Using ASIO Link Pro to avoid SCOPE BSOD in Win 10
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:01 am
I recently built a Win10 pro 64 bit PC for the purposes of running 3 Pulsar 2 PCI cards and with the idea of also using it to take some of the VST instrument CPU load off my main PC running Cubase. Like many users here, I run into frequent BSOD errors when I try and run standalone versions of VST instruments and access the ASIO Scope driver.
garyb (whose help I value enormously!!) will interject that this problem is caused by poorly written apps which don't implement the ASIO protocol properly, while the SCOPE hardware is not a regular windows soundcard. Years ago, I tried to get garyb and FXPansion to work together to solve this with no success. Regardless of where the fault lies, users like me simply want a work around. I don't think I am alone in wanting to be able to run ASIO using apps outside of a DAW that works with the SCOPE ASIO driver. See my note at the end.
In my case of a brand new installation, Windows was also not able to access to Scope Wave devices properly for bog standard MME playback: it would list the Scope speakers devices in the sounds control panel but could not use them. Fortunately, this BSOD work around also solves this issue.
Using ASIO LINK PRO
The key problem solver here is ODEUS Asio Link Pro. I bought this software years ago, and then the producer of it unfortunately passed away. His nephew, who was passed the rights to the software, has blessed an effort by "Give Academy" to produce a patcher for the software which effectively makes it free to use. I am very grateful to all involved in providing this. The software and the patcher for it are available here:
https://give.academy/posts/2018/03/02/AsioLinkPro/
Please note: we are dealing with issues that can cause BSOD and consequent problems with Windows boot up, need for safe mode, etc. If you are not comfortable with that, do not proceed, and do so at your own risk.
My experience in getting this working runs as follows:
1. Get your scope hardware installed in the PC with drivers functioning properly, software activated, and ASIO source/destination modules in your project.
2. Install the ASIO LINK PRO software (I find it helpful to check the box which states "install 16 stereo WDM devices). Then run the patcher for both the 32bit and 64 bit versions.
3. With Scope 7 running, open the ASIO LINK PRO TOOL 32 - DO NOT run the 64 bit version (simply labelled ASIO LINK PRO TOOL with no number to follow) as it will cause a BSOD listing ScopePCI.sys as the problem.
4. Press START ASIO in the ASIO LINK PRO 32 Tool. The link pro window should pop up. Above the words G.A. COLLECTIVE 2018 near the top centre of this window, make sure it lists ASIO SCOPE as the device it is using. If not, click on "pick driver" and select it. Then ensure that "Enable multi-clients" is green (click it if red).
5. Open an application with which you want to use the SCOPE audio hardware. DO NOT select ASIO SCOPE as the audio hardware device in the apps setting (you are at risk of BSOD if you do). Instead, select ASIO LINK PRO as the audio driver. Doing so should pop open another instance of ASIO Link Pro window. Note the ASIO Link PRO windows can be closed (they will minimise to the taskbar) provided you keep the application that has called them open.
6. You can repeat step 5 with as many applications as you like: each will open its own ASIO LINK PRO window and feed its audio output directly to the output of the ASIO driver by default.
7. In your Scope project, the audio from your apps will be summed and will come from the ASIO SOURCE module. Connect that to a mixer or hardware output in the Scope project as required.
8. You can set Windows audio to use the ASIOVADPRO devices and again that will be passed to the ASIO driver output. Doing so means you don't have to get windows talking to the Scope wave devices for windows audio.
What is effectively happening is that ASIO LINK PRO is acting as a "wrapper" for the Scope driver, and in doing so it helps it to play nicely with windows apps which would otherwise crash/BSOD if you pointed them directly at the ASIO SCOPE driver.
Note in the above I start an instance of ASIO LINK PRO from the tool, and then have all the apps access it as multiclient. Some apps do not need that intermediary step and could be set to use the first instance of ASIO LINK PRO. But many crash/BSOD when you try to do that. In my experience if you start an instance of ASIO LINK Pro from the Tool first, and then have all the applications access Asio Link Pro in multiclient mode, I can't crash the system.
Read the ASIO Link technology PDF included with the install to learn more about how it works.
A final thought
I hope this (LENGTHY!) write up is helpful to anyone still trying to use the Scope PCI hardware with Windows 10. I make no claim that this is the only or even the best way of doing this, but I have not come across a better method.
That my years old Pulsar cards are still going strong is a source of wonder to me, and I am very grateful to those (Holger, Garyb, and I am sure many others) who have made that happen. It is obvious there is a lot for these guys to do and limited resources to do it. But I wonder if it might be possible to take the ASIO Link technology code and somehow integrate it into the Scope software, so the BSOD problem disappears. Or maybe someone with more extensive knowledge than I could take a look at this, and see if this workaround could be improved/streamlined.
Happy hunting SCOPE users.....
garyb (whose help I value enormously!!) will interject that this problem is caused by poorly written apps which don't implement the ASIO protocol properly, while the SCOPE hardware is not a regular windows soundcard. Years ago, I tried to get garyb and FXPansion to work together to solve this with no success. Regardless of where the fault lies, users like me simply want a work around. I don't think I am alone in wanting to be able to run ASIO using apps outside of a DAW that works with the SCOPE ASIO driver. See my note at the end.
In my case of a brand new installation, Windows was also not able to access to Scope Wave devices properly for bog standard MME playback: it would list the Scope speakers devices in the sounds control panel but could not use them. Fortunately, this BSOD work around also solves this issue.
Using ASIO LINK PRO
The key problem solver here is ODEUS Asio Link Pro. I bought this software years ago, and then the producer of it unfortunately passed away. His nephew, who was passed the rights to the software, has blessed an effort by "Give Academy" to produce a patcher for the software which effectively makes it free to use. I am very grateful to all involved in providing this. The software and the patcher for it are available here:
https://give.academy/posts/2018/03/02/AsioLinkPro/
Please note: we are dealing with issues that can cause BSOD and consequent problems with Windows boot up, need for safe mode, etc. If you are not comfortable with that, do not proceed, and do so at your own risk.
My experience in getting this working runs as follows:
1. Get your scope hardware installed in the PC with drivers functioning properly, software activated, and ASIO source/destination modules in your project.
2. Install the ASIO LINK PRO software (I find it helpful to check the box which states "install 16 stereo WDM devices). Then run the patcher for both the 32bit and 64 bit versions.
3. With Scope 7 running, open the ASIO LINK PRO TOOL 32 - DO NOT run the 64 bit version (simply labelled ASIO LINK PRO TOOL with no number to follow) as it will cause a BSOD listing ScopePCI.sys as the problem.
4. Press START ASIO in the ASIO LINK PRO 32 Tool. The link pro window should pop up. Above the words G.A. COLLECTIVE 2018 near the top centre of this window, make sure it lists ASIO SCOPE as the device it is using. If not, click on "pick driver" and select it. Then ensure that "Enable multi-clients" is green (click it if red).
5. Open an application with which you want to use the SCOPE audio hardware. DO NOT select ASIO SCOPE as the audio hardware device in the apps setting (you are at risk of BSOD if you do). Instead, select ASIO LINK PRO as the audio driver. Doing so should pop open another instance of ASIO Link Pro window. Note the ASIO Link PRO windows can be closed (they will minimise to the taskbar) provided you keep the application that has called them open.
6. You can repeat step 5 with as many applications as you like: each will open its own ASIO LINK PRO window and feed its audio output directly to the output of the ASIO driver by default.
7. In your Scope project, the audio from your apps will be summed and will come from the ASIO SOURCE module. Connect that to a mixer or hardware output in the Scope project as required.
8. You can set Windows audio to use the ASIOVADPRO devices and again that will be passed to the ASIO driver output. Doing so means you don't have to get windows talking to the Scope wave devices for windows audio.
What is effectively happening is that ASIO LINK PRO is acting as a "wrapper" for the Scope driver, and in doing so it helps it to play nicely with windows apps which would otherwise crash/BSOD if you pointed them directly at the ASIO SCOPE driver.
Note in the above I start an instance of ASIO LINK PRO from the tool, and then have all the apps access it as multiclient. Some apps do not need that intermediary step and could be set to use the first instance of ASIO LINK PRO. But many crash/BSOD when you try to do that. In my experience if you start an instance of ASIO LINK Pro from the Tool first, and then have all the applications access Asio Link Pro in multiclient mode, I can't crash the system.
Read the ASIO Link technology PDF included with the install to learn more about how it works.
A final thought
I hope this (LENGTHY!) write up is helpful to anyone still trying to use the Scope PCI hardware with Windows 10. I make no claim that this is the only or even the best way of doing this, but I have not come across a better method.
That my years old Pulsar cards are still going strong is a source of wonder to me, and I am very grateful to those (Holger, Garyb, and I am sure many others) who have made that happen. It is obvious there is a lot for these guys to do and limited resources to do it. But I wonder if it might be possible to take the ASIO Link technology code and somehow integrate it into the Scope software, so the BSOD problem disappears. Or maybe someone with more extensive knowledge than I could take a look at this, and see if this workaround could be improved/streamlined.
Happy hunting SCOPE users.....