Decorum for the Forum:
  • Be nice. If you want to be mean, try Reddit.
  • No Piracy. If you want to be a thief, there are dark places on the internet dedicated to that.
  • No Cracking. Discussions on AnyDVD, DeUHD, DVDFab, UHDKeys and similar tools are not permitted here.
  • No Spamming. If you want to make a buck, work smarter... somewhere else.
  • No Adult Content. Half the internet is dedicated to adult content. This half isn't.

Privacy Policy: Click Here to Review (updated September 30, 2020)

[Resolved] Need to sync every time i open CMC

General support forum for Chameleon MediaCenter (formerly MM Browser)
Post Reply
p64imp
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2022 11:45 pm

[Resolved] Need to sync every time i open CMC

Post by p64imp » Wed Mar 15, 2023 12:50 pm

Hi,

I just updated CMC to the latest build, and i'm hitting an issue. When I open CMC client it opens every time with zero movies in the list. I have to click on sync, and once i do that my collection immediately shows up.

My last version on 5.x did not do this. Do i need to have a setting to auto sync on open or something? It's super annoying that i have to manually sync every time i open the client...

I've also been getting some random errors here and there on click:

UpdateBackground EBitmapLoadingFailed: Loading bitmap failed
ShiftCoverArt
DVDCoverClick

and when i turn on logging, i get "FormCreate" errors. It attempts to create log files in windows\system32\log which is off limits to windows, blocks it, and flat out breaks the app (black screen with "LabelCreate" label in the middle of the screen - dead). I have to go in to the cfg after enabling it to set the values to false again to even boot the app. (i'm running the app in admin mode btw)

Not sure what these errors are about? I do a search and I don't see anything in the forums about them.

I did a full clean upgrade... completely did a fresh install and just transferred my config settings over as i was hitting MAJOR issues when i installed over my last version. It at least "works" now, but with issues... even with a completely 100% clean install.


Additionally, one last thing that you may not be aware of, this has happened since 5x release. When you have different user profiles, each profile you can set a different background to in settings, though when switching users, the background will not change unless you enter and exit settings. It will always stay on the last seen background unless you attempt to adjust the config settings w/the gear icon. Just thought i'd let you know :)

Thanks!

User avatar
Pauven
Posts: 2777
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2017 10:28 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Contact:

Re: Need to sync every time i open CMC

Post by Pauven » Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:24 pm

Hi p64imp,

Sounds like you are having a major issue with CMC, sorry aboutt that.

While I was reading your post, the first thought that popped into my mind was that somehow CMC couldn't write to the HD. If it can't save the synced DB, then that would explain why it has to resync every time.

And then you mentioned that it is trying to write logs to the Windows System32 folder, yikes! It should NOT be doing that. So most likely, CMC is also trying to save the synced movie DB to System32 too.

One thing that could explain this behavior is if you are somehow launching CMC with the working directory set to Windows\System32. The working directory should be CMC's directory (I recommend C:\CMC). One way this could happen is if you are using some other application or a shortcut/hotkey to launch CMC. Perhaps the shortcut is misconfigured with the working directory set to System32. Or perhaps the other app is using that as its working directory.

Does that sound like I'm on to something? How are you launching CMC? If you browse into CMC's directory and double-click on CMC.exe to run it, then by default the working directory should be CMC's directory, so if you are launching CMC some other way, try this way and see if the problem goes away.

The other errors I believe we can ignore for now. If the working directory is wrong, CMC will freak out and those errors are expected. I think once we correct the working directory issue then all will be solved.

p64imp wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 12:50 pm Additionally, one last thing that you may not be aware of, this has happened since 5x release. When you have different user profiles, each profile you can set a different background to in settings, though when switching users, the background will not change unless you enter and exit settings. It will always stay on the last seen background unless you attempt to adjust the config settings w/the gear icon. Just thought i'd let you know
I didn't realize that, thanks for letting me know!

Paul
President, Chameleon Consulting LLC
Author, Chameleon MediaCenter

p64imp
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2022 11:45 pm

Re: Need to sync every time i open CMC

Post by p64imp » Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:30 pm

Smart! I didn't consider that... I have it set as a shortcut, and the shortcut is set to the home path when the app launches, which is located in the user path. When i launch the exe directly, it asks for a sync, but when i opened it a second time, no sync!

Looks like i need to figure out how to work the shortcut, as it looks like the way you coded the app to define the home location comes from the launch path, not the installed path, so pinning the app to the app bar for quick launch apparently is no bueno.

I wonder if this can be altered in the install location define? I know there's no formal installer, so app's home folder is pinned against the launch location, but i wonder if this can some how be overridden if need be?

Anyway, this fixed me right up for now! I'll work with it and let you know if i hit any other issues down stream, but for now i'm good!

(also this didnt cause me issues in 5.x... may be something new introduced in 6.x for the app home location?)

TY!

p64imp
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2022 11:45 pm

Re: Need to sync every time i open CMC

Post by p64imp » Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:39 pm

Update:

Adding my Chameleon launch folder path to Paths also resolved this. Nice little work around ;)

I can now launch it from my system bar location, and since paths is added, it uses that as the default application location. I'm up again!

Thanks!

Jamie
Posts: 942
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:26 pm

Re: Need to sync every time i open CMC

Post by Jamie » Wed Mar 15, 2023 7:21 pm

I don't think having the cmc executables on the task bar is the right thing to do. It could create problem in the future. Why not put a cmc short cut on the desk top? All you have to do is right click on the cmc executable in you cmc folder and select create shortcut. Then copy and paste the created shortcut within the cmc folder and place it on the desktop. You can also drag the shortcut file within file exploreer to the desktop. you can also edit your short cuts on the desktop by right clicking the desktop shortcut and selecting properties. See the example below.

short cuts.jpg
short cuts.jpg (750.67 KiB) Viewed 1217 times

User avatar
Pauven
Posts: 2777
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2017 10:28 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Contact:

Re: Need to sync every time i open CMC

Post by Pauven » Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:36 pm

One feature of CMC is to create launch shortcuts with associated hotkeys. This is part of the remote control configuration. To use this feature, you do have to run CMC as Administrator, since it needs permissions to create the shortcut.

In the remote control configuration section, specify a button to launch CMC (even if you are not planning to use a remote) and "Save". That will kick you out of the Settings screen, so go back in, and on the same page you need to click the button to update the registry. This does two things: it updates the Windows Registry with the new button configuration, plus it also creates a shortcut in the main menu folder, with an associated hotkey of CTRL+ALT+8. When you press whatever remote control button you had programmed, it issues that same CTRL+ALT+8 hotkey combo which launches the shortcut which launches CMC.

One thing to keep in mind is that when CMC creates the shortcut, it does so correctly - meaning that it sets the working directory to the CMC install directory. That way it doesn't matter where the shortcut lives (and it doesn't live in the CMC directory), it always runs CMC from the CMC folder.

Once that shortcut is created, you can find it in the Windows Start menu, and you can pin it to the Taskbar or anywhere else - it should work fine.

Also, notice in Jamie's screenshot that the shortcut is also configured correctly, as it has the "Start In" option populated with his CMC folder's name. Jamie likes to name his CMC folders including the version number, which is helpful for beta testing, but not something I recommend for regular users.
President, Chameleon Consulting LLC
Author, Chameleon MediaCenter

Post Reply