Intel Graphics Command Center broken Capture functionality

[MDib]

Hello,

For the latest version from Microsoft Store, the DCH control panel is no longer offering me the Capture functionality, which I used just fine a few days ago. There's no way to download older versions of the CP from the Store, but I could find a Beta version that has the Capture functionality, but it's broken too, it creates 48kb files that cannot be opened if I try to record audio. Without audio, it's OK.

Have no idea why this occurs. Games seem gone too. I use the iGPU for Premiere Pro but also for recording the screen while gaming so not to create additional load on the Nvidia GPU. This is a desktop system.

[Stew52]

Leon: Thanks for your response. I am glad for you the Beta appears to work for you.

Can you let me know the version of your Intel Processor and GPU?

 Also there could be an incompatibility issue between the Beta app and my and others Sound / Audio drivers. Can you let me know the Driver Version and Date for your Intel® Display Audio Driver and the Audio Driver on your machine?

Thanks.

[LeonWaksman]

Hi @Stew52 

As I wrote in my other post, I've tested the BETA IGCC on two NUC computers. Since you are asking for versions of audio drivers, I want to explain that in both computers, the audio drivers are part of the graphics driver. My speakers are connected to the monitor and the audio is extracted from the video signal connected to the monitor by HDMI cable. In addition for NUC7i7DNHE there is no separate Audio Driver, because it doesn't have 3.5 mm audio jack. As for the other NUC8i7HVK you should know that the video is not generated in the CPU (the CPU is not physically connected to the video output), rather the video and audio is generated in the discrete AMD Radeon GPU.

Now the data you asked:

NUC7i7DNHE

Processor                  I7-8650U

Intel DCH Graphics Driver version  31.0.101.2111

NUC8i7HVK

Processor    i7-8809G Processor with Radeon™ RX Vega M GH graphics

Intel DCH Graphics Driver version  31.0.101.2111

Realtek* High Definition Audio Driver  version    6.0.9275.1

Hope this will help

Leon

[Stew52]

MDib: I believe the rep was informed and stating the facts. The issue is not the capability of the GPU and current drivers. The issue is the support of the Intel Graphics Command Center (IGCC) software package. ($$$ -> the cost of maintaining the capture capability in the software package) There are other ways using third party and open source packages to accomplish screen capture. These options, in my opinion, are a second choice because they are probably less efficient because they are not designed by the manufacturer of the GPU and surely will have more interface layers to accomplish the task. Also external app may be poorly designed, can have malware, and continued maintenance / support is uncertain. Intel should be a leader in it's software support for its hardware.

[MDib]

But it doesn't make sense.

They literally spent developer time to release a NEW Intel Control Panel without the features.

If they wanted to deprecate it and let it die, they would have allowed us to remain on the older version with the Capture enabled.

Intel spent money and time to remove features from anyone with older hardware.

Which is not making sense from an "let's save time&money" perspective.

[Stew52]

The NEW version of Intel  Graphics Control Panel is not new. It has the same features as the previous version only minus capture and gaming features and instead of icons on the left menu now the items are text.  And a nice new picture on the home page where the capture and gaming tabs used to be. I am a programmer and could have made those changes in a couple hours. After that maintenance of the software would be much easier not having to maintain any needed updates or fixes to the no longer supported functions. In theory if the now removed functions were to be left functional for only the gen 10 and earlier users you may think there would be no need for maintenance but there is still a need because nothing is perfect and the world changes so issues occur if a function is operable in the field. So you turn it off and all maintenance is gone.

[MDib]

Stop this cynicism.

Imagine a GTX 970 no longer working with Geforce Experience and having its encoding capabilities disabled.

Intel spent developer time to hide from the CP its encode capabilities. They are still there. 

Stop finding Intel attenuating circumstances. We can download old drivers. We cannot download the old appx for the CP. It's an insane, senseless move.

Put it back, Intel. You want good will from customers? Treat us with respect.

[Steven_Intel]

Hello everyone,

The latest version of Intel® Graphics Command Center (IGCC) that was pushed to the Microsoft Store is indeed IGCC lite. This means that all game-related features have been removed and the display features remain.

Gaming related features have been moved from Intel® Graphics Command Center to our newest gamer focused user interface, Intel® Arc Control. We recommend that users who meet the minimum requirements for Arc Control install the application to tweak their gaming features, settings and for screen/game capture related features. Intel® Arc Control is bundled with our latest graphics software packages on Intel.com.

Feel free to check the system minimum requirements and steps to install Intel® Arc Control here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000089899/graphics/intel-arc-dedicated-graphics-family.html

Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. We appreciate the feedback provided and be aware that your inputs are being documented and routed to the appropriate team.

@MDib, please let me know if you have any concerns or need further assistance, and I will be glad to assist you.

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[powerarmour]

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@Steven_Intel wrote:

Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. We appreciate the feedback provided and be aware that your inputs are being documented and routed to the appropriate team.

---

I hope so, because this is not only poor timing before the holidays (like when folks might actually have more time to use their HW), and as an Arc A770 user myself I rely on IGCC for features outside of the built-in Windows controls, I won't use Arc Control until that 'always-on-top' overlay is fixed/removed like any sane control UI should on a desktop OS.

So all you're doing here is removing features (which we have little of already compared to your competitors) and burning any good faith away that you've picked up in the community.

[MDib]

I do have concerns and I do need further assistance, thank you.

First, I want to clarify that I know the decision to remove functionality was not yours. And that I don't blame employees at Intel.

But I do blame Intel as a corporation and whomever decided to remove functionality.

That is all fine.

Please upload the old appx file for the Intel Control Panel.

That file will have the Capture functionality (which worked PERFECTLY WELL last week!) intact.

I will uninstall the new control panel version, use the old one, and block Microsoft Store updates.

I know with 100% certainty that Intel has the older versions that were uploaded to Microsoft Store servers.

Please allow us to to reenable the removed functionality ourselves. Anything less would be irrational behavior from Intel, meant to punish customers, in an era where we have a war nearby in Europe and the prices have exploded. So no, I am not upgrading.

The older appx file, please.

Thank you. 

[4MC]

Whatever this change was made for it was incredibly poorly planned and implemented.

I was formally an executive director in software at Dell, I'd have been contacting my counterpart at Intel to ask him/her what the heck was going on if I were still in the same position.

I'm lucky I was able to load Intel ARC on my 5-month old Dell Inspiron without issue, only to be told I'm "Wow, sad" for not having any games. This is a pretty poor attempt at humor and shows again this feature was poorly planned.

With 40-years experience in IT it's pretty sad to be told by a bloated piece of software that you are sad because I don't have any games installed. Yeah, right.

[Stew52]

@Steven_Intel wrote:

We recommend that users who meet the minimum requirements for Arc Control install the application to tweak their gaming features, settings and for screen/game capture related features. Intel® Arc Control is bundled with our latest graphics software packages on Intel.com.

And since there was no referral in the post to what users who don't meet the minimum requirements on a little over two year old product (which are surely thousands and thousands) to do I guess Intel recommends we be happy they don't care enough about us and just go away. Which many may do the go away on their next purchase. Hello competitors...

[Stew52]

Check discussion posting "Intel Graphics Command Center not showing Games/Capture tab" for more unhappy customers with this issue"

[Steven_Intel]

Thank you for your response, @MDib.

I will take your request and get back to you as soon as I have an update on this matter.

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[Steven_Intel]

Hello MDib,

For the moment, due to these recent changes, what we recommend is trying the BETA version of the Intel® Graphics Command Center available on Microsoft Store, or use a third party app to record/capture the screen when the minimum requirements for Arc Control are not met.

Once more, re-assured that the feedback provided has been sent to the appropriate team.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[MDib]

I understand.

In short, Intel is refusing to provide owners of generations anterior to 11th the simple appx Control Panel which they not only uploaded to Microsoft Store numerous times, in numerous versions, but also shared with their business partners that make OEM PCs.

This is intentional bad faith and malpractice, and it's not just a personal opinion, it's proven by the refusal to fix this.

For your information, the Beta is non-functional as it cannot record with audio. It's also OLD, from 2019. And again, it's BROKEN, unusable.

Intel took from us a functional product.

It's also true that we are just powerless consumers and cannot spend our precious time posting 100 times for such an issue, nor do we have the will and money for legal action, which would be appropriate for this situation. That is the reality.

Meanwhile, I will provide others here with a better, real solution.

A link to a Dell's driver package. OEMs have decided to include the appx, as not all PCs have access to the Store by business policy (didn't think about this, Intel, either?). Dell is a reputable business and the driver is from 2022 summer. The name of the folder with the appx is :

IGCC_1.100.3407.0

The link to the driver, from Dell's servers:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-uk/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=wh2jj&oscode=wt64a&productcode=precision-t3620-workstation&lwp=rt

I want to be clear that this is not about employees at Intel that have to follow corporate policy. Strictly, as it seems.

This is about the corporation itself. Shame on it. Shame on who took the decision to kill the features. And shame on who said to ignore our requests and simply suggest non-functional apps Beta, when YOU, INTEL, already have access to ALL the previous appx versions.

Deeply unfriendly towards customers, lacking respect for us and treating us like children.

[4MC]

As a former Dell Executive, I don't disagree with the sentiment you express, or the justification for it.

I would though just point out that without employees, there is no Intel. Corporate policy is set by employees, obviously not the support employees, but a small group somewhere inside Intel decided to set the strategy in a certain direction, or reduced the budget for a division and unlike trickle down economics, the consequences do trickle down and this is the result.

Rather, we should encourage these employees to ensure the general dissatisfaction over this is known. If the support team don't fee; uncomfortable about this decision, their managers won't, and nothing will get done.

I am a Dell user, and know that unfortunately the driver you posted is marked as not compatible for my system. So yeah, I'm not happy.

<Display>Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics</Display>

<Version>31.0.101.3959</Version>

<Device>9A49</Device>

[Steven_Intel]

Many thanks for your response.

We understand the frustration this situation has caused, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have provoked. Just want to let you know that your feedback has been submitted along with all the information provided during this forum.

As for now, we will proceed to close this thread, but users may still comment here. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Thank you for your understanding.

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[powerarmour]

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@Steven_Intel wrote:

We understand the frustration this situation has caused...

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You folks need to get a grip on support, there's a lot of bugs filed recently for Arc issues (including one of my own) that are not being addressed properly.

Now with additional 'demand' from discrete graphics comes a lot of extra pressure in this regard, folks will complain louder and take their issues to the highest soap box for attention, and removing features really doesn't go down well at all in this space.

[powerarmour]

Also the new 'lite' 1.100.4232.0 IGCC doesn't seem to save Adaptive Sync global settings (even after a repair/reset) with the latest Arc '4032 driver, you can toggle the sliders but they won't stick after a restart, it's broken.

Oh, and I noticed per pixel scaling has been removed too (another bone-headed decision), is this a joke now and you're just doing this to wind us up?

[powerarmour]

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@powerarmour wrote:

Also the new 'lite' 1.100.4232.0 IGCC doesn't seem to save Adaptive Sync global settings (even after a repair/reset) with the latest Arc '4032 driver, you can toggle the sliders but they won't stick after a restart, it's broken.

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At least this issue is now fixed in 1.100.4478.0

[powerarmour]

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@powerarmour wrote:

per pixel scaling has been removed too

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Do we have an answer to this yet, and why it was removed?