Multiple Lingering Processes

If you're having problems with Snes9x, or think you've found a bug, this is the place to be.
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Polite Master
Snes9x White Belt
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2015 6:09 pm

Multiple Lingering Processes

Post by Polite Master »

Hello SNES9x community,

I tried using v1.53 earlier. It seems to work well save the following issue. When going to exit an instance of the emulator, the window closes but the snes9x-x64.exe process remains running. If I open the emulator again (usually, I have to load a different ROM than before), another process opens and will linger after exiting. According to Process Explorer, the processes use a marginal amount of CPU (<0.01%) and about 27KB of private memory. I can't kill nor suspend the processes in Process Explorer (nor Task Manager); the only way to end them is to reboot. I noticed this when trying to delete the SNES9x root folder. The contents that refuse to be deleted are the .exe and the standard error and standard output text files. I tested this with the x86-32 version and found the same problem.

These processes stack up, and such a problem would unfortunately steer me away from SNES9x. I hope to resolve it; thank you kindly in advance for your thoughts and comments.

System configuration:
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x86-64
Intel i7-3770K
16 GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Polite Master
Snes9x White Belt
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2015 6:09 pm

Re: Multiple Lingering Processes

Post by Polite Master »

I am still looking for a solution to the problem in the OP.

Using Process Explorer, I noticed that the only active thread for the snes9x.exe process (after closing the window for the 64-bit app) is C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntdll.dll. I cross-referenced this library with my other open processes, of which many depend on. Out of that set, perhaps the most interesting programs are Avast Anti-Virus and Sandboxie, both of which make kernel-level changes to driver behavior. I was lucky. Simply disabling Avast's shields (I did not have to uninstall) allowed snes9x.exe to properly terminate on close; enabling Avast's shields provoked the issue.

While anti-virus is not the most important security measure these days, it (particularly Avast) is there by my choice. I do not want to disable it, especially for a low-priority application such as SNES9x. Can anyone knowledgeable or is/was a part of development assist with this incompatibility or at least suggest a temporary work around.

Thank you again for reading and in advance for any comments!
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