[solved] MePo sometimes crash when movie starts (Moving pictures with external player) (1 Viewer)

[Lordwarf]

Hey guys,

I really wondered whether I should post it in MovingPicture forum or in MePo forum so I will move this post if necessary.
Here is the thing, I use MePo internal player for movies in file format, and moving picture to handle my blurays, launching TMT as an external player. It all worked flawlessly until one day I updated moving picture (don't remember the exact version, it was the one just before MePo 1.7 final release).
Since that update, when I start a movie in moving picture, Media Portal sometimes crashes. Not all the time. I gathered log files and made two separate zip files, for ok and ko cases.
See log files for complete trace but the error is :

[2014-07-24 14:01:44,438] [Error  ] [19       ] [ERROR] - MediaPortal: Unhandled exception occured
[2014-07-24 14:01:44,455] [Log    ] [19       ] [ERROR] - Exception: System.NullReferenceException: La référence d'objet n'est pas définie à une instance d'un objet.
   à MediaPortal.Plugins.MovingPictures.MainUI.MoviePlayer.SetPlayProperties()
   à MediaPortal.Plugins.MovingPictures.MainUI.MoviePlayer.UpdatePlaybackInfo()
   à System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
   à System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()  Message: La référence d'objet n'est pas définie à une instance d'un objet.  Site   : Void SetPlayProperties()  Source : MovingPictures  Stack Trace:     à MediaPortal.Plugins.MovingPictures.MainUI.MoviePlayer.SetPlayProperties()
   à MediaPortal.Plugins.MovingPictures.MainUI.MoviePlayer.UpdatePlaybackInfo()
   à System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
   à System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

Sorry the error is in french. In english is says : "object reference not set to an instance of an object"

Can anyone help, or at least find out if I should post it in MePo section of the forum ?

Thank you !

Lord "David" Dwarf

 

[RoChess]

You are aware that MediaPortal internal player can handle Blu-Rays just fine if you install the BRHandler plugin right?

Makes diagnosing a lot easier as well.

 

[ltfearme]

This is occurring because the movie you are trying to play has missing data in the database, MovPics is attempting to push some skin properties before playback and encountered a movie field which is NULL.

Maybe compare what works with what doesnt when looking at the movie info fields ...it may shed some clue. I can add some extra checks for this method so it doesn't go down in a ball of flames.

A quick look at the code and your log it may look like it had something to do with missing 'Writers'. It crashes right after publishing Genre, after that there is only the following:

_gui.SetProperty("#Play.Current.Credits", CurrentMovie.Writers.ToPrettyString(MovingPicturesCore.Settings.MaxElementsToDisplay));
 _gui.SetProperty("#Play.Current.Cast", CurrentMovie.Actors.ToPrettyString(MovingPicturesCore.Settings.MaxElementsToDisplay));

 

[Lordwarf]

Well, I have been using this setup for a long time now ( at first with PDVD, then TMT, made no difference MePo side). But to be honest, when BD support arrived in MePo, I did not take time to check how it worked. I wondered how it could meet my requirements without hassle (decode DTS HD-MA, not only DTS core, Dolby TrueHD, handle all that shenanigan Sony forced into Bluray like Java, protections...). In a word, I assumed BD play required a dedicated, supported software. And to some extent, I still do.

 

[Lordwarf]

This is occurring because the movie you are trying to play has missing data in the database

Great, thanks ! I had a quick look to the database already, but not knowing if this was the problem, I did not push. Tomorrow I will check that and let you know.
Thank you ![DOUBLEPOST=1406278302][/DOUBLEPOST]

A quick look at the code and your log it may look like it had something to do with missing 'Writers'

Hello again,

ok I just checked and problem lies with the Directors, Writers and Actors fields in movie_info table. Indeed movies that cause the crash have at least one of these fields empty. I had not noticed before because for some entries the value is not empty, it is just a space, but for others it is really empty. I replaced empty values with a space and now everything works correctly.

A very big thank you ItFearme !

 

[ltfearme]

Thanks, will address the crash for the next release. Null fields should be handled.

 

[Der_Bub]

I have the same Problem with several movies, too. Will there be a fix for this (in next release) or is the only solution to fill up NULL entries wit dumy data manualy?

 

[RoChess]

I have the same Problem with several movies, too. Will there be a fix for this (in next release) or is the only solution to fill up NULL entries wit dumy data manualy?

What scraper-script are you using? While it needs to be addressed in the MovPic plugin and @ltfearme will take care of that, it can right now be worked-around at import level by adjusting the scraper-script to for example import "N/A" or "(none)" when no data exists for writer/director/etc. That way no NULL value will be stored to cause the crash.

It might also be a bug in the scraper-script though, where director/writer info is available, but not interpreted as such correctly.

 

[ltfearme]

See the last release notes:

Fixed a possible crash on start of movie playback, issue occurred if the some fields of the movie contained empty values when publishing skin Play properties (this would not affect everybody).

 

[Der_Bub]

What scraper-script are you using? While it needs to be addressed in the MovPic plugin and @ltfearme will take care of that, it can right now be worked-around at import level by adjusting the scraper-script to for example import "N/A" or "(none)" when no data exists for writer/director/etc. That way no NULL value will be stored to cause the crash.

It might also be a bug in the scraper-script though, where director/writer info is available, but not interpreted as such correctly.

most of the time FilmInfo+.

But I have already very many database entries and changing the scraper would only help with new/rescan, or?

See the last release notes:

well, I'm using 1.7.3.1594 and often after closing external player MediaPortal isn't running any more... either there is an other reason for crashing (which doesn't belongs to MovPic) or it isn't completly solved.