Jump to content

MBC is now Unstable?


bxsteez
Go to solution Solved by ebr,

Recommended Posts

I've been using MB since 2.x and now it seems it has become highly unstable for a couple of versions now.  I can't launch the application without at least one crash saying it has stopped working or insane amounts of lag where it locks the entire WMC interface.  I am running the latest stable version MBC and Server as of 2/14/15.  I'm just trying to understand what is going?  Are new features just overwhelming my setup in particular or is this a common theme for all the users?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not at all common for me.  I can't remember the last time MBC crashed in my system.

 

We'll need more information like a Windows Event log and MBC logs when this happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not at all common for me.  I can't remember the last time MBC crashed in my system.

 

We'll need more information like a Windows Event log and MBC logs when this happens.

I've had random crashes for months when trying to access large collections and now i have about a 20 min start time for MBC and when it starts accessing anything lags like crazy too.  I attached the most recent logs but last time I attached logs you said you couldn't replicate so there was nothing you could do.   I hope it helps this time.

 

 

EDIT

I add two pictures of my screen with the program not responding message and these were within like 20 mins of each other.  This happens non stop.  I'm uploading uploaded a video to youtube now to show what happens when I try and launch the application

 

logs.zip

post-1416-0-09454100-1423947216_thumb.jpg

post-1416-0-56489800-1423947446_thumb.jpg

Edited by bxsteez
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something very odd is going on because over the course of that 2min 15sec video I never even saw the interface come up but the logs show the EHS being produced in as little as 5 seconds - from when we actually get control.

 

Your video never even shows the loading screen which should only take a second or two.  It is almost like something is causing a delay before the application is even really started.

 

That "not responding" message will occur if you try to interact with the program (by pressing buttons on the remote) when it is in this kind of frozen state.

 

To start, I would uninstall Roc (no longer supported and will only cause problems) and probably Neo too as it isn't really designed for this version either.  Then try testing with the Chocolate theme.  I see you were using Xenon which shouldn't be a problem but just to eliminate as many variables as possible test with Chocolate.

 

Also, I would try the new beta version of MBC because that has a lot of optimizations in it.  However, I'm not sure it will affect your start up issue because that delay appears to be occurring before we are even really getting control.

 

Do you eventually get the loading screen with the dots moving across?  How long is that screen up for?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. I eventually get it. It happens about 10 mins after the video stopped. My phone ran out of memory and stopped recording lol. I always get the loading screen. It just takes like 15-20mins to get there. I'll try the beta and remove unused themes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried Chocolate, Squares and Xenon with the current release and none of them worked.  I updated the MBC to beta and then updated the server to beta and it is logging in a lot a faster.  I thought I was safe as far as stability leaving them both at "Release" update but I guess there was an issue with the latest release(Server/MBC)?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, this is something related to your environment.  It takes less than a second on all my machines to go from the WMC start screen to the loading or user screen in MBC.

 

What does "logging in faster" mean?  It should be only a couple seconds at most.  Seeing delays as long as you are makes me think of some sort of hardware malfunction (like the system is waiting on a device to respond).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, this is something related to your environment.  It takes less than a second on all my machines to go from the WMC start screen to the loading or user screen in MBC.

 

What does "logging in faster" mean?  It should be only a couple seconds at most.  Seeing delays as long as you are makes me think of some sort of hardware malfunction (like the system is waiting on a device to respond).

It couldn't be a hardware failure.  All 5 of my computers in the house were exactly the same... Unless it's the server PC that is causing it? I can look into that.  My remote desktop was pretty slow too. 

 

It wasn't just slow when mediabrowser was starting It was slow with every click within the application.  When I updated to the betas of both the server and MBC everything worked as it did before the last release. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or the network.

 

I still don't know what "worked as it did before" means.  Are we talking a couple seconds or what?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

saajan4u

To be fair I have notices it stops to respond more than before.. I can't be specific what causes it as I have never looked at the log

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or the network.

 

I still don't know what "worked as it did before" means.  Are we talking a couple seconds or what?

Yes.  A couple of seconds tops.  It is not the 20mins the video shows anymore.  I'm still having issue though but I'm starting to believe it might be my network switch which all my computers connect to. 

 

EDIT

Correction.  There is still a few seconds of login time.  I created a new video that shows this.  Pay close attention to the news scroller.  It stops whenever MBC freezes.   It happens frequently right up till it crashes completed.  I will post the video and the logs. 

 

logs.zip

Edited by bxsteez
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And now with the latest beta it crashes everything if I even hover over music by genre.. I'm not sure what is going on now

 

@ebr 

Any clue what is going on? I've tried different routers, different switches and I tested the lines and my network is stable.  I think there is a bug in MB server to be honest.  Even MBT moves really slow.

Edited by bxsteez
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even MBT moves really slow.

 

To me that is more evidence that it is something environmental - but that could mean some particular combination of options and content.  The video is not using Chocolate again.  Is it any different with it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To me that is more evidence that it is something environmental - but that could mean some particular combination of options and content.  The video is not using Chocolate again.  Is it any different with it?

Nope. Chocolate is the same. I tested square, chocolate and Xenon. Could this have anything to do with the fact that I'm running the server as a service? I will probably try and test it while just running it as a normal program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dotnetzero

I experience some of the same behavior.  MBC usually crashes at least a few times a day. For me, its when I open up tv shows or movies and begin scrolling.  I can scroll a couple of items and then it freezes.  Sometimes it'll unfreeze (if you immediately stop clicking the remote), but most times it gives the 'not responding' message.  One thing that I did, which seemed to reduce the frequency in which it crashes, is uninstall the coverart plugin and disable backdrops.  I have the family trained to not hold down the arrow keys to scroll through posters, clicking one at a time seems to help.  We stay away from Music (large library), its a death sentence ;)  My network is all gigabit, and MBS is running on a stand-alone server as a service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just FYI - this isn't a fix but could make y'alls lives a little easier if this happens to you.  That "Not responding" message isn't a crash, per se.  It is WMC cutting in when it notices that you've pressed several buttons that the program hasn't responded to.  There should be two options on the message - one to stop the application and the other to cancel or ignore the issue.  If you select ignore, it should continue on (at least eventually).

 

Like I said, not a solution but could stop you from having to completely re-start the app in some instances.

 

What theme are you using?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheesegeezer

I'm not experiencing any crashes either. Are you running Windows 8 or 7?

 

Are you sure you have allowed MBC thru the windows firewall, if you are using other virus protection then either allow mbc thru that or disable it and see if that helps.

 

Seems very funky that all your machines have inherited the same issues, to there is something wrong (as @@ebr suggests) with your network environment or with your server.

 

Are you using UNC Shares? If not, I suggest you set your library up to do this rather than specific drive locations

Edited by Cheesegeezer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

dotnetzero

Just FYI - this isn't a fix but could make y'alls lives a little easier if this happens to you.  That "Not responding" message isn't a crash, per se.  It is WMC cutting in when it notices that you've pressed several buttons that the program hasn't responded to.  There should be two options on the message - one to stop the application and the other to cancel or ignore the issue.  If you select ignore, it should continue on (at least eventually).

 

Like I said, not a solution but could stop you from having to completely re-start the app in some instances.

 

What theme are you using?

 

Thanks ebr, and that is definitely the case a great deal of the time (ignoring the issue and being able to resume navigation after a small period of time).  Sometimes there is a different sort of message (don't remember the exact language) but its something along the lines of 'something bad happened, you will be returned with windows media center'. If I can, i'll grab the logs after it happens this weekend so I have something current.  My htpc's are all core2quad 9550's with 4 gigs of ram running win7 x64, server is a xeon x3360 with 8gigs of ram running server 2008.  Server has all the hard drives, but they're mapped with unc paths.  I'm kinding hoping the hardware isn't good enough, always looking for a reason to get some new gear ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Logos302

Hard Drive IDE? Sata? SAS?  But with those specs it does sound like it should be able to keep up.  I know with mine the Main HD is slow so it takes a while to boot and load, but once it loaded it fine.  I'm running Sata with WD red 3tb disk on a controller card (that for the life of me I can't remember the name, I think it might be a super micro).  Course I could just tell you no you need more to give you an excuse if you need one :D.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not experiencing any crashes either. Are you running Windows 8 or 7?

 

Are you sure you have allowed MBC thru the windows firewall, if you are using other virus protection then either allow mbc thru that or disable it and see if that helps.

 

Seems very funky that all your machines have inherited the same issues, to there is something wrong (as @@ebr suggests) with your network environment or with your server.

 

Are you using UNC Shares? If not, I suggest you set your library up to do this rather than specific drive locations

I am using UNC shares.  I ran into that issues a long time ago and rectified it.  I'm sure there is nothing wrong with my network since I can access the same exact content that MBC is trying to access without an issue and since I'm using HDHomerun Primes all my cable is also running through my network.  I'm thinking it has something to do with running MB server as a service.  I turned off the service and switched to running it as a normal program and then I had no issues at all. I thought it might have been a scenario where I was trying to run it as a service and launching the program by accident via some automated process but that isn't the case

 

Maybe server specs might help as well as it almost seems like something isn't able to keep up with the requests.  

 

My server is has a Intel Core2Duo Quad Q6600 , 8GBs of ram, a OCZ vertex 4 ssd for the OS, and 12TB of storage across about 6 drives. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just FYI - this isn't a fix but could make y'alls lives a little easier if this happens to you.  That "Not responding" message isn't a crash, per se.  It is WMC cutting in when it notices that you've pressed several buttons that the program hasn't responded to.  There should be two options on the message - one to stop the application and the other to cancel or ignore the issue.  If you select ignore, it should continue on (at least eventually).

 

Like I said, not a solution but could stop you from having to completely re-start the app in some instances.

 

What theme are you using?

Yea I discovered this a couple of versions back. of course now i'm getting invalid application crash and the not responding error message. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheesegeezer

Yea I discovered this a couple of versions back. of course now i'm getting invalid application crash and the not responding error message. 

Thats kinda good news, can you post the Event Viewer log for that crash..... we may be able to track this down now.

 

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I turned off the service and switched to running it as a normal program and then I had no issues at all

 

 

Yea I discovered this a couple of versions back. of course now i'm getting invalid application crash and the not responding error message. 

 

Okay, so I'm confused now...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, so I'm confused now...

I was in a scrabble lol.  I first disabled the MBS as a service and tried as a normal application and there was no issue.  I then thought maybe there was just a PC error so I renabled it as a service and I started receiving invalid application errors.  I then disabled it as a service again and I had no issues.  

 

My apologies.  I tend to explain as if you were standing by me when I was doing all of these things lol. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...