Hoster Shutting Down - Stopped Working: Upgrade DirectX and WMP

[kod]

Last night during my show, Hoster stopped working four times. I've been running Hoster for about two months with this happening very few times, sometimes not at all. I have not made any changes on my laptop (nothing added or removed) and I wasn't doing anything when it stopped (searching for songs, singers, etc.).

It has stopped only a couple of times before during my shows. Thank goodness it never stops during a song. It's between songs when it does stop working. I can open Hoster back up and everything is fine. It also stopped one time last night while I was playing music before the show (backgound music).

Does anyone have any idea what is happening?

KOD

Dell Inspiron 1545, Pentium Dual Core, T4400 @2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium W/Hoster 4.20

Sound, Video & Games Controllers
- IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
- Integrated Intel x4500 MHD Media Accelerator Graphics

[Roy Dennis]

Are all your music and Karaoke files on your C drive ?
If so what size is your C drive and how much free space is left?
I ask this as Windows uses some of the hard drive space as a swap file and if you run low on space could cause problems. Also your graphics card is integrated so shares some of the computers memory.

Roy.

[kod]

Roy,

Yes, all my Karaoke and Music is on my C drive. It is a 320GB with 211GB of free space left. (~65% free)

Would I be better off running from a external drive? (I have two as back up's)

KOD

Dell Inspiron 1545, Pentium Dual Core, T4400 @2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium W/Hoster 4.20

Sound, Video & Games Controllers
- IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
- Integrated Intel x4500 MHD Media Accelerator Graphics

[ddouglass]

Not as long as you have about 25-50% free space.

[Susan Waites]

I kept having the same problem on my HP laptop after I upgraded to Windows 7.
So I purchased a new Ruggedized Laptop from MTU, thinking that this should stop the problem. I had done everything that I could to stop this from happening on my HP. Well guess what this Laptop is doing it also. Last night during my show it stopped three times. Yes I am glad it does it at the end of a song and not during the song.
So I have no idea what is causing this problem. Buying the Laptop from MTU didn't fix the problem so who knows?

[kod]

Susan,

It's nice to know I'm not the only one with this problem, but as with you, it's still a problem.

The only thing I can add is I keep the Singers search feature and the Song search feature open continuously during my show for quick access. I get tired of having to open them over and over.

KOD

Dell Inspiron 1545, Pentium Dual Core, T4400 @2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium W/Hoster 4.20

Sound, Video & Games Controllers - IDT High Definition Audio CODEC - Integrated Intel x4500 MHD Media Accelerator Graphics

[Ed Beram]

I have been using Hoster for the past 6 years. I have gone through all the ups and downs of new computers and software upgrades. My latest and greatest computer is a DEll studio xps with windows 7, 4 gig, intel i5, 500gig on board HD although i use a 1 terabyte external. I had a night mare for over a year with vista and bought this because Hoster said w7 seems to have worked out the bugs...wrong. my new computer shuts down hoster at least 3 time a night. I have had some nights though wher it goes without a hitch, but as usual its buggy and i can't figure it out. I have noticed that when i have media player running in the backround it is more apt to shut down. a friend of mine went through all the hoops and finally went back to hoster 3.321a and all the shut downs quit??? any ideas?
Ed

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Ed Beram

I have been using Hoster for the past 6 years. I have gone through all the ups and downs of new computers and software upgrades. My latest and greatest computer is a DEll studio xps with windows 7, 4 gig, intel i5, 500gig on board HD although i use a 1 terabyte external. I had a night mare for over a year with vista and bought this because Hoster said w7 seems to have worked out the bugs...wrong. my new computer shuts down hoster at least 3 time a night. I have had some nights though wher it goes without a hitch, but as usual its buggy and i can't figure it out. I have noticed that when i have media player running in the backround it is more apt to shut down. a friend of mine went through all the hoops and finally went back to hoster 3.321a and all the shut downs quit??? any ideas?
Ed

One thing you need to remember is Hoster uses the Media Player to play the audio. By having an additional incidence open this may be over-loading the player.
For the rest of you try using it without using the Background audio or Media Player running outside Hoster and see if that stops the shutdowns or at least lessens them.

[Ed Beram]

Doug thank you for your quick reply. I could shut down windows media player but what a waste of money on alltaht ram and quick processor only to be able to run hoster solo. I can load the next singer's disc while playing a track while the present singer is up. Thats really why i bought an expensive computer , to multi-task. why can't hoster run with other programs, sounds like a weak spot in hoster doesn't it??
Ed

[ddouglass]

No sounds like a weak spot in Windows 7 that has apparently existed in it since the Vista days (Windows 7 is based on Vista). XP has not had any of these problems.

As Support said they will be looking at it, so maybe they can come up with a fix to get past this. I was only offering that as a work around temporary fix until they can figure out what is going on.

Besides you don't need to run a Media Player outside of Hoster as they have added the Background Audio player and you can do exactly what you are doing now. That is if it doesn't cause this too for now.

[Ed Beram]

thanks Doug and i'm glad to hear that tech support is looking at it. i have hoster lite and i wasn't aware that th BA feature works with that version, does it?
Ed

[Ed Beram]

last night i did a show and hoster needed to shut down again. did it only once and not 3 times like last weeks show. i made sur i took the advise of dale douglas and did not have windows media player running at the same time. it made no difference and it stil shut down the one time. i can load a singrs disc during an "up"singers performance and no shut down soit is not being over taxed. I have a dell studio laptop w/i5, 4 gigs ram. its very quick and brings a song to the play list right away. why is it shutting down??
Ed

[kod]

Things did not go well at my show last night (Thursday 5/27). Hoster ran from 7 to 8 pm with BA running without stopping before I started my show.

From 8 to 9:30 pm no problems at all. From 9:30 to 11 pm, Hoster stopped 3 times after a song (not during).


After the last time Hoster stopped, I did not turn the BA back on and from then until I shut down at 12:30 am, it did not stop anymore.


And yes, I downloaded 4.21 before I left home yesterday…

[Ed Beram]

sorry to hear you are having the same problem, however the more we get this info out there the sooner the problem can be solved by the great minds at mtu. i didn't even know a 4.21 version came out, mine is 4.20. also do you have hoster full or hoster lite? mine is "lite" and i wonder if one has more problems than the other. ah, the good old days of xp, rarely did i have these quirky problems with xp. of course i want to get the bugs out of the faster compuer since it searches, loads, imports etc so much faster.
Ed

[kod]

I have the full blown version of Hoster. MTU released 4.21 yesterday afternoon in an attempt to resolve the stopping problem.

Since I don't know anything about Hoster Lite, I don't know if this update applies to it. I downloaded it yesterday before I went to do my show.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Ed Beram

sorry to hear you are having the same problem, however the more we get this info out there the sooner the problem can be solved by the great minds at mtu. i didn't even know a 4.21 version came out, mine is 4.20. also do you have hoster full or hoster lite? mine is "lite" and i wonder if one has more problems than the other. ah, the good old days of xp, rarely did i have these quirky problems with xp. of course i want to get the bugs out of the faster compuer since it searches, loads, imports etc so much faster.
Ed

Yes this update would apply to Hoster Lite as well. They are the same program with certain functions removed from the Lite version. So give it a try and see if it helps.

[Ed Beram]

simple question dale. you seem like a very dedicated and knowledgable guy. i have seen your name for many years on these posts. you are a big supporter of mtu and you make it known that you niether work for the company nor have a vested interest in it, i accept that as truth. it is a curious thing though, and perhaps you can shed some light on your ever-present place on this mtu community site. why so diligent and loyal to mtu? ive never heard a bad word about the company from you. only defensive replies. i almost don't want to direct questions to you anymore because i get the feeling that you are more interested in mtu image damge control than in being agreeable that mtu is a buggy product with absolutely no customer bedside manner. i have made metion in the past that no software compant should ever take a customers money and release a version that is incompatable with windows vista or windows 7. mtu has been using the excuse that its windows fault and yet you sell the software that won't work well with it. very bad business in my book. shame on me for putting up with it. the best thing you guys have ever produced is 3.321 with XP. i have two of thse dinosaurs in my arsenal and won't part wit them. but you are not keeping up with the times. we as customers have to hunt around for old XP computers that don't have the speed and ram we really need in the modern world and are scared to death to give upour old gear and software because you keepselling software that is not perfected. im disgusted at this point. i have been very loyal, 6 years, but i am about to jump ship and if you are not careful others will surely follow...comment on this truth??