BigBox randomly freezes completely

[Cabirus]

Hi everyone! I have a problem with BigBox for several weeks now: It keeps randomly freezing when browsing my collection. Not just BigBox, the whole system freezes completely, I have to hard reset the PC. I never had this problem before and didn't change anything in my system (apart from updating drivers and Launchbox).

I already tried changing the video engine to WMP, but it didn't help. The Logfiles don't tell me anything, but maybe I'm missing something? I attached two files from the last two freezes.

Thanks, Thomas

Update: It is definitely a problem with video playback. I tried using a "cover wall" view with no videos, and there were no crashes at all. But I would really like to use videos in BigBox...

 

Debug 2023-05-08 12-54-57 PM.log Debug 2023-05-08 12-59-35 PM.log

Edited May 8, 2023 by Cabirus

[C-Beats]

What theme are you using? We know in 13.3 there are some memory leaks regarding video that we've identified and corrected for next version. Though those tend to crash the app, not freeze it.

[Cabirus]

It happens with different themes, even with the Default one...

[Cabirus]

Update: It is definitely a problem with video playback. I tried using a "cover wall" view with no videos, and there were no crashes at all. But I would really like to use videos in BigBox...

[faeran]

I've heard of issues where certain video files could cause issues, like flv files, or corrupted video files. That's a hard thing to test though.

You could try and narrow down if this is the cause by removing all videos, and adding them back one platform at a time, or removing all platforms but one (while creating backups of everything). Keep adding another platform after a long test until you run into the issue.

[Cabirus]

The videos shouldn't be the cause. I've used them for years without problems...

Strangely, when using the LaunchBox-frontend itself, the videos play without a problem,

The logfiles I've attached are of no help, I presume?

[Retro808]

On 5/10/2023 at 2:37 AM, Cabirus said:

The videos shouldn't be the cause. I've used them for years without problems...

Strangely, when using the LaunchBox-frontend itself, the videos play without a problem,

The logfiles I've attached are of no help, I presume?

I dealt with the same issue for years and LB ran videos without issue. A while back someone tested removing videos and found out some .flv files were causing the issue. So I tested and found the same. Not saying it is going to be the same for you, just advising to at least test to confirm. Also, just advising I am not saying .flv file types were the issue, just that the issue video files were of .flv. So possibly those particular ones were corrupt. 

[Cabirus]

Thanks für your suggestion, but all my videos are mp4s. I don't use FLVs at all.

[Retro808]

15 minutes ago, Cabirus said:

Thanks für your suggestion, but all my videos are mp4s. I don't use FLVs at all.

It is not just flv video files. It could be a corrupt mo4 video like Faeren mentioned. I was only advising a corrupt flv file was my issue. Simple enough to test just move the whole video folder out of LB folder and let BB run. The more users can actually test and provide feedback the better chance the team has at really finding a solution to prevent the issue. 

[depooter]

hooked up to TV via a dedicated HDMI...here's a couple of the different error logs. they all seem different? .not sure what the issue is...any help is much appreciated. 

1.

Faulting application name: BigBox.exe, version: 13.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x63cf74d2
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.22000.1880, time stamp: 0x40303075
Exception code: 0xc0000006
Fault offset: 0x0000000000039e01
Faulting process id: 0x16c0
Faulting application start time: 0x01d98602514d9a54
Faulting application path: R:\Launchbox\Core\BigBox.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 5788b6f2-a12d-4fdd-8d5e-15af273b3410
Faulting package full name: 
Faulting package-relative application ID: 

2.  

 

Windows cannot access the file R:\Launchbox\ThirdParty\Chromium\libcef.dll for one of the following reasons: there is a problem with the network connection, the disk that the file is stored on, or the storage drivers installed on this computer; or the disk is missing. Windows closed the program CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess because of this error.

Program: CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess
File: R:\Launchbox\ThirdParty\Chromium\libcef.dll

The error value is listed in the Additional Data section.
User Action
1. Open the file again. This situation might be a temporary problem that corrects itself when the program runs again.
2. If the file still cannot be accessed and
    - It is on the network, your network administrator should verify that there is not a problem with the network and that the server can be contacted.
    - It is on a removable disk, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM, verify that the disk is fully inserted into the computer.
3. Check and repair the file system by running CHKDSK. To run CHKDSK, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the command prompt, type CHKDSK /F, and then press ENTER.
4. If the problem persists, restore the file from a backup copy.
5. Determine whether other files on the same disk can be opened. If not, the disk might be damaged. If it is a hard disk, contact your administrator or computer hardware vendor for further assistance.

Additional Data
Error value: C000000E
 

3.

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Windows Error Reporting
Date:          5/13/2023 6:22:26 PM
Event ID:      1001
Task Category: None
Level:         Information
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      mariogame
Description:
Fault bucket 1729641004646706626, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: LaunchBox.exe
P2: 13.3.0.0
P3: 63cf74d2
P4: ntdll.dll
P5: 10.0.22000.1880
P6: 40303075
P7: c0000005
P8: 00000000000a8a77
P9: 
P10: 

Attached files:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.5420abe9-1526-4917-883d-52e81df2c52a.tmp.dmp
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.18ef1e4c-d0e1-47f0-8da9-b8e2ecef2183.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.4bb4a32b-4ffb-4ae7-befe-df77ce927dc4.tmp.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.3cb5d97d-cf17-4af2-ba52-2a0e62ed45b3.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.4bdb9748-cdd5-4c9d-872a-3e576971b465.tmp.txt

These files may be available here:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_LaunchBox.exe_3c0919576ff3877b7ad358ac8aedd83954997_9c13cd35_41b643fa-61f2-4dd1-82cc-c5e95fb6c8b2

Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: b68a43ce-40a7-4ce1-9b6b-abf8cc3e5d64
Report Status: 268566528
Hashed bucket: 100b8b77cfd2aa7aa800eb5466eaadc2
Cab Guid: 0
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Windows Error Reporting" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="0">1001</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>4</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2023-05-14T01:22:26.1093860Z" />
    <EventRecordID>5489</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="2188" ThreadID="0" />
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>mariogame</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>1729641004646706626</Data>
    <Data>4</Data>
    <Data>APPCRASH</Data>
    <Data>Not available</Data>
    <Data>0</Data>
    <Data>LaunchBox.exe</Data>
    <Data>13.3.0.0</Data>
    <Data>63cf74d2</Data>
    <Data>ntdll.dll</Data>
    <Data>10.0.22000.1880</Data>
    <Data>40303075</Data>
    <Data>c0000005</Data>
    <Data>00000000000a8a77</Data>
    <Data>
    </Data>
    <Data>
    </Data>
    <Data>
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.5420abe9-1526-4917-883d-52e81df2c52a.tmp.dmp
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.18ef1e4c-d0e1-47f0-8da9-b8e2ecef2183.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.4bb4a32b-4ffb-4ae7-befe-df77ce927dc4.tmp.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.3cb5d97d-cf17-4af2-ba52-2a0e62ed45b3.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.4bdb9748-cdd5-4c9d-872a-3e576971b465.tmp.txt</Data>
    <Data>\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_LaunchBox.exe_3c0919576ff3877b7ad358ac8aedd83954997_9c13cd35_41b643fa-61f2-4dd1-82cc-c5e95fb6c8b2</Data>
    <Data>
    </Data>
    <Data>0</Data>
    <Data>b68a43ce-40a7-4ce1-9b6b-abf8cc3e5d64</Data>
    <Data>268566528</Data>
    <Data>100b8b77cfd2aa7aa800eb5466eaadc2</Data>
    <Data>0</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

[Cabirus]

OK, I'll try that. I still think it must be another issue, as I've used the same videos for years and years in BigBox without any problems at all. But thanks for your suggestion!

The log files don't seem to be of any help, are they?

[paddyG]

Any update to this?  Bigbox (Launchbox 13.5) running in attract mode freezing up after a few hours of idle.  It's embarrassing when I have guests approach the machine and touch the joystick to scroll through the games and BB just freezes.  I'm using JoyToKey as the controller interface, but I have no reason to think that is the culprit (?).  BB is not responsive to keyboard either.  The only thing I can do is kill Bigbox with Task Manager and relaunch BB or kill the whole machine and restart.  After rebooting the machine it works fine... for about another few hours then it freezes up again.  It happens on my other machine too, completely different hardware specs, but same Windows 11, Launchbox 13.5, so I don't think it is a hardware issue.  Is the latest beta release addressing this at all?

[C-Beats]

43 minutes ago, paddyG said:

Any update to this?  Bigbox (Launchbox 13.5) running in attract mode freezing up after a few hours of idle.  It's embarrassing when I have guests approach the machine and touch the joystick to scroll through the games and BB just freezes.  I'm using JoyToKey as the controller interface, but I have no reason to think that is the culprit (?).  BB is not responsive to keyboard either.  The only thing I can do is kill Bigbox with Task Manager and relaunch BB or kill the whole machine and restart.  After rebooting the machine it works fine... for about another few hours then it freezes up again.  It happens on my other machine too, completely different hardware specs, but same Windows 11, Launchbox 13.5, so I don't think it is a hardware issue.  Is the latest beta release addressing this at all?

We have a few known issues affect stability in some themes that we are actively looking to improve. I don't believe any fix will make it into 13.6 for them. Right now Default theme should be stable, but some of the issues do still affect other themes. What theme are you running that is failing that quickly?

[paddyG]

CriticalZoneV2.  Any suggestion for a more stable theme to try?  I really like the presentation... games list on the left with nice sized video preview on the right. 

[paddyG]

Hi, just to follow-up with this issue, after updating to 13.8, BigBox still freezes/becomes completely unresponsive after a few hours in attract mode.  When I go to Task Manager, it shows BigBox (2), 0% usage, about 400Mb of RAM usage out of 15GB total.  When I expand the BigBox processes in Task Manager, it shows BigBox and CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess only.

When I end the BigBox process and restart BigBox, the Task Manager shows BigBox (4) with running processes Launchbox, BigBox and two CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess.  Everything works fine for a few hours, then randomly BigBox freezes up.

So it seems that Launchbox is quitting unexpectedly, which is causing BigBox to freeze.  Is there any way to check the logs to see what is causing Launchbox to quit?  I don't know where to look for those logs.  Anything else I should check for that I can report back to you to diagnose this problem?

Specs: HP EliteDesk 805 G6, AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 4650G, 16GB Ram, Windows 11 Pro, 256GB SSD (only 1/4 full).

[Retro808]

16 minutes ago, paddyG said:

Hi, just to follow-up with this issue, after updating to 13.8, BigBox still freezes/becomes completely unresponsive after a few hours in attract mode.  When I go to Task Manager, it shows BigBox (2), 0% usage, about 400Mb of RAM usage out of 15GB total.  When I expand the BigBox processes in Task Manager, it shows BigBox and CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess only.

When I end the BigBox process and restart BigBox, the Task Manager shows BigBox (4) with running processes Launchbox, BigBox and two CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess.  Everything works fine for a few hours, then randomly BigBox freezes up.

So it seems that Launchbox is quitting unexpectedly, which is causing BigBox to freeze.  Is there any way to check the logs to see what is causing Launchbox to quit?  I don't know where to look for those logs.  Anything else I should check for that I can report back to you to diagnose this problem?

Specs: HP EliteDesk 805 G6, AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 4650G, 16GB Ram, Windows 11 Pro, 256GB SSD (only 1/4 full).

I do not believe anything in latest updates was made to address this possible issue. It has been hard for the devs to replicate this. At least from their prior posts. Can you try moving your video folder out of the Launchbox folder and test having attract mode run and see if you have any crashes. 

As I mentioned earlier this issue plagued me for years. It was not until I tested removing video files that I found out I had a few videos that were corrupt. Removing them and downloading new ones I have not had a crash in a long time. It would be helpful if you can test that and let us know if it made a difference. May not be your issue, but would be good to eliminate it or if it is it can provide more information to the team. 

[paddyG]

Ok, sounds easy enough to try your suggestion.  I will report back with my findings soon!  Thanks!!!

[paddyG]

So I removed the original Videos folder.  LB automatically generated a new Videos folder, but not populated with any video files.  BigBox no longer freezing up and runs steady all day with no video files in the new Videos folder, only images in attract mode.

This maybe means there is something wrong with the original video files.  I re-encoded all the original videos in Handbrake and put them in the new videos folder, but BigBox freezes up again after a few hours with videos playing in attract mode.  Hmmm.

I think I will just start from scratch with a new fresh build of LB and see where that goes.

 

[Lf indy]

Thx 4 the reply to my email about the videos. I will test it but differently. When it freezes I'll replace the vid on the game tht freezes it & see what happens. Even if I found out the video folder fixed it I'd need to know what 1s are guilty. I have over 100k games/vids, so tht would take 4ever. But ur reply gave me an idea. Ty again.

[drewjbx]

So I just wanted to chime in... this issue has been plaguing BigBox for a number a users for years at this point as I have seen old threads from here add reddit as far back as 2017.

I have attract mode set to default speeds, switch between platforms on, 10sec time in between movements. I have tried HyperMax, Colorful, and Critical Zone themes. I have deleted all BB image cache and force populated, then defragged the HDD as well. Attract mode works fine for about 30min then it starts to lag a little bit, then gradually gets worse. An hour in it is almost locked up and unresponsive to input but task manager shows BigBox is using the same amount of cpu/ram (no issues with maxing out resources).

So to exit I just press windows key to show the taskbar and close the BB icon and it shuts down just fine (no unresponsive error dialog box). The next step I tried is to remove the video folder, attract mode plays with absolutely no videos. The exact same thing happens... slows down gradually then locks up. I am on the latest build 13.8. I have tried this on 4 different HDD's (seagate and wd clones) so I know it is not a hardware issue. Very disappointing to say the least. So for me it has nothing to do with video playback. At this point I would hope a screensaver option can be added with user defined videos (Batocera does this)

This way we can at least just play some pre-set gaming/arcade videos because Attract mode is broken for me, and it seems, quite a few other people.