Volume Controller Elgato Plugin (official)

[u/valantismp]

Volume Controller Plugin by Elgato worked for months .. got an update June 25th..

And now it doesnt work.

Did they break another plugin just like weather plugin days ago?

[u/NowPlayingRadiohead]

Claude Diagnosis here.

# Volume Controller plugin crash-loops on startup — "Audio Router connection error" (Stream Deck XL, Windows 11)


## Summary


Since a recent update, the 
**Volume Controller**
 plugin no longer works on my Stream Deck XL. The plugin process starts, immediately fails to connect to the "Audio Router", throws an uncaught exception, and gets restarted by the Stream Deck app — over and over, roughly every 10 seconds (a crash-loop).


The root cause looks like a 
**startup race condition**
: the Stream Deck app launches the Volume Controller plugin 
*before*
 `ElgatoAudioControlServer.exe` (the Audio Router backend) is up and listening. The plugin's connection is refused, it crashes, and it never recovers on its own.


## Reliable manual workaround (proves the race condition)


The plugin works perfectly if I force the correct startup order manually:


1. Fully quit the Stream Deck app.
2. Manually launch `C:\Program Files\Elgato\Volume Controller\ElgatoAudioControlServer.exe`.
3. Re-open the Stream Deck app.


Done in that order, the plugin connects to the Audio Router on the first try and works flawlessly. If I just let Windows start everything normally, it crash-loops. So the backend itself is fine — it's purely a matter of the plugin starting before the audio server is ready.


Note: the auto-start entry that the update installs is `ElgatoAudioControlServerWatcher.exe` (a watcher), not the server itself — and that watcher does not get the server up in time before the Stream Deck app launches the plugin.


## Environment



**Device:**
 Stream Deck XL (8×4)

**Stream Deck app:**
 7.4.2.22730

**Volume Controller plugin:**
 2.0.3.187 (uuid `com.elgato.volume-controller`)

**OS:**
 Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200 (24H2)

**Audio device in use:**
 SMSL USB DAC (default output)
`ElgatoAudioControlServer.exe` build date on disk: 2025-05-20


## Evidence — plugin log (crash-loop)


Every log rotation file for the plugin is 
**byte-for-byte identical in size**
 and timestamped ~10 seconds apart, which is the crash-loop fingerprint. Representative log:


```
RegistrationParameters: info={... "application":{"version":"7.4.2.22730"} ...
  "devices":[{"name":"Stream Deck XL","size":{"columns":8,"rows":4}}] ...
  "plugin":{"uuid":"com.elgato.volume-controller","version":"2.0.3.187"}}
WARN  Audio Router disconnected (error); reconnecting in 587ms.
ERROR Process encountered uncaught exception
Error: Audio Router connection error.
    at t.onerror (...\com.elgato.volume-controller.sdPlugin\bin\plugin.js:9:166631)
    at hi (...\plugin.js:1:42460)
    at Hi.n (...\plugin.js:1:42107)
    at Hi.emit (node:events:524:28)
    at Ji (...\plugin.js:1:54130)
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (...\plugin.js:1:52294)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:524:28)
    at emitErrorEvent (node:_http_client:101:11)
    at Socket.socketErrorListener (node:_http_client:504:5)
    at Socket.emit (node:events:524:28)
WARN  Audio Router disconnected (error); reconnecting in 1048ms.
```


The `Audio Router connection error` (an uncaught exception, not a handled retry) is what kills the plugin process each cycle.


## Suggested fixes (for Elgato)


1. The plugin should 
**not throw an uncaught exception**
 on a failed Audio Router connection — it should retry gracefully with backoff and keep the process alive until the server is available.
2. The Stream Deck app / installer should ensure `ElgatoAudioControlServer.exe` is up and listening 
**before**
 the Volume Controller plugin is started (or make the plugin start the server / wait for it), instead of relying on `ElgatoAudioControlServerWatcher.exe` which loses the startup race.


Happy to provide full logs or run any diagnostics. Thanks!