Video playback drops back to menu after 30 seconds (approx)

[ant_tm]

I am having a problem with my XBMC Beta 1 installation. When I play a video it will often (but not always) stop the playback and return to the previous menu after slightly more than 30 seconds. When it drops out the movie or episode is marked as watched.

My system is a fresh install of Vista SP1 32bit with AnyDVD, PowerDVD, AVG and XBMC Beta 1. Hardware is an nVidia 8200 based motherboard (XFX), AMD X2 5600+ processor and 2GB RAM.

I have seen the problem with all types of files (avi/xvid, mkv 720p, iso). When it drops out like this I can restart and skip to the location and continue (the slightly more than 30 seconds means I skip to almost the right spot) but sometimes it will drop out again another 30 seconds in. On one occasion I had to restart a fourth time and skip 2 minutes in before it would continue without problems.

Some (purely subjective) observations;
- it seems to happen more with High Qualitty Software Upscaling enabled
- it seems to happen more when I skip over opening credits

Debug log of one such dropout can be found here - http://pastebin.com/m14069fb7

Ant_tm

[darren]

My System is Vista Business SP1 in 64bit, Nivda 9300GS 256MB.

I had same issues. only for High Qualitty Movie. Some AVI with Low qualitty is no problme.

I found a way to fix that:

XBMC -> System Config->Video ->Advance Setting -> Buffer:

Change "Video/music/DVD" buffer from 256K to 2048K.

After that, I am able to play Blue-Ray Rip 720P 4.3GB movie without any problem.

[ant_tm]

Hi Darren - thanks for the leads. Unfortunately the cache does not resolve the issue for me. But you led me to some obserations;

1. I am using Enterprise Edition 32 bit (long story) - is it possible that something is missing from the non-home editions of Vista ?

2. I set the cache to the longest possible 4096KB from memory. When I start a video it takes a while to fill the cache but if I skip forward it starts playing instantly - even from a 10 minute skip forward that the cache could not contain.

3. If I am playing from the network and something slows network speed then rather than dropping out like this is doing it will show me a buffering message and then keep going.

4. The log I provided does show an exception which I think is the problem.

5. The files I am playing are coming from a drobo. I have tried playing when shared on my file server, shared on a droboshare or plugged in locally. Same issue comes. I will try if I cam replicate it from local SATA disk & on other usb devices.

6. I have updated to latest (178.13) drivers with no effect.

7. The timing thing is weird - it is always about 29 seconds - that is if I skip forward 3 times it will play for 29 seconds from that point before it drops out. If it does not drop out then, then it will play the entire file.

I really hope to get this resolved :)

Anthony

[ant_tm]

I just ran a few tests and came across something interesting. I ran 12 tests on various files. Every time I viewed a file from Library mode I got the drop out problem. Every time I ran with Library mode turned off I was about to play the file without problems.

This seems more than a little odd ??? but then I do not know the ins and outs of library mode. Perhaps a developer could comment ?

Thanks
Anthony

[jorgb]

Hi,

I have to agree witn ant_tm. I have watched the same AVI file outside he library mode and in library mode, and in the latter it seems to crash on a specific frame, when I am watching it outside library mode, it runs fine.

I am not sure if the library mode itself is the cause or a background thread that gets too active. I can imagine when running the library mode, more resources are used or perhaps some backgound process starts requesting info from the net.

I did had the same sudden drop of playing with an mkv before I knew of the library mode, so perhaps it is related to timing or resources?

This version of XBMC on Windows really rocks and I hope this annoying bug can be solved. Part of the log that is relevant is as follows;

16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425571840 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 3586, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425571840 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 5212, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425977344 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 2969, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425969152 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 3595, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425924096 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 2688, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425915904 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 3481, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425915904 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 3559, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425915904 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 2620, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425883136 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 3632, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425801216 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 3858, consumed: 9
16:33:50 T:1252 M:1425801216 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Decode - avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 3152, consumed: 9
16:33:51 T:1348 M:1425588224 DEBUG: CDVDPlayerAudio:: Discontinuty - was:1507708.895149, should be:1418236.368384, error:-89472.526766
16:34:18 T:1608 M:1431977984 DEBUG: SECTION:UnloadDelayed(DLL: Q:\system\ImageLib.dll)
16:34:18 T:1608 M:1431977984 DEBUG: Q:\system\ImageLib.dll (base 03310000): Detected memory leaks: 1 leaks
16:34:18 T:1608 M:1431973888 DEBUG: leak caller address 33d8ed8, size 128, counter 1
16:34:18 T:1608 M:1431973888 DEBUG: ImageLib.dll: Total bytes leaked: 128
16:34:18 T:3960 M:1433047040 ERROR: CThread::staticThread : Access violation at 0x08558b0e: Reading location 0x08558b0e
16:34:18 T:3960 M:1433047040 NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::OnExit()
16:34:18 T:3960 M:1433047040 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: eof, waiting for queues to empty
16:34:18 T:3960 M:1433047040 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: closing audio stream


Sorry for pasting the log, after careful examination this is the only relevant part.

To summarize the issue:
- It seems to happen more (if not always) in library video mode then without it
- In normal mode it seems to go ok most of the time, but mkv's (more intensive) seem to give more problems too.
- The drop is always deterministic, about 60 seconds after the play
- If I fast forward it runs ok, until 60 seconde later indicating some kind of buffer overflow

My machine is a E8200 CPU (2,4 Ghz dual core) with 4 Gb of ram, multimedia ASUS motherboard, and can run mkv files and perform a heavy backup without breaking a sweat or a stutter in the image, so I am pretty sure it is related to management of buffers or resources inside xbmc

If I need to perform more tests to find the problem, please contact me directly: jorgb@xs4all.nl

Once again, I love XBMC, it is the best piece of media software around and I am looking forward to the next release (using the Atlantis release now) ..

- Jorgen

[ant_tm]

Thanks for the confirmation Jorgen - nice to know I am not going nuts :)

I see some similarity between your posted log and mine - the CDVDPlayerAudio:: Discontinuty and the ImageLib.dll memory leak for example.

It's odd that you're getting it regularly at 60 seconds while I get it regularly at 30 seconds. Out of interest what OS and graphics chipset are you using ?

Agreed on the rocking of XBMC for Windows :)

Anthony

[jorgb]

Hi ant_tm,

My system is Vista SP1, I use an ATI Sapphire PCIe card. Not too fancy, but what might be the expanation is that I increased the video buffer with twice the size. It might need some experimenting if it is made 4 times as large or 2 times as small to see if the time it needs to drop also changes.

Regards,
- Jorgen

[ant_tm]

I just wanted to confirm that the issue is still there with Beta 2. :sad:

ant_tm

[calvinf]

There is already a thread about this problem here:

http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36502

Unfortunately, judging by the number of replies, it seems very few people are in this position!

To summarise the problems I was seeing. I installed Beta 2 on two IDENTICAL model / spec / batch machines and the "cleaner" machine of the two experienced problems, whilst the other didn't!

The problem was happening on SMB share (both IP address mapped and mapped via windows) for standard def files and also locally stored high def files.

After a full uninstall and delete of any left over XBMC folders, the problems appeared to go away. I upgraded to the test version with lower CPU usage at idle, but have yet to see if the problem has come back or is still resolved.

[ant_tm]

Hi Calvin. Thanks for the pointer - I had not seen that.

However I do not think the problem being reported at the beginning of that thread is the same problem. The symptom of dropping out of video playback is the same but there is no mention of the consistant 30 (or 60) seconds and the error log provided there is obviously SMBclient related - hence it is fixed for them when they map the source as a drive letter.

Can you confirm if you are getting the same symptoms as Jorgen and I ? The 30 seconds (or 60), the same messages in the logs, seeing it whether local or network mapped file and (almost) never seing it if not in library mode ?

Can you provide some details of your configuration ? Any matches with what I detailed in the original message in this thread ?

Thanks
Ant_tm

[RickDeckard]

I can confirm I am seeing the same problem. On some movies I can predict exactly the moment at which they are going to stop playing and kick back to the menu - which is about 30 seconds after starting the movie.
It happens in about 90% of the time when I start the movie, so it does not happen always. I do not see a significant difference between starting from the library or folder view, though. Also, I have only seen it happen on 1080p H.264 MKV files.

Here is an extract of the debug log file: http://pastebin.com/m5c65fd87

In summary, I also see similar errors as reported above:

22:00:53 T:3956 M:1287372800 DEBUG: Q:\system\ImageLib.dll (base 08240000): Detected memory leaks: 1 leaks
22:00:53 T:3956 M:1287372800 DEBUG: leak caller address 8308ed8, size 128, counter 1
22:00:53 T:3956 M:1287372800 DEBUG: ImageLib.dll: Total bytes leaked: 128
22:00:53 T:1200 M:1288400896 ERROR: CThread::staticThread : Access violation at 0x616c5044: Reading location 0x616c5044

My Setup:
- Pentium Dual Core E2180 (OC'ed to 2.8 GHz)
- Vista SP1
- Geforce 9600GT with latest drivers

I noticed there are a few threads dealing with this problem, could they be merged so we can coordinate efforts in getting this sorted out?

[cfsnatch]

Sorry - tried to delete this post.

[calvinf]

I am seeing the same errors, extracts from log here as examples:

Upon start of playback, many of these:
14:48:26 T:916 M:1143242752 WARNING: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg:: Decode -
avcodec_decode_video didn't consume the full packet. size: 54, consumed: 0

Then:
14:48:27 T:468 M:1143259136 DEBUG: Surface::CSurface::Flip - missed
requested swap, increasing swaptime to 38183
14:48:27 T:2740 M:1145602048 DEBUG: CDVDPlayerAudio:: Discontinuty -
was:2005998.579255, should be:1992619.566988, error:-13379.012267
14:48:29 T:468 M:1145540608 DEBUG: CApplication::OnKey: 61517 pressed, action is 24
14:48:29 T:468 M:1145012224 DEBUG: Alloc resources: 2.12ms (0.00 ms skin load, 0.30 ms preload)

And as it crashes:
14:48:55 T:468 M:1142042624 DEBUG: SECTION:UnloadDelayed(DLL:
Q:\system\ImageLib.dll)
14:48:55 T:468 M:1142042624 DEBUG: Q:\system\ImageLib.dll (base 07F30000):
Detected memory leaks: 1 leaks
14:48:55 T:468 M:1142042624 DEBUG: leak caller address 7ff8ed8, size
128, counter 1
14:48:55 T:468 M:1142042624 DEBUG: ImageLib.dll: Total bytes leaked: 128
14:48:55 T:2016 M:1143119872 ERROR: CThread::staticThread : Access
violation at 0x00000029: Reading location 0x00000029
14:48:55 T:2016 M:1143119872 NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::OnExit()
14:48:55 T:2016 M:1143119872 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: eof, waiting for queues to empty
14:48:55 T:2016 M:1143119872 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: closing audio stream
14:48:55 T:2016 M:1143115776 NOTICE: Closing audio stream
14:48:55 T:468 M:1143250944 DEBUG: SECTION:UnloadDelayed(SECTION: LCODE)

The ONLY thing that has changed in my install since it was apparently working, is that the my library has been updated with coverart etc scraped from IMDB.

The above extracts are from a 1080p file stored locally, but it's also happening with SD content played over the SMB.

EDIT: C2D T8100 (2.1GHz), Nvidia 8400M GT, 2GB RAM, Vista Home Premium

[calvinf]

Has anyone got ideas as to the problem or solution for what we're experiencing?

[Peter_T]

Nope, but I'm definitely seeing th eproblem, too... I can FF through the "stop" point... weird.

[calvinf]

Really? and it doesn't just quit back to the menu after you've past that point, 30 seconds later?

If I start playback at the beginning of the file, or further in, it will still quit back to menu...and some times it doesn't happen at all, but plays fine (sometimes this will be after a few restarts of XBMC).

[The_Dogg]

I have the same problem, a 720p mkv file only plays for 30 secs, the file is local on the computer, and i have the issue with SD files over samba.

weird thing is if I try to load the same 720p mkv over the network I can play it correctly.

[hastarin]

I'm also getting this problem, though it's rare.

I can mention that I've had it happen on the same file once when I started watching it and then again when I resumed it from the position I stopped it at. Both times it happened after approximately 30 seconds of play.

After the second time I had to start the file from the start again and skip to just before it stopped. It played through that section fine, so it wouldn't seem to be related to any sort of encoding issue.

If I get a chance I'll try to get some logs next time it happens.

PS I found a possibly related thread with the same issue in XBMC for XBox, so this may be a common problem, not just Windows specific.

See http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=21684

[Chambers]

Same thing happens to me as well in file mode, doesn't happen often but it does happen. I just re-play the file again and FF through the stop point and it works. So although annoying, it happens rarely and isn't too big of a deal for me yet.

[tachikoma1373]

I'm getting the same issue with beta 2.

I'm running the new ffmpeg libs (from the sticky)
Only happens (so far) when in library mode.
Very rare in PM3 HD skin
Happens more often with complex skins e.g. medistream (0.95) and aeon (alpha 14).
Predominantly happens with 720/1080 .mkv files but does occsionally happen with .avi (divv and xvid).
On some occasions (pretty much always with .avi files) simply restarting results in continued playback but with .mkv this has never worked - stops in the same place again.
Does not happen with DVD playback, either from disc or from HDD (copied floder structure).
All files played from server share (have tried increasing cache size as per thread and no differnce)


System: Gigabyte 780G board (onboard graphics), 2GB RAM, Vista SP1 fully patched, ATI Catalyst 8.10

Hope this helps. I will continue experimenting and see whats in the logs.

[hastarin]

I've set loglevel to 1 and just had a repeat of the problem.

Video playback of a standard divx in library mode using MediaStream skin. Stopped at 60 seconds (replayed the video to roughly where I remember it dropping out so may not be exact to the seond) playback. I have the default buffers set and am on a LAN connection playing files off a mapped network drive (since I can't get SMB working at all from Vista to Vista).

The last few lines of the log are available here:
http://pastebin.com/f1eb58b6b

Hope this helps.

Given a few people are experiencing this I thought I'd open a ticket on it. I hope I haven't jumped the gun there:
http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/5213

[PiXeL16]

Sign me up for the problem, I was only happening for 1080p movies.
I try playig with the cache, and put it on 2048. I could watch the 1080p movie, but then I boot again XMBC and now cant watch any movie, every movie stop playing after 30 seconds.
I try reinstalling it, and deleting the appdata folder with no luck. Anything else I can delete to make a clean install?
I am loosing my mind here.....:(

[tslayer]

I've set loglevel to 1 and just had a repeat of the problem.

Video playback of a standard divx in library mode using MediaStream skin. Stopped at 60 seconds (replayed the video to roughly where I remember it dropping out so may not be exact to the seond) playback. I have the default buffers set and am on a LAN connection playing files off a mapped network drive (since I can't get SMB working at all from Vista to Vista).

The last few lines of the log are available here:
http://pastebin.com/f1eb58b6b

Hope this helps.

Given a few people are experiencing this I thought I'd open a ticket on it. I hope I haven't jumped the gun there:
http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/5213


It doesn't help if you cut your log. Paste full log.

[PiXeL16]

Any other folder or file I should delete to make super clean install?
I deleted APPdata folder, and program files folder.

[PiXeL16]

Also I can confirm that from non library, it plays fine, even 1080p... wierd...
Help??

[hastarin]

It doesn't help if you cut your log. Paste full log.

Sorry I didn't think to make a copy of the log. I will next time it happens, though I will remove it scanning my entire library. :rolleyes:

[ikons]

deleted

[hastarin]

It doesn't help if you cut your log. Paste full log.

Full log (minus the library scan) can be seen here:
http://pastebin.com/fe838c74

[americantabloid]

Are you all on Vista SP1?

Regards
at

[stardog05]

I am having the same problem and am in vista sp1. I'll see if I can put up a log post after work tonight.

[tslayer]

May be possibly related to http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/4520

Can some of you please test the exes that jmarshal has attached there and then report results?

Thanks.

[PiXeL16]

I test it as soon as I get home.
And yes I am on Vista SP1 ultimate x64

[calvinf]

May be possibly related to http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/4520

Can some of you please test the exes that jmarshal has attached there and then report results?

Thanks.

Tested playback of a handfulof files and had no problems at all. I then closed XBMC and re-opened it to try a couple of files again and had no problems.

Of course, this was only a short test, but right now I'm not seeing the same "30 second bug".

[WiSo]

I've tested in release and debug mode but can't reproduce this bug (XP Sp3).
All dlls are unloaded fine during playback. weird ???

[tslayer]

Must be a vista only issue.

[WiSo]

Don't think so I've seen reports for vista too afaik. I'll test this issue later on my vista laptop.

[calvinf]

Must be a vista only issue.

I'm certainly running Vista myself, but it doesn't seem to be an issue that affects all Vista users (and doesn't affect an identical PC I've installed XBMC on).

I will test more files tomorrow to see if the problem really has gone. Though the first file I test upon boot is always the same and - since this problem arose - has never gone past 28-29 seconds, but this time it has been absolutely fine (along with other files). I played a few files through the 1 minute mark as I've seen some people talk about playback ending after 60 secs.

[hastarin]

I am currently running the latest version with extra logging to see if it happens. I did run the workaround version for a while but had other issues with that (XBMC hanging at various times, once at the end of video played).

[quebert]

happening for me too on Vista 64, I watched about 10 episodes of a TV show without a single problem. I tried 2 movies, twice each and 30 seconds in *BOOM* back to the main menu. TV shows are fine though. The movies aren't even 720p, just regular DiVX.

[RickDeckard]

May be possibly related to http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/4520

Can some of you please test the exes that jmarshal has attached there and then report results?

Thanks.

I just tried the workaround exe that is attached to that ticket and I am glad to report that the problem I reported in post 11 of this thread has disappeared.

I tried a few times with a movie that was consistently exhibiting the problem so it seems that the workaround indeed fixes the root cause of this issue.

[americantabloid]

I've tested in release and debug mode but can't reproduce this bug (XP Sp3).
All dlls are unloaded fine during playback. weird ???

Hi Wiso, I have tried running in release and debug mode under my Vista x86 Sp1 laptop and can't get my issue to show it self in either. If I do regular run under the same computer, the issue is highly reproduceble.

Since my issue (ticket 4520) shows the same error in log file, I just thought you should know.

I can't reproduce my issue on two of my other winxp (sp2 and sp3) system, but on another Vista system it's occurs when running in normal mode (not under VS2008).

Regards
at

[PiXeL16]

I had this problem started happening after I made some changes in the buffer, I set it back to normal, but still had the problems.
I know, weird....
Vista 64 bits here.
I did a system restore, to before the changes, reinstall XMBC, and everything is back to normal. Maybe this help. But I guess if the attached Dlls work, you better try them first.!

[WiSo]

Tested it on Vista 32Bit. Also no problem during unloading dlls and the video plays fine.

[quebert]

I have figured something out with my case, if I reboot and run XBMC right when Vista has loaded, it seems to work. I watched a movie last night. But right before the reboot it was dropping back to the main menu. I did this 3 times yesterday, where it wasn't playing my content correctly, and rebooted and running XBMC immidaetly seemed to work. Then when I'd try XBMC again after a few hours I'd have to reboot again. I don't even know what to think. But does this work for anyone else? Makes no sense, but I've duplicated it 4 times. I would say the problem is definitly a buffer issue. 480 content seems to play about 30 seconds, 720/1080p I'm lucky to get 10 seconds.

very weird :(

[calvinf]

I have figured something out with my case, if I reboot and run XBMC right when Vista has loaded, it seems to work. But does this work for anyone else?(

Before making the changes posted here this didn't work for me - I was testing files as soon as the machine had booted and XBMC has run from the startup folder.

To confirm, since my last post I've used XBMC a couple more times and had no problems with playing files. In my case the fix seems to have resolved the issue and not yet noticed any other problems crop up as a consequence.

[calvinf]

Devs, do you know if this fix is going to be going into SVN yet? (No problems for me as yet) or at least whether it will go into the next release? (btw, when is the next release due?)

[WiSo]

How shall we put a fix in svn if we can't reproduce it nor know the cause?
We have to find out what you all have in common because it works fine for me on XP and Vista.

[calvinf]

How shall we put a fix in svn if we can't reproduce it nor know the cause?
We have to find out what you all have in common because it works fine for me on XP and Vista.

Since the fix I've used is from:

http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/4520

I don't know anything about the origins of that ticket, but has the fix worked for the issues it was originally addressing? and will it go into SVN on the back of that?

If so, then - whether we know why the issues in this thread are occurring or not (I know - that's a very short term view) - it could be that we won't see this 30 second problem in future builds...even though a fix specifically for this problem hasn't been implemented.

Is the ImageLib.dll related to the Pure Virtual Function Call?

There seemed to be more people posting with the 30 second problem before the potential "fix" was posted in this thread. I guess it would be good if everyone that had the problem could try this fix and post back the results (maybe more have tried and not posted back to say it's fixed?.

My system specs are in my sig - if there's anything else you need to know to find the common denominator please let me know. BTW, not much else runs or is even installed on my system - I used to use iRSS, but now use EventGhost.

[WiSo]

Unfortunately this isn't a fix but a test build to see if we can narrow down the problem. It works for some but not for other so it seems we have different problems here. As said unloading the imagelib.dll never caused any exception on my systems tested on two XP SP3 systems and one Vista SP1 32Bit system.

[calvinf]

Unfortunately this isn't a fix but a test build to see if we can narrow down the problem. It works for some but not for other so it seems we have different problems here.

Oh I see - that's a shame, as whatever the test build did worked for my problem!

If there are any tests I can carry out (a script that specifically loads / unloads ImageLib.dll?) I'll be happy to revert to standard Beta 2 and provide logs.

[WiSo]

If there are any tests I can carry out (a script that specifically loads / unloads ImageLib.dll?) I'll be happy to revert to standard Beta 2 and provide logs.

Yes please post your findings with beta2 and the tests build (with logfile) to the ticket. This might help us to hopefully find something.

[calvinf]

Yes please post your findings with beta2 and the tests build (with logfile) to the ticket. This might help us to hopefully find something.

XBMC now seems to be totally crashing after approx 30 secs without the workaround, no idea why since it used to just quit back to the menu and I've changed nothing else.

Here's the log without workaround posted in this thread:
http://pastebin.com/m164b9120

And here's the log with the workaround:
http://pastebin.com/mf4b727d

Hope this helps. Let me know if any other tests will help - the sole purpose of the machine is to run XBMC, so everything else should remain constant in any tests I do.

EDIT: I previously posted extracts of a log when it was crashing back to the menu (file browser)...here's the end of one of those logs from a couple of weeks ago:
http://pastebin.com/m23da7bb3

[RickDeckard]

Yes please post your findings with beta2 and the tests build (with logfile) to the ticket. This might help us to hopefully find something.

I also just added my debug logs with the extended logging exe to the trac ticket. Hopefully the devs can find a fix for this. ATM the workaround exe works great, but of course I would like to be able to use the final Atlantis release when it becomes available.

If I understand correctly, the cause of the problem is the dll responsible for showing the fanart/poster image associated to the movie rather than the movieplayer itself?

If so, could it be that the imagelib.dll fails to unload after showing some images, but not others? I ask this because I only get this particular problem on some movies (with fanart/poster image shown), but for these movies where it occurs it does predictably so.

Could someone who reported no issues with the imagelib.dll unloading try to rename a movie so XBMC thinks it's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (one of the movies that almost always causes this problem for me) and let XBMC get the poster and fan art. Then try to play the movie a few times and see if it stops playing after 30 secs?

[jmarshall]

calvinf: Was it you that had a simple way to always reproduce this by playing a certain file? If so, have you distributed said file for others to test with?

[calvinf]

If I understand correctly, the cause of the problem is the dll responsible for showing the fanart/poster image associated to the movie rather than the movieplayer itself?

Rick, I think you and I should rename a problem video file and NOT get IMDB info, then try to play back. Then do an IMDB lookup and try to play back once again? I'll try this myself tomorrow.

Further to your post, the obvious question to you is, if you rename your Indiana Jones file to something else ("Video" for example) does the problem still occur? Is Indiana Jones HD / SD, locally stored / SMB, XviD / DVD / MKV, do you have any similar files (eg same res / bitrate / residing in same folder) that reliably DO NOT cause crashing? I have no idea if these questions are relevant to our problem, but might help the devs in narrowing down.

jmarshall: I simply use the same file to test every time, but that's only because I tried it so many times that I know where I expect it to crash without watching the timer! To be honest, it reliably happens with any of the HD files I play back (all locally stored) and also happens to SD content over SMB. I haven't distributed it (not sure what the copyright issues might be) - is there a mechanism for this in trac or somewhere else?

EDIT: Just reading through the trac ticket referenced earlier in this thread (http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/4520) I'd like to point out that I was experiencing problems with IMDB scraping, but ended up scanning bits of my library in at a time (to prevent losing too much upon crashing / freezing). I did start a thread about this at the time, but unfortunately there didn't seem to be many others in the same boat at that time. I can't say with 100% certainty, but I think I've scanned entire folders on an automated scan since without problems. I've never had problems just calling "info" on movies without plots / cover art - purely with the initial automated scan, after doing "set content".

[benjammin_72]

Brand new Dell hybrid, with Vist Prof Home.
Installed XMBC, worked fine. Installed Aeon + Horizon.
Big problems with getting library to work on TVshows or else works fine.

Could not find any episodes etc. After fiddeling aroud for a long time libary seem to get along.

Everything worked fine until library came along. Nothing else is changed on the machine.

Now, I cannot play MVK x264 or HDTV material. It hangs after about 30 -60 secs. This is for every file that has HDcontent. Can reproduce if needed.

-- UPDATE ---

im thinking this has *something* to do with a corrupt library...

Manually deleted the databasefiles.
Now all previous problem files works fine.

Allthough, i dont have a library anymore... :p

[calvinf]

im thinking this has *something* to do with a corrupt library...

Manually deleted the databasefiles.
Now all previous problem files works fine.

Allthough, i dont have a library anymore... :p

I've cleared all my user data out a couple of times and installed XBMC from scratch, re-scanning library, but since Beta 1 this problem kept coming back. When I did have problems with automated scan, it wouldn't always freeze on the same file either.

Have you tried the workaround in trac? It definitely seems to have worked for some of us.

[benjammin_72]

I guess I'm not to bright since i did not understand how to use the workaround.

Its a an xbmc.exe file and a diff. file, but just replacing the xbmc.exe just gives me a windows runtime error and the program wont even start... :-/

Please enlighten.. :-)

[jmarshall]

Just to be clear:

This has nothing to do with scanning or the library. It merely crops up more in library view as you have fanart and the like which ensures the imagelib is loaded at the time you start playing videos.

[PiXeL16]

Did you guys tried the attached Exe in the post?
It completely resolved the problem for me!

[calvinf]

I guess I'm not to bright since i did not understand how to use the workaround.

Its a an xbmc.exe file and a diff. file, but just replacing the xbmc.exe just gives me a windows runtime error and the program wont even start... :-/

Please enlighten.. :-)

Have you also dropped the diff file into the same directory as XBMC.exe?


Just to be clear:

This has nothing to do with scanning or the library. It merely crops up more in library view as you have fanart and the like which ensures the imagelib is loaded at the time you start playing videos.

So ImageLib is specifically to do with fanart? If this is the case, should selecting fanart "none" also resolve the issue? I certainly use fanart in file view (which I always use).

[jmarshall]

ImageLib is used for loading fanart images and any other large images, as well as for generating thumbs and so on. Basically any operation other than loading skin images and pre-cached thumb images. It could also be used for thumb images if the skinner chooses to use certain controls to do so.

[calvinf]

Thanks for clarifying jmarshall - I'll rename a file tonight so that there's no thumbnail or fanart associated with it and test, just to make sure there's nothing really screwy going on.

[benjammin_72]

[QUOTE=calvinf;238440]Have you also dropped the diff file into the same directory as XBMC.exe?


Yes, it crashes so bad that if i try to replace the patched .exe file with the
old one it still does not run.

Just pops up win a windows runtime error box... :-/


Perhaps i should move to XP.....

[calvinf]

I've no idea what the workaround actually does so can't really comment why that happens to you. I expect you can do a reinstall, keeping your userdata directory and be back to where you were before trying the workaround...

Since the XBMC.exe and diff file are isolated files, I wouldn't have thought they change anything else to stop you reverting? I can certainly happily change from the XBMC.exe for workaround and back without any problems (ie exhibiting 30 sec problem with standard exe and fixed with workaround).

[Bender]

Hi, new to this forum but used XBMC since it went beta.
The problem you guys describe has also reached me and i can reproduce it when i want.

It seems when i use the mediastream (0.95) skin it happens almost every time (9 out of 10) and when i use Project Mahem Skin, no jumping back to the menu.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers..

[RickDeckard]

I have been trying out different settings for two hours and have some more findings. I now have a scenario where I can reproduce this in 90%+ of all attempts:
- first, make sure fanart is shown on file or library view (skin seems irrelevant, it happens on both mediastream and pm3.hd)
- then, launch XBMC - make sure at that time there is no automatic addition to the library, cause that seems to prevent the problem for arising in some cases. If there is an addition to the library, just restart XBMC once more
- navigate to the movies view (with fanart shown)
- launch a movie (it doesn't seem to matter which one)

... and presto.

I have to add all my movies are 1080p H.264 MKV files. The issue doesn't seem to happen with the tv shows that I have, which are 720p H.264 MKV files. Could also be because of different handling of TV and movie files, but I don't know the inner workings of XBMC so really can't say much about that.

Further to your post, the obvious question to you is, if you rename your Indiana Jones file to something else ("Video" for example) does the problem still occur?

Tried that and then the problem does not occur. Also, if I disable fan art and then play a file that would otherwise exhibit the issue it never does.

Is Indiana Jones HD / SD, locally stored / SMB, XviD / DVD / MKV, do you have any similar files (eg same res / bitrate / residing in same folder) that reliably DO NOT cause crashing? I have no idea if these questions are relevant to our problem, but might help the devs in narrowing down.

Both local files and files accessed through SMB suffer from this. Haven't tried SD content yet, just 720p/1080p HD.

[RickDeckard]

calvinf: Was it you that had a simple way to always reproduce this by playing a certain file? If so, have you distributed said file for others to test with?

That might be me you're referring to.

I have a 100 MB 1 minute clip with which I can reproduce the problem. It's copyrighted, so I don't really want to make it available publicly. I am willing to upload it to people's FTP site if they send me a PM. Preferably to one of you devs, cause if you could reproduce it, it might actually be the easiest path to getting it fixed.

I don't suppose I can attach the clip to the trac ticket?

[calvinf]

For those that weren't following the TRAC ticket, this workaround has been included in the latest builds. Thanks to jmarshall for making XBMC for Vista usable for me again!

I can confirm that SVN Rev 16103 works absolutely fine for me, with no workarounds. Download is linked to from:

http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35452&page=13

[fidoboy]

I've downloaded SVN 16103 and after some time the movie is stopped and xbmc returns to the menu.. (tested with 720p mkv file)

[ilikecl]

I've downloaded SVN 16103 and after some time the movie is stopped and xbmc returns to the menu.. (tested with 720p mkv file)

I've also tried SVN 16103, and video stops after about 30 seconds and freezes. Trying to play a 175MB XviD file over a wireless network served from a NAS box. Streams fine in MCE. Also, another computer connected wirelessly on the same network plays the file fine in XBMC. :(

[calvinf]

I shall test again tonight too - I only tried to playback files once or twice, which would usually be enough to show the problem, but you've got me doubting that it was a true representation now! The PC hadn't just booted when I tested this time, though that shouldn't make any difference.

Did both of you have the problem before? What do your debug logs say?

[jmarshall]

Note that the workaround was placed into the 8.10 branch only. It is not in the linuxport branch, as it's not a true fix to the underlying problem.

[calvinf]

Note that the workaround was placed into the 8.10 branch only. It is not in the linuxport branch, as it's not a true fix to the underlying problem.

Does this mean that the workaround will be included in the next release, or just that it will be available from SVN to be manually applied?

Were my previous logs any help in getting any further info as to what the problem is?

If I do not have any problems tonight with the latest SVN build I will check the logs and put on pastebin.

If it's an ongoing problem I might consider "downgrading" to XP, though that's not going to help others that are experiencing it.

[RickDeckard]

Note that the workaround was placed into the 8.10 branch only. It is not in the linuxport branch, as it's not a true fix to the underlying problem.

So if I understand correctly this means that this problem will only be "circumvented" in the 8.10 final release, but all future svn builds and 9.04 alphas/betas will still suffer from it unless the root cause is fixed somewhere along the way?

[ilikecl]

Did both of you have the problem before? What do your debug logs say?

I had this problem before SVN 16103 and was hopeful that it would fix it, but it didn't. I don't have debug logs right now, but hopefully I can try to get it tonight.

The weird thing is I have XBMC on a separate build (I have 2 HTPC machines) that had the same problem previously. Both builds are Vista32SP1. One of them streams the file fine, while the other has this problem.

The working one, that had this issue before, the only thing I changed was install VLC and gave it a static internal network IP. It also has an Nvidia video card.

The problem machine won't play the file over wireless, wireless bridge, or wired. I tried the exact same steps, but no joy. This one has an ATI video card.

So I am not entirely sure what the problem is, but can try to get debug logs if that will help.

In the meantime, using MCE has really got me bummed out! :p

[calvinf]

OK, so I tried it out again this evening and indeed the problem is still there - sorry if I got anyone's hopes up!

Have no idea why it didn't happen last night - the only difference was that I'd used the PC for some web browsing for around an hour before testing XBMC, tried the usual file a couple of times, then one or two over SMB and presumed it was fixed.

So I reapplied the old workaround (replaced xbmc.exe and added the .diff file) and it's all working again and plays through at least a minute with no issues. I have no idea whether I'll experience any side effects of running the latest SVN with that patch of an older SVN version or not though.

ilikecl, have you tried the workaround? I know how frustrating MCE is and refuse to use it myself!

jmarshall, grateful if you could let us know how to get hold of the updated workaround? - afraid I don't really know the difference between 8.1 and linuxport branches and what that means for future releases...?

[tslayer]

He already mentioned that he put it in the 8.10 branch.. Not in the linuxport branch.

[calvinf]

He already mentioned that he put it in the 8.10 branch.. Not in the linuxport branch.

Understand that, but I don't really have a grasp of what the difference is (I thought that linuxport was the basis for all versions, including Windows?)...

What confused me was jmarshall's note on TRAC that it had gone in prior to SVN 1603, hence I assumed that SVN 1603 would contain the workaround, since it's essentially an early build of the next release?

From your comments, I'm guessing that the SVN 1603 downloaded from the other thread is not based on branch 8.10, but the next release will be? So is what RickDeckard's last post said the case?

Apologies, as I clearly don't know how everything fits together and am sure there are others reading this forum that would benefit from a better understanding too.

Final question - have any devs been able to glean anything from the logs posted in this thread? if not, how can we help to move this forward by providing info to get to the root cause? I really would like to help get this resolved instead of installing XP, as for anyone experiencing this XBMC is not usable...

[ilikecl]

ilikecl, have you tried the workaround? I know how frustrating MCE is and refuse to use it myself!


I have not tried the workaround with SVN 1603 yet, but I tried it with an earlier release and still had the same problem.

I will try the workaround with SVN 1603 tonight and report back. Thanks!

[tslayer]

A new branch was recently created for 8.10. The change jmarshal did went into that branch and not linuxport branch. Not sure how much clearer that can be...

You would need to checkout that new branch to have it.

[ilikecl]

I have not tried the workaround with SVN 1603 yet, but I tried it with an earlier release and still had the same problem.

I will try the workaround with SVN 1603 tonight and report back. Thanks!

Still didn't work with the workaround from jmarshall. Here's my logs attached. Hopefully someone can make heads or tails of it!

Thanks!

http://pastebin.com/m6d4c745b

[jmarshall]

Two points:

1. That's not current SVN (built oct 20 according to your log).
2. This is not the issue that I addressed. Yours is dereferencing a NULL pointer - quite a different scenario. Possibly reproducible based on the video - I don't know.

[ilikecl]

Two points:

1. That's not current SVN (built oct 20 according to your log).
2. This is not the issue that I addressed. Yours is dereferencing a NULL pointer - quite a different scenario. Possibly reproducible based on the video - I don't know.

Hi jmarshall,

That log was from the workaround exe that was posted here: http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/4520

I also tried SVN 16103 from here, but don't have a log: http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35452&page=13

Neither fixed the issue. Are these the right files I should be trying with?

Thanks!

[jmarshall]

As I said, it's no surprise it didn't fix your issue, as your issue is something entirely different. You need to get it reproducible, then find out WHY it's happening (is it dependent on the video? Is it dependent on what you do when you play the video etc. etc.)

[ilikecl]

As I said, it's no surprise it didn't fix your issue, as your issue is something entirely different. You need to get it reproducible, then find out WHY it's happening (is it dependent on the video? Is it dependent on what you do when you play the video etc. etc.)

It happens with every video I try to play, regardless of the format. It is reproducible, happens every time without fail. It happens on clean installs as well. I do not do anything particular before playing the video. Happens in both file and library mode.

[ikons]

Here is a build from the 8.10_Atlantis-linux-osx-win32 branch. It's my first build from source ever, but for me it works.

XBMCSetup-Rev16102.exe (http://www.mediafire.com/?ymnnnijflzi)

[ikons]

And here is an actual svn build from the main tree with added workaround from jmarshall (link (http://xbmc.org/trac/changeset/16097)).

XBMCSetup-Rev16136.exe (http://www.mediafire.com/?zinyqtdjzzc)

[rock99rock]

I am also experiencing this issue. Vista Ultimate 64bit. Please let me know what i can do to help.

[ikons]

If someone interested, there are newer builds in my MediaFire folder (look at my signature). All build with jmarshall's workaround :).

[jmarshall]

All: If you were having (or are having) this problem with the main linuxport branch, please try out ikons win32dllloader build, referenced above in his sig and let me know how it goes. The faster we get this resolved the better!

Thanks,
Jonathan

[ikons]

For me the problem is fixed with the win32dllloader build :grin::nod:!

[WiSo]

people with python problems might also want to test this build.
It contains a new python24.dll from source and hopefully it fixes some issues here too.

[calvinf]

All: If you were having (or are having) this problem with the main linuxport branch, please try out ikons win32dllloader build, referenced above in his sig and let me know how it goes. The faster we get this resolved the better!

Thanks,
Jonathan

Just got round to testing that build (albeit only briefly) and had no issues. I'll keep the build installed and keep checking. Would be great news if all is fixed and this can go into the main trunk!

[Jester]

@jmarshall

Is this merge ready ? I think enough people are reporting it to work

Ticket involved:
http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/4520

[Jester]

Ticket closed, patch merged, i'm doing a build now to test :)
Thanks jmarshall

[Jester]

Upped Rev16506 (build with jmarshall patches merged)

[Jester]

@jmarshall

the merge is causing the video playback to fail on this error:
12:37:25 T:3624 M:286355456 NOTICE: Creating Demuxer
12:37:25 T:3624 M:286355456 DEBUG: NativeDllLoader: Loading: C:\Program Files\XBMC\system\players\dvdplayer\avcodec-51.dll
12:37:25 T:3624 M:286355456 ERROR: NativeDllLoader: Unable to load C:\Program Files\XBMC\system\players\dvdplayer\avcodec-51.dll

ticket:
http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/5472

[memturbo]

all I can say is THANK YOU Jester
I have tried EVERY version of XBMC nearly all the svn's in all OS's
I was having the video stopping problem but it was stopping after about 15 min

with the XBMCSetup-Rev16618-jester.exe build

EVERYTHING works perfectly even the Ninja Video plug in plays all the content
from start to finish .

[eamiryar]

Edit: posted in wrong thread.