[sdevans_nz]

For years I have used launcher4kodi to launch kodi when my windows htpc boots, bypassing windows explorer etc. However recently I committed the cardinal sin of 'upgrading hardware' and at the same time 'upgrading software'. I put a new graphics card in my machine, and updated from matrix 19.3 to 19.4. 

Now whenever I play a video file Kodi crashes to desktop. I would blame the graphics card, but if I relaunch Kodi with explorer now running and all the other windows stuff - it is rock solid.

I have posted logs captured with debug turned on if anyone is interested. 

without windows epxplorer running; https://paste.kodi.tv/eheducilin.kodi
crash to desktop - save log and reboot kodi;
with windows explorer running; https://paste.kodi.tv/simaqipewe.kodi

[PatK]

Suspect that video memory available is 14120 MB (dedicated = 5992 MB, shared = 8128 MB) has something to do with your issue. Shared memory allocation is a property of the o/s and until it's fully engaged, it's likely that continuous gfx memory is unavailable. The newer updates have different allocations and the graphic software for your hardware finally comes into play. What worked in the past, no longer resides in the same memory map. Might want to add some delay in the launch to allow background tasks to allocate memory blocks differently and give time for your gfx software to come alive.

In the first log Output Device : HDMI - Philips FTV
In the second log NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Output Device : HDMI - Philips FTV (NVIDIA High Definition Audio)

Preferred settings would be HDMI wasapi connection with pass-through.

[sdevans_nz]

I tried various WASAPI options, default and HDMI and no joy there, so tried putting in a delay on the launcher4kodi options. (10 seconds)

no crashing!

I noticed that the geforce overlay comes up now (press Alt Z for options etc) which wouldnt come up when launched via launcher4kodi but would come up when launched as a full screen application from windows. So it sort of makes sense it's an Nvidia thing as that is the biggest change I have made to what was a pretty solid installation.
I would have thought the background tasks would have still launched regardless of whether explorer.exe was running or not, but that does seem to be the issue, and with launcher4kodi no longer in development I appreciate the effort in responding anyway.

Is there any advantage to using WASAPI over Directsound or any other sound option? It didn't fix the crash, but always keen to set things up right.
For simplicities sake my HTPC is connected to the TV via HDMI and the TV is connected to a DTS capable sound system via digital coax, rather than directly.
Kodi has been told it's a 5.1 DTS capable system, and the receiver has displayed it has detected DTS in the past. 

Thanks again though!

[PatK]

any advantage to using WASAPI over Directsound

Wasapi & passthrough hands off the audio to whatever device is connected without loss. After passing through WASAPI, all host-based audio processing, including custom audio processing, can take place. DirectSound puts the effort on your cpu instead of being hardware-accelerated by your gfx engine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_...chitecture

Optimal configuration would be PC->AVR or reciever->TV using HDMI wasapi & pass-through. This is all hardware dependent, should your receiver not support HDMI then what you have now seems to work.

[PatK]

Thread marked solved.