Launchbox 13.6 Stuck loading interface

[quicksavebarcade]

I have tried to reinstall 13.6 and use back ups and It still just hands on "loading Interface". The only thing that has got it to open is using system restore on Windows 11 to last month ebnfore I updated. Any ideas?

[quicksavebarcade]

I wasn't getting any feedback on here, but I talked to Unbrokensoftware on Youtube. He suggested I rename my data folder and see if Launchbox will open, which it did. Now the issue is somewhere in my data folder, I have acomplex and bid luanchbox set up so I can't just start over. Is there some suggestions on what I can do to get Luanchbox to launch and not lose my data, even tho the issue is in my data software?

[C-Beats]

You can slowly add one platform at a time from your backup to the new data folder LaunchBox created to help narrow down the file that is causing the issue. I'd start with any platforms tied to a storefront (typically is Windows though some people import their storefront games to other platforms).

[quicksavebarcade]

What is odd is if I go back to 13.5 it loads fine. I haven't added any new games or platforms in quite a while either.

[C-Beats]

It's why I asked about checking the Windows platform first. 13.6 adds a new automated import on startup I was wondering if that would potentially be the cause. If you look in your Settings.xml file in your backup is the value in the "EnableAutomatedImports" (without quotes) tags true or false? If true change it to false and let me know if you still run into the issue.

[quicksavebarcade]

It looks like it was set to false already.

[quicksavebarcade]

On 8/24/2023 at 8:58 PM, C-Beats said:

It's why I asked about checking the Windows platform first. 13.6 adds a new automated import on startup I was wondering if that would potentially be the cause. If you look in your Settings.xml file in your backup is the value in the "EnableAutomatedImports" (without quotes) tags true or false? If true change it to false and let me know if you still run into the issue.

I added all the platforms 1 by one on a fresh data folder. None of them caused an issue. Launchbox loaded everytime, except all my folders were not correct for media. I fixed that and it still worked fine. then today it got stuck once. Force closed it,  and tried again and it opened. Just now went to add a new game and it's back to being stuck on loading interface. I can't see what is causing it.

 

[grki]

I have noticed that there are several threads and posts relating this issue - and no real working solution for that!
As I see this thread is the most recent, so I'll post my solution in this thread.

Since the last Update 13.12 I'm only able to start LaunchBox, when I clear the "Backups" folder and the images cache in "Images\Cache-LB". Otherwise LaunchBox sucks on its loading screen ...

Concrete I have to do following steps each time, when I want to start LaunchBox:

1. Force close/terminate all LaunchBox processes via Windows Task Manager ...
2. Clear/Delete the content of sub folder "Backups" inside the LaunchBox root folder
3. Clear/Delete the content of sub folder "Images\Cache-LB" inside the LaunchBox root folder
4. Starting LaunchBox directly by its EXE file - which is located in the sub folder "Core". In example "E:\LaunchBox\Core\LaunchBox.exe"

I created for myself a PowerShell script to automate these step before it starts LaunchBox. Otherwise unfortunately, the normal launch of LaunchBox no longer works in my case ... That's so annoying! 😑

[C-Beats]

Are you running any plugins? Outside of creating those folders if they don't exist, our startup process doesn't even touch either of those directories so I'm unsure how those steps would affect anything. When LB sticks for you what step does the loading screen say on it?

[grki]

On 3/25/2024 at 1:56 PM, C-Beats said:

Are you running any plugins? Outside of creating those folders if they don't exist, our startup process doesn't even touch either of those directories so I'm unsure how those steps would affect anything. When LB sticks for you what step does the loading screen say on it?

I'm using LaunchBox Premium with lifetime license as it is out of the box (=if this matters) - and without any special plugins.

The loading screen hangs at the point "Loading Interface ...":

You can wait hours - nothing will happen ...

The Windows Task Manager shows me this:



As you can see, LaunchBox starts a sub process called "CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess" with extreme long and complex parameters ^^^^
I don't understand, what this means. Maybe you will understand it.

 

Edited March 27, 2024 by grki
Additional information ...

[C-Beats]

Can you do the following and let me know if it resolves your issue?
Close LaunchBox and ensure the process isn't running in the background
Navigate to your LaunchBox directory and then open the following file: \\LaunchBox\Data\Settings.xml
In that file there should be a tag called "EnableAutomatedImports", if that is true set it to false and then save and close the file.
Reopen LaunchBox and see if the issue persists.

[grki]

I don't use this setting. In my setup "EnableAutomatedImports" is disabled:

[grki]

Interesting update:

In the meantime I have tried out countless tests to locate the root cause. And now I'm quiet sure my "Startup Application" does effecting the LaunchBox startup.

In my LaunchBox setup I'm using two custom PowerShell scripts for several automation reasons.
These are located in the LaunchBox options under "General > Startup Applications":

Don't be confused by the "PowerShell Emulator"! This is simply a portable version of PowerShell - which I stored inside the "Emulators" folder. I need this to keep my LaunchBox installation most portable as possible - regardless of the version of MS Windows ... 😉

Normally I finalize my PowerShell scripts with a "Exit" command in the last line.  If I remove the exit command reps. comment it out, then LaunchBox starts as it should:

Really strange! But for me the LaunchBox start do no longer hang/freeze in step "Loading interface ..." 😄