Re: Multi Commander 6.9.1

[Ulfhednar]

(w7x64, MC v6.9.1 b2306)

Twice out of 4 cold boots this week, when loading MC it has hung on 'reading MC config' for <90 seconds.   
It does complete loading & run but this stall is unusually long.  Splash screen is usually only visible for a second or 2.

The other thing I've noticed with the recent betas was that it randomly resets column width, I need to right click & restore.  I found a while ago I needed to save the setting as default for each tab & have done this many times.  It again resets width after this delay in loading.

MC is run as Admin & whitelisted but obviously something has changed since Saturday.

Any ideas on this & how to make default settings stick? Maybe something is corrupt & I need to edit the configs?

[Jungle]

(w7x64, MC v6.9.1 b2306)

Twice out of 4 cold boots this week, when loading MC it has hung on 'reading MC config' for <90 seconds.   
It does complete loading & run but this stall is unusually long.  Splash screen is usually only visible for a second or 2.

For me every MC cold launch takes long time. But my hardware is ~15 years old.

The other thing I've noticed with the recent betas was that it randomly resets column width, I need to right click & restore.

Several releases (not only betas/rc) have this issue. Unfortunately I haven't found exact way to reproduce it.

[Mathias (Author)]

(w7x64, MC v6.9.1 b2306)

Twice out of 4 cold boots this week, when loading MC it has hung on 'reading MC config' for <90 seconds.   
It does complete loading & run but this stall is unusually long.  Splash screen is usually only visible for a second or 2.

The other thing I've noticed with the recent betas was that it randomly resets column width, I need to right click & restore.  I found a while ago I needed to save the setting as default for each tab & have done this many times.  It again resets width after this delay in loading.

MC is run as Admin & whitelisted but obviously something has changed since Saturday.

Any ideas on this & how to make default settings stick? Maybe something is corrupt & I need to edit the configs?

Since Saturday ? the latestet release was release Dec-29, more then 3 weeks ago. (Also there is no current beta.)

If it takes long times while it start after a reboot it can be that windows has not finish loading everything yet. windows is busy, can be that lots of system dll that MC needs are not  loaded yet by the system and they are then loaded and AV want to scan them all first .
It can be drives that are sleeping that needs to spin up, can be network resources that are unconnected and need to timeout.
And it can be all or combination of it.

Not sure what you do to mess up column. You don't need to save column for each tab.. tabs do not have there own column settings. they are global.
Maybe that is why it is messing up.. you have different settings have save them both and it is only the last save that will take effect?

[Ulfhednar]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I have been intermittently seeing column width changes since October/November last year.  I'm glad you have seen this column width issue Jungle - means it's not just me & my system!
I didn't think I should need to do tabs individually but this has been happening everytime I installed a new beta/new version & after MC has 'hung' whilst loading, so I have done it.

As to lag on MC opening causes -
I was thinking of a windows update or AV update not MC itself.

On both occasions this hang has happened MC wasn't the first thing I opened.  I had been using the browser for a bit, the PM is set to hi-perf so no drives should be asleep, no USB drives plugged in & empty opticals.

I wondered about corruption of the SSD but the drive software says says 100% green status & loads of life left...
 - Makes me think about a conflict caused by something blocking MC.

Have just rebooted & MC reloaded in less than 2 seconds - normal....  So the mystery continues!

[Mathias (Author)]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I have been intermittently seeing column width changes since October/November last year.  I'm glad you have seen this column width issue Jungle - means it's not just me & my system!
I didn't think I should need to do tabs individually but this has been happening everytime I installed a new beta/new version & after MC has 'hung' whilst loading, so I have done it.

As to lag on MC opening causes -
I was thinking of a windows update or AV update not MC itself.

On both occasions this hang has happened MC wasn't the first thing I opened.  I had been using the browser for a bit, the PM is set to hi-perf so no drives should be asleep, no USB drives plugged in & empty opticals.

I wondered about corruption of the SSD but the drive software says says 100% green status & loads of life left...
 - Makes me think about a conflict caused by something blocking MC.

Have just rebooted & MC reloaded in less than 2 seconds - normal....  So the mystery continues!

I'm not able to recreate that, I suspect it is a combination of settings and when closing MC (Some settings are change, winpos and such) and then When reopening it, it cause some conflict.

I know there might be some issue if you switch between high DPI screen normal. like if you close MC on a High DPI screen and then dock the laptop and use a external screen with normal DPI.  But it is not really like this.

For the hang.. Are you sure a network path saved that it want to show at startup ? first access to a network share after a reboot can take a little longer.
What is the progress text in the splash screen when it halts during startup.  It will list what extension is loading.
MC don't really do much what should take time during startup. It loads a whole much of config files that are .xml and som AV really want to deep scan them.
The only thing that really can take time is query the drive information, because if a drive is sleeping it might need to wake up unless windows already have cached the info.
Or if it needs to open a tab what are showing a network path and the network is gone, or very slow

[Ulfhednar]

Thanks for the advice Mathias.

Thinking about the column resizing, I can only say that an update definitely has had an effect.  I have tried to analyze differences & that is the only instance I can more or less guarantee will make a change.  That could be related to the AV as it sees file timestamps altered & so partially blocks MC.

When MC was loading & 'stopped' it was on 'reading MC config'. 
It is too fast to read the entries normally & today it has loaded really fast -under 1 sec I think.

The LAN side of things is rarely used & local devices that could be used were powered off in any case. 
So it isn't a network thing as far as I can see.

Given there are SSD & SSHDs in this PC I expect it to be quite quick, chkdsk has shown no problems. 
Today it is quick again, so as I think the AV updated yesterday, I am leaning towards it being the root cause but don't know for sure.
Just need to keep an eye on it & the whitelists I guess.

[Mathias (Author)]

Thinking about the column resizing, I can only say that an update definitely has had an effect.  I have tried to analyze differences & that is the only instance I can more or less guarantee will make a change.  That could be related to the AV as it sees file timestamps altered & so partially blocks MC.

I dont think the AV can cause issues with this. If it fails to get the stored values for the columns it will go to default and reset it.
It must be a combination of some settings and what was saved in last shutdown.
If you open a second instance when it happens  (without closing the first or doing anything) is that also messed up ?

When MC was loading & 'stopped' it was on 'reading MC config'. 

Then it sounds like something is halting it from reading config files.. Like if the AV is very busy and takes times before the file is processed.

[Ulfhednar]

Tried opening a second instance & it was exactly the same, some columns in some tabs were not as I had set the default. 
It must be getting these values from a file that isn't being completely updated/being partially blocked at some point I guess.

Could tab sessions be related?

OT if I want to save a tab session, it doesn't seem to have the ability to update an open/existing tab session.  I have to save as & use the same name.
Or is that incorrect?

Today it is running as I expect it to, once I reset the columns

[Mathias (Author)]

OT if I want to save a tab session, it doesn't seem to have the ability to update an open/existing tab session.  I have to save as & use the same name.
Or is that incorrect?

If a Tab session is loaded and and change it and want to resave (overwrite it) menu > File >TabSession > Save   (not "Save As" )

[Ulfhednar]

Thanks Mathias.
Unfortunately 'save' is grayed out.  I can only save as   
I can add tabs & change paths but MC only gives me save as as an active option.

[Mathias (Author)]

Thanks Mathias.
Unfortunately 'save' is grayed out.  I can only save as   
I can add tabs & change paths but MC only gives me save as as an active option.

Is a TabSession loaded ? "Save" in only enabled if a tabsession is loaded.

[Ulfhednar]

Ahhhh!  That's why. 
I had assumed that when MC loaded it was now loading the tab session last used/defined, rather than recalling it's former settings/placements as normal.
I wonder if MC could be configured to always load tab session XYZ if req'd or maybe would that create too many possible conflicts....

Thanks for enlightening me Mathias

[Mathias (Author)]

No a Tab Session is something you load.. Just like word does not auto load your last document
But you can load it using command line parameters

[Ulfhednar]

Thanks
I can think of some uses for session via CLI 

[Jungle]

Seems I have finally found why columns are being resized. It is related to columns autoadjusting. Steps to reproduce:

1. Enable Details View.
2. Go to a folder with many files (so the scrollbar is visible).
3. Adjust and remember Name column width (e.g. you may enable free size line as a visual reference).
4. Close MC.
5. Start MC. It sets last widths, then shows scrollbar, readjust column widths and so Name column becomes shorter.
6. Repeat steps 4-5. Each time Name column is shortened.