think the hardest thing to port over for linux would be the DAX and CAT drivers

K5CG · July 2018

I still believe that DAX and CAT would be better decoupled from the SmartSDR installer/uninstaller and packaged separately. If you are uninstalling SmartSDR and you choose to keep the DAX/CAT drivers it leaves the CAT.exe exectutable in a subfolder under the OLD SmartSDR path, and it removes the DAX.exe executable altogether but not the drivers.
If DAX and CAT are not being changed in a new version, why have it entangled with SmartSDR at all? Yes, you'd have to watch for version compatibility if there is an update.

This doesn't fix the Windows update issue, but at least it isolates that particular issue to the DAX module only and you wouldn't need to touch SmartSDR trying to fix DAX.

Michael Coslo · July 2018

Hi Bill. We bought a loaded K3S and panadapter for the one recent radio. Bought the external speaker for it - that was a mistake. Replaced that external speaker with a Kenwood speaker. After Elecraft's new amplifier is out a while we'll buy one of those to go along with it. A good CW radio, but if you don't use it every day the button pushing for menus is easily forgotten.

Jeffrey - the rub is that I put my name on the line with our purchases. And in a club environment there are plenty of people with an idea of what is the "right radio" that if we have some contests and Windows does an update, kills the radio, and I'm not there to fix it pronto, they'll be looking to lynch me, because I didn't buy their favorite radio. Such is club politics.

Which is why I won't recommend a Signature series radio for them, despite them being my favorite radios. Windows just makes them unreliable. I can fix them quickly, but I can't be at the station 24/7.

At present, I am recommending the 6600M and the Power Genius after we see it's track record. Some others want an IC-7610, but thats a real step down, and a few want us to run exclusively K3S's, which won't happen either. We'll see how it all shakes out.

Michael Coslo · July 2018

I haven't had a driver issue with Linux since early Ubuntu came out. I even remember it - a audio driver for a Toshiba laptop around 2007. Present day Linux load the drivers as you install. Installing from live CD or Thumb drive with an internet connection and it will read your hardware and grab the drivers. I dare say the driver support is now better than Windows. An example is I was setting up a number of Mint boxes with USB to Serial adapters to run some radios via computer. Then since they were dual boot, I used the same adapter on the Windows side. No Joy, as it ended up that the adapter was an old USB to Serial that was first used on a Palm Pilot - Linux just went out and grabbed the drivers and installed them, and worked perfectly, but there was no drivers for Windows. I had to re-do everything with an adapter that Windows would work with.

Clay N9IO · July 2018

Same here Rick just not interested in the learning curve. I have had some Linux systems at work in the past and thankfully had good tech support to deal with it but as far as this thread goes to me it's a matter of either learning to tame the Win10 beast with better knowledge of housekeeping OR just run Win7 Pro like I do and sit back and read about everyone else's issues that leads me to the conclusion that I must have made the better decision (For me anyway.)

Almost forgot, I didn't start until W3.0 but I remember trying a new GUI program called Windows on my Commodore 64 and thinking to myself that this has got to be the dumbest **** idea I had ever heard of in my life.
So much for thinking... Ha...

DG1ROL · October 2018

Thanks Michael,
the dog park software is running fine on my mac since 2 years. I miss some functions and comfort. The iPad app is very fine. Do you have any idea to run the app on osx?

Craig Williams · October 2018

You do know your "M" is running Windows?

Windows Gremlins - Alternatives?

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