App not working with the new Nvidia App update 11.0.2

[AgenB]

Hello, after the major update AlwaysShadow doesn't toggle replay back on, tried version 11.0.2.308 and 11.0.2.337.
It did turn it on right after install (i tihnk) but never after. The log file contains this:

~~~~ STARTING A RUN: BUILD DATE Jun 12 2024 19:24:59 ~~~~

[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:04 main.c:InitializeCwd:272: Successfully set CWD to C:\Users\Agen\Documents\AlwaysShadow
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:04 main.c:AddNotificationIcon:595: Notification icon successfully created.
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:04 main.c:IsUpdatesSquelched:763: Now: 1740851344, squelch date: 1743441544, updates are squelched: 1
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:04 fixer.c:FetchToggleShortcut:433: Shortcut length: 0
[WRN] 2025-03-01 18:49:04 fixer.c:FetchWhitelist:551: Couldn't open whitelist with error: No such file or directory.
[WRN] 2025-03-01 18:49:04 fixer.c:FetchServerInfo:309: Failed to open the file with the port and secret, error code: 0x2
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:14 fixer.c:FixerLoop:164: Should toggle because: isInstantReplayOn 0, isExclusiveExists 0, isExclusiveRunning 0
[WRN] 2025-03-01 18:49:14 fixer.c:FetchServerInfo:309: Failed to open the file with the port and secret, error code: 0x2
[WRN] 2025-03-01 18:49:14 fixer.c:SetInstantReplayByPostRequest:386: Failed to set state: 1 because the handle info couldn't be fetched
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:24 fixer.c:FixerLoop:164: Should toggle because: isInstantReplayOn 0, isExclusiveExists 0, isExclusiveRunning 0
[WRN] 2025-03-01 18:49:24 fixer.c:FetchServerInfo:309: Failed to open the file with the port and secret, error code: 0x2
[WRN] 2025-03-01 18:49:24 fixer.c:SetInstantReplayByPostRequest:386: Failed to set state: 1 because the handle info couldn't be fetched
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:34 fixer.c:FixerLoop:164: Should toggle because: isInstantReplayOn 0, isExclusiveExists 0, isExclusiveRunning 0
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:34 fixer.c:FixerLoop:168: Entered into conflict! Won't toggle. cycle=2
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:50 main.c:ProcessMainWindowCommand:502: Refresh button has been pressed.
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:54 fixer.c:FixerLoop:131: Received refresh signal. Refreshing.
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:49:54 fixer.c:FetchToggleShortcut:433: Shortcut length: 0
[WRN] 2025-03-01 18:49:54 fixer.c:FetchWhitelist:551: Couldn't open whitelist with error: No such file or directory.
[WRN] 2025-03-01 18:49:54 fixer.c:FetchServerInfo:309: Failed to open the file with the port and secret, error code: 0x2
[INF] 2025-03-01 18:51:15 main.c:ProcessMainWindowCommand:502: Refresh button has been pressed.

[Verpous]

That certainly looks like a problem. I'll be honest with you, I still haven't updated to the new Nvidia app precisely because I was afraid of this. I can't fix this problem until I update. I'm torn between doing what's best for me and what's best for my users 😅

Someday I'm sure I'll have to fix this but I can't promise when it will happen. Sorry :/

[AgenB]

I also tried not updating but it's tricky and in addition it always mixed up my selected microphone, they fixed this issue in this major version that broke AlwaysShadow. It's all fine though, maybe someday I'll learn how to fix this myself in some way >w< I don't even know how the app checks if the recording is running or not.

[Verpous]

Well there are two challenges to crack:

1. How to detect if instant replay is on
2. How to enable it when it is off

AlwaysShadow detects the state of instant replay by reading a registry key where Nvidia writes the current state:

AlwaysShadow/src/fixer.c

Lines 269 to 285 in 13086ef

	static char IsInstantReplayOn()
	{
	// There's a registry key which will tell us if it's on.
	DWORD isActive;
	DWORD bufsz = sizeof(isActive);
	LSTATUS ret = RegGetValue(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, TEXT("SOFTWARE\\NVIDIA Corporation\\Global\\ShadowPlay\\NVSPCAPS"),
	TEXT("{1B1D3DAA-601D-49E5-8508-81736CA28C6D}"), RRF_RT_ANY, NULL, (PVOID)&isActive, &bufsz);
	if (ret != ERROR_SUCCESS)
	{
	LOG_WARN("Failed to read registry key check if Instant Replay is on with error code %#lx", ret);
	return TRUE;
	}
	// Technically isActive is already 0/1 but since it's a DWORD and we want to return a char, !! will do it safely.
	return !!isActive;
	}

This was suggested to me by some beautiful user. In the past it used to work differently. I used to check if shadowplay's recording cache files exist:

AlwaysShadow/src/fixer.c

Lines 139 to 152 in 6a84708

	char IsInstantReplayOn(WCHAR* tempFilesPath)
	{
	// We detect if Instant Replay is on by checking if its temp files exist.
	WIN32_FIND_DATA fileData;
	HANDLE fileHandle = FindFirstFile(tempFilesPath, &fileData);
	if (fileHandle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
	{
	return FALSE;
	}
	FindClose(fileHandle);
	return TRUE;
	}

The next step, to enable instant replay, is implemented by sending a POST request to a server that shadowplay uses for all sorts of commands:

AlwaysShadow/src/fixer.c

Lines 382 to 403 in 13086ef

	static char SetInstantReplayByPostRequest(char state)
	{
	if (cb.curl == NULL && !FetchServerInfo(&cb.curl, &cb.headers))
	{
	LOG_WARN("Failed to set state: %d because the handle info couldn't be fetched", state);
	return FALSE;
	}
	char buf[256];
	sprintf(buf, "{\"status\": %s}", state ? "true" : "false");
	curl_easy_setopt(cb.curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, buf);
	CURLcode res = curl_easy_perform(cb.curl);
	if (res != CURLE_OK)
	{
	LOG_WARN("Failed to set state: %d due to POST error: %s", state, curl_easy_strerror(res));
	ReleaseCurlResources();
	return FALSE;
	}
	return TRUE;
	}

And again, it used to work differently until a user suggested this improvement. In the past it used to work by simulating the keypresses for the keyboard shortcut to toggle instant replay. This method still exists in the code as a fallback if the first approach fails:

AlwaysShadow/src/fixer.c

Lines 477 to 480 in 13086ef

	static void ToggleInstantReplayByKeyboardShortcut()
	{
	SendInput((UINT)cb.ninputs, cb.inputs, sizeof(INPUT));
	}

[AgenB]

Whoah, thanks for all this info, this might be the push I needed to maybe start working on my first commit to a project 😅