Real Player causing 100% CPU

[GRW]

Anyone had high CPU issues lately? Both MM and WMP are doing exactly the same thing so its not a MM problem on its own. I used MM without any issues at New Year for hours so it has arrisen since then. Even if no song is playing/ripping, the CPU is at full even if sitting idol. When playing a song, it might be 20 - 30 seconds before I am allowed to click on anything at all.

Norton flags up that Real Player is using high CPU and the same thing happens if I switch to WMP. Occasionally it will say that Windows Media Player is using the CPU. When I close either player (one open at a time) the CPU drops down to next to nothing. Its not a major problem more of an inconvenience but it can't be good the CPU being extremely high for hours on end just playing CDs or music from the library.

Anyone know why it says Real Player or why this may have changed. Is it an XP security update?

[Lowlander]

So RealPlayer and WMP are using 100% CPU when being run? How does MM factor in?

[GRW]

That's what I can't work out. When MM or WMP are running, Task Manager says its Real Player causing the high CPU rates. The same happens even if I am playing tracks from the library in MM. I was wondering if MM used some sort of codec or something from Real Player or at least is confusing Task Manager and Norton to believe that it is Real Player instead?

Real Player itself is not actually in use.

[Lowlander]

If both WMP and MM are causing RealPlayer to use that much CPU it would seem RealPlayer has a bug/issue. Why not close RealPlayer if you're not using it (also check if any updates are available for it)?

[GRW]

The only way I know that Real Player is supposedly doing anything is when I rip or play in either MM or WMP is via task manager. I haven't opened, used or ran Real Player at all. If I close it from task manager, would that stop the rip as nothing else (neither MM or WMP) are consuming any decent ammout of processing power. Or would it stop the main programs from functioning at all?

[Lowlander]

I would terminate the process from the Task Manager and see what's happening. (also check Real Player options to make sure AutoRun options are disabled, maybe inserting CD is starting RealPlayer). In the worst case the rip fails or playback fails, nothing that can't be done again if needed.

[GRW]

I can't see anything that suggests Real Player is actually running in the background and nothing in its preferences make it start up or run as its not a default player, MM is. Its getting worse. MM is the only thing running and the entire PCs resources are given to playing the MP3. If I change a tag, the equalisers, timebar and mouse clicks all stop for around 20 seconds whilst the PC actions this menial task!

Task manager says realplay.exe is the cause and Norton tells me the same but only when MM or WMP plays an MP3 from the music the library. I am busy sorting the library so don't want to play with the stopping services yet until I'm finished. It all worked so well but now progress is painfully slow.

I think a recent update somewhere may be behind this and without un-installing Real Player I won't know if its that. But if this update went out to everyone, we could find many people having major issues using MM. Not an MM issue itself, but a potental problem for the player.

[rovingcowboy]

sounds like code used by monkey and windows mediaplayer that allows them to play formats from real player, is being started when you connect the mp3 or the cdrom.

but on off chance you might not have all the file formats listed under mm to run with it.? go back in to real player and make sure you have NO media formats associated with it.
make all your formats be associated with mm encluding the one for cda,
i'm thinking it might be possible that the update changed all the formats back to realplayer? if it is told in its options to
reclaim them it might also just have reclaimed them on start up.

see if that helps.
at the least it might be your system is in need of a ram cleaning program. or a good registry defragmenting?

[GRW]

I'm beginning to think you may be right about the latter bit, all the CD singles are being ripped before going into the loft so the HD may be getting a little overworked. I checked and the file associations still look the same.

HOWEVER!!!! Half an hour ago or so, the PC was so overworked with updating a tag from Rock to Indie that it completely crashed MM and I sent an error report. Since then, it has been back to normal with CPU on around 12% max! Now I closed and reopened MM a few times in that period and the 100% issue has been with me all day today and all day yesterday.

I have changed nothing and closed nothing so its baffling and I realise that this will jinx it but it seems fine now for no real reason! I think this may have to go down as a quirky PC "thing" that is inexplicable.

I won't say the issue is resolved and I will continue to monitor it but I will making hay (as they say) whilst I can click a box without locking the PC up!!!!!!

[rovingcowboy]

monkey does keep data in ram until he can write the tags. if you do lots at once he might be running the ram to nothing is free. and the cpu is trying like crazy to get the data taged. if you have a super fast cpu it might be the reason monkey has not crashed till then. a slow cpu would crash faster if that was the cause of the issue.

go in to mediamonkey's options and to the one for library and tags. or player and tags? your looking for the option that has monkey update tags as they are edited. make sure that is checked on.

also speeding up mediamonkey does help in this issue of cpu being used up. go to the task manager and right click
on the mediamonkey.exe you find in the process tab list. there should be only one listed find it and do that right click
then on that context menu move mouse pointer to set priority link
then move the mouse over to real time ( on xp's ) high (on win7) and click it.
then get out of the task manager, that will give more cpu threads to mediamonkey and
allow it to get the data saved faster.

after you get through with your cd's do a major defrag of your hd and make your page file a fixed one by setting it to the max it suggests if you have one hd. go up 300 for each hd extra or split the page file over all of them to total 1500 mb's
and make the min.. one or two mb's less then the max that way its fixed but allows windows 1 or 2 mb's for its need to adjust.

clean your prefetch and your page file thats about all you can do i think because you sound like your running out of hd space.
if you did not know each hd needs about 200 mbs for its own use so make sure you leave that much or a little more as free space.

[Lowlander]

I would terminate the realplayer task. Things can get weird when a program is using up all resources.

[rovingcowboy]

yeah but he said realplayer is not listed as running. which is why i think it might be the code that both monkey and wmp use to run some formats from realplayer, but if his hd is filled or getting too full that also will cause some weird things to happen.

[Lowlander]

It's stated that the Task Manager indicates that it's running and using 100% of CPU.

[rovingcowboy]

That's what I can't work out. When MM or WMP are running, Task Manager says its Real Player causing the high CPU rates. The same happens even if I am playing tracks from the library in MM. I was wondering if MM used some sort of codec or something from Real Player or at least is confusing Task Manager and Norton to believe that it is Real Player instead?

Real Player itself is not actually in use.

no lowlander he says here it is not in use.

so it has to be something with the storage. space or the code in mediamonkey and wmp. but it just might be the messed up or fragmented hard drive. as i posted before several months back now that full on playing of music all day will fragment the hd. and that can cause strange things to happen, as it did on my jukebox before christmas when i tried to run it and play music with out stopping for a week it fragmented so bad it took several times of defragmenting to get it back in order.
and it did cause strange errors to happen.

i am beginging to think it is not reporting the app properly, and that would be window's issue. making it not the code at all but just a mis id of the app. and it should say the current media player in use not realplayer? that is the strange or weird part of the issue, windows can't id the correct player, but couldn't that be caused by the cpu cycles being ran up to full use and not allowing windows to scan properly to find the right id? if so that does point to the hd's status issues again.
i'm hoping he comes back with a good report of it is fixed by the cleaning or the adjustment of the page file size.
oh that page file size too can cause strange issues. so it does seem to be microsofts fault more and more to me.

[Lowlander]

no lowlander he says here it is not in use.

Task Manager says its Real Player causing the high CPU rates.

So either it's auto started by other app or when starting Windows. I still suggest terminating the RealPlayer process and see what happens.