Forums Bug Reports Windows 7 - Blinking desktop icons bug

Hello all, long time mIRC user.. First time bug reporter.. :P

Any ways, I've been checking out the RC of Windows 7 (64-bit) and found a small, but annoying, bug in mIRC 6.35. When using the switchbar (or toolbar) ALL icons on the desktop flash in and out existence, or blink. Both the icons and the description text underneath them.

The best way to produce it is to connect any network and a channel and just flip back and forth between the status window and the channel window. It doesn't take long at all to happen.

I can confirm these things:
- This also happens with a totally clean install of mIRC 6.35
- This does NOT happen with mIRC 6.16 and mIRC 6.21 (I was using those until today when I upgraded to 6.35)

I'm not sure if it happens with 32-bit Windows 7 but I may test that out tomorrow.

Quick update: I installed the 32-bit Windows 7 RC on my laptop today and confirmed the same bug occurs there as well.

So this problem is in the Windows 7 ? , Are you sure that this is an mIRC bug or not an Windows 7 RC problem?, be sure that is an mIRC problem! please report you mIRC result's here from this code:

//echo -a $md5($mircexe,2) $version $os $script(0) $dll(0)

I don't think it's a Windows 7 RC issue considering it does not happen with versions 6.16 and 6.21, not to mention I've never seen it happen with ANY other program. I think something changed in some version of mIRC after 6.21 that Windows 7 does not like.

Of course I would not take the time to register and report if I felt this was NOT a bug with mIRC.

2f63a83968f9586fe4fb48134253619c 6.35 Vista 1 0

LOL? , Why you said that you are using Windows 7 RC while your $os result was Vista??

2f63a83968f9586fe4fb48134253619c 6.35 Vista 1 0

Because that's what $os returns under Win7 until it's updated.

Try v6.3, 6.31 etc. too would be good to know on which version it starts to happen

unable to duplicate here with 32bit windows7 and mirc6.35

(2f63a83968f9586fe4fb48134253619c 6.35 Vista 2 0 for those interested)

@CtrlAltDel: Did you attempt it with a completely clean install of mIRC 6.35? Also, are you using the RC (build 7100) or Windows 7 or a newer leaked build?

For the record the behavior of the blinking icons is nearly the same as sitting on your desktop and refreshing it repeatedly with the F5 key.

I was unable to reproduce it here as well with 6.35 on Win7 RC (7100) 64-bit


Yes and Yes.

Strange. I've reproduced it on 3 different machines now (2 32-bit, and 1 64-bit), all with completely different hardware configurations.

Try refreshing your desktop with the F5 key (hold it down if you have to) and see if the icons disappear?

yes, and yes .. for the record, the 2 scripts installed are both by me (one a login script, and one a "services popups" script).


yes

Still nothing.

I have not been able to reproduce this issue either so far - tested mIRC 6.35 under Windows 7 RC build 7100. If I select the desktop and hold own F5 the desktop refreshes and the icons flicker, as expected. If I then switch to mIRC and open several windows, such as channels, and switch between them using Control+Tab, or clicking on the switchbar or treebar, the desktop icons do not flicker.

I think we may need to narrow this down a little - for example, if you turn off the treebar and switchbar through the "View" menu in mIRC and then Control+Tab to switch windows, do the desktop icons still flicker?

It's really strange that no one else can reproduce it. :\ Like I said I've done it on 3 machines which all have totally different hardware configurations.

I've tried mIRC with menubar/switchbar/treebar/toolbars disabled and placed in all sorts of positions. My first thought was that somehow it was tied to the new treebar.

I've been experimenting with it some more though, and I now think it is related to tooltips in some way.

Here another, perhaps better/more reliable, way to reproduce it:
1) Open mIRC, a server status window, and a channel window (more channels will work, but 1 will do)
2) Mouse over the Status window on the switchbar until the tooltip pops up (ie. "Status: Nickname [+mode] on Server (host:6667)")
3) Without moving the mouse cursor off the switchbar (very important) mouse over the channel window (channel windows have no tooltip) and the desktop icons should immediately be blinking fairly rapidly (several times per second) for as long as you leave your mouse there or anywhere on the switchbar other than the status window.

With any luck someone can reproduce it this way. I may look into seeing what version it first appears in if not, all I can say for now is it's not in v6.21.

This one causes 100% core usage on my Win7 64bit system. No icon blinking though.

Yup I hadn't realized it until more recently but my CPU usage also shoots up to ~60-80% (fluctuates) when doing that as well. This is on an E6600 Core 2 Duo processor.

Strange that no one else gets the icon blinking though. I'm glad someone besides me noticed something though.

dude, I registered here just to report this bug... omfg it is annoying me!!!!!!!!!! Can anyone fix it????

P.S. I am using the RTM build 7600.

A bug fix requires (minimum) the following steps:
1) The bug must be reported
2) The bug must be reproducable
3) The cause of the bug must be eliminated from all other possible sources.
4) Khaled must be able to fix the bug.
5) Khaled must release a version of mIRC with the bug fixed.

Since there has been no release of mIRC since the original bug report, the only step that can be confirmed as being done is the first one.

I've got it here too. Click the status window then hover the mouse over the next channel window button and the desktop flickers on and off. Using win7 rtm and the aero desktop mode. If you switch to basic mode it doesnt do it. I tried turning off the desktop picture just to see if its doing some pallette swapping but that doesnt help.

Thanks for the additional information. It may help Khaled be able to reproduce this situation, and, therefore, assist him in finding the cause and a fix.

I was finally able to reproduce this, but only in compact mode, which should have been mentioned before.

I still can't reproduce this with Win7 7600 RTM in either compact or normal mode with a fresh install.

I'm guessing this is most likely a windows bug, since its the one with the flickering icons, but I'd hate to have to wait around for them to find a cure. It's mostly just annoying though, not a major bug.

Has anyone here reproduced this on the RTM build 7600?

64 bit RC 7100 here.

I'm on rtm, did it on 32 and 64.
phenom 2 4x with geforce 8600gt

When CPU is used intensively, is it the mIRC process that shows high cpu usage?

c'mon people, stop posting half a solution or trying to make problm but instead make a FIX!

tylerwad,

Welcome to the forums. Maybe you aren't familiar with how things work here, but Khaled Mardam-Bey is the sole developer of mIRC. He's the only one who can "fix" anything. It's unlikely that any other user can offer a true fix unless this is really not an mIRC issue. You should also note that mIRC releases don't happen every other week, so you need to be patient. Until Windows 7 is *in stores*, don't expect much.

Also the most important point here is that people (Khaled specifically) are still having trouble reproducing the issue. It's hard to fix a problem that cannot be reproduced. I for one have been using W7 for over 2 weeks now and have yet to see the desktop icons flicker once.

Hi.

mIRC 6.35.

I'm using Win7 RTM from an ISO with this name:
SW_DVD5_Win_Pro_7_64BIT_English_Full_MLF_X15-71037.ISO

(from work)

Ie. 64-bit Win7 RTM as released for companies, etc. medio August 2009. The graphics card is Asus GeForce 9600GT. I have installed all Windows updates. The mIRC install is completely untouched, except for a few added aliases.

This problem is definitely reproducible, as it has been partially driving me nuts since I switched to Win7. Have been using mIRC since the 90s. I am a paying customer.

The icons blink/flicker on a whim when I click various channel windows. It's 100% reproducible, as someone stated earlier, by clicking the status window, waiting for the tooltip text to appear and then moving the mouse to the first channel window. The icons flicker frantically every time.

Hope this is of some value in legitimating that there indeed appears to be an issue which is somehow related to mIRC. Ultraflesh is not the only one experiencing this.

Edit: I forgot to mention the CPU usage aspect. mirc.exe is indeed the process that consumes CPU when the flickering occurs.

At least now I (partially) know what's causing it.

Good luck in further tracking down the cause, and I sure would appreciate a "fix".

I just reg'd here to say I have this problem as well. I believe it's due to the way that Windows 7 handles GDI windows. If someone knows a temporary work around, please post!

i too am getting the same bug, also the cpu rises from 3% to sometimes 32% where mirc takes 0 then with the flicker rises to 7% cpu

it is nice to know others are seeing it too

i can however confirm that this only happens when the mouse is over the switchbar for me. but its not that simple, and i do hope this information helps kahled

i test this and 100% of the time it occurs.

if i go straight to teh switchbar, nothing special happens, but if then hover over a channel name then move back to the switchbar the bug appears. the mouse has to be on the background of the switchbar NOT the channelname.

i have tried moving it to the bottom and to the side and the same bug appears.

I followed the steps you described but have not been able to reproduce it yet. I tried various combinations of display settings, moving the switchbar to the top/left/bottom/right, and so on, but the issue has been pretty elusive so far.

If you copy the v6.35 mirc.exe into an empty folder and an empty mirc.ini file to the same folder, and then run that mIRC, are you able to reproduce it with the default settings?

I tried compact mode as well but that did not seem to make a difference. It may be that the issue is related to a particular mIRC setting or configuration that I do not have enabled.

I was finally able to reproduce this issue yesterday... once after several hours of trying :-) I have a fairly good idea of what the probable cause is although I'm not sure why Windows 7 is behaving this way. In any case, I have made a change to the way mIRC displays tooltips, so this issue should be resolved in the next release.

I'm glad you were successful because, after reading your reply from yesterday, I tried for quite some time and was unable to RE-reproduce it.

i thought i had cured it too after installing new nvidia drivers but alas it wasnt

so really glad you managed to replicate it

you did see the 10 fold cpu rise too? or just the flickering icons?

I know a fix is in the works, but just wanted to add that this bug happens for me on win 7 ultimate x64 retail any time mIRC 6.35 is not maximized and mouse hovers over channel buttons. Under those conditions should be very easy to reproduce.

Just to give an update on this, I also have the same issue in Windows 7 32bit (GeForce 8600GT and GeForce 220 both), but only when mIRC is maximized (Aero Glass is on, btw). I can see the flickering icons through the transparent titlebar even when not doing anything. This only happens shortly after maximizing mIRC, though. Maybe mIRC's displaying all of the windows I have open and that causes it? I don't know (I keep all windows in mIRC maximized if that helps). After it's been up and running without anything on top of it, it never does it again until I maximize it again at some later time.

I've experienced the cpu spike as well, and have been able to reproduce it many times.

Easiest to reproduce by switching from another program to mIRC and hovering over an switchbar button.

CPU load is focused on (on my computer) cores 3 and 4, with 2 barely registering and core 1 not registering any load.

Resource Monitor shows that half of the load comes from mIRC, and the other half is from explorer.exe.

Hovering over status button is exempt from this bug, it seems.

2f63a83968f9586fe4fb48134253619c 6.35 Vista 5 0

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Core 2 Quad

Thanks for the feedback everyone, this issue has been fixed in the upcoming release. I have been working on converting mIRC to a full unicode application, a major project that has taken the better part of a year. The unicode version of mIRC has been "almost" ready for a beta release for some time, so it did not make sense to release a new version of mIRC just for this one fix. I will be posting a public beta announcement the moment the new version is ready for use.