We've been getting some questions lately about using the Axia IP-Audio Driver with Windows Vista. Here's what our Support gurus have to say about it:
Right now the Axia IP-Audio Driver is not approved for use with Windows Vista; only for use on Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP. We are investigating compatibility with Windows Vista and will let you know when approval is forthcoming.
So for right now, we recommend not attempting to use the Driver with Vista. The re-coding of the WDM layer in Vista makes it unsuitable as of right now.
"Stay tuned for further developments on most of these same NBC stations!"
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition (32-bit, standard)
Microsoft Windows XP Home Editions
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server R2
We need to order some replacement PCs in the next little while here. I was wondering if there was any update regarding whether the ip audio driver worked with windows vista / windows server 2008?
Andrew, what is the purpose of these machines with IP driver?
Single channel driver works on Vista, but either you have to start the installer from the System account or use one of the Vista ready beta versions.
OEM Multichannel works on Vista, too. But there is a problem with the new Vista Sounds Control Panel which shows the same name for all devices. If the driver is used with Direct Sound application, there is no issue, since those names are like in Windows XP (all different). But for Direct Show application there is an issue that is being worked on.
The application that we had in mind was iProfiler. We were thinking of installing a PC running windows server 2003 or 2008 to handle a lot of our rack room tasks, run Pathfinder, etc.
Would the issues that you mention have an impact on iProfiler? We would not be using the system for any other audio playout.
iProfiler or Pathfinder work fine within Win03. I personally have not seen WinServer 2008 yet.
As for running iProfiler and Pathfinder with the same PC. It is typically not suggested. Both applications can run fine together on the same machine, but the concern is how much CPU each will demand as well as NIC traffic. If both applications were working very minimal loads, you would likely not see any problems. If either application was demanding a lot of resources then you might find some problems. For example, some customers depend on Pathfinder Server a lot and the slightest hiccup by the PC would introduce havoc into the normal operations, so these customer will not have the machine do anything other than the Pathfinder Server application to guarantee smooth operations. iProfiler likewise can demand a lot on the CPU depending on the amount of Audio streams coming in as well as the type of Stream (Live or Normal) or the amount of Archives being generated and monitoring streams being generated. This can also eat up the bandwidth of the NIC connection. Again, it all depends on how much one facility uses an application. How much time you have to monitor the PC.
As for iProfiler and Vista, I don't see any problems with the known issues with Vista and IP driver.
