ML's "Local Media" is Dead ! :(

[Medley]

here is a pic to mi problem




other things from the media library work, that part its just gray like that... already reinstalled... what should i do?

[DJ Egg]

There's been a few reports of this over the past few days...

Does switching to Video tab and back to ML tab fix it?

If no, then please zip up and attach both your "List of Plugins" and HijackThis logs:

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=161361#specs

(so I can see what your Windows Os is, Winamp version, location of Winamp settings dir, whether all the right versions of the default plugins are present, whether there's any 3rd-party plugins present, whether there's any potential conflicts caused by any concurrently running software/proceseses, whether there's any malware present, etc etc).

and we'll take things from there...

[Medley]

there you go

should i try an older version meanwhile? (where can i get it?)

[DJ Egg]

I don't recommend using any older version....

Before trying anything drastic, let's make sure it's not one of your 3rd-party plugins to blame.

EZ-PlayList Plug-In v1.4 [gen_EZPlaylist.dll]
LeosLyrics Plugin [Gen_LeosLyrics.dll]

With Winamp closed, go to the "C:\Archivos de programa\Winamp\Plugins" folder
Create a new "Backup" subfolder in there
Cut & paste those two DLL files into it.

Reopen Winamp

Does the problem persist?

If yes, then we'll look at the config files in %appdata%\winamp
namely: plugins\gen_ml.ini and plugins\ml\*.vmd


By the way, although probably not related to the problem,
I recommend that you switch to using the Nullsoft MPC Decoder (v1.0 Beta) instead of the old Musepack reference one,
and that you switch to using DirectSound Output instead of WaveOut (Prefs -> Plugins -> Output).

[Medley]

Hey... removing both plugins didnt work... what i did was go to %appdata%\winamp and backed up the folder, then started up winamp and problem whent away!!(with all my settings) ill try messing with things till i get what the problem was and see how much settings i can get back

[DJ Egg]

It'll be one of the following that's somehow been corrupted:


%appdata%\winamp\plugins

gen_ml.ini = media library settings


%appdata%\winamp\plugins\ml

*.vmd files = settings (columns/sizes) for each individual view
(look at gen_ml.ini to see which .vmd file corresponds with each view)

main.dat & main.idx = Local Media database


I can't see it being any other file(s) to blame, other than maybe %appdata%\winamp\winamp.ini (main settings file) or studio.xnf (modern skin settings file, which it won't be if it also happens with the Classic skin).

[Medley]

ok, narrowed downd the problem to "main.idx" file located in %appdata%\Winamp\Plugins\ml

deleting it made ML work, but it deleted all my library entries, had to reload all my files to de library. all my watch folders were still configured so that was saved, got my settings back in a second.

thanks for the help ! hope you can help other people with this info.

[DJ Egg]

Hmm, strange...

I don't suppose you made a backup of main.idx before deleting it?
If yes, then zip it up and attach it here please.

If the zip is larger than 200kb, then upload it to stashbox.org and post the link here
(don't worry if it says 'url submitted by user' in your post, mods/admin can still see the url)

If not, then hey, the main thing is that the problem is fixed.


Even though I've never experienced any such problems, I always make regular backups of main.dat & main.idx
and also use the Export Database feature in 5.55+ to export the mldb to an .xml file.
(also note that the Watch Folders list/config is in gen_ml.ini)

[Medley]

yes i did backed them up!

http://rapidshare.com/files/213741438/ml.rar.html

[DrO]

Egg: i experienced this last night but didn't have a chance to debug it. hopefully it'll still exhibit the issue when i check it later tonight.

-daz

[DJ Egg]

@DrO
Oh, really!?! Eek

@Medley
I'm attaching your mldb here, for preservation
(note that it's just main.dat & main.idx, that other file in your .rar is a temp backup which should've been auto deleted on winamp exit, but probably wasn't due to a crash).

Yup, your main.idx is corrupted (it's just full of 0's)

[DrO]

was same situation as the others with zeroed out files though the only change i did from the normal install was to add in a plugin for reviewing and it then appeared blank (gf noticed it first) as i've not directly made any changes to what was in the mldb myself for a few weeks.

either way something needs to be changed with the loading aspect of the db so that if this does happen it really needs to pop up a loading prompt saying the file(s) are corrupt and then allow the 'empty' ml views show but something weird is definitely going on to have it randomly happen like this.

-daz

[siiid84]

Hey I had the same problem with blankleft ML in 5.552.Moreover, as i tried to scan the monitored folders, winamp crashed at specific songs (to scan).Removing these songs had no effect -> it always found new ones to crash.
btw: the songs were neither currupted nor unplayable (WMP did it).
Now i browsed a little through Winamp forums and found this thread.Backed up the main.dat so that Winamp would create it again when starting. Now it cruises through monitored folders to rebuild my ML.

And here my question:

Is it possible to get back information about ranked songs, most played etc.?

PS: I opened my main.dat with the editor and there are no 0's in it like the corrupted files above. Maybe Egg wanna have a look if it is even damaged?

http://stashbox.org/526318/main.dat

-siiid

[DJ Egg]

Apparently, it's main.idx which gets corrupted, not main.dat

Just delete main.idx
You can probably keep the same/original main.dat file.


Has anyone who's experienced the problem maybe installed 5.552, gone back to an older pre 5.55 version then reinstalled 5.552 again? That would definitely cause the problem because the 5.55 mldb format is not backwards compatible.

Make sure you make regular backups of main.dat & main.idx

[mizr3en]

Hi, I was trying to follow what you were saying above because I just had the same problem. I removed main.idx from the folder "ml" and the problem is resolved, however my play count has been reset, everything else is fine. I was hoping you could tell me if this is something I can restore. I have attached this file main.idx (I don't know how to view it) which I removed - if there's something else you would be able to look at please let me know.