#682 Stay on top while playing not always working

[scootergrisen]

Enable stay on top while playing in the Video menu.
Pause the video.
Press F to go fullscreen
Press space to play the video.
Press F to leave fullscreen.
Now if you switch to another program with Alt+TAB, SMPlayer will not be on top.

Alt+TAB back to SMPlayer, press space to pause, press space to play.
Alt+TAB to another window, and now stay on top while playing works.

Windows 7.

[moray33]

It has happened to me sometimes since I started using SMPlayer years ago but I wasn't able to find out the cause.

P.S.: It happens both in Linux and Windows.

[koko]

yes, http://forum.smplayer.info/viewtopic.php?t=8460

here is a screenie showing log and browser window covering smplayer
for me it happens randomply, no special key press combinations needed, sometimes it starts fine, sometimes it gets covered by other windows, sometimes switching to never and back to always fixes it, sometimes it doesnt :o

[koko]

still there in 8185
stay on top randomly doesnt work

[koko]

still bad in 17.9 8645 :(

[Mica Guo]

Hi there,

Still wasn't working properly in 17.10.XXX
I reverted back to 16.11.0 (32 its) // I found the 64 bit version to lag a bit

I was able to get it to work by changing 2 settings: one in ".smplayer.ini" and the other in "hdpi.ini"

FOR .SMPLAYER.INI:
Edit the "smplayer.ini" file in ...\<USER>\.smplayer\smplayer.ini
. (don't forget the dot in the name of the subdirectory)
use a text editor like notepad++ and search for "stay_on_top"
. (it should be around line 218)
Change the attribute value to "1" or "2" => "stay_on_top=1" or "stay_on_top=2"
. (0 disables stay on top)
Save the file and change the attribute of the "smplayer.ini" file to "read only"
. (You may have to take ownership of the folder)

FOR HDPI.INI:
In the same subdirectory, change the attribute in the "hdpi.ini" file
change to "enabled=false"
Save the file and change the attribute of the "hdpi.ini" file to "read only"
(You may have to take ownership of the folder)

Now it should work, it does for me

[koko]

still bad in smplayer-18.6.0-x64
I use "start videos in fullscreen", so there might be some race condition there, maybe "stay on top" only gets applied if mplayer is windowed, and if it starts and immediatelly goes fullscreen it might be ignored.

[koko]

still bad in 19.1.0 :(
I looked up smplayer in Process Hacker and when it doesnt work SMPLAYER window is missing WS_EX_TOPMOST as expected

[06:51:58:819] PlayerID::Player: player_bin: "mpv/mpv.exe" filename: "mpv.exe"
[06:52:08:092] MyActionGroup::itemTriggered: 'on_top_always'
[06:52:08:092] MyActionGroup::itemTriggered: ID: 1
[06:52:08:092] BaseGui::setStayOnTop: 1

but QT5 is failing to set alwaysontop flag :( main smplayer window Extended styles stays at 0x20000900
Process Hacker has an ability to change styles, I can force WS_EX_TOPMOST on the window and it doesnt always work :o
Iv seen similar problem in Chrome/Vivaldi failing to start in fullscreen in some builds of W10.
Autohotkey:

WinRestore, ahk_class Chrome_WidgetWin_1
WinMaximize, ahk_class Chrome_WidgetWin_1

fixes Vivaldi/Chrome in such cases.

smplayer also keeps this

Qt5QWindowToolSaveBits, 0x108ac, Untitled playlist, smplayer.exe

and many of these window handles open

Qt5QWindowPopupDropShadowSaveBits, 0x10896, smplayer, smplayer.exe

after changing "stay on top" setting, and even when alwaysontop fails those not visible windows sure do have WS_EX_TOPMOST set

I tried looking for workaround, like hammering "always on top" and checking Extendes styles for set WS_EX_TOPMOST flag, but even that doesnt always work :(

It sure looks like Windows 10 bug tho.