Hoster problem

[Lloyd Te Kani]

Hoster stops operating mid-song and computer provides the following fault diagnosis. Can anyone help resolve this problem please -
Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Hoster.exe
Application Version: 3.3.1.6
Application Timestamp: 45fea737
Fault Module Name: Hoster.exe
Fault Module Version: 3.3.1.6
Fault Module Timestamp: 45fea737
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0007f354
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: e040
Additional Information 2: 92e4dec6b019b4e8ccc63fa0c4689f9d
Additional Information 3: b2ec
Additional Information 4: 5c32971d1d5f0ef4d7a5d8a735b350d9
Files that help describe the problem
Version.txt
AppCompat.txt
memory.hdmp
minidump.mdmp

[George]

Make sure you have all the necessary Windows updates. Do not use Express update. Use CUSTOM, and take all the updates offered.

Microsoft only includes updates they deem important in the EXPRESS mode.

Here's a link.

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

If that doesn't get it then we'll need some information about your system.

[Lloyd Te Kani]

Many thanks George. Have downloaded all updates but problem persists. It seems to be a video card problem so will have to go back to retailer or laptop manufacturer to get to the root of the problem

[Lloyd Te Kani]

I have a brand new Toshiba Note with Vista Premium & NVIDIA Ge Force Go 7300 Graphics Card. All MTU documentation tells me that Hoster will run perfectly in this system but it continues to stop suddenly mid-song and provides an error message as I previously specified. I am thinking that I may have to uninstall then re-install Hoster. Will this solve the problem and just as importantly will I lose the 4300 songs and songbook entires that I have painstakingly downloaded? I've downloaded all relevent Windows updates and NVIDIA driver upgrades but no luck. Does anyone have the magic solution for me

[George]

Lloyd,

To answer yoiur question, under normal circumstances, reinstalling Hoster does not cause the loss of your KMA files, and reinstalling may or may not solve the problem.

That said, as many problems Vista has been causing I wouldn't want to take the responsibility of telling you to go ahead and reinstall unless you would take the precaution to get a USB hard drive and back those files up before doing anything.

You need that at the very least anyway in the event of a crash.

Ideally, you should have a back up pc with everything on it, or use something like Norton Ghost and have your entire hard drive cloned to an external drive, for immediate recovery.

Some may disagree with me, but that's my take on it as erratic as Vista has been performing.

[ddouglass]

I know we have seen all kinds of problems with Vista, but it usually is security where files can't be found or prevented from opening. I can't think of any that have caused the program to stop in mid-song.
When you say all relevent updates, does that mean you are using the Automatic update or going to Microsoft Update website and doing the Express update? Microsoft has so much integration within its system and programs that many times what may seem as irrelevant is actually necessary.

When it freezes in mid-song is it just video or video and audio or the whole program?

[George]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

I know we have seen all kinds of problems with Vista, but it usually is security where files can't be found or prevented from opening. I can't think of any that have caused the program to stop in mid-song.

Agree wholeheartedly, but when messing with someone else's property I'd rather err on the side of caution. He needs to be backed up anyway.

[Lloyd Te Kani]

Thanks for the advice guys but I make sure I back up Hoster on an external hard drive, I did this right from the start because this is what I do for a living and yes it is bith audio and video that fail. What happens is the program simply stops operating. All I see on the screen is the blank outline of the Hoster screen and the error message "Hoster has stopped" or something equally simple. I click on the OK button and the whole thing reverts back to the desk top.

My laptop has a fault diagnosis program which comes up with the inital diagnosis as specified.

I know, it's a curly one. I've submitted a query to MTU tech to see what they can tell me.

[mindonstrike]

What's the error message Windows gives at the time it happens, those tend to be a little more informational to the laymen. You might check your event viewer as well sometimes it will give a little more info and/or provide a link to Microsoft that can sometimes steer you in the right direction.

If I had to make a totally uneducated guess it would be that some component of windows or a dll is corupt.

Sam

[George]

Lloyd,

Try a new download. You may have a corrupted file causing the crashes.

[MTUSUPPORT]

The only thing that could cause this, is the Video drivers for the GFORCE 7300. You should try updating these, or maybe they have hidden issues or bugs in Windows Vista. I know that in our laptops we are currently using the GEFORCE 8400 To go. It workes fine, but this is also under Windows Vista.

This is where I would start since you have Vista.

[Lloyd Te Kani]

Firstly, let me thank all those who have replied to my thread but unfortunately the problem remains unsolved. Does anyone out there have a notebook setup similar to mine and if so is it functioning the way it should and what changes, if any did you make to your system to achieve this? I have a Toshiba Notebook with Duo-core processor, 1024mgs of Ram, 120GB HD, Nvidia Go Ge 7300 Graphics setup and running Windows Vista Premium.

I've had Toshiba run tests on my laptop but everyhting functions as it should. They confirm that the problem appears to be a non-compatibility issue with "Hoster". Although the drections in the Manual are not Vista-friendly, I've tried to change the settings in my laptop but alas the program still stops mid-song so I'm back to square one.

If you can help, you will go to the top of my Christmas card list!

[bryant]

I don't know if this would be a relevant piece of information here but I do know from experience that the 7200 Video card has experienced problems with other programs requiring second monitor video extension. Don't know about the 7300.

I have one and do experience problems with these other programs, as do others. I wish I never had that card.

May or may not apply to hoster, but might serve as a warning for others.

[Monolithent]

I use an nVidia card in my work machine and had similar problems with it dying. I tried updating its drivers using Microsoft's driver and did not fix anything.

However I went to the nVidia site and got their driver and has been smooth sailing for a couple of years. Just a possible solution.

Had a look at their site and they have a lot of information about hotfixes and drivers and DirectX all involving Vista systems (http://www.nvidia.com/object/windows..._hotfixes.html). Might be worth a read.

Good luck with it,

Jon

Monolith Entertainment

[Lloyd Te Kani]

Thanks Monolithent, I certaihnly will try anything at the moment, I'm reaching the desperate stage. Hoster was recommended by a fellow well respected KJ and after some research, quided by Hoster's recommendations, I purchased a new laptop and the Hoster program about 3 months ago and despite following the guidelines in the manual the system has continually failed to operate as I expected. Alas if all else fails, I may have to go to a competitor's product to get my business back on it's feet and obviously further expenditure.

[Monolithent]

I hope all these problems don't steer you away from MTU products.

I'm not in any way affiliated with Micro Technology.

With that said, there is not a better piece of tech out there when it comes to Karaoke software. I tried nearly a dozen and was never happy until I came across Hoster. I have been using it for somewhere around 5 or six years and it has never failed even once.

Part of my job is to be a Systems Administrator for a unit that has over 300 computers and at least 30 different models and/or manufacturers. And for that there have been more problems than I could have imagined. I usually found that the problem was in the computer and not the software.

Don't lose heart. Between the forums and the support folks this will be resolved and you will see how great this program really is.

Jon

Monolith Entertainment

[Monolithent]

Just a thought. I am on my office computer which is a Vista x64 machine and I installed Hoster and many of the other MTU programs on it without problem and it has been working fine even on a vista 64-bit machine (which are notorious for problems).

You have the ability to install Hoster on 2 systems before your licenses are all used up. If it is possible, do you think you could install the program on another machine so you have one useable and you can work off of it if necessary. This will buy you time to figure out the issue with your laptop.

Let me know how that stuff from nVidia works out.

Feel free to email (monolithent@yahoo.com) me if you need any further assistance.

Jon

Monolith Entertainment

[George]

Lloyd,

Just curious.

What does the performance under task manager show the CPU usage to be while a track is playing normally in Hoster, and does it spike upwards at the time of the crash?

[Monolithent]

Normally it isn't CPU overloads that will cause a program error if that happens the computer completely locks-up or shuts down. Not that they are impossible but program failures usually happens in the memory area so it is a good idea to check both.

I have had systems that operate normally until the system tries to access a specific block of memory (which was faulty) and cause an entire system to shut down.

You can check and monitor your system memory also from task manager on the same screen.

Once again not arguing just saying check memory as well. A semi bad stick of RAM can cause all kinds of problems.

Jon

Monolith Entertainment

[Lloyd Te Kani]

OK, let me re-cap. Guided by MTU recommendations, I purchased a Toshiba Laptop with Nvidia graphics card and bought the Hoster software so that I could run my twice weekly karaoke show using state-of-the-art technology. It has never operated as expected despite the fact that I have downloaded all windows updates, Nvidia drivers etc and despite the fact that I have followed the changes in settings recommended by MTU in their manual even tho they were obviously printed for Win 2000/XP users etc. I've had my laptop system checked over by the Toshiba people under warranty and all is operating as it should.

Putting it simply, the problem is that when I run the "Hoster" software, it will at some stage just simply go blank whilst is it playing a song and the music will stop. I then move the mouse which causes the screen to re-activate and a blanked-out replica of the Hoster screen re-appears over the desktop screen and an error message appears reading "Hoster Application has stopped working", followed by the words " A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the progra m and notify you if a solution is available." I then close this window and investigate further but so far Windows has failed to find that solution. On advice received from other thread contributors I've just studied Task Manager during a couple of such failures. On the first occasion, the CPU usage spiked to 36% but there was no real difference in Memory. On the second failure there was no discernible difference in either reading............so there you have it. I appreciate all input but so far it seems I've invested in a "lemon". Apologies for rambling on. Can anyone help further. My second computer is a Pentium 4 desktop running XP. Guess what?? No problems with that one so far, touch wood.