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Post by rogersch on Nov 1, 2014 14:04:19 GMT -5
Just for the heck of it and being the fact that I really hate Window 8.x, I decided to go back to Window 7 (64bit) and try the app again. It now runs on my Personal Laptop as well. I was also able to install the device drivers which I was unable to do using any of the compatibility modes under Windows 8 (64 Bit.) We will just have to wait for someone to try it using Windows 8 (32 bit), However, I can't imagine anyone actually having that installed as most systems that would require 32 bit won't run Windows 8. Not really an option for me. My HTPC is a Windows 8.1 box connected to the XMC via HDMI and USB. I have invested a great deal of effort to configure the HTPC to handle all my media serving needs, Movies, Recorded TV, Live TV etc. (MediaBrowser 3 btw, great app) & there's no way I'm moving backwards. The XMC plays very nicely with the PC via HDMI, but the USB fails to load both the latest C-Media Drivers & the new firmware install. No sense in knocking myself out to update the firmware if I can't even load the device drivers in Windows, though the manual claims they are Windows 8.1 compliant. Has anyone had success on 8.1? Thanks I received an XMC-1 with updated USB firmware. There installing the Windows driver worked automatically on my 8.1 laptop |
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Post by hifiaudio2 on Nov 1, 2014 15:27:06 GMT -5
Awesome! Thanks Keith! The XMC now works directly connected over USB to my Synology NAS and I can use the Synology app to control songs, etc. No separate computer required. This is exactly what I wanted.
The update procedure didn't go smoothly but finally worked. It "told" me that it worked multiple times but each time I plugged back in the usb I was still on revision 100 instead of 102. Just had to keep doing it.
I am using Win 7.
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Post by doc1963 on Nov 2, 2014 2:54:45 GMT -5
Well, that didn't go very well. Windows 8.1 64 Tried to run FWUpdate.exe and no response / GUI. Checked running process' and see RM5001 Update Tool (32 Bit), but no program display. Tried killing process - no go. Had to reboot machine to kill unresponsive process. Not good. Sorry. Yep… I can confirm this same IDENTICAL behavior from my Windows 8.1/64bit OS. For those who haven't attempted this update and have nothing other than "this" OS… Don't waste your time...!!!. What's worse is that the installer app for the drivers doesn't work in this OS either.…  The ONLY PC that I own that runs Windows 7 is my "big" desktop model that I reluctantly dragged out of the home office and downstairs to my audio rack (along with the monitor) and supplanted the "brand new" PC that wouldn't run the "brand new" USB firmware update. Now what's odd is that when I plugged my XMC-1 in (after getting the software updater to actually run) the software reported that I already had version "102" before I had done anything at all. Huh…  There's no friggin way my XMC-1 shipped with 102 because I've had it since the middle of August (not to mention that I couldn't get anything above 96k out of the USB port). So, did the "failed" attempts using Windows 8.1 actually do " something" unknown… The world will never know because I erased it and continued with the update anyway. Even using Windows 7, it took a couple of attempts for it to take, but I did get the USB firmware update eventually installed. Now, on to the "driver" updates (which must be installed on the PC you're actually using with the XMC-1)… No go there either. The installer gets nearly complete and ends in an "unknown error" every time stating "no changes were made". No matter how many reboots of the PC or XMC-1, plugs and unplugs of the USB cable, blah blah blah, blah blah blah…. Same result. FWIW, this PC is stripped down. There's nothing on it but JRiver and the Windows OS. No "bloatware", no AVS, no nothing…!!! In a last attempt, I ran the driver updater using the Windows 8.1 "Troubleshoot Compatibility" feature. The test ran the software to near completion (just as it did running it "normally") and then reported "Platform NOT Supported". This was using the installer from both the main folder and the "Windows 8.1" folder. Geez… what a Gawd awful PITA…!!! None of my UMC-xxx updates where quite as painful as this. Thankfully (or should I say "hopefully") this will be the ONLY update to the XMC-1 that will require anything like this. Come on guys (and this plea goes beyond the folks at Emotiva too)…. anyone that has purchased a PC in the last TWO YEARS has Windows 8.0 or 8.1 preinstalled (and most likely 64 bit). It isn't like " WE" have a choice in the matter (short of a custom order). The "call a buddy" suggestion doesn't cut it when the drivers need to be installed on YOUR PC. Make the damned installers work for ALL of us…!!! Sorry, but this whole Windows drama makes me want to simply pack up the brand spanking new JRiver based "PC" music server that I just put together and go back to my "tried and true" Mac Mini which, by the way, now recognizes the XMC-1's USB capabilities all the way out to 192k WITHOUT installing additional drivers. The Mac bashers can say whatever they want, but the damed things simply " just work"…..  Sorry fellas, I just had to vent a little. I feel better now…..  |
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Post by SticknStones on Nov 2, 2014 10:22:20 GMT -5
Well, that didn't go very well. Windows 8.1 64 Tried to run FWUpdate.exe and no response / GUI. Checked running process' and see RM5001 Update Tool (32 Bit), but no program display. Tried killing process - no go. Had to reboot machine to kill unresponsive process. Not good. Sorry. Yep… I can confirm this same IDENTICAL behavior from my Windows 8.1/64bit OS. For those who haven't attempted this update and have nothing other than "this" OS… Don't waste your time...!!!. What's worse is that the installer app for the drivers doesn't work in this OS either.… The ONLY PC that I own that runs Windows 7 is my "big" desktop model that I reluctantly dragged out of the home office and downstairs to my audio rack (along with the monitor) and supplanted the "brand new" PC that wouldn't run the "brand new" USB firmware update. Now what's odd is that when I plugged my XMC-1 in (after getting the software updater to actually run) the software reported that I already had version "102" before I had done anything at all. Huh… There's no friggin way my XMC-1 shipped with 102 because I've had it since the middle of August (not to mention that I couldn't get anything above 96k out of the USB port). So, did the "failed" attempts using Windows 8.1 actually do " something" unknown… The world will never know because I erased it and continued with the update anyway. Even using Windows 7, it took a couple of attempts for it to take, but I did get the USB firmware update eventually installed. Now, on to the "driver" updates (which must be installed on the PC you're actually using with the XMC-1)… No go there either. The installer gets nearly complete and ends in an "unknown error" every time stating "no changes were made". No matter how many reboots of the PC or XMC-1, plugs and unplugs of the USB cable, blah blah blah, blah blah blah…. Same result. FWIW, this PC is stripped down. There's nothing on it but JRiver and the Windows OS. No "bloatware", no AVS, no nothing…!!! In a last attempt, I ran the driver updater using the Windows 8.1 "Troubleshoot Compatibility" feature. The test ran the software to near completion (just as it did running it "normally") and then reported "Platform NOT Supported". This was using the installer from both the main folder and the "Windows 8.1" folder. Geez… what a Gawd awful PITA…!!! None of my UMC-xxx updates where quite as painful as this. Thankfully (or should I say "hopefully") this will be the ONLY update to the XMC-1 that will require anything like this. Come on guys (and this plea goes beyond the folks at Emotiva too)…. anyone that has purchased a PC in the last TWO YEARS has Windows 8.0 or 8.1 preinstalled (and most likely 64 bit). It isn't like " WE" have a choice in the matter (short of a custom order). The "call a buddy" suggestion doesn't cut it when the drivers need to be installed on YOUR PC. Make the damned installers work for ALL of us…!!! Sorry, but this whole Windows drama makes me want to simply pack up the brand spanking new JRiver based "PC" music server that I just put together and go back to my "tried and true" Mac Mini which, by the way, now recognizes the XMC-1's USB capabilities all the way out to 192k WITHOUT installing additional drivers. The Mac bashers can say whatever they want, but the damed things simply " just work"….. Sorry fellas, I just had to vent a little. I feel better now….. Where in Baltimore are you? I am in Southern Maryland and have win 7. |
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Post by multicore on Nov 2, 2014 12:07:47 GMT -5
I was going to use my new win 8.1 laptop, but based on what I read here I pulled out a 3 year old win 7 laptop.
It took 3 tries but I did get the FW to update (I had to un-plug and plug the cable to see if something changed each time).
Once the FW was updated, I left the win 7 laptop plugged into the XMC-1 and switched the XMC-1 to the USB input.
I then installed the driver w/o any issue. When the install completed it asked for a re-boot which I did.
After the re-boot, the XMC-1 was recognized, selected and sound was coming through the XMC-1.
Guess I was lucky, there isn't anything special about this laptop.
I am afraid to try installing the driver on my win 8.1 machine, but will give it a go later today.
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Post by JNieves on Nov 2, 2014 12:35:55 GMT -5
Score another failure for 8.1. Brought home a win 7 Pro laptop from the office and was initially unsuccessful with the update copied to the Desktop. At that point I tried running the update from the USB stick I used to transfer the program and was rewarded.
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Post by rogersch on Nov 2, 2014 13:52:34 GMT -5
I was going to use my new win 8.1 laptop, but based on what I read here I pulled out a 3 year old win 7 laptop. It took 3 tries but I did get the FW to update (I had to un-plug and plug the cable to see if something changed each time). Once the FW was updated, I left the win 7 laptop plugged into the XMC-1 and switched the XMC-1 to the USB input. I then installed the driver w/o any issue. When the install completed it asked for a re-boot which I did. After the re-boot, the XMC-1 was recognized, selected and sound was coming through the XMC-1. Guess I was lucky, there isn't anything special about this laptop. I am afraid to try installing the driver on my win 8.1 machine, but will give it a go later today. The correct driver was automatically installed on my win 8.1 laptop. |
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Post by djoel on Nov 2, 2014 14:41:02 GMT -5
So happy I went with window 7 for my HTPC..
DJoel
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Post by doc1963 on Nov 2, 2014 14:50:43 GMT -5
I was going to use my new win 8.1 laptop, but based on what I read here I pulled out a 3 year old win 7 laptop. It took 3 tries but I did get the FW to update (I had to un-plug and plug the cable to see if something changed each time). Once the FW was updated, I left the win 7 laptop plugged into the XMC-1 and switched the XMC-1 to the USB input. I then installed the driver w/o any issue. When the install completed it asked for a re-boot which I did. After the re-boot, the XMC-1 was recognized, selected and sound was coming through the XMC-1. Guess I was lucky, there isn't anything special about this laptop. I am afraid to try installing the driver on my win 8.1 machine, but will give it a go later today. The correct driver was automatically installed on my win 8.1 laptop. Automatically… But whose driver… C-Media or Microsoft? |
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Post by doc1963 on Nov 2, 2014 15:11:20 GMT -5
Where in Baltimore are you? I am in Southern Maryland and have win 7. Hey… Thanks for the kind offer SticknStones. I'm in Perry Hall, but I've got it covered. The USB "firmware" was updated using my desktop "tower" running Windows 7 (although not unlike the UMC updates, it took a couple of tries). As for the drivers, I reinstalled the older drivers from the XMC-1 product page (which the installer doesn't recognize the XMC-1 as a USB 2.0 device), plugged in my DC-1 (which it does) and used those again. JRiver is using a " CMedia AISO [WASAPI] (Direct Access)" driver which is working fine. However, there is also (now) a "S PDIF Out (2-XMC-1) [WASPI]" selection that wasn't there before. Maybe an artifact of the failed installation attempts? I dunno, but it seems to work too. Thanks for your offer of assistance though. It's greatly appreciated….. |
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Post by rogersch on Nov 2, 2014 16:39:25 GMT -5
The correct driver was automatically installed on my win 8.1 laptop. Automatically… But whose driver… C-Media or Microsoft? I just checked according to device manager: Supplier: Microsoft Date: 22-08-2013 Version: 6.3.9600.16384 It works great and I didn't feel the need to install a seperate driver. But if someone can explain that this driver is not so good as the C-Media than please let me know. |
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Post by rogersch on Nov 2, 2014 16:40:49 GMT -5
Where in Baltimore are you? I am in Southern Maryland and have win 7. Hey… Thanks for the kind offer SticknStones. I'm in Perry Hall, but I've got it covered. The USB "firmware" was updated using my desktop "tower" running Windows 7 (although not unlike the UMC updates, it took a couple of tries). As for the drivers, I reinstalled the older drivers from the XMC-1 product page (which the installer doesn't recognize the XMC-1 as a USB 2.0 device), plugged in my DC-1 (which it does) and used those again. JRiver is using a " CMedia AISO [WASAPI] (Direct Access)" driver which is working fine. However, there is also (now) a "S PDIF Out (2-XMC-1) [WASPI]" selection that wasn't there before. Maybe an artifact of the failed installation attempts? I dunno, but it seems to work too. Thanks for your offer of assistance though. It's greatly appreciated….. The SPDIF Out (XMC-1) is probably the microsoft driver. It works good in WASAPI mode in Foobar2000. |
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Post by multicore on Nov 2, 2014 18:07:46 GMT -5
I tried loading the driver on 2 different win 8.1 laptops with the same result: unknown error.
However, they both play audio through the XMC-1.
SPDIF Audio Out Driver: Microsoft 8/22/2013 version 6.3.9600.16384
Sound Controller: C-Media Inc. 7/21/2014 version 8.1.12.4
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KeithL
Administrator 
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Post by KeithL on Nov 2, 2014 23:14:43 GMT -5
Let me share some more information (and repeat some that's already included in the instructions - if you've downloaded them).
re THE UPDATER PROGRAM
1) This particular update MUST be installed directly to the C-Media CM6631a USB interface chip. Since the update can't be applied from the main processors in the XMC-1, it cannot be included in a normal XMC-1 firmware update. The reason for this limitation rests with the architecture of the chip itself, over which we have little control. C-Media, the company who makes the chip, has also chosen to only write an updater application that runs on Microsoft Windows computers. Once the USB Stream Input port on your XMC-1 is current, you will NOT need to update it again; this is a ONE TIME update.
2) As anyone running it is probably aware by now, Windows 8.1 is somewhat inconsistent in how it handles running programs not specifically written for it. I was able to run the updater program successfully on one computer running 64 bit Windows 8.0 and it worked the first time. On one 64 bit Windows 8.1 computer, the program loaded, but refused to "pop up" twice; on the third attempt, Windows offered to "set compatibility options", I agreed, and the program worked after that. (Windows gave no indication of what options it had "adjusted".) We've tested the updater more extensively on machines running 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows 7, and on one machine running a 32 bit version of Windows XP, and it worked on all of them.
3) IMPORTANT NOTE. I forgot to mention in the directions that you will probably need to REBOOT YOUR XMC-1 after applying the update (this will be added to the release version of the instructions).
re INSTALLING THE DRIVERS
1) The driver was written by C-Media (the folks who supply the high-performance USB interface chip we use). The driver was provided to us by their distributor; we tested it to make sure it works, and we're passing it on to you. Since we are not a software developer, we've tested it on a selection of the computers we have, to confirm that it works as it should, but we can't possibly test it on every computer, with every possibly combination of hardware and software on it.
2) In our testing, the driver installed smoothly on several Windows 7 machines (32 bit and 64 bit) with no errors. It also installed on our Windows XP test machine, with no problems, and worked as it should. (Windows XP itself doesn't support WASAPI, so your player configuration options in Windows XP itself are somewhat limited, but that isn't because of the drivers.)
3) The driver installed correctly on our Windows 8.0 machine. When I tried to install it on our Windows 8.1 test machine, I received the error someone else mentioned (an "unspecified error" with an odd error number). However, even though the installer reported an error, the driver installed correctly and worked properly after being installed. (The driver was NOT present before the install, and worked properly after, so clearly the install worked and the error report is in error.) When I later tried installing the driver on another Windows 8.1 machine, it installed perfectly with no errors. Windows 8.1 is subject to frequent updates, and has several different security options, which can affect how drivers work with it. Even though you might get odd errors during the install process, the driver itself seems to work well.
ABOUT DRIVERS
* The operating system on all modern Apple computers includes drivers for both UAC1 and UAC2, so the XMC-1 will work with Apple computers, without any additional drivers, with both the OLD and CURRENT USB firmware. (With the old firmware, sample rates up to 24/96 will be supported; with the current firmware, the XMC-1 will support sample rates up to and including 24/192l; both with no additional drivers on the computer.)
* Current versions of the Windows operating system include drivers for UAC1, but NOT for UAC2. Because of this, with the OLD USB firmware, the XMC-1 may support sample rates up to 24/96 with the default Windows driver. With the CURRENT USB firmware, the XMC-1 will REQUIRE you to install our driver, but will support all sample rates up to and including 24/192. (This is the way the XMC-1 was designed to operate.)
* We don't have any additional drivers for other operating systems. Some Linux distributions have internal driver support for both UAC1 and UAC2, while others support only UAC1, or neither. To work with the current version of the XMC-1's USB firmware, any device (like an NAS) that runs Linux must have drivers that support UAC2 using the C-Media CM6631a chip. (Even though UAC2 is a standard, not all UAC2 drivers work with all interface chips; to work with the XMC-1, a driver must specifically support UAC2 with the C-Media CM6631a chip. Most drivers that support the less advanced CM6631 chip also support the newer "a" version, but not all.)
A PERSONAL NOTE
If you're setting up a machine to play music on, I personally recommend Windows 7.
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KeithL
Administrator
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Post by KeithL on Nov 2, 2014 23:19:38 GMT -5
I mentioned this in my other (longer) post, but it rates a direct answer. Apparently that odd error is something going on with the installer, and not with the drivers; the drivers themselves install as they should and work perfectly.  The newer drivers will install with the XMC-1 connected, and bring back support for both WASAPI EVENT and WASAPI PUSH. (Other than that, I very much doubt that the new drivers will sound any different than the previous ones. Where in Baltimore are you? I am in Southern Maryland and have win 7. Hey… Thanks for the kind offer SticknStones. I'm in Perry Hall, but I've got it covered. The USB "firmware" was updated using my desktop "tower" running Windows 7 (although not unlike the UMC updates, it took a couple of tries). As for the drivers, I reinstalled the older drivers from the XMC-1 product page (which the installer doesn't recognize the XMC-1 as a USB 2.0 device), plugged in my DC-1 (which it does) and used those again. JRiver is using a " CMedia AISO [WASAPI] (Direct Access)" driver which is working fine. However, there is also (now) a "S PDIF Out (2-XMC-1) [WASPI]" selection that wasn't there before. Maybe an artifact of the failed installation attempts? I dunno, but it seems to work too. Thanks for your offer of assistance though. It's greatly appreciated….. |
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Post by DellaDog on Nov 3, 2014 13:22:33 GMT -5
Let me share some more information (and repeat some that's already included in the instructions - if you've downloaded them).
A PERSONAL NOTE
If you're setting up a machine to play music on, I personally recommend Windows 7.
While you're certainly entitled to your personal opinion, the driver package (at least) and preferably the firmware update software as well, should support the latest generation of Windows. You don't really expect Windows 8 HTPC users to downgrade their operating system to accommodate the XMC-1 USB drivers, do you? |
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Post by LuisV on Nov 3, 2014 13:32:44 GMT -5
From Keith's remarks above, we should be pleading / complaining to C-Media to provide the drivers and installer for Windows 8 as well as OS X as they are the owners of those pieces and not Emotiva. Right?
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Post by TheTerrorBeyond on Nov 3, 2014 14:15:20 GMT -5
I was able to get the firmware installed, but it was a tremendous pain. The .exe file would never display a window at all when I tried to do the update from a Windows 7 computer. The window would not come up at all on a Windows 8 computer for the first 8 or so times I tried to run it, then it couldn't find the firmware file. In addition, I had to extract to the hard drive in order to get the file to run at all, as it would never display a window when the USB drive was connected to the computer. Removing the drive made the installer pop up.
I was finally able to get the firmware to load and I am now streaming music from my Synology DS1513+ without issue.
I sincerely wish that the installer worked on a Mac, as I use my Mac 99.9% of the time.
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Post by SticknStones on Nov 3, 2014 14:59:49 GMT -5
I had been using the XDA/XMC combination to stream but decided to upgreade the USB firmware on the USB and try it. The upgrade went just fine but I needed a little help from Keith as I could not get any sound out. He helped me trouble-shoot and do the test tones out plus reinstall the wasapi aware driver. For some reason on the Levels tab from the control panel was on MUTE and once that was modified I have a real nice result coming from the USB Stream direct form XMC. I do not think I need the XDA now but will keep it for a while. Thanks Keith and I really appreciate your patience to help me along and talk it through! Have a great day everyone! |
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Post by ÈlTwo on Nov 3, 2014 15:27:01 GMT -5
I'm surprised that for a chip on a Linux box there isn't a Linux program to perform this USB firmware upgrade.
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There's no friggin way my XMC-1 shipped with 102 because I've had it since the middle of August (not to mention that I couldn't get anything above 96k out of the USB port). So, did the "failed" attempts using Windows 8.1 actually do "something" unknown…
