Getting frustrated over (in)stability

[HTPC_Sourcer]

Hi,

Like everyone I installed RC2 as soon as it got out and things worked just great at the beginning. Therefore I decided to put the PC into the living to have it used by the family.

I had the problem though that I could not correctly terminate a fullscreen MP with its overlay screen always remaining on the TV and masking all Windows applications. The only way out was to reset the PC. Unfortunately continously re-launching MP has now led to a reduced stability. When no TV is activated for some time (where "some" varies) it is impossible to re-activate TV. In these cases MP seems to be hanging and does not react to any further user input.

The TV error.log (attached) shows that no database connection is possible. The phenomenon is precisely what I experienced during earlier RC1 SVN tests with identical error messages. Reseting the PC restores full functionality until TV Server is again left idle. EPG grabber is on with its standard settings.

I uninstalled and re-installed MP and TV Server yesterday evening but this did not cure the problem. I am more than willing to also uninstall SQLServer 2005 and do the whole install from scratch once again. Nevertheless I would like to understand what is happening and would be very grateful if somebody gave me more insight into this. I did uninstall SQLServer before, but this is cumbersome since the automated uninstall does not entirely remove the software. Manual registry clean was necessary in my case and I would like to avoid this if ever possible.

Regards, Johannes

[HTPC_Sourcer]

Update 26.07.:

I uninstalled both MP/TV Server and SQL Server 2005, then re-installed everything. Unfortunately the problem is still there. Full logs after the first occurence of the phenomenon are attached.

For those who are taking a look: Music play is started at 10:02. EPG grabber keeps writing into its log file until 10:25; from thereon no new information is created. At 10:45 I manually launched TV Server configuration, then closed it and went into the TV menu in MP where I selected an entry in the program guide to launch TV. This caused MP to hang. Surprisingly no TV Server error log was created.

This has haunted me for months now. It would be great if somebody pointed me into the right direction. Is it possible that the whole XP installation is corrupt?

Thanks, Johannes

[htpcMe]

I have experienced the same thing with RC1. Wenn not using the "TV" for a while, MP will hang trying to start the TV. I have found that if you instead go directly to the program guide and choose a channel, TV will correctly start. Let me know if that works for you as well.

[HTPC_Sourcer]

Originally Posted by htpcMe

I have found that if you instead go directly to the program guide and choose a channel, TV will correctly start. Let me know if that works for you as well.

Unfortunately not. See my earlier posting where I triggered the issue by switching on TV from within the program guide. To avoid misunderstandings: TV starts correctly - if launched shortly after MP was started - and keeps running until stopped.

In the meantime I believe that TV Server, when let run alone without MP, has no issues. I launched only the server a few hours ago and occasionally take a look into the configuration if I can preview TV channels. So far no problem. It appears that the database connection issue is linked to Mediaportal and not to TV Server...

[samo_yea]

It can be the EPG grabber. Try to deactivate the option "EPG grabbing while idle" in the TV-server configuration (under General settings->EPG). I don't know if this is your problem, but many users have stability problem with this option activated.

[HTPC_Sourcer]

Originally Posted by samo_yea

It can be the EPG grabber.

Hello samo_yea,

I've of course seen the various threads about EPG grabing affecting the stability, however, this doesn't seem to be the root course as (at least in previous SVN) things didn't change even wih EPG being discativated. I didn't recheck with the current RC2 though, but will do.

Note that the TV server is still running and grabbing nicely since hours now, and I can still preview channels. Hence I would localize the issue somewhere in MP and its use of the SQL database.

regards, Johannes

[HTPC_Sourcer]

Samo_yea, you are my hero!

Originally Posted by samo_yea

It can be the EPG grabber.

Although it did not help on RC1, I rechecked RC2 with a completely deactivated EPG grabber - and it works! Now I am busy configuring WebEPG, keep the fingers crossed that things will work out with it.

Thx, Johannes

[samo_yea]

I'm glad that it solved your problem, but this is only a workaround. I hope that some developer can fix this bug.