Family Historian User Group

Hi

Over the last few months I have had occasions where FH has just shut down, usually after looking at a hint and/or recording that within the program. Since this started I have set it to save every 3 minutes, but I'm still losing the last entry or two I have made. Does anyone else have this trouble? I'm quite prepared to believe that it is something to do with my computer (Win 10/64 version 1903 29/8/2019 - although I've had numerous windows updates since then - OS build 18362.778, 8gb ram) but I certainly don't have programs randomly closing like this. Is there a log file (or can I set one up like the one for internet data matches) that I can pass to calico pie? It has happened twice this evening, which is why I'm posting this now.
I also seem to have numerous problems with hints: random errors (probably FMP issues), the hints window (inbuilt) not opening up (which I know how to reset and usually have to do so about 3 times a month), hints randomly failing to bring up the image when requested or hanging when clicking on the little green number (usually resolved by closing the program and reopening).
I really like the program but these problems are very frustrating!

I don't recall any other postings of similar symptoms in the Forums here or the FH Email list.
I am aware of your Find my past hints (17524) posting.

I presume the reset you mention involves the Write Reg IE Shell Version Plugin.
( It would be useful to state such processes when you post. )

Are there any error symptoms surrounding the FH shut downs?
e.g. Family Historian has stopped working or Family Historian Not Responding
Could you describe the mechanism of shut down more accurately?
Some of those mechanisms do have an error log, but only Calico Pie could say if there are any other options.

I am running Windows 10 Home 64-bit Version 1909 Installed 07/08/2019 OS Build 18363.752.
The upgrade from 1903 to 1909 was really trivial and only took a few minutes. I advise you to try that.

All the problems appear to stem from using the FH internal Web Search Window involving the Internet Explorer Shell.
Try experimenting with the Internet Data Matches > External Web Browser option to see if the problem then stops.

Have you ever tried re-installing the FH program? That is often a good cure-all.
Do you need any tips on how to do that?

Hi. Funny enough I have had this issue with FH closing randomly when processing FMP hints. It's only slightly annoying. I have only lost the data that I was working on. I haven't yet noticed any trend as to why it is happening.

Try setting Internet Data Matching to use an external browser in tools preferences, you can still process hints.

Mike,

Thanks for your prompt reply. Answers within the quoted text below.

tatewise wrote: ↑

19 Apr 2020 22:15

I presume the reset you mention involves the Write Reg IE Shell Version Plugin.
( It would be useful to state such processes when you post. )

yes, sorry.

Are there any error symptoms surrounding the FH shut downs?
e.g. Family Historian has stopped working or Family Historian Not Responding
Could you describe the mechanism of shut down more accurately?
Some of those mechanisms do have an error log, but only Calico Pie could say if there are any other options.

No, it just shuts down. No message or anything.

I am running Windows 10 Home 64-bit Version 1909 Installed 07/08/2019 OS Build 18363.752.
The upgrade from 1903 to 1909 was really trivial and only took a few minutes. I advise you to try that.

I will try that

All the problems appear to stem from using the FH internal Web Search Window involving the Internet Explorer Shell.
Try experimenting with the Internet Data Matches > External Web Browser option to see if the problem then stops.

I have done that on a number of occasions. I do not recall whether any of the earlier shutdowns were when I was using the external browser (Firefox) or not.

Have you ever tried re-installing the FH program? That is often a good cure-all.
Do you need any tips on how to do that?
No I haven't and it might be worth trying. I'll come back if I need more assistance.

Thanks also to Jane and Rodley. A point is that I do not believe it is happening solely when I am processing hints, just mainly.

If you regularly have to use the Write Reg IE Shell Version Plugin to restore correct operation of the Web Search Window it indicates something more serious is going wrong, but I cannot speculate what.

If you set the Internet Data Matches > External Web Browser option and FH still shuts down unexpectedly, then the problem is independent of the Web Search Window and suggests some underlying problem.

Reinstalling FH would a first simple step using the latest free download of FH V6.2.7 and installing it over the existing installation. If that does not resolve the problem then you need to look elsewhere.

I can confirm that I have also experienced FH suddenly shutting down. I am on the latest version and all updates are done automatically. This has happened after MS Edge was updated recently. There is no error message, it just shuts down. I also get, as Mike can confirm, that over the years I have had to change the IE number to 11 to keep the internet match display working. No reason found as to why this happens.

Have you tried setting FH to NOT use the internal web page does this prevent the crashes?

Jane wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2020 09:46

Have you tried setting FH to NOT use the internal web page does this prevent the crashes?

Not at the moment, as it hasn’t crashed since the time I wrote about it. If and when it next does, I plan to first reinstall FH and see what happens.
I have used Firefox when the internal ms browser played up and will do so again if necessary but personally I find it easier to use the internal one as I usually have ancestry, FMP, family search, freebmd and the genealogist open already

I was having problems on ONE of my computers only.
I had reported this to Calico Pie (#859385) but they were unable to help then as it was completely random.
I have now pointed them to this post as others are experiencing the same problems.
I never use the internal browser.

The program sometimes closes without me having done anything at all apart from opening a project.

John

I have had the Family Historian programme shut down for no reason several times over the weeks since I purchased it, the last time being five minute ago. I bought FH after upgrading my laptop to one with Windows 10 because the Family Tree Maker I had needed updating.

I must admit that has never happened to my installations of FH V6 that have been on various Windows OS over the years.

All I can suggest is to monitor what you are doing to see if any particular commands are triggering the closure.
Usually, FH produces some sort of message in its window header, whereas these are unannounced closures.

If FH closes when left unattended, then I would suspect one of the automatic background operations.
e.g.
Tools > Preferences > File Load/Save > Enable Autosave ~ try unticking to disable
Tools > Preferences > File Load/Save > Automatic snapshot management ~ try unticking to disable
Disable them one at a time and see if unannounced closures cease.
If such GEDCOM file saves are the cause then something unusual is occurring in the filing system to induce closure.

A general cure-all is to simply re-install the FH V6.2.7 free download over the existing installed files.

Well for the time being, the issue is irrelevant for me, as I have a new pc - I will keep an eye out for if it happens again

I can confirm that FH does occasionally shut down whilst trying to access FMP hints. It never does it other than during this process, so I'm inclined to think there is a glitch between the two systems. If you try to update FMP hints too quickly for instance, it hangs, then bombs out completely. I do have an issue with Find My Past - I very often encounter 'Oops there's a problem' sort of message on that site, whereas Ancestry rarely falls over. Perhaps it's just a timeout issue, but it's annoying!

Have to say that, like Mike, I have never encountered FH shutting down as described in earlier messages. I do occasionally see the "Oops...." message on FMP, but that has mostly been when I have accessed / logged in to FMP directly rather than via the FH hints process - the last two occasions it happened (about 4-5 days) I didn't even have FH open.

I must say that I have also had the "oops we've hit a problem" message rather more recently, sometimes quite frequently, and nearly always when viewing hints in the web window. Usually, closing the window and trying again works, but it's still annoying and time-consuming.

I have just had the issue again - first time on new PC. I clicked on a hint (having viewed the image) to reject it and the program shut down: no warning or anything.

I suspect there may be more than one cause of unannounced FH closure.
However, there is a strong association with the FH Web Search Window (involving the IE Shell) and maybe Windows 10.
So perhaps there is some unhandled exception with the IE Shell and Windows 10 that FH does not cope with.
It may be possible to monitor Windows Error Logs to obtain details but will be difficult with such low rates of occurrence.

You can review the Event Viewer logs following an unexpected FH closure for possible clues.
To open the Event Viewer in Windows 10, right-click Start and choose Event Viewer near the top.
See How to Use Event Viewer in Windows 10 for a summary of how to inspect and analyse the logs.
There may well be many unrelated entries, but anything that mentions FH is suspicious.

FH has just shutdown without warning. Event log shows the error details that caused it. It has three screens showing details in different ways. How should I present this information and who should I send it to?

Report at http://support.calico-pie.com/open.php

Presumably, you have run the Event Viewer and opened Custom Views > Administrative Events
If not, then which events are you viewing?
BTW: There will ALWAYS be lots of Events reported.
Do they mention Family Historian as the Source with appropriate Date and Time ?

You can select any combination of events in the usual ways by holding down Ctrl or Shft key while clicking with mouse.

Then use Action > Copy > Copy Table and paste the events into your problem report to Calico Pie.

You could also paste a copy here in case any experts can throw any light on the cause.

I would not have posted here unless I knew I was looking at the correct FH.EXE event error log. The shutdown was preceded by two other observations.
1. Plugins would not load within FH
2. FMP Websearch window took between 5-10seconds to close down each time after clicking on the cross.
These were observed during the 1 hour before FH fell over without warning and without option to save.


Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 15/05/2020 17:05:22
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: DESKTOP-R4V71RE
Description:
Faulting application name: Fh.exe, version: 6.2.7.0, time stamp: 0x5b07f9da
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 10.0.18362.778, time stamp: 0x692cf0ab
Exception code: 0x8007000e
Fault offset: 0x00114192
Faulting process ID: 0x2014
Faulting application start time: 0x01d62aa09be067ba
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Family Historian\Program\Fh.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNELBASE.dll
Report ID: 1dd5e8d7-143b-49a1-8584-6828fa77f852
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Application Error" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>100</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2020-05-15T16:05:22.717143200Z" />
<EventRecordID>30410</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>DESKTOP-R4V71RE</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>Fh.exe</Data>
<Data>6.2.7.0</Data>
<Data>5b07f9da</Data>
<Data>KERNELBASE.dll</Data>
<Data>10.0.18362.778</Data>
<Data>692cf0ab</Data>
<Data>8007000e</Data>
<Data>00114192</Data>
<Data>2014</Data>
<Data>01d62aa09be067ba</Data>
<Data>C:\Program Files (x86)\Family Historian\Program\Fh.exe</Data>
<Data>C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNELBASE.dll</Data>
<Data>1dd5e8d7-143b-49a1-8584-6828fa77f852</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

I too suffered these random crashes of FH and tried all the published suggestions including the IE Shell and a reinstall but nothing seemed to work.

I switched to using an external browser and no more crashes. In fact, that was about 3 months ago and not a single incident since.

It is a nice idea to have a browser window within FH but it seems seriously flawed. Now I make do with a tiled desktop with my browser window showing FMP hints and FH open beside it.

I reported this to Calico Pie with the error event details and this was their response.

Thank you for reporting this. We believe that the plugins problem is a separate, unrelated problem. We believe that the crash you experienced was probably related to your use of the internal web browser, although not everyone who uses the internal web browser reports this problem. For those who do experience the problem, our recommendation is to avoid use of the internal web browser for the time being (instructions below). The web browser we use is supplied by Microsoft. This means, unfortunately, that the solution to the problem is unlikely to be in our hands, unless we replace the control with someone else's web browser, which is an option we will consider if necessary.

To stop using the internal web browser control, open Preferences (Tools menu) and on the "Internet Data Matches" tab, set "Location to Display Matches" to "External Web Browser". Also, when you click "Search the Internet" (Internet menu), make sure that "Use External Browser" is ticked (top-right).

Martin
Family Historian Support
Calico Pie


Their reference to the plugins issue is because I noticed that prior to the crashes opening the plugins was taking a long time.