Hi,
This looks like a config migration issue:

Steps to reproduce:

Prerequisite: alpha builds earlier than alpha-34909,0f7e961a:

1. Install an earlier alpha build.
2. Try upgrading to alpha-34909,0f7e961a (when prompted, select "update now").

Actual behavior:

An error occurs while upgrading config spec from 13 to 14 (speech/outputDevice -> audio/outputDevice), resuling in NVDA reporting config corruption.

Expected behavior:

No issues.

NVDA logs, crash dumps and other attachments:

ERROR - config.ConfigManager.initBaseConf (16:28:20.773) - MainThread (6604):
Error loading base configuration; the base configuration file will be reinitialized. A copy of your previous configuration file will be saved at C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\nvda\nvda.ini.corrupted.bak
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "config_init.pyc", line 582, in initBaseConf
File "config_init.pyc", line 633, in loadConfig
File "config_init.pyc", line 629, in loadConfig
File "config\profileUpgrader.pyc", line 26, in upgrade
File "config\profileUpgrader.pyc", line 42, in doConfigUpgrade
File "config\profileUpgradeSteps.pyc", line 428, in upgradeConfigFrom_13_to_14
File "config\profileUpgradeSteps.pyc", line 461, in friendlyNameToEndpointId
File "nvwave.pyc", line 39, in
File "NVDAHelper.pyc", line 32, in
File "eventHandler.pyc", line 13, in
File "api.pyc", line 14, in
File "textInfos_init.pyc", line 29, in
File "controlTypes_init.pyc", line 6, in
File "controlTypes\formatFields.pyc", line 34, in
NameError: name '' is not defined

System configuration

NVDA installed/portable/running from source:

Installed

NVDA version:

alpha-34909,0f7e961a

Windows version:

Windows 11 24H2 (build 26100.2605)

Name and version of other software in use when reproducing the issue:

None

Other information about your system:

A portable copy of the previous alpha build with user settings was saved as a backup

Other questions

Does the issue still occur after restarting your computer?

Yes

Have you tried any other versions of NVDA? If so, please report their behaviors.

No issues in earlier alphas such as alpha-34883,4bab7223

If NVDA add-ons are disabled, is your problem still occurring?

Yes

Does the issue still occur after you run the COM Registration Fixing Tool in NVDA's tools menu?

Not applicable

Additional testing performed:

• Updating a portable copy of NVDA running an earlier alpha build to alpha-34909: fails
• Updating NVDA 2024.4.1 RC portable version to alpha-34909: fails

The above traceback is accompanied by an attribute error (next issue).

Thanks.