WAY OT: Sonorus Studi/o driver

[Scott P]

I know some of you will think I'm crazy, but I am using my original SawPro rig for a backup remote rig. I am nuking the OS and updating to Win2K and SawStudio. It needed a good housecleaning. :D

I have 2 Sonorus cards that worked very well with NT and now I need the Win 2K drivers for them. I think I have them, but I'm not sure, and it seems like there was some special instructions for installing them that I have since lost and Sonorus.com seems to be gone.

Any help with drivers or installation tips will be appreciated.

Thanks!
Scott

[Cary B. Cornett]

I have 3 of those cards, although right now only one is still in use. They never DID get the driver installation process to be totally "transparent", so yes, it can be tricky. There is indeed a W2k installer. I suppose I could attach the install file folder that I have to an email (don't have a .zip file for some reason) if you want to send your email address privately.

[Scott P]

Cary has been kind enough to help out some here. He has supplied the missing documentation, and I am hoping a newer copy of the install utility, if there is one.

Thanks Cary!

My problem is this:
Windows sees the card as a "multimedia card" on startup and wants to add new hardware, etc. So I think the hardware is fine.

When I use the Sonorus install utility it can't find the card. :( - "Studi/o not found"

I have two of these that I would very much like to use in a backup rig for remote work. Can anyone help? It seems Sonorus has gone the way of cheap gas. :(

Thanks!
Scott

[Cary B. Cornett]

My problem is this:
Windows sees the card as a "multimedia card" on startup and wants to add new hardware, etc. So I think the hardware is fine.

When I use the Sonorus install utility it can't find the card. :( - "Studi/o not found" I am fairly certain that this is exactly what happened when I tried to install the card in older Dell and HP computers that I had on hand. There was a page on the Sonorus website that mentioned these computers would not work with the card. It is possible that the computer you have, Scott, is simply not able to meet the requirements of the way the card drivers are written. If so, your choices would be either to find another card to use with that computer or find another computer to handle the card.

Did you try the other installation ideas I suggested in an earlier post?

[Scott P]

Cary,

These cards are still in their original PC where they worked for years with NT4. If I am understanding what you are saying, it seems that the drivers may not work with some specific computers? (This one is an old Tim Kirk build, anyone know where he went?)

I haven't seen the "other installation ideas" you posted. Were they on this thread? Where can I find them?


Right now I am thinking of other options. I don't want to invest a lot in the machine. It's strictly a backup that I'll need a couple of times a year. It was really nice having 32 inputs that I could switch from without repatching.

Right now I'm looking into a card that enables you to install a cardbus card into a PCI slot. That way I can use my RME Cardbus card(s) in another laptop, etc. if I wanted to do that. At least I would have a spare Cardbus for the RME.

I am still hoping these Sonorus cards will work out though, but then I'm a bit of an optimist. :D

Thanks again,
Scott

[Cary B. Cornett]

Cary,

These cards are still in their original PC where they worked for years with NT4. If I am understanding what you are saying, it seems that the drivers may not work with some specific computers? There are definitely some specific computers in which the cards/drivers will not work. However, if you are dealing with the same computer the cards were working in before, that should not be an issue for you.


I haven't seen the "other installation ideas" you posted. Were they on this thread? Where can I find them? These were in a private email reply to an email you sent me. IIRC, the last successful install of a StudI/O card that I did was into a system that was running W2k sp2. The card continued to work in that system after I installed Service Pack 4, but I have never done a working install into a machine that was ALREADY on sp4.

My suggestion is for you to start over with a fresh format and OS install on that older machine, putting in W2k as sp1 or sp2 level, then, before anything else, installling the StudI/O card and verifying that is works properly in the system. Once you have it working, proceed to other updates, drivers, etc., one step at a time, re-testing after each step to make sure that the card still works. That way, if the card fails as some point, you know exactly where to look for the cause.

I know what a hassle a total re-install is, but I have learned that it is the only way to be SURE you know where a problem lies, and it leaves you in no doubt about whether you can make something work.


I am still hoping these Sonorus cards will work out though, but then I'm a bit of an optimist. :D My experience has been that, although it is sometimes a real hassle to get these cards working, once they are up and running they work very well and reliably. You may have to go through a big hassle to get there, but I would say, since this computer has worked with the cards in the past, you should have a pretty good chance.

Let us know what you find out...

[Scott P]

These were in a private email reply to an email you sent me. IIRC, the last successful install of a StudI/O card that I did was into a system that was running W2k sp2. The card continued to work in that system after I installed Service Pack 4, but I have never done a working install into a machine that was ALREADY on sp4.

My suggestion is for you to start over with a fresh format and OS install on that older machine, putting in W2k as sp1 or sp2 level, then, before anything else, installling the StudI/O card and verifying that is works properly in the system. Once you have it working, proceed to other updates, drivers, etc., one step at a time, re-testing after each step to make sure that the card still works. That way, if the card fails as some point, you know exactly where to look for the cause.

Let us know what you find out...


I must have missed this in the e-mail somehow. Thanks for repeating it. I'll give it another try as you suggest. Unfortunately, I am running out of time. I need to get this up and running and tested pretty soon. That doesn't mean that I won't tackle it again sometime in the future.

I hate having money tied up in good gear that has become obsolete because of support issues.

That's another thing I like about Bob's products. So far, they've worked on every O/S I've had them on. Even SAWPro still works on my relatively new machine. I have friends that use Pro, so I occasionally track in it so that they can transfer sessions easily.


Thanks again!
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