This is a discussion on admin rights needed to start soundcard application! - Microsoft Windows ; I installed an emu soundcard (logged in as admin) in a w2k
non-networked PC. The user application s/ware to this card works fine
except only members of the admin group can run it! Login as a common
or garden user ...

admin rights needed to start soundcard application!

I installed an emu soundcard (logged in as admin) in a w2k
non-networked PC. The user application s/ware to this card works fine
except only members of the admin group can run it! Login as a common
or garden user and the app moans about not being installed properly
(which it is). Move that user to admin group, and it works. Looks
like a permissions problem somewhere - any ideas how to fix (other
than move every one to admin grp :-) )

Re: admin rights needed to start soundcard application!

mike writes:
> I installed an emu soundcard (logged in as admin) in a w2k
> non-networked PC. The user application s/ware to this card works fine
> except only members of the admin group can run it! Login as a common
> or garden user and the app moans about not being installed properly
> (which it is). Move that user to admin group, and it works. Looks
> like a permissions problem somewhere - any ideas how to fix (other
> than move every one to admin grp :-) )

I fully expect this to quickly devolve into a "why windows tends to
suck" sort of thread. :-)

But if you think about it though, it's possible you're dealing with an
application that may be doing low level direct access to the hardware
(sound card in this case), and these are the sorts of things only
privileged users get to do in the security model of most OS's.

What's the application in question anyway? Surely there are other
sound applications that interact through the driver layer that don't
require admin rights to run?

Re: admin rights needed to start soundcard application!

On 21 Dec 2006 02:26:41 -0600, comphelp@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote:
>mike writes:
>
>> I installed an emu soundcard (logged in as admin) in a w2k
>> non-networked PC. The user application s/ware to this card works fine
>> except only members of the admin group can run it! Login as a common
>> or garden user and the app moans about not being installed properly
>> (which it is). Move that user to admin group, and it works. Looks
>> like a permissions problem somewhere - any ideas how to fix (other
>> than move every one to admin grp :-) )
>
>I fully expect this to quickly devolve into a "why windows tends to
>suck" sort of thread. :-)

Maybe - I was hoping for something more usful though.
>But if you think about it though, it's possible you're dealing with an
>application that may be doing low level direct access to the hardware
>(sound card in this case), and these are the sorts of things only
>privileged users get to do in the security model of most OS's.

Yes of course but that's not the problem here. Yes, the low level
stuff is the driver's responsibility - and not even priv users
"should" be able to just jump around that. But the user intereface to
the s. card is a user level application (just like any other). And it
is the user level appliction I am on about (just emu's patchmix
interface to it's own soundcard. It is *not* the driver.

It kind of like saying only admins can play sound on a PC! Which I'm
sure is not what you are saying.

>
>What's the application in question anyway? Surely there are other
>sound applications that interact through the driver layer that don't
>require admin rights to run?

Re: admin rights needed to start soundcard application!

mike writes:
> On 21 Dec 2006 02:26:41 -0600, comphelp@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote:
>
> >mike writes:
> >
> >> I installed an emu soundcard (logged in as admin) in a w2k
> >> non-networked PC. The user application s/ware to this card works fine
> >> except only members of the admin group can run it! Login as a common
> >> or garden user and the app moans about not being installed properly
> >> (which it is). Move that user to admin group, and it works. Looks
> >> like a permissions problem somewhere - any ideas how to fix (other
> >> than move every one to admin grp :-) )
> >
> >I fully expect this to quickly devolve into a "why windows tends to
> >suck" sort of thread. :-)
>
> Maybe - I was hoping for something more usful though.
>
> >But if you think about it though, it's possible you're dealing with an
> >application that may be doing low level direct access to the hardware
> >(sound card in this case), and these are the sorts of things only
> >privileged users get to do in the security model of most OS's.
>
> Yes of course but that's not the problem here. Yes, the low level
> stuff is the driver's responsibility - and not even priv users
> "should" be able to just jump around that. But the user intereface to
> the s. card is a user level application (just like any other). And it
> is the user level appliction I am on about (just emu's patchmix
> interface to it's own soundcard. It is *not* the driver.

Looking at this explanation of what patchmix is, and given that it's
accessing hardware accelleration on the card, I suspect you may be
screwed.

The right folks to bitch at about it I suspect would be emu. You
might see if they have a forum or FAQ that may address whether running
this under a limited user is possible before spending too much
cranial-to-desktop time on it. It could be that their application
writers took the path of lesser resistance in allowing that app to
talk directly to the hardware vs abstracting the interface in a way
that would play well with windows hardware abstraction layer.
> It kind of like saying only admins can play sound on a PC! Which I'm
> sure is not what you are saying.

Nah, I'm saying that I bet there are sound related utilities such as
audacity or whatever that might work just fine with limited user
accounts, but if (as I suspected) this program you were trying to use
is more intimately tied to the hardware on that card, I'm guessing
that it may need more direct access to that card's hardware than an xp
limited account is willing to give. The case is strengthening for my
theory given what the software does, but only EMU's support folks are
likely to give you an authoritative word on that.