TopHouse
Following on from this thread :-
http://www.virtualdj.com/forums/76685/General_Discussion/My_Strange_Crashes.html
I can confirm that the fix re database reading in config has worked, no more crashguard. HOWEVER, it's introduced another problem that wasn't happening before.
No crashguard appears with this one, I have it set on autoplay, happily playing videos, then it will start on a new video, plays about 30 seconds or so, then the video will either A) Freeze completely but the music still playing. Or B) Freeze the video, then it sort of jumps with about 10 seconds betwen jumps, where it looks like it's showing stills from the video. When it does this I am locked out of the interface, the only solution is to close & restart VDJ. It isn't corrupt files as I can play the same video after a restart and it's fine. The freezes are just like when you do a big recurse whilst playing, but where when doing a recurse it just freezes the interface and the output screens are still fine, this one freezes the output screens as well.
Has anyone else seen this behavior?
http://www.virtualdj.com/forums/76685/General_Discussion/My_Strange_Crashes.html
I can confirm that the fix re database reading in config has worked, no more crashguard. HOWEVER, it's introduced another problem that wasn't happening before.
No crashguard appears with this one, I have it set on autoplay, happily playing videos, then it will start on a new video, plays about 30 seconds or so, then the video will either A) Freeze completely but the music still playing. Or B) Freeze the video, then it sort of jumps with about 10 seconds betwen jumps, where it looks like it's showing stills from the video. When it does this I am locked out of the interface, the only solution is to close & restart VDJ. It isn't corrupt files as I can play the same video after a restart and it's fine. The freezes are just like when you do a big recurse whilst playing, but where when doing a recurse it just freezes the interface and the output screens are still fine, this one freezes the output screens as well.
Has anyone else seen this behavior?
Inviato Sun 16 Sep 07 @ 12:34 pm
Charlie Five
Yes I am seeing similar symptoms but I believe it has something to do with the Virtual Folders. It has only happened when I am adding/using songs from my Virtual Folders.
Inviato Sun 16 Sep 07 @ 5:03 pm
Charlie Five
Check out this thread: Virtual Folders Crashing My System. Also, could you make a post in there to please? I can't further respond until someone else does.
Inviato Sun 16 Sep 07 @ 5:06 pm
TopHouse
Totally unrelated to virtual folders, I have no virtual folders in use.
Inviato Sun 16 Sep 07 @ 6:04 pm
Charlie Five
Alright. Figured I'd Throw it out there just in case. I know the type of crash you are talking about though. Its the same one I'm getting.
Inviato Sun 16 Sep 07 @ 6:45 pm
TopHouse
Seems that dev team have gone very quiet regarding these problems people are having. I can only put this down to two possible reasons. One, that they are sitting in their offices holding their heads in their hands and occasionally banging them on the table, or Two, they are busy working on ironing out these problems that are definitely apparent, and many seem very related, in fact I'd hazzard a guess that the new database system is very much a major part of the problem and has a glitch somewhere.
I hope it's the latter.
I can't help feeling that this latest release has been a step backwards and/or that it was released too early. What I can't figure is why these potential problems did not get detected by those on the beta test list, since a lot of related and similar problems started to become apparent within hours of the release.
I also think that some lessons are to be learnt here, there are a vast number of us who love this software, realise it's potential, and are more than happy to provide feedback, there are however those that would criticise what i have said above and claim I'm being a harbinger of doom and gloom, those people are seriously misguided. It is those that aren't afraid to voice their true opinions and make such comments that aid the developers of such products to see were their failings are. Although there are those who deserve a great deal of thanks for their level of service, (Norway, Cel, yes, even Cstoll ;o) ) along with all those who have written the add ons etc, the actual dev team need to understand that sometimes, to simply turn round and say:-
"sorry guys, we f*cked up somewhere, we're aware there are issues but we 'are' working on a solution, please be patient with us" and "yes, we're aware of this particular problem and yes, it is an issue we're trying to fix"
Will get them a lot more respect than keeping such a low profile and saying nothing! Don't get me wrong, I want this software to work, and i'm as defensive about it as the next guy, but please remember, there are some to whom these problems are nothing more than an annoyance, but some of us earn a living from using this software and it's letting us down.
I hope it's the latter.
I can't help feeling that this latest release has been a step backwards and/or that it was released too early. What I can't figure is why these potential problems did not get detected by those on the beta test list, since a lot of related and similar problems started to become apparent within hours of the release.
I also think that some lessons are to be learnt here, there are a vast number of us who love this software, realise it's potential, and are more than happy to provide feedback, there are however those that would criticise what i have said above and claim I'm being a harbinger of doom and gloom, those people are seriously misguided. It is those that aren't afraid to voice their true opinions and make such comments that aid the developers of such products to see were their failings are. Although there are those who deserve a great deal of thanks for their level of service, (Norway, Cel, yes, even Cstoll ;o) ) along with all those who have written the add ons etc, the actual dev team need to understand that sometimes, to simply turn round and say:-
"sorry guys, we f*cked up somewhere, we're aware there are issues but we 'are' working on a solution, please be patient with us" and "yes, we're aware of this particular problem and yes, it is an issue we're trying to fix"
Will get them a lot more respect than keeping such a low profile and saying nothing! Don't get me wrong, I want this software to work, and i'm as defensive about it as the next guy, but please remember, there are some to whom these problems are nothing more than an annoyance, but some of us earn a living from using this software and it's letting us down.
Inviato Sun 16 Sep 07 @ 7:22 pm
cstoll
TopHouse - 2 questions about some additional settings --
What are your Config -> Options settings ?
What are the Automix settings you are using ?
I know it's a loaded question but looking to help. Also, had you previously experienced the jumping automix in v4.x ?
What are your Config -> Options settings ?
What are the Automix settings you are using ?
I know it's a loaded question but looking to help. Also, had you previously experienced the jumping automix in v4.x ?
Inviato Mon 17 Sep 07 @ 4:30 pm
TopHouse
Nope, honestly cstoll, 4.3 was absolutely a dream for me, it practically NEVER glitched at all.
Can't tell you my config settings exactly as it's on the gig box, but I can safely say they are the same as my home machine which is this :-
Automix settings are at fade (skip intro/outo) fade time 8 seconds, (although it MAY be at keep intro/outro)
It doesn't seem to do it at the actual automix point as such, it does the crossfade, it starts OK, then just video freeze, sometimes it will jerk through a few frames, sometimes it will stay on the frame, but the audio keeps going.
If i say to you that it's exactly like if you do a full recurse whilst playing, where the interface screen freezes and then the recurse finishes and VDJ just carries on, during this time the external monitors keep playing video as normal. EXCEPT, with this, it's not during a recurse and the external monitors video is frozen as well as the interface. Do you know what i mean?
No crashguard or anything. BUT, as i've said above somewhere, this particular thing was NOT happening before I changed the settings listed above. In other words I've fixed one bug and introduced another simply by changing the way VDJ reads the database and tags.
Can't tell you my config settings exactly as it's on the gig box, but I can safely say they are the same as my home machine which is this :-
Automix settings are at fade (skip intro/outo) fade time 8 seconds, (although it MAY be at keep intro/outro)
It doesn't seem to do it at the actual automix point as such, it does the crossfade, it starts OK, then just video freeze, sometimes it will jerk through a few frames, sometimes it will stay on the frame, but the audio keeps going.
If i say to you that it's exactly like if you do a full recurse whilst playing, where the interface screen freezes and then the recurse finishes and VDJ just carries on, during this time the external monitors keep playing video as normal. EXCEPT, with this, it's not during a recurse and the external monitors video is frozen as well as the interface. Do you know what i mean?
No crashguard or anything. BUT, as i've said above somewhere, this particular thing was NOT happening before I changed the settings listed above. In other words I've fixed one bug and introduced another simply by changing the way VDJ reads the database and tags.
Inviato Mon 17 Sep 07 @ 5:14 pm
cstoll
Alright -- first - none those settings you changed are going to influence the symptoms you are now experiencing. If anything those settings should have helped performance. You can set the Artist/Titles one back to SMART. Leave the others the same as you are using video files and they don't have tags so no reason to attempt to read them.
OK, then lets test your theory - put the settings back to what the were and does the new problem disappear and the old issue raise it's head again?
Also, what else has been done on this machine other than VDJ being upgraded? Any new updates to the O/S? Anything different than VDJ v5 been added?
cstoll
OK, then lets test your theory - put the settings back to what the were and does the new problem disappear and the old issue raise it's head again?
Also, what else has been done on this machine other than VDJ being upgraded? Any new updates to the O/S? Anything different than VDJ v5 been added?
cstoll
Inviato Mon 17 Sep 07 @ 6:27 pm
TopHouse
I'll have to dig out the gig box and try those settings. No other things have been changed, nothing added or anything. It's a pretty dedicated machine, only really runs the OS and VDJ. I'll report back re the settings change when i can.
I am however fairly convinced that a number of these freezing issues people are having are related in some way.
In what way I haven't a clue :o)
I am however fairly convinced that a number of these freezing issues people are having are related in some way.
In what way I haven't a clue :o)
Inviato Mon 17 Sep 07 @ 6:34 pm
cstoll
That's what I am trying to get to -- as I have posted numerous times I don't have these problems on my gig machine at the club. I do use it the same way people here express the way they use theirs, so it is very troubling as to the reasoning.
Inviato Mon 17 Sep 07 @ 6:36 pm
TopHouse
OK, perhaps it's a configuration issue, using logic here, so.
The 5.2 database has changed in A) how it handles tags and reads them and B) that it writes a seperate database for each drive
So, in a hardware configuration, the only thing I see that MAY have an effect is numbers of hard drives, now my gig machine has 4 hard drives, one is simply the OS, the others are 1) videos 2) Audio Files (mp3's) 3) Karaoke Files
Do the people having the problem have multiple drives? By multiple, i mean more than 2 (os and media files) Yours is running flawlessly, how many drives?
OR, we know that 5.2 on an upgrade (overwriting 4.x) does a LOT of work reconfiguring the database from the V4 one. So, the people having problems, did they upgrade from 4.x or did they fresh install? If they did, are they using mulitple drives?
I can eliminate external drives from my issue (sleep modes, power saving etc etc) since they are all internal SATA and all power saving is turned off.
In other words, we need to find someone who is using multiple drives and who did an upgrade install and is NOT having problems.
The above are the only real world variables i can think of at the moment.
The 5.2 database has changed in A) how it handles tags and reads them and B) that it writes a seperate database for each drive
So, in a hardware configuration, the only thing I see that MAY have an effect is numbers of hard drives, now my gig machine has 4 hard drives, one is simply the OS, the others are 1) videos 2) Audio Files (mp3's) 3) Karaoke Files
Do the people having the problem have multiple drives? By multiple, i mean more than 2 (os and media files) Yours is running flawlessly, how many drives?
OR, we know that 5.2 on an upgrade (overwriting 4.x) does a LOT of work reconfiguring the database from the V4 one. So, the people having problems, did they upgrade from 4.x or did they fresh install? If they did, are they using mulitple drives?
I can eliminate external drives from my issue (sleep modes, power saving etc etc) since they are all internal SATA and all power saving is turned off.
In other words, we need to find someone who is using multiple drives and who did an upgrade install and is NOT having problems.
The above are the only real world variables i can think of at the moment.
Inviato Mon 17 Sep 07 @ 8:02 pm
cstoll
TopHouse -- I am that person!
Upgrade after Upgrade from 3.x through all the betas as well - never a fresh uninstall and re-install of anything - O/S or VirtualDJ.
Yes, multiple drives just like yours 1 EIDE (500Gb) split into 100/400Gb partition with O/S on the 100Gb and Karaoke on the 400Gb
3 SATA 300Gb Seagate drives - 1 dedicated audio, 1 dedicated video, last one is mix of audio/video
So, I am running exactly what you are inquiring about. And I still use 4.3 and 5rev2 on this machine. No flaws. No Internet. No network.
AMD 2800+ Processor, 2Gb memory, NVidia Geforce 6600 PCI-e with 256Mb dedicated, XP O/S all SP installed, all updates with DirectX
100% Dedicated to the VDJ experience.
Upgrade after Upgrade from 3.x through all the betas as well - never a fresh uninstall and re-install of anything - O/S or VirtualDJ.
Yes, multiple drives just like yours 1 EIDE (500Gb) split into 100/400Gb partition with O/S on the 100Gb and Karaoke on the 400Gb
3 SATA 300Gb Seagate drives - 1 dedicated audio, 1 dedicated video, last one is mix of audio/video
So, I am running exactly what you are inquiring about. And I still use 4.3 and 5rev2 on this machine. No flaws. No Internet. No network.
AMD 2800+ Processor, 2Gb memory, NVidia Geforce 6600 PCI-e with 256Mb dedicated, XP O/S all SP installed, all updates with DirectX
100% Dedicated to the VDJ experience.
Inviato Mon 17 Sep 07 @ 8:17 pm
TopHouse
Right, so we have a similar hardware config, One's doing it, one's not. But others are having a similar problem, there HAS to be a common denominator somewhere.
let me think about it a while and i'll be back.
let me think about it a while and i'll be back.
Inviato Mon 17 Sep 07 @ 8:26 pm
djpete218
i got 4 external hd 1=60g 1=80g 1=500g 1=500g i found out by not plugging one of my 500ghd it crash less since i did the upgrade it alway freez 4 to 5 time per night after the discover 1st night no problem 2nd night froze 1 time now i average 1 per night which is better than 4 to 5 per night
Inviato Tue 18 Sep 07 @ 6:58 am
TopHouse
Quick question for Ctol or teamer whilst i'm investigating this:-
1 VDJ 5 writes an individual database to each data drive, correct?
2 So does it write anything to the C: drive if there are no media on there that are in playlists etc?
3 If the above are correct, would I be right in saying that if you wiped the C: drive and reinstalled it, VDJ5 would be able to pick up the database files from the other drives without having to re-analyse them all?
Another one, have you ever heard of this happening :-
You install VDJ5, either upgrade or simply install over the top of itself, the installation goes fine, BUT at the END of installation you get :-
"VDJ has encountered a problem and has to close down" (the usual windows message)
yet after the above, VDJ seems to run perfectly fine.
Any ideas what would cause this to happen?
1 VDJ 5 writes an individual database to each data drive, correct?
2 So does it write anything to the C: drive if there are no media on there that are in playlists etc?
3 If the above are correct, would I be right in saying that if you wiped the C: drive and reinstalled it, VDJ5 would be able to pick up the database files from the other drives without having to re-analyse them all?
Another one, have you ever heard of this happening :-
You install VDJ5, either upgrade or simply install over the top of itself, the installation goes fine, BUT at the END of installation you get :-
"VDJ has encountered a problem and has to close down" (the usual windows message)
yet after the above, VDJ seems to run perfectly fine.
Any ideas what would cause this to happen?
Inviato Tue 18 Sep 07 @ 2:02 pm
cstoll
To answer your 3 questions --
1 - Correct, and only stores information about the files on those drives. Plus any Virtual Folder information if the majority of the Virtual Folders content has files from that drive. [ I have asked to have this information stored in the Core database as I think that is part of the Virtual Folders issues]
2 - Yes, there is what I call the Core database in the My Documents -> VirtualDJ folder. It stores the Filter Folders created, any read-only media info (i.e. Audio CD analyzed data ), and any info for files stored on the C:\ partition. Playlists are stored as .m3u files in the My Documents -> VirtualDJ\Playlist folder and the History playlists are stored in My Documents -> VirtualDJ\Tracklistings
3 - Yes, that is the whole point of the new database architecture.
As for your question about the error at install. There is a way to look at that text file generated by MS when the error occurs. You have to click the links to find where it wrote the error info, open the file and copy the text. All before you close the error message or the text file is erased. I have never gotten the message myself. If you are able to get to the text it might be helpful to know what's in it.
cstoll
1 - Correct, and only stores information about the files on those drives. Plus any Virtual Folder information if the majority of the Virtual Folders content has files from that drive. [ I have asked to have this information stored in the Core database as I think that is part of the Virtual Folders issues]
2 - Yes, there is what I call the Core database in the My Documents -> VirtualDJ folder. It stores the Filter Folders created, any read-only media info (i.e. Audio CD analyzed data ), and any info for files stored on the C:\ partition. Playlists are stored as .m3u files in the My Documents -> VirtualDJ\Playlist folder and the History playlists are stored in My Documents -> VirtualDJ\Tracklistings
3 - Yes, that is the whole point of the new database architecture.
As for your question about the error at install. There is a way to look at that text file generated by MS when the error occurs. You have to click the links to find where it wrote the error info, open the file and copy the text. All before you close the error message or the text file is erased. I have never gotten the message myself. If you are able to get to the text it might be helpful to know what's in it.
cstoll
Inviato Tue 18 Sep 07 @ 2:42 pm
TopHouse
OK, I'm on it, watch this space.
Inviato Tue 18 Sep 07 @ 3:13 pm
TopHouse
OK, here's the text file generated by windows at the end of install :-
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<DATABASE>
<EXE NAME="install_virtualdj_v5.0.rev2.exe" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_PRIVACY">
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="install_virtualdj_v5.0.rev2.exe" SIZE="11728950" CHECKSUM="0x9ACE6DE6" BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.0.0.0" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.0.0.0" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Virtual DJ" COMPANY_NAME="Atomix Productions" FILE_VERSION="5.0" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="(c) Atomix Productions" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x10001" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x0" LINKER_VERSION="0x40000" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.0.0.0" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.0.0.0" LINK_DATE="04/25/2000 14:37:12" UPTO_LINK_DATE="04/25/2000 14:37:12" />
</EXE>
<EXE NAME="kernel32.dll" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_THISFILEONLY">
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="kernel32.dll" SIZE="984064" CHECKSUM="0xF12E1D4A" BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Windows NT BASE API Client DLL" COMPANY_NAME="Microsoft Corporation" PRODUCT_NAME="Microsoft® Windows® Operating System" FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945 (xpsp_sp2_gdr.060704-2349)" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="kernel32" INTERNAL_NAME="kernel32" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved." VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0xF724D" LINKER_VERSION="0x50001" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" LINK_DATE="07/05/2006 10:55:00" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/05/2006 10:55:00" VER_LANGUAGE="English (United States) [0x409]" />
</EXE>
</DATABASE>
Any ideas ?
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<DATABASE>
<EXE NAME="install_virtualdj_v5.0.rev2.exe" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_PRIVACY">
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="install_virtualdj_v5.0.rev2.exe" SIZE="11728950" CHECKSUM="0x9ACE6DE6" BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.0.0.0" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.0.0.0" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Virtual DJ" COMPANY_NAME="Atomix Productions" FILE_VERSION="5.0" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="(c) Atomix Productions" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x10001" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x0" LINKER_VERSION="0x40000" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.0.0.0" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.0.0.0" LINK_DATE="04/25/2000 14:37:12" UPTO_LINK_DATE="04/25/2000 14:37:12" />
</EXE>
<EXE NAME="kernel32.dll" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_THISFILEONLY">
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="kernel32.dll" SIZE="984064" CHECKSUM="0xF12E1D4A" BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Windows NT BASE API Client DLL" COMPANY_NAME="Microsoft Corporation" PRODUCT_NAME="Microsoft® Windows® Operating System" FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945 (xpsp_sp2_gdr.060704-2349)" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="kernel32" INTERNAL_NAME="kernel32" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved." VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0xF724D" LINKER_VERSION="0x50001" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.2945" LINK_DATE="07/05/2006 10:55:00" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/05/2006 10:55:00" VER_LANGUAGE="English (United States) [0x409]" />
</EXE>
</DATABASE>
Any ideas ?
Inviato Tue 18 Sep 07 @ 10:01 pm
TopHouse
Have now formatted C on the gig box, reinstalled xp and am now downloading updates and directx latest. Not put VDJ on there yet but will report back any irregularities when I do.
Inviato Wed 19 Sep 07 @ 2:50 am
