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[franswilco]

After installing the new Catalyst update, I began to experience problems with Plex and JRiver video playback. On my second screen (A Philips TV connected with HDMI to Marantz Processor, connected to the computer) the video simply won't start playing. The screen goes to black. There's audio, but no video. :S. However, on my primary screen it all runs without problems! Additionally, in VLC, video playback does work normally on both screens.

So I uninstalled Catalyst and then reinstalled some chipset drivers the uninstall program apparently took with it.

Unfortunately JRiver now seems to run unstable, completely and constantly freezing the computer after a while. This happens after 20 or 40 minutes or so when playing songs. And it only happens when the Media Center program is open. The server options work without problems. Also JRemote allows me to control the library and play music just fine. However, this is with the Media Center window open. Or the computer will lock up again.

I'm going to try and re-install it, hoping this solves the problem. It's probably just me. But I thought to share this with you guys anyway.

ASUS F1A75-M PRO
AMD A6 3500 APU
8 GB    Corsair VengeanceRAM @ 1866 MHZ, non buffered, no ECC
Windows 7 Home Premium

Running 'Math' benchmark...
    Single-threaded integer math... 2,733 seconds
    Single-threaded floating point math... 5,844 seconds
    Multi-threaded integer math... 2,022 seconds
    Multi-threaded mixed math... 3,950 seconds
Score: 1306

Running 'Image' benchmark...
    Image creation / destruction... 0,272 seconds
    Flood filling... 0,936 seconds
    Direct copying... 1,244 seconds
    Small renders... 3,446 seconds
    Bilinear rendering... 3,573 seconds
    Bicubic rendering... 1,981 seconds
Score: 1921

Running 'Database' benchmark...
    Create database... 0,665 seconds
    Populate database... 2,350 seconds
    Save database... 0,347 seconds
    Reload database... 0,103 seconds
    Search database... 2,416 seconds
    Sort database... 2,593 seconds
    Group database... 1,187 seconds
Score: 2225

JRMark (version 20.0.124): 1817

[JimH]

If the problems began with the new driver, then the fix will be in the driver area, not MC.

[franswilco]

Thanks Jim, I'll double check. I just did a reinstall, hoping it will run fine. I'll post the results here soon.

[CountryBumkin]

The new build at the top of the forum (ver .131) has a fix for AMD graphics. I think the fix was more to fix a TV viewing issue , but maybe it will take care of your problem too.

[ferday]

Thanks for posting this

The AMD thing has been popping up asking to upgrade...I shall ignore it for now

[franswilco]

Hey guys,

For now, it looks like I'm in the clear. I reinstalled the latest Media Center version posted on the forum and I haven't had a lock up so far. Been playing songs all evening. I first restored the database and decided to start over with the default settings and go from there.

I suspect it really must have been the AMD drivers to be honest. But then again, what do I know!

Too soon. Windows just locked up on me again.

[CountryBumkin]

Do you have Logging turned on (Help>Logging)? There may be a clue in the log. Also look at Windows Event viewer. Perhaps there will be a clue there.

[franswilco]

What should I be looking for in the Windows Event Viewer? I haven't used it before.

WMI, SideBySide, Service Control Manager and EventLog report errors.
Kernel-PnP reports warnings.
A couple of critical errors because I need to pull the plug all the time.

All of these are listed in the past 24 hours and the last 7 days as well. I can't remember if I had the problem that long, though. Probably a day or 5 for sure.

I've attached the JRiver log.

WMI error:

Event filter with query "SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA "Win32_Processor" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage > 99" could not be reactivated in namespace "//./root/CIMV2" because of error 0x80041003. Events cannot be delivered through this filter until the problem is corrected.

SideBySide error:

Activation context generation failed for "C:\Program Files (x86)\SoundGraph\iMON\system\SG_ShellMon64.exe". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC80.MFC,processorArchitecture="amd64",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="8.0.50608.0" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

Service Control Manager:

The AppEx Networks Accelerator LWF service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

Eventlog error:

Audit events have been dropped by the transport.  0

Kernel-PnP Warning:

The driver \Driver\WUDFRd failed to load for the device WpdBusEnumRoot\UMB\2&37c186b&0&STORAGE#VOLUME#_??_USBSTOR#DISK&VEN_GENERIC-&PROD_COMPACT_FLASH&REV_1.00#20060413092100000&0#.

I just tried uninstalling iMon. See if it helps..

[JimH]

Just to set expectations, this seems like a video driver problem, so we're not going to chase it at this time.

[franswilco]

I understand.

[kstuart]

Just to set expectations, this seems like a video driver problem, so we're not going to chase it at this time.

Perhaps a non-employee (who knows what he is looking at) can take a look for him?

As far as the Windows Events, you would be looking for something at the time (or just before) the lockup.

----

Also, the A6 3500 is now roughly four years old, so it is unlikely that new Catalyst drivers have any fix that applies to it.

My (limited) experience is that video drivers contain improvements for a certain processor series for about two years or so, and after that, the new parts of the drivers contain support for a) new operating systems (that you are not using since you are using Windows 7), or b) newer processors.  On occasion, the new drivers introduce either a) new bugs for all devices, or b) inadvertent bugs only in the older processors.

So, I update drivers for a couple of years, and then stop - because after that, it is more likely to cause a problem than fix something (since the developers no longer are paying attention to the older devices).

[glynor]

It looks to me like his Windows installation is all borked up. Possibly due to the use of an ill-advised automated uninstaller program that removed core system components in addition to what it was supposed to remove.

If the computer is completely freezing (so that you have to forcibly restart the whole system), then it can only be:
* A driver problem
* A hardware failure
* A corrupt OS installation
* Malware acting at a very low level

You could try running the System File Checker as described in the Wiki troubleshooting guide:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_Disks#OS_Corruption

If that comes back clean, I'd also do video driver troubleshooting steps of:

1. Download a full copy of the AMD Catalyst drivers from their website.
2. Remove the driver fully via the Windows Remove Programs control panel applet.
3. Reboot. Do not skip this step.
4. Boot back up and let Windows re-install the drivers it wants to install.
5. Reboot again.
6. Now install the Catalyst driver you downloaded in Step 1.

If that doesn't work, then more detailed removal of the drivers might be worth checking, but honestly, from those error logs, it looks like there are all sorts of unrelated issues on the system...  A full OS reinstall might be quicker and more likely to solve the issues.

[blgentry]

If that doesn't work, then more detailed removal of the drivers might be worth checking, but honestly, from those error logs, it looks like there are all sorts of unrelated issues on the system...  A full OS reinstall might be quicker and more likely to solve the issues.

My windows knowledge isn't all that up to date.  But Glynor's wisdom of full OS reinstall being faster is generally true once you get beyond an hour or two of troubleshooting.  The last time I clocked a full windows rebuild, including OS, drivers, the dreaded Windows Updates, and basic programs I use, I came to about 4 to 5 hours.  If that's less, or close to what it might take to troubleshoot, then back up your files, and reinstall from scratch.

Brian.

[franswilco]

Hi guys,

I don't understand why I ran into these problems. I'm a very conservative Windows user. Rather the opposite from how I use Mac OS X, really. In my experience Windows is much more... finicky... I really think Catalyst messed stuff up. And following your advice, I wiped the slate clean today and started over with a fresh Windows installation. Thanks for helping out guys! I really appreciate it.