MP Freezes on Startup When Autorun (1 Viewer)

[ReverendJ1]

Hello everyone. I am having trouble when starting MP when Windows starts. It all boots up fine and MP opens, but I can't do anything except switch between the simple and regular menu. Using the arrow keys on the remote doesn't change the selection, nor does the keyboard. If I ctrl+alt+delete I can close MP and have never had a problem with it if I close it and then re-open it. It seems to just be a problem if I start it when Windows starts, and it isn't every time either. More like 3-5 out of ten times.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

This could just be something MP needs to run not being found.

MP config\general\startup delay, try setting 30 seconds, should be enough.

If you do not have TVServer(TVE3) installed do not tick box 1.

 

[ReverendJ1]

Yeah, I noticed that option when I was trying to figure out if there was a 'don't work on first try' option and set it to 5 seconds. I will try setting it longer. Thanks.

 

[ReverendJ1]

Well, I figured out what it was. Over the weekend it froze when I opened it up manually and noticed that while it was opening a balloon tip popped up notifying me of the status of my wireless signal (it's really shaky, so I get this a lot). Lo and behold once mediaportal came up I had a brainstorm and pressed alt+tab (to change which window was active). Now it works. I just told everyone in my house if they ever turn it on and it isn't working, just press alt+tab to fix it. Thanks anyway.

 

[rtv]

You could also dismiss your WLAN client software and let Windows do the job - it at least doesn't come up with popups that steal the focus of the current app.

 

[ReverendJ1]

Haha, actually I do use Windows for it. I have never found ANY reason to use a third-party wireless client unless you just have oodles of system resources that you feel like wasting. By default it will throw those balloon tips at you when you lose or acquire a signal. I should probably just disable them. You have to uncheck "Notify of changes to this connection" under network connections in the control panel to do this, if anyone else is reading.

 

[Peter2]

Is it not so that some software bundled with wireless devices, you get to use higher speeds - given both devices can operate under that none standardized speed - I've seen this with D-Link.
In that case, you can disable the windows wireless service.

 

[ReverendJ1]

True true. I forgot about that. I hate non-standards.
I did some more digging and found out it had nothing to do with my balloon tips from my wireless as I had thought. That must have just been a coincidence. When I was alt+tabbing yesterday I held it down and checked the name of the window that was stealing my focus. If you have ever alt+tabbed in mediaportal, you probably know why I didn't notice it at first. The real culprit is cthelper:

cthelper.exe (Creative Plugin Helper) - Details

cthelper.exe is a utility program that is used as an interface by third party software vendors and manufacturers to integrate their software with Creative soundcards and drivers. Normally this process would be left alone, however it has been reported to consume 100% CPU time and cause other system problems. It should be removed from your system, unless you find that doing so causes further problems.

cthelper.exe is flagged as a system process and does not appear to be a security risk. However, removing Creative Plugin Helper may adversly impact your system.

The Process Server database currently registers cthelper.exe to Creative.

This is part of Creative soundblaster/audigy drivers.

I don't use any plugins for my soundcard and from everything I have read it seems that it is not necessary unless you do (and has awful memory leaks to boot!), so I am disabling it. Hopefully this will help someone else.