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Octavius

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Octavius

I've been happily accessing my media collection from my Windows 7 HTPC using Media Browser 2 for some time now.  I had occasional issues with it, but all in all it was reliable and did exactly what I wanted it to do.

 

Due to the hard drive in my HTPC crashing I've had to rebuild it, so I now have a clean install of Windows 8.1 with Media Browser 3 Classic on the HTPC, and I've installed Media Browser 3 Server on a clean install of Windows Server 2008 R2.

 

There's plenty to love in Media Browser 3.  I love that there's now a single point of administration for my collection.  I love that there's a variety of clients that can connect to the server (including multiple smartphones, not just Apple or Android).  I love that the server is separate, and allows my HTPC to just be a client, without any extra overhead.  I love the way the Server downloads the metadata, cover art, etc, etc which I used to have another plugin to do.

 

However, a big problem with Media Browser 3 is that it seems to be a lot less stable that it's predecessor.  The Media browser service never starts automatically on the server after I reboot it, I always have to go into it and start it up manually, which sort of defeats the object of running it as a service.  This is a manageable problem though, as I know I have to go in and start up the service - not ideal, but not a showstopper.

 

The big problems I have are on the client end.  I have no end of trouble starting it in the first place from Media Center.  When I choose the Media Browser icon from the Media Center Homepage, more often than not I'll get a short delay followed by "The media browser 3 program has stopped responding and you will be returned to Windows Media Center."  I get this when launching Media Center straight away after a clean boot of the HTPC, and opening Media Browser straight up; when Media Centre has been running and doing other things for a while; when launching Media Browser straight from it's desktop icon.  I can be trying to get in for ages and ages, getting the error and then re-launching, and suddenly out of the blue it will launch and I can get in.

 

Once I'm into it, it's a joy to navigate and find what I want to watch.  I'm sure it's not the biggest in the world, but I don't exactly have a small collection, and it's quick to zip through it to find what I'm looking for, even with a very rich user interface.  The next problem I get is when I'm playing a video file.  Any button I press on the remote will cause Media Browser to crach, playback to stop, and I get dumped back into Media Center again (I'm trying to get the exact error message, but I can't get MB3 to launch at the moment!).  When I say any button, I mean things like Pause and Stop.  This is obviously a major problem for an HTPC, and makes Media Browser pretty unusable on it.

 

Has anyone else experienced these problems?  Can anyone point me in the right direction to start troubleshooting?

 

Many thanks

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quick question on the service - did you configure it to run on windows startup in the control panel? that's something you have to do on your own.

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We are going to need specific information on your problems.  Please read the post on how to report a problem then reproduce one of them and provide the information requested - as well as version numbers for all the components.  Thanks.

 

To specifically answer your question - 1,000s of people are running the setup successfully without these issues so I'm sure they can be figured out.

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Octavius

We are going to need specific information on your problems.  Please read the post on how to report a problem then reproduce one of them and provide the information requested - as well as version numbers for all the components.  Thanks.

 

To specifically answer your question - 1,000s of people are running the setup successfully without these issues so I'm sure they can be figured out.

Thanks for that, I didn't spot the pinned topic.

 

I'd found the log files for the server, but not the client.  I'll take a look at those tonight, and post anything that looks relevant.  Can I find the version number from within the client somewhere, or will I need to go into Control Panel?

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Octavius

quick question on the service - did you configure it to run on windows startup in the control panel? that's something you have to do on your own.

Yes, I have tried setting the service to Automatic, and to Automatic (Delayed Start)

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If you are getting an actual crash (MBC shuts down) then you will need to find the error in the Windows event log.  Instructions are in the same how to report a problem topic.

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Octavius

I've attached the event log of Media Browser Crashing when launched.  Sometimes it just generates the .NET Runtime, and sometimes it generates that and the Application Error.  Both events are included in the first attachment.

 

EventLog.txt

 

 

The second attachment is the Media Browser log generated when attempting to start the program and it then closing straight away.  I can't see anything out of the ordinary here, it just looks like it's starting up and then stopping.

 

MBClassic-1822014ce3ea3e2d02842fab6a5d2f8d85171e0.log

 

 

Does this shed any light on it for anyone?

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Well, the first thing to confirm is that you don't have a chocolate.dll in your \windows\ehome directory.  If you do, delete it but it should be gone if you installed 129 even if it was there.

 

If that isn't the case, I think you will need to be sure your .net installation is okay by re-installing or updating it.  The system reports an internal error in .net.

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Please mark my answer as the "Best Answer" so it will show at the top for future folks with this issue.  Thx.

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Octavius

Also, make sure your Windows is completely up to date (run all windows updates) and see this.

 

That did the trick, thank you.  It sorted out both the 'not responding' when launching Media Browser, and the crashing when pausing or stopping something while it's playing.

 

Many thanks

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