Content provided by: Tim, W4TME
It may become necessary to manually reinstall the FlexControl driver after an operating system upgrade. The procedure below describes how to perform this action.
- Shut down SmartSDR
- Shut down your FLEX-6000. Power off your radio to prevent any conflict when removing programs that may still be connected to it.
- Unplug the FlexControl from your PC
- Remove the FlexControl driver by running the FlexControlUninstall file as Administrator. Navigate to the folder [the drive Letter you installed SSDR, usually C:]\Program Files\FlexRadio Systems\SmartSDR [vA.B.C, select the latest version]\[32 or 64-bit] Drivers\FlexControl. You will see a file called FlexControlUninstall.bat. Right-click on it and select Run as Administrator. A command window will pop up momentarily and close when the driver is uninstalled.
- Remove all FlexRadio FlexControl-specific hidden virtual comports from your PC. Using the procedure, Removing Hidden or "Ghosted" Com ports (https://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/200883925-Removing-Hidden-or-Ghosted-Com-ports), remove all com ports with the names “FlexRadio Virtual Serial Port” or “FlexRadio FlexControl”
- Reboot your computer
- Install the FlexControl driver by running the FlexControlInstall file as Administrator. Navigate to the folder [the drive Letter you installed SSDR, usually C:]\Program Files\FlexRadio Systems\SmartSDR [vA.B.C, select the latest version]\[32 or 64-bit] Drivers\FlexControl. You will see a file called FlexControlInstall.bat. Right-click on it and Run as Administrator. A command window will pop up momentarily and close when the driver is uninstalled.
- Plug the FlexControl into a USB port. Plug the FlexControl into a USB port and allow the driver to install it. This usually takes a few seconds.
- Verify that the FlexControl has been properly installed. Open the Windows Device Manager and navigate to the Ports (COM & LPT) section, and locate the Com port associated with the FlexControl (see the image below. The FlexControl is associated with com port 99). To open the Windows Device Manager, simply type "Device Manager" in the Windows search box and select the Device Manager, Control Panel option.
If there is a com port conflict where two com port devices have the same port number, then use the procedure, How to Change the Com Port Assignment for a FlexControl (https://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/202479329-How-to-Change-the-Com-Port-Assignment-for-a-FlexControl) to change the port number to a high value that is not conflicting with any other established com ports. Note: Do not delete any com ports in this step. - Restart SmartSDR. The FlexControl should be working properly.