Thanks for the reply, Matt. I'll do my best to help identifying what might be the problem here. It's quite difficult to explain all that stuff, as english is not my native language.
OK, another test. This morning, quickly synched with 11.1.92 (after the unsuccessful test with 11.1.108). The sync went perfectly, i was listening to the tracks on my iPod until 5 minutes ago (meaning, the sync went ok).
Now, i've installed 11.1.108 "over" 11.1.92, and cloned the library again (library files on local hd, 90 files with ~ 27 MB, ). Btw, I'm trying to sync ~ 590 smart- and playlist (about 98% being smartlists with tracks in random order) out of the ~ 800 i have. One interesting thing might be that ~ 90% of the "iPod-smartlists" are referencing to one "master" playlist containing all tracks I want to have on the iPod.
After cloning the library, started MC, activated logging, expanded the "playlists" node in the tree, and clicked on the node where my "iPod-smartlists" are stored. This is the first occurrance of "blocking" (MC uses 100% CPU, and is unresponsive to anything but "end task"). After ~ 7 minutes (!), MC becomes responsive again, allowing me to delete the "iPod-Smartlists". This is where MC "blocks" again, but only for ~ 60 seconds.
Now it gets interesting: docked the iPod (USB 2.0, no hub = full port speed), waited a few seconds until MC recognized the iPod, then MC "blocked" again for about 60 seconds. After that, MC became responsive again. This "blocking time" seems to be the time MC needs to analyze which files have been rated or played on the iPod. The few tracks i was mentioning in a previous post now had their "old" rating (I can only assume that MC overwrites the library rating with the old one from the iPod). My PC and the iPod are set to the same date and time (+- some minutes).
Matt, it seems the problem _is_ connected to the smartlists, but there seems to be something else (the rating-thing). I don't think i'm using any "perverted" smartlists, though. The typical query is something like "rating 4, keyword 'party', tracks are in the master playlist, random sorting". I'm also using quite a lot of user-defined fields for filtering.
Another test, just to be sure: removed the iPod, cleared the log, restarted MC, and switched back to the library with the many smartlists. Updated the tags of the wrong rated tracks, and inserted the iPod again. Result: ~ 5 minutes of "blocking time", but all tracks with correct rating, as far as i can tell (now, this is _really_ strange). Now, i went to "Tools/Options/Handhelds", and just clicked on "OK" to close the dialog. Result: ~ 2m30s "blocking time". A click on the "iPod"-node in the tree produced a "blocking time" of ~ 2m30s. Minimized MC, maximized it, and again got ~ 2m30s blocking time. Clicked on "playing now", and clicked again on the "iPod"-node -> ~ 2m30s blocking time. This happens every time i switch between these two nodes, and the "blocking time" is alway around 2m30s.
It starts to get really annoying when, for example, i minimize MC, maximize it again, and try to click on, for example, the "Help" menu item. This gives me 2m30s blocking time, again. Are you starting to see the problem here?
I do not have any of these problems with 11.1.92. There are "blocking times" when clicking on the node containing all the "iPod smartlists", but i'd say this is acceptable and somwehat logical, because MC has to fetch all files for all smartlists, sort the files, etc. Besides that, there are short "blocking times" just before a sync operation, but this is also acceptable, as MC has to compare files, etc. Besides these minor annoyances, 11.1.92 is running perfectly smooth for me. This is the reason why I do _not_ believe the problem is connected to my library or hardware. Being a logical thinking guy, the only variable I can see here is MC's version (11.1.92 vs 11.1.108, or 11.1.106).
I've saved the two seperate logfiles (with/without smartlists), is there a ftp server or something similar where i can upload them? Please let me know if there's anything else I can do.
My system info (the machine is a stock FSC "work computer", apart from HD and DVD-drive, using the latest reference drivers from FSC):
Media Center Registered 11.1.108 -- C:\Programme\J River\Media Center 11\
Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 1986 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 515 MB, Free - 190 MB
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82.2800 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.0.2800 / Shell32.dll: 6.0.2800 / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping / Drive E: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive F: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: No / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: Yes / Play sound after ripping: No
Burning / Drive E: _NEC DVD_RW ND-4550A Addr: 1:0:0 Speed:9 MaxSpeed:9 BurnProof:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: No / Write CD-Text: Yes
Use playback settings: No /