[WIP] Windows Vista Extended Kernel

[Dixel]

On 11/29/2020 at 12:12 PM, win32 said:

The nuclear solution would be to modify ntoskrnl and set its RtlGetVersion (also PsGetVersion to be sure, even though it is obsolete as of XP) to 6.1.7601, thus everything in kernel mode would think they are running on Windows 7...

Hi. Just checked , the main driver nvhda64v.sys makes calls to PsGetVersion , so I think it is still used. Any way to cheat it without replacing ntoskrnl ? By the way , RtlGetVersion is absent .

[Dixel]

On 11/23/2020 at 5:30 PM, win32 said:

For those with access to the MEGA folder, you will notice two .7z files:

Opera 72 with these latest files  "SHAssocEnumHandlersForProtocolByApplication not found in SHELL32.dll". 

[win32]

8 hours ago, Dixel said:

Hi. Just checked , the main driver nvhda64v.sys makes calls to PsGetVersion , so I think it is still used. Any way to cheat it without replacing ntoskrnl ? By the way , RtlGetVersion is absent .

It is indeed used, so once again MS documentation is wrong. Though it is unclear what it is used for based on my disassembly.

I would have to modify ntoskrnl, but with an important distinction: you can copy with a different name to your existing ntoskrnl and give it its own boot entry, keeping your existing ntoskrnl intact if problems arise.

[Dixel]

12 hours ago, win32 said:

It is indeed used, so once again MS documentation is wrong. Though it is unclear what it is used for ...

I suspect that it is for creating registry entries with "HD" capable device strings under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Render\{my receiver auto generated id}\Properties] 

This one is interesting too , notice different "oem" for win7 and Vista.

oem9.inf:NVIDIA.NTamd64.6.0:NVHDA64V:1.3.34.3:hdaudio\func_01&ven_10de&dev_0044

oem3.inf:NVIDIA.NTamd64.6.1:NVHDA64V:1.3.34.3:hdaudio\\func_01&ven_10de&dev_0044

If drivers gets 6.1 or anything higher , it will create those missing and/or different entries I was talking about earlier . They are auto generated and couldn't be added manually to stay forever , they will get erased and replaced with the non-HD strings. Nvidia forbids HD audio on Vista , even if you have HD capable device. By the way , this "issue" could be a lawsuit since Nvidia claims GTX780 full support on Vista , including HD audio. How to put it polite - customer misleading.

In the meantime, I use that Chinese player with that pleasant "glitch", now I know how to replicate the glitch . It's not the best solution , I hope to get a fully working driver.

[win32]

40 minutes ago, Dixel said:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Render\{my receiver auto generated id}\Properties] 

This one is interesting too , notice different "oem" for win7 and Vista.

oem9.inf:NVIDIA.NTamd64.6.0:NVHDA64V:1.3.34.3:hdaudio\func_01&ven_10de&dev_0044

oem3.inf:NVIDIA.NTamd64.6.1:NVHDA64V:1.3.34.3:hdaudio\\func_01&ven_10de&dev_0044

I looked into that in the case of my hardware, which has both Vista and 7 installed. While it is Realtek audio, it seems that the extra reg info under that key being generated is a function of the OS and not the inf/drivers themselves, as the Realtek driver in this case is a Vista-era driver with no NT 6.1 section in its inf, used on both OSes.

The oemx part is also automatically generated when the inf is copied to the Windows\inf folder. Probably a function of the sequence in which extraneous drivers are installed.

Looking at the other keys under Audio, I see:

Capture: same amount of devices, FxProperties is the same but Properties has more on 7. The same thing generally everywhere else. Not sure about the registry structure that would result from NVIDIA HD audio, but it must be similar.

MMDevices falls under the MMDevice API (mmdevapi.dll), and the Windows 7 version seems to be compatible after some minor modifications. Though apparently not on its own, as Windows Audio service breaks and so does the Vista audio control panel (mmsys.cpl). Perhaps the rest of the audio subsystem needs to be replaced? mmsys.cpl just needs a missing function in comctl32.dll (version 5.82 branch). But W7's comctl32.dll doesn't need any W7 functions so that will be worth a try as well.

[Dixel]

3 hours ago, win32 said:

I looked into that in the case of my hardware ....  Perhaps the rest of the audio subsystem needs to be replaced? mmsys.cpl just needs a missing function in comctl32.dll (version 5.82 branch). But W7's comctl32.dll doesn't need any W7 functions so that will be worth a try as well.

Yeah , but how come this is not a problem for that Chinese player ? It plays HD tracks flawlesly , DTS HD MA , TrueHD and the such . I might even say the sound quality is far more superior than with most of the popular ones (commercial and "open" source) . All I want to say , I can live with this "glitchy" player as it (obviously) doesn't need  anything to be replaced . I can tell how I trick it . 1 - Open the player (don't close) at this point it can play compressed DTS and AC3 only , 2 - Go to >playback devices< and choose >test supported formats< , play Dolby Digital test file  , when Windows asks "did you hear the sound from your receiver?" answer yes and press ok . That's it - you can play ALL HD formats now , but only with this specific player . Somehow it hooks to it , while it is opened . So Vista is fully capable of playing HD formats without replaciing anything . I blame the Nvidia driver and/or some settings created by it. Which are easely bypassed by the Chinese player. 

[win32]

28 minutes ago, Dixel said:

So Vista is fully capable of playing HD formats without replaciing anything . I blame the Nvidia driver and/or some settings created by it. Which are easely bypassed by the Chinese player. 

Very interesting. I wonder what is this player?

My idea of replacing the files is mostly to do with the initial setup of the audio devices, to see if it would create those extra registry entries.

Edited December 2, 2020 by win32

[Dixel]

3 hours ago, win32 said:

Looking at the other keys under Audio, I see:

Capture: same amount of devices, FxProperties is the same but Properties has more on 7. The same thing generally everywhere else. Not sure about the registry structure that would result from NVIDIA HD audio, but it must be similar

Yes , exactly the same less amount (in Vista) with Nvidia HD audio almost everywhere. I only need DTS HD MA , I don't care about the other though.

By the way , when I install Nvidia driver on Vista , it only adds simple "DTS-Audio" to supported formats (device properties) , while on Win7 it adds plenty of formats . It is intentional , I mean what prevents it to add more formats , it "sees" my HD capable devices (videocard and receiver) , so should be no problem , yet Nvidia doesn't want us to listen HD audio on Vista. I'm looking for a simple solution to unlock it.

P.S. Much loved MPC-HC , apparently, hates Vista. When I manually choose and force playback of 5.1 HD tracks , it just plays them as poor quality 2.0 audio and blocks direct bypass completely  ! So much for the popular player . I'm not sure what they have against Vista.

[Dixel]

3 hours ago, win32 said:

Very interesting. I wonder what is this player?

Your messages are closed . I'm not sure if I can write it in the open  , perhaps it will be considered that I want to push that Chinese player , no ?

[win32]

2 minutes ago, Dixel said:

Your messages are closed . I'm not sure if I can write it in the open  , perhaps it will be considered that I want to push that Chinese player , no ?

My inbox is open and is only 68% full, so there shouldn't be a problem. There are lots of posts relating to obscure Chinese software (like 360 extreme explorer, even though Qihoo 360 has numerous shady practices and the program in its default config connects to government-owned servers), so I don't think posting a link should be a problem.

[Dixel]

3 hours ago, win32 said:

My inbox is open and is only 68% full, so there shouldn't be a problem. There are lots of posts relating to obscure Chinese software (like 360 extreme explorer, even though Qihoo 360 has numerous shady practices and the program in its default config connects to government-owned servers), so I don't think posting a link should be a problem.

I open https://msfn.org/board/messenger/ , paste your profile link and it says "profile/424412-win32/ cannot receive messages"..

• Perhaps you have to write me first and I will reply.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Dixel

[win32]

6 minutes ago, jns629 said:

Is Latest Firefox is working with november update to the ex kernel ?

also the installation steps are same as before like extract the installer and run through core folder?

Yes.

[pridesnow]

49 minutes ago, jns629 said:

got this

Are you running x86 or x64? If the former, then x32 software is not yet supported. It seems that with the next update it will be partly fixed. And yes, download x64, if so

[tamarindojuice]

--

Edited December 7, 2020 by tamarindojuice

[win32]

That .NET problem doesn't seem to be tied completely to the extended kernel. For example, with and without the extended kernel, here is the situation of the Visual Studio Community installer:

.NET < 4.6: error message stating 4.6 is needed

.NET 4.6/4.61: launches

.NET 4.6.2+: exception in kernel32.

Unfortunately .NET debugging is a little complicated but I should get to it soon if obfuscation isn't a problem.