Cakewalk/Realtek/ASIO and Windows 11 ?

[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, 2024 by kmather741
rewrite to clarify main issue