Spectrum Analyzer won’t run on Win10

[brianrpageParticipant]

Alas! I have the same issue on Windows 10 with separate C: and D: drives. I tried all the above actions plus about a dozen other things. I ran Sysinternals Process Monitor and see no attempt to read/write to my Documents folders (which remains on C:, the same drive where I installed Spectrum Analyzer in the default Program Files (x86) folder). Interestingly, ProcMon shows PATH NOT FOUND attempting to access Spectrum Monitors own installation folder.

This is particularly disappointing since I purchased the RSPdx primarily for the spectrum analyzer capability. Hopefully the next release will function better under Windows.

[Steve AndrewParticipant]

Hi Brian

There are many users running the analyser with windows version ranging from WinXT up to Win10 without any problems. On the odd occasion where a failure to start was reported then the problem was usually traced to either not removing files and folders from a previous version, or problems with permission settings.

If you can provide me with some information, I might be able to help you. I assume you have uninstalled everything, including Uno, removed the API, and removed any folders in your documents folder and then installed the analyser and the API.

When trying to run the analyser, is there any sort of error message displayed ? – Are any folders created in your documents folder ?

Best regards

Steve

[brianrpageParticipant]

Hi Steve,

The message I get is the same as others reported above: “The SDRplay API DLL was not found – Have you installed it?” I have not separately installed the API, following the installation instructions that say a separate install is not needed if SDRuno is already installed. This is all a fresh installation on a plain vanilla Windows 10 that is completely up-to-date with all Microsoft maintenance. There were no previous installations to remove. The installation process did not create any folders or files in the Documents folder. I’m not running any third-party AV. The PROCMON trace shows pretty clearly that the exe is unable to access its own installation folder. That would seem to me to indicate a permissions problem when the C:\Program Files (x86)\Andrew Developments folder was created. Interestingly, the Properties of that folder indicate that it is RO. I have set it to Full Control for ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES, CREATOR OWNER, Users (DESKTOP-UA36K5P\Users), and the folder nevertheless resists all efforts to remove the RO flag in Properties. SDRuno works wonderfully. Window indicates the SDRplay folder is also flagged RO. I haven’t researched this but I suspect this is a Windows security thing as a common attack vector is to plop a malware DLL in a folder, giving it the name of a legit DLL that infects a system when the legit app calls what it thinks is its own DLL. Marking RO give the OS a chance to control access.

I greatly appreciate your assistance with this issue.
Thanks!

[brianrpageParticipant]

Hi Steve,

I also noticed that RSP-Spectrum Analyzer.exe is not signed, unlike sdrplay_apiService.exe. I’m not surprised that we may be running afoul of Windows security.
Thanks!
bp

[Steve AndrewParticipant]

Hi Brian

Previous version of the analyser included API installation. The current release, V1.1 does not as SDRplay were trialing V3.07 with the new version of Uno and there were compatibility issues between to two versions. You will need to download and install the API driver. This link to a previous topic in this forum shows you what has to be done.

spectrum analyser 1.1 – api?

Let me know how it goes.

Best regards

Steve

[brianrpageParticipant]

Hi Steve,

You’re the greatest! Everything works now and I am quite happy with my SDRdx. You might, however, encourage SDRplay to update their web site as it says in two places: “SPECTRUM ANALYSER – V1.1 (18TH MAY 2020) (All RSPs – single tuner only) Requires API3 or Latest SDRuno to be installed” and on the next page, “PLEASE NOTE: API 3 IS REQUIRED FOR THE SPECTRUM ANALYSER. IF YOU ALREADY HAVE THE LATEST SDRuno INSTALLED, OR HAVE ALREADY INSTALLED API3 FOR ANOTHER APPLICATION, THIS WILL WORK. OTHERWISE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD API V3 FROM HERE.”

That would have saved us both a bit of bother…

Thanks!
Brian

[Dave HowardParticipant]

My problem sounds similar, but happened overnight. The SA was working fine one day but wouldn’t start the next. The status bar at the top says “RSP-SAS Spectrum Analyzer not responding” shortly after I click the Start button. No other notices appear. If I close the application and bring up SDRuno (V1.40.2), everything works fine. System details are as follows: SDR- RSP-1A; OS- Windows10 Ver 2004, Cumulative update 2020-12 (KB4592438) installed 12/26/2020; SA software- RSP Spectrum Analyzer V1.1 installed 12/27/2020; failure noted- 1/3/2021; PC- Microsoft Surface Laptop (1st version). Both the PC and the SDR antenna are left unplugged when not in use. No other external devices are connected. I had run the SA on 2-3 different days without noticing a problem before this problem occurred. Since then nothing I have tried has made any difference. I’m looking forward to adding a tracking generator next, but I can’t find my way past this roadblock. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Dave W5USS

[Steve AndrewParticipant]

Hi Dave

The only thing I can think of that may cause the analyser to lock at startup is that the RSP PPM trim setting was set to a non-zero value. This is a known bug. You can delete the CurrentSettings.ini and Default.ini files and then try re-starting the analyser. This will cause new files to be generated that include the PPM offset being zero.

In the meantime, an updated version of the analyser is ready for release as soon as I can get the user manual updates finished. The various bug fixes in the upcoming release may stop your problem. The tracking generator system has been completely re-done and now works.

Best regards

Steve

[Dave HowardParticipant]

Thanks Steve!

You hit the nail squarely on the head. Now I can proceed to explore your delightful creation. Where will the new program version be announced?

Dave W5USS

[Author]

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