Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[matsukaze ninja]

I'm using MC 12.0.438, working fine.
OS is Vista

When I right click on a file (either an mp3 file in the library, or a wav file via browsing the filesystem) and select "Send To (external)" and then "Media Editor", I get:

+ the vista "do you want to allow this program to run? box (I say "allow")
+ a Media Center dialog box that says my 30 day trial period has expired (note, I have a license that works with Media Center itself)

At one point, I clicked the "Restore" button on that dialog box, and went through that process (seemingly successfully), but the Media Editor still does not start up in the same way as described above.

If I select instead "Default Editor", then the song just starts playing.  That's pretty "default"!  :-)

Any pointers on how to get my license to "take" with Media Editor would be welcome.

Thanks!

[lalittle]

Any feedback on this?  This is a basic malfunction that pertains to the license not working, which is a very frustrating problem, and I'm really curious to hear what the solution ends up being.  If MC is licensed, what would cause Media Editor to say it's unlicensed?

Thanks,

Larry

[Matt]

Please install this slightly newer build:
ftp://ftp.jriver.com/pub/downloads/MC12/MediaCenter12.exe

If it still doesn't work, please post the information from Help > System Info inside MC.

Thanks.

[matsukaze ninja]

Okay, installed that one (0441) and tried.  Same symptom.  Here's the System Info output:

Code: [Select]

Media Center 12.0.441 Registered -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 12\

Microsoft Windows Vista 6.0  (Build 6000)
AMD Unknown 1668 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 980 MB, Free - 402 MB

Internet Explorer: 7.0.6000.16609 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82.6000 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.0.6000 / Shell32.dll: 6.0.6000 / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping /   Drive E: TSSTcorpCD/DVDW TS-L632D  Mode:ModeSecure  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Digital playback: Yes /  Use YADB: Yes /  Get cover art: Yes /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
  Eject after ripping: No /  Play sound after ripping: No 

Burning /  Drive E: TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-L632D   Addr: 0:0:0  Speed:24  MaxSpeed:24  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:
  last.fm (Active)
  Library Server (Active)
  TiVo Server (Active)
  UPnP Server (Active)

And just for the heck of it, I turned on logging and tried again.  Here's the log output:

Code: [Select]

Media Center; Version: 12.0.441; Types: 16383
0317556: 5872: Reader: CLocalReader::OpenInternal: Opening: C:\Users\gl\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 12\Library\field (stack top).jmd
0320161: 5872: General: CMCResourceHelper::GetIsModalPopupShowing: Menu showing
0320177: 5872: General: RunProgram: Start
0320177: 5872: General: RunProgram: Filename: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 12\Media Editor.exe / Parameters: C:\Users\gl\Music\RippedCds\a-ha\East of the Sun West of the Moon\02 - Early Morning.mp3
0322221: 5872: General: RunProgram: Running...
0322221: 5872: General: RunProgram: Finish (2044 ms)
0000124: 5472: Reader: CLocalReader::OpenInternal: Opening: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 12\Data\Default Resources\PlayerPlug.png
0000124: 5472: Reader: CLocalReader::Close: Closing: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 12\Data\Default Resources\PlayerPlug.png
0326760: 5872: General: CMCResourceHelper::GetIsModalPopupShowing: Menu showing
0328383: 5872: General: CMCResourceHelper::GetIsModalPopupShowing: Menu showing
0331877: 5872: General: CMCResourceHelper::GetIsModalPopupShowing: Main window disabled
0331877: 5872: General: RunProgram: Start
0331877: 5872: General: RunProgram: Filename: C:\Users\gl\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 12\Log.txt / Parameters:
0332017: 5872: General: RunProgram: Running...
0332017: 5872: General: RunProgram: Finish (140 ms)

Thanks for any help.

[matsukaze ninja]

One other thing, I do get the same behavior when I just try to run Media Editor directly from the Start Menu (as opposed to opening it from within Media Center).

-glenn

[leezer3]

Got UAC off here (Vista Business 32), and Media editor works without complaining about licences.
Having said that though, cancelling at any stage in processing a file causes an appcrash.

Also, I note that MC prompted me to update when I tried to send a file to Media Editor originally. No biggie- only one public version behind, but I'm slightly surprised this was necessary, as Media Editor doesn't appear to have been materially changed for quite a while

Cheers

-Leezer-

[KingSparta]

cancelling at any stage in processing a file causes an appcrash.

Yes It Does, In MC 12.0.441, And MC 12.0.442

[JimH]

This could be a Vista issue.  The service pack may solve it.

[leezer3]

Vista here is SP1 I'm afraid, & I haven't got any other test beds readily available.

Cheers

-Leezer-

[matsukaze ninja]

Which is the Vista issue?  The licensing issue, or the later-reported crashing issues?

[lalittle]

This could be a Vista issue.  The service pack may solve it.

You mean the license issue, or the crashing issue?  According to the beta forum, the 444 build fixes a crashing issue.

If your response was referring to the license issue, this does not appear to be a Vista problem.  I have Vista on a system, and Media Editor opens without this license issue, just as it does for other Vista users here.  Do the logs reveal anything?  Would other logs help?

Note also that the service pack is receiving a LOT of negative reactions, and that it is causing a lot of older programs to stop functioning.  I am personally not going anywhere NEAR that service pack for a while.  There must be SOMETHING else that can be done to troubleshoot this license issue.

Thanks,

Larry

[JimH]

The crashing issue that was fixed is not in a public build.

I can't help with any MS issues.  Sorry.

And, if I knew what the cause of the problem was, I would tell you.

I believe the issue reported is unique so far.  If that changes, we'll chase it.

[lalittle]

I believe the issue reported is unique so far.  If that changes, we'll chase it.

Please forgive me if I'm misreading this, but it "sounds" like your saying that since there are not any other reports of this, you're not going to help with this issue.  This isn't what you're saying, is it?  Just because it's a unique issue should not mean that he's out of luck getting help with this.  Did his logs help?  Does anyone at JR need to see OTHER logs?  Please just let him know how he can help to troubleshoot this.  I'm sure that this is solvable -- he just needs some help.

Regarding MS, note that there is absolutely no indication that this is a MS issue -- in fact, the evidence suggests that this is not a Vista issue given that other people running Vista (like myself) don't have this issue.  The evidence so far suggests that this is an MC licensing error of some sort.

Once again, please forgive me if I misinterpreted the post I responded to.

Thanks,

Larry

[KingSparta]

but it "sounds" like your saying that since there are not any other reports of this, you're not going to help with this issue.

I more read it as, since this is the only person that reported the issue that this may be an issue with the users system.

I Had a issue with my computer once with my HP printer, and only a clean install of windows fixed it, not the 3+ hours on the phone with tech support.

[lalittle]

I more read it as, since this is the only person that reported the issue that this may be an issue with the users system.

The bottom line is that he needs help in getting it to work, which most likely means generating MC logs and trying to see where the malfunction is occurring. He's asking for JR's help with this since the log files are not something that normal users can fully understand.  Isn't it WAY too early to dismiss this as a generic "system problem"?  He's hardly been asked anything yet.  Can't some more in-depth logs help with this?  What's the next step?

Thanks again,

Larry

[JimH]

Isn't it WAY too early to dismiss this as a generic "system problem"? 

Nobody has dismissed his problem as anything, Larry.  I just don't see an answer.  I don't think a log would tell us anything.

[lalittle]

Nobody has dismissed his problem as anything, Larry.  I just don't see an answer.  I don't think a log would tell us anything.

Do the MC logs not cover Media Editor issues?

I guess the bottom line question becomes:  What should he try next?  He already did a new "restore," which did not change anything -- MC continues to work as it did before, but ME still says it's unlicensed.  Obviously reloading the entire OS is not a realistic "next step," so what should he do next?  Is there some file or registry entry he could check?  In what way is the ME license different from the MC license?  When ME starts, where does it "check" for the license?  Is there something he could check for in this regard?  He wants to get this working, so how should he proceed?  He doesn't want to simply not have access to one of MC's features.

Note that it's possible that sometime down the road this will come up again with another user, so the solution to this may in fact be helpful to others at some point.

Thanks for any feedback on this,

Larry

[matsukaze ninja]

Yes, I would be interested in the control flow differences between MC proper, and Media Editor in terms of how the startup process goes, where it looks for license info, and so on.  What windows into the process do I have as a user without source code?  As Larry mentioned, maybe there's something in registry?  Does the Media Editor read the license file "differently", or is that definitely not an issue because of shared library code, or???  Could the Editor's lookup path to the license file be wrong?  If so, where would I find that, or is there a way to log that process so I can see where it's having trouble?  Since I can't get Media Editor to start, I don't have direct menu access to its own Properties menu items or anything, so I'd need another way to get at that sort of thing.

Thanks!

[lalittle]

In the log you pasted above, did you have all the "events" checked?  Assuming you did, there doesn't seem to be any sign of an error, so I'm thinking that the logging doesn't cover ME license errors.

Larry

[JimH]

Try running as administrator.  It's likely to be related to Vista security.

Try turning off UAC.

[matsukaze ninja]

Pretty sure my account has admin rights already, unless there's something specifically special about "administrator" in Vista (I'm not windows savvy, so I could be mixed up).

Next time I get a chance, I'll see about turning UAC off.  As it is, it does give me the "do you want to allow this to run" popup every time I try to start Media Editor and of course I say yes.

[lalittle]

Try running as administrator.  It's likely to be related to Vista security.

Try turning off UAC.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Note that I DO run as administrator on my Vista system, but UAC is ON and I don't have this issue, so this does not appear to be "purely" a UAC issue.

I'm still wondering if some "pointer" that tells ME where to look for the license became corrupt.  Is there any way to check this?  In other words, is there any way to tell if ME is simply not "seeing" the license at all as opposed to seeing it but thinking it's not valid?  If we could determine the specific nature of "how" the license check is failing, it seems like this would point to the problem.

Thanks again,

Larry

[matsukaze ninja]

Okay, for completeness I checked and my account is an administrator account. 

Also turned off UAC, rebooted, and trying to start Media Editor from the start menu gives me the same behavior.  I suppose for real comleteness I should have tried Media Editor from within MC.  Sigh.  I've since rebooted back to "normal", and I'm not rebooting two more times for that until someone thinks it really might make a difference.

I'm curious about the same things as Larry and what I was asking about (in more words) in my prior posting: from the point of view of the  code, what is the difference in the way Media Editor and Media Center check for a valid license?  How does it decide where to look for the license file, how does it verify validity, etc.

[Alex B]

A license issue may be a difficult matter to discuss. Obviously JRiver can't provide any technical details about the used system.

Personally I would try a clean install of MC. I have very little experience of Vista, but on XP I would do the following:

1. Back up the library (or libraries if more than one)  (File > Library > Back Up Library...)
2. Backup the cover art folder if the default location under the application data folder is used  (C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\J River\Media Center 12\Cover Art  -- the path is different on Vista)
3. Uninstall MC12 using its uninstaller with all "remove options" ticked.
4. In addition I would clear everything that is still left in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\JRiver\ and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JRiver\ registry branches using the registry editor.
5. Delete the possibly remaining program installation and application data folders completely  (on XP these are by default: C:\Program Files\J River\ and C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\J River\
6. Install the latest build of MC12 and reboot.
7. Restore the license using a key file that is stored locally.

[lalittle]

A license issue may be a difficult matter to discuss. Obviously JRiver can't provide any technical details about the used system.

I understand that they can't give out any sensitive information, but I have no idea what information they can and can't give out in this regard.  I was just looking for some information that would let him confirm whether ME was seeing an "incorrect" license vs. seeing no license at all.

Personally I would try a clean install of MC.

That may indeed be the next step, but I know how frustrating it can be to go through the whole process just to discover that it didn't solve the issue.  That said, I have solved one or two MC issues over the past several years by doing this.

Glenn -- if you do end up doing a full uninstall/re-install, you'll have to go through and re-set up all the "Options" pages, so you might want to look over them before you do this and take note of anything that you might be confused by later.  The View Schemes you've set up, however, will be saved with the library.  Just make sure to back up the library itself (File/Library/Back Up Library.)  Unless JR changed things recently, the file you got when you did the "restore" a few days ago will work for two weeks from when it was generated (assuming, of course, that you saved the file.)

Larry

[matsukaze ninja]

Thanks all, but I'm happy using another program for now.  Sorry but I'm not in the mood to do an MC reinstall now.  I do understand the importance of field data for debugging, so maybe at some point when I get some free time (yeah, right! :-) I'll try the reinstall and let you all know how it goes.

-glenn

[CoolRaoul]

I believe the issue reported is unique so far.  If that changes, we'll chase it.

It has changed: I've *exactly* the same problem ("your 30 day trial period has expired"), using the same configuration (Vista SP1/Admin acount/UAC turned on).

I'm running MC12 version 12.0.462)

(but, since I don't use media editor it not critical for me)

[lalittle]

It has changed: I've *exactly* the same problem ("your 30 day trial period has expired"), using the same configuration (Vista SP1/Admin acount/UAC turned on).

I'm running MC12 version 12.0.462)

(but, since I don't use media editor it not critical for me)

Thanks for posting this.

I know that Glenn is using another app for editing for the time being, but I also know that he would still like to be able to use Media Editor since there are situations where ME's integration into MC would make it a lot more convenient to use.  I also think that it's quite possible that this issue IS more common, but that a lot of people simply don't use ME enough to notice it, or to take the time to post about it.

CoolRaoul's post at least confirms that the problem is not unique to Glenn.  We never heard back about why MC is able to "see" its license but ME is not.  I had thought that they both used the same license since we don't need to specifically "activate" ME, so if we could just isolate what ME does differently when it checks for a license, it seems like this would point to the problem.  Again, in both of these cases, MC still works fine -- it's just ME that does not.

Now that another user has reported this, is there anything that could be "checked" for that might at least help point where the problem is occurring -- i.e. the presence of a file somewhere or perhaps a registry entry.

CoolRaoul -- please post back if you find out anything else about this.  One side note -- Glenn did try turning UAC off and it didn't solve the issue, so this does not appear to be the problem.

Thanks,

Larry

[tranquilo]

[MC 12.0.530 / Vista Ultimate SP1 fully patched, running as Admin]

I have tried to use Media Editor today for the first time since purchasing MC. Clicked on Tools | Advanced Tools | Media Editor... and got a Windows Popup for confimation to run Media Editor.exe, which I accepted. Then I got a MC popup saying 'Your 30 day trial has expired' (or something like that).

Is there a solution for this?