Ceton Echo & Xbox cannot play H.264 protected content

Troubleshoot and discuss the XBOX 360, XBOX One, Linksys, and other extenders.
Timbukk2

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#21

Post by Timbukk2 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:05 pm

Crash2009 wrote:
Timbukk2 wrote:Thanks for the help so far
Let me see if I got this one straight.....

switch eth/xbox/hdmi Pioneer/hdmi Plasma/
switch eth/xbox/hdmi Samsung/

HtpcVGA/KvmVGA/AsusVGA Are you not using HDMI at all on the HTPC?

Why not go HtpcHDMI/AsusHDMI and switch from VGA to HDMI at the Asus?
The ASUS Monitor is in my office and we never watch tv in there.....just sayin......It is mainly used for daily computing and repair of other pc's and also handles the ceton infinitv6 card and 2 storage drives for WMC
So are you saying that I should hook both an HDMI cable from the HTPC video card to the ASUS monitor HDMI input directly and a VGA cable from the IOGEAR 4 port KVM switch to the ASUS monitor VGA input directly? At the same time? Or maybe just as a test to unhook the vga iogear completely and go straight from htpc vid card hdmi out to asus monitor hdmi in?

Once again I really truly appreciate the time that you fine folks are taking to help me to work this out!!!!!!!!

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Crash2009

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#22

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:12 pm

That's why I suggested the switcher. The switcher will memorize and store all the EDID transactions for everything connected to it. All the devices downstream of the HTPC wont even have to think about EDID anymore. But hey, this is a forum. There are probably 20 reasons why your stuff don't work. Nobody mentioned EDID so, that is what I chose. It would be pretty boring around here if everyone suggested the same thing.

It is your choice to prove or disprove it, or even reject it. Depends on how much longer you want to continue listening to TV.

http://www.extron.com/ in my opinion, has the best information on this subject.

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Crash2009

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#23

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:56 pm

Timbukk2 wrote:Once again I really truly appreciate the time that you fine folks are taking to help me to work this out!!!!!!!!
I'm hip, you got the server in the office, and you do office stuff on it. WMC runs in the background and pumps out a couple extenders. Can you Remote Desktop in to the server? Here is what I was thinking for a test.

1) bypass pioneer go xbox to Samsung with HDMI
2) remote desktop into the server, disconnect VGA, and boot the server.
3) boot or power cycle the extender, and turn on the tv, (I am not sure on what is the proper order for your devices) xbox-tv or tv-xbox
4) try the same thing in the bedroom

Get the extenders working, then move on to the amp. Get a plain old HDMI switch 1IN and 2OUT 20 bucks at monoprice

xbox to hdmi switch
switch to tv
switch to amp

If the VGA to KMS turns out to be an issue we'll do a separate thread. There might even be one all ready.
Last edited by Crash2009 on Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:00 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Windom

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#24

Post by Windom » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:56 pm

Is there anyone out there with Comcast premium channels that have switched to H264 but is able to still watch them properly on an Xbox 360? I'm hoping these are isolated incidents and won't be a problem for everyone that receives the Comcast update. I would think there would be a lot more people complaining if it didn't work across the board, but then again I haven't heard anyone state that this setup works for them either.

IownFIVEechos

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#25

Post by IownFIVEechos » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:08 pm

I remember back in the day if I tried to play a .ts file which is the h.264 format I was told by xbox I needed a 'optional media update ' installed off their site. Perhaps this is the problem. The xbox may not be yelling because it is going through the live tv portion etc.. Do you have this media kit installed?

Sounds more and more like a codec that is being used by the extenders and not the WMC machine, but I just don't know if that is even possible. The non protected channel working on the extender threw me, I had over looked that in the original post. But it is as if Hali or whatever you use is being called for the extender which would not be able to handle protected channels etc..
Last edited by IownFIVEechos on Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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spanner

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#26

Post by spanner » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:12 pm

Just came here to check in after having this problem for the first time today. So far on my premium channels, plus cnn, Msnbc and probably more, I get a black screen on my echos, and this message on my liksys 2100s "Video can not be displayed. the format used for this video is not supported on this media center extender. to view play directly on windows PC". I got the letter a few months back that comcast was changing their file format, i suppose this is related. This really does break my whole system, hope there is a fix available.

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Crash2009

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#27

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:14 pm

Crash2009 wrote:That's why I suggested the switcher. The switcher will memorize and store all the EDID transactions for everything connected to it. All the devices downstream of the HTPC wont even have to think about EDID anymore. But hey, this is a forum. There are probably 20 reasons why your stuff don't work. Nobody mentioned EDID so, that is what I chose. It would be pretty boring around here if everyone suggested the same thing.

It is your choice to prove or disprove it, or even reject it. Depends on how much longer you want to continue listening to TV.

http://www.extron.com/ in my opinion, has the best information on this subject.
Forgot to quote.

This one is for Coolwhip

whoareyou

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#28

Post by whoareyou » Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:07 pm

I have issue with playback and viewing of live or recorded tv / mpeg4 / copy protected channels. It is discussed in this thread

https://communities.intel.com/thread/29396?tstart=0
Long story short, copy protected mpeg4 content plays black screen with audio on I3-550 processors (and others depending on GPU). No apparent fix.
***Non copy protected channels play no issue mpeg4 or mpeg2 ***
Easily verified by going into status page for hdhomerun and observing the stream's bit rate.

As in thread I've been using on-board video via the built in GPU on the 550 and I have this problem.
My issue was slightly different since my extenders also exhibit same behavior.
I have problem on 2 different PC's, both with these type processors
I have 3rd stand-alone that works fine with Nvidia graphics board)

This issue coincided with Comcast's transition to mpeg4.
One is using a Ceton tuner one is using hdhomerun network tuner. It is not a tuner issue (unless Ceton and Silicon Dust have same problem).
One PC is connected to extenders (whole house machine).
The other two are standalones

For whole house machine, as solution, I purchased a Radeon graphics card, and this fixed issue on whole house PC.
I can now view live / recorded mpeg4 copy protected channels once again.
However, the extenders connected to the whole house PC will not play correctly. They will play black screen with audio.

Any suggestions to get the extenders going???

Why if the PC plays protected content, will the extenders fail?
I'm at a loss on this one.

Thanks

[Moderator note: topic merged; search before posting]

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spanner

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#29

Post by spanner » Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:37 pm

After reading this i went downstairs to check my main HTPC and apparently i also now get a black screen with audio on my hbo channels. So I now have several channels that wont show on my extenders,xbox,linksys,and ceton , and add to this no hbo on my main HTPC, All other channels seem to work, Looks like i will be using HBO Go for some shows while i figure out what can be done.

EDIT: after further checking its my linksis 2100s that have an issue with multiple channels. MY HTPC, xbox, and echos work with everything but my premium copy protected mepeg 4 channels
whoareyou wrote:I have issue with playback and viewing of live or recorded tv / mpeg4 / copy protected channels. It is discussed in this thread

https://communities.intel.com/thread/29396?tstart=0
Long story short, copy protected mpeg4 content plays black screen with audio on I3-550 processors (and others depending on GPU). No apparent fix.
***Non copy protected channels play no issue mpeg4 or mpeg2 ***
Easily verified by going into status page for hdhomerun and observing the stream's bit rate.

As in thread I've been using on-board video via the built in GPU on the 550 and I have this problem.
My issue was slightly different since my extenders also exhibit same behavior.
I have problem on 2 different PC's, both with these type processors
I have 3rd stand-alone that works fine with Nvidia graphics board)

This issue coincided with Comcast's transition to mpeg4.
One is using a Ceton tuner one is using hdhomerun network tuner. It is not a tuner issue (unless Ceton and Silicon Dust have same problem).
One PC is connected to extenders (whole house machine).
The other two are standalones

For whole house machine, as solution, I purchased a Radeon graphics card, and this fixed issue on whole house PC.
I can now view live / recorded mpeg4 copy protected channels once again.
However, the extenders connected to the whole house PC will not play correctly. They will play black screen with audio.

Any suggestions to get the extenders going???

Why if the PC plays protected content, will the extenders fail?
I'm at a loss on this one.

Thanks

[Moderator note: topic merged; search before posting]

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Crash2009

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#30

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:26 am

spanner wrote:Just came here to check in after having this problem for the first time today. So far on my premium channels, plus cnn, Msnbc and probably more, I get a black screen on my echos, and this message on my liksys 2100s "Video can not be displayed. the format used for this video is not supported on this media center extender. to view play directly on windows PC". I got the letter a few months back that comcast was changing their file format, i suppose this is related. This really does break my whole system, hope there is a fix available.
Has anyone tried PowerDVD WMC Plug-in yet?

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spanner

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#31

Post by spanner » Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:27 am

Crash2009 wrote:
spanner wrote:Just came here to check in after having this problem for the first time today. So far on my premium channels, plus cnn, Msnbc and probably more, I get a black screen on my echos, and this message on my liksys 2100s "Video can not be displayed. the format used for this video is not supported on this media center extender. to view play directly on windows PC". I got the letter a few months back that comcast was changing their file format, i suppose this is related. This really does break my whole system, hope there is a fix available.
Has anyone tried PowerDVD WMC Plug-in yet?
I have powerdvd installed and can access it from the extras, but not sure if it is the plugin you are talking about, or how to use it to help.

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Crash2009

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#32

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:04 am

Something I was reading sounded like it might help...Further reading has revealed it doesn't apply to this situation.

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Crash2009

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#33

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:10 am

Seems like there are a lot of different ideas on what the cause is.

Codecs
Cable Provider H.264
I3 550 problem
EDID or HDCP issue
Playready
Extender
What about Tuesdays Update?

whoareyou

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#34

Post by whoareyou » Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:22 pm

"I3 550 problem" - These type issues can be resolved with new video card. Also, even from computer without this bug in GPU, video playback on extender fails for protected content channels.
"Cable Provider H.264" - MPEG-4 works. It is only protected content MPEG-4 that fails. Has anyone seen different behavior?
"EDID or HDCP issue" - Component video to extender also fails on encrypted channels
"Extender " - Which extenders?
"What about Tuesdays Update?" What update???

Is this issue specific to Comcast?? Is there anyone on this thread who is not on Comcast??
Many other cable providers have protected MPEG-4.

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Crash2009

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#35

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:11 pm

whoareyou wrote:"I3 550 problem" - These type issues can be resolved with new video card. Also, even from computer without this bug in GPU, video playback on extender fails for encrypted channel.
"Cable Provider H.264" - MPEG-4 works. It is only encrypted MPEG-4 that fails. Has anyone seen different behavior?
"EDID or HDCP issue" - Component video to extender also fails on encrypted channels
"Extender " - Which extenders?
"What about Tuesdays Update?" What update???

Is this issue specific to Comcast?? Is there anyone on this thread who is not on Comcast??
Many other cable providers have encrypted MPEG-4.
Extender complaints: Spanner says Linksys is completely dead...his Echo and Xbox do live but not protected live, Coolwhip with Echo and Xbox, Timbukk2 with 2 xbox's.....I am just trying to suggest this may be an extender problem. Fix would be uninstall the account, then re-install

Tuesday's update: was a suggestion to see if these problems appeared since Patch Tuesday.

Haven't noticed much "Tried that and it didn't work" A fix will never be found until suggestions are eliminated.

Haven't seen much "Tried that and it didn't work". A fix will never be found until suggestions are eliminated.

Comcast problem: need input from the 3 affected (Span, Cool, Tim) good suggestion..

PlayReady problem: I suggested this earlier, so far no takers. Honestly I don't blame them. Just a hunch. I would do this as a last resort.

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Crash2009

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#36

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:18 pm

A fix will never be found until suggestions are attempted or otherwise eliminated.

whoareyou

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#37

Post by whoareyou » Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:36 pm

"A fix will never be found until suggestions are attempted and eliminated" True.
But knowing if this is specific to Comcast is kind of important.
Linksys is completely dead because it doesn't support MPEG-4. End of story.
I don't have Echo's so I can't test them.
I had problem before patch Tuesday. Didn't realize there was this thread before that timeframe.
I tried many combinations in post #28

Number 1 on the list should be to rule out as a Comcast issue.

My opinion is that this issue should be a sticky on the first page of this site. This is more than your everyday cable company issue.

coolwhip

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#38

Post by coolwhip » Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:23 pm

I have had a ticket open with Ceton since 1/17.
Almost all of my channels are now H.264. My local channels are still MPEG2.

My HTPC plays all H.264 channels. The only problem I have with H.264 is that I have to stop playback when switching between channels to prevent the picture from freezing.

My guess is that this is not a Comcast specific problem. Is there someone out there that can play non-Comcast H.264 protected content on their extender?

My guess is that HDCP was never implemented for H.264 in the xBox or Echo.
This problem appeared when Comcast converted premium channels such as HBO to H.264. Prior to this the premium channels where copy protected MPEG2 and they would play fine on Ceton Echo and xBox extenders.

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Crash2009

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#39

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:19 pm

coolwhip wrote:
My HTPC plays all H.264 channels. The only problem I have with H.264 is that I have to stop playback when switching between channels to prevent the picture from freezing.
Are you using an I3-550 processor?

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Crash2009

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#40

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:45 pm

whoareyou wrote:
For whole house machine, as solution, I purchased a Radeon graphics card, and this fixed issue on whole house PC.
I can now view live / recorded mpeg4 copy protected channels once again.
However, the extenders connected to the whole house PC will not play correctly. They will play black screen with audio.

Any suggestions to get the extenders going???

Why if the PC plays protected content, will the extenders fail?
I'm at a loss on this one.
You fixed the PC by upgrading to the Radeon.

Uninstall and re-install the extenders. The MCX account is still thinks you have the old graphics. You might have to run tv setup again to update the PlayReady. As a matter of fact, the new graphics might have broken PlayReady AllReady.

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