Repeated shutdown of PSG6

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Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby hcajones » Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:17 pm

I have an excellent computer with an upgraded graphics processor and lots of storage space of all kinds. I upgraded to PSG6 when it first came out, used it for a while, but was gone for a month and am just now returning to working on a show. A problem that existed before still exists. (It never happened with PSG5. Only since installing PSG6). Things will be going fine, then for no reason I will get a "Proshow Has Stopped Working" message. Windows then searches for a solution, and never finds finds one, so I have to reopen the show using autosave. Sometimes it can be an hour between these shutdowns; sometimes they will happen every five or ten minutes. Sometimes it happens when I'm working with photos and sometimes when I'm working with the soundtrack. I can't see any pattern to it. Any thoughts about what's causing this? It's quite frustrating.

Thanks.

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby gpsmikey » Sat Mar 29, 2014 9:14 pm

Unfortunately, "random crashes" of any program can be difficult to track down. I would start by looking in the windows event log and see if anything there gives any clues. The ideal situation would be to be able to create a small test show that would repeatedly cause the problem. For most folks, it has been pretty stable. Make sure the drivers for both the video and sound are up to date. One thing that can cause problems but I don't think it is the case here is insufficient cooling - that usually shows up during rendering (proshow or other video programs have the same issues with insufficient cooling - rendering really can heat a processor up). I would also give Photodex a call and see if they have any ideas (I assume you are using the latest release - 6.0.3410???)

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
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Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby hcajones » Sat Mar 29, 2014 9:33 pm

Thanks. I am using a new, high-end computer than is less than three months old, for which I purchased an upgraded graphics processor, so I don't think the problem can be with outdated drivers. The frustrating part is the randomness of it. If it always happened after a certain kind of command or only during a certain kind of activity, maybe the trail could be followed. But it can happen no matter what I am doing, so I have no idea what to do about it. As you suggested, I've sent an inquiry to the Photodex people.

Thanks again for your help.

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby gpsmikey » Sun Mar 30, 2014 6:48 am

Just because the computer is relatively new does NOT mean the people that put it together for you have the latest drivers installed. Depending on where you got it, if it is one that was a "standard" configuration, what they often do is have an disk image they copy to the new system and when it boots up, it finishes setting the user accounts etc, but it does NOT go out and get the latest drivers. Check the video card - go to the manufacturers website and make sure you have the latest driver for it. Check the windows event logs - look for clues there.

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
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Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby BarbaraC » Sun Mar 30, 2014 8:29 am

There's currently a problem with our new ability to use OTF fonts. If you're using any, replace them with TTF types to see if this helps. It might not, but it's certainly worth a try.

Barbara
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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby im42n8 » Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:50 pm

As Barbara said, there's a problem with using OTF (open type fonts) ... the program will suddenly disappear ... or your program's windows will start looking goofy and odd ... and you can't exit the program (or do anything else). There are multiple problems associated with the use of OTF and it's anyone's guess as to what the actual problems are.

Then there's the fact that ProShow only tells you what typeface is available for use. It won't tell you which are TTF (True Type) or OTF .... bummer.

Good luck with this one problem!

Dale
What's New: Tools for ProShow: v11.42a Access ProShow capabilities Photodex doesn't provide (For PSG & PSP).
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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby BarbaraC » Mon Mar 31, 2014 4:24 am

im42n8 wrote:Then there's the fact that ProShow only tells you what typeface is available for use. It won't tell you which are TTF (True Type) or OTF .... bummer.

The awkward solution is to keep Windows Explorer open to the Fonts folder, ordering the fonts according to type so they can be quickly scanned to figure what's safe and what isn't. The listing has to be set to "Details" so the extensions can be seen, and a column for "Font type" has to be added. However, a font we've all depended on and that doesn't cause trouble in ProShow is Arial, which happens to be listed as an OTF font. Perhaps there are variations of OTF. I just hope Photodex fixes it really, really soon.

Barbara
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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby hcajones » Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:38 pm

I'm communicating with the Photodex technical support people who so far have offered a number of suggestions, none of which worked and none of which had anything to do with fonts. In the meantime, the endless "stopped working" popups or simply shutting down with no notice at all continues. The Photodex people asked for some more technical information today, which I gave them. No response to that yet. If something useful comes out of this, I will pass it along.

Thanks.

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby BarbaraC » Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:14 am

Do you have text in the show? If so, have you tried making a copy of the show in which you've eliminated all text?

Barbara
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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby hcajones » Wed Apr 02, 2014 3:10 pm

Both shows I'm currently working on are very long with lots of text, so creating "no text" versions would be a lot of work.

But beyond that, unless I'm missing something, I'm not sure where that would get me. If I create no-text versions and the problem goes away, what do I do then? I can't in the end use shows with no text, and I would have no idea what text I could put back in, or not, that would or would not be a problem.

I'm pushing pretty hard on the Photodex support people about this because it really is kind a dealbreaker for me as to PSG6. If they can't figure out what is causing this, I can't continue to use the program, and that would make me very sad because I have sunk a lot of time into learning to use it and because I really like using it.

Thanks.

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby osharr » Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:49 pm

How long and big is your show ? Have you tried using a different font in a small sample show?
If it ain't broke , don't fix it !

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby Betty » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:27 pm

When I experienced this once, I STOPPED the Animated Slide Style Preview. This seemed to settle everything down. I then saved as xxxNEW.
I closed down Proshow Producer and shutdown the computer. I went and got a glass of water to drink and returned and turned on the computer. This allowed it a few minutes to rest.
I turned on the computer and opened up my newly save show and it appeared stabalized. Sometimes when working on large shows or project and you are making many changes I find that the program goes haywire, especially if you are using some heavy-duty slidestyles or templates.

Sometimes a video clip you are including can cause this. or even a video clip with a complicated transition.

I also experienced this with one of the audio files. I had to convert from MP3 to WAV and all was well. 99% of time I use MP3.

I also use a product called ccleaner http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner by Piriform. It cleans up the temporary files and log files on your computer.

You just need to isolate it and be patient. It's not an easy task and wish you all the best.

Regards,
Betty

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby silverfox » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:35 pm

We had the same problem - Jarad at Photodex sent the following solution - it worked - no shutdowns since reinstalling as instructed below:

"Greetings,

Thank you for contacting Photodex. First, uninstall with the following steps...

1) Go to "Start" > "Control Panel".
2) When you are in the "Control Panel", do one of the following...
a) Click on the "Uninstall a program" option option under the "Programs" category, or
b) If you are using the "Classic View" of the "Control Panel", then you would double-click on the "Programs and Features" icon instead.
You should now be at the "Programs and Features" or "Uninstall or change a program" screen.
3) Look through the list of programs and uninstall all versions of ProShow and the "Photodex Presenter".
4) Double-click on an entry to start the uninstall process. Windows may prompt you with a message stating Windows needs your permission to continue. At this screen you should click on the "Continue" button.

Next, go to "Computer" > C: > "Program Files" and delete both the "Photodex" folder and the "Photodex Presenter" folder.

Then, install with the following steps...

1) Download the program with a browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. You can start your download at the following URL:
http://files.photodex.com/release/pspro_60_3410.exe
2) Then, disable any system security you might have including all anti-virus, anti-spyware, or personal firewalls. Usually, such security programs are represented by small icons next to your clock/time. If you find an icon by your clock/time that represents a security program, right-click on that icon and choose "Disable", "Stop", "Quit", etc.
3) Next, just double-click on the install file you downloaded and it should take you through the installation process. If you are prompted to register during the installation process, please do so.
4) Now, start the program and if you haven't registered yet, you can do so upon opening the program.

ProShow Producer Upgrade
Name:
Phone:
Registration Keyl
Let us know if you need anything else and we will certainly assist.

Kind Regards,

Jared
Photodex Support Specialist
www.photodex.com
1-800-37-PHOTO

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby hcajones » Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:18 am

Thanks for the continuing suggestions. Most everything you've suggested has already been tried with no success. In fact, yesterday with a Photodex technical rep on the phone, he took control of my computer and deleted all remnants of old PSG programs and reinstalled PSG6 anew, and did some other things. He is a little mystified by this problem, and thought that if we at least wipe out the past, it will make it easier to figure it out in the future.

This morning, I tried to add some photos to a show I'm working on. It added half the photos (more or less), then stopped dead in its track. When I clicked on "cancel" for dropping the slides in, PSG crashed. I then tried it again inserting only about 10 of the photos instead of all of then, and it got to photo 8 with the same result. Stops dead then crashes.

I never had such problems with PSG5 (I did mysteriously lose an entire show once, but that's a different story). I also have quite a good computer with lots of capacity, so I have to think there is a problem in PSG6 somewhere. I'm on hold to talk to them again, and will report if a solution is found.

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Re: Repeated shutdown of PSG6

Postby im42n8 » Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:58 am

There's a bug that's related to the layer having a length that's less than 25% of the length of the entire slide. For some reason, this has the tendency to remove the program from memory unceremoniously. To work around this bug, you'll have to add keyframes to get past the 25% time length and deal with opacity or position or whatever as appropriate. It's a PITA but, if this is related to your problem, it will suffice for now (until Photodex figures out how to address the issue).

Dale
What's New: Tools for ProShow: v11.42a Access ProShow capabilities Photodex doesn't provide (For PSG & PSP).
FPVP Blog "Making the Difficult Easier," FPVP News

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