The VideoLAN Forums

First of all, let me describe my very odd problem with a system. To make this post less confusing, I'll ID the systems by their CPUs. one (the one that freezes) uses a Sempron. The other (which doesn't freeze) uses an Athlon.

I have a DVDRIP of 300 which is in h264 and A52(AC3) codec. I used to be able to play it fine on both systems.
I have since updated VLC, updated my audio drivers, video drivers, and many other things.

Now, I tried to play some episodes of Futurama. They are in XviD but also use A52.

They will play fine, but when I press the stop button, The Sempron will lockup completely shortly afterwards. The same also happens with 300 which used to work perfectly.

To add to the interest, PowerDVD also causes this problem, but it does not even have to be playing a file. As long as it's running it will usually cause a lockup within a minute.

I searched around on this forum and read that some people had this problem after updating to the latest Realtek AC'97 Drivers (Version 5.10.0.6300 if you check Sound manager, or the installer filename which would be WDM_A406.exe)

After one person downgraded to a significantly older version (I think A375) the problem was fixed.

The other odd thing is the Athlon, also with a Realtek (Both are the same - the ALC850) and with WDM_A404 A.K.A. Version 5.10.0.6280 drivers.

Both computers have VLC (latest windows version) and both play the same file. However only the Sempron locks up. I have downgraded its drivers to A404 as these work on the Athlon. I have not tried the Athlon with A406.

The latest I have tried was to uninstall all old AC3 codecs from the Sempron. I also removed FFDShow. Now I have a new problem. When I try to run VLC, I get this:

VLC media player has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

AppName: vlc.exe AppVer: 0.9.9.0 ModName: msvcrt.dll
ModVer: 7.0.2600.2180 Offset: 00037740

PowerDVD still locks the Sempron up.

Can anyone help me with this strange issue?

VLC can't use FFDshow or any other codecs. So the uninstall shouldn't be related to VLC issues. You might want to remove %appdata%\vlc folder and then try to start VLC.

Thank you, I got VLC running again by deleting %appdata%\vlc

However the original problem still remains. I tried rendering the file with Gspot, it told me it uses a Nero and then Cyberlink Decoder, and then the computer locked up again when it had finished.

I imagine this is why PowerDVD locks up, since it would be doing somethig with it's own codecs.

However, since VLC uses it's own codecs it's all a bit confusing.

Looking here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=53119 was where I figured it was probably related to AC3

However that doesn't make full sense, as the Athlon has the same configuration and it doesn't lockup.

Both computers have an ALC850
Both computers have driver vA404 aka 5.10.0.6280
Both computers have VLC v0.9.9
Both computers have Windows XP Home
Gspot says both are using the Cyberlink decoder
Both computers are playing the same file...

One locks up and the other doesn't! if Realtek/Their drivers are the problem, then surely both computers should lock up?

Other computer might have broken audio device, or the issue might come from chipset drivers or from some other device driver.