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[davelr]

Really confused about what's going on here. I've used Media Center for about 10 years with little or no problems.

I have stayed at 31 even though I purchased a 32 license upgrade. I'd not upgraded due to some posts that there were some early problems with 32. In any event I decided to update the other day and it has gone south on me. I backed up the library in 31, installed 32 and let it upgrade and then eventually restored the library as a precaution.

The main problem arises when I play music (normally in theater Mode). I can start a song which plays but the Playing Now screen shows no info about the file being played. When I try to control using the transport controls nothing happens, no Stop, Advance, etc. If I back out to the non-Theater view the transport controls there also do not work. The only way to shut down the player is to exit Media Center.
 
Thinking this was a 32 problem, I fired up 31 only to find it was exhibiting the same behavior. I restored the entire system (not just Media Center) using an image backup from before the installation of 32. I also restored the Library from the same date and started 31.

No Dice, the behavior of "not knowing" that a file is being played has remained and you still have to kill Media Center to stop the player.

Rather than keep bashing the system I thought I'd ask for advice before I screwed things up worse. Any suggestions/questions welcome.

The system is running Win 11 but I doubt that's relevant.

[JimH]

Power cycle everything.  Network, devices, ...

Configure Windows Defender.  Don't use anything else.

Describe what you're playing to and how it's connected.

[davelr]

Thanks for the quick reply Jim.

OK, entire system shut down: cable modem, switches, router, HTPC, AVR, TV, etc. After restart symptoms persisted (MC31). I did fire up a video file first and it behaved normally, stopped with the stop button, etc. I then played an audio file and again the Playing Now screen showed no data for the audio file (background album image did display) but the central image was the last scene from the previous video file with the video file name and rating displayed.

I only use Win Defender and it has been fully configured for MC for the last 8 years.

System configuration:
Media storage - Netgear ReadyNAS 314
Network backbone - Netgear 16 port unmanaged Gig switch
Router - Netgear R7000 latest firmware
HTPC - DIY using Gigabyte B450M D53H mobo, AMD Ryzen 5 3400G CPU, OS Win 11 23H2
(all network connections for all above are CAT 6 Ethernet)

Signal is passed from HTPC Mobo connector via HDMI to a Denon AVR-X4400H which handles all audio and passes video via HDMI to an LG 65OLEDB7 TV. All HDMI cables are 2.0 rated

Can I provide any other info, logs, etc.?
Thanks

[Awesome Donkey]

I only use Win Defender and it has been fully configured for MC for the last 8 years.

With each major version of Media Center you'd have to re-tame Windows Defender, as previous exclusions for older Media Center versions don't apply to any newer versions (as they're separate apps and installs). Unless you already done so after install Media Center 32, you'd have to redo the Windows Defender exclusions for Media Center 32.

[davelr]

With each major version of Media Center you'd have to re-tame Windows Defender, as previous exclusions for older Media Center versions don't apply to any newer versions (as they're separate apps and installs). Unless you already done so after install Media Center 32, you'd have to redo the Windows Defender exclusions for Media Center 32.

Thanks, I realize the paths change which is why I set the folder level exclusion parameters at the parent level above the level with version numbers. For example C:\Program Files\J River rather than C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 31, for example. I've assumed that this is sufficient and have experienced no problems with it in the past.

[Awesome Donkey]

I always do both, just to be sure. Along with the JRiver directories used in the %APPDATA% folder.

[davelr]

OK, I've gone ahead and marked this as solved but I haven't any idea what solved it. I fired up the system this morning to try some "fixes" and unexpectedly music playback was working correctly. I haven't a clue as yesterday afternoon it wasn't.

I'm leaving the system at MC31 for the time being. If I can ever figure out what was going on I'll come back and post it. Thanks for your suggestions.

[davelr]

It turns out that the previous "solve" wasn't. During playback of music between two songs MC kind of glitched, proceeded to play the next song but again with no information in the Playing Now display fields and no response to transport controls. I had to shut down MC to stop playback.

My first attempt to fix the problem was to clear the library and restore an older copy from about a week before the start of this problem. So far this appears to be a solution as I've let the system play continuous random playlists for about 6 hours with no incidents.

I have to conclude that some corruption was introduced into the library that caused this behavior. I'm still at 31, btw.

[hvac]

Just for my two cents, I’m a novice. I don’t think I could ever go through the instructions above. If I had your problem I’d not proceed.I would stay with the MC version that does work. I might just be able to get to a diagnosis. But the fix as described above is way beyond my pay grade.
My local computer repair company might be able to help by following the instructions above but that costs me and would be embarrassing to have to request. I have white hair, age 71 so maybe they’d overlook my ignorance.

[JimH]

hvac,
Age and ignorance aren't good excuses.  I'm 80 and easily confused.

Follow instructions and when you get confused, ask here.  Provide details.  Nobody will help unless you give us enough information.