How can I lock Windows into using ONLY the Line-in port on my SB Live?

[Creig]

I have assembled three video conferencing computers for three of our offices using the Polycom PVX software. Due to the equipment being used, the clearest audio is obtained using the Line-in port on the SB Live.

Unfortunately for reasons I cannot fathom, the Polycom PVX software automatically changes the selected Windows input port from Line-in to Microphone each time the PVX software is started. We then have to go back into the audio properties and change it back since there is no option in the PVX software to stop this behavior. Needless to say, this is a major irritation.

Is there any way to lock Windows into using the Line-in port on the sound card to prevent it being changed? Perhaps something in the registry? Or possibly a way to delete all other inputs so that the only one Windows can see is the Line-in?

I would appreciate any suggestions on how to fix this Polycom PVX bug.

 

[VinDSL]

Hrm...

Well, personally, I think *this* is your problem:

Originally posted by: Creig
Due to the equipment being used, the clearest audio is obtained... blah, blah, blah...

If it was me, I'd forget all the smoke n' mirrors and buy some cheap pre-amps...

Example: Behringer MIC-200 Tube Ultragain Mic Pre Amp

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Creig
I would appreciate any suggestions on how to fix this Polycom PVX bug.

You should complain to Polycom, because that's what this is, an app bug. They should add a persistant setting for selecting the input source. Windows can't fix it, because that's an app thing.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
Hrm...

Well, personally, I think *this* is your problem:

Originally posted by: Creig
Due to the equipment being used, the clearest audio is obtained... blah, blah, blah...

If it was me, I'd forget all the smoke n' mirrors and buy some cheap pre-amps...

Example: Behringer MIC-200 Tube Ultragain Mic Pre Amp

Why spend money on something if a registry change or other simple fix can take care of the problem? As I said, the audio works just fine with the Line In port. All I need is a way to keep the Line In port as the active input in the Volume Control.

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
You should complain to Polycom, because that's what this is, an app bug. They should add a persistant setting for selecting the input source. Windows can't fix it, because that's an app thing.

Oh, I'm doing that as well. I've been on the phone with them a couple of times, submitted a trouble ticket and a "feature request". At least now I'm starting to move up the chain a bit. They allowed me to download their latest internal version of the PVX software and told me to try it. I knew it wouldn't change anything as the release notes mentioned only bug fixes relating to Vista, but I knew I wouldn't get any further unless I tried it. That was yesterday and, unsurprisingly, it did nothing to alleviate my problem.

I'll get back on the line with them today and see if I can't be transferred to one of their actual programmers. Hopefully I can get an explanation as to why they have the software automatically switching input ports without any way to modify this behavior (because I can't think of any reason).

I'd just hoped that somebody here could come up with a solution in case I can't get anywhere with Polycom themselves. Since there are so many ways you can lock systems to prevent users from changing settings, I figured there must be one that can do the same for the sound card ports.

 

[Creig]

Polycom is supposedly looking into why their software is changing the input port, but I would still appreciate any ideas on how to lock Windows into using only the Line In port. I have the feeling that I'm going to get a "We're not sure why, sorry. Is there anything else we can help you with today?" answer out of them and then I'll be stuck having to find a solution on my own.

 

[bruceb]

Try looking in the registry for keys such as:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Polycom\Communicator\Ap plications\Polycom PVX

or perhaps post over at their forums: http://www.polycomcommunicator.com/forums/

Maybe someone there can be of help to you.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Try looking in the registry for keys such as:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Polycom\Communicator\Ap plications\Polycom PVX

or perhaps post over at their forums: http://www.polycomcommunicator.com/forums/

Maybe someone there can be of help to you.

That's a support forum for their Communicator product.

Creig, did they give you 8.0.4 or is there an even newer build? Personally I think PVX is crap, I still haven't found an h.323/Polycom compatible videoconf software better or simpler than the free XMeeting. I wish those guys would come up with a Windows version.

 

[Creig]

Thanks for the suggestions Bruce. I already did look through the registry for Polycom entries, but there was nothing that would allow me to set a specific port on the sound card. I also did the same for the SB Live itself. That's not to say there isn't something in there, just that I couldn't seem to locate it.

As far the forum goes, that appears to be only for the Communicator which is a Skype based product and not at all for the PVX video conferencing software.


Maybe there's a Group Policy setting somewhere that would help me? Or a way to hide the microphone port from Windows so that it can select ONLY the Line In?

 

[JonnyBlaze]

have you tried disabling the mic port?

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze
have you tried disabling the mic port?

I would love to disable the microphone port. Unfortunately, I haven't come across where to do this. Am I missing something basic? The only thing I've seen that's even close is to hide the microphone slider from the recording controls in the volume control. And this doesn't actually disable the mic port, it only hides the slider. The mic port is still active.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

iv been in vista too long i guess. in control panel you can disable each individual port on your sound card.
looking thru my XP box at work i cant find it.

 

[Creig]

Thanks for checking, JonnyBlaze. That would have been PERFECT if XP had the same option.

 

[bruceb]

Just found something in XP that may be of help

Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Speech

You can select the default input there and it
may stay for your application.

 

[Creig]

bruceb, I just gave your idea a shot but the PVX software still keeps changing the port back to Microphone. Thanks for the suggetsion, though!


God, this is so STUPID! It's a Polycom SoundStation, connected to a Polycom Video Interconnect box and a PC running Polycom PVX video conferencing software. The whole reason I went with their software is I expected everything to work together. Polycom has acknowledged that their software automatically changes the line to Microphone each time it starts, but have no plans to change this behavior. Their suggestion to me was to keep manually changing the port back to Line In after the PVX software has loaded!

If I had known they weren't going to support their own hardware, I would have gone with the Mirial software package instead. :|


I don't suppose anybody knows how to program a script that would change the port to Line In? Maybe something that would run 10 seconds after the PVX software starts?

 

[bruceb]

No .. but you could look for the .INI file that is associated with that program.
You may be able to edit it and tinker with it to do what you want.
If you do, make a copy of it first, just in case. (usually editable with notepad)

 

[Creig]

I looked around, but couldn't find anything. I'm guessing that the lines that set the input port have been compiled into the executable.

 

[bruceb]

From the Polycom pvx user guide to set the Audio Devices:

specify the audio devices:
1. From the PVX Main page, select Setup > Audio.
2. Configure these settings:

Setting Description

Audio Output Device Select --- Auto to use the sound playback device specified in the Windows Sounds and Audio Devices control panel.

Select None to use no audio output device.

Audio Input Device Select ---- Auto to use the sound recording device specified in the Windows Sounds and Audio Devices control panel.

Select None to use no audio input device.

Echo Cancellation Select ---Internal (when using Windows XP) to use the
Windows XP echo canceller.

Select External (when provided by external device) to use
echo cancellation provided by another device.

Select None to disable echo cancellation if you are using a
headset.

The way I read it, is IF you set the Audio Input in the XP control
panel as I listed above, then by setting this option above, it should
default to that Input every time it opens the program

 

[Creig]

Hmmm.... The default setting fo the input/output device is AUTO. I assumed that setting it to NONE would completely disable the audio for the PVX. I'll try setting them both to NONE tomorrow and see if that disables the sound or simply allows Windows to control the audio settings. It would be nice if it worked.

If it doesn't work, I have been able to come up with a solution that does. It's not the most elegant, but it will work. While searching the net for a way to lock the sound card port (and searching and searching and searching), I came across a reference to Windows Script Host. Intrigued, I set about learning more about it. When I had a good enough feel for the language, I constructed a script that will open the Volume Properties, go into the options menu, switch to the Recording Control, change the selected input from "Microphone" to "Line In" (finally!) and then exit the window. As I mentioned, it's not the most elegant in that you see the windows flash open and shut for a split second. But in the end, it does what I require. Then all I will need to do is add it to the shortcut that activates the PVX software.

But I'm hoping your solution will work bruceb, as it would be much cleaner. I'll post here again once I'm done testing both methods.

 

[VinDSL]

Good job, detective!

 

[Creig]

bruceb - I tried setting the audio input/output to NONE, but as I suspected that simply disabled the audio entirely.

VinDSL - Thanks. If you couldn't already tell, I absolutely refuse to spend money to fix something that should be corrected by the manufacturer. And to have them drag their feet and suggest that our users manually change the input selector back to Line In each and every time they use the program is moronic. Don't they have any pride in their product? If I worked there, I would have been extremely embarrassed to find that some our customers had to go through all those extra steps and would have immediately put that bug on the list of changes for the next revision of the software.

Oh well. I managed to get the process back down to simply double-clicking a single icon which both activates the PVX software and starts a small script that waits 15 seconds and then changes the sound card port back to Line In. It was a bit of a pain to figure out how to do it, but at least it works in the end. However, I'm going to keep bugging Polycom until they implement a proper fix.