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[RedJ]

For a few years, I had a problem with MC hanging on update because it would not cleanly exit the already running instance.  I spent hours diagnosing the problem (disabling AV/firewalls, clean installs, new libraries, chasing log entries, etc.) to no avail.  Suddenly, somewhere between MC21 and MC22, I stopped having this problem.

Now, with MC23, the problem has returned and it really sucks. Essentially, after clicking the install button, MC will hang until the process is force-quit, at which point it resumes the update (with MC23, mostly will initiate two update processes, the second of which has to be cancelled out of).  Manually exiting Media Server prior to clicking install does not make any difference, so I think it's the main process that won't self-terminate cleanly.  I know this is a bit of a phantom at this point, but I was really enjoying the year+ that I didn't have this problem so I'm hoping some new bit of insight has become available to someone in the intervening years.

[Awesome Donkey]

Just curious, what AV do you have?

[RedJ]

Defender, built in Windows 10.  I had dismissed it as the source, since disabling it didn't make any difference during previous tests. But, just for the sake of thoroughness I disabled it and installed an older build and forced an update. Low and behold, it didn't hang. Looks like I have some exceptions to look into.  I'll report back if I get it sorted.

[RedJ]

Excluding the main Media Center 23.exe and PackageInstaller.exe has allowed me to run update from within Media Center without problem under controlled, artificial conditions.  I will need to wait for the next real update to come along before I am confident the problem is corrected (especially since, when running the installer for an older build while MC is open, MC will still hang instead of closing on its own).

[JimH]

Just curious, what AV do you have?

Where did you learn to do that? 

Well done.  Thanks.

[RedJ]

Well done.  Thanks.

Well, technically Jim, everyone who has an up to date version of Windows has this AV, but this problem isn't being widely reported. That makes me a little suspicious that this result is not going to hold with the next real MC update or after a reboot. Again, completely turning AV off didn't work when I tested several times before posting (I know better than to post here without doing that), or fix MC failing to self terminate when updating from an external installer package. Time will tell, I guess.

[JimH]

It's their OS.  They can screw it up if they want to.

[Awesome Donkey]

I can confirm Defender in Windows 10 (after a clean install) is causing MC to open slowly and have issues with updates. That said, once MC and its executables/folders are excluded in Defender, it functions perfectly. If everything works out and MC's executables become signed, that *should* hopefully help deal with that issue somewhat.

At some point the Wiki article about taming Defender will need to be updated for a) Windows 10 and b) the 64-bit Windows builds of MC. If I ever get enough time, I'll try writing up a new tutorial covering both.

[DocLotus]

Same problem here; MC hangs on update until I use Task Manager to kill it after which time the update completes.

I already have all MC 23 exclusions in Defender.

[MusicHawk]

SOLVED -- BAD FILE DOWNLOADS

I can't get .72 to install either, installer just hangs at 0%. Thinking AV (Avast) because it usually insists on scanning a new EXE, I first excluded MC's folder in Program Files (x86), didn't help. I then disabled Avast, MC .72 still won't install.

Checked fairly worthless Windows Defender. Its live protection has long been disabled, so it supposedly only runs weekly to scan. Even when Defender runs, it is set to only Warn, not automatically Block. No evidence it is doing anything to MC install process.

I don't find any JR or MediaCenter programs or services running, so nothing obvious to force Stop.

And crazier, when MC installer starts, then hangs, clicking Cancel leads to confirming the cancel. When I click Yes (I want to cancel), it goes back to the installing dialog. Click Cancel again, same thing, it simply loops between Installing and asking for Cancel confirmation. Only Task Manager can stop it. But still, no successful installation.

I've never seen this problem in MC (or anything else that I recall).MC .70 and prior installed smoothly. I don't know of any changes on my PC *except* that Microsoft forced an update of something a couple of days ago.

And, my twin desktop has the same .72 installed without problem. (I run MC for video/photos on one PC, MC for audio on a twin PC.) It is set up exactly the same, with Avast, etc. No trouble with MC. I'm puzzled.

Restart of Windows didn't help. Disable AV didn't help. Guess I'm stuck at MC .70 on one PC. Suggestions?

[JimH]

Uninstall Avast. Just to test.

[MusicHawk]

SOLVED -- BAD FILE DOWNLOADS

Avast completely removed, system restarted, no change, still can't install .72. As far as I can tell, this PC is unchanged from when .70 was installed.

I can speculate that Microsoft did one of its undocumented Windows updates, though I don't detect anything different. And no problem with my twin PC that update to .72 without problem.

MC 23.0.72 install just hangs, after a brief (2 seconds) jump up then back down, Windows reports ZERO CPU or Disc activity from MC installer. Attempting to Cancel results in a loop cancellation loop, must use Task Manager to kill it. Is that a clue? What does it require to run?

[JimH]

Is it the 64 bit version?  Is the OS the same?

Did you read the topic on Windows Defender on our wiki?

[MusicHawk]

SOLVED -- BAD FILE DOWNLOADS

32-bit MC 23.0.70 installed, can't update to .72, been stable for 2 years on the PC, and no similar problem *ever* updating MC for many years. And, the twin PC already running MC .72 has not needed any adjustments, exclusions or tricks, MC updated smoothly.

Re Windows Defender I already did the exclusions in the very different interface of the current version, hoping I got them right -- Microsoft shows far fewer details than in Win 8 and prior versions. (The wiki needs updating, it does not explain how to work with Win10's Defender which is very different than before, and the example is MC20). But again, Defender was already disabled (can't be uninstalled), which it keeps complaining about.

The only clue is, when I run MC's installer, it promptly loads about 1.2MB into Memory, then stops. No messages. Zero CPU and Disk activity. Like it is waiting for something...but what? I re-downloaded the file. I tried running as Administrator, didn't help. I ran Win10's analysis of it, only suggestion was to install as if Win8, which failed too.

What might MC installer be needing to do in the first seconds? Write to somewhere, I assume -- where, exactly?

[Hendrik]

The very first thing it does is unpack the installer into your Temp folder (the first progress bar that it starts with, before the UAC prompt), typically in C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Temp. Sometimes it can be helpful to clean it out, since many things leave things around in there.

[MusicHawk]

SOLVED -- BAD FILE DOWNLOADS

Cleaning Temp was a good suggestion -- it has 12,000 items, all in just the past few months! (I clean it periodically, a tad surprised how much has accumulated recently.) But, that did not help MC install.

In fact, I see that each time I try to install MC, a new temp folder is created. But those folders are all empty.

Where MC freezes as when the 0% Extracting message appears. It never increments. I already have Task Manager open to see what happens, and there's just a 1 second burst (fast PC) which jumps JRiver installer Memory used to 1.2 (or 1.1 MB or 1.3MB, it varies). Then it just stops. (Freshly-rebooted PC)

There's no UAC unless I run installer as Administrator, though that mode doesn't succeed either.

I can't stop the frozen installer except via Task Manager because clicking on the progress bar Cancel button loops. It asks Are You Sure and no matter which button I click it reverts to the 0% Extracting message. Repeat....


PS: If it possibly matters, Task Manager shows Media Center 23 Service is loaded, though Stopped, because MC 23.0.70 is already installed (and I don't want to break that). MC 22 Service is also loaded/stopped because I haven't uninstalled 22 until sure 23 is stable.

[MusicHawk]

SUCCESS!! I downloaded MC .72 again (4th or 5th time), and noticed the EXE size was larger, 33K instead of 23K. Sure enough, MC installed.

So, I was really dealing with several incomplete downloads files. I had downloaded using Firefox, Chrome, and Edge, different browsers exactly to dodge any download flakiness, but they each resulted in small/incomplete files, until just now. No idea how that could happen, can't think of another recent instance, but at least the MC part of the mystery is solved. Thanks for the help!

[Hendrik]

How odd, I wonder if Amazon had some troubles with the file hosting.