MixW RigExpert

Set-up Troubleshooting

General VCP (Virtual COM Port) driver issues

Q: How to open the Windows Device Manager?
A: Under Windows 98, right-click My Computer on the desktop, select Properties from the menu, then select Devices tab in the System:Properties window. 
A: Under Windows 2000 and XP, right-click My Computer on the desktop, select Manage from the menu, then select Device Manager from the list on the left side of the window.

Q: How do I make sure the VCP drivers are installed OK?
A: Please check Ports (COM&LPT) branch in the Device Manager. A USB Serial Port (COMxx) item must be there (see picture on the left). If there is no such an item, please check the Universal Serial Bus controllers branch. If it contains a USB Device item marked with a yellow (!) sign (like on the picture on the right), the VCP driver should be reinstalled. Please remember to uninstall the previous version of the driver first (see the uninstallation instructions), then install a new one.
                      

Q: Where can I get another version of VCP drivers if the existing one seems to work unstable?
A: Please go to this page and download the latest drivers directly from the USB chip manufacturer.

Q: Why does the manual recommend setting the VCP number to COM13? Is it really needed?
A: It is not needed, but it is better to use port numbers higher than COM4 to avoid conflicts with other hardware which can be connected to your computer. Another answer is that it is always easier to have your settings done exactly as shown on the screenshots in the manual.

Windows XP driver issues

Q: When I plug in MixW RigExpert to my computer for the first time, Windows XP does not ask for the driver to install (as described in MixW RigExpert manual), but the device seems to be installed and functional. However, it works unstable. What should I do?
A: Windows XP does contain a driver to support MixW RigExpert. However, it is quite old and does not work well. It is recommended to uninstall this version and install a new one from the supplied CD or from the website.

Q: Under Windows XP, I get a driver signature warning during driver installation. Does it mean the driver I install contains viruses or potentially dangerous for my computer?
A: You may safely close the warning window and continue the installation. The warning means the driver was not signed by Microsoft, but it has nothing to do with being "bugs-free" or dangerous.

Windows 98 driver issues

Q: I have installed the drivers properly, and a new COM port (COMxx) is shown in the Device Manager, but MixW does not list this COMxx in the Sound Device Settings dialog, so I cannot use MixW RigExpert on my machine.
A: This is a driver bug which happens on some Windows 98 machines, and new driver version does not help. Although there is a way to get around this bug by patching the registry (see the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM registry key, if you are interested), it is recommended to download a newer MixW version.
MixW 2.12 will only show (see the picture on the left) serial ports which are listed in the SERIALCOMM registry key (and is affected by this bug), while MixW 2.13 and higher versions will show all ports (see the picture on the right), so the bug does not affect these versions.
                        

Q: When I try to change the VCP number under Windows 98, only COM1 to COM4 choices are listed in the Advanced Port Settings dialog (which opens from the Device Manager). Any solution?
A: This is (probably) a driver bug which affects some older Windows 98 versions. You may try to install another VCP driver version, or just leave the port number in this range (in this case, please make sure it does not conflict with other COM ports on your machine).

General questions

Q: I installed the MixW RigExpert device to, say, COM13, and then configured MixW so that both Sound Device and CAT to use COM13. This does not work!
A: Please select RigExpert instead of COM13 in the Serial Port dialog:
              

Q: When I use MixW RigExpert in CW mode, sending letters on numbers from keyboard produces just garbage instead of Morse code.
A: Please decrease the transmit buffer size in the Advanced settings dialog (see the VCP configuration procedure) to 256 or so, like this:
              

REAUDIO (MixW Virtual Sound Card) questions

Q: Do I have to install the REAUDIO driver for MixW?
A: No, it is not needed. MixW software (as well as DigiPan) supports MixW RigExpert in a direct way, so REAUDIO is not needed. However, you may select MixW Virtual Sound Card in the Sound Device Settings dialog and this will work, too.

Q: When I try to use REAUDIO with different software I have, I can only see garbage on the screen instead of received information. CAT and transmit mode seems to work OK.
A: Please try to play with the receive buffer size in the Advanced settings dialog (see the VCP configuration procedure), setting it to 256 to 1024 bytes (please remember to re-connect MixW RigExpert for this change to take effect):
              
This setting seems to affect the audio buffers drop-outs, which causes the received data to be garbled.

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