?IconOverlays=1 will make TC hang in Windows 8.1

[Mike Guo]

I run into hang (about one minute) when pressing F3 to view any unkown extension files in Windows 8.1 x64.

After some investigation, I found it is related to IconOverlays=1. If I change the value to 0, TC won't hang.

My TC version: 8.50 x64

[ghisler(Author)]

Not confirmed.
1. Do you have any lister plugins installed?
2. Is Alt+Shift+F3 faster?

[Mike Guo]

1. I disable all the plugins
2. The Alt+Shift+F3 works fine.

Here is my wincmd.ini file(only three lines):

[Configuration]
IconOverlays=1
UseIniInProgramDir=7

[ghisler(Author)]

1. How? Please open Lister and choose Options - Configure - LS Plugins to verify that there are no plugins.
2. Alt+Shift+F3 bypasses all plugins, Irfanview and Multimedia functions. Therefore the error must be either in a plugin, or when calling Irfanview/Xnview. You should try to remove checkmarks "Use Irfanview/Xnview" and "Multimedia".

[Mike Guo]

I think the only three lines should disable all plugins. Then, I double confirm it according to your steps, the LS plugin list is empty.

However, I find more clues in the lister configure page. If I uncheck "Use plugins or load bitmaps as graphics at startup" checkbox, the Lister works fine even if the IconOverlays=1. If I check this checkbox, the Lister will hang.

So, it seems that BmpStartup=1 is conflict with IconOverLays=1 on Windows 8.1 x64?

The repro steps:
1. prepare a text file(for example, abc.txt) then remove the extension ( file name should be "abc".
2. in the wincmd.ini, remove all of them except the following lines:

[Configuration]
IconOverlays=1
UseIniInProgramDir=7
[Lister]
BmpStartup=1

3. using F3 to view the "abc" file.

[ghisler(Author)]

Thanks for the details. Unfortunately it didn't help, I still don't get any hangs. I tried with an empty "abc" file, and one containing some random text.

1. What does your "abc" file contain?
2. Does it also hang when you name the file "abc.abc" or some other extension which is not associated with any program?
3. What icon is shown for file "abc" in the file list?
4. Is there an overlay icon for file "abc"?

[ghisler(Author)]

I think that I found something: Both the function to load Lister plugins (and call them) and the function to load icons and overlay icons are protected by the same "critical section" object. This is probably done to prevent a read error when trying to load a file into lister while its icon or overlay is being loaded. I have removed that now from Lister - it should work more quickly now, but you may get a read error.

[Mike Guo]

>> Thanks for the details. Unfortunately it didn't help, I still don't get any hangs. I tried with an empty "abc" file, and one containing some random text.

>> 1. What does your "abc" file contain?
[Mike Guo] The abc file can contain anything. Its content doesn't matter.
>> 2. Does it also hang when you name the file "abc.abc" or some other extension which is not associated with any program?
[Mike Guo] yes, I find the hang whenever viewing any files which is not associated with any program.
>> 3. What icon is shown for file "abc" in the file list?
[Mike Guo]The icon is http://att.newsmth.net/nForum/att/TotalCommander/51996/511
>> 4. Is there an overlay icon for file "abc"?
[Mike Guo] I am not sure what's overlay icon. You can see above link.

[Mike Guo]

I think that I found something: Both the function to load Lister plugins (and call them) and the function to load icons and overlay icons are protected by the same "critical section" object. This is probably done to prevent a read error when trying to load a file into lister while its icon or overlay is being loaded. I have removed that now from Lister - it should work more quickly now, but you may get a read error.

I tried the 8.51RC2. it seems that the bug is fixed.

As for the read error, just curious what kinds of scenarios that I can run into it. I didn't run into it when I tried the RC2 bits.

[ghisler(Author)]

It could happen when you try to view just that file where the overlay icon is currently extracted (and which is hanging for 1 minute on your system).

[Mike Guo]

It could happen when you try to view just that file where the overlay icon is currently extracted (and which is hanging for 1 minute on your system).

I tried to repro this read error, but I can't. As for the read error, when it is hit, what kinds of user experience? it will show a dialog? or something else?

[ghisler(Author)]

Yes, if Lister itself fails to read the file, you will get an error message. It depends on the Lister plugin what will happen - if it crashes, TC will show a "plugin X has crashed" error.