s3 control panel causing windows xp to lock up?

[thevikester]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

All the versions from 3.0.0 and up just fix various problems some have been having, so if you sequenced using new features of v3+ and you stick with at least the lowest version of 3 that has those features (grouping, etc) then you should still be good. Go to the LOR website, Software, Downloads page and you can pick from any of the previous versions.:

http://www.lightorama.com/SoftwareDownloadPage.html

If your show computer is not being used for anything else, it should not be connected to your network. Disable the wifi, unplug the ethernet cable and let it sit by itself and stew.. Run ONE FULL viurus scan on it, then disable your antivirus. Disable any and all screen savers or any type of power savings add-on. Disable any and all Windows or MS program Updates too.

Biggest thing about moving those file folders between computers.. You really HAVE to (or SHOULD) stick with the program default locations... using LOR Christmas2011, etc or anything NOT what the Show player is expecting is asking for problems.. Light-O-Rama installs in your Documents folder, thats where is looks for the sequence and audio folders.. you may see LOR folders in x: ProgramFiles folder but thats the program and libraraies themselves, not the expected repository of the data it plays. And the SimpleShowBuilder can NOT be pointed to any other folder!! ..so if you look in the SSB to add your brand new sequence you've spent weeks on and it's NOT there, thats why. Just be warned.. Use the defaults, eliminates LOTS of headaches, ..thinning hair, long faces, bad breath, gout.. ok, I'm just kidding about the long face..

So If I have 2.9.4 on the old computer, but all my sequences on the new computer were done with 3.0+ and I moved the sequences over, I would not expect a problem...I haven't done any groups, just tracks, from the "old days"...so there shouldn't be any confusion there.

[mbettez]

for the second night in a row the computer froze after playing one sequence. The worse part is I'm across the country and when the computer freezes I can't even access the pc with remote desktop to do anything to it. My neighbor is getting sick of resetting the computer every evening.

This totally sucks.

[Chagoi]

mbettez wrote:

for the second night in a row the computer froze after playing one sequence. The worse part is I'm across the country and when the computer freezes I can't even access the pc with remote desktop to do anything to it. My neighbor is getting sick of resetting the computer every evening.

This totally sucks.

I copied all audio and sequences to a backup folder. Uninstalled LOR, used the LOR registry wipe. Installed 3.0.0 and chose defaults for everything. Pasted back in audio and sequences. This fixed my problem which is similar to yours. I use win xp pro sp3 and experienced same freezups.

Takes about 30 min. Remote in, kill the control panel and start the above process. Remember, once complete with the steps above, to open the HU and set the comm port,

[boborino]

Ok... I'm running 3.12 as well. I've added DMX this year. The show runs from 5:30 to 10pm straight loop. It runs without issue, BUT the next day it appears the listener has run out of memory or something. I have to close and restart the control panel. Now, since I only started it this weekend, and yesterday was the first time I hadn't touched it till it was supposed to start, I wasn't too worried. However, if it has problems starting again tonight, I am going to start really worring.

Is LOR working on any kind of fix? Is there a known memory issue with this version?

[caniac]

boborino wrote:

Ok... I'm running 3.12 as well. I've added DMX this year. The show runs from 5:30 to 10pm straight loop. It runs without issue, BUT the next day it appears the listener has run out of memory or something. I have to close and restart the control panel. Now, since I only started it this weekend, and yesterday was the first time I hadn't touched it till it was supposed to start, I wasn't too worried. However, if it has problems starting again tonight, I am going to start really worring.

Is LOR working on any kind of fix? Is there a known memory issue with this version?

That is the issue I am having, nothing out of LOR - all I hear is the sound of crickets.

[bob]

Sorry, I'm very much in catchup mode with respect to the forums since last Wednesday (only got to within 24 hours of realtime today, and this thread has been pushing realtime ever since, it seems).

We have today found a slow resource leak in the LOR Control Panel, which eventually could cause strange issues (such as lockups). We will be releasing a new version (3.1.4) to fix this sometime today. It is possible that the issues mentioned in this thread are related to this resource leak.

[caniac]

3.1.4 downloaded and installed, will report back in three hours as to if that fixes it.

[caniac]

an hour and a half in and so far so good!!!

[mbettez]

let me know if this fix is worth the upgrade because I am going to have to talk my neighbor through the upgrade, not an easy task.

[CK57]

Upgrade is very straight forward. Looking forward to complete shows the rest of the evening, and coming home to red ready lights tomorrow evening. Very nice that Bob, and the group at LOR got something out for us so quickly. Thanks!

[mbettez]

did you do uninstall and registry wipe or just install new version? I can easily talk him thru a simple install.

[CK57]

Just did upgrade without doing anything else and I'm running. Just kill the tray first

[caniac]

mbettez wrote:

did you do uninstall and registry wipe or just install new version? I can easily talk him thru a simple install.

kill the tray and do the upgrade overtop of 3.1.2. I just ran it, ran my show and the show ran two and a half hours with NO issues, then it properly shutdown. So far I can happily say it works. now to see if it starts up properly tomorrow.

[bob]

JD Schuck wrote:

Just did upgrade without doing anything else and I'm running. Just kill the tray first

Not just the Tray - stop all of your running processes, especially LOR processes.

Sequence Editor, Show Editor, Verifier, whatever, all of them, and also the LOR Control Panel (which you can stop by right-clicking on it and selecting "Unload Light-O-Rama" from its popup menu).

[caniac]

bob wrote:

JD Schuck wrote:

Just did upgrade without doing anything else and I'm running. Just kill the tray first

Not just the Tray - stop all of your running processes, especially LOR processes.

Sequence Editor, Show Editor, Verifier, whatever, all of them, and also the LOR Control Panel (which you can stop by right-clicking on it and selecting "Unload Light-O-Rama" from its popup menu).

Bob, so far so good!!

[caniac]

mbettez wrote:

let me know if this fix is worth the upgrade because I am going to have to talk my neighbor through the upgrade, not an easy task.

it is, so far so good.

[JonB256]

I don't want to start a fan war, but my two AMD computers never exhibited the memory leak and lockups with 3.1.2

those of you having problems, are you running Intel systems or was it more of an XP problem?

[caniac]

JonB256 wrote:

I don't want to start a fan war, but my two AMD computers never exhibited the memory leak and lockups with 3.1.2

those of you having problems, are you running Intel systems or was it more of an XP problem?

hard call, for me both systems were XP Pro with all the latest service packs. One computer was Intel Centrino and the other I think was an AMD system. There were some reports of W7 doing the same. Whatever the case 3.1.4 ran perfect after the install, tonight will be the first night it should start itself and play for 5 hours. Won't be here, will be at an NHL Hockey game and the show should be done by the time I return. Have the log window up to verify that it runs without issue.

[LOR Staff]

Memory leaks are some of the hardest things to prevent/test for/fix. That's mainly because of how they typically manifest themselves - randomly.

You'll be amazed at how the code will run without issue on one computer, bomb on another, and cause weird behavior on a 3rd. In fact, I'd wager that you could have 3 identically configured machines, and it would run/crash 3 different ways.

In my younger less experienced days, I used to laugh at pages in IBM manuals that said 'Results are unpredictable'. It's a computer after all, so it should ALWAYS be predictable. Now I know better

[bob]

JonB256 wrote:

I don't want to start a fan war, but my two AMD computers never exhibited the memory leak and lockups with 3.1.2

those of you having problems, are you running Intel systems or was it more of an XP problem?

The underlying problem does not depend upon the operating system or the chip manufacturer. It's possible that some systems are able to handle that problem happening for a longer amount of time before symptoms occur, but it happens regardless.