1.38 MP Stops Accepting User Input (2 Viewers)

[joecrow]

Hmm, my HTPC is a single seat set up and the C: disk is an SSD. I have not noticed any significant difference in the delay getting the EPG or recorded program list after a system restart and selecting them from MP-1 vs normal operation from MP-1 after it has been running for a while . It is just sometimes there is a very long delay as with the stop button, initially I thought the remote had stopped working but the receiver flashes every time the stop button was pressed. When it is in slow mode after a single press of the stop button TV will continue to play for around 20 secs before stopping, its really weird! I have finally got round to doing some updates, windows, graphics and chipset all needed updating and I cleared out a big bunch of old recorded programs and freed up some space, though there was still lots available, so see if that improves things.
P.S. With Madvr enabled for TV it reminded me why I turned it off! From hitting the OK button from the TV icon on the home screen to TV playback it consistantly takes 15-18 secs. with EVR it is 3 secs, not big difference on channel change, though on stop with Madvr the screen flickers and flashes. I'll live with it for now to see if can reproduce the OP problem.

 

[AberDino]

at some point in the past I selected the "Use EVR for TV" option

Thanks for the suggestion @joecrow, I will give the "Use EVR for TV" option a go. I've been using madVR for watching TV for many years without any issues, but there area lot of variables at play here, all of which have changed at some point, i.e. madVR software version and settings, GeForce driver version and settings, MP software version and OS software / updates.

 

[AberDino]

Switched to "Use EVR for TV" and this time MP appeared to hang after pressing the stop button when watching full screen TV, i.e. it froze and didn't make it back to the TV menu. Brought up task manager and copied the logs as attached, before forcing MP closed. Interestingly, the "FileExistsCache" thread kept logging after the crash, every five seconds or so. What is it and is that normal that it kicks in every five seconds?

 

[joecrow]

Since doing the updates and switching to Madvr for TV everything has been working very very well, seems the TLC was worth it.
I have now gone back to EVR for TV to avoid the long delay before video starts. @AberDino interesting that you have had a problem with Stop in conjunction with EVR for TV, it will be intersting to see if the very slow response to Stop I experienced comes back now I have switched back to EVR.

 

[CyberSimian]

Switched to "Use EVR for TV" and this time MP appeared to hang after pressing the stop button when watching full screen TV, i.e. it froze and didn't make it back to the TV menu.

There may be a clue to the cause of the problem hidden somewhere in the log files, but I don't have the necessary expertise to find it. There is no obvious problem that I can see in the log files.

Interestingly, the "FileExistsCache" thread kept logging after the crash, every five seconds or so. What is it and is that normal that it kicks in every five seconds?

At this point, I think that you are reduced to using the "trial and error" method of locating the source of the problem. That is, you change a setting and then use MP for a day or two to see if it has made a difference. The first setting that I would change would be to disable the file-existence cache (it is a setting in "MP Config"). I don't use that setting on my system, and I am not sure exactly what it does.

After that, you may need to start disabling the optional plugins (one at a time). The only optional plugin that I use is "PowerScheduler". All of the other optional plugins are "nice to have", but not essential to the use of MP.

If you can pin-point the cause of the problem to a specific setting or plugin, and have a repeatable test case, there is some hope that one of the development team will be able to fix it.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

Just a quick update from me:- Since doing the various updates and TLC my HTPC has been behaving itself really well, no issues with the stop button or delayed EPG, also a problem I have had for ages, loss of focus and sometimes video signal on return from standby has gone too, new graphics driver maybe! I also believe an occaisional reboot may be beneficial on a PC that is in normal operation only ever put to sleep and will try a schedule a once weekly reboot via the Power Scheduler plugin, though I do recall the problem with that is it will not return to sleep following the restart but I will try it again.

 

[CyberSimian]

I also believe an occasional reboot may be beneficial on a PC that is in normal operation only ever put to sleep and will try a schedule a once weekly reboot via the Power Scheduler plugin

I came to that conclusion too, as I found that the HTPC would eventually encounter a fatal error if it had been running for several weeks without rebooting. (The error was a blue-screen that seemed to be caused by the driver for my TBS 6284 tuner.) However, for some reason I stopped performing a weekly reboot, but I no longer remember why.

One "fatal" error that seems to be occurring more frequently in recent months is when I wake the HTPC and start the MP client, which gets stuck on the splash screen. "Task Manager" shows that the splash screen is not responding. From the logs it seems that TV Server had earlier encountered a database error, and as a result had stopped running. So when the MP client tried to connect to TV Server during the startup of the client, the client entered what seemed to be an indefinite a wait state.

I don't know the cause of the database error, but the logs suggest that it occurs when an episode of a series recording has been manually cancelled (e.g. because it is a repeat of a recording made earlier in the week). However, it may be that the error is more specific, and only occurs when an episode is cancelled, and then later the entire series recording is cancelled, but before the cancelled episode is broadcast. If this is the circumstance when the error occurs, the advice would be: don't cancel the series recording if you have already cancelled a single episode of the series -- wait for the cancelled episode to be broadcast, and then cancel the series recording.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

However, for some reason I stopped performing a weekly reboot, but I no longer remember why.

I set up a weekly reboot in the Power Scheduler and it has been now been actioned twice, both times it woke the PC up from standby (I had ticked that option) did the reboot and restarted MP but 4 hours later when I arrived home the PC was still up and running, the MP screensaver had been actioned to blank the screen but the system 45 min inactive timer had not been triggered. Something was keeping the PC awake although it did go into standby when I pressed sleep button on the remote! From memory this is why I gave up using this feature in the past, @CyberSimian maybe the same for you. Anyone know if it is possible to modify this useful feature so that it will allow the PC return to to sleep on its inactive timeout?

 

[CyberSimian]

Something was keeping the PC awake although it did go into standby when I pressed sleep button on the remote! ... @CyberSimian maybe the same for you.

Mmm, I cannot actually remember what state the HPTC was in after the weekly reboot. I will enable it for early Wednesday morning and see what happens. Some possible differences:

(1) I have Windows setup to require a login password on reboot, but not on wake from sleep or hibernation. The reason for this was so that I could access the HTPC from my laptop. Without the login password, Windows refused to give my laptop access to the HTPC, and I had to transfer files using a USB memory stick.

(2) From your post I get the impression that you have MP setup so that it starts on Windows boot. I don't use that setting, so after my system has rebooted, MP is not running.

(3) There is a config setting that controls whether MP can sleep/hibernate on any panel, or only on the "Home" panel. The setting is on the "Client" tab in "PowerScheduler" config in "MP Config". I have mine set to "Home panel only". If you have enabled that setting, and MP autostarts to a panel other than the "Home" panel, it won't be eligible to sleep/hibernate.

(4) I no longer use the MP screen saver. I had it set to a very small value (one minute ), and I simply found it too annoying. I do however still use the Windows screen saver ("Aurora" from Windows Vista), set for 5 minutes.

(5) I use hibernation instead of sleep, although it is not obvious that they would behave differently. With my hibernation system, the HTPC usually hibernates within one minute of becoming inactive, e.g. when an unattended recording ends, or when I manually "switch off" the system (i.e. indicate to the HTPC that it is no longer required for interactive use).

I will report tomorrow what happened with the scheduled reboot.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK.

 

[CyberSimian]

I cannot actually remember what state the HPTC was in after the weekly reboot. I will enable it for early Wednesday morning and see what happens.

Here are the details of what happened:

• HTPC was set to reboot at 05:00 hours.
• HTPC was set to wake at 06:00 hours to grab the EPG (it stays awake for around 40 minutes then hibernates).
• When I attended the HTPC at 07:45 hours, the HTPC was hibernating (powered off).
• When I triggered the HTPC to wake, it powered on to the Windows login screen.

I looked at the "TvService.log" file, which showed:

• TV Server started working at 05:02 hours (after the reboot).
• TV Server transitioned to standby state (hibernation) at 05:07 hours.
• TV Server woke at 05:57 hours to grab the EPG.
• TV Server transitioned to standby state (hibernation) at 06:45 hours.
• TV Server transitioned to wake state at 07:46 after manual waking.

So for me it all seems to be working as I would expect.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK