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[DBrich1515]

Hi,  first time poster, customer from MC23 through 26.  Throughout this period I get, "something went wrong with playback", usually after MC has been idle for an hour or two.  The only fix is restarting the PC.  Why does this happen?  How can it be fixed?  I am running MC26 on Windows 10, WASAPI output via Toslink > Cambridge DAC-Magic 100 at 24/192 >    EQ200 Audio Source Analog EQ > Yamaha Analog input RXV-361.  This is my preferred setting and it works all the time, except when I come back to an idle machine (MC in either pause or stop, but open).  Help please.
Thanks, DB

[RoderickGI]

There are a lot of reasons for getting that message, but in your case it sounds like the Cambridge DAC-Magic 100 might be going to sleep or low power mode, so when MC tries to play, the DAC doesn't respond, so you get that error.

Have you tried restarting just the DAC before restarting playback?
Or perhaps just restarting MC? I assume you have tried that one, but that doesn't wake the DAC, so it still doesn't work.
It could be that the DAC driver needs to be restarted, which would require a PC restart, but I would hope not. That would be a poor driver.

Also check which Zone is selected before you restart playback make sure MC is still trying to play to the correct Zone. If MC loses visibility of a Zone it will switch back to the default Zone, if there is one and it isn't selected. In that circumstance when you hit play MC can't, because there is nothing in the current Zone's Playing Now list. MC should say "There is nothing to play" in that circumstance, but I have seen the playback error message before, I think when I have only had one Zone, but it isn't available.

[DBrich1515]

RoderickGI - Excellent suggestions.  It never occurred to me to restart the Cambridge DAC Magic.  I will attempt that the next time the error happens.  I will also double-check the Zones at the time of the error.  MC has identified and is displaying 3 other devices on my network and one other MC library.  Appreciate the feedback and will let you know.  Best, DB 

[DBrich1515]

Unfortunately, resetting the DAC had no effect in making MC play after the "Something went wrong..." error.  Restarting MC likewise kept returning the error.  The only fix seems to be a reboot of the PC.

[RoderickGI]

It definitely sounds like something is going to sleep, or going into low power mode. If restarting the DAC doesn't fix the issue, and rebooting the PC is the only thing that does, and it has always happened on this PC, then it must be something to do with the Power settings in Windows on the PC or in the BIOS.

First though, please confirm where the TOSLink connection comes from. Is it the Motherboard audio, or do you have a sound card installed, or some other hardware?
Is USB involved anywhere in the digital audio out, perhaps with a USB to TOSLink converter?


If the problem happens after two hours, or some time you can narrow down, does that time match one of the Advanced Power & Sleep settings in Windows?
There isn't a specific setting for audio on the motherboard, but there is for USB. Try disabling "USB selective suspend", which may be related on your motherboard.
Is there a specific audio driver installed for audio on the motherboard, or whatever outputs via TOSLink? Any sleep or suspend settings in there?

Does other audio work when this happens in MC? i.e. Can you play the test audio tones in Windows Sound settings (device properties)?
If you can play audio out through Windows Sound settings, have you tested in MC after that works? Perhaps that would wake the output.
If you have or can get another media player (i.e. Foobar2000 with WASAPI plugin), then when this happens, close MC and try to play back in the other application, does it work? If it does, does MC work after that?
Does audio work from a browser when this happens, and close MC? i.e. YouTube video plays audio?

The other area is BIOS, or UEFI, of the PC. Have you checked power settings in there? Anything that looks like it may power down the motherboard audio?

There is a small chance that leaving MC in the Paused state for a long time would cause issues, even if just audio is being played. I've never tested for that. It would be best if you stopped play rather than pause. You can set up MC to resume where you left off, even for audio files if you wish. MC27 has new functionality to make that easier, but it can be done in MC26.
27.0.4 (8/22/2020)
11. NEW: Added a new search to options to allow setting a grouping of files to automatically apply a bookmark (so if "Use Bookmarking" is set to default, it turns on for files that match the search).


That is probably enough to think about for now. Let us know how you go.