Author Topic: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists  (Read 9389 times)

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Offline Jim001

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Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« on: November 22, 2009, 01:41:51 am »
PVD is an excellent program! I have been using it with Vista, over a network using Firebird. Very impressive. I recently installed upgraded to Windows 7 (clean install) and have begun testing various programs. The main home server is still running Vista 32 bit Home Premium but the test computer now runs Windows 7 32 bit Home Premium. PVD works well for the most part except it crashes with .PLS extension under Windows 7. Hopefully, this bugs can be fixed for the new version.
« Last Edit: November 22, 2009, 04:59:55 am by Jim001 »

Offline Jim001

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2009, 04:56:50 am »
More information....
When I play a multipart movie on the server (Vista Home Premium 32 bit) it works as expected, creating a .pls file which is played by my movie player (MPC Home cinema). However when running PVD on a separate computer (windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit), connected to the server (Firebird) it crashes when I try to play a movie from PVD with the following error "An error occurred in this application" and the report has "File access denied".

Note I have edited the configuration file to replace folder in file path as I could not edit it via the preference menu as described here.
Modified config file code:

[Folders]
SameDirOpts=0
InitDir0=
InitDir1=
InitDir2=
InitDir3=
InitDir4=
InitDir5=
InitDirType0=0
InitDirType1=0
InitDirType2=0
InitDirType3=0
InitDirType4=0
InitDirType5=0
FindFolders=C:\Users\Public\External Drives
RepFolders=\\MMTV-PC\Users\Public\External Drives
« Last Edit: November 22, 2009, 05:00:27 am by Jim001 »

Offline Jim001

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2009, 11:23:21 am »
More information...

Personal Video Database works surprisingly well on Windows 7 given that the home page states: "Runs under: Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, Vista". I am hoping Windows 7 could be added to this list at some point in the future.

I have set up another computer running Windows Vista 32 remotely and freshly installed MPC-HC, PVD and connected via Firebird to my PVD database, exactly the same way I set up the Windows 7 machine and not surprisingly, the Vista machine works perfectly with playlists and all the other files (exactly as it was designed).

Apologies for pushing the envelope and trying PVD with Windows 7 - hopefully someone finds this information helpful, especially if they are tempted to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7.

Offline Jim001

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2009, 11:48:54 am »
More info...

I tried setting up PVD 0.9.9.14 on a single, stand-alone PC using Windows 7 with the database on the local C: drive and the video files stored on the local D: drive and found that the playlist files produced exactly the same error (see attachment) ie. this error is not related to firebird or the networking but would appear to be a fundamental issue with Windows 7 compatibility.

Has anyone else tried PVD with Windows 7?



[attachment deleted by admin]

Offline Jim001

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2009, 12:03:03 pm »
I seem to have found a temporary solution to my own problem (Compatibility Mode), which may help others wishing to use PVD with Windows 7:

Right click on viddb.exe program file and open 'Properties', go to 'Compatibility' tab and tick 'Run this program in compatibility mode for:' and select 'Windows XP (SP3)' and then your Playlists should work (see attachment).

It's not really fixing the problem but as a temporary work around for those who wish to get the benefits of Windows 7 it's an option.

Hope this helps someone else.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Offline rick.ca

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2009, 11:53:55 pm »
Welcome the forum, Jim.

I haven't much to say, but can't bear watching you talk to yourself... ;)

I'm sure many are using Windows 7, so I expect we would hear about it if Compatibility Mode was necessary for PVD generally. I'm still waiting for the Windows 7 upgrade for my new computer. It's for Home Premium, so I'm hoping I can do without Compatibility Mode. (It seems to be the only additional feature in Professional or Ultimate that I might have any use for. And, of course, I'd prefer not to have to us it.)

The "error message" you've posted is actually the dialog of the error reporting utility included in PVD. The bug report will tell you what the actual error was. If you can reproduce the error (and the dialog), use it to email the results to nostra. That may be help him figure out what's happening.

Offline Jim001

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2009, 10:22:56 pm »
Hi Rick,

Very pleased to have any kind of reply. Thank you.

The error is very reproducible in Windows 7 without Compatibility Mode enabled. I will email the report to Nostra as suggested.

PS: The compatibility mode I suggested is included in Home Premium, so you should be able to use PVD in its current version and see for yourself what I am posting about. I think you are thinking of the virtual XP machine (ie. XP running as a complete operating system in a window) which is only available in Professional edition and up. This does not seem to be required for PVD as it is relatively compatible with Windows 7. Only very incompatible programs seem to require this extra level to install and run.

Offline rick.ca

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #7 on: November 27, 2009, 10:47:41 pm »
Thanks for the explanation. I thought it odd the Home version would exclude something so basic. I assumed it was a M$ gimmick to force users to pay more—an "It's not our fault you have to upgrade" sort of thing.  :-[  ;)

Offline rquest

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2009, 08:27:15 am »
I also am experiencing probs with vddb and win7. The database works fine but the play function does not respond.
It would be nice in a future rendition to have play open a list of players to select from. I think it is an ifo file prob but not sure.
I can go to 'open containing folder' and select 'play with' from there and BSPlayer  or VLC works just fine that way. It probably
has to do with Windows Media Center but don't know how to fix it.

Offline rick.ca

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #9 on: November 30, 2009, 09:54:33 am »
Welcome to the forum, rquest.

"Playing" a file from PVD should not be any different than "opening" it from Windows. What happens depends on what program you've associated the file type with. What happens when you double-click or open the IFO file from Windows Explorer?

Offline rick.ca

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Re: Windows 7 bug in version 0.9.9.14 with playlists
« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2010, 04:45:36 am »
Hi Rick.ca,
I am wondering if you have any further news regarding Playlists in Windows 7 and whether yourself or Nostra where able to reproduce the error. I have not notice any replies but notice you reference my problem in another post.

Since you ask, and I'm now on Windows 7, I tested how my system handles this. I found that PVD would play MKV files, but not AVI or MP4. (To be clear, PVD doesn't play anything—I mean it's play command causes the file to be launched in the associated player.) Where there were multiple files (handled by playlist), the result was the same. Comparing file types, I found my MKV files had a "Play in Media Center" context menu action added to them. All my media files are associated with J River Media Center, but this action used MC's command launcher (i.e., the command was MC14.exe "/Play" "%1"). I don't know how or why this is so. I guess I did this at some point when I had an problem with MKV files. I remain puzzled because I don't know how to add an action to one file type—without adding to all file types associated with the player. But I digress...

When I added this context menu action to AVI files and made it the default, it was applied to all files associated with Media Center. As expected, all video types could then be launched from PVD, including multipart items handled by playlist. So, in my case, it's clear the issue is one of Windows file association and has nothing to do with PVD.

This won't necessarily help others in different situations. I haven't tested this using other media players. I'd be surprised if they use a separate command launcher like MC does, and I'm not sure what role that plays in this. Furthermore, Directory Opus is my file manager. It replaces Windows Explorer and also handles the changing and management of file associations. I haven't a clue how to add or modify a file type action in Windows 7. The commands for doing so are not where they used to be in XP (a tab on the Folder Options dialog)—it looks like they've been removed. If that's the case, using Creative Element Power Tools' File Type Doctor appears to be an effective tool for such things.

This may not be relevant, but I can across this while trying out File Type Doctor...

Quote
If you see a red (User Choice Override) entry in the Actions list for any given file type, it means Windows may ignore your custom actions until you remove the override. User Choice Override is a mechanism in Windows Vista and Windows 7 that allows you to override your own file type associations by choosing a new program to open all files of a type. (This mechanism is not present in earlier versions of Windows.)

To create a User Choice Override, right-click a file in Windows Explorer and select Open With... (or select Properties and then click the Change button). Then, select an application from the list and click OK. (You can also create User Choice Overrides in the Default Programs page in the Windows Control Panel.) Problem is, once you put an override into effect, other associations for that file type will stop working. To fix the problem and restore your file type, just highlight the (User Choice Override) entry in File Type Doctor, and click the Remove button.

I wonder if this is something different about Windows 7 that's messing up our file associations.  :-\

 

anything