Topic: MC freezing problem on analysing devices (Read 7802 times)

slikvik · « **on:** August 13, 2003, 12:45:40 am »

After building my nice new MC9 dedicated PC, I found that I could only read one CD because when ejecting the disc, MC9 would lock with 'Analyzing devices.'

Support offered little help and then said I need to go to 9.1 from 9.0.180 as that's what they are now working on!

Well, as much as I'd love to run your beta's on my main PC, I'm not going to because a fundamental component that I use (and Brad

)appears to have been removed, namely, mjextman Treepath.

I actually do run Beta 9.1 on my latop and try to help as much as possible, but I didn't pay to run a Beta on my main PC.

I am now actually taking delivery of a new DVD recorder in the hope that it's fixes my problem, although I'm darn sure it's not hardware as I can swop CD's fine in RealPlayer, MS Mediaplayer and WinDVD!!

I love the new MC9 betas, and wish you would put some minor things in to make remote control functionality much better (i.e. mjextman and custom keyboard shortcuts.) But if you are not, then it is my prerogative to stick with 180, BUT, I do expect a working product.

Regards

Vic

P.S. sorry if I've had to moan on such a good product/forum/community but how would you like it if you had a £1300 PC that can't do what it was built for (rip and play CD's) after 4 months!

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** August 13, 2003, 03:50:47 am »

Still, if the machine locks, that IS a hardware problem. Try moving the CD to another connection on the cable or another IDE channel. Send me 50 pounds if it works.

nila · « **Reply #2 on:** August 13, 2003, 04:31:55 am »

Woah - eye for detail or what!!

U noticed he used £ instead of $ and said pounds instead - I'm impressed!!

And Vic - why did you spend so much??

Multimedia Computer these days shouldn't cost much more than around £500 tops - thats not including monitor so I guess a 22" Top of the range one could push near ur budget but even still - thats a LOT for a PC.

What spec's u got

slikvik · « **Reply #3 on:** August 13, 2003, 07:53:30 am »

Hi Jim,

With respect, it's not hardware. As I said MC9 locks, not Windows. Infact, I can actually load up WinDVD, put another CD in and play it - while MC9 is still sitting there 'not responding'.

The rest of the PC works fine and I can still 'Start' and 'Shutdown'.

If I try to Ctrl+Alt+Delete and end the MC9 Task, I get the 'End Now' box, then the 'MS report' box, but MC9 is still there! It will not go until I restart Windows.

This is the clincher -- IF I 'stop' a CD from playing, shrink the 'Devices' tree, move to another part of MC9 such as Media Library and THEN remove the CD, it will not freeze. BUT, the second I click back on Devices, up pops 'Analyzing Devices' and MC9 is 'Not responding'.

Hi Nila,

You'll like this...

Hi-Fi Seperates size case (Black)
ASUS nForce2 motherboard for Dolby Digital encoding of all sources (like Xbox.)
Athlon 2600+ XP.
1024Mb DDR 400mhz Ram.
Radeon 9700pro Video Card.
200GB Harddisk
Ricoh DVD+RW.
Zalman Silent CPU fan and Flower heatsink.
Zalman fanless heatpipe for the video card.
Antec Silent 400Watt PSU
Front mounted USB for gamepads.
IRman Infrared receiver
Pronto Remote control

All connected to my 42" Plasma and Denon 3802 amp via SPDIF.

Thanks for the interest!

KingSparta · « **Reply #4 on:** August 13, 2003, 08:13:33 am »

i think it is the 42" Plasma screen

send it to me i will test it for you.

JimH · « **Reply #5 on:** August 13, 2003, 08:19:10 am »

Did you try moving the CD?

nila · « **Reply #6 on:** August 13, 2003, 08:24:51 am »

woah - nice!!

I'd say you should have got a water cooler instaed of the Zaflans though - water cooler - £50 - not bad huh?

Just saw it in my local computer store the other day (real computer store - not PC World type rubbish)!

Take some screen shots of the case - lets see it

Or send a link - sounds nice

I have an NEC DVD-RW drive in at the moment - it's nice - pity it's only while I'm working here thou

KingSparta · « **Reply #7 on:** August 13, 2003, 08:26:42 am »

i just found this

Quote

Fixed a bug where the drive would hang if the eject button was pushed

the fix was upgrading the DVD Firmware

Updated:

As a matter of fact there is allot of hits on a search for

Ricoh DVD+RW and eject problems

jleerigby · « **Reply #8 on:** August 13, 2003, 08:54:49 am »

Quote

...and Denon 3802 amp via SPDIF.

Me too. Good aren't they!

slikvik · « **Reply #9 on:** August 13, 2003, 09:48:06 am »

Jim,

No, not yet. I'll have to take the case out of my Hi-Fi unit tomorrow anyway to put in the Plextor replacement I'm getting. So I'll let you know. I'm not sure where you want me to swop it to as there is NO way I'm plugging it into the same channel as my HDD and leaving it there!

Kingsparta,

I've got a spare, I'll send you that one.

I've got all my firmwares bang up to date ...ohh er.
Nothing I found on a search was relevent unfortnately.

Nila,

Here is the quick website I have set-up in preperation to sell them. http://www.fmdplus.com

Jlee,

Yep, wicked.

KingSparta · « **Reply #10 on:** August 13, 2003, 09:53:12 am »

Quote

I've got a spare, I'll send you that one.

Thanks, i will be waiting for it at the window

slikvik · « **Reply #11 on:** August 14, 2003, 01:51:45 am »

Why did my Subject heading change? :-/

JimH · « **Reply #12 on:** August 14, 2003, 03:49:21 am »

Because the subject you used did not describe the problem. It's easier for people to find help here if the subjects are accurate.

jleerigby · « **Reply #13 on:** August 14, 2003, 11:04:08 pm »

Quote

Take some screen shots of the case - lets see it
Or send a link - sounds nice

Second that. Where'd you get it SlikVik. Can we have a pic?

MarSies · « **Reply #14 on:** August 18, 2003, 01:45:44 pm »

Hi there.

I'm green on this forum. I experience the freeze problem as well. I am still testing the program and the 'promised' functions are what I want.

I made a new PC with nice specs and have 3 Plextor drives. No hardware issue. I use all three to rip CD's. Other programs work fine, only MC9 hangs up the system. My screen is ($%&^ after a few freezes. Slows down my whole system.

There are quite a few things that don't work good with this 9.0.180 version. Hesitating to put a beta to work. Is there a bug fix list or something.

Probably these questions have been asked already. If you could let me know where to find the answers.

*****
An enthusiastic user who uses the ape format to store all his music.
*****

slikvik · « **Reply #15 on:** August 19, 2003, 01:48:54 am »

Hey Jim!

Tried moving the DVD+RW and put some nice new rounded cables in. Guess what....still freezes. Does that mean you owe me £50!

Seriously though, I can rip CD's with EAC, MP9, REAL and I can Play CD's with MP9, REAL and WINDVD. None of them freeze, except MC9. You know I like to help in this community, but I'm not too happy with this at the moment. Seems that Marsies has a similar problem (even if they did mention it FIVE times!)

Jlee,

The link to the system was above www.fmdplus.com

Regards

Vic

MarSies · « **Reply #16 on:** August 19, 2003, 06:36:17 pm »

Sorry for posting the message 5 times, got an error message!

The freezing problem is very serious for me because it also hangs up my whole system. Is this fixed in hte beta. And is it really a beta or a bersion that just hasn't been released yet.

Is this problem maybe connected with getting a bad respons from the YABB server. And sadly the hitrate is very low on my salsa and jazz music. I keep adding things through copying from the CDDB server.

Not only complaints, the program has the audio features that I want. Like the ape format so that I can store my music on my 720GB.

MarSies .....

JimH · « **Reply #17 on:** August 20, 2003, 03:53:01 am »

It's more likely to be a hardware or OS problem.

Try to isolate it by disconnecting CD and DVD drives (as a test).

Check to see if you have any drives mapped to other PC's on the network.

slikvik · « **Reply #18 on:** August 20, 2003, 07:15:22 am »

What about me...

I've only got one drive!

I'm replacing that tonight, but if it's still don't work I'm gonna be p***ed.

Vic

JohnT · « **Reply #19 on:** August 20, 2003, 07:17:40 am »

Vic-

You said you had the 9.1 version on one of your computers, right? Does the 9.1 version give you the same problems as the 9.0.180 version? Does MC freeze completely, or would it unfreeze if you let it sit and "think" for several minutes? If the answers are yes to both questions, you might want to try the next version of 9.1. I've made several optimizations to cut down on redundant CD operations that may have been very slow with certain system/CD driver combinations. In particular, the DVD burners seem slower at responding to many commands than CD burners.

Thanks,
John T.

p.s.: If you have any "virtual CD" software running, try disabling it. There have been compatibility problems in the past with some older versions of virtual cd software. Also, as Jim said, check that your network drives are responding (if you have any).

slikvik · « **Reply #20 on:** August 20, 2003, 07:44:27 am »

Hi,

9.1 is running on my work laptop and works fine (as have all previous versions including 9.0.180.) Obviously, that laptop has a completely different setup to my main HTPC.

As I've mentioned before, I don't want to upgrade for two reasons:

A) it's a BETA.

B) Remote control support is lacking. Add mjextman, better nav between tree, panes and lists and add shortcuts for the three main play types and I would move in a second.

I spent hour after hour getting girder setup so I can move around MC9 and more importantly play any album I want with a simple Index number by using treepath. If I upgrade, not only will that time be wasted, but, with this version, none of it's even possible.

In answer to your other question, MC9 freezes completely but the rest of the system does not. I can continue to use any of the other mediaplayers to play CD's which all working fine with my OS and hardware.

Cheers

Vic

JohnT · « **Reply #21 on:** August 20, 2003, 07:56:34 am »

What about the "virtual CD" and network drives question, does any of that apply to your HTPC system? And about the freezing issue, have you let it sit there for 5 minutes or so to see if it thaws? Just asking because it might help troubleshoot.

Thanks!

MarSies · « **Reply #22 on:** August 21, 2003, 01:44:22 pm »

Hi,

I don't have any computers connected or drives mapped. Except ofcourse the standard local shares made by XP. Nothing else.

Yes after a while MC recovers. The recovery time is not always the same. Especially when I put a new CD in all 3 drives it messes up. And extremely when the discs are unknwn and I need to fill in names. When the discs are known the freezing is less.

Does that help.

I don't think of an OS or hardwareproblem because no other audio program has the same/similar thing.

What about using the beta ?

MarSies .....

JohnT · « **Reply #23 on:** August 26, 2003, 06:59:33 am »

Quote

... What about using the beta ?
MarSies .....

I would recommend using the latest beta version. There were several optimizations made to make CD access much faster.

MarSies · « **Reply #24 on:** August 26, 2003, 02:29:05 pm »

Yep, your right!

Just installed the latest version and indeed it is faster. Ripping with ape (normal) went up to a staggering 22x.

But I have to dissapoint you. Searching media was indeed faster. Also when an unknown CD is searched for in the database the opportunity to fill in names was presented faster. Now comes the BIG but. The system still freezes. When inserting a CD the visualization stops and when you drag the popup screen (asking you to wait) around a bit it leaves a big trail.

The screen stays messed up even if you launch another program. After a while MC recovers or just crashes. Haven't tested it thourough yet. My first conclusion is that it is a significant improvement but not a solution to the matter. :-/

Will there be a next step?

MarSies .....

JimH · « **Reply #25 on:** August 26, 2003, 03:28:42 pm »

Try killing the visualization.

Try updating the video drivers.

MarSies · « **Reply #26 on:** September 01, 2003, 12:45:45 pm »

No solution to the problem. :-/

Even without a visualization the problem is still there and I have the latest drivers for my Radeon 9700.

MarSies .....

JohnT · « **Reply #27 on:** September 08, 2003, 11:38:30 am »

Quote

Yep, your right!

Just installed the latest version and indeed it is faster. Ripping with ape (normal) went up to a staggering 22x.

But I have to dissapoint you. Searching media was indeed faster. Also when an unknown CD is searched for in the database the opportunity to fill in names was presented faster. Now comes the BIG but. The system still freezes. When inserting a CD the visualization stops and when you drag the popup screen (asking you to wait) around a bit it leaves a big trail.

The screen stays messed up even if you launch another program. After a while MC recovers or just crashes. Haven't tested it thourough yet. My first conclusion is that it is a significant improvement but not a solution to the matter. :-/

Will there be a next step?

MarSies .....

Does it act the same whether you insert a data CD or an audio CD?
In MC's Options/Devices dialog, try changing the "action for new media" to "Nothing" in all categories.
Could you post your system info here (from MC's help menu)?

Thanks,
John T.
JRiver, Inc.

MarSies · « **Reply #28 on:** September 08, 2003, 01:08:48 pm »

As soon as I insert a DATA or AUDIO CD the screen freezes. Visualization stops and there is nothing possible anymore with the screen. It is independable of an active visualization. When I insert an old unknown Salsa CD the chance of messing up the system is bigger.

The connection to the YABD seems very poor. Often it's not possible to make the connection. Whenever it's a regular top 30 chart CD the problem is not as big. When the problem is there (9 times out of ten) switching to other programs does not solve anything. Often it's not possible to return normaly to MC.

The setting you asked for was already active.

The system info you asked for is:

Media Center Registered 9.1.246 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 2806 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 1048 MB, Free - 618 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1226 / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1233 (xpsp2.030604-1804) / wnaspi32.dll: 4.60 (1021) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-1999 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: 4.60 (1021)

Ripping / Drive X: Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer CD Type:Auto Read speed:Max
Drive Y: Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer CD Type:Auto Read speed:Max
Drive Z: Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer CD Type:Auto Read speed:Max
Digital playback: No / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: Yes / Calc replay gain: No / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: No / Play sound after ripping: No

Burning / Drive Y: PLEXTOR CD-R PREMIUM Addr: 2:1:0 Speed:52 MaxSpeed:52 BurnProof:Yes
Drive Z: PLEXTOR DVDR PX-504A Addr: 1:0:0 Speed:16 MaxSpeed:16 BurnProof:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: Yes
Use playback settings: No / Normalization: None

MarSies .....

JohnT · « **Reply #29 on:** September 09, 2003, 06:23:56 am »

Could you email me at johnt @ jriver.com (remove spaces) and I'll send you a Media Center program with some diagnostic messages in it?

Thanks,
John T.

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Author Topic: MC freezing problem on analysing devices (Read 7802 times)

nila

nila

jleerigby

jleerigby