Potential Polycom buyers be warned: The current Polycom PVX software (v8.0.4) will not run on Intel i series processors. Furthermore the software is not supported on Windows 7!
The issue:
For some unknown reason, the Polycom PVX software is configured to check the host computer’s processor speed prior to allowing a video conference to begin. Since the i series is so new (*sarcasm* – as the processors have been publically available for ~ 3 months (http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20100107comp_sm.htm#story) and were announced well over a year ago)) the Polycom software doesn’t understand the speed of the processor – defaulting to preventing a conference from occuring. Assuming that there would be a simple registry hack to override the processor check, I called Polycom customer service. The first line of support insisted that my 3.2ghz machine was simply too slow to run the PVX software. After arguing for ~ 1 hour with the support rep, he passed me along to tier 2 support. Tier 2 support confirmed that this was a known issue (though as of 4/1/10 there is no reference of this issue on Polycom’s website) – but that there is no ETA on a fix.
During the same call, I requested support information in regards to Windows 7. Again being that Windows 7 is so new and not widely distributed (*sarcasm* again – Windows 7 has been publically available for ~ 5 months (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7) with a beta being publically available as far back as January 2008) – there is no planned support for Windows 7.
Polycom’s only solution: buy a non- i series processor machine with Windows Vista or XP
UPDATE 5/6/10 – Based on Mikko’s comment, I contacted Polycom CS and requested 8.0.16 (it’s not on their site.) While they still claim no support for Windows 7 – The PVX software seems to be running without issues on my i5 with Windows 7 / 64bit…
I have Windows 7, Polycom PVX 8.0.2 and it doesn’t detect network. =S
Guess I won’t need to dual boot my i7 MacBook Pro for use with PVX after all. Thanks for saving me the trouble of setting it up!
We had the same problem – Polycom has released PVX 8.0.16 that worked ok with Win7 64 bit i7 intel. You should get download link by contacting Polycom support.
Can anyone who has it upload it to share the link? Getting info from Polycom CS is like pulling teeth.
Our IT colleagues try to ask the same to Polycom but Polycom said that they don’t have the file at all! Can anybody send me the link with the file? Thx.
Yes, I’m running into the exact same problem but I’m unable to get Polycom to give me any details on 8.0.16. They say that version number doesn’t exist. If somebody has a link it would be greatly appreciated.
Maybe you can tell you email addresses and maybe some one knows some link?
Yes I’ve also been unable to get them to link me to the 8.0.16 version. I’m going to set up a dummy mailbox since I figure it’ll get a ton of spam posting on a forum, but if anyone has the link please email it to blogpost@boyle.vu and that would be awesome. I really need to get this set up for a client on a deadline.
Readers – the software licenses prevents re-distribution.
That being said, I just sent a note to the Polycom engineer that worked on my case, drawling his attention to the blog post – and the obvious difficulty that some are having getting a copy of the software.
Hopefully he will respond quickly.
Good luck.
Response recieved from my inquery to the Polycom CS rep:
‘Jon, thanks for the look at what folks are saying. I have been working on an effort to get the 8.0.16 posted on the web. I have engineering on board and support on board. It actually costs us money every time someone calls in asking for the upgrade.
The real reason it is not posted is because 8.0.16 is considered a hot fix. A hot fix has not gone through all the QA testing that a published release goes through. I met with one of the program managers today and he said they are discussing the issue. Everyone I spoke to is in favor of releasing it they just do not want any repercussions if there is an unknown bug that would have been caught during normal QA testing.
Remember this hot fix is for the iCore processor fix only. We still only support XP and Vista. The process to have Windows 7 supported is a long and expensive one. I understand we are working on that as well.
However from what customers have been saying this HF will work on 7 because it is so close to Vista. ‘
When I asked about how the readers of this blog can get a copy of 8.0.16 now – he responded with:
‘We are also discussing the possibility of letting our Help desk distribute the hot fix. Usually because a hot fix is developed for a unique situation or a individual customer it is only distributed by my group, Tier2 . There are often special circumstances or limitations on a hot fix. So the rule of thumb has always been to let Tier 2 make the decision on who gets the HF.
In this case that is correct because they have not been given permission to distribute it.
For the time being have folks open a web ticket and ask for the HF. I am currently watching out for those and responding. ‘
Good luck
So far no luck on ticket 1-77087841.
Waiting for my ticket (1-76562895) as well. Thanks to this engineer though, I hope he is able to help everyone out. PVX is pretty important to a lot of people who work remotely.
We’ll see we’re at day 2 with no resolution but the initial rep said they are forwarding it to another department to work the ticket.
Did wind up getting the software and it fixed the issue (i3 processor), so I guess the key is just persistence.
Would you be willing to send me a copy of the 8.0.16?
Thanks again for this post, Polycom provided me with 8.0.16 and it fixed the issue on Win7 x64.
Got the fix rather easily with a call to support, don’t hesitate to call them.
one of you guys should post it up here so we can get it easily..
ringer
Does anyone provide the link of hotfix to fix the said problem ???
Thanks in advance.
Thanks for the information everyone. I need to get access to the 8.0.16 hotfix ASAP or we’ll be looking for an alternate solution to cope with the influx of new machines arriving on site. I’ve logged two support requests, one referencing this site and specifically requesting access to the hotfix. I’ll see what happens. I find it difficult to believe that Polycom have been caught out by Windows7 and the i3,5,7 processors. Seems to me somebody was asleep at the wheel!
Yep, I’m running Win 7 32 bit, with a Core i5 and Polycom 8.0.4, everything is fine except it reports my CPU is too slow and it won’t let me call.
I guess I’m on the quest for 8.0.16
Polycom,, get ahead of the curve instead of laggin way behind.!!
Thanks for this post – here it is in July and it seems they still don’t have the 8.0.16 version posted on their site. Calling support now…
Would any of you that were successful with the Hot-Fix of 8.0.16 be willing to share it with those of us who have been waiting?
pleas i faced the same problem and i need help pleas any one can help? i cant find 8.0.16
This is the link they provided me. It works well on Win 7 – 64 bit with i7 processor.
http://downloads.polycom.com/video/pvx/Release_all_8_0_16_0003.exe
Can be found here:
http://downloads.polycom.com/video/pvx/Release_all_8_0_16_0003.exe
Thank you so much to the folks above who posted the information as well as the download link to version 8.0.16_0003 — I had been having the same problem with 8.0.4 (or whatever the older version I had was).
I got to the point where I could register with my official gatekeeper, etc. but the call button was disabled! I had trouble getting Polycom to tell me how to fix this, and our local polycom experts did not have experience supporting Windows 7 users.
This version works for me!
Thank you so much. I am on Windows 7 also and that resolved my issue.
Thanks!!!
Mitch
I called in yesterday, and it looks like I got them to post it to the PVX support page:
http://www.polycom.com/support/video/pvx_series/pvx.html
You guys friggin rock!
Windows 7 64bit now working 🙂
Thanks!
Thank you all SO MUCH. This resolves a gigantic issue for me a huge client I support. I tried repeatedly to get assistance with this via every Polycom support channel I could with zero luck at all. Appreciate it!