Windows Entertainment and Connected Home

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Goodbye Windows Media Center, hello crappy Comcast DVR (Copying Prohibited Error)

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    So a couple of weeks ago, I got the dreaded "Copying Prohibited" error while playing a recording on the PC I recorded it on. Next, I got the same error while WATCHING LIVE TV. After searching the interwebs for an answer and finding none, I reinstalled windows and that took care of the issue.

    Until today. It's back, just like it was before. I can't watch any recorded TV, I can't watch live tv, and I'm sick of this WMC thing. Microsoft, any answers?

    I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling playready.
    I tried that DRM refresh thing from napster.
    I haven't added a new CPU (or anything else for that matter)
    I REFUSE to reinstall windows 7 every few weeks.
    It doesn't matter which channel I turn to, ALL channels do this.

    I'm at my wit's end here. In case it matters, here's my PC specs:

    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    AMD Phenom 9750 Quad Core 2.4ghz
    8 gb RAM

    I was using 7MC for months without a problem, now a few weeks ago this happens. Tomorrow I'm going to comcast to get their crappy DVR, because at least it works.
  •  

    You're missing most of your specs:
    Motherboard
    Videocard
    Display make/model (as well as connection type)
    Tuner(s)
    Set-top box(es) yes/no?

    Also helpful would be:  what drivers you've installed for the hardware, how up-to-date the OS is, what BIOS version you're running on the board, and so on - you know, the 'fine' details.

    FWIW, an issue such as this is typically caused by:
    - crappy drivers (might be videocard, might be tuner(s)
    - crappy hardware (read:  crappy tuner)
    - poor signal quality (read:  crappy cabling in the house, introduces noise that mimics a 'copy-never' flag)
    - for STB users, poor-quality cabling between STB and tuner (see previous point.)
    Also, FWIW, I've never seen this issue on either my desktop (been running Win7 since the Beta was released in January), nor on my server box (Win7 since September.)

    Bottom line:  we can help you to find and fix the problem, if you're willling.

    ~Chris Cupler [MS-MVP (Windows Entertainment and Connected Home)]
    'nearly every day of my life is some kind of computer hell'

    My system specs

  •  

    Have you overclocked  the cpu or unlocked a core in the bios?  I unlocked the 4th core on my Phenom x3 720 and I started getting the error even though I didn't physically change the cpu.  I disabled the 4th core and the error went away. It's a long shot but just trying to help Geeked

    Windows 7 64-bit / 8GB DDR3 / Thermaltake DH102 / ASUS M4A79XTD EVO / AMD Phenom II X3 720 / Thermaltake 750W PSU / Western Digital Caviar 640GB / LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner / Sapphire 5450 / Adesso wireless keyboard Ceton InifiniTV4 2 x XL1B2 Firewire Changers HP MediaSmart EX485 WHS, 4.7TB Storage w/ ASUS SBC-06D1S-U/DBLU External Bluray XBox 360, Sony PS3 Sony DA5400ES HDMI AV Receiver Harmony 890 Remote 10 SqueezeBox players (5 radios, 3 Booms, 1 Touch, 1 Duet) Cox Communications / Guthrie, Oklahoma
  •  

    Why does Microsoft put stuff like CGMS-A support into MCE?  It's annoying and horribly implemented with respect to determining whether a recording was copied.  I've seen this message many times in the past, and the content was NEVER a copy, Nor should it have been prohibited.  There is little more frustrating than being blocked from playing a legitimate recording.  I suspect that the vast majority of the time, people see this message when the copy is legitimate.  What better way to irritate your customers, violate their fair-use rights, and block legitimate uses (because of a pathetic implementation).  What is the motivation?  I find that Microsoft usually falls short with products because they forget who the customer is...  us, not the content providers.  Microsoft should either fix this, or remove it -- this should never happen to people. 

    -Valkyrie-MT

    The Relentless Pursuit of Media Center Perfection Hauppauge HD-PVR with build 28271 using MCE Blaster SiliconDust HDHomeRun Hauppauge HVR-2250 Microsoft XBox360 as extenders 52" Samsung LED backlit LCD LNT5281F Display Samsung HW-C700 AV Receiver Dish VIP222 with TV2 IR Converter ASRock H67M-ITX (B3 Sandy Bridge) Intel X-25M G2 SSD OS drive Sony BC-5600S Slot load BluRay Drive Intel Core i5-2500 Quad Core SansDigital TR4UTBPN with 8TB of disks in JBOD
  •  
    When this first happened, I spent 5.5 hours on the phone with MS tech support. At the end of the call they had messed up my computer so much, the only option was to reinstall windows. I only use this computer for WMC, I got it from best buy, installed some big hard drives, and set it behind my TV.

    I don't understand why this is happening all of a sudden, since I haven't installed anything on it. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling my tuner card, updating my video drivers, nothing works. I've used system restore to go back to a point where i wasn't seeing the error, that doesn't work either.

    Here are the rest of the specs:

    Tuner: Hauppauge 2250

    Video: Nvidia Geforce 9100

    Set top box with IR blaster, using component cables to go from the STB to the tuner

    What info do you need on my motherboard? How do I find it?

    I've had this setup for a while now, I haven't changed anything on my computer, so why does it spontaneously happen?

    I'm going to try bypassing the STB to see if that makes a difference, but if I do that I don't get most of my channels.
  •  
    Oh, and I'm using an LG HDTV as my display, going from the DVI out on my video card to the HDMI in on the back of the TV.
  •  

    So it appears you're going from the cable co digital signal to analog to your tuner card and re-encoding to digital and then recording. Once your signal hits analog the cable box can insert a CGMS flag which would prevent recording.

    Does this happen on everything or just some channels? If just some what are they? Premium content or VOD or PPV?

    It's more likely that your cable company might be doing something or your tuner card is has a problem with the incoming signal. Is it hi-def or SD?

    If you're doing SD, you could go to S-video and put a signal cleaner in the line or

    Solve the whole problem with cablecard tuners.

    John

    XPS9100, 24 Gig, 4eSata Tower Ceton (SA-800 M) TAs T-W W Valley (LA)--Win7 Pro, 1 XP-Pro, 3-Win7 Hom Prem, 1 Macintosh X (10.4.11), 4-HP 280N extender, Linksys DMA2100, 2-DMA2200 Promise Ns4300 Raid 5

  •  
    So a cablecard tuner will solve this? I've had it set up like this for a while, why is this happening all of a sudden? I guess the cable company is the most likely suspect. ugh.
  •  
    OK, so I've bypassed the STB and reconfigured the TV signal. The problem doesn't happen. SOOO...do I need a cablecard tuner? Bypassing the STB means I only get 33 channels, so it's not a solution.
  •  

    Yep, to get the premium channels, you'll need a cable card tuner.

    Mike

    Win7 Ultimate x32 SP1, Harmony 700, Comcast Houston (cable co), Cooler Master Elite 360 Mini Tower case on it's side, ASUS M4A87TD-USB3 MB, AMD Phenom II 555 Black DualCore, 4G RAM, PNY GT440 1gb DDR5, 160GB SATA II (OS) - AHCI, 1TB SATA II (DATA) - AHCI, LG GGC-H20LK Combo drive, TMT3, Ceton InfiniTV 4, Onkyo TX-SR608, Samsung PN50C550

  •  

    socross
    OK, so I've bypassed the STB and reconfigured the TV signal. The problem doesn't happen. SOOO...do I need a cablecard tuner? Bypassing the STB means I only get 33 channels, so it's not a solution.

    You can either purchase ATI Digital Cable Tuners from www.cannonpc.com in internal or external format, or you can wait until CES starts next week, and see what Ceton has to say about the release of there quad cable card tuner. It's one card that fits in a pci-e slot, and takes one M-Card which is a multi-stream cable card that you get from you cable provider. You can record up to four channels at the same time while you're watching something that has already been recorded to your hard drive. They have stated that the card will be available Q1 2010 with a price range of $300.00-$600.00 bucks. The ATI DCTs are single tuners, so you would need at least two of them along with two cable cards. You can get them from the CannonPC or from Dell which runs a little cheaper. Cannon has them for $249.00 internal, $269.00 external. Gregg at Cannon is a nice guy and easy to deal with. Dell has them for $210 for an internal. I'll try to dig up the Dell link.

    Ceton will be at CES in various partner booths, so hopefully they will announce a release date and a price at that time. There is a whole thread dedicated to the Ceton card.

    Just a few things for you to think about...

    Silverstone LC-16M case Intel H55TC mATX LG Blu-ray/HD-DVD Ceton InfiniTV Tuner Hauppauge 2250 i5-661 Clarkdale w/stock cooler 4 gig DDR3 1333 ram Win7 Ultimate 64 bit Silverstone Nightjar 450w fanless psu 2x 80mm Nexus Case Fans @ 7V Samsung LN46A550 lcd WHS w/13TB
  •  
    *facepalm*

    Bought the cablecard tuner, got it set up yesterday and it was working fine. Wake up this morning and turn on the TV, and I see "ER could not be recorded because no tuner was found" or something like that. I look on the back of the computer and sure enough the green light was blinking yellow. Restarted the computer and this took care of the issue, but now I don't know why the computer somehow lost the connection to the tuner.

    I went into windows firewall and the tuner was on the list of programs it was letting through. Media center extenders wasn't, so I checked that. I guess I'll see if it happens again. Weak.
  •  

    socross
    *facepalm*

    Bought the cablecard tuner, got it set up yesterday and it was working fine. Wake up this morning and turn on the TV, and I see "ER could not be recorded because no tuner was found" or something like that. I look on the back of the computer and sure enough the green light was blinking yellow. Restarted the computer and this took care of the issue, but now I don't know why the computer somehow lost the connection to the tuner.

    I went into windows firewall and the tuner was on the list of programs it was letting through. Media center extenders wasn't, so I checked that. I guess I'll see if it happens again. Weak.

    Is this an internal or external tuner? If it's an internal tuner, I would try to move the usb connection to a different header on the motherboard. I had to do that with one of my internal tuners because it just would not come up. Swapping it out to another port might do the trick, and stabilize it.

    Silverstone LC-16M case Intel H55TC mATX LG Blu-ray/HD-DVD Ceton InfiniTV Tuner Hauppauge 2250 i5-661 Clarkdale w/stock cooler 4 gig DDR3 1333 ram Win7 Ultimate 64 bit Silverstone Nightjar 450w fanless psu 2x 80mm Nexus Case Fans @ 7V Samsung LN46A550 lcd WHS w/13TB
  •  
    It's an internal card, but I've got a cable going out of the case to one of the external USB ports. Good call, I'll try switching it. Is it better to hook it up to an internal USB?
  •  
    GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Woke up this morning, got the "ER could no be recorded because there is no tuner connected". Normally restarting the computer reconnects the tuner and I can watch TV again. BUT This time my old friend "COPYING PROHIBITED" appears on the screen. I'm going to throw my PC out the window now. HOW CAN COPYING BE PROHIBITED WHEN I'M JUST WATCHING LIVE TV? And using a CABLECARD TUNER? POIHGFPOIFINJGR:NPVOIUNPVOCIUN$+_*HJ)C{#RIONV{PIUON_ (UN_#(UVN_(UN_(IUN#_($UNB:KJLMFSV
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