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[JJtech]

Multiple times, my Windows updater will download and "install" repeatedly what looks like the same update.  When researching what it is, I come up empty handed.  Anyone know what if anything this does and why it keeps "installing successfully" time after time?

Here is what I pull off of the details about the install:


X10 Wireless Technology, Inc. - Other hardware - X10 USB ActiveHome (ACPI-compliant)

Installation date: ‎4/‎14/‎2009 8:26 PM

Installation status: Successful

Update type: Optional

X10 Wireless Technology, Inc. Other hardware software update released in October, 2008

More information:
http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=20220481

Help and Support:
http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub
 

[x10dude]

This looks like Windows Update has a later version of the X10 drive in its library, which it "sends" to your system when you do an update. It's quite possible that locally a few things may be going on:

* the driver's version stamp gets modified after the update is done (by AHP possibly?). thus, making it "old" again
* AHP is changing some registry setting when it runs, which renders Windows Update's setting useless. Thus, it thinks you still have the old driver
* the X10 driver is not properly registered in Windows Update. The .inf file may have redundant entries, missing something, improper installation/version stamp, etc.

Because it's an optional download, if your system works fine after you do the update, don't select it the next time you update your system.

[JJtech]

Thanks x10dude.

Well, my x10 system is far from working fine.  The biggest problem is that I can not run Windows Media Center if I have first plugged in the VA12A.  If I do that, I can not record, view the schedule or much of anything with WMC.  Another strange thing is that every time I start up AHP, the user account control asks me if it is a trusted program.  I don't want turn off UAC and AHP is the only program that I have that problem with.  Other than those Windows/AHP problems, I believe the rest of the problems are directly in AHP.

So, are you saying that I should have the latest and "greatest" driver for AHP and just not do the update next time?

JJ

[x10dude]

JJ,

The VA12a driver is known for having lots of bugs. I personally don't use the VA12a anymore as a result of that. I wouldn't be surprised if the driver is so unfriendly as to hog whatever resources WMC needs. However, it's also quite possible that you're using it in an untested scenario. WMC, when it starts, tries to "talk" to all video sources, which the VA12a is one of. I would try to reconfigure WMC to not use the VA12a as a video source.

If UAC is asking that you approve AHP, it's because either AHP or the drivers it talks to are not "signed" through some certificate authority. Thus, making it untrusted. I wouldn't turn off UAC, but instead, I would ask that it "trust this application" or "don't ask for this next time", or something like it. I don't have any untrusted apps in my Vista machine to tell you exactly what it says, but you can set it up to "remember" not to ask you next time.

By the way, what version of AHP are you using? From what I've noticed, X10 ties the AHP version to specific driver versions, so AHP may be the culprit in undoing what Windows Update does.

As a result, having the "latest and greatest" driver doesn't necessarily mean that it would work best with your particular configuration. For instance, I use 3.228 on an XP machine because the lastest AHP version has too many bugs for me to be able to use it. I tried installing the latest X10 drivers and they hosed my system, so I had to reinstall everything.

I don't recommend that people update drivers unless they're dealing with a particular problem that the driver specifically addresses.

Lastly, I know other people have been running AHP on Vista machines successfully. You may want to search around to see what versions they're using.

[JJtech]

Hey x10dude,

The VA12a driver is known for having lots of bugs. I personally don't use the VA12a anymore as a result of that. I wouldn't be surprised if the driver is so unfriendly as to hog whatever resources WMC needs. However, it's also quite possible that you're using it in an untested scenario. WMC, when it starts, tries to "talk" to all video sources, which the VA12a is one of. I would try to reconfigure WMC to not use the VA12a as a video source.

I thought I knew WMC pretty well but I have never seen a way to control the video source other than maybe when it sets up the tuner.  I hate to pug in the VA12a as after that I have to reconfigure the tuner.  Do you know where to make the adjustment not to use the VA12a as a video source?

If UAC is asking that you approve AHP, it's because either AHP or the drivers it talks to are not "signed" through some certificate authority. Thus, making it untrusted. I wouldn't turn off UAC, but instead, I would ask that it "trust this application" or "don't ask for this next time", or something like it. I don't have any untrusted apps in my Vista machine to tell you exactly what it says, but you can set it up to "remember" not to ask you next time.

I don’t see anything that allows that variance.  It would appear that it is all or nothing, UAC on or off.

By the way, what version of AHP are you using? From what I've noticed, X10 ties the AHP version to specific driver versions, so AHP may be the culprit in undoing what Windows Update does.

3.236 updated on 9/3/2008

As a result, having the "latest and greatest" driver doesn't necessarily mean that it would work best with your particular configuration. For instance, I use 3.228 on an XP machine because the lastest AHP version has too many bugs for me to be able to use it. I tried installing the latest X10 drivers and they hosed my system, so I had to reinstall everything.

I don't recommend that people update drivers unless they're dealing with a particular problem that the driver specifically addresses.

Lastly, I know other people have been running AHP on Vista machines successfully. You may want to search around to see what versions they're using.

Gotcha, thanks!

JJ

[x10dude]

hey JJ,

I've been on the road and hadn't had a chance to reply to this.

To be able to configure multiple video sources (up to 4) in Media Center Vista, you'll need the "TV Pack", which now seems to only come from the computer OEM when you purchase a Vista Ultimate pre-installed version of Windows. When the "TV Pack" was first released, it could be downloaded directly from Microsoft's site. However, they seem to have removed that option. I had it installed on mine and hadn't realized that it didn't come with all the WMC installations. You may be able to find it from alternate download sources, but beware that sometimes, hackers add their own "updates" to original Microsoft downloads.

For the UAC option that I mention, you'll need the "Application Compatibility Toolkit", which you can download from Microsoft's website. The latest version (as of this writing) is 5.5 and includes support for Windows 7 too. You can search for it on http://download.microsoft.com This tool will allow you to add certain applications to a local database, which UAC uses to selectively disable UAC upon application launch.

As for the version of AHP that you use, it is known for having lots of bugs, so it's quite possible that it does have other Vista issues that I don't know about.

I hope this helps!