SoftSled Development

[th3luk3st3r]

While the WMC community might not consider SoftSled to be the holy grail it once was, I am very stubborn and don't want to let the dream go so I thought I would share my progress.

The original SoftSled project was available on the CodePlex Archives and already had the majority of the tedious work completed (RDP client, test interface, logging, devcaps & basic avctrl functionality). The perfect base to start from!

So far I've been able to decode what actually happens within the avctrl protocol (a mix between several Microsoft communications protocols - DSLR, DMCT, DSPA, and DRMRI) - one of a few major steps standing in the way of properly implementing a SoftSled Extender. I don't yet know if it's possible to implement DRM playback (probably not anytime soon at least!); however, normal non-DRM content should eventually be playable over the extender.

The other major step will be provisioning a certificate for use in the WMC Extender Setup communication as the SoftSled extender requires a certificate with its a private key to enable in-band encrypted-password decryption, but for now a Linksys DMA2100 certificate enables setup to complete and then the password can be manually reset using netplwiz and by adjusting the password in the SoftSled config to match.

Currently, video playback isn't working (the RTSP stream link appears to need further setup from the host end), but audio playback over RTSP seems to be semi-working (including play/pause/stop functionality). There is, however, there is an issue with the WMC RequestHandle (the RequestHandle is a unique iteration to identify the current request / response to a request), as once it accumulates to 215, it misses 216 and jumps straight to 65,023... Not sure why as of yet. This will need to be solved, as once WMC changes the RequestHandle to 65,023 it sends two requests with this handle and then stops requesting the position of the media and won't send any further commands. As such, once this occurs media controls from the WMC interface completely stop functioning.

All in all, it's coming together and we are the closest we've ever been to a proper "softsled". Not sure how much time I'll have to work on this but I'll keep chipping away...

[th3luk3st3r]

Some screenshots of current progress:


The home screen:

Extender settings:

Playback of sample music (playback is happening in the background over RTSP using LibVLC):

[IT Troll]

Cool project. What is your reason for trying this? Just a personal challenge or do you a particular use case in mind?

[th3luk3st3r]

I guess I have just always wanted to build my own WMC extender hardware, and thought working on a proper software implementation that can emulate a proper extender might be more worthwhile than messing around with RDP hacks that can come close but not quite close enough.

Plus, you're right - it's a good personal challenge for sure, a great learning experience!

[technodevotee]

While the WMC community might not consider SoftSled to be the holy grail it once was, I am very stubborn and don't want to let the dream go so I thought I would share my progress.

I reckon there are more people out there that still consider SoftSled to be the Holy Grail than you imagine.

Maybe they wouldn't admit it in public but I'm sure they would come out of their closets in their droves if you can pull this off.

(closes door behind himself as he retreats into his closet)

[DanB_DE]

i am one of the ones that come out of my closet in my droves )))))

holy grail, I can't believe I find this. unbelievable, found it by accident.


Your words are gold in my ears, like the previous speaker said, we all come out, the softsled topic has never let me go, a big dream that would open many doors. this makes me smile and happy.... it´s still alive...

Twelve years ago I created a post (link below), incredible, already twelve years ago.
I was in contact with Yman (Dev from Codeplex Softsled 1) at this time.

https://github.com/L2N6H5B3/SoftSled/wi ... -by-Random


By that time I was working / developing on a media center device with the special MC Version for Windows Embedded 7, parallel when Ceton been working on their product Q Entertainment System.

I still use this over 14 years old development box for my daily use of Media Center. Can’t give it up, the love is too big.
sometimes i still work on the old sources to do a little bit of stuff, just for fun....

Also compared how my 2019 Panasonic OLed is handeling TV and Apps , Media Center is still worlds ahead. (Shared viewport). Still can’t believe Microsoft didn’t realize the potential of what they had at this time
and what it could be.

So I really respect your work, and I really appreciate what you do.

I would like to help, but I am not deep into some of the needed expertise.

I have different extender hardware and knowledge about writing MC Addins and very good experience with MCML. All long time ago, but I still have all the source codes
from that time, what will me help to remember.

Question:

Are you L2N6H5B3 from Softsled 2 ?
Where are you based ? (Country)
I tried to get Softsled 2 running , but have problems when they exchange the certificate.

Please don’t stop your work !!!

How can I help and support you ?


DanB
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