Launchbox freezing during changes

[tjwoosta]

A couple updates ago (I think the one where the theme first changed to the new style), my launchbox started freezing up whenever I either make a configuration change or add/remove a game or even just adjust the zoom slider.

The window itself and the open/close/minimize buttons stay responsive, but everything within sort of fades out and doesn't respond to anything until I close and re-open launchbox. Whatever changes I make to cause the freeze up seem to work fine after restarting, until I change something else and it happens again.

I had imagined it would have been a known issue and would sort itself out after a couple updates, but it hasn't.

[Heronfeathers]

You aren't the only one this is happening to, I've been having the same problem starting at right about the same time you described, and it's made LaunchBox unusable for me, which is unfortunate, as I was impressed enough to seriously consider pulling the trigger on purchasing Premium when this broke.

I'm no expert at reading log files, but from what I've been able to discern, the only obvious difference between a log from a run where I didn't edit anything (and thus didn't freeze) and a run where I did, triggering the freeze, is an exception on the "Visited Links" file in Launchbox / Metadata / Temp:

2020-04-12 06:19:06 PM FIRST CHANCE EXCEPTION: The process cannot access the file 'Visited Links' because it is being used by another process.
   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
2020-04-12 06:19:06 PM FIRST CHANCE EXCEPTION: The process cannot access the file 'Visited Links' because it is being used by another process.
   at System.IO.Directory.DeleteHelper(String fullPath, String userPath, Boolean recursive, Boolean throwOnTopLevelDirectoryNotFound, WIN32_FIND_DATA& data)
2020-04-12 06:19:06 PM EXCEPTION IGNORED: The process cannot access the file 'Visited Links' because it is being used by another process.
   at System.IO.Directory.DeleteHelper(String fullPath, String userPath, Boolean recursive, Boolean throwOnTopLevelDirectoryNotFound, WIN32_FIND_DATA& data)

Something involving this file seems to be the problem - maybe a dev is reading this and can weigh in on what might be going on. The file is still in the Temp folder after LB shuts down, unlike the multitude of other files/folders created in Temp during runtime, which do get deleted when LB closes.

LB is running from my Documents folder, which has full read/write privileges, and the problem occurs whether running under my own user account (which has admin rights on the computer) or "Run as administrator".

[C-Beats]

On 3/9/2020 at 1:28 PM, tjwoosta said:

A couple updates ago (I think the one where the theme first changed to the new style), my launchbox started freezing up whenever I either make a configuration change or add/remove a game or even just adjust the zoom slider.

The window itself and the open/close/minimize buttons stay responsive, but everything within sort of fades out and doesn't respond to anything until I close and re-open launchbox. Whatever changes I make to cause the freeze up seem to work fine after restarting, until I change something else and it happens again.

I had imagined it would have been a known issue and would sort itself out after a couple updates, but it hasn't.

It wouldn't be caused by an update, but I would be curious how many auto-generated playlists you have. Having quite a few can cause delays when editing your library, which we've seen reported as acting vert similar to what you are describing.

[C-Beats]

2 hours ago, Heronfeathers said:

You aren't the only one this is happening to, I've been having the same problem starting at right about the same time you described, and it's made LaunchBox unusable for me, which is unfortunate, as I was impressed enough to seriously consider pulling the trigger on purchasing Premium when this broke.

I'm no expert at reading log files, but from what I've been able to discern, the only obvious difference between a log from a run where I didn't edit anything (and thus didn't freeze) and a run where I did, triggering the freeze, is an exception on the "Visited Links" file in Launchbox / Metadata / Temp:

2020-04-12 06:19:06 PM FIRST CHANCE EXCEPTION: The process cannot access the file 'Visited Links' because it is being used by another process.
   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
2020-04-12 06:19:06 PM FIRST CHANCE EXCEPTION: The process cannot access the file 'Visited Links' because it is being used by another process.
   at System.IO.Directory.DeleteHelper(String fullPath, String userPath, Boolean recursive, Boolean throwOnTopLevelDirectoryNotFound, WIN32_FIND_DATA& data)
2020-04-12 06:19:06 PM EXCEPTION IGNORED: The process cannot access the file 'Visited Links' because it is being used by another process.
   at System.IO.Directory.DeleteHelper(String fullPath, String userPath, Boolean recursive, Boolean throwOnTopLevelDirectoryNotFound, WIN32_FIND_DATA& data)

Something involving this file seems to be the problem - maybe a dev is reading this and can weigh in on what might be going on. The file is still in the Temp folder after LB shuts down, unlike the multitude of other files/folders created in Temp during runtime, which do get deleted when LB closes.

LB is running from my Documents folder, which has full read/write privileges, and the problem occurs whether running under my own user account (which has admin rights on the computer) or "Run as administrator".

First chance exceptions typically shouldn't stop functionality from working. You do have a few red flags in your description though. LB probably shouldn't be put in "My Documents" to start. Windows gets pretty touchy when running applications out of system folders like that and can potentially cause issues. Best to have it in a folder you create on a drive (C:\LaunchBox\   for example). Another is that you claim you are running as admin. You should NEVER run a portable application as administrator. This includes LaunchBox. It WILL screw things up. When launching as admin, the OS tends to lie to the application about where it is being started from which can break relative paths and cause a whole host of other issues.

[Heronfeathers]

Thank you for the quick reply and apologies for not better explaining my situation.

I don't run LB as administrator; i only mentioned that in an effort to explain that I tried that as part of my troubleshooting and had no success. Regardless, the combination of moving LB to a different folder and applying the update that was just released today seems to have resolved the issue.

Thanks for your help. Hopefully that helps the OP as well.

[tjwoosta]

On 4/12/2020 at 9:09 PM, C-Beats said:

It wouldn't be caused by an update, but I would be curious how many auto-generated playlists you have. Having quite a few can cause delays when editing your library, which we've seen reported as acting vert similar to what you are describing.

I do have a ton of auto-generated playlists. Arcade is split into individual manufacturers (Capcom Play System, Capcom Play System II, etc..)

For what its worth, I was able to get it working normal again. I don't know exactly how though. While it was greyed out and unresponsive I kept messing with different UI menus at the top right to see what would work and what wouldn't, then suddenly it snapped out of it and everything has worked fine ever since, even after restarting.

Edited April 17, 2020 by tjwoosta