Media Player Classic... not happy with SSD/W7/Quad?!

Hammy · Post by **Hammy** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:55 am

Hey guys. Computer related but not directly silencing related, so posted here.

I recently upgraded my system with an SSD, W7, and a quad-core CPU. The problem is that Media Player Classic (Home Edition) now behaves horribly with this setup. Instead of opening in <1 second (as it did on my E6600) it takes around 12 seconds. It appears that it pushes one core to 25% and then throttles out/hangs. I had a look at Process Explorer and I can see it's throttling the CPU with millions of cycles and very little I/O activity (compared to VLC which has much fewer cycles and higher I/O). It also happens when shutting the app down. I have tried running it from my 1TB mechanical drive and it's the same.

It should be noted that it happens when opening the program on its own and not only when double clicking a file (playback is perfect once it's open).

MPC is the only application I've had problems with and searching around the Interwebs has left me without a solution.. so any help is most welcome

jbw · Post by **jbw** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:21 am

Does Windows 7 still include mplayer2.exe? This is the real "classic" version of WMP (version 6.4, I think). It's still included in XP; not sure about Vista. If it's in your WMP folder in W7, you should try it out.

Edit: did you upgrade to W7 at the same time as your hardware upgrade? Or had Classic worked okay with W7 before?

Hammy · Post by **Hammy** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:28 am

jbw wrote:Does Windows 7 still include mplayer2.exe? This is the real "classic" version of WMP (version 6.4, I think). It's still included in XP; not sure about Vista. If it's in your WMP folder in W7, you should try it out.

Edit: did you upgrade to W7 at the same time as your hardware upgrade? Or had Classic worked okay with W7 before?

I can't seem to find mplayer2.exe in W7 Professional.

Yes all the upgrades mentioned were carried out at the same time. The E6600 has been moved to the GF's computer where MPC still works fine! (EDIT: she has XP).

croddie · Post by **croddie** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:39 am

Hammy wrote:Hey guys. Computer related but not directly silencing related, so posted here.

I recently upgraded my system with an SSD, W7, and a quad-core CPU. The problem is that Media Player Classic (Home Edition)
...

It should be noted that it happens when opening the program on its own and not only when double clicking a file (playback is perfect once it's open).

Very strange.
You mean Home Cinema? You have a relatively recent version? No problems with WMP or any other media player that might indicate driver problems?

Hammy · Post by **Hammy** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:11 pm

croddie wrote:
Hammy wrote:Hey guys. Computer related but not directly silencing related, so posted here.

I recently upgraded my system with an SSD, W7, and a quad-core CPU. The problem is that Media Player Classic (Home Edition)
...

It should be noted that it happens when opening the program on its own and not only when double clicking a file (playback is perfect once it's open).
Very strange.
You mean Home Cinema? You have a relatively recent version? No problems with WMP or any other media player that might indicate driver problems?

Yeah the Home Cinema version is the one I'm used to, but I have tested the 'original' MPC and it's the same there too. WMP and all other media players I've tried have been fine.. 99% sure it's not a driver/codec problem but rather something about the way MPC is built and my current configuration.

Hammy · Post by **Hammy** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:08 pm

This is really bizarre. I installed Windows Virtual PC to test the XP Mode and MPC opens in <1 second in that enviroment. This rules out the SSD and CPU upgrade, so it has to be down to something in W7 Professional. The question is why aren't forums buzzing with this bug if it's systematic? Arf.

mcoleg · Post by **mcoleg** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:32 pm

not a whole lot of people had a chance to run MPC on W7? that probably would explain it.

however, i just went and tried to open some vids in MPC on W7 myself and there's no delay.

vids are h.264 720p encodes. and the hardware is way lower than your - it's a pentium-m based desktop with 2 gigs of ram and the files are on external usb hard drive.

try opening vids from a mechanical hard drive, perhaps?

Hammy · Post by **Hammy** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:59 pm

h.264 encodes - same here. The files are stored on a mechanical drive, but the problem is with actually opening the MPC exe rather than attempting playback.

I have my old XP CD in my hand..

mcoleg · Post by **mcoleg** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:44 pm

i see.

opens the exec fast as well. if it helps any, i don't usually download MPC stand-alone, just install it as an option in CCCP codec pack.

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:53 pm

Interesting problem.

Does your mobo BIOS have the option to disable cores, if so, that could rule out the QUAD core from the equation.

Also, simply try un-installing MPC and installing it on another drive using the current install of W7 to rule out the SSD.

Other than that, something stange may have happened during the installation that may have screwed it up, which could prove to be very difficult to track down and fix.

A couple more items of info could be usefull. You havent mentioned any security software at all, this is high on the list of software problems that could be the cause. And although it has already been mentioned about the version of MPC you are using, I assume you didnt just install MPC, you installed it as part of a Codec Pack such as K-Lite. Also some more specifics would be nice about the quad core and the SSD.

Ignoring all of the above, this issue looks to me like it is a Software problem not hardware, simply for the reason that it loads instantly whilst also loading afilm, but not when loading MPC on its own. If this were a hardware problem the problem would still happen if you were loading a film and MPC at the same time.

This problem could be endemic with W7 + MPC, but I imagine very fer people would realise as most people open the film which opens MPC, and not the other way round.

Hammy · Post by **Hammy** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 4:12 pm

Hey andy.

I don't believe my BIOS has any such option unfortunately. I did try an install of MPC on the mechanical drive and the problem was the same. The only security software I had running was Kaspersky Anti-Virus.

I actually discovered MPC through the CCCP codec pack but when installing W7 I hand-picked the codecs and installed MPC seperately. Also the problem did occur when opening a file as well as the player on its own (sorry for not being clear).

I have to admit that the problem beat me and I am now rocking XP again. I prefer its simplicity and the problem doesn't manifest itself under XP. Same MPC, same codecs, same video drivers, same AV, etc.

If I had to have a guess as to what caused it I would say it was some SSD 'tweak' I applied under W7; starting or stopping a service or something similar. It shall remain a mystery until I dip my toe in the W7 waters again

mcoleg · Post by **mcoleg** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:35 pm

yah, somewhat of a mystery.

i've noticed though that w7 can have delays on starting some of the services. not sure if it's related, could be. when you get back to w7, do keep us posted.

cheers

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:51 pm

It is interesting to know that as I might use W7 at some point when it suits me. As much as anything else I use WMP all of the time, installed as part of the k-lite codec pack (full version, not mega etc), and I recently got an SSD and re-installed my system (XP of course).

Andy

Media Player Classic... not happy with SSD/W7/Quad?!

Media Player Classic... not happy with SSD/W7/Quad?!

Re: Media Player Classic... not happy with SSD/W7/Quad?!

Re: Media Player Classic... not happy with SSD/W7/Quad?!