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[terrym@tassie]

EDIT: 3-November-2017 This script has been superseded by w10spk V2 please this post for details:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,113034.0.html

Some users who run JRiver Media Center on Windows 10 encounter a problem.
 
After a period of playback from JRiver Media Center exceeding about 40 minutes:
Processes in a suspended state crash when accessed and then fail to return to a running state.
The processes affected include the Start Menu, Search panel, Settings panel and any ‘Modern Apps’(such as Calculator, Store and Edge browser).

The result of this will be well known to anyone who has encountered the problem:
The Start Menu does not appear when clicked on.
Any 'Modern Apps' that have been minimized can be maximized again but do not function and eventually crash.
Frequently the Settings panel will open, then crash and have to be opened again.

These process crashes only occur after periods of continuous playback from JRiver Media Center.
If JRiver Media Center is left open for any period without any playback (just importing, tagging browsing the tree etc) then Windows 10 is completely unaffected and no process crashes occur.
Why this occurs with Windows 10 and JRiver MC (and other applications such as Foobar and some Adobe packages, to name a few) is a matter of some conjecture that I will not go into here.

Isn't this fixed in Windows 10 Release 1607 (Anniversary Update)?
Sort of. Release 1607 has only partially addressed the problem.
Prior to this release if the problem described above occurred then the user was left without a Start Menu.
With 1607 the Start Menu now restarts following a crash (click once, Start Menu does not respond, click again and it generally appears).
1607 has not fixed the issue with the minimized 'Modern Apps' or the Settings panel and still takes two clicks to open the Start Menu.

How can this problem be worked around until Microsoft come up with a fix?

Run JRiver Media Center on an earlier version of Windows.
This not a facetious answer!
Windows 8.1 is recommended as a stable OS for HTPC use by Madshi and Hendrik and as they are both bona-fide geniuses who am I to argue?
Windows 7 is still in full support by Microsoft.

Sticking with Windows 10?
OK then:
Simply sign out and sign in again, this is completely effective, if time consuming (if the Start Menu has gone, right click it to access sign out).
OR
Using Task Manager, restart Explorer, the drawback is you will frequently lose program icons from the Notification area (such as Nvidia Geforce).
OR
Using Task Manager, terminate all the suspended processes that are owned by your user ID, drawback is this is time consuming and tedious.
OR
You could use a script that detects when JRiver Media Center is playing and automatically terminates any suspended processes owned by your user ID.
Using such a script would result in the Start Menu, Settings panel and Search panel opening first click, any minimized 'Modern Apps' removed from the task bar and ready to run again.
All the time, without you doing anything......

If that sounds interesting then you need to read the next post in this thread......

[terrym@tassie]

It was found with older Windows 10 releases that if the ShellExperienceHost and SearchUI processes were terminated (using Task Manager for instance) then the Start Menu and Search panel would become responsive again.
It was further found that if these processes were terminated before any attempt was made to access them, then no process crashes occurred and the Start Menu responded on first click.
Terminating the processes 'resets' them so they successfully transition from suspended to running when needed.

Based on the above I shared on the JRiver forum A solution to the Windows 10 Start Menu problem a small script, w10smk (Windows 10 Start Menu Keeper), that terminated the ShellExperienceHost and SearchUI processes every 20 minutes when JRiver MC was open on the system.
A later version (1.3) used an additional Powershell script that terminated the above processes only if JRiver MC was actually playing.
This was found to be effective at keeping the Start Menu and Search panel responsive to opening on first click.

However, w10smk did not resolve the problem of minimized Modern Apps and Settings panel because it terminated processes if they were running OR suspended.
Obviously it would be undesirable to terminate a running process as:
a)   It would not be affected by the ‘problem’ discussed in the post above.
b)   It may be a 'Modern App' or the Settings panel in use on the desktop.

This has led to the development of:

The w10spk (Windows 10 Suspended Process Killer) script.

First, I want say a big 'Thank You' to forum member chris635 who has put a lot of effort in to testing the attached script (and encouraged me to write it).

W10spk is a script that terminates suspended Windows processes (not running processes) only if JRiver Media Center is actually playing.
As w10spk only terminates suspended processes, it is now possible to safely terminate all of the processes affected by the ‘problem’ not just the Start Menu and Search panel (as was the case with w10smk).


A full description of the script is included in the attached Guide.

The script is attached to this post (as a text file) along with a Setup script and a Guide on how to install it (in pdf format).
I've taken the trouble to write the Guide so if you intend to use the script please read it!

I'm sharing this in the hope it may be of some use to those who run JRiver Media Center on Windows 10.
Note: It should work with any release of Media Center but all testing has been done with MC21, MC22 & MC23 32 and 64 bit.

I also look forward to the day I can stick a nice edit across this post stating:
'No longer required, the problem has been fixed in Windows 10 Release xxxx'

EDIT: 8th September 2016 Version 1.1 of all files attached. Please update if you have 1.0 versions.
EDIT: 16th November 2016 Version 1.1a one line patch for error reported by one user (SWbemObjectEx 80041002 error)

EDIT: 11th August 2017 Version 1.1b of w10spk.vbs and w10spk Script Guide.pdf: updated version to address Windows 10 Creators update issue where Start Menu can become unresponsive in a running state, update only changes behavior of script when /nomc specified - thanks to amsco15 for reporting this problem.
Version 1.1a of setup.cmd fixes issue of case sensitivity on user 'y' responses - thanks to ssands for spotting this bug.

EDIT: 26th August 2017 Version 1.1c of w10spk.vbs Update to fix Line 212  SWbemObjectEx 80041002 error reported by AlanDistro, improved robustness of code to check for process ownership.

EDIT: 18th September 2017 Version 1.1d of w10spk.vbs. Update to improve Task Scheduler item creation/modification. Removed dependency on schtasks.exe. Thanks to forum member stewart_pk for testing update.
Version 1.1b of setup.cmd to remove redundant reference to MCWS in log selection dialogue.

Please note script has been tested and verified working with MC23 64 bit release as of 15th September 2017.
 
To use the script either download setup.cmd.txt & w10spk.vbs.txt and rename them to setup.cmd & w10spk.vbs or download w10spk.zip and extract to a folder in your home directory e.g. C:\Users\your username\w10spk. Please see the W10spk Script Guide for full details.
 
If you encounter any issues with installing or using the script, or any other feedback please send me a Personal Message.
Click on my profile (just above my avatar) and select Send PM or use Action tab to Send Personal Message. Thanks

EDIT: 3-November-2017 This script has been superseded by w10spk V2.
See this post: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,113034.0.html

Terry

[chris635]

THANK YOU!  terrym@nz for taking the time and writing this. You did the heavy lifting. If it wasn't for you I would still be manually terminating these problematic process. Now I have a Windows 10 system that works they way it should, without any involvement from me in the background.

[IAM4UK]

I'm going to try this. Seems like a work of genius. Thanks!

[Awesome Donkey]

Hopefully, Microsoft gets around to fully fixing it in Redstone 2.

[mutato]

Thank you greatly. The amount of frustration this issue has caused me is crazy.

Do consider the possibility of accepting donations.

[IAM4UK]

This does work as stated. Great job!

[chris635]

This does work as stated. Great job!

Yes, Terry has done a fantastic job with this.

[terrym@tassie]

Hopefully, Microsoft gets around to fully fixing it in Redstone 2.

+1 to this. However if the 1607 release is anything to go by, they'll break more than they fix. I really think Microsoft need a 'root and branch' review of what they are doing with Windows 10, it is shaping up to be a corporate disaster on par with the Ford Edsel.

Thank you greatly. The amount of frustration this issue has caused me is crazy.

Do consider the possibility of accepting donations.

This does work as stated. Great job!

Thanks for the feedback. All donations to the deserving charity organisation of your choice!

[millst]

Plugin version

Let me know if you run into problems (over on that thread).

-tm

[terrym@tassie]

Updated versions (V1.1) of scripts have been attached. Now uses JRiver COM object for playback detection which simplifies installation and use.
Recommend updating if you are using the previous versions. Just overwrite the files, no Setup needed.

[foxfreejack]

Hi,

I recently found out that Media Center is causing a weird issue on Windows 10 that closely follows what has been discussed in this article at: http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/computing/has-your-windows-10-start-menu-stopped-working-here-are-four-ways-to-fix-it-11364000314532

I tried everything discussed in this article, before finding out MC was involved. Including reinstalling Windows from scratch. In which case the issue reoccur the same day everything was ready.

What happens: the start menu won't come up with either the mouse or the Windows key, many times a day. Only on two separate systems, which happens to all be Win 10 pro systems. Same thing happens when right clicking on any task bar items, to be able to start another instance of a program for example. This started very soon after upgrading my systems to Windows 10, since Creators Update it as worsen, before this version the start menu could work a few times before I was forced to restart the Windows UI (Restart the explorer.exe process).

On the other systems that I use with Win 10 Home, which never had any of these issues, until I started using MC 18, at the time. It was already installed on this system, but I never really had to use it before. Then the same issues occurred constantly while using MC.

Now the reason for this message:

I upgraded to the current version MC23 and it still occurs on the same systems and the same way as with MC18. My system acting as the Media Server never had this issue, but it runs Windows 7. Before going to Windows 10, I was using also Windows 7 on all my systems without any issues.

   1. Anyone has experienced this?
   2. Is there any options or configuration that can be adjusted to correct the situation?
   3. Could this be a bug or an issue to be resolved the team at JRiver?

Thank you!

David

[Awesome Donkey]

It's a Windows 10 bug that Microsoft hasn't fully fixed yet (or are unable to fix fully).

There's a workaround here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,106925.0.html

The workaround works fine here. But yeah, it's a Windows 10 issue for sure - it can even happen randomly with vanilla/fresh Windows 10 installs with nothing else installed.

[ssands]

Just chiming in that the fix Awesome Donkey points to (created by terrym@nz) works great and *finally* resolved that issue for me, that frankly was really p*ssing me off about Win 10.
Simple and easy to install and it works great.
Thank you, terrym@nz

[RD James]

It's a Windows 10 bug that Microsoft hasn't fully fixed yet (or are unable to fix fully).
There's a workaround here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,106925.0.html
The workaround works fine here. But yeah, it's a Windows 10 issue for sure - it can even happen randomly with vanilla/fresh Windows 10 installs with nothing else installed.

If it's an issue with Windows 10, something that JRiver does is making it much worse.
When I built my new AMD PC a few months ago, it took a couple of weeks before I got JRiver set up on it as I wanted to ensure that it was completely stable, and waited for full disk tests to complete before copying any media to it from the old PC.
During that time I was using the AMD PC connected to a monitor for everything except media playback, which was still being done on the old Intel PC connected to the TV.
I was thinking that the switch to ECC memory must have finally fixed this issue, but as soon as I installed JRiver on the AMD PC and started using it for media playback, those problems with the start menu and search breaking 10x a day and having to manually kill the ShellExperienceHost and SearchUI processes returned.
It never happened once in two weeks of using the PC for browsing/work/gaming until I installed JRiver.

[JimH]

If it's an issue with Windows 10, something that JRiver does is making it much worse.

Bugs are often triggered by something specific.  This is a Microsoft bug.  Nothing JRiver could do would ever cause an OS feature to fail unless it had a bug.

[RD James]

Bugs are often triggered by something specific.  This is a Microsoft bug.  Nothing JRiver could do would ever cause an OS feature to fail unless it had a bug.

I'm not saying it isn't a bug in Windows 10, but I used that system for two weeks without the issue ever appearing, thinking that the switch from Intel to AMD or regular memory to ECC memory had fixed it, until I installed JRiver.

[Awesome Donkey]

IMO, I don't see how MC could do anything to prevent it anyways. For whatever reason(s) Windows suspends processes while MC (and other software, e.g. Steam and perhaps Adobe apps) has been running an extended amount of time... and those processes crash when accessed.

I mean, unless somebody figured out exactly what MC was doing to cause Windows to suspend those processes in the first place and had some clever way to workaround it programmatically that the dev team could implement, that'd be different.

But yeah, I can confirm it happens on vanilla Windows 10 installs at random. Microsoft has totally failed thus far to completely fix this issue. But is that really surprising how buggy Windows 10 has been since launch? That's what you get when the company has changed focus from being about shipping a stable product at launch to focusing on nothing but increasing profits, ads being integrated within the OS, data mining via telemetry and laying off their employees, especially the QA testers! I guess when they have "Windows Insiders" doing free QA testing... yeah, Windows 10 has been a somewhat disaster since day one.

[Hendrik]

They should just stop suspending these processes on performant systems. It doesn't gain me anything.

[Awesome Donkey]

They should just stop suspending these processes on performant systems.

At least stop suspending them while using the high performance power plan would suffice.

[Hendrik]

At least stop suspending them while using the high performance power plan would suffice.

Wouldn't really like that. Other than for benchmarking (consistency) I never use high performance mode. It doesn't really benefit normal use with how fast PCs scale up/down things.
But they could make it an option in power management or such that you can just enable/disable in your power profile, i guess.

[RD James]

I like that Windows 10 can suspend UWP apps now - especially with the introduction of Game Mode.
The only issue I have with it is that something is causing specifically the ShellExperienceHost and SearchUI processes to break.

[RayDiant]

I am trying to use the w10spk script. It isn't working. I have run setup, choosing the log option. The command line in Task Scheduler is:

wscript.exe "C:\Users\Mark\W10spk\w10spk.vbs"/log

I am worried that it isn't in fact running because there is never a log file. When I choose option 2 in setup to determine Media Centre's status it always says it isn't running but it is.

If I run this command:

Cscript //nologo w10spk.vbs /log

Nothing happens

But if I run this command:

Cscript //nologo w10spk.vbs /nomc /log
I get a log file and suspended processes are terminated.

Also, If I run the above script once the Windows menu has stopped working it doesn't fix the problem.

Any reason why the script isn't detecting that MC is running or playing?

Note: I posted this in https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,106170.100.html and was asked to post it here

Mark

[terrym@tassie]

Hi Mark,

Can you send me a personal message with more details of your system specifically Version of JRiver MC and any antivirus programs you may have installed. Please also try running with /debug- this will give a more verbose output of everything the script is doing.
I have new release of the script which I am about to upload to fix the issue of getting the Start Menu back once it has failed, in the Creators update it is possible for the Start Menu to become unresponsive while it is in a running state.

Can I ask any one else who has issues with the script to send me a Personal Message, I find it easier to help people that way.
Just click on my profile (just above the cute Tasmanian Devil) and select Send PM or use the Actions tab to Send Personal Message.

Thanks,

Terry

[terrym@tassie]

Updated script V1.1b available, this versions addresses the issue seen after the Windows 10 Creator update where the Start Menu can become unresponsive in a running rather than suspended state. Note this update ONLY affects the behavior of the script when /nomc is specified.
If the script is used in the 'default' way running regularly via the Task Scheduler then the Start Menu never becomes unresponsive.

The updated version is only required if you use the /nomc option.

See second post in this thread for the updated files.

Thanks to amsco15 for reporting this issue and testing the fix.

Thanks to ssands for finding a bug in setup.cmd, an updated version has now been uploaded.

[Mans]

Excellent job !
Works perfect and solved the issue of a non-working start menu.
The install couldn't be easier. Documentation is extreme complete and clear.

Fyi i'm on W10 Pro 1703 build 15063.540.

Thanks again for your great work !

[terrym@tassie]

I am trying to use the w10spk script. It isn't working.
 
Also, If I run the above script once the Windows menu has stopped working it doesn't fix the problem.

Any reason why the script isn't detecting that MC is running or playing?

I worked through these issues via Personal Message with RayDiant and this is the outcome:

The first issue was fixed by running the latest V1.1b version of w10spk.vbs.

The second issue was caused by a missing registry key:
The key Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\MediaJukebox Application\CLSID must be present in the registry to expose the MC COM object. This is how w10spk detects whether MC is running or playing.
Re-installing MC22 fixed the problem, the registry key was created and w10spk could detect the status of the installed MC instance.

So if you have an issue with w10spk not detecting whether MC is playing then check the above registry key is present.

Terry

[RayDiant]

As Terry has stated he worked on my issue with the Windows 10 menu and the script.

I just wanted to say publicly that it is all working now and Terry did a great job. There is no way I could have figured out the issues I had without his knowledge and help.

Mark

[terrym@tassie]

w10spk.vbs updated to Version 1.1c, update to fix bug identified by forum member AlanDistro.
Update improves robustness of code to identify process ownership.
Bug caused occasional Line: 212 Char: 4 Error: Not Found Code: 80041002 Source: SWbemObjectEx error.

Thanks to AlanDistro for reporting the problem and testing the revised script.

Terry

[RD James]

Should I be using the script instead of the plugin?
The plugin seemed a lot more convenient to set up, and only runs when Media Center is running.

[AlanDistro]

w10spk.vbs updated to Version 1.1c, update to fix bug identified by forum member AlanDistro.
Update improves robustness of code to identify process ownership.
Bug caused occasional Line: 212 Char: 4 Error: Not Found Code: 80041002 Source: SWbemObjectEx error.

Thanks to AlanDistro for reporting the problem and testing the revised script.

Terry

I decided to stop waiting for Microsoft to fix their s**t and installed the script last week. Within 20 minutes I was getting popup errors. I tried to ignore it and figured it'd sort itself out. But it didn't. So I emailed Terry.

Terry provided me with a new script to test extremely quickly, and after only two or three back and forths he had identified the issue and fixed it. I've been running the new updated script with zero issues for five days now and could not be happier about it. This one single issue kept me from installing JRiver on the rest of the computers in my house, I was running it off of one PC like an old school stereo, it's sole purpose being playing JRiver because without reliable access to the start button and taskbar, the computer was basically useless for anything else. And I get this isn't a JRiver problem, but it is the only software causing the issue for me (and I run Adobe's full suite and a ton of other programs throughout the day, not a single other one causes problems).

But now I can install JRiver on all of my PCs and run it as a client like it's supposed to be. Very very thankful for this awesome script. Thank you Terry.

[millst]

Should I be using the script instead of the plugin?
The plugin seemed a lot more convenient to set up, and only runs when Media Center is running.

It's your choice. Effectively, they do the same thing. I upgraded to creator's update and MC23. Then, I reinstalled the plugin and have had zero issues.

-tm

[amsco15]

This program and the effort to write it is awesome!!  Thanks so much.  Solves a frustrating problem.

[CountryBumkin]

Where is the new script?  Is it in Terry's second post?

Is v1.1c the latest version?

[Awesome Donkey]

Grab the w10spk.zip file from the second post, it's the latest version.

[imeric]

Can anyone name any other apps besides JRiver still causing this issue?

[Hendrik]

Can anyone name any other apps besides JRiver still causing this issue?

Steam at the very least does it, from my personal experience. I'm sure there are others.

[Awesome Donkey]

Yep, can attest to Steam causing it here too. Heard Adobe apps can too.

[DocLotus]

WOW

Terry; where have you been all my life

Incredible idea, Incredible script, Incredible results.

This resolves the most maddening thing about JRiver MC... lockups several times a day with no real resolve.

This has been going on (for me) for at least two years. Why I stuck with MC under the circumstances is beyond belief; I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment (or something)

I have to wonder how many people left MC for other media programs due to this issue?

Also have to wonder if JRiver might consider adding the script into the MC install to make the whole process totally automatic.

Now all I have to do is figure out why all my Windows 10 Apps have stopped working (real programs such as IE still work but Apps such as Edge & Calculator do not).

Anyway...

THANK YOU SOoooo MUCH
Cheers;
Doc

[RoderickGI]

Can anyone name any other apps besides JRiver still causing this issue?

Garmin Express does it in spades as well. At least I think so, but I have MC, Steam, and Adobe apps running regularly, so it could be a combination of those.

Certainly, GE also prevents querying USB Device States, and fails in many other ways, such as poor USB capabilities and connectivity. But it does also seem to trigger this issue.

[imeric]

Maybe Jim could give Bill a call to get this resolved ASAP

[Awesome Donkey]

Bill Gates? He has very little if anything to do with Microsoft these days (same with Steve Ballmer) other than being a "technical adviser".

Satya Nadella is the person to talk to about it, but I doubt he really cares, sadly.

[DocLotus]

Yesterday I upgraded from 32 bit MC to 64 bit. That resolved a lot of long time problems I have been having with MC for the last three years or so.

BUT... the VB script does not seem to do anything with the 64 bit MC (the Windows 10 Start Menu is gone again).

What do I (or we) need to do to get it working with the 64 bit MC?

Thanks;
Doc

[millst]

The automation object used in the script for querying MC status is likely not compatible with the 64-bit install. I probably need to build a 64-bit version of my plugin, too.

-tm

[DocLotus]

That would be wonderful.

[terrym@tassie]

The automation object used in the script for querying MC status is likely not compatible with the 64-bit install.

This is incorrect, w10spk script is working normally for me with the 64 bit version. No update is required.

doclotus please try running Setup.cmd and using Option 2 'Test Media Center  playback status', if that is not working correctly then send me a Personal Message and I'll help you diagnose the problem.

Terry

[Awesome Donkey]

Yep, the script detects the 64-bit build just fine. But I ONLY have the 64-bit build installed - I'm not sure if having both the 32-bit and 64-bit builds installed at the same time could be an issue or not.

[terrym@tassie]

.

Yep, the script detects the 64-bit build just fine. But I ONLY have the 64-bit build installed - I'm not sure if having both the 32-bit and 64-bit builds installed at the same time could be an issue or not.

Thanks for confirming that Awesome, I've got both 32 and 64 bit installed at the moment and w10spk works with either.

[DocLotus]

Just tried Option 2 & it indeed does detect when MC is running or not. I have both the 32 & 64 bit versions installed but am running only the 64 bit version. The 64 bit version is running great with no real problems but Windows 10 Start Menu has been missing in action since I installed the 64 bit version of MC.

I ran w10spk manually from the Task Scheduler but the Start Menu refuses to show up.

[stewart_pk]

I get the following when trying to install.

FAILURE!: Task creation did not complete successfully