I am having trouble reinstalling the rtl dongle drivers

[steve-kc7byp]

I had to wipe out the partition on my [C] drive because my laptop got invaded by a trojan horse. I am having trouble reinstalling the RTL dongle drivers with Zadig. I did the following.

1 opened Zadig as administrator.
2 Went to options > list all devices.
3 selected RTL2832U
4 selected WinUSB (v6.1.7600.16385).

Then hit install driver. And after about 4 minutes into the install I end up with an error message of "the driver installation failed". I must be doing something wrong on the installation.


Steve

 

[HelixArray]

Hey, Steve. I have had this problem before as well with zadig(don't know which version). I think I ran a stand alone zadig.exe from another site and not the one that a SDR# downloaded for me. Also, that day I had been unplugging and plugging in USB cords and devices(hot swapping and not "safely removing") left and right before I ran zadig... that's when it started hanging the install on me. I rebooted and zadig went through fine after that, possibly it was a hick-up from plugging USB cords in and out. Bluetooth devices were acting erratic on me.


Hope it helps any

 

[steve-kc7byp]

re: having trouble reinstalling the rtl dongle drivers

I did a reboot, no help and I tried unplugging the dongles then del the dongle drivers, rebooting again. still no go.

Hey, Steve. I have had this problem before as well with zadig(don't know which version). I think I ran a stand alone zadig.exe from another site and not the one that a SDR# downloaded for me. Also, that day I had been unplugging and plugging in USB cords and devices(hot swapping and not "safely removing") left and right before I ran zadig... that's when it started hanging the install on me. I rebooted and zadig went through fine after that, possibly it was a hick-up from plugging USB cords in and out. Bluetooth devices were acting erratic on me.


Hope it helps any

 

[HelixArray]

You chose bulk interface 0?


On rtl-sdr.com it's saying the fail message is related to :

"Zadig takes a long time to install the driver, then fails
You have probably not run zadig in administrator mode. Make sure to right click zadig, and select “Run as Administrator”."

But we know you did that^

I'm trying to search for more fail error reasons on google BRB

What OS are you operating from?

 

[br0adband]

Try installing the drivers without having the RTL stick(s) plugged in when you do so. I know you just said you unplugged them but you didn't specify if you plugged them back in before the next attempt to install the drivers. The Zadig drivers don't require you to have the USB device(s) plugged in to install the drivers - when they're installed (hopefully without issues) and you insert the device they're designed for (based on the hardware IDs) they'll load and the device should become usable.

If absolutely necessary you may have to remove the USB drivers entirely (the Zadig ones) and that can be somewhat tricky to do but it's possible. This application (which I use myself from time to time) can show you everything you ever wanted to or didn't want to know about USB devices and drivers in your Windows installation, both used and not used (but there in case a device is used in the future). It can be quite a long list depending on your hardware setup but, it does offer the ability to uninstall/totally remove USB drivers if required - some uninstall options don't get rid of them adequately whereas this tool can do it properly.

View any installed/connected USB device on your system

Also realize that if you have Windows Update set to automatically download and install updates there's a good chance that it's overwriting the Zadig drivers with the one for RTL2832U devices from Windows Update which obviously doesn't work properly for SDR use. If that's the case you have to get rid of that driver too and in the future you have to make sure that update is hidden and avoided for these purposes. I've seen that happen a lot with people using the "cheap USB TV tuners" aka RTL sticks as they're getting started using them with SDR software. It sucks that Windows Update tries to push those other drivers on you but the only thing you can do about it is catch that update when it appears (by checking out every update before installation) and hide the update for future purposes, then make sure the Zadig drivers are installed correctly once more - that's IF this is what's happening.

It might help, it might not, but I recommend people use Windows Update set for "Check for updates but don't install them" so you're notified when something is available but it won't automatically install which could wreck things with the Zadig drivers completely.

 

[pinkfish457]

Zadig Error

Don't run Zadig as administrator. Just click and you should be good to go.

 

[steve-kc7byp]

re: having trouble reinstalling the rtl dongle drivers

1st off OS is Win7 Home 32bit. Yes I plugged the dongles in before the next install attempt. Also Windows update is on strictly manual control.

Try installing the drivers without having the RTL stick(s) plugged in when you do so. I know you just said you unplugged them but you didn't specify if you plugged them back in before the next attempt to install the drivers. The Zadig drivers don't require you to have the USB device(s) plugged in to install the drivers - when they're installed (hopefully without issues) and you insert the device they're designed for (based on the hardware IDs) they'll load and the device should become usable.

If absolutely necessary you may have to remove the USB drivers entirely (the Zadig ones) and that can be somewhat tricky to do but it's possible. This application (which I use myself from time to time) can show you everything you ever wanted to or didn't want to know about USB devices and drivers in your Windows installation, both used and not used (but there in case a device is used in the future). It can be quite a long list depending on your hardware setup but, it does offer the ability to uninstall/totally remove USB drivers if required - some uninstall options don't get rid of them adequately whereas this tool can do it properly.

View any installed/connected USB device on your system

Also realize that if you have Windows Update set to automatically download and install updates there's a good chance that it's overwriting the Zadig drivers with the one for RTL2832U devices from Windows Update which obviously doesn't work properly for SDR use. If that's the case you have to get rid of that driver too and in the future you have to make sure that update is hidden and avoided for these purposes. I've seen that happen a lot with people using the "cheap USB TV tuners" aka RTL sticks as they're getting started using them with SDR software. It sucks that Windows Update tries to push those other drivers on you but the only thing you can do about it is catch that update when it appears (by checking out every update before installation) and hide the update for future purposes, then make sure the Zadig drivers are installed correctly once more - that's IF this is what's happening.

It might help, it might not, but I recommend people use Windows Update set for "Check for updates but don't install them" so you're notified when something is available but it won't automatically install which could wreck things with the Zadig drivers completely.

 

[steve-kc7byp]

I finely got ZADIG to say "Dongle drivers install, successfully completed". But when I run SDRSharp I get the following error message "2 compatible devices have been found but all busy". Also HDSDR won't see the dongles.

Steve

 

[br0adband]

Have you attempted to just use one RTL stick all by itself to get things operational? SDR# can't access multiple sticks at the same time so in some instances it can be a difficult situation for the application to figure out which stick it should be trying to work with.

My suggestion is get things working with just one stick first (if possible) and then worry about adding the second one at a later time. Unplug both sticks, reboot the machine, when you're back at the Desktop ready to go, plug in just one of them, go into Device Manager and make sure it shows both Bulk interface devices (as noted earlier, one is the actual RTL controller and the other is the IR transceiver) and then fire up SDR# and see if it can recognize and make use of that one stick. If it works, great, then shut SDR# down, remove that stick, insert the other stick in a different USB port and not the same one you just used so Windows will recognize it at the new address, then fire up SDR# again and repeat.

If you get both sticks working in different USB ports individually aka not at the same time, then shut down SDR# once more, insert the first stick so you then actually do have both connected at the same time, fire up SDR# again and see if it's able to access one of them and get it working.

 

[steve-kc7byp]

re: having trouble reinstalling the rtl dongle drivers

Ok I will try that.

Have you attempted to just use one RTL stick all by itself to get things operational? SDR# can't access multiple sticks at the same time so in some instances it can be a difficult situation for the application to figure out which stick it should be trying to work with.

My suggestion is get things working with just one stick first (if possible) and then worry about adding the second one at a later time.

 

[steve-kc7byp]

re: having trouble reinstalling the rtl dongle drivers

I unplugged 1 dongle and I still get the same error message with 1 change "1 compatible device have been found but busy"

Have you attempted to just use one RTL stick all by itself to get things operational? SDR# can't access multiple sticks at the same time so in some instances it can be a difficult situation for the application to figure out which stick it should be trying to work with.

My suggestion is get things working with just one stick first (if possible) and then worry about adding the second one at a later time. Unplug both sticks, reboot the machine, when you're back at the Desktop ready to go, plug in just one of them, go into Device Manager and make sure it shows both Bulk interface devices (as noted earlier, one is the actual RTL controller and the other is the IR transceiver) and then fire up SDR# and see if it can recognize and make use of that one stick. If it works, great, then shut SDR# down, remove that stick, insert the other stick in a different USB port and not the same one you just used so Windows will recognize it at the new address, then fire up SDR# again and repeat.

If you get both sticks working in different USB ports individually aka not at the same time, then shut down SDR# once more, insert the first stick so you then actually do have both connected at the same time, fire up SDR# again and see if it's able to access one of them and get it working.

 

[steve-kc7byp]

1 thing I haven't tried is rebooting the laptop after the successfull install of the dongle drivers.

 

[steve-kc7byp]

I finely got both dongles working in both SDRSharp and HDSDR after the cold reboot of the laptop.

 

[br0adband]

What you've done up to this point obviously hasn't worked - that's not me knocking you for your efforts, but the best solution when it comes to troubleshooting is to wipe the slate clean as the saying goes and start from scratch which is what I basically suggested earlier. That might include using that tool I linked to in the post above to eradicate the Zadig drivers or any other that might be getting in the way (that happened to be loaded when the RTL stick(s) are plugged in).

If you haven't rebooted the laptop now's the time to get it done, with both sticks removed from the laptop completely. Remove the sticks, reboot the laptop, wait 5 minutes for everything to settle in, install the Zadig drivers (like I mentioned before you don't have to have any RTL sticks plugged in to do this, just use all the default settings for the Zadig drivers and it'll install them - they'll be loaded when a matching USB device is plugged in).

We'll change one thing here this time: instead of firing up SDR#, we'll use the rtl_test.exe application once more to see if it's finally detecting the stick properly.

So plug in just one stick in one USB port, then use rtl_test.exe to see if it detects the stick and can make use of it. If the stick is working you should basically see this or something very similar:

The line where it says "Reading samples in async mode..." is what you're looking for - the next line is basically telling you if the stick is losing samples (misreading the data) during the transfer to the application. I let it run for about 5 seconds before using Control+C to kill the program. It will sit there and just keep reading samples till you end it so, as long as it shows it's reading samples, then it's working and that application is able to access the RTL stick.

If you can't get this far, and if rtl_test.exe can't see the stick, the problem lies with the Zadig drivers and the installation of them which may eventually have to be gutted using that program I linked you with above. I'm going guess that rebooting the laptop properly then waiting about 5 minutes for things to settle will resolve the "device in use" error - some USB drivers won't unload when a device is unplugged or no longer being accessed and when that happens upon trying to reinitialize the driver it won't do it because it's already running. The full reboot (not just logging off the user account) should resolve that issue.

EDIT:
DUH!!! Just saw your post you made while I was creating this one, congrats.

 

[HelixArray]

Shoot br0adband, your post may be a little long-winded but they're full of useful info, might as well be a tutorial.

I was going to suggest next that on zadigs website is says that they have an install log I haven't used yet ..


Info/Log:
In Advanced Mode, you can also select the log level appearing in the logging window by going to Options → Log Level. If you want to find out more about what the installation process is doing, or report an issue, make sure you run your driver installation with a sufficient log level.

 

[steve-kc7byp]

re: i need some help again with tuning SDRSharp

Thanks HelixArray I will look itto the log bit.

Shoot br0adband, your post may be a little long-winded but they're full of useful info, might as well be a tutorial.

I was going to suggest next that on zadigs website is says that they have an install log I haven't used yet ..


Info/Log:
In Advanced Mode, you can also select the log level appearing in the logging window by going to Options → Log Level. If you want to find out more about what the installation process is doing, or report an issue, make sure you run your driver installation with a sufficient log level.

 

[moonbounce]

After you download the latest version of Zadig either run it from an Admin account or left click and run as Administrator. But before you do that exit the web and exit your firewall. Now install the Zadig driver.

MB

 

[moonbounce]

Coincidently my problem just started today. If like myself you run Zadig and SDRSharp from your user account, you will have to run both of them from an administrator account. Now each time I run SDR Sharp I have to right click and run as an admin account or it doesn't run, it just hangs and I have to to shut down.

MB