Description:

Multiple users have reported that Big Box freezes after a a period of time, requiring the application to be force-quit. The issue appears inconsistent and difficult to reproduce, but several reports suggest a potential link to video playback settings (WMP vs. VLC).

Observations from Reports:

• The time before freezing varies wildly, ranging from 10–15 minutes, to hours, to days.

• Some users report that WMP (Windows Media Player) does not freeze, while VLC seems more prone to freezing.

• Some users report no crashes at all, even after extensive testing.

Steps to Reproduce (Inconsistent):

1. Launch Big Box

2. Navigate through games, leave idle, or turn on attract mode

3. Monitor for freezing behavior

4. If using VLC, try switching to Windows Media Player (WMP) and compare behavior

Expected Behavior:

Big Box should remain responsive, regardless of the time elapsed or the number of videos played.

Actual Behavior:

• Big Box freezes and becomes unresponsive.

• Requires force-quitting the application to recover.

Workarounds & Potential Fixes:

• Switch from VLC to WMP:

1. Go to Big Box’s System Settings > Options > Videos.

2. Change the Video Playback Engine from VLC to Windows Media Player.

3. Make sure to restart Big Box for the changes to take effect
   
   • Monitor if the issue persists across different video players.

🚨 Please note: The settings to control the playback engine in Big Box and LaunchBox are different. Changing this setting in LaunchBox, will have no effect in Big Box

Status:

✅ Resolved.

With the release of 13.21, we’re considering this issue resolved. To close the loop, WMP is now the default video playback engine, and our installer has been updated to include the necessary codecs (K-Lite) to ensure everything works properly.We understand there are some concerns about moving away from VLC. We’ve provided a detailed explanation of the issue and why we made this decision in our article, which you can check out below:

Understanding Video Playback for LaunchBox & Big Box in 13.21 and Beyond

Now that WMP is the default playback engine, if you’re still experiencing freezing issues, we’ll assume you’re no longer using VLC. Please open a new report so we can diagnose the problem further.

Thanks for bearing with us while we got this sorted out!