Quick Tip: NVIDIA "Device Not Found" Issues Possibly Fixed In Latest Driver Update [Notification]

Recently, I have been running into an issue I hadn't seen since I last owned an NVIDIA videocard** - a "Device Not Found" error. Thankfully, this problem may be seen even less now, as a recent NVIDIA Video Driver Update, released just now, may fix this issue. If you have been running into a "Device Not Found" error, or the possibly-related "No DirectX 10 or 11 adapter or runtime found" error - with an NVIDIA GPU - grab the Driver Update and see if it makes a difference for you!



I've had a few of these occur the past while, although moreso the last time I owned an NVIDIA videocard**, this 'old issue' popping up again only recently, with GTAV (Grand Theft Auto 5: "No DirectX 10 or 11 adapter or runtime found") and off/on with Playclaw [doing some testing with it for a future 'comparison/shootout' of various game recording programs, I was running into "cannot start encoder for empty frame" and "device not found" errors]. To be fair, AMD GPU's also have similar issues [such as, one which states "The Device Has Restarted", usually after a game/screen 'freezing up' on your for a few seconds]. With NVIDIA releasing an Update today, that stated in the ChangeLog/PatchNotes that an issue of this type has now been 'fixed', hopefully we'll be seeing these errors even less:

The NVIDIA Driver Patch Notes, stating an issue has been fixed that may directly solve these problems.
Click to see Full Size

The actual 'fix' states that the "Driver may get removed after the PC has been left idle for an extended period of time". I say that this may be related to the issue(s) stated above, because I found that after leaving the system on all night, going to play a game the next day, I would often run into these issues/errors (moreso than if I had been continually using the system). These errors would pop up even if I had the GPU Power Saving settings on "High Performance" or "Always On" [I live in an apartment where electricity is included in the price of the rent, so I don't mind leaving the system on 'all night' to perform tasks (backups, video compression, etc)]. A simple Restart usually 'fixes' everything, no errors come up after that, no "Device Has Been Removed" or anything - that is, until I leave the system on 'all night' again... Then these types of errors show up, once I try to utilize the system in the morning. So, hopefully this latest Driver Update from NVIDIA solves, or at least reduces, these types of errors.

Example of one of the errors this Driver Update may possibly fix: "No DirectX 10 or 11 adapter or runtime found"
(Experienced with an NVIDIA GPU while trying to play/startup GTAV after not touching the PC for a long time, shown Full Size)

If you are running Windows 10 and an NVIDIA GPU, be sure to grab this latest Driver and see if it helps reduce their occurrence for you - I'll try to return to this post and let you know if it does/doesn't for me, too. GL!



[Note: I apologize, but I have misplaced/lost a few Example Screenshots of the errors stated herein. Ones showing the "Device Not Found/Ready" or "No DX3D Device Found" or "d3d11: failed to create device" and similar errors, all of which I have run into when trying to use the system after not interacting with it for a while, and took Screenshots of. I will continue to look for these as I can, and once I find them, I will add them into this posting.]




** Disclaimer and Personal Veracity Statement: Although I currently own an NVIDIA GPU, I have owned both AMD GPUs and NVIDIA GPUs in the past, and will do so in the future. I have no personal preference between the two, purchasing one or the other as Upgrades depending on my needs at the time and my financial limitations at the time I need to Upgrade. I have not, and will not, receive any compensation for mentioning either companies' products herein. I am merely an enthusiastic user (of both) and try to share helpful information about them, as I can.

The Elder Scrolls Online - "PatchManifestError" In TESO Launcher [Workaround]

[Text-Only - This post is initially Text-Only, to allow posting this as fast as possible, to help others.
I may return and add additional graphics/screenshots pertaining to the article... Soon™]

Just now, I ran into an issue starting up TESO, where the Launcher gave an error message - oddly, it was slightly different than the message my Gamer Wife beside me got - one of us got "Error 210" while the other got "Error 206". Here is an example of what the Error Message within the TESO Client Launcher looks like:

Popping into the Steam forum and the Official Bethesda/Zenimax Forum for the game, I saw a number of people mentioning they are getting this too, just today, like me. So, I wanted to come here and post a 'quick fix' that can get past the error message and allow fellow gamers, like me, to be able to play the game as quickly as right now, tonight [actually it's more of a 'workaround' than a true 'fix', as it doesn't solve whatever issue is happening with the Launcher/Client/Servers... I will post this as a "Workaround"].

Similar to an earlier issue with the TESO Launcher I talked about here at The Blog, the 'workaround' involves bypassing the Launcher itself and starting up the game manually via the Executable files... The instructions to do this are below.


For the Steam Version of TESO:

• Open Steam
• Right-Click on TESO in the Library and choose Properties
• Click on the "Local Files" tab
• Click on the "Browse Local Files" button to show the directory/folder of the game
• Navigate into THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE > GAME > CLIENT folder
• Double-Click on "eso64.exe" to launch the game (or "eso.exe" if running 32-bit Windows/Game

For the Standalone Version of TESO:

• Right-Click on the Shortcut (the icon that runs the game) on the Desktop (or in the Start Menu) for TESO and choose Properties
• Click on the "Open File Location" button in the Properties of the game shortcut
• You should find yourself in a Windows Explorer windows, looking at the "Launcher" folder of Zenimax Online
• Go up one folder level to "Zenimax Online" (click on the Zenimax Online folder in Explorer)
• Navigate into THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE > GAME > CLIENT folder
• Double-Click on "eso64.exe" to launch the game (or "eso.exe" if running 32-bit Windows/Game)

That's it! Now the game should start up and you will just have to Login within the game itself.

Unfortunately, I do not know what has caused this error, and I have not seen any Official Postings by Bethesda/Zenimax to explain it, as of the time of this writing. Although it appears to be some sort of Server/Launcher error, I cannot say specifically at this time. However, having testing this Workaround on different machines and with both the Steam Version of TESO and the Standalone/Web version of TESO, I can safely say that this should work for you, fellow gamer.

Hopefully that helps - and See You In The Game!

It's Not Just You™ - HumbleBundle 'Vegas Pro, Discover Creative Freedom' Installer/Registration Not Working [Notification]

For the next two weeks (13 Days, according to the Countdown at the HumbleBundle Website, starting today) there is a fantastic offer for Video Editors, Music Composers, Web Developers and more - over $900 worth of Software, including Sony's Vegas Pro [the Vegas Editing Product Line was bought out by MAGIX, a German software company that has produced it's own editing software for years, popular for their "Music Maker" and "Movie Edit Pro" lines]. So what's the issue? Well, this Bundle is so darn popular, many parts of it aren't working/responding, at this time. For example, if you run into the Installer 'starting but just closing/crashing' or the store or program 'not registering' or the 'website is down'... just letting you know... It's Not Just You™

Part of the reason why this Bundle is so popular (although many HumbleBundles are quite popular at different times), is because one of the main pieces of Software offered is Vegas Pro Edit, originally by Sony. This video editing software is a Premium Version ("high end") of this program, normally being sold at around $400. Along with other great products, such as Magix Music Maker, Xara's Photo and Graphic Designer, Xara's Web Designer, Photo Story Deluxe and more - it's easy to see why this Bundle is so popular, for all kinds of content creators and producers. Indeed, if you are into (or trying to get into) making music, editing video, or web design, at all; I highly recommend picking up this fantastic bundle of software, if you can. The link/URL to the HumbleBundle directly, is here:

https://www.humblebundle.com/software/vegas-pro-creative-freedom

For those unfamiliar with HumbleBundle, it is a retail site that offers a mix of software, books and games, connected to and donating a portion to, a customer's chosen Charity. For example, my account is connected to Extra Life, the 'Gaming Marathon' Fund Raising charity that I try to play for every November, on behalf of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Because I attached this Charity to my Account, any purchases I make will contribute a portion to my charity. One of the greatest things about HumbleBundle however, is that the products - although one is not able to choose which products to buy specifically - are usually offered in 'portions' or 'packs' for any amount that you can afford to pay (as low as $1 up to whatever you can pay for the software company/charity/etc); and the more you can pay/donate, the more software/books/games/etc you will get. Since 2010, these 'Pay What You Want' Bundles (for Windows, Mac and Linux) have become quite popular over time.

The issue that has arisen this time then, is that the Bundle is so popular, that the server for the Installer has become Unresponsive ("not working"). Even the Website for the Retail/Vendor/Developer itself has become Unresponsive, giving this Error Message [to me] seen below (from Chrome):

As also sometimes happens with the most popular HumbleBundles, some people are experiencing very slow Downloading of their purchased products (as in 256kBps or less). Others are experiencing the Installer for the products stops functioning. This is what I personally am experiencing too (the Installer seems to startup, but then 'crashes' (or at least disappears) and is unable to continue. After one random attempt, I got a message stating that the Installer actually tried to Download the Installation Files but could not properly communicate with their servers. The message that came up [for me] can be seen below:

Trying another time later on, I did see the Installer for the 'MAGIX Music Maker 80's Version' pop up and start Downloading, which was nice to see; however the overall download speed was pretty slow [understandably] at about 300kBps.

If I may make a Suggestion then - if you are running into any of the issues above, at this time: my suggestion would be, to definitely pick up the Bundle if you can [Note: You have to purchase the Bundle for at least $20 to get Vegas Pro] - then wait a while before you attempt to install anything. According to the MAGIX website, you can access your purchase (to install it) anytime after buying it, from now until September 2018 [Note: A free Magix account must be created if you do not already have one]. So, there is no rush, once you purchase it, to get the Installation Files from MAGIX. I also recommend backing up your Installation Files, once Downloaded, onto a USB drive, External Drive or even Optical Disc - anything that can back up your purchase for future re-installation, if needed (at least, until you buy a newer version of any applications you like..).

By the way, a quick note about Vegas Pro 'Edit Version' (about a 450MB download) - for those wondering about the difference between the Vegas Movie Studio versions and the Vegas Pro versions (and what the 'Edit' identifier means), here is a short summary of the differences:

• the Movie Studio versions of the editor are an easier-to-use, scaled-down version of the Vegas editor, with still many features, allowing up to 200 Tracks of Events (clips/media) - increased from 20 Tracks recently! It just lacks many of the advanced features of the Pro versions (such as the  'NewBlueFX Titler' [professional version], Bézier Tool Masking ("any shape"), et.al). The Movie Studio version comparisons can be found here:
  
  http://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-movie-studio/product-comparison/#productMenu
  
• the Vegas Pro 'Edit version' of the editor costs less than the other Pro(fessional) versions, as it is missing the DVD/Blu-Ray authoring package, as well as some advanced filters and creation utilities (such as the Boris FX media generators, et.al) - it is still a 'full featured' Professional-level Video Editing program however, allowing Unlimited Tracks, full 4K Support, Bézier Tool Masking ("any shape"), includes the 'NewBlueFX Titler' [professional version] and much, much more. The Pro version comparisons can be found here:
  
  http://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-pro/product-comparison/#productMenu

[Note that the links above will show the most recent versions of the programs, but the comparisons themselves (the effects and capabilities of each) will remain similar, despite the edition versions changing over time]

Here is a capture of the Vegas Pro 'Edit version' comparison, for the 14th edition [CAD prices, sorry]:

Although the Vegas line of editing products have always had a bit of a learning curve due to their more advanced capabilities (Sony used to give out a DVD with some introductory courses for it; I am privileged to say I have one of these), MAGIX has created a few tutorials of their own, which can be found at the MAGIX Vegas Pro Tutorials website, here:

http://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-pro/online-tutorials/

So, try not to let it bother you 'too much', if you have run into any of these issues (downloading, installing, registering, etc). Just wait a little while longer and try doing it again, in the near future. For now, don't worry - It's Not Just You™...

Good Luck with it - and Have Fun!

[Note: I am not affiliated with Sony, MAGIX or HumbleBundle in any way, and I will not receive any compensation for mentioning them here - I am merely an enthusiastic user of their products and wanted to share what I felt was helpful information/notification. I have used other video editing programs in the past (such as PowerDirector, Nero Vision and Windows Movie Maker and some free video editors, such as Avidemux, DVD Soft's FreeVideoEditor and VirtualDub) and will still use them when desired in the future]

Addendum:

During the time it took for me to compile this posting, I was able to try again and began Downloading then eventually Installing Vegas Pro [Edit version] - and it is going smoothly still - however, Downloading of the various applications in the Bundle are still quite slow. 

If you do not mind that, dear reader, go ahead and try again now; otherwise, as in my Suggestion, perhaps wait a while (as in days) before attempting to have a fast/smooth installation of these popular applications. 

Battlefield 1 - DirectX Error "GetDeviceRemovedReason" [Workaround]

At first, because of the phrasing of the error, I thought it might be Hardware, namely my GPU (Graphics Processing Unit, the Videocard); but since that was working fine with literally, all other games - playing in longer gaming sessions even [and I know for sure that I wasn't actually physically pulling out my videocard while playing ...I think] - I omitted that possibility (for now) and focused on a potential Software approach, which meant checking configuration...

Looking at the Settings for the game then, I tried reducing everything down to the Lowest Possible Settings; to reduce the load on the GPU and the load in the processing of the game itself. (With lowered settings, there would be less data being streamed from the game, less being extracted from the compressed/encrypted files of the game, less being calculated and drawn, less everything). If there was a problem with how game data was being handled, this might being it to light [note: an issue with integrity of the files would not be detected this way, this is more of a data handling troubleshooting step; integrity of the game files can usually be checked/verified with a Repair/Verify through the game client or if that doesn't help, a Reinstall of the game usually assures accurate game files (barring Drive/RAM file handling (Hardware) issues - which is another tangent/issue altogether, heh) - screenshot of where to run a Repair/Verify of the game files for BF1, below].

Example of the Location of where to Repair the game files in the Origin Game Client, showing Battlefield 1 in 2017
(Click to see Full Size)

Nope. Crash. Error [which I lost the clean Screenshot of, of course - but a version of it is in the Header for this posting - I will add a clear Screenshot of the error window to this post when I can capture it again, if it occurs]. Hmmm.... Since it was a DirectX error (and I am 93.33-repeating-percent-sure that I did not "remove the video card" while playing..), I tried one last thing. Instead of swapping out the GPU to try with something else (a GPU from a friend's PC, for example), which is approaching a Hardware type issue; I tried something else: I changed the DirectX level in the game from DirectX 12 to DirectX11 [this may not have been solely 'my idea' - although I am sure I would have eventually arrived at it as a troubleshooting step, I looked up this error and found many, many locations and sources of others stating they have this issue and encountered this error and I may have read it somewhere, for it to have come up - merely mentioning because I just don't want to take sole credit for something I may not have come up with entirely by myself...].

Example of where to 'Disable DirectX 12' and 'Enable DirectX 11' in the Video Settings, in Battlefield 1
[Hmm, this is more of a Workaround than a 'Fix' for this issue...]
(Click to see Full Size)

Success! I played a good couple of hours this way, with no crashing, closing, freezing, or errors at all - great! After trying it after re-opening the game, rebooting and playing some more, testing it the next day or two after as well, it seemed 'solidified'; changing the DirectX level/version from 12 to 11 seemed to 'solve' the issue [for me, for now].

I think this is more of a 'Workaround' than a 'Fix', since it doesn't solve the issue permanently... there is still something in the game engine or how it communicates with DirectX/Windows/theGPU, which is causing something that is not 'fixed' by this step; but, since it does work to get past the issue, I thought I would share, to help others that may be running into this seemingly-popular problem ('popular' judging from the queries I found about this issue on both the Battlelog forum and EA Support Forums, spanning a few years now..). I hope this works for you, dear reader, as it seems to have done, for me.


[Since this is not a true 'fix' (I do not know if this is permanent nor do I know the actual source/nature of the issue, therefore I cannot say this is a 'fix', imo); I will post this with the title "workaround"...]

Addendum:

Other helpful tips/steps that can possibly help, if the above step does not work (and some additional information), can be found in multiple places on the Battlefield and EA forums, such as this list by a helpful poster named STEEiL:

https://forums.battlefield.com/en-us/discussion/54605/directx-function-error-amd-getdeviceremovedreason-error-in-battlefield-1

Good Luck - I hope it gets working for you soon - and See You In The Game!

It's Not Just You™ - Fallout 4 Crashing with NVIDIA's SHARE Game Recorder (Possibly Relating To The High Resolution Texture Pack) [Notification, Text-Only]

Updated 2017-06-19: I found one cause of the crashes with SHARE and Fallout 4 (for me) - The HRTP

Just a quick post to say that, if you are experiencing Fallout 4 CTDs (Crashes To Desktop, where FO4 closes without any messages or anything and you are left staring at your Desktop in Windows), I want to let you know It's Not Just You™ - as I am finding I am experiencing this as well, lately...

I haven't looked into Forums specifically for this, but perusing Forii off and on over the past year or so, where many are talking about Fallout 4 and Crashing, it seems to happen a lot to people anyway, for just about any reason, unfortunately. I myself wasn't experiencing this very much though (gladly), until just recently when playing FO4 again [and spending way too much time building up Settlements instead of getting Quests done], I was testing out different Game Recording Programs and started seeing this happen.

I'm happily playing Fallout 4, getting frustrated at the Building mechanics or shooting some Raiders attacking my Settlement, when all of a sudden, BOOM - desktop image and icons. No message, nothing. Fallout 4 has closed itself instantly. I of course start it up again and begin to see where I last hit QuickSave or the game automatically Saved for me - but this has happened a few times in a row now where BOOM - the desktop greets me and icons appear. No message, nothing.

And More: Corel's VideoStudio - Crashing When Using 'Open With' To Import Clips Into VideoStudio [Fix/Workaround]

Just last Month, I picked up version 20 of Corel's recently-updated video editing suite "VideoStudio" (nomenclature "X10") and am having a lot of fun learning what it can do and how to do it all (coming from mainly editing videos with Sony's Vegas 'Movie Studio' line of products [now taken over by MAGIX]). However, I quickly ran into a little issue with importing clips using the "Open With" option in Windows and wanted to share what I found...

Normally, in Windows you can 'right-click' a video file and mouse-over the menu option "Open With..", which brings up a sub-menu of known applications, to 'send' the file to ('opening the file with the chosen application'). Doing this, whichever application you select will startup and the file will be sent to it to work with.

However, doing this with a video clip and VideoStudio x10 I found, every time the program would open up, it would immediately 'crash' (close/stop/etc). Hmm... time for some Troubleshooting! I double-checked that the file in question was not corrupted excessively by playing it, testing it in a couple of video/media players, and even tried a few other clips that were 'known good' (that VS worked with before). Each time, using "Open With...", the Splash Screen for VSx10 would show up and then just as the program itself looked like it was opening, the entire thing would crash and show this message:

Example of the "Corel VideoStudio has stopped working" Error Window Pop-Up
when trying to import a clip into VideoStudio X10 utilizing the "Open With" shortcut in Windows

And More: "An Internal Error Occurred When Overlapped Buffer Is Full" in VideoStudio X10 [Error Workaround]

[This post is currently Text-Only for speed of Posting. I may return and add example Screenshots and more, Soon™]

Update 2017-05-02: While not a 'Fix' for this issue, I have done more testing and found what is essentially the issue
Go to "Update 2017-05-02"

Just a quick bit of information, for those using Corel's VideoStudio X10 to edit and render their video projects and running into this error...

I was working on trying to finish some of the many, many, many projects I have in various stages of completion, and ran into an odd error when trying to render a Project in VideoStudio X10. The error said only:

"An Internal Error Occurred When Overlapped Buffer Is Full"

This is somewhat odd, as this is more of a generic Windows Application error than it is a VS (VideoStudio) error. So, I went to the Official Corel Support Forums and did other online searching...

It's Not Just You™ - Mirillis' ACTION Crashing On Startup After 2.2.0 Update [My Issue Fixed with 2.2.1]

Just a quick post, to let those of you using the game and desktop recording application ACTION! by Mirillis know that a few days ago (on February 10th, 2017) the program was Updated to version 2.2.0. I enjoy testing out ACTION! as it has good performance - I purchased a License for it a while back and I want to do a 'Game Recorder Comparison' for The Blog which includes it as 'one of the contestants' here someday "Soon™" - but for now, I wanted to let other users of it know that ACTION! currently seems to be crashing after this latest Update...

Example of ACTION! currently crashing on Startup as of the date of this post.
GFX (GeForce eXperience, my abbrev.) shown in the background as having the Latest Drivers.
Click to see Full Size.

Now, this may only be NVIDIA GPU owners - I recently received a shiny new GTX 1060 GPU for Christmas from Santa and was testing out some game recording applications off and on - and found that ACTION! is crashing. Steam users are talking about it as well, as they seem to be having the same issue [my version of ACTION! is the Standalone version]. *Note, I am not "Joker5", one of the users mentioning this issue, in the Screenshot containing the Steam Activity Feed about it, I did not make a comment on the Feed at this time

While I am sorry to say that I do not have a Solution or Fix at the moment (I usually put "[Fix]" or something similar in the Title if I do), this is just a quick post to let other users of Mirillis' ACTION! know that - if you are having 'crashing-on-startup' issues at this time - It's Not Just You™...




Update 1 (2017-02-14):
I did eventually get the application to start, but it took six tries/restarts to do so. I will Update this post when a more permanent fix/update is known

Update 2 (2017-02-15 AM):
There is a new version of NVIDIA drivers released (378.66 dated 2017-02-13), but after installing them, now ACTION gives an Error 104 about half the time when starting it up... I purchased a Commercial Use License for ACTION a while ago, and made no changes to my firewall (the error is related to those aspects) so this should not be happening. I may contact Mirillis or post in their forum, etc. to see if this is related and/or notify them of this

Example of an Error that was occurring with ACTION version 2.2.0 showing NVIDIA Driver version in GeForce Experience
Click to see Full Size

Update 3 (2017-02-15 PM):

There was just now an Update released for Mirillis' ACTION (version 2.2.1, released today, 2017-02-15)

Update 2.2.1 notification message at the bottom of the ACTION! interface
Click to see Full Size

I have installed this new version and tested it - and it runs without issue - I have closed it an opened it numerous times now, without any problems. Here is a Screenshot of it starting up:

Screenshot of ACTION! version 2.2.1 starting up in Windows (including a wide-angle Desktop Wallpaper I compiled from multiple screenshots, with customized logo, I will make these available in the future)
Click to see Full Size

Using this version now, I went and looked at the Changelog for it (History of Changes and Updates to the program). Here is the Changelog for this version:

It is the first item that I find interesting, as I recently was testing out a 'Razer Surround Pro' audio device that came with my Gamepad - and as a result of porting audio through that device, there are no longer any Audio Devices listed as operational in the Recording tab of sound devices in Windows. Here is what my list of input devices look like now:

I only mention this because it is interesting to me [I wonder how related having no Input Devices was, to the issue I was experiencing (along with others, according to their forum and Steam Feeds), with ACTION - prompting this Update? I don't know the answer, of course, I am not a Developer or Programmer for Mirillis... I am merely thinking out loud. Wondering, heh].

Regardless, if you have run into this issue, it seems to have been solved by this update that 'just' came out - go get it - hopefully it will fix any issues for you too. Way to go, Mirillis - keep it up!



[Personal Note/Declaration: I am not affiliated with Mirillis or any of their products in any way (look at the links, there are no 'affiliate links' or 'tags' in them) and have not and will not receive any compensation in any form, for talking about ACTION here. I am merely a user of their program and wanted to share this information to help others. I have also utilized other similar programs in the past (such as FRAPS and Bandicam, free recording programs like OBS and MSI's Afterburner and more) and will use any of these products in the future]

It's Not Just You™ - Battle.Net Issues with Logging In and Updates The Past Few Days [Notification]

Just a quick post to let others know that I am having issues logging in to Battle.Net - well, I don't mean 'just me', sorry, I mean "me too" - as in, lots of people have been having problems the last few days, as seen in places like:

http://downdetector.com/status/battle-net/map/

and

https://twitter.com/BlizzardCS


The Battle.Net Launcher [agent.exe] just kept 'trying' to log in... forever.

Logging in... forever

Eventually it told me that I could only play Offline (error 3801 in my case). It also gave a link to the Battle.Net website for the error (a link is put in the Launcher after it can't connect) which directs you here:

https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/BLZBNTBGS80000011

This seems to be a 'generic' error of "we might be under maintenance but we don't really know"

Once I finally got logged in to the Launcher, it got stuck doing "updates"... Finally, after quite a while, it now seems to be able to function fully - I can open Hearthstone or World of Warcraft, for example - and play those now.

Just letting you know that if you are experiencing problems with Battle.Net, the Blizzard Launcher or their games over the weekend - It's Not Just You™... and once it gets working for you - See You In The Game!

Quick Tip: Corel's ScreenCap Recording Utility - Problem Recording Audio, "Prepare Record Failed" Error [A FIX]

[Update/Addendum 2016-12: I recently received PaintShop Pro X9 as a 'Christmas Eve Gift From Santa' and did a quick test of this again, to find that this 'FIX' also works for the Screen Capture "Stand-Alone" version that was recently released with PaintShop Pro X9! Thank you to everyone that is stating this 'still works' with VSPx10!]

I just wanted to share a Quick Tip for those having problems recording audio with the Corel ScreepCap utility, especially if you are seeing a "Prepare Record Failed!" Error/Popup, upon trying to begin recording. I experienced this myself at first, when trying ScreenCap, so began Troubleshooting to see what could be the cause. While I did not find out the exact reason for the error I did find a fix that worked and is repeatable, allowing me to record audio with Corel's Screencap utility from then on. Hopefully, this will work for you, too...

I purchased VideoStudio x8 about a week ago [as of the time of this post] - and I have been having a blast learning it and exploring all of the great content that came with it. While I might do a "First Impressions/Review" article on the program, and maybe even some Tutorials eventually, for now I want to focus on this error/problem with the ScreenCap module, especially since experiencing it myself and then seeing it in the Corel User Forums, finding out that it is in fact an 'older' problem for many. To begin, I will present the steps I found to enable working audio recording with ScreenCap.

The "Prepare Record Failed" error from Corel's ScreenCap module that pops-up when this problem is encountered,,
captured within Windows 8.1, at the time (the solution below was done in Windows 10)

Here are the steps I took, that solved the problem with 'no audio' when recording with the ScreenCap utility, causing it to crash (and display the error message shown above):

[Note: These steps assume that the user is attempting to utilize the onboard (built-in) audio adapter of the mainboard - if you are using a differing device (eg. a sound card), then merely follow the steps replacing that device with the ones mentioned below. As well, I took screenshots of these steps in Windows 10, which is why my Desktop may appear slightly different than if you are running Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 - the steps should work in the same manner, however]

• There are a few ways to open the Sound Devices list in Windows, but one of them is to right-click the little speaker icon in the System Tray (the area in the lower-right corner with the date and time).
  In the sub-menu that pops up, click "Recording Devices".

• In the Recording Tab of the Sound panel/window that comes up, let's make sure you can see Disabled and Hidden devices in the list. To do this, right-click somewhere in the white inner area (but not on a device in the list) and a pop-up menu should appear, saying "Show Disabled Devices" and "Show Disconnected Devices".
  If these do not have a checkmark beside them, click on each of them one at a time, to enable these options. Now, you should see all the recording devices currently attached to your system. Some will be 'greyed out' if they are not plugged in or nothing is plugged into them.

• In the list of devices, right-click the "Stereo Mix" device and choose "Enable", to 'turn on' the recording capability of your onboard audio adapter (the built-in audio capability in many modern mainboards).
  If a green checkmark is on the icon representing the device, it is also the Default Device  for Recording (that is, the one that a program will try to use first, for recording).
  If there is no green circle with a checkmark, right-click once again on the same device and choose "Set As Default Device", and now one should appear next to the "Stereo Mix" device.
  [if your system is already configured with the motherboard audio enabled and recording, this step may not be required]

• Click OK to close the Sound panel/window and close the list of audio devices.

• Start up Corel's ScreenCap utility by double-clicking the icon on the Desktop for it, or navigating to the Tile or Shortcut in the Start Menu, to launch it.
  [In my case, I had an icon on my desktop that said "Corel ScreenCap x8" and I used that]
  Once it opens, click on the word "Settings" near the bottom of the panel, to open up the options/settings for Screen Capture.

• In the Audio Settings category/area, click on the Circle next to "System Audio" to Disable Screen Capture from attempting to record from there
  [this seems counter-intuitive, but this is what I tested in Troubleshooting and doing this 'workaround' allowed me to 'fix' the problem and get it working - it seems more of a 'workaround' with getting the program to work, than a true 'fix' however, but this is what can be done, for now]. 

• Just above the "System Audio", click on the "I" next to "Voice" to Enable recording from that input
  [this seems counter-intuitive again, as we are not going to use a microphone in this example, but this is the second part of the 'workaround' to get Screen Capture to record audio, for now].

• Now, we will tell Screen Capture to use a different device for recording sound (as input).
  Click on the "Sound Check" button, next to the "Voice" setting.
  This will open up the Sound Check window/panel.
• Next to the "Input Device" setting, click on the pull-down menu and your device that we enabled earlier should show up in the list, as "Stereo Mix".
  
  
  
  Choose that device from the pull-down list and if you want to check to make sure it is receiving sound, you can click on the "Record" button.
  Once you click on this button, it will automatically record for ten seconds. If you quickly start a sound file, song or game, it should record exactly what you hear. Then, it will play the short test recording back for you, automatically.
  [this should verify that ScreenCap can now record audio through that device]
  
• Click the "X" in the upper-right corner, to close the Sound Check panel/window. 

That's it!


Now you should be able to hit the big red circle button at the top of the Screen Capture panel to begin recording - and it should now capture everything that you can hear through your speakers/headphones...

The ScreenCap utility does not seem to like 7.1 (8-channel) or 5.1 (6-channel) or even Quadrophonic (4-channel) audio as of the time of this post - you may still get the "Prepare Record Failed" Error if you do not change your system's audio adapter to Stereo (2-channel) Mode.


The above steps are the ones I took to enable these devices - and although it is mainly for users who have a similar type of audio device that I have at the time of this posting (a "Realtek High Definition" audio adapter/chip in their system (on their motherboard)), other devices may be slightly different in the naming if you are using a different audio device (the hardware and name listed for it, eg. "VIA HD Audio" or "SoundBlaster Z", etc) - but the steps should still be quite similar (the windows to open up, what to click on, etc). These are the exact steps I took, and they enabled me to record audio through the Screen Capture utility; and so I wanted to share them in the hope that they will work for you, too.

 [I may return to this post and add a tutorial video showing visually how to do the steps in Windows in the near future - if I do, it will be located here]

Enjoy -  and See You In The Games!




[Editor's Log: Just a note about my Wallpaper in the images within... For fun, I had created a background (desktop wallpaper) and a logo (shown in the above material) about The Blog , done in the style of the AMD Badge Logo and AMD Background Pattern - as I am currently enjoying an AMD GPU - but I do not have a preference between AMD GPUs and NVIDIA GPUs, I have owned both in the past and will use both in the future. I am not endorsed or affiliated with either AMD or NVIDIA in any commercial manner. Just letting my precious readers know I am impartial and like both of them!]

PunkBuster Kicking (Without Stating A Reason) [Possible Fix]

Just now, I was having a blast playing Battlefield: Hardline [a First Impressions of the Retail Release of Battlefield: Hardline, "Coming Soon™"!] , until that is, out of nowhere PunkBuster decided to start kicking me from games - without stating a reason why... The message that came up at the bottom of Battlelog simply said:

Error.

Game disconnected: you were kicked by PunkBuster. Stated reason: PunkBuster kicked player (for 

That's it, just "for....", but then nothing is shown after that word. The browser used was Maximized at 1080p resolution, so it should have had enough room to display any additional text. Here is a screenshot of the error message that was seen:

It seems it had room - but it wasn't saying fully why it kicked me - time to start Troubleshooting!


Things attempted, to fix this issue:

- Downloaded PunkBuster from developer website and installed
- Disabled Anti-Virus [I was running Windows Defender at the time of this writing]
- Ran PunkBuster from a different location (an older version I had, which updated itself then updated the games)
- Uninstalled PunkBuster and Reinstalled PunkBuster via the download in attempt (1)
- Uninstalled PunkBuster and Reinstalled PunkBuster via the location at <game installation directory>

That's it! That last step did it. Here's where the installer I used was found [I was using a folder that is different from the Default Installation Directory for Hardline, but it was still found within the game installation directory itself]:

Location of the PunkBuster Service installer that I used to reinstall PB. Click to see Full Size

By the way, there is a redistributable installer in a subdirectory of the game (there is one for most games that utilize PunkBuster), here is the location for my installation of Battlefield: Hardline:

Location of a redistributable version of the PunkBuster Service installer package.
This version is present for many games that utilize PunkBuster.
Click to see Full Size

Now I can get back into Hardline without it kicking me after a few seconds - woot. Hopefully, this will work for you too, my friend.


See You In The Game!

Origin - In Offline Mode, Online Login Is Currently Unavailable (It's Not Just You)

Update (11:11 UTC/Zulu): EA is investigating the issue(s) - way to go EA!
Update (11:34 UTC/Zulu): Everything Is Coming Up Roses here now (in Canada, eh). I hope it does soon for you too, my friends.

Just a quick post to let you know, if you are experiencing this around 10:00-11:00 hours UTC/Zulu Time on February 14th, 2015 - it's not just you. Origin (EA) seems to be having problems for everybody... I guess I won't be seeing you in the game right now /sadface

Battlefield: Hardline Open Beta - EA Aware Of Issues, Some Servers Working Already [Notice]

Just a quick post for those playing the Battlefield: Hardline Open Beta this weekend, finding that things were going fine until just a bit ago, and now seeming like they can't join any servers and seeing errors like the one below, noticing that the website (Battlelog) isn't working right, their Stats are gone (Rank Zero), etc...




This is just a little notice that EA is aware of the issue and is working on it. You should find that servers are already coming back up now and things are straightening out already (way to go, EA!). Open Beta has been Extended until sometime Monday night (Feb.9th). Woot!

See You In The Game!

And More: Editing NVIDIA's Shadowplay Recordings and 'The VFR/CFR Problem' (Text-Only Version)

[Updates at bottom of article]

Just a quick post on the problem many people seem to be having with editing NVIDIA's Shadowplay recordings and how to work around it, for now...

For those who don't know, Shadowplay is a free game recording capability that is included in NVIDIA's GeForce Experience utility and is accessible by anyone with an NVIDIA GPU that is a GTX 650 or higher [they state "600 Series or higher"]. Simply install the GFx utility [my abbrev.] and turn it on and Shadowplay will record a buffered period of time, overwriting that space/file again and again, until you decide to save something cool that happened in the game.

Whether FRAPS sold NVIDIA the code to do buffered/looped recording (as FRAPS has had it for many years), or NVIDIA developed it on their own, the end result is the same. The problem is, a ton of people [if technical and game forums everywhere are an indication] are unable to edit the end output correctly, when using Shadowplay.

The main reason why this seems to happen, could be due to Shadowplay utilizing VFR to record it's video data into a file. VFR stands for Variable Frame Rate, and essentially it allows the frame rate to change from slow to fast, above and below the 'set' frame rate, many times if needed, within a single video file. This helps to save space by making low-motion (or static) scenes use less frames within the video file and make complex scenes (with high-action/movements) look smoother by inserting more frames into the video file. Sounds good and test videos look fine, but the problem is when going to then edit the 'Shadowplays'.

Many video editing applications (especially NLE's [Non-Linear Editors]) may not like Shadowplay and will choke on the video, hold back sound in spurts and spit up bits of food on your screen if you try to edit the recordings. This could be due to the usage of VFR.

Note: I don't want to 'put the blame' on NVIDIA or VFR here, NVIDIA is a fantastic company with great innovations and products, and VFR is a great method for organizing frames within video data that creates a lot of 'headroom for compression' (lower file sizes by reducing the number of frames used) while trying to maintain Quality as well (by increasing the frames utilized per second within the GOP data of the file, as the codec decides it is beneficial). It merely is not as compatible, when it comes to video editing programs. As another example, Plays.Tv uses Accelerated VFR in its' Client to buffer/record with, which it notes here in their Support section, is simply less compatible and can create audio/video synchronization problems - the issue is VFR and editing compatibility -  not these companies/utilities themselves...

Fortunately, the 'fix' [which in my opinion of more of a work-around] is relatively easy, if slightly time-consuming:

Simply re-render the Shadowplay recordings into CFR (constant frame rate) video (where 60fps really is 60 frames being recorded or played back in sequence, in the video, every second, throughout the entire clip). There are many apps that can do this, but the most popular [most-popularly-used in the video-editing circles that are experiencing this problem] is probably Handbrake (it is completely free to use). Simply import your video and choose Constant Framerate in the Video Tab. That's it.

Another program you can use, is built right in (if you use Windows): Windows Movie Maker [Note: Windows Movie Maker does not seem to be bundled with Windows 10, it may however be available as a separate download]. Simply import the video and without adjusting anything, export (render) it out to MPEG-4 (MP4) format. It will produce a CFR (Constant Frame Rate) video that you can then import into programs that were having trouble with VFR - like Adobe's Premiere and other video editing applications.

[Choose a high quality setting or high bitrate, to maintain as much of your original recording detail as possible (so it won't compress it even more and lose detail). If you need to set a BitRate for the export, make sure to set it higher than the original video clip(s) BitRate ((Personal Suggestion: 2x more if you can))]

Once this is done, you'll be able to import your Shadowplay 're-renders' without problem, whether you use Premiere, Vegas, Lightworks or some other video editing application that has been having trouble importing your VFR video (for instance, some people have had problems with Shadowplay recordings using CyberLink's PowerDirector and others have not had a problem with PowerDirector at all, importing it fine - I have not used Shadowplay Recordings in PowerDirector yet [I do not have a GPU capable of using Shadowplay at this time] but I have personally imported VFR material into PowerDirector 12 without problem).

[I might come back and add screenshots to this article in the future, or create a new one talking more specifically about VFR and importing it into Premiere, but for now I wanted to bang it out and get it up here to help people who have been having this problem (many since last year, when Shadowplay first came out, with even more people having the problem earlier than that with Premiere and VFR recordings from their cameras)]

I hope that helps some people out for now, anyway. Have fun recording - and See You In The Games!




Update 1:

Bandicam has now implemented an option in their game recording software (as of July 2015), which allows choosing CFR recording or VFR recording. Since it also uses GPU-accelerated codecs such as AMDAPP, NVENC, QuickSync (and can be made to use CUDA, if you still have that), it seems to have become a viable alternative to this problem. As a Registered User of Bandicam, I shall test out this latest version of the software and perhaps write a post about it Soon™


Update 2:

I have done some quick testing with this new version of Bandicam (with the ability to choose CFR as well as use VFR if desired) and have written a short post about it at this blog, here.


Update 3 - 2018.06:

NVIDIA's Game Recording Utility seems to have changed names a few times, known as Shadowplay, then Share, then In-Game Overlay. Whatever it is called today, while this issue with editing VFR might remain, on some older video editing applications; it seems to be less of an issue on the most recent versions of video editing apps (as of 2018) - tested personally with a few programs, such as Sony's Vegas Pro 14 (now taken over by MAGIX), CyberLink's PowerDirector 16, and Corel's VideoStudio 2018 - all three video editors did not have an issue Importing and Editing VFR material (as of June 2018 when I did these short tests) [I do not own and did not test Adobe's Premiere/Elements, at this time, sorry]. So, if you are having an issue editing Shadowplay/NVENC recordings circa 2018 or later, try updating your video editing application(s), if you can.