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The Hardware Lab Kit (HLK) packaging component is important for reading, writing, and packaging test results, as well as submitting drivers to the Hardware Dev Center (HDC) portal for certification and signing.

What’s Changing?

• In July, an upcoming HLK refresh will update the submission packager version and format. Submission packages generated using this HLK refresh will be saved in a new data format and will not be readable by previous versions of HLK Studio. 


• The updated packaging components can read both current and previous data formats but will always write HLKX files in the new format. Older versions of the HLK Studio will not be able to read submission packages written in the new format.


• The above applies to DUA HLKX packages as well.


• The HDC portal will synchronize deployment of the new submission package format with the upcoming HLK refresh. .

Actions Required

To enable compatibility with the new format:

• Watch for a notification and an upcoming HLK release announcement regarding the switch to the new submission package version and format on this blog and on the HDC portal.


• Installations of older HLK Controller versions do not require updates for this scenario as submission packages from older versions of the HLK will continue to be accepted by the portal. An HLK Studio only instance can be installed on a separate system for opening and processing a DUA shell package returned after the update,


• If the error “Failed to open package. Could not open package: (hlkx filename)” is encountered when opening a submission package in HLK Studio, it is recommended to install a newer version of HLK/HLK Studio. This error message may be indicating that the updated version of HLK Studio is necessary to read the latest submission package format.


• Automation and tools utilizing the HLK Object Model may require additional dependencies to be deployed due to updates in these dependencies. These changes will be detailed in the HLK Documentation upon the release of the update.