Cakewalk/Realtek/ASIO and Windows 11 🙄

[Byron Dickens]

FWIW, I am using a Focusrite 18i20 and don't seem to be experiencing this.

[Sheds]

10 minutes ago, bdickens said:

FWIW, I am using a Focusrite 18i20 and don't seem to be experiencing this.

Good to know, thanks -- how else is it treating you?

Edited April 21, 2022 by Sheds

[Sheds]

On 4/21/2022 at 4:44 PM, Sheds said:

Good to know, thanks -- how else is it treating you?

I actually ended up buying a Focusrite -- will report.

[Sheds]

On 5/4/2022 at 1:27 PM, Sheds said:

I actually ended up buying a Focusrite -- will report.

Ok, maybe this is the end of my saga -- not sure if anyone is still there.  But I said I'd report. 

I got the Focusrite 18i8.  I installed it at the end of last week --  all went smoothly (I did spill a cup of coffee on the floor moving things around, but I don't think I can blame Focusrite on that -- though I did tell me wife it was their fault).

The important news is that everything works now just like it did before I upgraded my computer.  Cakewalk works like it always had.   If nothing else, I'm glad to know I wasn't doing anything stupid.  Man, that was frustrating. 

Truth be told, I have had no problems with the Steinberg until the new computer and sorry to see it go -- in some ways it was nicer.  But, you know life goes on.

Thanks for everyone jumping in with advice. 

 

 

[Omer Pomerantz]

TL;DR - Realtek ASIO hangs Cakewalk, disable Realtek in windows sound devices, uncheck Realtek ASIO in Cakewalk both input and output, This will enable choice of other ASIO devices in Cakewalk so now you can choose your own

The longer version:

This thread helped me solve a very annoying problem when I installed Cakewalk on a new laptop. Took a lot of time, effort and frustration, but I finally managed to solve it with the help of this excellent thread and linked resources. Here is my problem and solution, I hope it can help others as well:

Got a new i7 laptop pre-installed with Win11

Installed the latest Behringer drivers for my UMC204HD (good old  work-horse of an audio interface, which got updated drivers lately).

Installed Cakewalk. Went to Preferences -> audio setup. Was very surprised to find a realtek ASIO driver already present . which almost immediately caused Cakewalk to hang so I couldn't disable it...

After a lot of trial&error (and reading here and research), disabled realtek in the Windows settings->sound->devices, and managed to switch Cakewalk to WASAPI and using the UMC204HD. Interesting to note (like the original post here) that the realtek ASIO driver kept showing up, and when the realtek ASIO is enabled and Realtek is enabled in windows, it hangs Cakewalk. However, when realtek is disabled Cakewalk can run.

With WASAPI I confirmed that all is working, and then switched to ASIO while realtek is still disabled. Cakewalk automatically selected realtec ASIO for both input and output, and showed the UMC as greyed-out option. But it didn't hang. After unchecking Realtek from both input and output, the UMC ASIO became enabled, so I could choose and then VOILA - all is working

I do wish Realtek ASIO was a real thing, as it could provide an excellent mobile experience without the need for an external ASIO-enabled audio interface. From what I read it seems we are not there yet

Thank you again for all the contributors here - really helped me debug and solve the issue I had.

[sjoens]

Windows 10 recently sabotaged my on-board Soundblaster ASIO so that CbB wouldn't even open until I deleted its ASIO listing in the registry. Before that update it was fine.

That's my story anyway.

EDIT:
New Windows 10 install restored the Soundblaster.

Edited February 25 by sjoens

[kmather741]

I had a severe problem installing Cakewalk on a new laptop.
SOLVED: It turned out to be an audio driver issue similar to others described in this thread. Maybe this info will save someone a lot of wasted time.

Laptop: HP ENVY x360, Windows 11

I installed Cakewalk, and on first run it always got hung with a spinning cursor. Periodically a little window with a progress bar flashed on the screen (too short to read text). Basically it was almost impossible to do anything with dialogs. When I managed to  open preferences, the only audio I/O devices were "Steinberg built-in ASIO...", checked.

When I looked in the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASIO I saw 2 entries:
Generic Low Latency ASIO Driver
Steinberg built-in ASIO Driver

I'm pretty sure these both came from Steinberg from a previous installation of Dorico software.

TO FIX:
a. Backed up the entire registry!
b. Exported and then deleted the "Steinberg built-in" key
c. Restarted Cakewalk - now operating normally
d. There was a pop-up dialog saying "Generic Low Latency ASIO" was not compatible - change to WASAPI? I said yes.
e. Audio profiles run and everything seems to be normal.

I wish there were a way to avoid/bypass the setup hang with driver issues... An extension to "safe mode"?

[Jeremy Oakes]

3 hours ago, kmather741 said:

I had a severe problem installing Cakewalk on a new laptop.
SOLVED: It turned out to be an audio driver issue similar to others described in this thread. Maybe this info will save someone a lot of wasted time.

Laptop: HP ENVY x360, Windows 11

I installed Cakewalk, and on first run it always got hung with a spinning cursor. Periodically a little window with a progress bar flashed on the screen (too short to read text). Basically it was almost impossible to do anything with dialogs. When I managed to  open preferences, the only audio I/O devices were "Steinberg built-in ASIO...", checked.

When I looked in the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASIO I saw 2 entries:
Generic Low Latency ASIO Driver
Steinberg built-in ASIO Driver

I'm pretty sure these both came from Steinberg from a previous installation of Dorico software.

TO FIX:
a. Backed up the entire registry!
b. Exported and then deleted the "Steinberg built-in" key
c. Restarted Cakewalk - now operating normally
d. There was a pop-up dialog saying "Generic Low Latency ASIO" was not compatible - change to WASAPI? I said yes.
e. Audio profiles run and everything seems to be normal.

I wish there were a way to avoid/bypass the setup hang with driver issues... An extension to "safe mode"?

The most simple solution would be to purchase a sound device (Focusrite, Presonus etc) that has its own dedicated Asio drivers……..

J

[kmather741]

15 hours ago, Jeremy Oakes said:

The most simple solution would be to purchase a sound device (Focusrite, Presonus etc) that has its own dedicated Asio drivers……..

J

Choosing a "right/good" driver is one big issue by itself.  That wasn't my main issue, so maybe I  shouldn't have posted on this topic. (Although my hardware is Realtek.) Possibly the more relevant thread is this one where I also posted my startup scenario.

My main heartburn was that on first-run-after-install CW basically locked up and wouldn't let me make any driver configuration change. Most likely it was trying to automatically do profile tests on a "bad" configuration and got snarled up. It would be nice if this could be skipped in order to make Preferences reachable.

Edited April 13 by kmather741
rewrite to clarify main issue