Windows 10 1803 Spring Creators Update, game over?

Discussion of getting WMC to work on Windows 10 (unsupported)
mmortal03

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#41

Post by mmortal03 » Mon May 07, 2018 2:04 pm

Crash2009 wrote:When I use fsutil hard link list on syswow64\msvidctl.dll, the elevated command prompt returns two locations of msvidctl.dll

After running the same command on system32\msvidctl.dll, the command prompt returns two locations also.

Has anyone considered, or documented, which file they had just finished replacing?

BTW, this script was run in an old version of Windows 10 (10586).

I think when you replace a file that is hard linked, it replaces all instances of the hard link. For example, I replaced the file in system32, and it's now that version of the file in the two locations where it was hard linked.

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Crash2009

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#42

Post by Crash2009 » Mon May 07, 2018 11:06 pm

mmortal03 wrote: I think when you replace a file that is hard linked, it replaces all instances of the hard link. For example, I replaced the file in system32, and it's now that version of the file in the two locations where it was hard linked.
I think you are correct. I checked my notes today.

I was mistakenly thinking about different situation. Since this file is not hardlinked into Assembly\NativeImages, it is not necessary to uninstall\ reinstall\ and register using Ngen.

jdumke0

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#43

Post by jdumke0 » Fri May 18, 2018 12:23 am

So after installing the update, it's been hanging during setup when I try to download the program guide. There's no error. The progress bar just freezes on the first little bullet and stays there forever. I have uninstalled/reinstalled a bunch of different times. After the first time or so I remembered to run as administrator the first time, and I have tried running mcupdate.exe while it's running. Still can't get the guide. My hosts file looks like I think it should.

I really really really wish I had remembered to backup my settings before letting the update install, but no. I feel like I've been through this all before but it's just been a little too long for me to remember how to get it to actually work. Maybe it's impossible this time. Maybe I would be happier just figuring out how to get Windows 7 to run on new hardware.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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garyan2

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#44

Post by garyan2 » Fri May 18, 2018 3:30 am

I don't think this has been mentioned, but my system(s) finally updated and after reinstalling WMC 8.8.1, I didn't have any issues. This is probably due to being OTA only with MPEG2 streams. Is this problem specific to specific broadcast encodings?

Can other OTA users confirm?
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

aznativekurt

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#45

Post by aznativekurt » Wed May 23, 2018 10:33 pm

So I am at a loss here. I was delaying my 1803 update to let some scheduled recording finish, but today I was on 1709 and when I tried to play back recording I got , decoder error , the video decoder is not working, is not installed, or is not supported.

So I went ahead and did my 1803 update. reinstalled wmc with the 8.8.1 install but still getting the decoder error on old recordings. I can play them in wmp, but not wmc. I sifted through most everything I could find.

my registry decoder keys I believe are correct

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder
PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID {E1F1A0B8-BEEE-490D-BA7C-066C40B5E2B9}
PreferredMPEG2VideoDecoderCLSID {212690FB-83E5-4526-8FD7-74478B7939CD}


what am i missing here?

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Crash2009

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#46

Post by Crash2009 » Thu May 24, 2018 5:37 am

aznativekurt wrote:

what am i missing here?
Not much just a little bit of reading start at about Post 31 make sure you check all the links also.

You'll be all fixed up in an hour

Dig out msvid from Windows old and copy it into 1803

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RobsterUK

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#47

Post by RobsterUK » Thu May 24, 2018 10:04 pm

Another confirmation that the MSVidCtl.dll replacement with a 1703 version in my instance, has resolved playback of wtv files in W10 1803.
I only use my W10 machine to playback WTV files created from my Windows 7 HTPC. This is my main DVR & W10 is for watching in another room.

I too had the registry entries present at Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder.
From what i have seen over at MDL it was only one user that was missing those keys. So possibly a bit of a red herring.

One thing i did experience was that the 'Trusted Installer' was set as the owner of the MSVidCtl.dll file. So I had to take ownership to rename then move it out of the way.
But all working so far.

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DavidinCT

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#48

Post by DavidinCT » Fri May 25, 2018 2:07 am

lachape_one wrote:Here is how to fix the issue: you'll have to replace msvidctl.dll april creator's version by the fall creators one, and everything's work fine again. WMC can stay alive after April 30 !
Thanks to MVP @PinpointTownes for the tip !

More details (in French): https://www.windowsmediacenter.fr/2018/ ... ent-faire/
Easier way instead of messing with permissions...

Nice find who ever found it...good link, you can download the replacement one. Direct link here

https://www.windowsmediacenter.fr/wp-co ... VidCtl.zip

Extract the file and you will be provided with the MSVidCtl.dll that the one in C:\Windows\system32 needs to be replaced.

You will find you cant delete or overwrite the file (MSVidCtl.dll) so go into your Windows 10 WMC installer, open Test rights... This should bring you to a command prompt.

Type in

CD C:\windows\system32
del MSVidCtl.dll
You should be back at a command prompt.

This will give you the permissions and delete the old file (be careful with this program, not used right it could cause a lot of damage to your system).

Now go to where you extracted the replacement file.... Now just manually open Windows Explorer, and copy the replacement file and paste it in c:\windows\system32. If all is done right, you can open WMC and try to play a recorded show and it should play.

Took a whole 35 seconds for me.. I had the error, I closed WMC, replaced the file, opened WMC and recorded shows played fine.

Cool, WMC on WIndows 10 is NOT DEAD YET !

If anyone is still editing WMC installers, maybe do a check for 1803 and overwrite the newer one ?

NOTE: If you do a system big system update, or do a SFC /SCANNOW this would replace this file, so I might suggest to keep it someplace safe so you can replace it again if Windows overwrites it.
-Dave
Twitter @TheCoolDave

Windows Media Center certified and WMC MVP 2010 - 2012

Noel55

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#49

Post by Noel55 » Fri May 25, 2018 5:44 am

DavidinCT wrote:
lachape_one wrote:Here is how to fix the issue: you'll have to replace msvidctl.dll april creator's version by the fall creators one, and everything's work fine again. WMC can stay alive after April 30 !
Thanks to MVP @PinpointTownes for the tip !

More details (in French): https://www.windowsmediacenter.fr/2018/ ... ent-faire/
Easier way instead of messing with permissions...

Nice find who ever found it...good link, you can download the replacement one. Direct link here

https://www.windowsmediacenter.fr/wp-co ... VidCtl.zip

Extract the file and you will be provided with the MSVidCtl.dll that the one in C:\Windows\system32 needs to be replaced.

You will find you cant delete or overwrite the file (MSVidCtl.dll) so go into your Windows 10 WMC installer, open Test rights... This should bring you to a command prompt.

Type in

CD C:\windows\system32
del MSVidCtl.dll
You should be back at a command prompt.

This will give you the permissions and delete the old file (be careful with this program, not used right it could cause a lot of damage to your system).

Now go to where you extracted the replacement file.... Now just manually open Windows Explorer, and copy the replacement file and paste it in c:\windows\system32. If all is done right, you can open WMC and try to play a recorded show and it should play.

Took a whole 35 seconds for me.. I had the error, I closed WMC, replaced the file, opened WMC and recorded shows played fine.

Cool, WMC on WIndows 10 is NOT DEAD YET !

If anyone is still editing WMC installers, maybe do a check for 1803 and overwrite the newer one ?

NOTE: If you do a system big system update, or do a SFC /SCANNOW this would replace this file, so I might suggest to keep it someplace safe so you can replace it again if Windows overwrites it.
==========================================================

Many thanks for the link to a working msvidctl.dll - my Windows.Old had vanished.

I tried your method but got Access Denied in the Command Prompt window.

This worked ;-

1) Open File Explorer
2) Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\MSVidCtl.dll, right-click Rename to MSVidCtl.crap.dll by approving the Admin prompt.
3) copy/paste valid file into System32 (from the link DavidinCT provided, after Extracting / Unzipping)
4) Tested WMC, all good, YAY !!!

Previous version recordings played, Interval Skip worked without freezing or blackscreen, no Codec probs.

Happy dance time :)

ryosaeba

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#50

Post by ryosaeba » Sun May 27, 2018 4:22 am

Hi Folks,

I haven't used WMC in about 2-3 months. After the recent update, it appears it won't even launch. Clicking on short cut "%windir%\ehome\ehshell.exe" won't launch like it used to... just stalls with no error message.
I attempted to reinstall and uninstall and still no dice.

Looking for some pointers to read up on any new installation packages or uninstall packages to try.

Love the team work here.

Pacmania

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#51

Post by Pacmania » Tue May 29, 2018 12:20 am

I'm curious about this 1803 creators update. I run the media creation tool that goes directly to the 1803 and the WMC would launch but no tuners found on the tv signal setup. I check the network discovery and it's turned on.

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DavidinCT

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#52

Post by DavidinCT » Tue May 29, 2018 5:10 pm

Noel55 wrote:
==========================================================

Many thanks for the link to a working msvidctl.dll - my Windows.Old had vanished.

I tried your method but got Access Denied in the Command Prompt window.

This worked ;-

1) Open File Explorer
2) Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\MSVidCtl.dll, right-click Rename to MSVidCtl.crap.dll by approving the Admin prompt.
3) copy/paste valid file into System32 (from the link DavidinCT provided, after Extracting / Unzipping)
4) Tested WMC, all good, YAY !!!

Previous version recordings played, Interval Skip worked without freezing or blackscreen, no Codec probs.

Happy dance time :)
If you used you Windows 10 WMC installer and ran the "test rights" command.... if it came to a prompt, that window would have the rights to delete it.

Anyway, glad to hear it worked for you. It worked for me, I cant use a tuner on my WIn 10 WMC (Ceton in my HTPC) but, I share out recorded shows so I can watch them on another PC and that works great now...

I was able to play everything, 6 month old recordings and ones that were done yesterday. I have no DRM'ed programs right now.
-Dave
Twitter @TheCoolDave

Windows Media Center certified and WMC MVP 2010 - 2012

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lachape_one

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#53

Post by lachape_one » Sun Jun 10, 2018 8:44 pm

For everyone using this MsVidCtl.dll workaround and having the thumbnails issue on recorded TV, I've posted a new topic about how to fix this :

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 97&t=11724

technodevotee

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#54

Post by technodevotee » Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:33 am

Like many people, I have the problem with Media Center freezing in full screen mode since upgrading to 1803 and have tried to resolve it without success.

I've resolved most of the other issue with help from posts here and MDL ( :thumbup: ) but not that one.

What is interesting though is that, of the two PCs running 1803, one of them does it and the other one is fine. My third PC is still on 1709 and will stay that was as long as possible.

The PC that freezes is a Gigabyte z370 HD3 Mainboard with 3.7GHz i7-8700k, 16GB RAM with on-board graphics and the one that doesn't is a ASUS Maximus Formula SE mainboard with 2.83GHz Q9550, 8Gb RAM with a 1GB AMD Radeon HD5450 Graphics Card.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has a similar situation.

technodevotee

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#55

Post by technodevotee » Sat Jul 28, 2018 11:22 am

Since my last post, I've done some more playing with Nirsoft's Advancerun on the PC that freezes (Gigabyte z370 HD3 Mainboard with 3.7GHz i7-8700k, 16GB RAM with on-board graphics) and have found that, with the right settings, it allows WMC to run perfectly.

The settings I'm using are:
advancedrun setting.JPG
It does not seem to matter where you put the config file but it needs to be specified as the run argument in the target of the shortcut.

In my shortcut, the 'target' is

Code: Select all

C:\utils\nirsoft_package\NirSoft\x64\advancedrun.exe /run C:\utils\nirsoft_package\NirSoft\x64\ehshell.cfg
and the 'start in' is

Code: Select all

C:\utils\nirsoft_package\NirSoft\x64\
and it works perfectly.

technodevotee

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#56

Post by technodevotee » Fri Aug 03, 2018 8:46 am

Well, for some reason, the advancedrun settings I posted only worked for a few days and WMC started freezing again.

So I reverted to the settings I am using in 1709 but changed compatibility mode to 'no compatibility mode'.

The settings I have now are:
advancedrun.JPG
and WMC is working perfectly again

technodevotee

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#57

Post by technodevotee » Tue Aug 07, 2018 7:29 pm

third time lucky?

Those settings only worked for a few days before it started freezing again. What is going on?

Settings that are currently working are:
advancedrun settings 2.JPG
lets hope it continues working now.

technodevotee

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#58

Post by technodevotee » Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:06 am

NAH, back to square one - almost.

The settings I gave for advancedrun work until I switch from WMC to another app or minimise and go back to full screen.

In case anyone is wondering, I had already tried everything that has been suggested here, on WindowsMediaCentre.fr and on MDL and I still can't run WMC full screen on this one PC.

That was when I started playing with advancedrun again. So, basically, I have figured out what is going on but I don't understand why it is happening.

I'd love to hear from anyone who may have any helpful tips.

jachin99

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#59

Post by jachin99 » Thu Aug 09, 2018 4:02 pm

Does your problem machine run Intel graphics drivers? If so I'll make the comment that I have rarely used Intel's integrated graphics on a htpc and been happy with them. Maybe try putting that gpu in your problem machine and see where it goes.

technodevotee

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#60

Post by technodevotee » Thu Aug 09, 2018 4:28 pm

Thanks. That is a thought but the system is running on-board graphics and it was running perfectly before being updated to 1803.

In any case, I don't have a Graphics card that will work in the Mobo and, having recently spent best part of a grand building the PC, I don't really want to buy one on the off chance.

However.....

Playing with it this afternoon I was comparing the config with the other PCs and noticed that the msvidctl.dll on it was a slightly different version to the one on the others and the one I downloaded so I put the version that is on others on it and it seems better now.

There is a few seconds delay with a black screen when changing from full screen to minimised/windowed and vice-versa but it continues working.

It will be interesting to see if it stays that way.

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