Various bugs, some Zombies ;-) (1 Viewer)

[rsbrux]

MediaPortal Version: 1.20

Description
Since upgrading from 1.18 to 1.20 I am encountering a few issues, some of which appear to be risen from the dead ;-)

1. If MP starts when the attached monitor is off (e.g. to update program guide), it hangs on startup. When I turn on the monitor/TV, sometimes the MP screen appears normal, sometimes the GUI elements are very small and sometimes there is just a black box in the upper left corner of the screen occupying about a third of the screen area. Unfortunately, I am unable to take a screenshot in any of these cases. In all of these cases, MP is completely unresponsive and has to be killed. I didn't see anything interesting in the logfiles despite selecting all of the most verbose options I could find. Nonetheless, I have attached some.
2. I had the same problems with LCD2USB.dll and hwinterfacex64.sys reported here:
   https://issues.team-mediaportal.com/fisheye/cru/MP1CR-861
   https://issues.team-mediaportal.com/browse/MP1-4264
   After applying the measures described in these threads:
   https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/error-logged-by-mini-display-lcd2usb-dll-not-found
   https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...ot-digitally-signed-driver-hwinterfacex64-sys
   the errors no longer appear in the MP logs, however the Windows 7 log contains errors for each system startup of the form:
   

   Event 7026, Service Control Manager
   The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
   hwinterfacex64

   The display appears to work anyway, however, some lines of dots in the display are dimmer than the others (see attached photo), a problem I didn't have with 1.18.
   
3. MP no longer displays TV recordings which I have already started watching in light grey; they look the same as all the others. Only those I started watching before upgrading to 1.20 show in light grey.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Start HTPC with attached display turned off, then turn on display.
2. Apply measures described in threads referenced above, then start MP.
3. Start watching a recorded TV program, stop it, then return to the list display.

 

[rahewitt]

HI rsbrux,

I thought I'd post a few comments on your post.

1. Start HTPC with attached display turned off, then turn on display.

Yes I've been suffering from this too! I thought it might be due to my botched upgrade from 1.19 to 1.20. This was due to issues with your point 3, see later. I reverted (badly) to a previous version due to me not understanding the new way of marking watched recordings, thus losing all my client settings. :-/ I've tried all sort of sleep and wake settings changes and just been going round in circles.

I operate MediaPortal as a single seat connected to the TV and it wakes itself to record according to the scheduled recordings. Of course there is no screen present when it does this so it gets the same symptoms as you describe. Ether a fully locked client. Or a small version of the Client (VGA sized) that is also locked. A Ctrl Alt Del and task manager end task fixes this. It is only the client that is locked so although its an inconvenience every time I go to watch a recording, it is not breaking the recording functionality.

I think there have been various re-workings of the wake from sleep coding, but I've not seen anything specifically mentioned for 1.20/1.21pre?

2. I had the same problems with LCD2USB.dll and hwinterfacex64.sys reported here:

Sorry I don't have this hardware.

3. MP no longer displays TV recordings which I have already started watching in light grey; they look the same as all the others. Only those I started watching before upgrading to 1.20 show in light grey.

They have changed the marking of watched recordings functionality:

MediaPortal 1.20 Release - MEDIAPORTAL

• Rework watched status of recordings **
• Rework MyVideo reset watched status **

** With these new functions you get a display of watched status/watched percentage in TV/Radio recordings (similar as in MyVideos). Additionally, you may even reset the watched count to 0 (zero) if wanted. The skin DefaultWideHD already contains the necessary skin changes.

This really messed with my marbles and I tried reverting at some point because I didn't like the new way it worked. However, after reading another post on the forums I realised that it now works like watching videos and only marks a recording as watched at 95% watched. You can revert this by changing the settings in videos on the MedialPortal Client Configuration. I set my recordings to watched at 5% I think.

I think it is covered in this thread:

Recorded TV - Watched status is not updated

Hope the above helps?


I must point out that I haven't tried upgrading to 1.21 pre-release as I have enough issues as it is and I don't think these specific issues have been addressed in that version?

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rsbrux]

Thanks for your confirmation and especially for the tips about the changes in watched recordings, which actually make sense to me! Obviousl, I should have read the release notes more carefully! ;-}
I have rolled back to 1.18 because of the hang on startup without monitor issue, and find that the LCD display still looks funny, so perhaps my memory of a uniformly bright display was from an even earlier version. Since you didn't have the startup problems in 1.19, I will try upgrading to that.
Happy New Year!

 

[rahewitt]

I have rolled back to 1.18 because of the hang on startup without monitor issue, and find that the LCD display still looks funny, so perhaps my memory of a uniformly bright display was from an even earlier version. Since you didn't have the startup problems in 1.19, I will try upgrading to that.
Happy New Year!

Hi, Now I'm not totally sure the start-up issue was with 1.20, as I upgraded twice in succession. 1.18 - 1.19 - 1.20 I don't want you to mess up your installation.

 

[CyberSimian]

If MP starts when the attached monitor is off (e.g. to update program guide), it hangs on startup.

I think (not sure) that MP 1.21p includes further work to cure this (or similar) problems. So it may be worthwhile trying MP 1.21p, if you have not yet exhausted all of your patience.

If MP 1.21p does not solve your problem, the workaround is probably not to leave the MP client running when you sleep or hibernate your system. This is how I use my HTPC, and I do not encounter these problems.

Remember that you can customise your remote control so that a button displays the "Exit" dialogue to close MP and exit to the Windows desktop. You can also use the START button on the remote to start MP from the Windows desktop.

If there are other members in the household, it may be difficult to train them to remember to use the HTPC in this way , so this suggestion is merely a workaround and not the solution.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[rahewitt]

I think (not sure) that MP 1.21p includes further work to cure this (or similar) problems. So it may be worthwhile trying MP 1.21p, if you have not yet exhausted all of your patience.

Hi CyberSimian,

I can confirm that upgrading to 1.21pre fixes this start-up issue. I decided to bite the bullet and go for it, after all it couldn't make things worse, could it...?

It has also fixed the issue reported elsewhere in this forum with the scrolling up and down through upcoming episodes causing a recording to start or stop. It's also fixed a volume control appearing every time I pressed a key on the remote, not seen this reported anywhere. So all round a great update.

I'm also impressed with the new display of watched progress on recordings - great work.

Richard

 

[rsbrux]

I have since upgraded to 1.23. The problem with hanging on startup with main display turned off is no longer reliably reproducible, as it was earlier, but that may have to do with my changed A/V setup. My HTPC is no longer directly plugged into my TV via HDMI, but into my A/V receiver. The TV was turned off completely when not in use, but the A/V receiver is usually on standby. IAC. I have experienced the problem once (logs attached).