Error Initializing Database... :(

[quewoulderniedo]

I'm getting that error when I load Winamp. The Media Library will not display anything but that message, and after a moment, Winamp closes.

The problem occured when I was ripping an album, and my computer shut down. On startup, I saw my CPU temp was at 122 (a little high). I had also just finished updating to Firefox 1.5.0.1. Not sure if any of that is relevent.

[quewoulderniedo]

.

[siebe83]

Your problem may be caused by a corrupt Media Library database.

Try deleting the file main.dat in C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins\ml while Winamp is closed.
This will clear the ML database: all ratings/playcounts will be lost. Tips on backing up ratings can be found here.

If that doesn't help, delete the entire folder ml and if that doesn't help, also the file gen_ml.ini (both in C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins). All views and playlists in the ML will be deleted. If you want you can backup the ML playlists. They are in the ml folder and are called plf****.m3u. Just copy them to another location.

If you don't want to lose data again in the future:

winamp.ini, studio.xnf, gen_ml.ini, reg entries, backups etc

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=158332

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=209601

If that's not it...
Are you on a limited user account? Winamp doesn't work too well on limited user accounts.

Limited Multi-User profile issues
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=188497 [new Multiuser plugin]

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=161845

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=162363

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=163094

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=180711

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=185365 (tutorial)

Native multi-user support is being worked on:

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=226675

(i.e. support is implemented, but you'll need to tweak some settings manually)



This error can also occur when files in the Winamp installation folder are set to read-only.
Open Windows Explorer, go to C:\Program Files and right-click on the folder Winamp > Properties. Then uncheck 'Read Only' and click OK.

[spicetrader]

dated info

I don't find the ...\ml folder. I suspect the instructions provided refer to an obsolete version of winamp.

[ujay]

Yeah - that post is 5 years old now.

The ml folder has been moved to the users %appdata%/winamp/plugins folder in the later multi-user versions.

UJ