Two issues related to Vista logon screen

[lehtikissa]

I've found two DVBViewer issues related to Vista's logon screen. Both are display glitches and don't affect recordings. I've reproduced them in 3.8.0.0 and in 3.8.1.2 beta.

 

Issue #1: Video Renderer not initialized if Vista locked

 

DVBViewer doesn't correctly initialize video renderer (VMR9) if Vista is locked (logon screen active) when it launches (ie. DVB Task Scheduler used to schedule recordings). When logging back to Vista, DVBViewer has no picture while sound is ok. In View/Filters it says "Video Renderer" instead of "VMR9 Renderer". A workaround is to go to Options and change anything in DirectX tab after which video renderer is reinitialized.

 

To reproduce:

 

1. Launch DVBViewer

2. Quickly hit Win+L (locks computer) before DVBViewer has started

3. Login back to Vista-> No picture in DVBViewer

 

I have included two debug logs related to this issue. DebugIssue.log shows what happens when DVBViewer is started when logon screen is active. DebugNormal.log is a successful launch.

 

Issue #2: Picture frozen when logging back to Vista

 

If DVBViewer is running when locking system, the picture is frozen when logging back. Easiest workaround is to resize the window which resumes the picture.

 

To reproduce:

 

1. Launch DVBViewer

2. Wait until there is a picture

3. Hit Win+L

4. Login back to Vista -> Frozen picture

 

System configuration

 

TV card: Terratec Cinergy 1200 DVB-C (driver version 4.8.18)

Mainboard: ABIT AB9 Pro (P965 chipset)

Graphics card: Club-3D ATI Radeon X1950PRO (Catalyst 7.9)

 

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Thanks in advance!

support.zip

DebugIssue.log

DebugNormal.log

Edited September 15, 2007 by lehtikissa

[Griga]

In View/Filters it says "Video Renderer" instead of "VMR9 Renderer".

Which means, the VMR9 doesn't connect to the decoder, so the DirectShow GraphBuilder selects another renderer, which connects, but doesn't work, most likely because important premises for displaying video are missing when the logon screen is active. I'd say, it's up to to Vista and/or the graphics card driver to make it work, not to DVBViewer.

[lehtikissa]

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

I also thought the bug could be in Vista and that's why I tried to rule it out before submitting the bug report. I attempted to reproduce this issue with media players such as GOMPlayer and Media Player Classic but they had no problems with resuming from logon screen.

 

This is what I did:

 

1. Launch GOMPlayer/MPC with a video file

2. Quickly hit Win+L

3. Login back to Vista -> Video plays correctly

[Griga]

but they had no problems with resuming from logon screen.

Which renderer do they use?

[lehtikissa]

Both support several renderers but as in DVBViewer, I use VMR9. Seems to be the best choice in Vista.

Edited September 15, 2007 by lehtikissa

[lehtikissa]

Did some additional testing in MPC. It seems that while the video plays correctly, in filters it says to be using "Video Renderer" instead of VMR9.

 

Maybe MPC has a workaround for this issue? Ie. when system resumes from login screen, the video renderer is reinitialized even though it doesn't update filter information in the user interface?

 

Even if that isn't done in MPC, couldn't DVBViewer do it?

 

Update: That's exactly what seems to happen in MPC. When entering from Filter menu to "Video Renderer" settings, it goes to VMR9 settings. It says Pin: [iN] VMR Input0 which is the same as when MPC correctly says to be using VMR9.

 

MPC provides additional information about VMR9 configuration. There are some minor differences between a normal startup and when resuming from login screen.

 

That information is attached to this post, hopefully it helps.

 

mpcissue.txt: Resuming from login screen.

mpcnormal.txt: Normal startup.

 

Thanks again!

mpcissue.txt

mpcnormal.txt

Edited September 15, 2007 by lehtikissa

[lehtikissa]

I have some additional information.

 

It seems DVBViewer, like MPC, is connected to VMR9 when reproducing this issue even though it says to use Video Renderer. Contents of View->Filters->Video Renderer are identical to when VMR9 functions correctly, only the picture is missing. When Video Renderer is actually being used, the window is different (additional tabs etc.).

 

Now, the difference is that while MPC shows video, DVBViewer still in the latest beta (3.8.1.10) doesn't.

[Lars_MQ]

DVBViewer still in the latest beta (3.8.1.10) doesn't.

Workaround: Shut the viewer down or close graph before logging off.

[lehtikissa]

Workaround: Shut the viewer down or close graph before logging off.

Thanks for the tip!

 

Unfortunately (if I understand correctly) the workaround doesn't help in the scenario (issue #1) in which I encounter this most often. That is when DVB Task Scheduler launches DVBViewer when Vista is locked and the login screen is active. If I login before the recording is complete, there is no picture in DVBViewer until I use one of the workarounds (see below).

 

Anyway, when trying your tip, I discovered that View/Rebuild Graph restores the picture. That's faster than my previous workaround which required going to Options.

 

The new workaround makes fixing issue #1 almost as easy as issue #2. In that case resizing the window is enough.

 

In any case, I hope there are plans to fix this. While only a cosmetic issue, it nevertheless affects the user experience.

[lehtikissa]

Good news for a change!

 

Issue 2 is resolved in Vista SP1 Beta. In constrast to MPC, there still is a brief pause until the picture resumes.

 

Issue 1 (which is more serious) is unaffected by SP1.