The Green Button Lounge - Recent Threads

No TV signal/service unavailable after upgrading to windows 8 + WMC

gujjudude2013 — Sun, 19 May 2013 07:28:58 GMT

I used to be a windows 7 system with WMC. It used to have an issue with losing TV signal occasionally for no reason. I then found a solution on-line ( I think some KB fix) that I applied and it resolved the issue. Now I upgraded the PC to windows 8 Premium. I paid $10 to get the WMC8. I am now in the same boat as before, but worse. Now every time I stop watching TV and come back and start in a few hours, I don't get any signal and message about "service unavailable" shows up. If I scan the signal strength they are all very good. The only way to fix this is to reboot the whole computer. This happens pretty much everyday and my recordings are not happening. None of the available solutions on-line seem to work. I also upgraded drivers for my tuner card (Hauppage HVR1600) to latest available from their website. It did not make any difference.

I need help otherwise I will be forced to go back to Windows 7 or switch some other PVR software. There seems to be very little information about specific problems on WMC8. I hope this forum can help.

Let me know what relevant information you need to help.

Cable Companies Can Now Force You to Rent Set-Top Boxes

hbcondo — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:18:52 GMT

I thought this was an interesting topic for discussion:

"A new FCC ruling lets cable providers require customers to rent set-top boxes for their basic tiers (including local stations)."

http://lifehacker.com/5994508/cable-companies-can-now-force-you-to-rent-set+top-boxes-here-are-your-alternatives

Auto Rip n Compress/Windows Media Center and Windows 8

FixedWingGuy — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:32:19 GMT

windows media center 8 netflix app function limited

BadElbow — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 01:52:56 GMT

I have windows 8 media center running as my HTPC and have installed the netflix app. However the app runs with limited functionality. It only loads a small number of my instant queue, wont give me options to add movies to my queue when I select a movie, it doesn't display episodes in a series, plus a few other things.

I have two other windows 8 machines with WMC+netflix installed and they both work just fine with all the normal abilities. I have uninstalled the wmc netflix app and re-installed but it didn't help. This is especially annoying as the bug is occurring on my main HTPC.

Any help is appreciated!

How can I backup/restore PlayReady to keep my recorded TV shows when I upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 ?

cpollitt — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 17:06:33 GMT

I am about ready to upgrade my Windows 7 HTPC to Windows 8, but I do not want to lose all of the shows that I have recorded. Is there a process to backup or restore playready settings after you upgrade to Windows 8?

What files do I need to backup to keep my PlayReady record of recorded shows? If this has already been described somewhere then can someone please send me a link?

Thank you.

Outlook functions only under Firefox browser

paolo38 — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:14:27 GMT

Outlook.com works well within my Firefox browser; I like it especially for composing email.

HOWEVER, whenever I access Outlook.com within IE 10, the application does not fully function.

I can compose and send, but cannot modify the text (such as bold face or underlining), and even worse,

it will not allow me to attach a file. My PC is running Windows 8 Pro with an x64-based OS.

Would appreciate a response.

Paolo38

windows 7 media center will not record

Not tech savey — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:33:36 GMT

I have just installed a tuner AverTV Hybrid Volar max tv tuner kit for windows. I followed all the instructions but it will not record. The media center works properly for all functions except internet tv. I have uninstalled and reinstalled but still not working. If anyone can help, please do. Thanks in advance!!

CBS TV transmitter signal in Dallas Ft. Worth Area has changed

htemmons — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:21:00 GMT

The CBS TV transmitter signal in the Dallas Ft. Worth Texas area has changed. As I understand it, Microsoft Media center won't be able to receive the new CBS signal until Microsoft makes the change in their system. Is this correct?

Media Center Guide contantly Wrong

NONEWANTED — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 02:51:58 GMT

I am having problems with the media center guide. the big problem is show like Merlin, Continuum, Lost Girl show as repeats but they have never been shown in the US yet they have a date of something like 2012 but in the US they have not been shown before which means the guide is giving us incorrect times but i can not set to record all as there are repeats of sometime 10 a week and i do not want all 10 of the same ones recording. what can i do to fix this?

I can't seem my movie library on a Xbox 360 from a new Win 8 install

birdman91 — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:45:31 GMT

Hello,

I had this setup working just fine on Windows 7: Dell PC running Windows 7 Pro. two local hard drives on the esata bus . I use DVD FAB to convert my Blu-ray's to WMV files and these sit on the two local NTFS hard drives, with one of those the system hard drive.

I went ahead and upgraded to Windows 8. I did a fresh install by reformatting all the hard drives and then moved the movies back on to the local hard drives.

Now I can see the movie collection from WMC on the PC, but when I go the movie collections on the Xbox 360, it can't find any of my WMV files. The Xbox and the PC are connected vie a wired network. The funny thing is, for some reason I have two m4v files that the Xbox extender can see and play just fine.

Some of the things I have tired is:

going into tasks and removing and then re adding the library folders
enabling the Guest account
I am able to play any of the .wmv movies if I use the play to feature on the PC to the Xbox
I opened read access to the everyone account for the movie folders

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Greg

Windows Media Center Electronic Programming Guide data in UK and Ireland

TPR — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:34:32 GMT

Microsoft is aware of the issue with the Electronic Programming Guide for Windows Media Center in the UK and Ireland. We have identified the cause and have already deployed a fix for the UK. A solution for Ireland is in the works and we will issue an update when the issue is resolved.

We apologize for the inconvenience to Windows Media Center users in these countries.

UK EPG stopped for all Channels

Mike Sin — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:43:11 GMT

Under Windows Vista MCE the Guide Agreement appears to have "timed out" since the end date of 01/01/2013 is only a few hours away and no guide updates are being received - is this for real ???

new here&hope this is the right place to ask question?Recorded something in windows media center tv & it's too big to burn to dvd?

puckett59 — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:50:35 GMT

the other night i recorded something through my windows media center tv.it is like 6 hours long(first time i ever recorded something that big)and of course it's too big to record to dvd.is there any way,any software or something out there to be able to record this to dvd's?i'm running windows 7 ultimate....thanks

When is a Windows 8 Media Center Forum going to be started?

twkisner — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:50:45 GMT

Seems like it would be helpful not to have W7MC questions not mixed with W8MC questions / discussions.

Error on XBOX when playing TV from WHS

Dugas — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:05:58 GMT

Getting this error when trying to play TV Recordings from WHS on Xbox 360 Extender. The WHS share works fine when playing from the Windows 8 PC. I save the recordings to the Windows 8 machine and then move the files over to the WHS when drives getting to full. The Xbox is able to play the files just fine that are stored on the Windows 8 system but when they are moved over the to the WHS they still show up in the Recorded TV listings but the ICON for the shows are blank and I get the following error when trying to play them:

"Application Failure A critical windows media center process has failed. Restart the computer and try again. If the problem persists, contact your hardware manufacturer for assistance."

The WHS and Windows 8 PC is connected to a home group... I also have media sharing on for the WHS but don't have the TV Recordings shares out that way...

I've tried reinstalling the XBOX extender with no luck...

Any other thoughts?

Doug...

No Login Start Windows 8?

LostJohn — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:50:26 GMT

With Win 7 my dedicated Media machine was set for "No password" start.

How can I do this in Windows 8?

John

Windows 8 Mce Sdk

Diefenthal — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:37:47 GMT

Hello

can we Devs become an updated MCE SDK version ?

i have it try with Win 8 with vs2012 ,mce 7 sdk and the addenum pack but with this combination chrash McmlVerifier.exe

Dual Hauppauge Colossus, W8MCE, DirecTV, WORKING!!

drumdandrum — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:37:35 GMT

Changing the channel over the network even......NO BLASTERS!.... No DVBLogic necessary. Anyone struggling to get this to work correctly?

Win7 Ultimate x64 MCE will not download guide data

MCE noob — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 23:43:41 GMT

I have an odd situation that's arisen, and I need help ASAP. I just noticed yesterday that my MCE guide was not downloading guide data properly. It must have been a problem for a couple weeks, because all cable channel guide data ran out yesterday evening just before primetime. I check my favorites in my guide every day to make sure my shows are set to record (or see if there's new ones I want) and I only noticed the problem yesterday. The odd part is that I seem to have full data all the way to the end of the usual 12-14 days downloaded for standard broadcast networks only (NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.). Every other channel be it basic cable or premium channels has no data as of last night. I saw a command line solution using C:\Windows\ehome\mcupdate.exe with some arguments including something about "manual" but it did the same as going through the MCE menus. I saw in some forums people tried uninstalling certain updates, but I could not find the updates in question installed on my machine, even though I have every update available except language packs and bing desktop. I also tried restoring to the oldest system restore point I have, which was 10/22, but it failed. Then I tried the next oldest (next day) and it worked but did not solve my problem. Should I keep trying restore points? It seems kinda useless if the oldest working one didn't fix it. Anyone have any other ideas, I don't want to have to program every cable channel show I watch manually, I watch a lot of TV. Thanks for any help available.

New MediaCenter App - Open Source

rohmer — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 01:46:43 GMT

I have been developing for a while a Media Center app for collection maintenance, syncing shows/Recording to my Windows Phone. Well its coming along pretty well. Its extensible via a plugin interface, so I am hoping people will take advantage of that.

Its not done, but I should be releasing an alpha within a month (Regular job schedule permitting

That being said, the URL is http://mediasage.codeplex.com

I eventually want to extent it to other HTPC programs, but for now since I use Media Center, thats what I am targeting. If you're a dev, take a look, see if you want to help. The more the merrier!

WMC will not allow me to play recorded premium TV

rcd0220 — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 22:52:35 GMT

Hi,

I recently purchased a Ceton InfiniTV cable card device and have been recording shows on channels such as HBO without any problem until a few weeks ago. The cable card stopped working, but I was still able to watch all of my recorded TV without any problems.

A couple of weeks ago I changed computer cases and updated the processor. Since then I have been getting the message telling me that I cannot copy recorded TV onto another computer for all of my premium movie channel recordings. So, I cannot play the movies. Normal channels such as Comedy Central, FX, News stations, etc all work fine.

Is it really rejecting a parts upgrade? From the beginning my recordings have gone to my F drive. I have not moved any recordings to a separate drive.

Does anyone know how I can fix this problem?

Any help is appreciated.

User Group Meetup

Iand — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 13:50:38 GMT

Hi all

Just wanted to invite the community here to our user group event in September. The event will be a great chance to meet up with other enthusiasts and we have lots of technology on show. Windows Media Center, Windows 8, Windows Phone plus Raspberry Pi.

We also have vintage computers from The Centre for Computing History. You can play with ZX Spectrums, BBC Micros, Commodore Pet maybe an old Mac.

The event is near Wigan, so close to Manchester and Liverpool and we would love to see you there

More details here:

http://thedigitallifestyle.com/w/index.php/2012/08/22/one-month-until-the-tdl-user-group-and-raspberryjam/

and if you want to bring something to show off please let me know

Ian

WMC 7 blacks out during Play All and cannot recover unless task ended

Huseyin — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 01:24:54 GMT

I am having a serious issue with my WMC 7 and I don't know where to check in order to find the cause and seek resolution.

I have bunch of videos in various formats, mostly .flv which WMC has no problem playing back, but when I use Play All -so my son can keep watching his cartoons-, the screen blacks out after random amount of videos and there is no way to recover unless I go CTRL+ALT+DEL and then I see Windows Media Center (Not Responding). Actually the playback continues in the background, I can hear the video, but the whole WMC and Desktop turns black. I cannot see the mouse or anything else until I hit ctrl+alt+del.

In the past this used to happen when I turned the TV off, and then back ON, the screen would be black, and I could use hdmiYO to reset the sync with my PC and I would have the picture back. Not anymore.

If anyone has any ideas, or if there are any kind of logs I can check for (specifically filtering to WMC) I would appreciate your guidance. I have been a happy WMC user for many years, and I love it.

Issues w/ streaming x264 from W8 to Xbox

malciv — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 03:57:33 GMT

Earlier this week I installed the Windows 8 Release Preview on my HTPC. Before the install I had no problems streaming x264 files from my PC to my Xbox 360 via WMC. After the install x264 files still play perfectly fine on my PC, but none of them will play on my Xbox. Since I can still watch the x264 files on my PC I'm pretty sure its not a missing codec issue. Besides the vanishing x264 support, I've found that overall WMC works better on W8 than it did on W7. Playback and navigating is a smoother experience now. All-in-all WMC works great on W8... except for this weird x264 support issue. Has anyone else had this issue? Is there a fix? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for Only $39.99 (Plus Free WMC Addon)

TheOsburnFamil — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 23:33:06 GMT

I am totally surprised this hasn't blown up all over TGB yet.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Starting at release date through Jan 31, 2013, anyone with pretty much any Microsoft OS can upgrade it to Win8 Pro for only $39.99, AND you will be allowed to activate the WMC Feature Addon FOR FREE.

Looks like I'll be upgrading my main HTPC after-all.