Vista crashes in Recorded TV folder (1 Viewer)

[peter448]

TV-Server Version: 1.0.0.0 RC1 (Refresh)
MediaPortal Version: 1.0.0.0 RC1 (Refresh)
MediaPortal Skin: Blue Two
Windows Version: Vista Home Premium SP1 (vLite'd)
CPU Type: AMD Athlon LE-1600 2.20GHz
HDD: Western Digital 500GB SATA (WD5000AAKS)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 800 (2x1GB)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H rev1.0
Video Card: Integrated ATI HD-3200
Video Card Driver: 8.475
Sound Card: Integrated Realtek HD
Sound Card AC3: HDMI & SPDIF
Sound Card Driver: 1.84
1. TV Card: Leadtek Winfast DTV1000S
1. TV Card Type: DVB-T
1. TV Card Driver: 1.3.3.5
2. TV Card: Leadtek Winfast DTV1000S
2. TV Card Type: DVB-T
2. TV Card Driver: 1.3.3.5
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: Vista Codec Pack 4.6.8
MPEG2 Audio Codec: Vista Codec Pack 4.6.8
h.264 Video Codec: Vista Codec Pack 4.6.8
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: Antec NSK2480B
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote: MS 1039 RC6, MCE Replacement Driver, MCE Replacement Plugin 1.0.4.1
TV: Panasonic TH50PX70a
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI


Hi All, I have a issue with Vista and the .ts files MP creates...well that seems to be my problem...

MediaPortal is happily capturing/recording/saving the selected channel/transport stream to a .ts file in the folder I have told TV-Server to save files into.

If I exit MP, and go to that folder/location with Explorer (you know...the standard file browser) in Vista, invariably within a few seconds (may up to 12 secs) Explorer will crash.

It appears that after 2-3 seconds Vista starts to scan the files in the folder (you can see a background scanning bar going across the top in the background of the folder location). I think its something to do with Vista wanting to create those picture icons (first frame of the recording) when you have your folder option set to 'Large' icons, but even when you have folder options set to 'List' it will still crash. Maybe Vista is trying to index the file's or something else (although I've removed Windows Indexing from the OS so I don't think its that). Something to note is that the .TS files in the folder do actually get an icon created for them by the scanning if Large etc is on...so it kinda works

It doesn't seem to matter whether TV Server is doing a recording or not. I have other .avi and .mpg files in other folders that this doesn't happen to when you Explore to them, so it appears to be related to the .ts files TV-Server writes.

Does anyone know if this is a Vista issue, and if so can the 'scanning' feature be turned off in Vista (preferrably for the Recorded TV folder only). Maybe it's a CODEC issue, but I don't know how to check this...or maybe its something to do with .ts files and/or how MediaPortal write them out.

Does anyone else have the same issue with Vista?

Regards, Peter

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

If I exit MP, and go to that folder/location with Explorer (you know...the standard file browser) in Vista, invariably within a few seconds (may up to 12 secs) Explorer will crash.

Just tried this and yep explorer crashed within 3 seconds, tried repeating no problem since first time (using same VCP), just as a matter of interest, are you using the MS codecs for mpeg2, do not use ffdshow, just not a good mpeg2 codec.

You can check for codec\filter errors with filmerit (link in sig), padlock and bug button unlock repair feature.

 

[risu]

It's the Vista Codec Pack.

You can uninstall it and just then install only codecs you really need.

Or you can disable video/picture preview from explorer, your choise.

Disabling preview is somewhere in folder settings (under control panel?). Something like display icon instead of thumbnail etc.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

It's the Vista Codec Pack.

If it is, strange it only did it the once for me, plus never had this in the past, first thought was a dodgy file being read, which seems to have corrected itself.

 

[peter448]

Hi. I've been doing some more testing and am starting to get a handle on this.

Firstly, filmerit said 0 errors.

risu' comment about VCP being the issue is likely right, but I'm not at the point where I know that for sure, mainly because I have limited knowledge of VCP...BTW this issue was also there for VCP 4.6.5, as well as 4.6.8 which I'm running now...and I wouldn't know which codec's I actually need.

PD I now know how to make this happen, including when it doesn't happen. I also found that it may take up 1-2 minutes before Vista does its 'scan', not just the 'up to 12 secs' I thought originally. It isn't a corrpt file issue.

1. Close down the Explorer window to the Recorded TV files.
2. In MP do some more recordings (length of time doesn't matter). When the recordings are finished (end of program or manual stop doesn't matter), exit MP and go to the folder again in Explorer. Chances are it will crash.

It appears to be related to 'new' recordings (at first I thought it was specifically HD recordings but that is not the case). Vista seems to detect there are new 'video' files in the folder and starts to scan them...to (as far as I can tell) generate the preview which is a special cache somewhere that holds the first few frames of the recording (googled this bit of info...I don't know if it is a specific number of frames, a percentage of the number of frames or a percentage of the file size). The strange thing is that even though it crashes it still generates the preview for one or more of the files it has to do 'before' it crashes (If this was just a Vista problem I don't think any part of the preview would save, so that's why I think its something in the codec) that if it has done (or thinks it has done) the preview for all the files in the folder it needs to it doesn't scan again, so you wont get a crash again. It also seems to pick up changes to existing files, not just new files, and re-scans those as well. You can tell if the preview is done for all of the files in the folder if they have the icon is the shot of the first frame in the recording, instead of the generic MPEG icon.

BTW the crash can also occur if you just highlight/select the Record TV folder without going ito it...Vista tried to be clever I guess by assuming if you highligh it you will likely want to go into the folder.

So I put a workaround in place until I get some more time to look more closely at VCP or uninstalling it and just doing the codecs I need.

1. Made sure I had no new recordings
2. Kept going into the folder until it didn't crash anymore ie. it though it had generated all the previews.
3. Went to the top of the folder itself.
a. Select Organise, Layout and of the 3 'Pane' options only selected 'Navigation'.
b. Right click on the folder and selected Properties - Customise and made sure 'What kind of folder do you want?' had 'All Items' selected as well as a tick in 'Also apply this template to all subfolder'.
4. Go into the folder iteslf and select 'Views' then either 'Details' or 'List'.

That's it. I have been able to replicate the fualt since I did those above settings, even with new recordings...time will tell if I've been successful. As I said its only a workaround. Obviously not as 'pretty', but then if I need to go to that folder to check on/delete orphaned recordings etc I don't need it to look good.

BTW if anyone can give more details on VCP and the issue it might be causing me please post.

I also don't have a clue to work out your comment about ffdshow..although I'd like to if you can provide more info.

Regards, Peter

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

BTW if anyone can give more details on VCP and the issue it might be causing me please post.

Ok with M$ codec being used as windows default for mpeg, i do not get any thumbnails created, if i go into the VCP start menu folder, select 32bit tools\mpeg settings and change system default to ffdshow for mpeg, then i get thumbnails, strange, know this worked fine with dvr-ms files, just does not seem to for ts (even though ts recognised as mpeg).

Might delete external codecs and re-enable mce, just to check TV recordings create thumbnails there using M$ codecs.

Now using VCP4.7.0 btw and after,during recordings now cannot get explorer to throw a wobbler.