From XP to Vista

[nathantongier]

When I came in here I figured this would be probably an extremely popular if not the MOST popular question in the forum, but maybe I'm just not searching hard enough. Anyway, whats the scoop? I'm about to "upgrade" (and I use that term for vista VERY loosely) to Windows Vista. My copy of XP is of questionable origin and becoming very unstable causing several system crashes in the middle of recording sessions in which all data that I recorded was lost. (I know, save your data frequently. Got it.) but, I happen to have aquired a bonafied real copy of vista 64 bit ultimate edition. I'm running riffworks line6 edition with several drummer session downloads. When I re-enstall them will they be compatable? Is there a patch to download for my riffworks program so that it will work in the vista OS? One would really hope that Sonomawireworks and Line6 would be gracious enough to allow one to upgrade OS's without the need to purchase a whole new copy of their software. What can you tell me about this issue?

[blue4u]

RiffWorks just needs good, stable ASIO drivers as far as I can understand. The problem USUALLY lies with the software drivers from the hardware you are using. They tend to be what causes crashes! I don't think Line 6 hardware works with 64 bit Vista yet. They are supposedly working on creating new drivers to support it. It could be a while. That said, Line 6 devices with Windows XP using RiffWorks SHOULD be pretty stable for you. It could be some other software of hardware that you've installed creating the issue. It might also be how you have the audio driver set up in Windows. You might consider emailing support here (click on the "Support" button at the top) and describe your problem to them as well as, inquire about whether or not Vista 64 bit will work. I'm fairly sure it won't though

Rich

[Charvelguy]

I would hold off on doing Vista 64 just yet until you get a definitive word from support.

However, in doing the upgrade of RW, you should see increased stability in the platform.

I had ALOT of stability problems with XP2 with Line6 version of RW over the past year, whether that is realtive to how XP and my drive is partitioned out or how RW was installed (non default/standard location) still is, to me at least, up in the air.
My understanding is the program still should execute its install to work with the system drive and system files, ie;pathing to whatever directories it is needing to work with, ie: usually C: drive/system files... course, I'm not a programmer or authority so I cannot speak for certain. I'm just basing that upon observation by watching it install and what seems rather common sense based upon what little knowledge I've picked up on around here.

Anyways, in upgrading your version of RW to Sonomas' standard, you should see an improvement in performance or at least stability and less .dmp files if you are experiencing those.

The L6 drivers are not digitally signed to work with XP (even in 32 bit, you'll get a popup asking to continue) but as far as I know, upgrading to a 64 bit Vista system may cause for more problems 'cause I do not believe they are digitally signed much less designed to work with XP2 64 either.

I have several processors which are capable of working in a 64 bit capacity, I'm personally holding off on doing that upgrade for the moment until I see what developes later in the year to be compatible with my hardware and software.

[ShredRex]

I have been using RWS with Vista Since January with no problems, outside of needing a patch to fix rewire apps. Other than that it has been fine.

[davenz]

I have been using Vista 32 bit since the earliest betas and while there have been expected glitches along the way, all in all it has worked pretty well. Riffworks itself seems to have no issues with Vista, though I did have a weird thing where it wouldn't start with my network active; this has now been fixed, and is probably due to the way I have my computer configured - nothing specifically to do with Riffworks.

But, Line 6 drivers seem to have Vista issues. Occasionally I need to unplug my TonePort and plug it back in for the driver to be recognised; no big deal really. And Gearbox works fine as well, no problems.

As for 64bit - I installed 64 bit Vista as part of my familiarization with that OS and I had no end of trouble finding drivers and applications that would work on it. While some companies will put out 64 bit versions, eventually, most won't, so what's the point in going to a 64 bit OS? Any small performance gains to be made from it are far outweighed by the lack of hardware and software support. I would stick with 32 bit OS's, for now at least.

Dave.