Firefox The ASIO Thief

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rbowser
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2014/04/15 13:10:53 (permalink)

Firefox The ASIO Thief

Quite awhile ago now, sometime last year, a Firefox update made the browser turn into an Asio driver thief.  I'm sure fellow Firefox users know what I'm talking about.  Before that update, I could have Sonar open and a browser at the same time with no problems.  Handy for being on a Forum, discussing a problem right then when a problem project is open in Sonar, for instance.

Now if Firefox is opened when Sonar is already open, it usurps the driver and when you go back to Sonar, there's no sound-the browser hasn't given up the driver.  You have to close Firefox to regain Asio - BUT, that sometimes doesn't work, and you have to completely shut down Sonar and re-open it.  You also need to be sure your browser isn't open when you open Sonar in the first place, otherwise you'll have no audio outputs available.

WHY did this happen, I'd like to know?  It's one of those very annoying upgrades to something that results in a step backwards for users.  

Any thoughts, possible solutions?

Randy

Sonar X3e Studio
Roland A-800 MIDI keyboard controller
Alesis i|O2 interface
Gigabyte Technology-AMD Phenom II @ 3 GHz
8 Gb RAM 6 Core Windows 7 Home Premium x64
with dual monitors
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    dubdisciple
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 13:16:04 (permalink)
    I know exactly what you are talking about but never bothered coming up wit ha solution other than making sure Sonar is open before I open up a browser.  I'm sure this can be worked around by tweaking settings for sharing drivers in Sonar and other programs but it has never bothered me enough to act on it
    #2
    scook
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 13:21:59 (permalink)
    I am running FireFox 28.0 and use a Presonus interface with SONAR running in ASIO mode. The Presonus is my default windows sound card. I have just testing running a Youtube video, X3 and Windows Media Center playing TV, all at the same time. So, it is possible. The "Share Drivers With Other Programs" is not selected in Preferences > Audio > Playback and Recording. Also in Windows I made sure to have the default format on the Advanced Properties tab agree with my SONAR Sample Rate and do not allow applications exclusive control of the device.
    #3
    spacealf
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 13:22:11 (permalink)
    You sure it is not Windows?
    No browser needs any drivers for music, because it usually is done with Flash.
    And with my setup I can have the sample rate of my unit at anything and it still plays music over the Internet, unless perhaps downloading a piece of music at a certain sample rate and bit depth then it would be Windows Media Player.
     

     
     
    #4
    arachnaut
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 13:33:11 (permalink)
    While I generally use Chrome, I also have the latest Firefox (28.0).
     
    I'm running Windows 8.1 Upgrade.
     
    I have not encountered any problems with the 8.1 upgrade, nor this issue with Firefox.
     
    Whether I start Sonar before or after Firefox launch, I have full audio capabilities.
     
    I use the latest Focusrite Firewire ASIO drivers.
     

    - Jim Hurley -
    SONAR Platinum - x64  - Windows 10 Pro 
    ASUS P8P67 PRO Rev 3.0;  Core i7-2600K@4.4GHz; 16 GB G.SKILL Ripjaws X;
    GeForce GT 740; Saffire Pro14 MixControl 3.7; Axiom 61
    64-Bit audio, SR: 48kHz, ASIO 256 samples latency, Rec/Play I/O Buffers 512k, Total Round Trip Latency 13 ms, Pow-r 3 dither 
    #5
    robert_e_bone
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 13:34:20 (permalink)
    I always run with my audio interface ONLY used by music applications, such as Sonar.  The Windows default audio device is set to use either the speakers on the HDTV I use as a display monitor, or set to use the on-board sound.
     
    This way, I never have anything conflicting with Sonar for access to the audio interface drivers.  The reason I have both the HDMI speakers from the TV display monitor as well as the on-board sound is that if I need the interface inputs I will switch the Windows default audio device to use the TV speakers.  If I do not need the interface inputs, then I run a splitter from the PC speaker jack, and connect a left and right 1/4" cable from each to inputs on the audio interface, but still not sharing the audio interface itself.
     
    Bob Bone
     

    Wisdom is a giant accumulation of "DOH!"
     
    Sonar: Platinum (x64), X3 (x64) 
    Audio Interfaces: AudioBox 1818VSL, Steinberg UR-22
    Computers: 1) i7-2600 k, 32 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 Pro x64 & 2) AMD A-10 7850 32 GB RAM Windows 10 Pro x64
    Soft Synths: NI Komplete 8 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, many others
    MIDI Controllers: M-Audio Axiom Pro 61, Keystation 88es
    Settings: 24-Bit, Sample Rate 48k, ASIO Buffer Size 128, Total Round Trip Latency 9.7 ms  
    #6
    mettelus
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 13:41:47 (permalink)
    Randy, when you get a chance could you please update your signature with your system/hardware configuration? It will help us a lot to understand things more quickly.

    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
    #7
    spacealf
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 13:43:31 (permalink)
    On second thought, perhaps it is just the drivers of your hardware.
    ?? I usually am not in Sonar being on the Internet, and if in Sonar, I am only there.
     

     
     
    #8
    Beepster
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 13:48:09 (permalink)
    Hello, all. Been dealing with some crap but wanted to make a suggestion here.
     
    Yes, you could/should not allow the interface to share with other programs if possible but you may not want to change that within windows for whatever reason (such as... well you want other programs to access the interface).
     
    So maybe you should try disabling some of the Firefox plugins that could be hooking into the ASIO driver.
     
    In Firefox click the orange Firefox Tab in the top  left corner > select Add Ons > then disable the Flashplayer and Shockwave Player stuff or whatever else you think might be using the interface. You can set it to "Ask to Activate" instead of completely disabling the plugins.
     
    However... this is why I have a cheap laptop to do surfing/research on that I can do whatever internet crud I need to without having the DAW doing multiple things at once. Seriously a netbook or cheap Acer can be had for $300 or less these days and is really worth the extra expense. Good for keeping internet bugs off the DAW too.
     
    Cheers.
    #9
    rbowser
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 14:49:16 (permalink)
    wow--popular thread-!  Thanks, everyone, for your input.  When I have time, I'll try yet again to straighten this out.
     
    Central to the issue I'm having is that I use my audio interface for playing things online.  I like having the control knobs for playback so handy, rather than using the (disabled) motherboard card which would have to be plugged into a second set of inputs on my amplifier, and it would be very inconvenient to control the volume.
     
    That's the same set up I was using back when there wasn't this ASIO conflict with Firefox.
     
    Mettelus - thanks for the prompt on getting some system info in my sig.  I've been meaning to do it - now, done!
     
    Randy

    Sonar X3e Studio
    Roland A-800 MIDI keyboard controller
    Alesis i|O2 interface
    Gigabyte Technology-AMD Phenom II @ 3 GHz
    8 Gb RAM 6 Core Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    with dual monitors
    #10
    arachnaut
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/15 15:23:46 (permalink)
    When I was looking over my settings just now, I saw that I have 'Share Drivers With Other Programs' checked in
    Audio->Playback and Recording preferences.
     
    I think I set this so I could capture audio and video while running Sonar.
     

    - Jim Hurley -
    SONAR Platinum - x64  - Windows 10 Pro 
    ASUS P8P67 PRO Rev 3.0;  Core i7-2600K@4.4GHz; 16 GB G.SKILL Ripjaws X;
    GeForce GT 740; Saffire Pro14 MixControl 3.7; Axiom 61
    64-Bit audio, SR: 48kHz, ASIO 256 samples latency, Rec/Play I/O Buffers 512k, Total Round Trip Latency 13 ms, Pow-r 3 dither 
    #11
    tlw
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/16 06:44:46 (permalink)
    I've not found any problem with X3 and Firefox.

    The UA101 is the only audio interface on the PC and I regularly use Firefox both to read the on- line help and for more general browsing while X3 is running. I can record sound off the web in X3 using the interface's internal loopback without a problem as well.

    I have the "share drivers with other programs" checked, in case that makes a difference.

    Sonar Platinum 64bit, Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit, I7 3770K Ivybridge, 16GB Ram, Gigabyte Z77-D3H m/board,
    ATI 7750 graphics+ 1GB RAM, 2xIntel 520 series 220GB SSDs, 1 TB Samsung F3 + 1 TB WD HDDs, Seasonic fanless 460W psu, RME Fireface UFX, Focusrite Octopre.
    Assorted real synths, guitars, mandolins, diatonic accordions, percussion, fx and other stuff.
    #12
    rbowser
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/16 09:09:07 (permalink)
    tlw...I have the "share drivers with other programs" checked, in case that makes a difference.



    Thanks for the reply - I have the "share drivers" option checked, since before my Firefox problem, it was the only way to have online stuff play through my interface.  Well, that's actually still the case - It's just that ASIO gets usurped and Sonar can't re-connect to it.
     
    It's interesting that some people on this thread use both their interface and computer card.  I always thought the standard advice was to avoid conflicts, and have only one card/interface activated on a computer.  But there are other people on this thread using single audio sources.
     
    I am surprised by the responses though - I thought this was going to be an issue for other people.  When I've searched for info online, I've run into many people with the exact same problem, but have never found a solution.
     
    I tried a few things yesterday with no change - I dunno!  I'll tinker more when I can, maybe something will fix me up.
     
    Thanks to all for their input.
     
    Randy B.
    post edited by rbowser - 2014/04/16 09:20:32

    Sonar X3e Studio
    Roland A-800 MIDI keyboard controller
    Alesis i|O2 interface
    Gigabyte Technology-AMD Phenom II @ 3 GHz
    8 Gb RAM 6 Core Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    with dual monitors
    #13
    robert_e_bone
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/16 10:40:22 (permalink)
    Well, the whole idea behind my using both my audio interface and the on-board sound is PRECISELY to avoid any conflicts.
     
    Windows never tries to access the audio interface on my system, because it has the default audio device set to the on-board sound.  So, any application, such as Chrome, or Windows Media Player, simply use the Windows default audio device, which as the on-board sound works just fine.
     
    And for my music applications, such as Sonar, or if I want to run a stand-alone version of Dim Pro for some reason, I have them all routed to use the audio interface, and its ASIO drivers.  None of these applications point to the on-board sound, so again there is no conflict (as long as I don't run Sonar and stand-alone Dim Pro at the same time).
     
    Lots of folks run as above, and lots of folks run with everything sharing their audio interface.  When they run like that, many of those folks disable things like Windows sounds, so that opening a document doesn't play a Windows sound that would attempt to hijack the ASIO drivers.
     
    I just prefer to avoid all of that by keeping things completely separate, between apps I want to have accessing the audio interface, and apps that I just choose to route through the standard on-board sound.
     
    I hope that helps, 
     
    Bob Bone

    Wisdom is a giant accumulation of "DOH!"
     
    Sonar: Platinum (x64), X3 (x64) 
    Audio Interfaces: AudioBox 1818VSL, Steinberg UR-22
    Computers: 1) i7-2600 k, 32 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 Pro x64 & 2) AMD A-10 7850 32 GB RAM Windows 10 Pro x64
    Soft Synths: NI Komplete 8 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, many others
    MIDI Controllers: M-Audio Axiom Pro 61, Keystation 88es
    Settings: 24-Bit, Sample Rate 48k, ASIO Buffer Size 128, Total Round Trip Latency 9.7 ms  
    #14
    scook
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/16 10:57:17 (permalink)
    On my  current Win7 machine, I have run with the internal sound chip handling non-DAW sound and with the DAW interface handling all application sounds. In my case the only difference is which set of speakers are making sound. I do disable Windows sounds regardless. Maybe some interfaces and drivers handle audio from various sources better than others, I do not know.
    #15
    Fog
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    Re: Firefox The ASIO Thief 2014/04/16 12:10:19 (permalink)
    you will probably find your pc's onboard soundcard isn't default for playback.. when you switch between apps the sample rate etc are different.. remember FF only wants a left / right channel and is probably just using what it's given by windows.
     
    if you use an onboard, just get a small set of speakers..  and set ya windows default to the onboard.. use the asio solely for audio apps..
     
    or use WDM you might find is another solution "if you must"
     
     
    #16
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