killing decode thread

Hi.
We have the the Winamp running 7/24, playing for our radio station.Some times we get the error message box,on top it says:"Error killing decode thre..." Then in the centre: "error asking thread to die", after pressing OK it works again.It does not freeze the the comp,just the Winamp stops working.Since we are not 24 hours in the studio one has to race there just to press the button.No one can tell when it will happen the next time,can be days or hours. On our other machines it does it too,from time to time.This is not as bad,we use the winamp just to put the playlists together,those machines are not runnung unattended and never more tha 8 hours a day.
Thank's for any help, Joe.

[Reverend Ike]

Joker -

Do you have the CD Reader plugin installed? The error message you referred to is usually caused by older versions of that plugin. You might try downloading and installing the current version 1.82, which is available here:

http://www.url*****~copah/CDReader.htm

If this does not apply to you, or if this does not fix your problem, please post a reply and we will try again.

[This message has been edited by Reverend Ike (edited September 25, 2000).]

[Joker]

Hi.
Thank you I will try this one, I am not sure if there ie any CD plug in installed. By the way the Winamp in question is version 2.60, is there any thing known in this version that could be the culprid? On my machine at home I try always the new stuff, but on the studio machine I do not like to fool around. Any way I will try the Plug in, rather I will check if there is such a plug in there. It seems it happened always after there was a voice track (WAV)but for sure it does not happen every time,most of our play lists are mixed, 3 MP3, 1 WAV, some times 2, and then the MP3s again.
Greetings, Joe.

[Joker]

Hi Reverend Ike.
The only CD thing I found in the plug ins was : CD/LINE INPUT PLAYER using IN_CDDA.DLL
It
is the version 1,01
after installing the recomended file it is still there, in addition came the CD READER V 1.82 with CDREADER.dll.
I did it not on the vital studio machine, should I?
Thanks for the help, greetings,
Joe.

[Reverend Ike]

Joker -

Normally I would recommend upgrading to Winamp version 2.65, but if version 2.60 is working OK on your studio machine (except for the error message), I hate to have you change it.

So I'll try the cautious one-step-at-a-time approach.

Please post a reply with the answers to these three questions:

First, am I correct in presuming that you do play CDs or use the line-in input in connection with your studio machine's Winamp?

Second, on your studio machine, if you open Winamp, go to Winamp Preferences (Ctrl+P), and select Plug-ins -> Input, how many CD-related plugins are listed, and exactly how is their full name (plugin name + DLL filename) listed? For example, the CD plugin that is included with Winamp 2.65 is listed as:

Nullsoft CD/Linein plug-in v1.5 (x86) [IN_CDDA.DLL]

Third, on your studio machine, if you go to the Plugins folder (usually C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins), there should be several files that start with "in_" or "IN_". Two or more of these should have "cd" or "CD" in their filenames - please list the exact filenames of all such files.

Please post the answers to these questions and we will go from there.

[This message has been edited by Reverend Ike (edited September 29, 2000).]

[Joker]

Hi Reverend Ike.
I checked the computer in question, the only CD plug in is:
Nullsoft CD/ Linein Plug in, V 1.5 (x86) (INCDDA.dll).
In the explorer- programs.... I found:
IN_CDDA.cdb 0 KB
IN_CDDA>dll 60 KB
WE do not use the Winamp to play CDs, if we need a CD we use the "normal" CD Players. Since we have converted about 99% of all CDs to MP3s we use the CDs mostly as a back up or if get a new one we play it too, until we convert it and put the songs in the right folder with the title, interpret and our number. Normally every host puts together a playlist und talks or plays some time a cd, Winamp paused. If no one is there we use the Winamp full time, the playlists are filled with the musik (MP3) and voice tracks (wav).
Most of the time it works just fine, if the error does not pop up it runs flaw less.
Greetings and thank you again, Joe.

[Gagarins]

Have read this post at forum about "error killing decode thread", but not found a solution.

We at Radio Nacka FM 99.9 MHz are using Winamp at our radiostation here in Stockholm and have the same problem, like Radio Herz.
"We have also Winamp running 7/24, playing for our radio station.
Some times we get the error message box,on top it says:"Error killing decode thre..." Then in the centre: "error asking thread to die", after pressing OK it works again.It does not freeze the the comp,
just the Winamp stops working."

I have tested different versions of Winamp with no solution.

Is it a solution to fix this.


thanks

Gagarin Miljkovich
http://hem.passagen.se/nacka100/
http://www.mrs.se

[peter]

do you people ever read this ?

[Gagarins]

Don't bother if you couldn't answer.

This bug is already reported by Joker.

[peter]

in case you don't know how to use hyperlinks, i'll copypaste it here for you:

Originally posted by Wish
Before reporting a bug to this forum, please read and do the steps below:

Before reporting:
1) Make sure you have the latest version of Winamp.

2) Make sure you have the latest versions of DirectX and your soundcard/videocard drivers.

3) Read these threads first:

Common 'bugs' (please read BEFORE posting on this forum)
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=65975

Official Winamp 2x Bug List
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=51934

Official 3rd-party Plugin Bug List
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=58884

This is to make sure you're not reporting a bug that is already known or other common problems.

When reporting:
1) Please include full details about your computer(What hardware does it have and what operating system(OS) does it run). For NT4/Win2k/WinXP, please mention what service pack has been installed if you have updated it with a service pack.

2) Make sure that you write down the steps to reproduce the bug(very important to make the lives of everyone a lot easier).

3) If possible, include a short sample of the file that causes the problem/bug by uploading it to a free webserver/your own webserver. Remember, 3rd party plugins are not written by Nullsoft, so if you have problems with those plugins, report to the author of the plugin, not here.

[DJ Egg]

Basically, what peter is saying is:

We can't help you unless you:

1) Provide full system specs (CPU, OS, soundcard, DirectX, etc etc)
2) Tell us what version of Winamp you're using (2.78 + update recommended)
3) What version of the ShoutCast DSP you're using (latest recommended)
4) Whether you are using any extra 3rd-party Winamp plugins
5) Do you have the correct & latest drivers for soundcard?
6) Which Output plugin you are using (updated versions of WaveOut/DS recommended)

FYI, this is NOT a Winamp bug.
This can be proved by searching the forums for "error killing decode thread"
and you'll find only 2 or 3 instances of this reported in the past 15 months.
(eg. this particular thread is from 15 months ago)

[edit]
booh, peter beat me to it

[Gagarins]

It must be a BUG in Winamp, but a rare BUG, under special circumstances.

In order to get the error message you must run Winamp 24 hours/day
in several days, and also mix MP3 and WAV-files in the playlist. After some days or sometime, 2-3 weeks, you gets "error killing decode thread" and the broadcast stopped.

I have tested different Winamp versions at several different computers running Win95 & Win98 with the same result.

But, here you have answer at your questions:

1) Provide full system specs (CPU, OS, soundcard, DirectX, etc etc)

CPU from Pentium 120, AMD 400 to Celeron 700.
OS from Win95 to Win98.
Soundcard from SB16, SB Live to Turtle Beach.

2) Tell us what version of Winamp you're using

From version 2.091 to 2.72. Version 2.091 was the first version
who could play WAV-files.

3) What version of the ShoutCast DSP you're using

Don't use Shoutcast.

4) Whether you are using any extra 3rd-party Winamp plugins

Don't use any 3rd-party Winamp plugins.

5) Do you have the correct & latest drivers for soundcard?

Yes.

6) Which Output plugin you are.

From Output plugin v1.1 to v2.3.

I don't think so much people are running Winmap 24 hours day in several weeks and have mixed MP3 and WAV-files.

So, do you have any suggestions?

To test any suggestion should take several days or weeks. :-(
Possible Peter's "replacement for standard Winamp2's waveOut plugin".

thanks

Gagarin

[peter]

i wouldn't consider it a bug, i know exactly when this happens, and it's definitely a fault of computer running Winamp (or other software running on it), not of Winamp itself.

"killing decode thread" error might occur ONLY if something else uses too much CPU time and input plugin is unable to stop playback when requested (there's some sort of timeout delay around 2-5 seconds i think, it depends on input plugin).

you might try increasing Winamp's process priority class and input plugin's thread priority, this should shut those errors up.

also be sure to kill any other programs running in background, they are IMO the source of your problems.

ah yeah, you should upgrade to v2.78c first (then install wa2update). some people (read: Wish) are making efforts to keep this forum clean and usable; it really pisses me off when someone completely ignores them.

[Gagarins]

Thanks Peter, for your fast answer!

But nothing else is running on this computers, so nothing
else can steal any CPU-time.

I should try to upgrade to the new Winamp v2.78c and see
whats is happening. The last upgrade to v2.76 doesn't helped.

I have mailed "Joker", who started this thread, and asked him
if he has found any solution. I have recieved following answer
from him:

>Not a really solution, but a work around. We convert all our
>voice trcks to MP3, no problems since. We used to record the
>voice tacks as WAV files, they where short enouhg to not need
>a lot HD space. Then I proposed to convert those too, every
>things works fine. The Winamp seems to do not like to change
>in one playlist from one format to the other.
>Good luck, please tell me if you are OK now, thank you,
>Joe Berger. www.radioherz.com

What do you think about his theory, that "Winamp seems to do not
like to change in one playlist from one format to the other."

Any suggestions?

thanks and Happy New Year 2002

Gagarin

[peter]

if WAV files were to blame, get v2.78/wa2update (or even wa2update alone over old Winamp) - v2.77+ have new WAV plugin (written by me ); there are good chances that the problem won't occur anymore; if you have any more problems, report them to me and i'll try to find a workaround.

[DJ Egg]

Yeah, I had a sneaky feeling that you were using an old version of Winamp.
Like I said, this particular error hasn't been reported for well over 6 months.
It's pointless reporting bugs with old plugins which have been fixed in newer versions. As peter says, WA2.78 and/or WA2Update should totally fix it

[Gagarins]

OKI!

Thanks for your support. Should test your suggestions!
The tests should take some weeks.

thanks

Gagarin


P.S

Listen to my radiostations MP3-streams (about 20) in specialists
music styles at: http://www.mrs.net/stream/