4.02 Unmitigated Disaster!

[johnocolin]

Unbelievable!.It is now 2am and i have been sitting here now for 5hrs trying to get this Software to work error free for any length of time.Now Hoster 4.02 will not even play 1 Song!
I have encountered the following problems.
1. Videos that on pressing play don´t show on screen,however the timer counts down as if it is playing.If however i press Pause then Resume,the video appears.
2.After that i tried one or two Sunfly tracks from the database.On playing them the Lyrics were a couple of seconds behind the music.So i set the Priority level to high which solved the problem with the synchronisation.
3.However,as i opened the Search box and scrolled to bottom of the list Hoster froze for about 2 Mins.I waited then eventually i could close the search box.Upon playing the songs disaster struck.
4.On pressing play the sung changed to CUE and that was that!.No playing nothing now i have to close Hoster over the Task Manager.It will now not play any songs.I will try a reinstall tomorrow.

Use 3.4 then i might hear you say.Well 3.4 starts ok.However all songs report "Track Path is Missing" so i had to delete the list and all the tracks and singers new.Great,good job it was not a show!.Not only that the graphics are not good on 3.4 nor did i buy or want 3.4.Then i could have saved my money and stayed with 3.316.

If i have no luck getting this 4.02 working properly then i for one will be demanding my money back.I am not a Beta tester nor do i wish to become one.I waited and waited because there were so many problems with 4.1.They are fixed now i read,how foolish of me.

If i can´t run a show for several hours glitch free then i don´t need Marquees and split screens and Instabuttons,the songs HAVE to play properly,nothing else!!!!!The singers need them.

By the way for all the beta testers.I run a freshly installed XP SP3 all possible updates,WMP11 on a 1,7Gz Inspiron 6000 from Dell with 1Gb RAM.
I have almost no software running in the background,no Virus scanners nothing.The computer has no other major Software installed.Also as Hoster crashed there was nothing in the task manager to indicate a major drain on resources.CPU and Memory drain was insignificant.

I´ll let you know tomorrow how i get on. :-( Goodnight.

[ddouglass]

IE6 or 7? (You didn't mention that).
Try running Belarc Advisor (free). This will tell you whether or not all your updates actually installed correctly. You would be surprized at how many will say they successfully installed when they actually didn't.
The other major thing I can think of right now is to check to be sure you have the latest drivers for your audio and video cards.
Did you have any ZIP files and did you let the conversion for them run?
I understand your frustration but you are the only one that is having this many problems. That is not to say some are having a problem or two but nothing this bad.

[madjim- with the Lord]

John,
I'm truely sorry that 4.02 is not working for you. I have been using Hoster 4 in my shows since a few betas before the release date and it runs well. I've never had to use 3.40 during a show (five nights a week).

I'll never go back to 3.XX! EVER!

Here is my setup:

XP Home
SP3
Windows Media Player 11 (Never opened )
Internet Explorer 7
All Custom Windows Updates
Latest Video Driver (Though the latest one did not work for the Nvidia card in my #2 test machine. )

Vista has caused mega-problems for MTU. They just made a major decision. You can read about it here.

http://forum.mtu.com/showpost.php?p=78756&postcount=14

I feel your frustration, welcome to the world of PC's, BUT if we didn't have PC's we wouldn't have Hoster.

We'll get you going, hang in there.

Jim

[OneEskalera]

Check your hard drive format? defrag. You should have NTFS. Always defra your hard drive so it would run smooth.

[johnocolin]

Well problems are consistent.Have IE 7 as it belongs to Microsoft Updates.As i said before it´s a clean install and tuned that includes defrag although there was nothing really to defrag.
The video problem has not gone away,however that would appear to be the fact that they are in MPG4 format.
I´ll wait to see what happens next week with MTU i´m sure they are not happy either with the complaints about 4.02.
At the end of the day it shouldn´t be becoming this complex and involved for people that buy this Software.Users are having to get involved in PC issues that sometimes are beyond them.
I have done Karaoke shows for 15Years now and first and foremost is simplicity and ease.As a one man show i don´t have the time to concern myself with computer glitchs.
I have used 3.316 for a long time now with never a single problem.Not ONE!.Now i have purchased 4.02 and i dare not even think of using it for a show.God forbid i should wish to use it with another DJ software at the same time.
Well i shall wait and see what happens.

[ddouglass]

MP4 videos are not usable at least at this time. Sometime in the future maybe but right now that is the case, so that is why.
If you have read Admin's post here you know that they are taking action on all of the problems. http://forum.mtu.com/showpost.php?p=78756&postcount=14
Bill Gates and Microsoft have made sure that nothing involving a computer is simple and easy anymore. Personally I have in all my years not seen anyone be able to release a perfect program that could run on any computer with any configuration. If we all had computers cloned from one perfectly set up computer then they would all work error free, or so you would think. I have worked for the government where they tried to do that and it doesn't work.
I could say it is a learning experience but that would be tacky. However in todays world of computers you have to know something about the computer or have someone you can ask (forums, friends, etc.) to be able to run one without having major problems. If you want simple and easy use WinAmp with their Karaoke Plug-in. If you want a Professional Karaoke Show use Hoster. Yes right now there are still some bugs in the new set-up but MTU is working hard and long hours to get those worked out to give us the best product. But even the best bug-free program is still going to require that you know or have a source of information on how to keep your computer up-to-date and functioning correctly.

[goonie227]

John
I ran my second show with 4.02 last night with no problems whatsoever
at both shows PC/DJFX has been running at the same time I did both shows from my backup as I still haven't upgraded my show computer
need more RAM before I try 4.02, MTU and guys like Dale & Mad Jim
will get yours there to.
Dick

[johnocolin]

How come 3.40 can play Mp4 Videos but 4.02(the better version!) can´t?

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by johnocolin

How come 3.40 can play Mp4 Videos but 4.02(the better version!) can´t?

3.40 uses MTU's old player which they are now writing into 4.03. 4.02 is based on using a Windows Media Player/Internet Explorer combo which has been having giving MTU problems playing videos.

This IS one of the reasons why MTU is switching back to their old tried and true player.

Jim

[admin]

Originally Posted by madjim

3.40 uses MTU's old player which they are now writing into 4.03. 4.02 is based on using a Windows Media Player/Internet Explorer combo which has been having giving MTU problems playing videos.

This IS one of the reasons why MTU is switching back to their old tried and true player.

Well said Jim.

We made good headway over the weekend, proving some directions are required. We now expect to get 4.03 Beta 1 out tomorrow to our testers. It uses our older Lyrics player (in Microstudio and Hoster since 1.000). We are removing all use of WMP9/11 and IE6/7 from the lyrics as these are preventing us from getting the triggers back to keep in sync, set the Dur counter correctly, why it is hanging at 00:00), and not freezing up in the CUE state waiting forever for the next files to open.

JohnColin, I am truly, truly, truly sorry you are having problems. As you can see, MadJim, goonie227 and others are not. Go figure... cause we can't!

That's why we are returning to our older Lyrics render code. We are doing it in a way that CURRENTLY we don't think will loose any features, only get rid of the Microsoft headaches.

I'm with you... users should NOT have to dink with technology, and MTU has been super-able to hide technology for 3 decades now. We're having a temporary glitch with Microsoft and our own learning curve with WMP and IE. We are moving rapidly towards a decision.

If your MP4 files play in 3.3xx, they will again in 4.03.

BTW: What is the extension on them?

[jimski51]

JohnColin, I'm having most of the same problems. I use 4.02.
Main problem is the cue delays or locks up. Sometimgs 15 sec. to 1 min. 40 sec. I put up with it for less than half an hour then have to switch to 3.4. This works great.

Jim

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by jimski51

JohnColin, I'm having most of the same problems. I use 4.02.
Main problem is the cue delays or locks up. Sometimgs 15 sec. to 1 min. 40 sec. I put up with it for less than half an hour then have to switch to 3.4. This works great.

Jim

Try this in 4.02:

Tunn off the Marquee and the SND on the preview screen.

Turn off the Marquee on the Lyrics screen but leave the SND on.

Leave the Marquee and the SND running on the Intermission screen

This is how my show displays are setup.

I hope this helps.

Jim

[jimski51]

Originally Posted by madjim

Try this in 4.02:

Tunn off the Marquee and the SND on the preview screen.

Turn off the Marquee on the Lyrics screen but leave the SND on.

Leave the Marquee and the SND running on the Intermission screen

This is how my show displays are setup.

I hope this helps.

Jim

Thanks Jim,

I already had all this except the preview screen. I fixed that part and it is working much gooder.

I read somewhere that a hang up on cue is fixed by minimizing the screen to the taskbar and maximizing it and the cue is already changed to play. This works too.

I also accidently pushed the video button instead of the audio button to play music and the screen played the WMA visual screen.

Thanks for the help.

Jimski

[jimski51]

I also noticed that the cue hang up only happened with the extended monitor activated.

Jim

[johnocolin]

Extension is *.mp4

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by jimski51

Thanks Jim,

I already had all this except the preview screen. I fixed that part and it is working much gooder.

I read somewhere that a hang up on cue is fixed by minimizing the screen to the taskbar and maximizing it and the cue is already changed to play. This works too.

I also accidently pushed the video button instead of the audio button to play music and the screen played the WMA visual screen.

Thanks for the help.

Jimski

The cue problem is being worked on bt MTU so for now we have to deal with it. I would suggest that after the song finishes you close Hoster and reopen. That should keep you from having to do it over and over.
Did you mean it played with a blacked out display as in used the Video screen instead of the Audio?

[jimski51]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Did you mean it played with a blacked out display as in used the Video screen instead of the Audio?

Dale,

When I select an audio file from the video button, I get whatever I have selected in the visualization screen in WMA. Such as bars, ocean mist, or one of my favorites, electric rainbow.

Jim

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by jimski51

Dale,

When I select an audio file from the video button, I get whatever I have selected in the visualization screen in WMA. Such as bars, ocean mist, or one of my favorites, electric rainbow.

Jim

That makes sense. They are currently using WMP to render the video file. It is only showing the same thing you would see if you played an audio file in WMP. This will disappear when the put back the original render code in 4.03.

[ddouglass]

In addition, if you were to select correct the Audio button, then you would hear the aduio but see the Intermission screen on the display which is what was intended.

[rickyrey]

I am having almost the same problems and issues that are listed above...

Can not run a show with 4 without being worried all the time