Scannercast Issue on Reboot

[thelaw]

I download ScannerCast as a recommendation to try to fix an audio problem where my radio traffic seemed to be picking up the feed late for each comm. So if Disptach was calling out a call, on the broadcasted radio traffic, you could only hear about half of the audio. If someone was simply replying 10-4 or some other short message, you would just hear the Mics click on and off, with no voice audio.


ScannerCast downloaded and installed very easily. It was also very easy to setup my broadcast using the RR login information. Once I had everything setup, I disabled my Oddcast software and started the broadcast via ScannerCast. Not long after, I needed to restart my PC. After rebooting, ScannerCast threw an error message. Here are the detials;

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Istrib.Sound, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
File name: 'Istrib.Sound, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'
at ScannerCast.ScannerCast.Form1_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnCreateControl()
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl(Boolean fIgnoreVisible)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl()
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.
To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1.
Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging.
To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].



************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3603 (GDR.050727-3600)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
ScannerCast
Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 0.14.10307.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/All%20Users/Start%20Menu/Programs/Startup/ScannerCast.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3614 (GDR.050727-3600)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

After click through the error, ScannerCast will start but there is nothing in my Audio Source drop down window, where I would select my sound card. I have tried restarting a few tims to no avail. I have read the WIKI page as well as the FAQ page but could not find the answer. I do not see anything in my Event Viewer.

Any ideas? I have had to switch back to Oddcast for now.

 

[gmclam]

ScannerCast issues

I have an issue with ScannerCast that may be related.

The computer I use to stream to RR has some internal PCI sound cards and some sound cards connected via USB. The default sound card is one of the internal sound cards, one which is not used for inputs. I have several scanners connected to the PC, all are connected via USB cards.

When the computer reboots, ScannerCast is loaded and attempts to start streaming. The problem is that the USB sound cards have not yet signed in and are not available to the system. Most of the time ScannerCast waits for the cards and then goes on merrily. But I rarely reboot, have the computer on a UPS, and wouldn't trust this to always happen.

The problem is sometimes ScannerCast decides the sound card is no longer installed and sets the stream input to the default sound card. THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN. ScannerCast should wait FOREVER if it needs to and never make this change, as it also screws up my ini files.

To make things work again I must stop the stream, if streaming; then select the correct sound input and restart the stream. Not very friendly for something I would expect to run unattended automatically.

 

[PeterGV]

@The Law: The error your getting indicates the one or more of the DLL files required by ScannerCast can't be found. You apparently didn't update ScannerCast properly from the ZIP archive... or, if you did, one or more of the DLLs got deleted. ANOTHER thing that could cause this is if you're starting ScannerCast automatically (from the Startup program group) and you didn't remember to set the "StartIn" directory to be the directory into which you installed ScannerCast.

@gmclam: Your issue isn't related to TheLaw's issue... it's entirely separate. In your case, you're not waiting long enough before starting ScannerCast. ScannerCast doesn't wait for all sound cards to be enumerated. It can't... it's simply impossible. Because there's no way for ANY program to know when all devices have been discovered. You could, after all, plug a new sound card into a USB port at any time. Soooo.... ScannerCast enumerates the sound cards that are present in your system at the instant it is started. It will not see new cards that are added after it's started.

Note that, if you think about it, you don't WANT ScannerCast to wait "forever" if it doesn't find the sound card you previously configured. If it did, then if you removed the sound card permanently (or simply made a change the resulted in the reordering of the sound cards in your system) you'd never be able to start the ScannerCast instance that used the removed/reordered sound card again... because when you started ScanneCast it would wait FOREVER for the missing sound card to appear (and that card would never appear).

Now, in your post there IS the kernel of a real problem. Currently, if the sound card you previously selected isn't available when ScannerCast is started, ScannerCast will revert to using the "Primary Sound Capture Driver" (the default sound card you've set for recording in Windows). This was an intentional design decision, but apparently not a very good one according to ScannerCast users. Ooops. I've got a ToDo list item to remove this behavior (Ticket #33), and have ScannerCast pop-up an error dialog when it can't find the specified card during startup instead.

Peter
K1PGV

 

[gmclam]

ScannerCast after cold reboot

Peter, thank you very much for the explanations.

I have a computer dedicated to streaming. It is powered by a UPS, presently has 6 scanners connected, but I am soon upgrading it to 14. I stream them all locally and two to RR using ScannerCast (I'd like to stream a couple more). The machine also records audio from all scanners. I have more than one of these setups, in different locations.

I have ScannerCast in my startup directory. The scenario that concerns me is a "cold" power up (after the UPS has been depleted). We're all at the mercy of how long it takes my all of my USB sound cards to be enumerated. The recording software does not seem to have a problem. However, I have had issues where ScannerCast reverts back to the default sound input - essentially not waiting long enough. Fortunately the cold reboots are infrequent.

I feel that if one program can do it, why can't the other? When this happened, and I was not here to witness the actual reboot, I found all recordings running fine from their correct inputs and ScannerCast stopped and all selected to incorrect inputs. This is not a case of a sound card not enumerating, being unplugged, etc. They did eventually enumerate correctly (as proven by what was recorded) but did not automatically resume streaming.

I'll note that I hate USB and everything about it. But it is not practical to have "14" internal sound cards (or even 6). What is the solution here? Thanks.

 

[GTR8000]

You want to get nircmd, a great little command line utility that can do some pretty neat stuff.

NirCmd - Windows command line tool

What you want is to use the cmdwait parameter to delay the start of ScannerCast until the computer is fully booted. You simply change the startup shortcuts to ScannerCast to use nircmd rather than calling the executable directly, as shown in this example:

nircmd cmdwait 60000 exec show "C:\Program Files\ScannerCast\ScannerCast.exe feed1"
nircmd cmdwait 60000 exec show "C:\Program Files\ScannerCast\ScannerCast.exe feed2"
etc

nircmd = Calls the command line utility
cmdwait = Tells nircmd to delay executing the program until the specified amount of time has passed
60000 = 60 seconds in milliseconds
exec show = Execute the program and allow it to be visible to the desktop
"C:\Program Files\ScannerCast\ScannerCast.exe feed1" = The path to the executable, in this case ScannerCast with the .ini parameter for the specific feed

 

[GTR8000]

gmclam,

My post above was directed at you, not the OP. Two different issues in the same thread makes for some confusion.

 

[gmclam]

gmclam,

My post above was directed at you, not the OP. Two different issues in the same thread makes for some confusion.

Thank you. I already downloaded the software. I will review using it when I do the next system change/upgrade. I was wondering what Peter had to say on the issue.

With regard to two different issues in the same thread, I understand what you are saying. When I posted I didn't know if it was different as my issue also fits "Scannercast Issue on Reboot". Thanks.

 

[GTR8000]

I was wondering what Peter had to say on the issue.

If I can be so bold, I'm confident Peter would give my solution two enthusiastic thumbs up. Him and I are on the same wavelength nearly all the time with regards to this stuff.

In fact, the nircmd solution should probably find its way into the Wiki with regard to delaying startup of ScannerCast. In addition to your issue with the sound cards, I've also suggested nircmd as a solution to users who have a wireless connection that is not ready by the time ScannerCast starts up. Delaying the startup of ScannerCast until Windows is fully booted and all devices are ready to go goes a long way towards solving these issues.

 

[PeterGV]

(sorry, friends, been very busy with work)

I fully and most heartily endorse what expert feedster Chauffeur6 (AKA Chris) said in the immediately preceding post of this thread.

This is exactly what I meant when I said: "In your case, you're not waiting long enough before starting ScannerCast. "

Again, sorry for the delay in response. I'm grateful that there are OTHER helpful people here, like Chris, who can answer questions about using ScannerCast and potential feed problems when I'm "away".

Peter
K1PGV

 

[VFN05]

Chauffeur6, thanks for the info. While cold reboots are infrequent, I know it will prevent a few headaches in the future.

Along the same lines....has anyone using the multiple USB dongle soundcards (such as Lindsay's mega-feed appliance--yes, I'm jealous!) had an issue with the sound cards enumerating in a different order after each reboot? I'm running WinXP Home, and the number each card is assigned in device manager seems to change at random after each reboot.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
Jason