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Author Topic: Driving to drink  (Read 1951 times)

spencsm

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Driving to drink
« on: April 13, 2008, 04:22:56 pm »

I've been using jriver products for years, and have gotten used to a fair amount of bugginess (usually seems worth it for the feature set), but MC12 is driving me to drink.  I have done the whole library backup (which always fails), uninstall, reboot, reinstall routine about 6 times.  Someone will probably blame Vista...but there must be a better answer than that.  I'm using the latest build.  Anyone?  Ideas?
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JimH

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Re: Constant Crashing
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2008, 05:15:45 pm »

Check the thread called "Weird Problems" (link in my signature).  It's filled with nothing but problems people thought were caused by MC.  Many crashes and their solutions are documented there.

Before reinstalling 6 times again, maybe you could provide some useful details.
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spencsm

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Re: Constant Crashing
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2008, 05:49:14 pm »

I don't have much in the way of details.  I'm doing whatever (sometimes renaming files, adding cover art, organizational stuff, but sometimes just playing a track), and it comes up Not Responding.  Vista says searching for a solution, never finds any.  When I restart MC it gives me the backup/uninstall/reinstall suggestion, then works OK for 10 seconds or 10 minutes, then the process starts again.

It does seem to happen more often (for some reason) when I'm in the Recently Imported smartlist view. And it seems to help a little if I let MC "settle" for awhile after opening it, before trying do do anything.

The only other factoid is that library backup always fails after this error happens.

This all echoes my experience, pretty frequently, going all the way back to version 9: lots of crashes.  But I've tried loads of other programs, but missed the MC interface & features..and so I persist.

My Vista is recently rebuilt, everything else runs fine, no other odd behavior.

Thanks, I'll have a look at that thread...
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JimH

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Re: Constant Crashing
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2008, 06:02:19 pm »

I don't have much in the way of details.  I'm doing whatever (sometimes renaming files, adding cover art, organizational stuff, but sometimes just playing a track), and it comes up Not Responding. 
Any app that pegs the processor can cause Windows to deliver this message.  This is a good example of how often error messages can, themselves, be in error.
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Vista says searching for a solution, never finds any.  When I restart MC
Did you kill MC?  If you do, then it is possible that data can be corrupted.
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it gives me the backup/uninstall/reinstall suggestion,
MC gives you this?
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then works OK for 10 seconds or 10 minutes, then the process starts again.
Sounds serious.  Something could be broken.  It is always possible that it is MC, but you can't yet rule out CPU, memory, disk, network, virus checker, etc.
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It does seem to happen more often (for some reason) when I'm in the Recently Imported smartlist view. And it seems to help a little if I let MC "settle" for awhile after opening it, before trying do do anything.
"Seems to" isn't enough to go on.  It could be a clue.  It isn't clear.
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The only other factoid is that library backup always fails after this error happens.
Bad library?  MC may still be writing.  A virus checker can really slow things down.  A log will tell you more.  Turn on MC logging under Help, and start studying the results.
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This all echoes my experience, pretty frequently, going all the way back to version 9: lots of crashes.  But I've tried loads of other programs, but missed the MC interface & features..and so I persist.
Same machine?
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My Vista is recently rebuilt, everything else runs fine, no other odd behavior.
Did Vista come with the machine?  Have you tried updating drivers?  Check the Nvidia post in the "Weird Problems" thread (just as an example).
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Thanks, I'll have a look at that thread...
Good luck.

Please be specific and provide details about what you're doing.
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spencsm

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Re: Constant Crashing
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2008, 07:03:29 pm »

Did you kill MC?

Not directly, but Windows did.  When I tried choosing "Wait for the Program to Respond", MC just hung forever.

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Same machine?

No, different machines. XP then Vista.

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Did Vista come with the machine?  Have you tried updating drivers?

Yes.  I have all the latest drivers.  Again, every other program runs fine.

I will turn logging on and report back what it says the next time.

I'm also now pretty sure there's something about that smartlist view.  I just used MC for an hour using the normal library view and it was fine.
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JimH

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Re: Driving to drink
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2008, 07:06:52 pm »

..  every other program runs fine....
It is a common misconception that this means anything.  Every program taxes the computer differently.  MC is especially demanding, since it uses most of the drivers installed, and it pushes them to their limits.  It is probably among the most multi-threaded apps that a Windows PC ever sees.

Still, anything is possible.
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spencsm

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Re: Driving to drink
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2008, 07:42:40 pm »

Yes, I do understand that greater functionality increases the possibility of error.  And Windows Media Player, even though less useful than MC and designed by Microsoft, has a tendency to crash.  And let's not even get started on Windows Media Center, imho the biggest piece of junk the boys in Redmond ever designed...

We'll see what the logs say...

Thanks!
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JimH

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Re: Driving to drink
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2008, 08:09:58 pm »

It might help if you could post your system info.  You can copy from MC/Help and paste here.
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