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[zydeco]

I'm running clean install of Windows 8.1 64-but (with Windows Defender) and J River V19.0.67. The set-up has, recently, become unusable in that J River crashes with both video and music playback. On a video, for example, first the audio goes, then video then slows down and, finally, the entire environment becomes frozen. The only resolution seems to be a complete restart of the computer. I've uninstalled JRiver (inc. removal of registry keys) and re-installed but this hasn't solve the issue (strange, though, I wasn't asked for a new s/w registration key). The only other application running is iTunes which isn't exhibiting any problems and there isn't anything suspicious in Windows Event log. Any suggestions? And how do I raise a formal support call with the JRiver log?

Zydeco

[glynor]

The first step would be to update to the latest current build.  That is available in the thread "stickied" to the top of this board (currently 19.0.91).  If that has the same result, then gather a log and come back here and post a reply to this thread.

[glynor]

I should note, assuming running the newest build doesn't solve it, crashing-on-playback problems usually lie in the Audio setup.  A good second step would be to work through this:

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Audio_Setup

[zydeco]

So I've upgraded to V19.0.91 and the problem reoccurred - this time on music playback. I've looked at the log and don't see any obvious errors but sent it to the email address. This morning I've upgraded to V19.0.96 but haven't, as yet, played any media. Also, I've checked the audio settings and these seem fine for my simple - 2 channel - set-up. Also, I've seen talk about the option of reinstalling my license. How do I do this? Keen to get this solved and open to any and all suggestions?

Zydeco

[Matt]

Thanks for the logs.  Unfortunately they don't log any sort of crash, so I don't have a lot to go on.

I noticed you're using Theater View.  What happens if you use only Standard View for a while?  Sometimes video drivers cause things like this.  You might also try updating your driver directly from Intel for the HD4000.

[zydeco]

Thanks for the logs.  Unfortunately they don't log any sort of crash, so I don't have a lot to go on.

I noticed you're using Theater View.  What happens if you use only Standard View for a while?  Sometimes video drivers cause things like this.  You might also try updating your driver directly from Intel for the HD4000.

Matt

Thanks. I've seen the same issue in Standard View. Also, this morning I had a re-occurrence when using Remote Desktop / Standard View with the sequence of events being the audio stopping, JRiver becoming unresponsive and, after a restart, a similar repeat. I've sent three sets of logs. Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Zydeco

[JimH]

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=86462.0

[zydeco]

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=86462.0

Jim - Thanks, I'd not seen this post. Please add my voice to the other members wishing Matt a speedy recovery and his family all the best. - Zydeco

[glynor]

One question I do have...

You said:

The set-up has, recently, become unusable in that J River crashes with both video and music playback. On a video, for example, first the audio goes, then video then slows down and, finally, the entire environment becomes frozen.

This seems a bit contradictory, but only because "crashes" in common parlance has become a very broad word.

Crashes, at least to a developer, means specifically: Gives an error message of some kind (either internally or via the operating system) that it is unable to continue, and then the application quits.  You can't "wait" for them for longer, or anything like that.  It errors, and it dies (or, more precisely, it dies and then it tells you about it somehow).  A fatal error, in other words.  MC should generally always show these in the logs.

A hard lock, is something else.  This is when a program becomes unresponsive, but never really crashes (dies), and must be forcably killed.  This is when you will often see this dialog from Windows:


This means: the program is still running, and the process hasn't exited, but it seems to be "stuck".  This can mean that it is just busy.  Now, modern software (including MC) is generally multi-threaded and busy applications don't typically completely freeze the UI when they're doing background tasks.  But there are some tasks that require the UI thread, or a foreground thread anyway (like playing realtime audio and video).  If MC is locking, almost certainly due to some kind of unexpected situation, it will probably eventually "unstick itself" if you wait long enough.

It is possible it is not, but the Windows error dialog doesn't actually mean it is crashed.  Clearly misbehaving, but if you are able to wait and it "unsticks" for even a second, the log might show record of the very-long-running task, likely pointing to a source of the issue.

Of course, if the thread in question is really deadlocking, then it won't ever come back.  But, give it a good 5-10 minutes.  Walk away and come back later.  Whatever happens, it tells us something.

For the record, if it is really a clean install, that sounds like failing hardware.  I'm guessing disk, but it could be a variety of things.  It could be, depending on disk performance, the built-in Windows Defender, and I can help you rule that out (since I use it too, I know it can be tamed when necessary).  But that won't make it deadlock, just sometimes run like utter crap if you don't exclude some things (depending on your files and the drives and a whole raft of things).

[glynor]

I should also mention a few troubleshooting steps you can do on your own, since I'm thinking of them.  Still report back the answers to the above: does it crash, really, or does it hang? Does waiting make it "unstick" even for a little while?

But, if you want to try additional steps...

Make Sure You Have Build 104 (Or Later):

Make sure you are running build 104 from the top of the forum, not still build 91 that we discussed earlier.  They did find and fix a memory leak recently (I believe the fix was in build 103), so if it happened to be related to this (when you'd see it typically only after many consecutive days of running MC) then upgrading to the newest build could fix it.

The memory leak could, when left unattended in certain situations, eventually lead to issues with overall MC UI performance.  Now, the fact that you need to reboot to fix it is suspicious, but this could be explained if you're running MC in Media Server mode so when you "close" it, you don't actually quit out of it (until it becomes non-responsive and you force it to quit).

So, I'm not super-confident that this will make any difference for you, but it is worth trying.  Basically, always try this, unless you know it is the latest build that causes the issue.  I'd think this would be a bit more likely if you are having hanging and "unsticking" issues.

There was also this issue:

In an upcoming build:
Fixed: MP4 files would hang when played on a Library Server Client without direct file access.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

That build isn't available yet (he said that yesterday, and build 104 came out on 1/10), but it will be coming soon, I'm sure.  If you can narrow it down to "some" MP4 video files that cause it, then you probably have your answer.

Tame Your Anti-Virus:

To make sure Windows Defender isn't interfering with MC's performance, follow these steps:

1. Type/Click Start: "Windows Defender" and hit enter.
2. Switch to the Settings Tab, and then select Excluded Files and Locations.
3. Click Browse and this location: C:\Users\glynor\AppData\Roaming\J River
4. If you've added any additional Libraries to MC (additional local databases, not the media files themselves) then also add the disk location for that Library folder.
5. If you have any crazy-slow disks (external USB disks, for example) that contain large amounts of media, then you may also want to consider adding the entire root of this drive.

When you are done, then it should look something like this (I use the Y drive for Virtual Machines on external disks, though this kind of thing could help with really slow Media Drives):



Then, continue on:

1. Switch to Excluded Processes under Windows Defender's Settings.
2. Add Entries for: JRService.exe, JRWeb.exe, JRWorker.exe, and Media Center 19.exe
3. Tip, the dialog here is annoying to add multiple entries to with the Browse button, but if you are on a 64-bit version of Windows, you can copy/paste this into the Process Names box at once and hit Add:

Code: [Select]

C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 19\JRService.exe; C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 19\JRWeb.exe; C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 19\JRWorker.exe; C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 19\Media Center 19.exe;
Again, when you are done, it should look something like this (again, ignore my entries for VMWare):



This is the kind of issue that, in some circumstances, can create UI bottlenecks that can cause periodic non-responsiveness, but not all out crashes.  Once Windows Defender latches onto some files, though, it can be very troublesome to "reform" until you reboot, so it sounds like (assuming you're getting hangs, not crashes) it could be Windows Defender related.  I think this issue is exacerbated if your Library files (the MC database, again, not the media files themselves) are on a slower disk.  I've had less issues with this since I upgraded to an SSD, though I still need to do it on my Laptop where MC runs in a VM (and I do it elsewhere because it doesn't hurt, and helps performance generally).

If Your Media Files Are On Slow Disks (Like Network Disks)

Try disabling Options > Tree & View > Advanced > Display missing file image in lists.  This is, as it notes, slow on Network Disks, particularly if they go offline a lot or are often not available immediately (sleeping, UNC paths, etc).

Again, this won't generally crash MC, but can make it hang.  If lots of files are missing, the disk has high random access latency, and you display a view with a TON of files visible (an "all music" view or whatever), then it can hang for a very long time.

Uninstall/Reinstall (Determined Mode):

It is also worth doing this dance.  I'd be more likely to go down this road if you are seeing actual crashes, rather than hangs.  But it could conceivably help with either.

1. Make a Library Backup before you do any of this!  Give it a good name (like "before messing with MC.zip" or something) and save it somewhere easy to find (where you won't lose it or delete it).
2. Uninstall MC, preserving everything (uncheck both the remove Library and remove Registry Settings boxes).
3. Reboot.  Don't skip this because you are lazy.
4. Reinstall MC using the latest build.

If that doesn't improve things, then:

1. Uninstall MC, preserve the Library, but remove the Registry Settings.
1a. If you really rebooted before, and it doesn't tell you to this time, then you probably don't have to again.
2. Reinstall MC.
3. See if it is better.

And, lastly, if not:

1. Uninstall one more time, removing everything.
1a. Same as before with the rebooting.
2. Reinstall.
3. This will wipe out your Library, but don't worry because you made a backup.  You did make a backup, right?
4. Import some files, and see if performance improves.  Don't import everything.  Pick small batches of files, to see if it works okay with only files from a certain place, only some files, or other divisions like that.
5. Slowly import more (or eventually everything if you can't reproduce it).  Stop if you're able to reproduce it.

If nothing helps, restore your backup.

If wiping the settings fixes it, then you'll have to re-do your settings manually.  Be careful, methodical, and leave more stuff at the defaults if you aren't sure.

If it takes wiping the whole thing, then it would be nice if you could email someone the Library backup and we can test it for you to see if it is files-on-disk related, or just some kind of crazy Library corruption.  It is also worth trying to restore that backup anyway.  First off, you can try restoring the whole thing.  That could "clean up" a broken file in the Library causing issues.  At the very least, you could maybe restore just the Settings, and not the Library, and see if that works right (which leaves you with less work if the Library should turn out to be hopelessly corrupt, though this is unlikely).

In any case, it won't hurt (other than taking a while to do it methodically) because you can always restore your backup and go right back to where you were.