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[Zootsuit]

I'm a long-time MC user. In recent weeks, Media Center has become extremely slow to open (3-4 minutes). I was running 11.1.196, finally uninstalled MC and reinstalled build 11.1.201 - same problem. The MC icon shows immediately, and the program appears in Task Manager with relatively little resource usage, but the program itself takes a very long time to fully open. On occasions, it never appears and I have to kill it in TM - which also takes a long time -  and try again.

Also, when I try to access CD Burning in Tools/Options, the program hangs indefinitely while detecting the drives, whites out and I also have to kill it with TM. CD burning itself has also become very funky, taking a long time to burn a data disk.

I've done several System restores, trying to find the last stable point, with no luck.

Here's the system info:

Media Center Registered 11.1.201 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 11\

Microsoft Windows XP  Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 2019 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 785 MB, Free - 345 MB

Internet Explorer: 7.0.5730.11 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82.2900 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.0.2900 / Shell32.dll: 6.0.2900 / 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 /  No burners found.
  Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: No /  Write CD-Text: Yes
  Use playback settings: No /

I realize that the free memory isn't great - I've been liberating as much as I can with SpeedUpMyPC.

I'm running Counterspy, Solo anti-virus and Sygate Personal Firewall, none of which have interfered with MC in the past. I've also installed the Linksys wireless phone and base station recenly - possible program conflict?

Couldn't find much on Interact search. Would welcome any suggestions. Thanks.

[marko]

do any of your media files reside on network drives?

is your library stored locally or on a network drive?

could your antivirus software be interfering by scanning each file before it's opened?

have you checked other running processes in task manager? pay particular attention to the cpu usage column. click its header twice, slowly, to sort the processes in 'highest first' order.

while 345 megs may not be a lot of free RAM, it should be plenty enough for MC to run. It could be that SpeedUpMyPC is causing you problems by forcing RAM that MC is using to written to your windows swap file, and so, MC will need to promptly ask for it to be written back into RAM, etc. etc.

will need more info, I think, before any more useful suggestions can be made.
Nice nick too btw There's a Tom & Jerry cartoon kicking around called Zootsuit... you seen that one at all?

-marko.

[Zootsuit]

Marko - thnx for quick response.

Library is local, on a Raid arrayed set of internal drives, plus a USB-connected external. Nothing on networked drives.

Its possible Solo is interfering, but both it and MC have resided peacefully on the same system until recently, so its doubtful IMO.

Went through TM carefully, most of the cpu usage is in System Idle. Other running processes don't make a big dent.

SpeedUp runs on command, not in the background, and has been down during these episodes.

Here's a shot from the Event Viewer, if that helps:



I had to reopen while typing this, and it took 3 minutes flat.

Z.

[JimH]

Try setting up a new library (as a test) of files on the local drive.

USB 2 devices can sometimes drop back to USB 1 speeds.  This may be a Windows bug.

[Zootsuit]

Thanks Jim.  Doesn't seem to be a problem with the USB connection - I tested it with the Sandra Drive tester, speed is consistent with 2.0. The majority of the 33 K+ files are on the internal drives.

Its possibly a Windows bug of some kind. I've noticed that Windows is quite slow on reboot. I did a number of systems restores, but that hasn't had any effect.

In any case, MC does open after 2-3 minutes, and seems quite stable. Its not a life and death issue.

[JimH]

Hi A,
There is a thread here that might provide some ideas:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=24031.0

Also another one on the MC12 board that involved possible NTFS problems.  Try a search for that.

And did you try setting up a new library with files on the local drive?  A small library would be a good test.  You can do this under Files/Library Manager.

Jim

[Zootsuit]

Thanks Jim. I'll poke around the thread, see what I find. if its anything useful, I'll post it.

[JimH]

32,000 something is the limit of a 16 bit number.  You wouldn't think this is the problem, but you never know.

Are all the files in a single directory?

[Zootsuit]

No - actually some are on the Raid-arrayed 120 GB, some on another 250 GB internal (doing this from memory at work, so I don't have a breakdown), so there is not a single root for all files. There is a single root folder on the Raid array, but not on the internal 250GB or on the external drive, where in general there is a separate root for each artist, with album subfolders below that. (No comments pls on the layout, organization is not my forte....)

I'll try a couple of different things when (if) I get done with work.

[Alex B]

I don't think MC11.1 accesses the media files on startup. Only the program and library files are accessed and naturally MC reads its configuration values from the Windows Registry.

Also, when I try to access CD Burning in Tools/Options, the program hangs indefinitely while detecting the drives, whites out and I also have to kill it with TM. CD burning itself has also become very funky, taking a long time to burn a data disk.

This means that something is definitely wrong. Your media file drives may be just fine, but the the optical drive and/or possibly the system drive may have some kind of HW and/or SW problem.