Every error in WMC: no signal, no subscription, no driver

[linksep]

WMC has been driving me CRAZY these few weeks. I have been getting what I believe is every possible error message you can get in WMC. No Signal, Subscription required, Playready failed, files needed to play video are missing. If it's not one error then it's another...

Steps I have taken to attempt to repair:
Removed KB 3003743
EDIT: Removed ALL Windows Updates installed since October 2014
Clear tuner config, rediscover tuners, initial WMC TV signal setup (multiple times)
Power-cycle (unplug) everything (tuner, switch, computer).
Uninstall-reinstall Playready.
MS "reset DRM" program.

Tuner: Ceton InfiniTV 6 Eth with latest stable firmware
Gigabit wired (all components)
OS: Win 7 Pro x64
Mobo: Asus P5G41T-MLX
CPU: Intel C2D e8600 (dual core, 3.33 Ghz) I JUST upgraded Friday to get 60% more horsepower than old Celeron e3400 that was in there working mostly fine for almost a year (some HD flash video would max out CPU and stutter).
RAM: 4GB, task manager shows that to be plenty.
Disks: Main (OS, recording drive) 1TB Toshiba 7200RPM 3.5", secondary (overflow) 2x 1TB WD Green in OS RAID-1.
Video: Nvidia GT210 fanless
Connection: HDMI
Provider: Comcast

Everything records on HTPC, I have two other Win 7 x64 machines (one Pro, one Home premium) that I use to watch recorded video via mapped drives to the HTPC. The problems were happening before the CPU upgrade, thought it appears the CPU is running a little warm (56C under very light load) so tomorrow I plan to check the HSF seating and possibly upgrade the HSF (I can get a good upgrade locally for <$20).

If anyone has any tips for me I would greatly appreciate it, I've been pulling my hair out for a couple weeks trying to get this thing to run stable and I'm about ready to use it for target practice! It worked fairly well for a year (except for all the problems I have had with Comcast randomly deactivating my CableCARD for no reason), now suddenly it's a 20-30 minute fight before I can watch a program (live or recorded) and it's skipping a ton of recordings due to all the errors.

[Scallica]

Have you considered a clean install of Windows, or installing the latest beta firmware/driver for the infiniTV?

[linksep]

That is on the table, but I feel it's the nuclear option.

I forgot to add in my 1st post that the Ceton Diagnostics program has no errors. (OOB locked, tuning succeeded, entitlement OK, etc. for all the channels I have checked.) Antivirus is MSE and an anti-malware hosts file.

Also I forgot to add that I have recently used Defraggler to consolidate free space on the main drive. Is there a possibility that Defraggler could have caused these problems?

[DavidinCT]

Nah, a defrag would not cause these problems.

Let's break them down a little....

-Subscription required - I assume this is channels dropping off, If you have this happen again, Look in the cable TV area on this forum, someone posted the cablecard activation line numbers, DO NOT CALL THE MAIN NUMBER, call the cablecard activation line. I had this issue and after a few weeks channels would fall off, many calls to their main number, after a few weeks again. After calling their cablecard line, it's been well over a year with out a single problem.

-Playready failed - I would attempt to reinstall PlayReady, do you have Copy protected recordings(shows not viewable over the network) ? This could have an effect on this.

-files needed to play video are missing - Seen this time to time but, after updating video drivers, I have been solid for while now with no issues, once you find a SOLID video driver, disable updates on it, If it Aint broken, don't fix it kind of thing...

-No Signal - How often does this happen ? On live tv or recorded tv ? Is it breaking up when you are watching tv, or do you have a solid picture then it goes to "no signal" ? Does it happen all the time or just random ?

You said your having these issues, what issues are you having right now ?

I did a nuke about 3 weeks ago, I used a few tools that fully backed up the guide and backed up the recorded series, I can point you to the thread if you want. With all these problems, we can go one by one to look over them but, a "nuke" might be the better option if you have been running the same machine for years (mine with almost 5 years, with issues and that is why I nuked it)...