Topic: screensaver disabled? (Read 15680 times)

salsbst1 · « **on:** February 29, 2004, 11:57:05 am »

I just upgraded to v10. It seems like the screensaver disabling features have changed again.

Could someone please explain under which circumstances MC enables and disables the system screen saver under Theater Mode and full screen visualizations? I try to avoid the normal view unless I need to go to it to get the screensaver re-enabled.

Right now, it seems like MC disables the system screen saver when I launch it, and I have to reboot the machine to get the screensaver back.

Thank you,
Stuart

jleerigby · « **Reply #1 on:** February 29, 2004, 01:54:06 pm »

Which build of v10 are you using? I reported this problem about 3 weeks ago but it was fixed and I haven't seen it since.

I think MC disables the screen saver when you start Full Screen or Theatre View and re-enables it when you go back to Standard view. I haven't tested it but maybe if you switch to Theatre View and then close MC it is not re-enabling the screen saver.

Can you do some tests and give some more info about the circumstances.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 29, 2004, 02:02:56 pm »

Thanks for you reply.

I'm using 10.0.80.

I use Girder to get in and out of MC from my other apps. In the past, I launched to normal view and minimized MC immediately upon startup. Then, when I wanted to go to MC, I maximized and switched to Theater View. When moving on, I would switch to normal and then minimize. I think I was doing this in order to get MC to reenable the screensaver but I honestly can't remember for sure if that was the (only) reason.

Before thinking about the screensaver, I found that with v10, I could hide the Theater View window rather than going through the ugly process above, then show the Window when I wanted to use MC....

...but then I discovered the screensaver problem.

At this point, it seems like I can't find a way to reenable the screen saver without restarting my computer. I will keep playing with it and report back if I find a way to get it reenabled other than restarting.

Regards,
Stuart

salsbst1 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 29, 2004, 02:58:08 pm »

Ok, I've got a little more of a handle on what is and isn't happening.

As soon as MC is launched the screen saver is disabled. It stays that way until I follow these steps:

1) quit MC
2) set the screen saver to "none" and apply.
3) set back to a screen saver ("beziers" in this case) and apply.

If I try steps 2 and 3 without first doing step 1 then the screen saver is not reenabled.

In a nutshell, MC's task is poison to the screen saver while running.

This entire test was conducted in Standard View.

Obviously, I'd be interested to know some more data points on this from other people.

jleerigby · « **Reply #4 on:** February 29, 2004, 03:22:11 pm »

That doesn't happen here - not in standard view. Post your system info from MC help.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 29, 2004, 03:40:27 pm »

Media Center 10.0.80 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 2651 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 272 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1233 (xpsp2.030604-1804) / wnaspi32.dll: 4.71 (0001) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-2002 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: 4.71 (0001)

Ripping / Drive F: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: No / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: No / Play sound after ripping: No

Burning / No burners found.
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: No
Use playback settings: No / Normalization: None

jleerigby · « **Reply #6 on:** February 29, 2004, 04:15:28 pm »

Well I'm using .79 so maybe I'm in for a nasty surprise when I DL .80.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 01, 2004, 09:22:28 am »

Update: still find that there is no way to have a screen saver while MC task is running.

However, there is one wrinkle. If I set MC to load minimized and to minimize to the system tray, and if I never actually show the MC window, then I am able to get the screen saver back by quitting MC.

If the MC window gets shown, then I have to go back to the screen saver tab and toggle its enablement as documented above.

Matt · « **Reply #8 on:** March 15, 2004, 12:44:10 pm »

We can't reproduce this.

Could it be some third party app or the screen saver you're using?

xen-uno · « **Reply #9 on:** March 15, 2004, 12:53:36 pm »

Nor can I with 10.0.91 and W2k SP4

JimH · « **Reply #10 on:** March 15, 2004, 12:56:13 pm »

Any third party plugins running?

salsbst1 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 15, 2004, 01:32:24 pm »

It is definitely MC... screensaver works fine when MC isn't running, and never works when MC is running.

Doesn't matter which screensaver. I use Beziers. I'm not using any 3rd party plugins.

I have a feeling that somehow hiding and showing the MC window using Girder may have gotten me into this state. Is there anywhere in the MC file hierarchy or the registry where you store state information associated with the screen saver? Perhaps MC is just a bit confused about whether or not the screensaver should be disabled or enabled?

JimH · « **Reply #12 on:** March 15, 2004, 01:46:38 pm »

I know you're sure, but would you please check in the plugin-manager to see if anything is installed?

salsbst1 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 15, 2004, 01:50:48 pm »

Sure, will do. I'll report back this evening. Thanks for delving.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 15, 2004, 05:34:44 pm »

Ok, I can refine the behavior a little bit based on more testing. I'm not sure why it seemed so complicated before. It's actually quite simple: No matter what I do, as long as MC is running, I have no screen saver. Once I quit it, the screen saver comes up 1 minute later (I have it set to a 1 minute timeout). MC running = no screensaver. MC not running = screen saver.

I'm not quite positive what I'm supposed to be looking for with respect to 3rd party plugins, so I'll post all the plugins I see in the plugin manager:

Display
3D Visualizations
Track Info
Visualizations
DSP
MJ DSP
Encoder
External Encoder
Monkey's Audio (APE)
MP3 Encoder
MP3 Econder VBR
MPEGPlus Encoder
Ogg Vorbis
Windows Media
Windows Media Lossless
Windows Media VBR
Handheld
Portable Drives
Input
APE Plugin
CDA Plugin
MP3 Plugin
MPC Plugin
Vorbis Plugin
WAV Plugin
WMA Plugin
Interface
Output
MJ Output
Remotes
IRMAN

Again, thanks for looking into this. It's not clear to me whether MC is causing the machine to think there is activity, or whether MC is specifically disabling the screen saver. I wish I knew a means to find that out as a first step.

jleerigby · « **Reply #15 on:** March 15, 2004, 05:42:30 pm »

MC disables the screen saver in Full Screen and Theatre View. This is by design.

If the screensaver is being disabled in Standard View you found a bug.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 15, 2004, 05:51:05 pm »

This happens no matter what view I am in. I can launch directly to non-maximized Standard View and this happens. Doesn't matter if MC is minimized to task bar or system tray. As long as MC is running -> no screen saver.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 15, 2004, 05:53:33 pm »

I really don't want the screen saver disabled in theater view

. In full screen visualizations, I want screen saver disabled. In theater view, I'd really like to have the screen saver. But I'll save that for another day if we can just get MC's process not to disable the screen saver altogether. One thing at a time...

jleerigby · « **Reply #18 on:** March 16, 2004, 01:21:00 am »

Quote

I really don't want the screen saver disabled in theater view . In full screen visualizations, I want screen saver disabled. In theater view, I'd really like to have the screen saver.

I totally agree. I'd like to leave the screen in Theatre View but can't for fear of screen burn. I can understand why the SS is disabled for Full Screen Vis but not for Theatre View. For those that don't want the screen saver to kick in in Theatre View they could surely disable it or extend the delay period in Windows.

JustinChase · « **Reply #19 on:** March 16, 2004, 09:48:32 am »

Quote from: JLee on March 16, 2004, 01:21:00 am

For those that don't want the screen saver to kick in in Theatre View they could surely disable it or extend the delay period in Windows.

Or MC could just add a check box?

MikeW · « **Reply #20 on:** March 16, 2004, 03:25:28 pm »

I'm also seeing the same behavior as salsbst1. When MediaCenter is running, the screen saver does not appear. Without MediaCenter running, it appears as usual.

My system info from Help->System Info is:

Media Center Registered 10.0.92 -- j:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 2912 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 2096 MB, Free - 1509 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1400 / 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 D: SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616T Mode:ModeSecure Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive E: 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: Yes / Play sound after ripping: No

Burning / Drive E: _NEC DVD+RW ND-1100A Addr: 1:1:0 Speed:16 MaxSpeed:16 BurnProof:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: No / Write CD-Text: Yes
Use playback settings: No / Normalization: None

salsbst1 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 16, 2004, 03:39:47 pm »

That brings me some evil satisfaction (I do empathize). Have you ever controlled the visibility of MC with Girder?

jleerigby · « **Reply #22 on:** March 16, 2004, 04:01:49 pm »

I control MC with girder to switch between views and just about everything else and my screen saver is still working fine.

Do you have any other programs running that would affect the display e.g. Powerstrip, Windows Blinds etc.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 16, 2004, 04:05:22 pm »

I thought about PowerStrip, which I do run. Tested with PowerStrip not running and it didn't fix it.

One of the things I have done is to use the Girder Window Hide and Window Show commands (as opposed to sending messages to MC) to very quickly hide and show MC.

There's one other app which I should try disabling: SpeedFan (which controls fan speed on the mobo). I'll try MC without SpeedFan tonight.

jleerigby · « **Reply #24 on:** March 16, 2004, 04:22:58 pm »

Disable all other programs (within reason) that are running at startup including Girder. Then re-enable the screen saver. Then Reboot and see if the problem still occurs without running the other programs. Maybe that'll help narrow it down.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #25 on:** March 16, 2004, 06:44:25 pm »

I disabled all startup items and rebooted.... no change. Still no screen saver when MC is running.

Is MC supposed to constantly be using my network adapter? I use the adapter icon in the system tray to indicate network activity. When MC is loaded, the activity appears constant. Note that I've also tried this while hiding that sys tray icon (so that the system clock is the only thing in the system tray)... still no change.

BTW, my library, hosted on a Samba server, is accessed via a UNC path.

?

Matt · « **Reply #26 on:** March 16, 2004, 06:47:49 pm »

Quote from: salsbst1 on March 16, 2004, 06:44:25 pm

I disabled all startup items and rebooted.... no change. Still no screen saver when MC is running.

Is MC supposed to constantly be using my network adapter? I use the adapter icon in the system tray to indicate network activity. When MC is loaded, the activity appears constant. Note that I've also tried this while hiding that sys tray icon (so that the system clock is the only thing in the system tray)... still no change.

BTW, my library, hosted on a Samba server, is accessed via a UNC path.

?

Maybe network activity kills your screensaver. Try using MC 10 with an empty library, and let us know if it makes a difference.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #27 on:** March 16, 2004, 07:22:18 pm »

I doubted that it was network activity itself since the screen saver can kick in during a VNC session, but I tried your idea anyway.

I created an empty, local library and loaded it. Screen saver worked!

So, to further go down the "network activity kills the screen saver" path, I wrote a vb script to create network activity in order to test whether I could disable the screen saver that way. Here's the script:

Code: [Select]

dim wsh

set wsh = createobject("wscript.shell")

do while (true)
   wscript.sleep(5000)
   wsh.run "ping zappa",0,true
loop

This silently pings a different machine in an endless loop. Screen saver still works.

So, it's not network activity generically that is disabling the screen saver, but something about what MC is up to in communicating with my library. I do wonder what MC needs to be doing with my library when there is no activity. I haven't investigated exactly how many packets are passing around.

jleerigby · « **Reply #28 on:** March 17, 2004, 06:11:32 am »

Just to add some more info from someone who's Screen Saver works OK:

My library and files are on a network drive too but I access them via a drive mapping rather than UNC.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #29 on:** March 17, 2004, 12:04:24 pm »

Thanks for staying involved, JLee. Do you see constant network activity when MC has your drive-letter-mapped library loaded?

jleerigby · « **Reply #30 on:** March 17, 2004, 03:34:07 pm »

I don't know as I don't have the network icon displayed but I do see the mouse change to a 'wait' symbol every minute or so which is annoying. I'm guessing that this is when MC is updating the DB with info like 'last played'.

When I next use the HTPC I'll enable the network icon.

skidoo · « **Reply #31 on:** March 18, 2004, 03:06:59 pm »

I'm running 93. No screen savers (Microsoft or otherwise) will run automatically while MC is running (in any view, with any display options configured. Close MC, screen savers run fine.

This is especially annoying right now since this build has caused (for me) visualizations to run REALLLLLY slow. My systems are 2.5 GHz P4s with a gig of RAM. And burn-in is a serious issue with me (plasma screens).

One thing I have not done is completely uninstall MC, delete all the reigstry keys, then re-install. I combed the registry thinking maybe there was some legacy code in the program looking at old registry settings, but couldn't find any obvious cuplrits.

Right now I'm basically exporting playlists from MC and actually playing them with WMP.

skidoo · « **Reply #32 on:** March 18, 2004, 03:34:04 pm »

Got it. Well, sort of. If I (theoretically) disable all display plugins by manually editing the registry, my screen savers come on automatically while Media Center is running. Halleleujah!

Now I guess I'll re-enable each display plugin and see if a particular one is the culprit. Nope, scratch that. Someone else will have to carry out that experiment. Sorry, no time.

Here's how I disabled the display plugins:

In HKLM\Software\J River\Media Jukebox\Plugins I renamed the key "Display" to "Display2." Then I created a new empty key (just in case) called "Display."

Then I went to HKCU\J River\ Media Jukebox\Plugins and did the same thing.

Haven't experimented beyond that.

A couple of extra notes: When MC is running, the screen savers take longer to start. I set them to a minute and they take about 5 or 6 minutes to come on. Also, so far I've only been able to get this to work in restored standard view. That is, if you minimize standard view, it doesn't work. Also, some screen savers still don't work. I got Marine Aquarium 2 to work, and a couple of built-in Microsoft ones (the ones I tried).

Good luck.

skidoo · « **Reply #33 on:** March 18, 2004, 03:46:00 pm »

Drempels is the one I tried that still doesn't work. I haven't tested any others besides those previously mentioned.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #34 on:** March 18, 2004, 05:13:48 pm »

Quote from: skidoo on March 18, 2004, 03:34:04 pm

Got it. Well, sort of. If I (theoretically) disable all display plugins by manually editing the registry, my screen savers come on automatically while Media Center is running. Halleleujah!

Now I guess I'll re-enable each display plugin and see if a particular one is the culprit. Nope, scratch that. Someone else will have to carry out that experiment. Sorry, no time.

Here's how I disabled the display plugins:

In HKLM\Software\J River\Media Jukebox\Plugins I renamed the key "Display" to "Display2." Then I created a new empty key (just in case) called "Display."

Then I went to HKCU\J River\ Media Jukebox\Plugins and did the same thing.

Haven't experimented beyond that.

A couple of extra notes: When MC is running, the screen savers take longer to start. I set them to a minute and they take about 5 or 6 minutes to come on. Also, so far I've only been able to get this to work in restored standard view. That is, if you minimize standard view, it doesn't work. Also, some screen savers still don't work. I got Marine Aquarium 2 to work, and a couple of built-in Microsoft ones (the ones I tried).

Good luck.

The plot thickens! Hopefully that will give Matt and company something to go on.

Matt · « **Reply #35 on:** March 18, 2004, 09:43:51 pm »

Display plugins are only loaded if MC is playing, and people are saying the screensaver doesn't work even if they aren't playing.

Since we can't reproduce this, we'll need more digging from people that see it to be able to fix the problem.

Sorry for the hassles.

skidoo · « **Reply #36 on:** March 18, 2004, 10:16:16 pm »

Quote from: Matt on March 18, 2004, 09:43:51 pm

Display plugins are only loaded if MC is playing, and people are saying the screensaver doesn't work even if they aren't playing.

Hmm. It seems the selected display plugin is loaded the first time a song is played, and then stays loaded until you close Media Center. (And maybe it's unloaded when you change the display plugin; don't know, didn't test that). So even if MC is not playing, MSVisEngine (for example) can still be loaded.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #37 on:** March 19, 2004, 07:08:55 am »

This happens before I even play a song.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #38 on:** March 19, 2004, 09:51:01 am »

I'm not positive, but I think I recall finding that both of my MC machines exhibit this problem. The loadsets on these machines are quite different, though there is overlap.

The most likely thing they have in common is the upgrade path of MC versions. I will try uninstalling and completely cleaning the registry and program files directory this weekend on one of the machines.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #39 on:** March 20, 2004, 04:06:35 pm »

I've done more testing. The problem does indeed aflict both of my MC machines. It is all about the network.

empty library/library with songs: makes no difference
mapped network drive/UNC network drive: makes no difference
domain account for network access/local account: makes no difference

The moment I load a library from the network, MC starts buzzing on my network adapter and the screen saver is disabled. This problem did not occur under 9.1.

MikeW · « **Reply #40 on:** March 20, 2004, 05:58:06 pm »

OK -- here's some wierdness....

Myscreen saver is now working again. I'm still running the same version of MC, and running the same programs I was testing with before (if not more).

Some things I've done in MC since I last noticed it wasn't working (I've been busy):

I had recently been attempting to burn some audio CDs when I noticed screen saver wasn't working (Had some trouble because I was burning MP4 files, but that's antother story). I could exit MC and go back in without touching a thing, and the screen saver would be disabled.

Since then I've:
-- Deleted a bunch of nero encoded files from my library.
-- re-ripped the tracks as VBR MP3s
-- Re-Initialized my iPod
-- Synced with my iPod
-- Have been playing audio for days on end.

Network traffic definately has no affect on the screen saver state on my machine -- I'v got all sorts of network traffic flying around on the machine (network backups, etc.) Is it possible that some of you folks that are seeing this when network traffic is involved have the "Wake on LAN" feature in the BIOS turned on?

I know this has been a bit of a ramble, but I'm a bit sleep deprived at the moment. Hopefully there's something in there that might make some sense.

MikeW · « **Reply #41 on:** March 20, 2004, 05:59:44 pm »

Quote from: MikeW on March 20, 2004, 05:58:06 pm

OK -- here's some wierdness....

...I'm still running the same version of MC...

That would be build 92

skidoo · « **Reply #42 on:** March 20, 2004, 09:26:05 pm »

Are you guys testing with the same screensaver every time? Are you trying out different screensavers?

I have definitively established on one of my machines that once a visualization module loads, no screensaver will ever work again, until I close MC (and by impllication close the visualization module). If I make the aforementioned registry edits, all screensavers will then load, even with MC running (as long as it isn't minimized), except that one I mentioned (Drempels).

salsbst1 · « **Reply #43 on:** March 21, 2004, 12:04:59 pm »

I'm just using the screensavers built in to Windows (Beziers).

salsbst1 · « **Reply #44 on:** March 23, 2004, 05:53:46 am »

Please tell me what the next steps are to fix this. What can I test? Is there a debug version that will reveal why MC creates constant network activity when nothing is being done with the library? Do you think this is related to the screen saver problem?

salsbst1 · « **Reply #45 on:** March 24, 2004, 10:41:52 am »

I can't NOT reproduce this!

I tried it at work. MC running on my work laptop, library on my work desktop. Same thing: no screen saver.

All of the machines I am testing with are in NT4-style domains (work laptop and desktop are truly NT4 domain, home machines are Samba domain).

Have you tried running a network based library when MC machine and library machine are on an NT4 domain?

salsbst1 · « **Reply #46 on:** March 24, 2004, 11:20:18 am »

If I launch MJAutomation (and don't show the program) then I don't get the constant network activity (rather it seems like just a little network activity every 4 seconds or so), but I still don't get a screensaver.

xen-uno · « **Reply #47 on:** March 24, 2004, 11:31:00 am »

I've placed a zip called Spy here (from MS VC++ 5.0)...

http://home.revealed.net/xen/Spy.zip

Extract both files to a directory (ie d:\Spy). This app will show you messages passed on to the OS. Normally you should see only a new WM_Paint message issued by MC (in stopped state) every 1/2 second or so (why it does this when there is no screen activity in MC is beyond me).

Usage:
Run SPYXX.EXE and also have MC open doing nothing (no playing/serving/viz's/etc). In the Spy menubar goto Spy>Messages (becomes Message Options)>Windows (tab) and drag the Finder Tool x-hair over and drop on MC's title bar (just to the left of the min/max/close buttons on the right side is good spot...Blue Steel skin has easily locateable title bar). Click on the OK button in Message Options...Spy will start logging MC messages (F8 key stops the logging).

Do you see messages other than WM_Paint?

10^-27

edit: There is another good monitor located here...
www.sysinternals.com

salsbst1 · « **Reply #48 on:** March 24, 2004, 11:36:45 am »

Quote from: skidoo on March 18, 2004, 03:34:04 pm

Got it. Well, sort of. If I (theoretically) disable all display plugins by manually editing the registry, my screen savers come on automatically while Media Center is running. Halleleujah!

Now I guess I'll re-enable each display plugin and see if a particular one is the culprit. Nope, scratch that. Someone else will have to carry out that experiment. Sorry, no time.

Here's how I disabled the display plugins:

In HKLM\Software\J River\Media Jukebox\Plugins I renamed the key "Display" to "Display2." Then I created a new empty key (just in case) called "Display."

Then I went to HKCU\J River\ Media Jukebox\Plugins and did the same thing.

Haven't experimented beyond that.

A couple of extra notes: When MC is running, the screen savers take longer to start. I set them to a minute and they take about 5 or 6 minutes to come on. Also, so far I've only been able to get this to work in restored standard view. That is, if you minimize standard view, it doesn't work. Also, some screen savers still don't work. I got Marine Aquarium 2 to work, and a couple of built-in Microsoft ones (the ones I tried).

Good luck.

Tried this (renaming Diplay keys to Display2)... didn't help.

salsbst1 · « **Reply #49 on:** March 24, 2004, 11:53:57 am »

Thanks, xen-uno. All I see is WM_PAINT. I'm going to play around with some of the sysinternals monitors and try to discern the difference between local and network libraries.

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Author Topic: screensaver disabled? (Read 15680 times)

jleerigby

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