It's been quite some time since I was satisfied with my DX4WIN host, a 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate install. Although I had all the latest patches, and quite a few amulets, I just could not get away from experiencing the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) and a similarly annoying pause that seemed to happen at all the wrong moments, like when I was just about to acknowledge a call back from some rare DX station who was about to QRT.
Tonight I was about to throw in the towel and punt. I had done all kinds of system upgrades, bought "better" keyer interfaces, improved the USB-serial hardware, and installed everything there was to install, and more, and more than once. In one last moment of "try anything - it can't get worse" I was down to the point where only the keyboard and the power button worked, neither of which are USB. So, I connected my USB mouse to a port it had never been connected to before. The system thought a minute, installed the drivers and the mouse lit. It worked. I repeated this process with each item, the Fast Serial interface, the WinkeyUSB, the label printer, the UPS. They all worked. So, I rebooted. Repeatedly. I rebooted more than I'd been able to reboot without a BSOD in, well, forever. No problem. There was one item on the desk that was no longer connected. A bargain-priced Rosewell 7-port USB hub. I had noticed that connecting an FTDI-based device to port 4 of this thing caused an instant BSOD, so I left it disconnected. Forever. After the job of again working DX without worrying I'd access my log again, I did a little search engine exercise and found other people describing the same scenario that included this hub. It was a common thread in the descriptions, and it was common to two computers that had a similar problem. So, I see the occasional posting here about BSOD, so check the USB hub. Might be a hit. 73, Byron PS. Yes, the downside is that box is still running Windows. :-) ______________________________________________________________ DX4WIN mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dx4win Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
