Media Centre stops working just after it starts

B

billythefisherman

New Member
My media centre *not media player* stops working shortly after it starts - it goes full screen then asks me which setup I'd like to choose and no matter what I choose it dies shortly (1 or 2 seconds) after, saying the media centre has stopped working.

I've tried changing the media centre services to log on with my admin account which I've heard works but to no avail and I've installed all the hotfixes (up until Oct 4) but to no avail. I can't really see any events in my event viewer specifically related to it dying - I do get some critical events which I think are for the media centre crashes but no specifics on whats causing them.

I've had vista premium x64 pretty much since its release and I can't remember media centre ever working. Problem is now various programs are using it more and more I get the media centre has stopped popups all over the place as they're trying to play videos (mostly games) which is really annoying.

Anybody else had these problems? Even better has anybody managed to fix them if they have?
 

My Computer

System One

Is anything showing the the event logs for the time of the crashes.

Also system specs & graphics driver versions would help ;)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD HP CP1515n Color Laser Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer Microsoft LifeCam Cinema APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
Ok the events seem to be unrelated - its just when I boot the following driver fails to load 'i8042prt' which is to do with my keyboard and mouse ps2 port which I'm not using as mine are all usb. I actually don't get any critical events and the error events I have seem unrelated as above. I have a warning to do with SQLbrowser on boot up.

So specs are Intel Core Duo 2 E6600 2.4Ghz overclocked to 2.7Ghz, 2048MB RAM, Nvidia 8800 GTS 320MB, on board sound (Realtek High Definition Audio), a disabled EMU 0404 although I didn't have this until after I noticed media centre crashes, MSI Platinum P965, 2 WD Raptor 160MB drives in RAID 0 and 2 Seagate 320MB in RAID 1.

I run Vista x64 Home Premium (I think build 6000 - its authentic) with NVidia Forceware 163.69 drivers - I have no driver problems as far as device manager goes. If you need anymore info let me know - I've trauled all the forums I can find to little avail - thanks for your time.
 

My Computer

System One

I would of thought a media center crash would give something away in the event viewer :(

have you tried a sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt to check for currupted system files?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD HP CP1515n Color Laser Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer Microsoft LifeCam Cinema APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
Ah great cheers I didn't know about that utility sadly it reported no integrity violations - which is good on one hand I suppose...

Hmm any more ideas? I'm sure event viewer should be telling me about those programs crashes - is there any reason why it wouldnt or is it just not with its remit?
 

My Computer

System One

Try right clicking on a video and open it with ehshell from windows\ehome directory, if the video plays see if you can exit back to the menu and run the setup from there.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD HP CP1515n Color Laser Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer Microsoft LifeCam Cinema APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
Nope sadly it just brings up the wanting to setup dialog and then promptly dies as per normal.

One thing I have noticed is that a 50 in small window used to come up toward the top right of the screen and now it says 46 - very much doubt this is to do with anything I just wonder what its counting down... (this is starting to turn out like an episode of Lost)
 

My Computer

System One

I have looked through all the media center registry settings on my system and cant find anyware to disable/bypass the setup screen :(

Take a look at the logs at the following location and see if they can shed some light on the crashes.

C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\eHome\logs
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD HP CP1515n Color Laser Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer Microsoft LifeCam Cinema APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
Right this is interesting I don't have that path - under users I have default, public and my account no 'All Users' I just tried creating that path manually but no luck.

I've also tried disabling my virus scanner - Kaspersky and my user account control but alas no luck either - I've ran the Media Centre shortcut as admin as well during this time.

It seems also that on first try after boot it gets a little further than on subsequent times - may be its trying to connect to something or I suppose its most probably due to be caching kicking in on the second time.

What are the names of the media centre logs I'll try and search for them in case windows has decided to bury it away in another location.
 

My Computer

System One

eHomeLog00.sqm

mcstore-mcupdate-2007.9.19.19.21.42
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD HP CP1515n Color Laser Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer Microsoft LifeCam Cinema APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
Great, cheers, but no joy - they aren't any where on my machine - this seems a little bleak now - I can't believe I'm the only one on the planet with this problem - I mean I know I'm 'special' but I'm not that special lol! :p
 

My Computer

System One

Did you turn on hidden files/folders as I have just checked and the all users should be hidden.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD HP CP1515n Color Laser Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer Microsoft LifeCam Cinema APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
Yep I've already turned got that on :) - I was able to create an All Users folder as well without any prompts ie there wasn't a hidden folder there before I created it.

It looks like my 'Default' user folder is the equivalent of your 'All Users' folder as its a hidden/system folder - this seems deeply strange to me - why would we have different folder names. Your running the new SP1 which may answer that question?
 

My Computer

System One

I have just checked on a unsp1'd vista machine and all users is there, what I did notice is the all users folder is a shortcut to C:\ProgramData\ so maybe try C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome for the logs if ithey are there.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD HP CP1515n Color Laser Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer Microsoft LifeCam Cinema APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
Bingo! Well done! That's where they are - begs the question why I didn't come across them when I searched - most probably didn't have the search hidden folders option: doh!

Anyway, right there are loads of sqm files in there - is there any program that can read them properly obviously I can look at them through notepad but most of its binary?

Ok so just by looking at them through notepad its obvious this link is aparent in all of them:

h t t p s : / / g o . m i c r o s o f t . c o m / f w l i n k / ? l i n k i d = 5 1 4 3 8 & c l c i d = 0 x 4 0 9

I put this into explorer, without the spaces obviously, and I got through to this page:

https://data.tvdownload.microsoft.com/discovery/discoveryservice.asmx/GetTVServicesMetaInfo

which is interesting in itself as it seems related to TV stuff. On this page it simply says: 'Missing parameter: protocolVersion.'

Ok so this *maybe* my problem - my media centre is producing malformed links for 'discovery service' whatever that maybe and is getting this reply and then promptly dies as it can't cope with it - well its a theory anyway.

So if you or anybody knows what this is related to I'd be interested! I'm going to search that ProgramData/Microsoft/eHome directory for any more information or even better a config file. I may try renaming the directory and see if it makes a new one.

Again thanks very much for your help! :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

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