My attempts to build a windows driver with Visual Studio 2015 keep giving me a missing ntddk.h missing error. I see the Windows Driver Kit under Visual Studio’s about page shows 10.0.14393.0 but within my actual project the ddk include path references an older driver kit. Unfortunately only the 10.0.14393.0 version seems to include the ntddk lib but this one is not referenced in my projects for some unknown reason.
How can I resolve this so that my projects DDK includes are evaluated to the correct Windows Kit version?
My attempts to build a windows driver with Visual Studio 2015 keep giving me
a missing ntddk.h missing error. I see the Windows Driver Kit under Visual
Studio’s about page shows 10.0.14393.0 but within my actual project the ddk
include path references an older driver kit. Unfortunately only the
10.0.14393.0 version seems to include the ntddk lib but this one is not
referenced in my projects for some unknown reason.
How can I resolve this so that my projects DDK includes are evaluated to the
correct Windows Kit version?
$(LatestTargetPlatformVersion)
Not sure where to find the value of this but…
I’m given options to override with 10.0.10586.0 or 8.1
Initially it was only 8.1 despite me installing the WDK 10 (10.0.14393.0).
I then ran the Visual Studio WDK again and added the 10.0.10240.0 WDK.
It seems to be missing the include/10.xxx/km folder where ntddk resides
I ran the VS 3 update and it installed 10.0.10586.0
This too is missing the include/10.xxx/km folder where ntddk resides
10.0.14393.0 has the proper folder and file but despite VS claiming to be using it in the about page the project still doesn’t know about it.
Our experience is that for the endless 10.x update stream you have to
install both the SDK.xxxxx and the equivalent WDK.xxxxx or stuff doesn’t
work.
I keep looking longingly at the “enterprise wdk” and wishing I had time to
see if it made life simpler.
Mark Roddy
On Wed, Nov 9, 2016 at 5:12 PM, wrote:
> $(LatestTargetPlatformVersion) > Not sure where to find the value of this but… > I’m given options to override with 10.0.10586.0 or 8.1 > Initially it was only 8.1 despite me installing the WDK 10 (10.0.14393.0). > I then ran the Visual Studio WDK again and added the 10.0.10240.0 WDK. > It seems to be missing the include/10.xxx/km folder where ntddk resides > I ran the VS 3 update and it installed 10.0.10586.0 > This too is missing the include/10.xxx/km folder where ntddk resides > 10.0.14393.0 has the proper folder and file but despite VS claiming to be > using it in the about page the project still doesn’t know about it. > > — > NTDEV is sponsored by OSR > > Visit the list online at: http:> showlists.cfm?list=ntdev> > > MONTHLY seminars on crash dump analysis, WDF, Windows internals and > software drivers! > Details at http: > > To unsubscribe, visit the List Server section of OSR Online at < > http://www.osronline.com/page.cfm?name=ListServer> ></http:></http:>
> Our experience is that for the endless 10.x update stream you have to > install both the SDK.xxxxx and the equivalent WDK.xxxxx or stuff doesn’t > work. > > I keep looking longingly at the “enterprise wdk” and wishing I had time to > see if it made life simpler. > > Mark Roddy > > On Wed, Nov 9, 2016 at 5:12 PM, wrote: > >> $(LatestTargetPlatformVersion) >> Not sure where to find the value of this but… >> I’m given options to override with 10.0.10586.0 or 8.1 >> Initially it was only 8.1 despite me installing the WDK 10 (10.0.14393.0). >> I then ran the Visual Studio WDK again and added the 10.0.10240.0 WDK. >> It seems to be missing the include/10.xxx/km folder where ntddk resides >> I ran the VS 3 update and it installed 10.0.10586.0 >> This too is missing the include/10.xxx/km folder where ntddk resides >> 10.0.14393.0 has the proper folder and file but despite VS claiming to be >> using it in the about page the project still doesn’t know about it. >> >> — >> NTDEV is sponsored by OSR >> >> Visit the list online at: http:>> lists.cfm?list=ntdev> >> >> MONTHLY seminars on crash dump analysis, WDF, Windows internals and >> software drivers! >> Details at http: >> >> To unsubscribe, visit the List Server section of OSR Online at < >> http://www.osronline.com/page.cfm?name=ListServer> >> > > — NTDEV is sponsored by OSR Visit the list online at: MONTHLY seminars > on crash dump analysis, WDF, Windows internals and software drivers! > Details at To unsubscribe, visit the List Server section of OSR Online at</http:></http:>
Ughhhhh. I’m starting to find some OSR articles/posts about updates and installation being a headache. I’ve had an unending nightmare myself. I magically got one installation working but I need to repeat this on another system. I can’t recall the convolusted steps I took months back. This is my 4th attempt and always on a new system. Un-installation of VS2015 appears to create unfix-able damage.
The MSDN website has been completely useless on installation steps as they don’t reflect reality. Are there any installation guides you know of that doxument the proper steps and packages to include in the magic order to have a working VS 2015 to compile Win10 drivers?
Your mention of the endless updates as well as the need for SDK.xxxxx and the equivalent WDK.xxxxx inspired me to run the VS2015 installer a 4th time. Added all the SDK and WDK options available this time around(it seems the options offered change upon each new modify run).
…
It appears to compile my driver now. All $(LatestTargetPlatformVersion) are offered up instead of just 8.1 and one other.
Unfortunately it was such a convoluted install/modify.update process I’m still unsure I could repeat it again confidently.
> Unfortunately it was such a convoluted install/modify.update
process I’m still unsure I could repeat it again confidently.
+1. I made careful notes how I eventually got through this particular problem as well as others, but I am not confident I could repeat a working environment on the first try because it took so much trial and error to finally get everything working. And I found nothing solid out there to help navigate out of the mess of problems. Is Microsoft listening? Please do a usability study. Get a sampling of developers who haven’t used VS to build drivers before. Tell them to install VS and compile a simple driver on a clean machine, then perform a simple debug step. Leave them alone with no help. See what happens. It’s frustrating. It doesn’t work. Some of the most seasoned device driver folks have posted about problems. I fail to understand why it has to be this bad, this long.
> Unfortunately it was such a convoluted install/modify.update > process I’m still unsure I could repeat it again confidently.
+1 again.
It’s deja-vu all over again.
Those of us who have been around “a while” remember that getting the right DDK (as it was then), SDK, and compiler version installed at the same time to create a usable development environment was PRECISELY the reason that the “stand alone DDK that includes everything you need to build drivers” was created. It was the single greatest thing done for driver development up to that point in time.
It’s really had to see that the kits team has apparently failed to learn from that long, hard, experience. OK… I get that there’s probably nobody on the team that was writing Windows drivers back in the 1990s. Fine. Give one of us who WERE there a call some time. I’m sure ANY of us will be happy to tell you about it.
You see, in the beginning, there was this guy named MikeBor. And he had this pile of floppy disks. And…
I get it the value of the old way in terms of a one stop shop.
I was the lead that moved to this model. The old model was not sustainable for just as many reasons as the current one: the compiler was always ancient compared to what was in VS, you never need to build just a driver so you needed a real SDK, libraries, etc, the lack of an IDE, no documentation for the special wdk build env (and hence, no integration into a well supported and documented build environment), etc
There is no perfect answer. The best we can do is try to improve, get constructive good feedback, have a dialog and iterate. With the multiple Windows releases a year, you have multiple kit releases to see change and improvement.
d
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com [mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of xxxxx@osr.com
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2016 10:04 AM
To: Windows System Software Devs Interest List Subject: RE:[ntdev] Visual Studio’s DDK version
> Unfortunately it was such a convoluted install/modify.update process > I’m still unsure I could repeat it again confidently.
+1 again.
It’s deja-vu all over again.
Those of us who have been around “a while” remember that getting the right DDK (as it was then), SDK, and compiler version installed at the same time to create a usable development environment was PRECISELY the reason that the “stand alone DDK that includes everything you need to build drivers” was created. It was the single greatest thing done for driver development up to that point in time.
It’s really had to see that the kits team has apparently failed to learn from that long, hard, experience. OK… I get that there’s probably nobody on the team that was writing Windows drivers back in the 1990s. Fine. Give one of us who WERE there a call some time. I’m sure ANY of us will be happy to tell you about it.
You see, in the beginning, there was this guy named MikeBor. And he had this pile of floppy disks. And…
I don’t think many people would vote for a return to the old system. I know that I certainly wouldn’t. Having the WDK integrated with VS is a Wonderful Thing.
So I wasn’t wishing for a return to “mini-razzle” (sources/dirs, bcz, whatever you want to call it). Rather, I was pining for a way to have a single, reliable, way to install the WDK.
It’s the kitting (installation), upgrade procedure, and down-level co-existence “stuff” that’s proven to be a problem. VS is a beast. Their constantly changing packaging complicates matters.
Speaking of the eWDK Doron… it’s stuck at TH2 for a while. Any chance we’ll see it updated to RS1? Because if it’s just linger always one or two releases behind, or worse, get abandoned, it’s going to be pretty sad
Anicient history, bro… Distant memories. The young-uns don’t care about this old stuff. It happened quite a while after the story that starts “There was this series of projects named PRISM, MICA, Glacier, and Moraine” and quite a while before the story that starts “We need to find a way to integrate the WDK into VS, as the 3rd party developer community has been asking for years.”
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx@lists.osr.com [mailto:xxxxx@lists.osr.com] On Behalf Of xxxxx@videotron.ca
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2016 3:04 PM
To: Windows System Software Devs Interest List Subject: RE:[ntdev] Visual Studio’s DDK version
Speaking of the eWDK Doron… it’s stuck at TH2 for a while. Any chance we’ll see it updated to RS1? Because if it’s just linger always one or two releases behind, or worse, get abandoned, it’s going to be pretty sad
