Serious installing problem

Eddiorov · Jan 21, 2006, 10:15 PM

first to say: this ain't no newbie mistake (at least i hope so)

when i try to install kx, the installer detects one of my soundcards (live! + audigy 2 zs), then it tries to install the drivers, but somewhere in the middle a window pops up, saying "Invalid handler" (title is "CONFIG_READWORD"), if i click it away, another comes up, and another and another... after some of them either my system fully freezes, or (i somehow managed to prevent crashing) it then says it is installes properly, same thing goes with all the other cl devices it tries to install.
In every case my system does not reboot after that procedure, i first have to remove the cards, or at least change their slots to get my system booting again!
The strange thing is that it worked so many times before! the thing with those messages started when i installed those two cards togehter the first time, it ended in an unstable system which was not able to play sound while i was moving a slider in kx mixer. It helped to fully remove the drivers and reinstall them, it worked fine! but now the same thing ends in the problem with popups and freezes mentioned above

Is there anyone who knows anything i could do to get those cards working again?

Russ · Jan 21, 2006, 11:20 PM

To start with, what OS are you using, and what version of kX are you trying to install?

Russ · Jan 22, 2006, 12:17 AM

In any case, it sounds like you probably have a bunch of crap left over from previous installations that did not get removed completely. Boot into safe mode. Go into Device Manager and remove any listed Sound Cards and any phantom devices. Use DriverCleaner to remove any Creative driver remnants, and the kX driver. Reboot, and try the installation again.

Eddiorov · Jan 22, 2006, 09:39 AM

Uh.... sorry forgot to say, i use winXP prof, and i want to install 3537, alright i will have a try with driver cleaner

*edit*
tried save mode.... does not boot into savemode

*edit again*
booted into save mode at last, i had to remove one of the cards
i used driver cleaner, it deletes all the files it is supposed to, but it somehow can not delete those registry entries, and manually this aint possible too

("error while deleting key")

Russ · Jan 22, 2006, 01:57 PM

Make sure you also check Device Manager for phantom devices and remove any that you find.

Make sure you are logged on as an Administrator.
If you still cannot delete the registry keys as an Administrator, than it sounds like something messed up the Registry permissions.
Find the keys that could not be deleted, right click on them and choose permissions. Make sure that at least Administrators and System have Full Control. If your Registry permissions are messed up than that can cause many problems. The best bet in this case is to reinstall Windows (probably a clean install), as it would be difficult to set the correct permissions for every key in the registry manually, but as a workaround, you could find all the root keys (HKCU, HKLM, etc) and modify the permissions there and then apply it to all sub keys (although that would really not be recomended).

Then try DriverCleaner again and see if it works this time.

Russ · Jan 22, 2006, 04:36 PM

BTW: Another thing you might want to do is to remove the info about previously installed hardware.

i.e.
Force Device Manager to show non-present devices.
(this is supposed to be able to be done from the command prompt, but that does not work for me for some reason, so I use an Environment variable to do it).
Add the following environment variable:
DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES
Set it's value to 1.

Open Device Manager and choose to View Hidden Devices.
Go through all the device categories looking for any that are greyed out (and if you go into the properties of these greyed out devices it will show: "Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer.").

I would remove any greyed out entries for hardware that is no longer in your system (leave any removeable devices that may not be attached to the system currently, but you do use). Use this option with care (maybe skip ones that you are not sure about). I have not had problems with removing all greyed out entries, but if you are unsure about any, then just leave it. Also, some devices will come back after removing them (i.e. some of the MS entries under Sound, Video, and Game controllers, so you may just want to skip those one's).

You may be surprised to see how much crap is still in there.
See this link for more info.

Eddiorov · Jan 22, 2006, 05:59 PM

i finally managed to get around that problem with the popups (removed anything my system knew about soundcards connected)
everything works fine now as long as i do not install drivers for the live!, the moment i reboot after installing my pc freezes the windows bootscreen bar, i dont hope so but i think i somehoe killed my live! =(

Russ · Jan 22, 2006, 06:23 PM

Try the Live card in another system (if possibe) to try and determine if there is a problem with the card itself.
It is possible that you have an IRQ conflict. Have you tried using different PCI slots?
You might need to use a standard pc (non ACPI) configuration if it turns out to be an IRQ problem that you cannot resolve.

Eddiorov · Jan 22, 2006, 06:41 PM

hmmmm i already had it working that way they were connected, but i swapped and moved them around, i dont think thats the problem, i'll try with another system tomorrow, its too late today

Jan 21, 2006, 10:15 PM	#1
Eddiorov DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: /germany/bremen/home Posts: 19 Rep Power: 0	Serious installing problem first to say: this ain't no newbie mistake (at least i hope so) when i try to install kx, the installer detects one of my soundcards (live! + audigy 2 zs), then it tries to install the drivers, but somewhere in the middle a window pops up, saying "Invalid handler" (title is "CONFIG_READWORD"), if i click it away, another comes up, and another and another... after some of them either my system fully freezes, or (i somehow managed to prevent crashing) it then says it is installes properly, same thing goes with all the other cl devices it tries to install. In every case my system does not reboot after that procedure, i first have to remove the cards, or at least change their slots to get my system booting again! The strange thing is that it worked so many times before! the thing with those messages started when i installed those two cards togehter the first time, it ended in an unstable system which was not able to play sound while i was moving a slider in kx mixer. It helped to fully remove the drivers and reinstall them, it worked fine! but now the same thing ends in the problem with popups and freezes mentioned above Is there anyone who knows anything i could do to get those cards working again? __________________ "Hail to thy McDonald's that shalt be (Burger) King instead" Last edited by Eddiorov; Jan 21, 2006 at 10:26 PM.

Jan 22, 2006, 09:39 AM	Thread Starter #4
Eddiorov DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: /germany/bremen/home Posts: 19 Rep Power: 0	Uh.... sorry forgot to say, i use winXP prof, and i want to install 3537, alright i will have a try with driver cleaner edit tried save mode.... does not boot into savemode edit again booted into save mode at last, i had to remove one of the cards i used driver cleaner, it deletes all the files it is supposed to, but it somehow can not delete those registry entries, and manually this aint possible too ("error while deleting key") __________________ "Hail to thy McDonald's that shalt be (Burger) King instead" Last edited by Eddiorov; Jan 22, 2006 at 10:13 AM.

Jan 22, 2006, 04:36 PM	#6
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	BTW: Another thing you might want to do is to remove the info about previously installed hardware. i.e. Force Device Manager to show non-present devices. (this is supposed to be able to be done from the command prompt, but that does not work for me for some reason, so I use an Environment variable to do it). Add the following environment variable: DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES Set it's value to 1. Open Device Manager and choose to View Hidden Devices. Go through all the device categories looking for any that are greyed out (and if you go into the properties of these greyed out devices it will show: "Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer."). I would remove any greyed out entries for hardware that is no longer in your system (leave any removeable devices that may not be attached to the system currently, but you do use). Use this option with care (maybe skip ones that you are not sure about). I have not had problems with removing all greyed out entries, but if you are unsure about any, then just leave it. Also, some devices will come back after removing them (i.e. some of the MS entries under Sound, Video, and Game controllers, so you may just want to skip those one's). You may be surprised to see how much crap is still in there. See this link for more info. Last edited by Russ; Jan 22, 2006 at 05:16 PM.

Jan 22, 2006, 05:59 PM	Thread Starter #7
Eddiorov DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: /germany/bremen/home Posts: 19 Rep Power: 0	i finally managed to get around that problem with the popups (removed anything my system knew about soundcards connected) everything works fine now as long as i do not install drivers for the live!, the moment i reboot after installing my pc freezes the windows bootscreen bar, i dont hope so but i think i somehoe killed my live! =( __________________ "Hail to thy McDonald's that shalt be (Burger) King instead"

Jan 22, 2006, 06:23 PM	#8
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	Try the Live card in another system (if possibe) to try and determine if there is a problem with the card itself. It is possible that you have an IRQ conflict. Have you tried using different PCI slots? You might need to use a standard pc (non ACPI) configuration if it turns out to be an IRQ problem that you cannot resolve. Last edited by Russ; Jan 22, 2006 at 06:32 PM.

Jan 21, 2006, 11:20 PM	#2
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	To start with, what OS are you using, and what version of kX are you trying to install?

Jan 22, 2006, 12:17 AM	#3
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	In any case, it sounds like you probably have a bunch of crap left over from previous installations that did not get removed completely. Boot into safe mode. Go into Device Manager and remove any listed Sound Cards and any phantom devices. Use DriverCleaner to remove any Creative driver remnants, and the kX driver. Reboot, and try the installation again.

Jan 22, 2006, 01:57 PM	#5
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	Make sure you also check Device Manager for phantom devices and remove any that you find. Make sure you are logged on as an Administrator. If you still cannot delete the registry keys as an Administrator, than it sounds like something messed up the Registry permissions. Find the keys that could not be deleted, right click on them and choose permissions. Make sure that at least Administrators and System have Full Control. If your Registry permissions are messed up than that can cause many problems. The best bet in this case is to reinstall Windows (probably a clean install), as it would be difficult to set the correct permissions for every key in the registry manually, but as a workaround, you could find all the root keys (HKCU, HKLM, etc) and modify the permissions there and then apply it to all sub keys (although that would really not be recomended). Then try DriverCleaner again and see if it works this time.

Jan 22, 2006, 06:41 PM	Thread Starter #9
Eddiorov DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: /germany/bremen/home Posts: 19 Rep Power: 0	hmmmm i already had it working that way they were connected, but i swapped and moved them around, i dont think thats the problem, i'll try with another system tomorrow, its too late today __________________ "Hail to thy McDonald's that shalt be (Burger) King instead"