Topic: Startup Problem (Read 769 times)

milsdrewbulch · « **on:** February 04, 2024, 04:32:34 pm »

I get startup problems when starting Windows with JRiver Media Server.

Unless I turn off MC from the Windows startup options, I cannot use MC. This just started today and I haven't done anything since using version 32 without problems for a week or so.

There is no other user account. There is no second mention of JRiver in the Windows startup list. No other MC version installed as I always uninstall the old version before installing a major MC update (in this case from 30 to 32).

The only way to get MC to work now is to start it manually with the ONE entry in Windows startup options turned off before rebooting.

In MC's own startup settings, setting it to media server (what I've been doing for years) no longer works.

W10Pro 64 bit.

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2024, 12:44:56 am »

Configure Windows Defender. Uninstall any other antivirus.

On startup, run only Media Server.

Reboot.

milsdrewbulch · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2024, 05:03:28 am »

Never used third party anti-virus. Windows Security exclusions were all updated to MC32 a few weeks ago and it worked fine for a few weeks.

No changes by me since, but today the problem started.

If the slider in the Windows Startup options for MC is set to Off, and I reboot with just server set to start up in the MC settings, Media server does NOT start on reboot.

If the slider in the Windows Startup options for MC is set to On, and I reboot with just server set to start up in the MC settings, Media server does NOT start on reboot and if I then double click on the MC desktop icon, the error message appears.

Been using MC30 and versions starting back at around MC15 and have never seen this. I'm very proficient with MC.

Add: When the UI won't open, if I end an MC task that appears in Task Manager, I can then open it after that.

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2024, 06:32:54 am »

Have you tamed Windows Defender and added exclusions for Media Center 32? Pretty sure once you do, this issue should go away.

craigmcg · « **Reply #4 on:** February 05, 2024, 07:48:38 am »

I get that error if I have tried to open two instances of Media Center but based on your description, this should not be the case for you. Have you tried uninstalling MC32, rebooting, then reinstalling it? When you reinstall it,don't enable the Start media server on startup then reboot again. You shouldn't get the error when you try to manually start MC32 after the reboot. Once MC32 is open, enable the start media server on startup then close media center and reboot again.Hopefully the reboots after each change will correct whatever is going wrong in Windows that may be contributing to the error.

milsdrewbulch · « **Reply #5 on:** February 05, 2024, 03:26:00 pm »

Quote from: Awesome Donkey on February 05, 2024, 06:32:54 am

Have you tamed Windows Defender and added exclusions for Media Center 32? Pretty sure once you do, this issue should go away.

Yes. These are my exclusions:

Files

C:\Windows\System32\MC32.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\MC32.exe

Folders

C:\Program Files\J River
C:\Users\**my user account here**\AppData\Roaming\J River

Processes

C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 32\MC32.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 32\Media Center 32.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 32\JRService.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 32\JRWorker.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 32\JRWeb.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 32\PackageInstaller.exe
C:\Windows\System32\MC32.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\MC32.exe

milsdrewbulch · « **Reply #6 on:** February 05, 2024, 03:31:53 pm »

Quote from: craigmcg on February 05, 2024, 07:48:38 am

I get that error if I have tried to open two instances of Media Center but based on your description, this should not be the case for you. Have you tried uninstalling MC32, rebooting, then reinstalling it? When you reinstall it,don't enable the Start media server on startup then reboot again. You shouldn't get the error when you try to manually start MC32 after the reboot. Once MC32 is open, enable the start media server on startup then close media center and reboot again.Hopefully the reboots after each change will correct whatever is going wrong in Windows that may be contributing to the error.

Definitely completely uninstalled MC30 before installing MC32. There's no second instance. Reluctant to uninstall, but might try that. Never seen this in the many years I've been using MC.

milsdrewbulch · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2024, 04:26:36 pm »

I changed the startup setting in MC32's own settings to do nothing, then backed up the library, uninstalled MC32, restarted Windows and observed that there was no longer a JRiver entry in the Windows Startup apps list.

I then installed MC32.0.8 and restored the library, then rebooted and as expected MC did nothing on Windows Startup. I then changed the setting in MC's own Windows startup options to start Media Server on Windows startup and restarted Windows again, but MC server does NOT start, nor does it appear in the Windows startup apps list.

I created an MC shortcut on my desktop and it works to open the UI. If I close the UI MC server remains going and sits in the Task Bar pop-up as I would expect.

This misbehaviour is new to me. I never saw it in a previous version and MC32 was working fine for a few weeks. Perhaps a Windows update has corrupted something.

milsdrewbulch · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2024, 07:57:55 pm »

The problem has resolved itself after the following Windows updates just now:

After running those updates, MC reappeared in the list of Windows Startup apps but in the Off position. After switching that to On and rebooting I'm back to normal operations.

Sorry for the bother.

I KNEW IT WASN'T MY FAULT!!!!! LOL

markf2748 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2024, 08:22:45 pm »

Just curious - do you know if the Windows Update Notices were sitting on your computer, waiting to be acted upon, when your MC problems started?

I sort of recall weird MC behaviors when Windows Update Notices are sitting there under Settings > Windows Update, but I have not yet gone ahead to actually download and install them. An illogical MS thing which I check (but sometimes forget) when MC suddenly turns weird. Wondering if others encounter the same thing, or if it's my imagination, since I don't see it reported much.

JimH · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2024, 11:06:30 pm »

Quote from: markf2748 on February 05, 2024, 08:22:45 pm

Just curious - do you know if the Windows Update Notices were sitting on your computer, waiting to be acted upon, when your MC problems started?

I sort of recall weird MC behaviors when Windows Update Notices are sitting there under Settings > Windows Update, but I have not yet gone ahead to actually download and install them. An illogical MS thing which I check (but sometimes forget) when MC suddenly turns weird. Wondering if others encounter the same thing, or if it's my imagination, since I don't see it reported much.

Same experience here.

milsdrewbulch · « **Reply #11 on:** February 06, 2024, 03:19:52 pm »

Quote from: markf2748 on February 05, 2024, 08:22:45 pm

Just curious - do you know if the Windows Update Notices were sitting on your computer, waiting to be acted upon, when your MC problems started?

No. They weren't sitting there. I pressed "Check for updates" then saw them. Microsoft seems to be screwing with W10 users. Especially this latest debacle where the recovery partition isn't big enough to install an update, so it throws up "Error encountered" without any proper explanation until a week or so later when they increase the partition size in the background without telling you! I never asked them to screw around with my partitions!

milsdrewbulch · « **Reply #12 on:** February 13, 2024, 04:23:10 pm »

The problem has recurred and it doesn't seem to be related to Windows Updates. The temporary resolution may have been a coincidence upon running a Windows update.

Now the only way for me to open the MC and have the server continue operating is to slide the Media Center switch to Off in the Windows Startup apps list and open MC manually.

I am not having startup problems with any other software and I have never seen it in versions up to MC30.

Add: If I select within MC Startup Options Media Center AND Media server it works fine. The problem seems to only happen when Media Server ONLY is selected. This seems like a bug to me.

milsdrewbulch · « **Reply #13 on:** February 25, 2024, 03:32:53 pm »

Could someone please look into this? Same behaviour persists in 32.0.20. It is NOT related to Windows updates.

zybex · « **Reply #14 on:** February 25, 2024, 04:58:33 pm »

Get Autoruns, run it as Administrator. This lists everything that is starting with Windows in many different ways.
Use the search box to find "media" and remove all instances of Media Center that show up (delete, don't just uncheck the box)
Do the same for all user accounts in the User menu of Autoruns - it's possible that MC is starting with the System or Network account too.

After removing all instances, reboot and try enabling it again.

Warning, don't delete things if you don't know what they are - windows runs LOTS of services and apps at startup, that's normal. Removing the wrong thing here can break windows.

If it still happens after this, then it's likely that the startup MC instance is getting stuck during initialization. In that case you need to enable logging and report it to MC team.

marko · « **Reply #15 on:** February 25, 2024, 10:40:18 pm »

I started to see something very similar to this for the first time yesterday.

With MC set to run media server only at startup, which works, and then clicking either the tray icon>show Media Center or the icon pinned to the taskbar causes MC to show itself, and then about a second later, it crashes into oblivion. Disappears. Gone.

Press Win+r > enter "C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 32\Media Center 32.exe" /Boot
Server starts.
Launch MC > MC crashes.

Set startup options to MC + Server and all is good.

Matt · « **Reply #16 on:** February 26, 2024, 07:35:50 am »

Marko, please install the latest MC32, then share a crash dump. You can also just email it to me (matt at jriver). Thanks.

JimH · « **Reply #17 on:** February 26, 2024, 07:57:45 am »

marko,
I had two thoughts on this. Just guesses.

1. Residue from the Windows Defender problems last week.

2. Recent server changes we've made. What is the first page that displays in MC?

marko · « **Reply #18 on:** February 26, 2024, 01:02:18 pm »

Quote from: JimH on February 26, 2024, 07:57:45 am

marko,
I had two thoughts on this. Just guesses.

1. Residue from the Windows Defender problems last week.

2. Recent server changes we've made. What is the first page that displays in MC?

1. Possibly.
2. It could be any one of nine or ten tabs that I always have open. Just depends where I was last. It is never the "Start" page.

Quote from: Matt on February 26, 2024, 07:35:50 am

Marko, please install the latest MC32, then share a crash dump. You can also just email it to me (matt at jriver). Thanks.

No problem, says me... Computers. I changed the setting back to Server only. Rebooted. This time, no crash when launching the main app, BUT the tabs are completely messed up. Could this be why it was crashing the other day? I've emailed logs and system info along with a couple of screenshots of the tab bar. We've had issues with email in the past. Could you confirm receipt? Cheers.

JimH · « **Reply #19 on:** February 26, 2024, 01:11:31 pm »

marko,
A backup of your library might help Matt.

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Author Topic: Startup Problem (Read 769 times)