Program not working

[Canay]

I have been having problems this last week. IMatch keeps not responding, when I can finally click on a folder I just get the blue circle and nothing happens. After a rescan, my newest folder of three photos shows up, but there is no thumbnail.. If I click on the folder, I get a message that iMatch is not responding. Today, I uninstalled iMatch, downloaded the newest version and reinstalled it. I opened the data base and the same thing happened. I tried to restore a previous pack-and-go and got a message that said it completed with 371 warnings. I've attached a snip of a few of those 371 warnings. I have two different data bases and I am having problems in both of them. So I don't think the problem is with the data base. But uninstalling the program and starting over didn't help. I've been using iMatch since 2008 and I'm really at a loss as to what is going on or what to do.

Attached:
A screen shot showing no thumbnail in a photo folder
A screen shot of some of the warnings I got when I restored a pack-and-go backup
A log file after I restored a different backup. the backup looked fine and then after it automatically updated and added my recent folders it stopped responding

Maybe this is helpful.

[Mario]

The attached log file looks OK. No warnings or errors reported.

What did you do to create this log file? Is this from a session where IMatch stopped responding?

IMatch has loaded the database OK.
The log file ends while IMatch is interpreting file version rules and updating internal caches.
No errors or warnings.

Please do this:

1. Switch IMatch to debug logging (Help menu > Support ...)
This produces more detailed log files.

2. Run a database diagnosis (Database menu > Tools > Database Diagnosis).

3. If IMatch stalls again, secure the log file (Open the TEMP folder on your system by typing

%TEMP%

into the Windows Explorer address bar.
Then copy the IMATCH5_LOG.TXT file to another folder.

This gives us a log file that shows exactly what is going on in that moment.

4. Do you use many file version rules? Anything changed recently?

[Canay]

1. Switch IMatch to debug logging (Help menu > Support ...)
This produces more detailed log files.

Here is the log from this morning. It seems the problem is with the photos after March 3, 2017. When I click on a folder after March 3 it takes a few minutes instead of the usual few seconds to load up and then the pictures have no thumbnails. If I click on the pictures iMatch stalled.

2. Run a database diagnosis (Database menu > Tools > Database Diagnosis).

Done...no problems

3. If IMatch stalls again, secure the log file (Open the TEMP folder on your system by typing %TEMP%

Done...file is attached

4. Do you use many file version rules? Anything changed recently?

I use file version rules when I edit photos. IMatch automatically detects them for me. I wouldn't say there are many.

Recently I was working with a different data base that I use for scrapbooking supplies. Papers, flowers, buttons, etc. I forgot and moved and rearranged a lot of the files outside of iMatch. I thought it wouldn't be a problem to just rescan the files in iMatch and continue on. That worked fine but then I started moving folders to new locations within iMatch and the program started to be non responsive and my data base kept closing. I did many diagnostics, compact and optimizing but nothing seemed to work.

Sunday was my day to upload photos from my iPhone onto my computer and import them into iMatch. I figured my photo database wouldn't be affected by what was happening with my scarpbooking data base. The database opened up fine, but when it imported the new files (folders dated after 03032017) iMatch kept closing and I didn't have any thumbnails of the photos. I ran diagnosits, comapct and optimizing, and even a database repair. All the messages said the database was fine. So yesterday, I thought maybe the problem was with the program itself. I uninstalled iMatch and downloaded the current version and reinstalled it. No difference.

I don't know if this is related but this morning I decided to see how my scrapbooking data base was doing. I have a folder of new things so I rescanned. At this point the data base kept acting wonky again, and I got a message that I needed a WIC Codec for my camera. Attached is a screen shot of this message. This database became unresponsive and closed down. I can attach that file in a different post if you want. None of the files in the scrapbooking database are photos taken with a camera. They are jpegs, pngs, pdfs, or txts. I've never had this message before. I will gladly get a WIC Codec but I don't know what that is or where to go. The camera I use the most is my iPhone. I have a canon that I haven't used in months. Is this related to the whole fiasco?

[Mario]

The message about the WIC codec is caused by the PDF file mentioned in the message.

IMatch prefers a WIC codec (e.g. the one from the FastPicture Codec Pack) when processing PDF files. Hence the message.

If you have not seen this message before, did you process PDF files before? Because this might be the reason for the problem...

IMatch prefers a WIC codec for processing PDF files because of performance.
When IMatch detects certain file formats (PDF) it calls a Windows function that produces a thumbnail/preview for the given file.
Windows itself relies for PDF files on whatever "shell extension" is installed. In many cases this is a shell extension installed when the user installs Adobe Acrobat (Reader).

This Adobe PDF shell extension is known to be really buggy and cause problems with certain PDF files. From stalling the entire machine for seconds or longer to allocating several gigabytes of memory and then crashing the calling process (IMatch). I have 100 KB PDF files here created with Adobe Photoshop which cause the Adobe PDF extension to allocate 3 GB of RAM and then crash... :-/

You wrote that the problems seem to be mostly in one folder. Does this folder contain many PDF files? Or maybe video files?

[Canay]

Let's tackle the photo data base first. I don't have pdf files there. But in my latest photo additions there was a video file. I usually move videos out of my photo folder and they are not in iMatch. But I missed a video taken this weekend and it is in the folder. However I don't see thumbnails for the jpegs either. I downloaded a Windows Codec file but apparently is doesn't work with my version of windows. (Windows 10). When I get home I could purchase the FastPicture Codec and see if that resolves the problem. Or should I remove the video and rescan that folder?

In my scrapbooking database there are a lot of pdf files. Each kit I purchase has a pdf file of the designers terms of use. They have never been a problem before. But Adobe Acrobat is always updating itself and that may have changed things.   

hmm... I recently installed Mystic Thumbs. A little program that lets me see thumbnails of Photoshop (pdf) files in Windows. Could this have affected something in iMatch?

Possible things to do:

1. get FastPicture Codec
2. Remove video from folder file and rescan
3. Not sure what to do about all the pdf files.

Thanks for your help. We will get this figured out.

[Mario]

WIC codecs for many RAW formats are included in Windows 10. WIC codecs are for image files only (most RAW files) and PDF files.

For video files or JPEG files you don't need WIC codecs.
No need to purchase anything if you had never a problem before.

Your log files did not contain entries for adding video or PDF or JPEG files so I cannot say if there is a problem or what.

Rescan the problematic folder with the "Force Update" option enabled (Select the folder in the tree on the left and press <Shift>+<Ctrl>+<F5> and then choose the "force" option). If IMatch stalls again, secure the log file before restarting IMatch (copy it to another location). If IMatch runs into a problem with a file, the log file will tell us which file.

hmm... I recently installed Mystic Thumbs. A little program that lets me see thumbnails of Photoshop (pdf) files in Windows. Could this have affected something in iMatch?

Never heard about this software. But when it links itself into Windows Explorer, IMatch will "trigger" it when it asks Windows for a video or PDF thumbnail. And maybe this is what's causing the problem... Try to uninstall (or maybe disable) the Mystic Thumbs software, reboot, and rescan the problem folder in IMatch. If it no works as before, we know that the problem is.

[Canay]

Still not working right. I deleted Mystic Thumbs and I did a forced update of one folder. Attached is a screen shot showing that my pictures shows up in quick view but not in the file Window. Attached is the WIC Diagnosis. I see that is says GetThumbnail failed and GetPreview failed. I don't know if this is helpful but for some reason I don't feel like throwing my computer through the window as much.

[sinus]

Only to be sure:

You can also select a picture (not the folder) and do a forced update: Ctrl Shift F5

I believe it is the same, but I do this sometimes and it helps always.

But ok, only a shot in the dark. Hope you can solve it, Mario has maybe some ideas.

[Mario]

Still not working right. I deleted Mystic Thumbs and I did a forced update of one folder. Attached is a screen shot showing that my pictures shows up in quick view but not in the file Window. Attached is the WIC Diagnosis. I see that is says GetThumbnail failed and GetPreview failed. I don't know if this is helpful but for some reason I don't feel like throwing my computer through the window as much.

IMatch does not use WIC codecs for JPEG files. It uses an internal implementation.
I would need to see a log file from an IMatch session where you did a forced (Shift+Ctrl+F5) rescan of these files. Only then we can see why IMatch fails to extract thumbnails for the JPEG files. JPEG files are traditionally a file format which causes almost never problems.

[Canay]

I did a forced update on the Hail Folder. Attached is the log and a screenshot.

[Mario]

Very strange. According to the log file, the file

D:\Pictures\Photos\2017\2017-03-05-Hail\IMG_1895.JPG with 300 x 225 (O: 3264 x 2448) in 63ms

was processed correctly. No errors. No warnings. No issues. Thumbnail produced and stored in the database.
The same is true for all other files indexed from that folder.

The Viewer/Quick View Panel also loads these files without a problem.

At the end of the log file, IMatch loads  the file D:\Pictures\Photos\2017\2017-03-05-Hail\IMG_1898.JPG into the Viewer / Quick View Panel. The file is loaded in 0.3 seconds.
08:40:57

08:41:02 IMatch then idles, checking for categories which need updates every 10 seconds.
08:45:42 IMatch loads some metadata values, then idles again
08:47:32 Log file ends.

In your screen shot we see that these files only show the "Has no thumbnail" icon and IMatch stopped responding? How long did you wait?

Do you perhaps run a virus checker or something?

What happens if you remove the D:\Pictures\Photos\2017\2017-03-05-Hail folder from your database (using the "Remove Folder from Database" command available in the context menu of the folder, and then add the folder again?

I can see no errors or warnings in the log file at all. According to the log file, IMatch is working perfectly.

[Canay]

Mcafee and Crashplan are working in the background. But they have been there for years with no problems. 

Just thinking about it, I recently installed a program called Revo Uninstaller. Maybe it has something processing in the background. I'm at work right now but I can check it out this evening.

[Mario]

Mhm. Maybe also just re-install IMatch. Strange behavior like this has, by my experience, in many cases some 'external' reason... I once chased a crash for days with a user and we found out that it was the HP scanner driver he was running...

[Canay]

I had been working in an earlier version and I have reinstalled the current version of iMatch a couple of times now. I was actually thinking of reinstalling the earlier version I had been working on but felt that was going backwards and probably not a good idea.

The other recent change I made was I upgraded to Photoshop CC.

[Canay]

I've tried everything we've talked about. I have no idea. One of my data bases is working fine on my laptop. That tells me it is something going on with my desktop but I don't have a clue or the patience to figure it out. It's not convenient to work on the laptop and I don't know how to get iMatch working properly again. I've deleted new programs that might have been the problem, reinstalled iMatch, forced scanned, restored prior backups, I'm at a loss. I can't click on the file and remove it from the data base. I just get a blue circle that goes on forever.

I appreciate all your help Mario. I have loved this program but I'm just not savvy enough to get it fixed right now.

[Mario]

OK, let's see:

- IMatch works with the same database (?) on another computer.
- You can run the database diagnosis on the database and it comes out clean
- Deleting a file causes IMatch to hand forever

Did I see a log file from that session? Because in your initial post you talked about clicking on a folder, not deleting a file.
If IMatch starts to delete the file, but the "Windows delete file" function never returns, IMatch is blocked forever. I have seen this happen if a virus checker thinks that IMatch is a virus, blocking the IMatch entire process.

Can you temporarily disable your virus checker? Or at least exclude the folder containing the database and if possible the imatch5.exe application/process?

What you might also try:

While IMatch is not running, move the file

C:\ProgramData\photools.com\IMatch5\config\imatch5.pts

to another folder.

Then start IMatch. IMatch will come up with factory default settings. You will need to load your database from the Database menu manually.
In case there is some weird problem with the settings, this should solve it.
It not, close IMatch and move the file back to restore all your settings.

[Canay]

I did per above this morning but things didn't go well. So I am trying it again. It seems like the problem starts when a new folder is indexed.

I just restored a database from 030317. I have indexing turned off so no new folders will come in yet. I can move around the date base just fine. I rescanned two existing folders and it went quickly and everything looks good. All photos have categories and everything is as it always was. There is no blue circle and nothing is processing in the background.

Everything is working so fast and lovely I am afraid to add anything in:) I want to just relish in the beauty of a functioning data base. But I know that is not realistic. 

I am going to add jut the first new photo folder in and see if iMatch brings it in properly.

I will report back...

[Canay]

First file I tried to add caused a problem. No thumbnail, blue circle, and iMatch just closed unexpectedly. I've attached the log. I'm going to go have a glass of wine!!!

[Mario]

I see that IMatch does an AddOrUpdateFile but it does not even log the file name.
Do you use any unusual settings, especially under Edit > Preferences > Background Processing? Have you indexing turned of perhaps?

I see no error in this log file, nothing that would indicate a problem.
The last statements in the log file are from the preview panel (?) or Viewer (?) when it loads several files a file via DirectX. No errors are reported, the files load fine.

IMatch closed when you did what, exactly?
Did IMatch display the "Oops, I'm crashed, creating a DUMP file" or does Windows tell you that IMatch has "stopped working" or does Windows tell you that "IMatch is not responding"?

[Canay]

I did have indexing turned off. iMatch just went "poof" and was gone. No message of any kind. It has never done that before.

[Canay]

I did a new install of iMatch on my husbands computer. Using the photos and data base from my computer, the thumbnails look perfect, and iMatch performance is top notch. See attached screenshot.

So...I'm thinking my problem is not my photos, not iMatch or the database. It must be my computer. Maybe I should reinstall Windows 10?

[Mario]

This is getting curiouser and curiouser...

If the problem happens only your computer and IMatch apparently runs into various problems, closes without even Windows reporting a problem, ... experience tells me that there must be something installed on that computer that interferes badly with IMatch, or one of the 3rd. party components or Windows components it uses. Very hard to come up with a plan for that. I don't recall a similar case, sorry. Re-installing IMatch (you did that already), trying with factory default settings (you did that too) usually solves such peculiar issues....

I would try to first temporarily disable / close all other software running. So much stuff injects itself into the Windows tray and runs in the background without the user even knowing....Turn it all off (if you turn of the virus checker (which is always a good first) disconnect your PC from the network, just in case. If you have turned off / closed everything and IMatch runs fine, you can turn things on one at a time until it breaks again.

[Canay]

  It is working now. I ran a junk files cleaner then a windows cleaner and I opened up the data base, did a rescan and voila there everything is. It is way over my head to know what got cleaned out that was the culprit. It is lightening fast again. Rescanned 33,900 files in only a few seconds. This is the iMatch I know and love. Thanks for all your help. Even though I don't know exactly what the problem was your insights and questions helped me to understand more about iMatch than I did before. Your help is greatly appreciated. 

[Mario]

One word: Computers