Media Libraries Failing

[glugglug]

The past 2 weeks or so I have frequently seeing a screen that says "There are no items in this library yet -- Windows Media Center is searching for media files in the background. To add more video, you can go to Tasks > Settings > Media Libraries." whenever I try to view the video, pictures, or music libraries.

Going to "Manage Library" brings up an error dialog that says "A necessary component of Windows Media Center did not start properly. Restart Windows Media Center."

Following these instructions http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/2011 ... -database/ fixes it temporarily (usually less than a day). I tried removing some of the folders to rebuild the library, and still the issue persists. Is anyone else running into this? Even wierder, it will sometimes work on only a subset of my extenders. I tried removing the .wmdb files so they get rebuilt on each extender user as well as my main user account but still no dice.

I think this started happening shortly after I first tried the DLNA media playing ability on our new smart TV, but this seems wierd to me, and it keeps happening again without continuing to use DLNA. Also, looking at the TV when it's already in that state, it shows the other 2 desktop user accounts on the machine, but not the main one used for WMC.

Other possibilities -- there were Windows Updates and I updated the Shark007 codec pack around that same time. The Shark007 update was kind of wierd -- what happened to the separate x64 download -- in order to get it to include the x64 stuff as well I had to uninstall and reinstall it.

Is anybody else seeing this issue?

Selecting "Restore media library" in the 64 bit version of wmplayer.exe seems to also have fixed it at least temporarily with the added advantage of not needing to log out of extenders first. Hoping it stays fixed this time....

[glugglug]

Maybe this explains what is going on?

I thought WMC on 64-bit windows used only 64-bit codecs & 64-bit WMP underneath?

I see this command line running as each of the extender users:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /SkipFUE /RemoteOCXLaunch /SuppressDialogs /DisableDeviceSupport

Why is it running the 32-bit media player?!

This registry change got it running the 64-bit WMP from WMC:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... AllReplies

But I could have swore that used to be the default...

[DavidinCT]

I also would like to know if there was a fix for this. I battled with this issue for well over 2 months. If they showed like that, I would close WMC, then open it up and MOST of the time it would show. This effected Music and Movies for me.

I don't think running WMP in 32bit or 64 bit, would have any affect here. This is a library problem, not a media playback problem.

I went through, rolled back all Windows updates over the last 2 months, did all the Media player fixes (delete the DB files, nuke it back, rebuild libraries, etc), rolled back video drivers, anything that was possibly updated but, it would still do it. On the Extenders, it appeared fine with no issues, this affected the main HTPC.

I was running into other issues at the time, so I backed everything up and rebuilt. Series and channel line up was easy to back up so (and got those back within 10 min), after that no problems.

I am running Windows 7 32-bit for my HTPC, in the past I found some 3rd party add-ons that did not run well in 64 bit so I stuck with 32 bit. This issue was on a dedicated Home theater PC, nothing else installed accept for things for WMC (codecs, Blu-ray software, etc)

I trouble shoot WMC machines, never saw this issue before mine (that could not be fixed with just rebuilding the libraries), so if there is a fix, I am wondering what it is.

You could try to create a new Windows Profile for your logon account, it could be something in your profile, about the only thing I didn't try. WMC runs off all users, so if you delete your profile, it should not affect WMC.

Go into user accounts, Create a new user, give admin rights, Log on with that account, check/rebuilt the libraries if they are gone, Try that, wondering if that fixes it...

[Shark007]

To explain the weirdness you encountered during an upgrade of my software; I recently combined the 32/64bit installers into a single installer. Since your previous installation was with 2 separate installers, and you attempted to upgrade with a newer, combined installer, the x64 bits would not get installed because they weren't included in your previous 32bit installation. Any future upgrade installation will always include the 64bits since you have now installed once using the new combined installer.

As for your topic; the only input I have is that there is a button on the Misc TAB of my GUI to [Rebuild WMP Library]. Using that button from the 64bit GUI may solve your issue permanently.

[glugglug]

After rebuilding the WMP libraries, it worked for 2 days. And then broke again .

Tried the Rebuild WMP Library button in the Shark007 UI, surprisingly didn't fix it, even temporarily. Deleted all .wmdb files from both the main user and all extender users simultaneously, and restarted Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service; it's working for now.

Next I'm thinking maybe the whole C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player directory needs to be purged, not just the wmdb's?

DavidInCT: the extender users inherit media library directories from whichever user was used to pair them to the PC. Not sure how much else about the media libraries they inherit.

Under Stream->More Streaming options in WMP, network streaming was disabled. (So how did it sometimes work?) After enabling that, the main account suddenly showed up on my phone's DLNA app.

[Shark007]

Tried the Rebuild WMP Library button in the Shark007 UI, surprisingly didn't fix it, even temporarily. Deleted all .wmdb files from both the main user and all extender users simultaneously, and restarted Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service; it's working for now.

This is what that button, [Rebuild WMP Library] does, except for the Extender user account(s) because that directory is specific to each user that setup the extender.

[DavidinCT]

Tried the Rebuild WMP Library button in the Shark007 UI, surprisingly didn't fix it, even temporarily. Deleted all .wmdb files from both the main user and all extender users simultaneously, and restarted Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service; it's working for now.

This is what that button, [Rebuild WMP Library] does, except for the Extender user account(s) because that directory is specific to each user that setup the extender.

That is what I was getting at. Extenders use their own profile under Windows. If it's failing over the local user account and works fine on the Extenders (my case), Chances are high that it's a problem with the local logon account.

I would try to create a temp profile, logo on with the temp, delete the primary profile that you auto log into WMC on, after fully removed, Re-create the profile, logon with that one and try to rebuilt the libraries.

If it was a profile problem, this would resolve it. I BET that was my problem but, I never attempted it because I was having recording issues (and it was almost 5 years from the last time I rebuilt, so I thought it needed a re-fresh anyway).

If it's fixed, cool, if it comes back in a few days, I would try the deleting the profile thing...

[Shark007]

Tried the Rebuild WMP Library button in the Shark007 UI, surprisingly didn't fix it, even temporarily. Deleted all .wmdb files from both the main user and all extender users simultaneously, and restarted Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service; it's working for now.

This is what that button, [Rebuild WMP Library] does, except for the Extender user account(s) because that directory is specific to each user that setup the extender.

To follow up further, in future releases of my software starting with version v520/v260, that button will also delete all .wmdb files in the Extender account(s).
It also restarts the Network Sharing Service. (it did this before too)

[glugglug]

Still working after one week. </knock wood>

[mistress]

I have several Win7 Media Center PCs. Some let me add folders to the Video Media Library; some forget my Video Libraries as soon as I click "Finish". Like others in this thread it was driving me NUTS!

Then I remembered -- in my Win7 setup folders I have a bunch of handy extras and reg files from which I pick and chose when rebuilding a PC. Among them are 'Disable/Enable Libraries' registry files. Libraries generally bug me in Windows Explorer so I have disabled them on a whim once in a while. Those turned out to be the machines that steadfastly refused to remember any Video Library.

I enabled libraries; then rebooted just in case. Media Center now remembers my library changes. I have attached those registry files hoping it brings relief to others.

[blueiedgod]

I get those errors here and there, and most of the time it is the Windows Media Player that freezes in the background. Either stopping it in the Task Manager and restarting, or rebooting fixes the issue. I only have it happen on the HTPC, but not on the extenders.