[Cyntil8ing]

Whenever I try to access a particular folder from within Kodi, it crashes then sends me back to my Windows UI.

Video -> Movies (folder name) -> crash.

The odd thing is, accessing all my other folders this way doesn't result in a crash. Just this particular folder.

I've tried the following:
a. Remove then re-add the folder
b. Change the drive path then re-add the folder.

The folder's content is still available to the player but I can't access the folder as a file manager.

Log

Of possible importance, the Event Viewer is reporting the following:
Faulting application name: Kodi.exe, version: 18.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x5d152595
Faulting module name: vfs.libarchive.dll, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5c652abc

If there's anymore info required to resolve this, just ask.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

[PHiLiPZ]

I’m not an expert on Kodi logs, didn’t see anything nasty in yours. What I’d do is move the contents of the directory somewhere else and see, whether you can access the original folder then. If you can it’s some of the content making it crash. If you can’t the folder itself has some wrong attributes set.

[Cyntil8ing]

I’m not an expert on Kodi logs, didn’t see anything nasty in yours. What I’d do is move the contents of the directory somewhere else and see, whether you can access the original folder then. If you can it’s some of the content making it crash. If you can’t the folder itself has some wrong attributes set.

Thanks for the response. I've tried your solution and moved the entire folder to another drive and the situation remains the same. I still can't browse that folder without Kodi crashing after the move. Also, I tried moving the video files to a renamed folder and still it crashes under the new name.
The folder remains accessible under the file browser of Windows.

What makes it frustrating is that this was never the case. I access my files under Kodi this way at least a couple of times a week and never ran into this issue which still remains true for all the other folders. As for something within the folder, it's all just recognized and playable videos under Kodi with some subs. I'll check again although I'm wondering if there's such a file/folder that'd cause a crash within the Kodi browser.

[DarrenHill]

Try moving just one file and see if that works. If it does then move half of the others, and repeat until it crashes, making a note of which files you've moved.

My thinking is whether you've got a strange character or something in one of the filenames which Kodi might be having problems with and causing a crash. It shouldn't do, but stranger things have been known.

[skybird1980]

i have the same behaviour if my server hdds are in spin down. first try accessing the folder freeze kodi until server is up. if you try to double enter kodi sometimes crashes (via SMB).
maybe this hint helps.

[Cyntil8ing]

Try moving just one file and see if that works. If it does then move half of the others, and repeat until it crashes, making a note of which files you've moved.

My thinking is whether you've got a strange character or something in one of the filenames which Kodi might be having problems with and causing a crash. It shouldn't do, but stranger things have been known.

Thanks for the response. Coming from the first suggestion, I did this. I started moving files/folders in batches until I hit a batch after hours of transfers, I got an entirely new folder in another drive to exhibit the crash behavior again. I finally found the culprit. There was a zipped file in one of the folders. I moved compressed folder out and the it solved my issue finally. It kinda makes sense in retrospect considering the Event Viewer noted that the faulting module was "vfs.libarchive.dll".

While I'm glad that it's fixed, I still don't know why Kodi started crashing when it did. The folder I found it in was from 2016 and the compressed file was from 2014 and I hadn't actively worked on that folder for years. Meaning, that Kodi had no issues with it for years and versions until the time that I reported it. Whatever the case may be, If this situation happens to anyone else looked for any type of compressed files/folders and either delete it or move it and it may solve your issue as well.

[DarrenHill]

Glad you've got some progress at least.

Some of the support for compressed file formats has been moved into binary add-ons, so it might be that you need to install/enable the appropriate one(s) of those. You can find them in the official (built-in) repo under "virtual file systems". For zip files you want the archive support add-on.

That said it shouldn't be causing a crash, but it would be useful to know if the archive support add-on helps things or not.

[DarrenHill]

@Cyntil8ing - I've pinged our main Windows dev and the dev who did the work on the virtual file systems. To investigate further they would need access to the zip file. Would you be able to make it available via a file sharing site, or is it too large for that?

[Cyntil8ing]

@Cyntil8ing - I've pinged our main Windows dev and the dev who did the work on the virtual file systems. To investigate further they would need access to the zip file. Would you be able to make it available via a file sharing site, or is it too large for that?

No. It's quite small and I'm pretty sure it's an add-on. If it is, I'm not sure how it got there.
I'll send you the link via PM.

[DarrenHill]

Yes the file you sent me a link to is an add-on, not a video file.

I think you can just remove it, as it shouldn't be something that Kodi is trying to play.

[Seven_PRX]

Hi,

Any update on this? I have the exact same issue - Kodi crashes with Libarchive turn on.
The seperate RAR add-on does work, but that has a downside it recognises all my movies that are RAR'ed as new movies, so I end up with a lot of duplicates.