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[yanisis]

      MC 17 crashes even when I play some .wav files from the Open Media File or sometimes even when I access the Menu.  I uninstalled all sound and Video programs and left only VLC.  Also, I uninstalled few applications that I don't use for a while.  Of course, I removed the Windows Media Player.  After that I can’t even watch DVDs for the system shuts down by itself. 

After cleaning the PC, the registry and running Avira Antivirus, it is still hanging after 1 or 2 tracks.  CPU starts speeding up to 55-95%...

I have a pretty good system:
  Media Center 17.0.68.0 registered -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 17\
Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)
Intel Core 2 1779 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 3405 MB, Free - 2724 MB
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.5512 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82.2900 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.0.2900 / Shell32.dll: 6.0.2900 / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping /   Drive F:   Mode:ModeSecure  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive H:   Mode:ModeSecure  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive J:   Mode:ModeSecure  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Digital playback: Yes /  Get cover art: Yes /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
  Eject after ripping: Yes /  Play sound after ripping: No 
Burning /  Drive F: PIONEER  DVD-RW  DVR-219L   Addr: 3:0:0  Speed:40  MaxSpeed:40  BurnProof:Yes
  Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: Yes /  Write CD-Text: Yes
  Use playback settings: No /
Portable Device Info
  Removed devices:
Interface Plugins:
  TiVo Server

I checked on the Interact long time what could cause MC 17 to hang.  I even installed MC 16 but have the same problems.  I have a nice RME sound card, the sound is great with MC but can’t benefit of it.

When I restart MC, one of the 3 suggestions is to disable the 3rd party applications. Please tell me how I can disable these third party plug-ins.  How can I determine which are these plug-ins?  Is there an application that can monitor all plug-ins in the system that can also disable/uninstall them? 

Thank you very much

[Scolex]

First step would to be turn on logging in help/logging. After a crash launch MC, go into logging again turn it off and click on view. The log will open in your default text editor do a search for crash and paste a couple of lines before and after the line that has crash in it. You can also email the log from the logging window.
To disable plug-ins go to tools/plug-in manager and expand  the interface section click on hide for any of the plug-ins that appear in that menu.
However when that window asking you to disable plug-ins appears if you leave the box checked MC automatically disables them for that session.

Edit: Unless you have debugging tools there is no real reason to turn on "output debug strings".

[yanisis]

MC 17 freezes when I play .wav files and do many other actions

I spent an enormous amount of time to find out why MC is crashing repeatedly after few minutes.  The CPU usage goes close to 100% most of the time but goes down after one minute later after stopping MC from the Task Manager.  

After I reinstalled the RME sound card driver MC has the same behavior.  I must say that every time I install a new program MC works a bit longer.

Then, I get the same crash when disconnecting the RME or use the integrated sound card.  It crashes with non .wav files, Video as well.  The word 'crash' doesn't appear on both the current and previous logs.  In the Help/Logging I just clicked on Debug viewer utility required and the the page cannot be found.  Perhaps a debugging tool would help me solve this big problem. After few minutes MC hangs either I do something while playing files or if I let it run.

I re-formatted the C:\ and still the same.  What could possibly freeze the MC17?  The Video Card, the Adobe, ffdshow, a Photo program or other?  Or perhaps a Hardware device?  Every other program on my PC is working fine otherwise.

Please help.  I really want to use this program.  

Thank you very much

[JimH]

Try the link called "Weird Problems" in my signature.

It could be hardware or drivers.  A crash when you disconnect a device isn't all that surprising.

[Matt]

If you never play, does it run fine?

[yanisis]

It's kind of hard to know which drivers can cause the hanging.  I tried not to disconnect external devices while MC is playing.  I actually disconnected everything except the sound card.  After reformatting C:\ and when MC was the only Media program installed, I still got the same problem: freezing after few minutes of playing
   I checked every scenario in the "Weird Problems" and can't solve the problem.  Yes, sometimes if I leave the MC in idle without playing anything, it crashes. 
I installed and uninstalled Windows Media Player 11 to see if some drivers or third party plug-ins interfere but it didn't solve the problem.
   Not only the .wav files I'm using most but .mp3, different Video files and .jpg cause the same thing.
I get the same crash when disconnecting the RME and just use the integrated sound card.
   Sometimes, only accessing menus, folders or files causes hanging.
Selecting a .wav file from the Open Media File menu will cause hanging for sure.
   I couldn't find the word 'crash' inside both Log files.
I noticed that after Setting changes or re-booting MC works a bit longer.

I personally gave up.  I'll wait for a while to see if anyone has an idea about what can cause this crash of MC 17.  It is very frustrating that I cannot benefit of MC's sound quality

[JimH]

Did you ever update?  17.0.89 is at the top of this board.

As Matt asked, if you don't play anything, does MC still freeze?

What are you playing to?

What is RME?

Did you try uninstalling the antivirus?  Even Microsoft Security Essentials has been known to cause a problem.

[JimH]

You're calling this both a crash and a freeze, but I think you mean that it freezes.  The program is still there, but the user interface freezes.   Is that right?

In a crash, the program dies and disappears and you usually see a Windows error message.

[Alex B]

Media Center 17.0.68.0 registered -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 17\
Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)
Intel Core 2 1779 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 3405 MB, Free - 2724 MB
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.5512 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82.2900 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.0.2900 / Shell32.dll: 6.0.2900 / wnaspi32.dll: N/A

MC uses the IE code for displaying various things. I wonder if the old version could be incompatible. Could you please install the latest IE version and its updates (v.8.0 for XP) even if you don't use it as a stand-alone browser.

You also mentioned that you uninstalled WMP. That might have removed some useful codecs and/or filters. You could install WMP back and update it to the latest (v.11 for XP).

As a test, you could also disable MC's background auto-import feature completely.

Before installing the latest MC build you could do a full uninstall (check the "remove registry entries" option in the MC uninstaller).

[Scolex]

With so many things causing a crash/freeze I think you have a hardware problem and suspect a bad memory module.
Download the below application, insert a USB flash drive and run the installer you will be presented with a drop down menu to select your USB drive letter.
After the installation completes reboot you computer with the USB drive inserted. If your system does not boot from the USB drive you will need to go into
your BIOS and change the boot order to boot from USB first. Run the default test batch and see if you get any errors. If you do then remove all but 1 RAM
module and rerun the test if it passes try a different module until you find the faulty stick. Even if it fails on the first single module continue to test all
modules if they all fail you have a bad slot on the motherboard or a faulty power supply.
http://www.memtest.org/download/4.20/memtest86+-4.20.usb.installer.zip

I may be totally off base but it sounds eerily similar to a problem I recently came across, in that case only a few programs would cause a crash and I couldn't
see any commonality between them other than they used a fair amount of RAM.

PS; in MC go to Tools>options>Audio and see if you have "Play files from memory instead of disk (not zone specific)" enabled if you do disable it and see if it makes
a difference.

[yanisis]

Thank you all for your cooperation.  It took some time to check your suggestions.  I’ll answer in the order of received Replies in this moment:   
I updated to version 17.0.89
   As Matt asked when I don’t play anything I can access Menus and choose files but later yes, MC freezes by just sitting on the desktop without playing anything.
        I’m playing sound to an external sound card called RME Fireface which is connected to a Digital Analog Converter and then, to an amplifier.  I tried all settings from Output mode and Output mode settings.  Also, in the Windows’ Sounds and Audio Devices Properties, I switched between Fireface Analog (1+2) and Fireface SPDIF coax. Because I’m using a coaxial cable to connect the sound card to the Digital Analog Converter.
        I uninstalled Avira antivirus program
Thanks Jim for clarifying these 2 notions: crash and freeze.  Actually MC freezes between the moments I do an action till about 25 minutes which is the maximum time MC ever functioned after re-formatting C:\.  Usually the freezing happens after few minutes.  Then, I stop the program from the Task Manager, of course.  After re-formatting MC stops much faster from End Now in the Task Manager.  No Windows error message.
   Firefox takes a lot of resources and its plugin-container.exe so
I installed the IE 8 and its updates.
   I installed Windows Media Player 11.  It got worse: after accessing some items in the Menu, MC froze immediately.  Then I reopened MC and it freezes on the Desktop without playing anything.
   
How can I disable MC's background auto-import feature completely?  I always chose the option ‚Import a single folder’ from the Main Library or from other Import locations in the Menu but many times when I reopened MC, it started importing automatically so had to cancel the process.

I did a full uninstall (with checked the "remove registry entries" option in the MC uninstaller then installed again the latest MC build version 17.0.89.  IT WORKED beautifully except when I made a long skip with the cursor on a double-layer DVD.
             I installed Avira antivirus and was not working again!
I uninstalled Avira antivirus and it was FREEZING again.
             I reinstalled Avira antivirus and is not working again!
In Tools>Options>Audio I disabled "Play files from memory instead of disk (not zone specific)" and MC freezes faster than when is checked.  It freezes.
   After uninstalling Avira MC is not working.  I don’t understand why.  It worked well after I reinstalled the antivirus before. 
Before I did the memory test I noticed that the other programs on my PC, which by-the-way work fine, there is a substantial activity of CPU.  Firefox and its plugin-container.exe work slower than usual.
   Thank you Scolex for telling me about the Memory test.  I did the memtest86+-4.20.usb test for each separate stick and then all of 4 (4 GB).  The errors were corrected.  When I test all 4 in the same time, I get few errors.  Unfortunately MC still freezes.  This time I noticed that MC takes more memory than before.  Up to 120,000 K as opposed to 50-70,000 K before.
   After taking out the 1st memory stick, MC WORKED with the antivirus uninstalled.  The CPU actifity is significantly reduced and even Firefox take much less memory now.  Then, I took out stick #2, #3 and #4.  MC is not working, only when stick #1 is out, curious. 
   Do you think the Memory cards sockets have a problem?  I’ll check.  Then, I’ll check I’ll check what other hardware problems could occur.  The other programs work fine on my PC.

[yanisis]

Unfortunately MC is still freezing with 3 memory sticks only and with the antivirus uninstalled.  I’ve been told to upgrade my PC to an Intel3 processor, new mother board (64-bit) and memory.  Well, this would be an extra $300 which is a lot. 

Do you think that using Windows 7 32-bit can solve the problem?

[yanisis]

I installed Win7 x64 on another Hard Disk and I import the files from the initial Primary Hard Disk.  Now I have 4 full GB.  MC works fine even with Avira antivirus running.  On XP I could use only 3.25 GB.  I guess the freezing problem came from the lack of memory.

[Alex B]

In my experience XP & MC work fine with 1 GB of RAM. 3.25 GB should be more than enough. Probably something was just broken in your XP installation. I have 3.4 GB (of 4 GB) available on my most recent (and probably last) 32-bit XP machine and it has never run out of memory.

Possibly a clean install of XP would have cured the problem, but if your new OS works fine there is no reason to go back. Personally I still prefer my heavily tweaked XP setups, but I can live with Windows 7 after configuring it to my liking.

[yanisis]

I had re-formatted the C:\ in XP and MC worked fine for once with 3 sticks of 1 GB without Antivirus program installed.  I didn't feel comfortable leaving the system unprotected.  Then, when I installed the antivirus, MC froze again. 

Now with Win7 x64 MC works great and I can use all 4 sticks of 1 GB although the memory gets up from 1.5 t to 2 GB.