Stability

Stability

We take crashes and other stability problems very seriously. We want to know as much as possible about the cause.

You can do help determine why a problem occurred. In this order,

1. Please update your player to the latest build available. If a newer version has been released, please try it. For example, if you're using MC12, but MC13 has been released, please try it. The latest known stable build is always on the download page, but a newer version may be found on the forum.

2. Disable plug-ins and other third party software that you use with MC. We have had problems with bugs in plug-ins causing problems in the past. The Audioscrobbler plug-in, for example, would crash MC if you weren't logged into last.fm.

3. Problems with Virus Checkers, Pop-up Blockers, and SPAM programs are not uncommon. Please disable these to test.

4. Reboot, reinstall, reinstall your license.

5. Check the Weird Problems thread for similar problems. This thread lists a number of problems caused by other software or hardware.

6. Turn off auto-import. It's under tools/options/libraries.

7. Think about any changes you've made to your system; both hardware and software. Crashes can be caused by bad CPU, bad memory, bad drivers, etc. A "blue screen", for example, is a hardware or driver issue. Some machines may not be stable under heavy use. The fact that other software works may mean that the software doesn't use the machine in the same way. If you have more than one stick of RAM, consider using just one at a time in order to test.

8. Start a thread on Interact with details about what version you're using, and the events that lead up to the crash.

9. Enable logging in MC and send us a log (to logs at jriver) with a link to your thread. Logging is under MC's Help menu, and there you can also e-mail the logs. There is more information about logging in the 'Logging' section below.

10. Examine the logs and search for the word "crash".

Logging

Media Center can create a log file of what it is doing as it runs. Logging can be enabled under MC's Help menu, and there you can also e-mail logs.

When a crash is recorded, the word "crash" will normally be written to the log.

Each run, a "Log.txt" file is created. The log from the previous run will be renamed "Previous Log.txt". When restarting after a crash, "Previous Log.txt" will contain the crash.

It is recommended that you use the logging dialog to email logs, and it will include both logs in the email.

Logs are stored here:

Windows Vista: C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 13

Windows XP: C:\Documents & Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\J River\Media Center 13

Enabling logging when the program won't run

In some cases, a problem may prevent the program from running. In this case, logging must be manually enabled by using the Registry Editor.

1. From the start menu, select Run and type regedit

2. Locate this key (create it if necessary): HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\J. River\Media Center 13\Debug

3. Add (or modify if it exists) a DWORD named "File" and set it to 1