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[Pegritz]

I understand the 16 is still in beta and will almost certainly improve as development continues.  I certainly *hope* it will eventually be worth the money. I've run betas of pretty much every version of MC I've ever used, and I've never encountered as many annoyances as there are in this one.

Before installing MC16, I removed the IE9 Release Candidate and verified that all IE-related files had been rolled back to stable V8, even though since MC16 has apparently switched to the Chromium engine this may no longer even be an issue. Nonetheless, I didn't want a bad software interaction (especially an IE-related one) fouling my tryout of the beta. Once it was installed (and I performed a completely clean install; there were no other versions of MC on this machine, nor had there even been before), I played around with it for a while and found it quite to my liking, and figured purchasing the upgrade was warranted. I'd used MC up until v13, I believe, which proved so buggy and annoying that I switched over to another program--but MC16 offered a LOT of great features, and $17 seemed like a reasonable investment in a software version that clearly offered more.

But since I purchased MC16, it's caused all manner of annoying behaviour, such as:

• When MC16 is open, my mouse's scroll wheel will completely stop working periodically in all applications. I've verified that this ONLY happens when MC16 is running, and it certainly has never happened before.
• MC16 never seems to work right when using any audio system other than DirectSound. None of my other audio apps (and I have *quite* a few) have any trouble using ASIO, WASAPI, or even WaveOut--but MC16 skips and stutters *badly* when using anything other than DirectSound...and even *then* it skips and stutters, just not as much. I've even run MC16 with no other apps running and this still happens, so I'm pretty sure it's not a processor- or HD-access-rate-related issue.
• Video playback is *incredibly* annoying. When watching fullscreen video, MC16 will randomly minimize, right-clicking won't bring up the usual context menu, and playback controls appear and disappear randomly.
• Auto-import is completely screwed. I have it set to import from only one folder, and have neither "make thumbnails" nor "get cover art" checked...but startup would take upwards of five, even ten minutes sometimes when "Run auto-import" was selected--which is odd, considering I haven't added or otherwise even touched the indicated folder in days.
• And finally, whenever MC16 is running, other apps experienced weird, periodic freezes, and MC frequently freezes itself when switched back to from another app. MC16 won't generate a standard Win7 "not responding" dialogue, but no amount of clicking or keyboard shortcuts will work with it and even clicking on its icon in the taskbar does nothing. The only way I've found to shut it down when it does this is to kill the process directly from the Task Manager

I will gladly provide system specs and any other information if asked.  Fortunately, there are NO problems when MC16 is not running, so I'm not going to uninstall and reinstall it anytime soon unless advised to do so.

(PS: I've browsed through other posts on the forum and haven't seen anyone else experiencing the same trouble I have, so I wonder if the problem lies with my machine, and whether simply un/reinstalling MC16 might solve the problems.)

D. Pegritz

[JimH]

Would you mind rebooting and then reinstalling MC 16.0.39.

There are two links in my signature that might help.  Stability and Weird Problems.  Please try Stability first.

A couple of your problem suggest there might be something running in the background that is causing problems.

The video problem is probably a driver.

What virus checker are you using?  Try uninstalling it just as a test.

In task manager is the CPU at 100% when you're having trouble?

Did you follow MS instructions on uninstalling IE9?

What you're seeing is far from normal, but if you can be patient, we can sort it out. 

[Pegritz]

I'll try everything you've listed, and will report back ASAP with results! Thank you for the suggestions--I'll get on them immediately!

D. pegritz

[Pegritz]

Would you mind rebooting and then reinstalling MC 16.0.39.

There are two links in my signature that might help.  Stability and Weird Problems.  Please try Stability first.

A couple of your problem suggest there might be something running in the background that is causing problems.

The video problem is probably a driver.

What virus checker are you using?  Try uninstalling it just as a test.

In task manager is the CPU at 100% when you're having trouble?

Did you follow MS instructions on uninstalling IE9?

What you're seeing is far from normal, but if you can be patient, we can sort it out. 

1. I've un/reinstalled three times, with complete reboots in between. No difference: the mouse-wheel scrolling effect still happens, and now I've noticed that Google Chrome becomes unresponsive in a variety of different ways--most notably, though, text-input boxes become completely unresponsive for long periods of time whenever MC16 is running. When MC16 is *not* running, everything is fine. The scrolling issue happens in all apps, though, not just Chrome. Is it possible that the Chromium rendering engine in MC16 is interacting weirdly with Chrome?

2. I checked out the Stability and Weird Issues articles, but didn't find anything in them that seemed related to the experiences I've been having. I went through the Stability article carefully and checked out everything I could there, but most of the points in the article were either ineffectual or unrelated.

3. The second time I reinstalled, the only apps running beside MC16 were AnyDVD HD 6.6.4.2, my Steam client, Microsoft Security Essentials, PowerISO, and AdAware. The behaviour still persisted. The third time, I also ran Google Chrome and Skype. In the latter case, the scroll problem was VERY noticeable in both apps. I imported a folder of about 1000 mp3 files just to see if the problem was caused during import, but it persisted looong after the import was done. In fact, I rebooted my computer a fourth time and checked MC16 after my boot sequence was completely finished: same thing.

4. I updated my video driver (GeForce 9600 GT) to the most recent stable release. No effect. I tried to play a simple .avi file and the weird jumping back and forth from display to desktop happened every couple of seconds.

5. I use Microsoft Security Essentials 64-bit, and I am LOATHE to turn it off for ANY software install. I disengaged it for a bit, though, and it didn't make any difference to MC16: the weird stuff still happened.

6. Oddly enough, no, it *doesn't* spike my processor usage--nor does it eat up an inordinate amount of memory. I've kept a close eye on my Task Manager's CPU graph and system resources during install and operation, and I haven't noticed any odd processor/memory performance issues.

7. Yep. To the letter. I didn't have any trouble with removing the update or running the restored version of IE8.

At present, I've got the software uninstalled and, honestly, have no interest in keeping it around. If you'd like, though, I'll reinstall it and try out any further suggestions you may have! If not, though, I'm going to wait until the next build and see if *that* makes any difference.

D.

[JimH]

Microsoft Security Essentials is known to cause problems.  I think there is an entry in the Weird Problems thread.

Something about your OS is confused at the moment.

[Pegritz]

Well, I'm not about to switch away from a trusted security solution just for a media player--and why a media player would have deleterious interactions with an antivirus solution is utterly beyond me. Exactly none of the other apps on my system experience any kind of strange behaviour, so I think I'm going to hedge my bets now and just give MC16 a pass. I've never had ANY kind of problems with MediaMonkey. I think this experience has confirmed what I believed about MC13 or 14: that it's just a buggy piece of crap. I'd seek a refund but, honestly, I don't think the effort would be worth it.

[harrydr]

Hello user Pegritz same complaints on my side. Also have problem changing from speaker to headphone. Hope we get fixed it. If not will go back to version 15 or some other media player (lot out there now)

[JimH]

Believe whatever you want.  I'm just saying it will probably turn out to be one like this:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=55242.msg375790#msg375790

[MrC]

Pegritz, these types of problems can occur, for may reasons, and may not have anything to do with MC in particular; rather, it can be just an unlucky combination of issues.  Unfortunately, with the state of complexity with today's OS' and software, all we users can do is create and test hypothesis until the problem is uncovered.

There are some more things to consider.  If you're still in the game, drop a response...

[rick.ca]

The sad reality for most trouble-shooting situations is the most significant factor in determining when or if a solution will be found are the user's beliefs and attitudes. I'm sure most of us have had thoughts like "this is a buggy piece of crap" or "this shouldn't be happening" or "it can't be caused by this or that." The best thing to do when that happens is to take a break and let it pass. If the thoughts are allowed to persist, they'll result in irrational choices and failure. Judging an application that works flawlessly for thousands of other users "a buggy piece of crap" is not rational or helpful. Ignoring the impact of other things installed on the system because they are trusted—and yet are known to cause similar problems—is contrary to any effective troubleshooting procedure.

Such thoughts can make other rational decisions difficult or impossible. The best media manager available is not necessarily for everyone. A less feature-rich, easier-to-use application may be a better choice for some. But you don't want to make the decision to switch only to discover an alternative doesn't have the features or capability you require, and/or simply redefines what is truly "a buggy piece of crap."

[rjm]

Just a guess, but almost all of his symptoms could be explained by background video thumbnailing struggling for some reason, perhaps due to a bad codec. I know that there are still some bugs lurking deep in that area, for example, thumbnailing more than about 100 wmv's will crash the system.

[JimH]

Even if MC was putting a load on the system, it is the job of the OS to save enough power to do other tasks.  I don't think that video thumbnailing alone could be the cause.

[Beth UK]

Well, I'm not about to switch away from a trusted security solution just for a media player--and why a media player would have deleterious interactions with an antivirus solution is utterly beyond me. Exactly none of the other apps on my system experience any kind of strange behaviour, so I think I'm going to hedge my bets now and just give MC16 a pass. I've never had ANY kind of problems with another program. I think this experience has confirmed what I believed about MC13 or 14: that it's just a buggy piece of crap. I'd seek a refund but, honestly, I don't think the effort would be worth it.

If it was that buggy why on earth would you try out MC16 unless you just felt like having a moan? In my experience MC is the LEAST 'buggy' software I use on a regular basis. The speed at which the developers release updates normally ensures that any 'bugs' are ironed out within days.

Edit: And it's Beta = testing = bug finding!

[rjm]

Even if MC was putting a load on the system, it is the job of the OS to save enough power to do other tasks.  I don't think that video thumbnailing alone could be the cause.

If thumbnailing is the problem, it's not necessarily the fault of MC. It could, I think, be a problem with a codec or odd video file.

[tunetyme]

Pegritz:

I have had a few glitches with MC 16 but they have been ironed out.  Like you, I have several audio programs that I use for a variety of reasons.  The problem with debugging in this case is isolating the offending programs.  It is a time consuming process and it has been my experience since the first version of DOS that the problem is most likely Microsoft related.  Windows 7 is new software as well.  I can say with certainty that I have more patches from Microsoft than any other application.  One that was most troubling for me turned out to be a bios problem.

I know that debugging is time consuming but it is worth the effort for you as well as others.  There are many people who have contributed enormous amounts of their personal time to identify bugs in this and other software you use.  If your unique configuration of hardware and software is a good one then there will be others who will set their PC up in a similar manner.  Everyone on the staff and the board will try to help resolve this with you.  I don't know of another software company and users who are more willing to help a fellow user.  Let's work this out together.

I can say, I have looked at and tried most music software and with the addition of relational fields I don't believe that there is another program that can hold a candle to MC. 

I suggest that you check the motherboard manufacturer to see if there is a bios update.  That is the first place I go now when I run into a problem.

Tunetyme