Disappearing mp3 icons

[Cooperdale]

Hello, I'm using Total Commander 7.04a with Vista Ultimate 64. I have a problem: audio files and audio playlists icons (not only mp3 actually) constantly revert to a blank icon.

I'm using Quintessential player and I have for years.
If I go to the associate window and edit the entry the icons go back to normal, but the next time I install a new software which changes file associations the icons revert back to blank.

Can someone help me?

[HolgerK]

added - 64bit shell extension for Win64 icon support

As TC is a 32bit program, TC can't show icons from 64bit shell extensions.
You should ask in the quinnware forum, if it's possible to register the 32bit shell extension in addition to the default installed 64bit shell extension.

Regards,
Holger

[Sam_Zen]

I'm not familiar with 64bit things, but maybe it's a workaround to extract the proper icon from the player, and assign this discrete *.ICO file in the associate window.

[Cooperdale]

Actually there are 2 extensions, one for 32 bit and one for 64 bit, so that shouldn't be the problem.

I've extracted the ico files, let's see what happens.

[HolgerK]

2Cooperdale

How did you change the file associations?

TC's "Files->Associate With..." dialog is not really aware of the vista way to change file associations.
The correct way to do such things would be to use context menu "Open With" mechanism, or to change file association using a program that uses vista's new infrastructure to change file associations:
Default programs

BTW: Did you check

(x) All associated+EXE/LNK (slow,32-bit only)

Without this, the icons provided by shell extensions aren't shown in TC.

Regards,
Holger

EDIT1: In addition to the above option, the following entry in wincmd.ini should either not exists or set to 1:

ShellExtIcons=1 1=Show icons of shell extensions (different icon per file), 0=don't show

EDIT2: As Christian stated here ( http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=125074#125074 ), any shell icon extractor

Code: Select all

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\(NameOfTheFileGroup)\ShellExt\IconHandler

is skipped by TC, if the registry entry

Code: Select all

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\(NameOfTheFileGroup)\DefaultIcon

does contain a valid link to an icon file.

This is a different behavior to Explorer, and can be solved by manual editing the Registry using Regedit, and removing the DefaultIcon entry.

[Cooperdale]

2Cooperdale

How did you change the file associations?

TC's "Files->Associate With..." dialog is not really aware of the vista way to change file associations.
The correct way to do such things would be to use context menu "Open With" mechanism, or to change file association using a program that uses vista's new infrastructure to change file associations:
Default programs

BTW: Did you check

(x) All associated+EXE/LNK (slow,32-bit only)

Without this, the icons provided by shell extensions aren't shown in TC.

Regards,
Holger

EDIT1: In addition to the above option, the following entry in wincmd.ini should either not exists or set to 1:

ShellExtIcons=1 1=Show icons of shell extensions (different icon per file), 0=don't show

EDIT2: As Christian stated here ( http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=125074#125074 ), any shell icon extractor

Code: Select all

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\(NameOfTheFileGroup)\ShellExt\IconHandler

is skipped by TC, if the registry entry

Code: Select all

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\(NameOfTheFileGroup)\DefaultIcon

does contain a valid link to an icon file.

This is a different behavior to Explorer, and can be solved by manual editing the Registry using Regedit, and removing the DefaultIcon entry.

Thanks, I've tried out all your suggestions, but the problem was not fixed.
File association works fine, it's only these particular icons which keep disappearing. None of those methods worked or they were not applicable (for instance the entry in wincmd.ini is not there, and the settings you've listed are already as they should be).

[HolgerK]

... it's only these particular icons which keep disappearing. ...

One final question:
If you press <Alt+Enter> on one of these files in TC, what icon is shown in the "General" tab of the property page?
The empty document one, or the correct one from Explorer?

Kind regards,
Holger

[Cooperdale]

... it's only these particular icons which keep disappearing. ...

One final question:
If you press <Alt+Enter> on one of these files in TC, what icon is shown in the "General" tab of the property page?
The empty document one, or the correct one from Explorer?

Kind regards,
Holger

The general tab shows the empty document icon, whereas the same tab, when reached from the Explorer shell, shows the correct icon.

[HolgerK]

Aha!
Two possible explanations:
A: You have set "x64DisableRedirection=1" in the wincmd.ini, which maybe prevent the shell extension icon handler from loading.
B: There is no 32Bit shell extension installed with Quintessential player on 64Bit OS.

Regards,
Holger

[Cooperdale]

Aha!
Two possible explanations:
A: You have set "x64DisableRedirection=1" in the wincmd.ini, which maybe prevent the shell extension icon handler from loading.
B: There is no 32Bit shell extension installed with Quintessential player on 64Bit OS.

Regards,
Holger

Actually I have x64DisableRedirection=0 (I had set this to 1 but then set it back to 0) and the problem is there even if I point to a .ico file instead of the shell extension.

[Cooperdale]

I've managed to find the "Default Icon" entry (it's related to the QMP.audio file type, not simply mp3) and deleted it but I still get the blank icon.

[HolgerK]

What icon is shown, if you try to open the file using the file open dialog from an 32 bit application (f.e. audacity).
If this 32Bit file open dialog shows the same blank icon as TC, it's not the fault of TC method to extract icons, but a general problem of the file association part of your registry, or a fault of the Quintessential shell extension in 32 bit mode.

Regards,
Holger

[Cooperdale]

What icon is shown, if you try to open the file using the file open dialog from an 32 bit application (f.e. audacity).
If this 32Bit file open dialog shows the same blank icon as TC, it's not the fault of TC method to extract icons, but a general problem of the file association part of your registry, or a fault of the Quintessential shell extension in 32 bit mode.

Regards,
Holger

You were right, Audacity shows the blank icon. What's absurd is I had just assigned it again with TC so TC is showing the right icon (for the moment).
I fear fixing this is impossible...

[HolgerK]

Audacity shows the blank icon. What's absurd is I had just assigned it again with TC so TC is showing the right icon (for the moment).

Maybe because the explorer icon cache is not updated.

If QMP really use a Shell-IconHandler, you should use context menu "Open With..." or an option dialog from QMP (if availabe), instead of TC's "File->Associate With..." dialog.
TC's dialog sets the DefaultIcon, which may brake the IconHandler functionality.

I fear fixing this is impossible...

http://www.quinnware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7643&highlight=vista+blank+icon

Kind regards,
Holger

[Cooperdale]

Audacity shows the blank icon. What's absurd is I had just assigned it again with TC so TC is showing the right icon (for the moment).

Maybe because the explorer icon cache is not updated.

If QMP really use a Shell-IconHandler, you should use context menu "Open With..." or an option dialog from QMP (if availabe), instead of TC's "File->Associate With..." dialog.
TC's dialog sets the DefaultIcon, which may brake the IconHandler functionality.

I fear fixing this is impossible...

http://www.quinnware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7643&highlight=vista+blank+icon

Kind regards,
Holger

I had seen that thread, but I already have the latest version. I'll try reinstalling it, who knows...

If I use Open With or the Preferences from QMP, I get no icon right away, probably because the 64 bit shell gets used.
I found out the icons reset to the blank ones each time I launch QMP, so there must be something in its preferences which doesn't work with 32 bit software under Vista 64.
Each time I launch the application, it overwrites OR creates the DefaultIcon key, with the path to the icon file becoming simply "%1".

EDIT:
Maybe I've managed to get it right. I told QMP not to check and re-establish file associations on launch. Looks like when it does, it resets the DefaultIcon key for reasons unknown. It SEEMS to work, but I need to test this a few days.

Thanks a lot, you were very kind and helpful.