Driver Fiasco!!!

[RE4MAT]

Hi, can someone tell me what a Kernel GS Wave Synthesizer and Splitter are?
I know they have something to do with MIDI but I don't know anything about what drive they are looking for. They keep popping up under when I boot the system and I am having a hard time learning what drivers these things need.

HP Helpdesk told me that a driver named WME_CHRYS would fix the problem and I downloaded it and followed the README file directions [to no avail].

I have onboard sound enabled in BIOS/SETUP and there are no other sound cards installed.

XE745 Pavilion
64 MB RAM
30 G hard drive
AC'97 integrated sound
i810 chipset
Windows ME OS

[liam858]

Some useful info here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...eef24f.xml.asp

Are they showing in device manager as working? any yellow/red splats?

Liam

[Nix]

Those normally only show in device manager in WinMe in safe mode.

You could try going into safe mode, removing them from device manager and reboot to see if it fixes the porblem or asks you for the WinMe CD.

[RE4MAT]

Howdy Liam and Nix.. thanks for the help here.

Liam, yes there are some "yellow splats" in device manager.
They keep coming back due to the fact that when PnP finds the device and asks me for the location of the drivers, it refuses to accept the driver HP told me to use. It gives me a "Digital Signature Notification" error message that reads:

"The driver software you have chosen to install may not have been tested by Microsoft to verify that it works properly within Windows Millennium Edition.
To maintain the reliability of your system, the following driver will not be installed."

I get this exact same error message for the following "devices":
Microsoft Kernel GS Wavetable Synthesizer
Microsoft Kernel Audio Mixer
Microsoft Kernel Audio Splitter
Microsoft Kernel DLS Synthesizer

I have tried removing them countless times and starting over, but I have not tried removing them in Safe Mode as was suggested so I will do that and post back immediately.

Nix thanks for the info also, I have not had time to read it yet but do plan on doing so.

Thanks,
RE4MAT

[liam858]

I would try Windows Update, click here: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/default.htm

And see if it shows any drivers for those devices.

Here is Driver Signing (WHQL) explained:

To promote and advance the quality of drivers, to provide a better user experience, and to reduce support costs for vendors and total cost of ownership (TCO) for customers, Microsoft has begun digitally signing drivers that pass the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) tests. Such certification proves to users that the drivers they employ are identical to those Microsoft has tested, and flags any changes after a product is put on the Hardware Compatibility List.

Driver Signing operates as a driver is installed, rather than as a system boots. The three primary categories of driver verification can be simply described as Fail, Warn, and Ignore. Fail prevents unsigned code from being loaded. Warn provides a prominent message to tell the user that unsigned code is being loaded. Ignore loads drivers without notification, if the user or administrator so chooses. Driver Signing is configurable through a control panel to allow different types of drivers to be treated differently; for example, video drivers can operate in Warn mode, while network drivers operate in Fail mode.

Liam

[RE4MAT]

Ok, I went into Safe Mode and there was lots of "Microsoft rendering, splitting, synthesizer, etc" stuff going on in there, that doesn't even show up in Normal Mode (just booting Windows).

I just deleted everything except:
Crystal WDM Audio Codec
Gameport Joystick
MPU-401 Compatible MIDI device
[Just because these 3 did not say "Microsoft something-or-other"]

When I rebooted the system, I got another Digital Signature Notification just like the one's in my previous post, only this time for the "Microsoft Kernel System Audio Renderer".
I declined to install the driver and only ONE "yellow splat" showed up in Device Manager this time.

So that's where I'm at as of now...
Thanks so much,

RE4MAT

[Nix]

What was the yellow splat against ?

[RE4MAT]

The yellow splats are next to the "unknown devices" in Device Manager, which, before they become "unknown devices" are found by PnP to be all of those Microsoft files... Synthesizer, Splitter, etc... There are 4 of them in all.

Thanks for the help Nix