Interface/Browser can't interact with wallpapers anymore

[Thunda_Storm]

Sorry if this is in the FAQ but I tried the similar issues' methods and couldn't find a solution for me.
My issue is that the wallpaper engine browser/interface suddenly stopped letting me select wallpapers, so when I click one it highlights it but doesn't change my actual wallpaper, it also doesn't bring up the properties so I can't change volume, etc.
The browsing tab, the applications settings and other miscellaneous features seem to work fine.
I narrowed the problem down to my config file at least, as when I deleted it to reset it, it solved the problem (but obviously this got rid of all my many playlists, profiles, etc.) I tried switching to a backup I kept of my config file but the issue was still present in that version and I haven't been keeping multiple backups from longer periods of time.

Is there any way I can solve this problem without having to re set-up all my playlists, etc. manually? like edit a specific part of the config file or something? Let me know what other information I can provide if it would help, and thanks in advanced :)

[Biohazard]

Since you made a backup before I assume this backup used to work at some point? So it's strange that the backup stopped working now if you get what I mean, since that exact config used to work a short time ago? There may be something else that matters like your current subscriptions.

Have you moved the installation folder of Wallpaper Engine recently or do you have any other idea what could have triggered the issue?

In any case, please share your config by uploading it to www.ufile.io for example and sharing the link here. Or e-mail it to [e-mail] , but please make sure to add a link to this thread to the e-mail.

[Thunda_Storm]

Sorry that wasn't clear, roughly once a week I get some new wallpapers and make a new backup of the current config file, replacing the old one. In hindsight I should have been keeping multiple backups so that it wasn't just the most recent one.
So the only backup I have right now is still afflicted by the problem (as it wasn't taken from before the problem started), and is no use.

I believe I haven't changed anything drastic, and the only changes made were downloading new wallpapers and configuring their properties a bit, so I'm guessing it might have been caused by a specific downloaded wallpaper?

I'll prepare the config and send an email in a couple of hours, thank you for the advice.

[Thunda_Storm]

Sorry I just realised the backup may have been taken from before the problem started, as it doesn't make sense for me to make a backup after noticing a problem. But regardless when I tried to revert to the backup I found that it is still afflicted by the problem.

[Thunda_Storm]

One more thing I just realised I should have mentioned is that I can still change my wallpaper (by a very limited amount) and choose playlists that work as normal by using the mini menu when I right click the system tray wallpaper engine icon. But I can't access the individual wallpaper volumes and properties or anything, although I can use the general mute and pause options.

Also the reason I said limited is because I had this other 'bug' for a very long time where the 'recent' part of this mini menu is inaccurate - it plays some other wallpaper that isn't the selected name. I'm not sure why this is and couldn't notice a correlation to which wallpaper was actually being played.

[Tim]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I couldn't find any email by you just in case you have already sent one.

[Biohazard]

Originally posted by XxThundaxX:

Also the reason I said limited is because I had this other 'bug' for a very long time where the 'recent' part of this mini menu is inaccurate - it plays some other wallpaper that isn't the selected name. I'm not sure why this is and couldn't notice a correlation to which wallpaper was actually being played.

FYI, this is just a misunderstanding, if you select a playlist the program can't predict which wallpaper will be shown. To improve this we will add a prefix to the option to make it more obvious that these entries are playlists.

[Thunda_Storm]

Ohh yeah that makes sense, thanks for the explanation. Also yeah I did send the email before you sent that message too, and I just realised I copied the email out of this conversation, which has .com suffix but in the website it has a .io suffix. Sending to io now

[Thunda_Storm]

So uhh, I got the email and I decided to check if the problem was still happening before I replaced the config file, and it seems to have gone away? I'm very confused but I'll keep an eye on it and reply again if the problem resurfaces.
As of right now though I can change my wallpapers and access the properties normally. And my playlists and properties are there so it's still on the latest config file I had.
Thanks for the help and quick responses regardless!

[Biohazard]

There is currently an issue with Steam locking the program up and it just goes away on its own sometimes. Since this never used to happen, the current version does not show a warning when Steam is causing this problem.

This might have been the cause of the issue but you said the Workshop browser worked, which shouldn't be the case when the (main) program is frozen, so this is why we didn't consider this yet. But anyway, the next update of the program will show a very clear message when Steam is causing this particular problem.

[Thunda_Storm]

Ah it's great to hear that this might be a known issue and being addressed, and sorry I may have been unclear in that I meant everything in the program was working ie. switching tabs to the browser, viewing settings etc., but what wasn't working was selecting and/or loading the properties of individual wallpapers.
I'm also unsure whether the browser was actually loading wallpapers but based on your description of the problem I assume it wasn't.

Sorry for being unclear but I'm glad this might make it easier to solve rather than being a unique issue.

[Biohazard]

Originally posted by XxThundaxX:

Ah it's great to hear that this might be a known issue and being addressed

If it happens again for you then please reach out to us because Valve requires dump files of Steam and the Steam SDK (so ui32.exe from WE) while the freeze is occurring. So far we have a really poor turnout every time we ask about them, because it's complicated to create and share them. But Valve isn't able to make progress on this issue without dump files.

[Thunda_Storm]

Right, so if it happens again I'll reply to this thread, but in the meanwhile I can just make a copy of my ui32.exe when it happens?