Does anyone have experience crashing NIHostIntegrationAgent and NIHardwareService

Anthonie

Since last week I have had a Komplete Kontrol S-61 MK2 ( Firmware v0.6.0) and after installing all software, the NI-services appear to crash unexpectedly. I tried everything according to Ni's instructions, but nothing helps. It concerns the services NIHostIntegrationAgent.exe, Version: 1.12.0.0 and  NIHardwareService.exe, Version: 2.7.6.0. I have to alter the services maualy, restart is not possible, the services are shut off.

I Use: ASIO4All

HP Spectre x360 Convertable 13-aw2xxx 16,0 GB memory

11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz 2.70 GHz

Windows 11 Home Version: 21H2

I hope anyone can help me😰

Anthonie

Anthonie

@PulseCode @Jeremy_NI

All is still running perfectly, what I did..

I did several things in my quest to overcome the disabling of the NI services and at the end my PC works perfect, the services are stable and stay active.

First I disabled service NIHardwareService.exe in services, a tip from @PulseCode

Because of the problems I mentioned above I thought it could be Microsoft Defender permission problem, so I added the services to the permissions in the Firewall & network protection by adding the service NIHostIntegrationAgent.exe in the option ‘ Allow an app through firewall’.

I remembered the problems at startup, so I opened the taskmanager and I found out that I could easily disable tasks, so I disabled all the CCleaner tasks and others such as Adobe Acrobat Update Task etc. and restarted the PC.

And then my KK became stable. I instantly reported to CCleaner support and asked if CCleaner could disable services and where to disable that function. Within an hour I had an answer. CCleaner has a feature called Smart Cleaning. This can evidently disable services. They sent me the following:

CCleaner's Smart Cleaning feature runs as a background process (if it's enabled). It checks the junk levels on your PC and alerts you when there is a certain amount you can clean in gigabytes.

Smart Cleaning gives you cleaning alerts when CCleaner isn't open:

This feature runs as a background process to ensure you receive these alerts without the need to keep the CCleaner app open on your PC screen.

How to turn off the Smart Cleaning feature:

Switch off Smart Cleaning by unticking the checkboxes in the Smart Cleaning menu.

To do this, go to Options > Smart Cleaning > Settings for Smart Cleaning.

If you disable Smart Cleaning, the background process closes and doesn't run the next time you start Windows.

I did so and CCLeaner enabled its own tasks in the Task Scheduler. The other task remained disabled.

Untill now my system is running perfectly and the services of NI are running without problems.

I hope it works for others too and thanks to all for the input. I'll report it to Support so they can add it in the knowledge base,

Kind regards,

Anthonie

Jeremy_NI

Are you using an antivirus? Have you tried deactivating it? Are you running Komplete Kontrol as admin? How to Run a Program as an Administrator

Anthonie

Thank you for the reply, no I don't use any, exept Microsoft defender.

Komplete Kontral as adminstrator is a good tip. I will try that.

Santiago Chio

I have the same problem.

Anthonie

It seems to be a serious problem. I have removed all superfluous processes and apps in Windows and it all turns out not to help. The installation of the NI software does not help either. By the way, I can't submit a question to the website anywhere. Hopefully NI will see the crash reports and come up with an update. IS there a way to file a ticket?

In the meantime I have made a work around:

The commands for starting the services are:

Set-Service -Name NIHardwareService -StartupType automatic -Status Running

Set-Service -Name NIHostIntegrationAgent -StartupType automatic -Status Running

I put these commands in the Windows task planner and set it to start after a unlock of my screen. If the services are crashed, I lock my screen and after an unlock the services have started again.

It is a beautiful controller, but it appears to be unreliable together with Cubase.

Jeremy_NI

@Anthonie There is a dedicated support section on this website with typeforms, where you can always submit a request. In your case that would be this one: http://bit.ly/NIsupport_KKontrol

When you say that "I have removed all superfluous processes and apps in Windows and it all turns out not to help." How did you do that exactly? Did you use Registry cleaners like CCLeaner or similar? Then you should read this: Notes on Using Registry or Property List Cleaning Utilities

If you open Komplete Kontrol in standalone, is everything functional?

Anthonie

Hrllo jeremy,

Thank for your reply,

Yes, I use CCleaner Professional and clean the registry regularly. I removed apps that I will never use and my PC looks perfect now, but the problem is still there. I have tot restart the NI-services a few times a day and I cannot make up where it comes from. The standalonne Komplete Kontrol is fully functional and I love it, but the controler blacks out a fwe times a day when the services are shut down by itself.

I look further and will submit a request soon.

Jeremy_NI

@Anthonie Sometimes CCleaner deletes more than it should, including files that are essential for our products. Sometimes uninstalling CCleaner and re-installing Komplete Kontrol is not enough, on some cases a full Windows reinstall was needed.

Anthonie

Dear Jeremy,

It's clear that you are not a fan of CCleaner, but I am and I believe and I know that CCleaner is not responsable for the NI-services to shut down a few times a day. The Windows 95 method to reinstall Windows in case of a problem is an option, but if a reinstallation of apps as x-box, netflix, paint, etc. shall solf the problem is the question. My PC is in perfect order and everything is up to date. I am scanning the Logs for a proces that kills the NI-services, the only services that have the problem. I can follow the CCleaner-activities, but when the NI-services shut down, CCleaner has no activity in the logs. CCleaner is not the problem. There is something else and when I find it I will report it. But your help in this problem is welcome.

Jeremy_NI

@Anthonie It's not about being a fan or not, it's a fact that this app and other similar programs regularly create malfunctions on our products (and not only NI products as you can see in the article) and that is part of our troubleshooting. Please get in touch with my colleagues

keefycal

I have the same issue and have been in contact with 'support' without resolving it. After months of frustration I established, as you described, that if I restart the NIHost IntegrationAgent programe manually every time I want to use KK with Cubase12, I can get things going - otherwise the DAW option does not appear. I have uninstalled my AVG Internet Security several times, but found that it made no difference.

I await a solution.

Keith

Anthonie

Thank you Keith.

I am glad I am not alone in this problem. Hiding behind conspiracy theories is not my thing. The USB drivers and services are old. Perhaps it's time to perform a redesign instead of blaming other products. Then say in advance that problems can arise when other apps are used when installing the drivers. Something for support to think about.

The KK is a beautiful product, and now the drivers and services.

Anthonie

Jeremy_NI

@Anthonie It's not about blaming, it's just that it has been a problem in a lot of cases, so it's part of our troubleshooting steps, this to help users, not to turn them away. Even Microsoft doesn't recommend or support such apps, as explained in the linked article I've sent earlier. Feel free to read it again: this article

Anyway if you wish to try and fix the issue, CCleaner or not, feel free to contact our support here, as it seems you still have not done it: http://bit.ly/NIsupport_KKontrol

Anthonie

Hello Jeremy,

I have already read the article, I know about the problems that can cause the cleaning of the register. I have been working with Windows since 1992 and have experienced all versions professionally. A tool like CCleaner has helped me many times with problems. It also provides updates for the many drivers. I also use the HP tools for updates and support. This problem with the Ni-Servces is the first with this impact and whatever I do and did, nothing helps. There is something that switches off the services, the question is what. I contacted your support. I should be proud to be a part of the solution.

JesterMgee

I also use CCleaner, have done for years, however I only use it specifically to clean temp files and browser cache files every now and then and NEVER use it to "clean" the registry (as I learned years ago that can cause some issues) and would never even attempt using it to update drivers. Same as I would also never put something like Norton or Mcafee on a modern system, just not needed and causes more harm than good.

Cleaning the registry is a bad idea because it can clean out keys that may appear to the system as unused, but are needed for other things. There is never any problem with even a few million dead registry keys sitting around, it does not slow your system down at all, registry keys are tiny.

It is also never a good idea to use a so called "driver updater program" since there is just no way any driver updater can keep track of all your random hardware and select the best options like Windows can.

So if you are doing these processes with CCLeaner then this could be causing you issues. Never assume just because you have never hit an issue before than it is impossible to hit an issue. Your problem may have nothing to do with it but it's not a wide spread issue so blaming the tools isn't the way to go either, I have never had any such issue with the hardware/integration driver crashing nor have 99% of users in my 7+ years around here

Anthonie

Hi Jester,

Thanks for your input. I like discussions, it makes us sharp. If a cleaning of the registry couses the problem a reinstall of the software must be the solution. On the other hand: if a cleaning of some items from the registry is the cause, there must be a process that is awakened that kills the NI-services at certain times of the day. And wich proces is awakened?

The discussion is not about the use CCleaner, but the problems with the NI-services. How I maintain my system is purely my proregative. Again, Ni has never recommended not to use certain apps for system maintenance. There are over a hundred services without problems and not that of Ni.

The question is: Why. Not by assumptions, but by facts. The problem is now being investigated - I hope - and I have sent all my system data for research.

At this moment my KK went black, the services are shut down and I have to enable and start them again.

Have a good time!

Greets

Anthonie