New install of EPG123 leaves host GUI slider frozen

[rcarling]

This may be a dumb question but here is my problem. I lost my working 8.1 MCE so in the treacherous process of trying to get it working again, I have gotten stuck with EPG123. If this is the wrong forum, oops! The Host side of EPG123 does not run correctly. The whole right side of the gui with the big slider is frozen, and you can't select or unselect what is shown. I have now installed this on a Win10, Win8.1 and Win 7 and all of them exhibit the same result. The client appears to work fine. In the host, I pick a line up but I have no control over the channel line-up side of the gui, all frozen, when I save Save and Execute it says that no channels have been selected. I have a valid Schedules Direct subscription. I would think it is a C++ distributable problem since half the gui works fine, but it happens on all my systems so I have to assume I am doing something dumb.

Has anyone successfully installed EPG123 and Win7 WMC (valid Win7 install disk) from scratch very recently (since Mar 1 2021) without using system restore or an old OS image. With what is publicly out there (404 not found) where are the resources? And if Microsoft is directly infringing on our licensing in any way a class action suit should be brought forward (geez, so how do you feel about Apple).

I am trying to watch protected content with an HDHomeRun but let's not even go there, everyone's gotta love DRM.

[garyan2]

You need to INCLUDE the lineup before it will enable the listview to add/remove stations for download.

[rcarling]

I don't see the gui you are showing in the host. The only line-up I can choose is Charter Spectrum - Digital Rochester

I add that and The custom lineup, then it says subscribed to one out of four lineups. When I go to the custom lineups or the subscribed lineups side they are both still frozen.

I can't even find the gui you have pictured in the host. How the heck do you get to it.

I also can't figure out how to post snippits (images) into greenbutton so I am at a disadvantage until I get smarter, I see the button for images but it just inserts html tags? oh well.

So now what am I doing wrong Gary, thanks! just a little disheartened.

Is there something on the client side I have to do first, when I run it it shows no lineups and the right side scroll pane is blank, sigh...

[garyan2]

Here's a more up-to-date capture. Click the red balloon to the left of the lineup pull-down in the 'Subscribed Lineups' tab. Don't include the custom lineup in the 'Custom Lineup' tab if you don't use it.

include.PNG (5.81 KiB) Viewed 3489 times

[rcarling]

Thanks Gary. I have used EPG123 since you released it, it has been a real life saver in prolonging the life of MCE.

I haven't installed it in a while but I believe you have solved this problem. THANKS !!!!!

Now all I need to know is who is the latest pro on PlayReady, I have done the six installs stopping WMCRecieverServices and updating PlayReady. Time to move on to a different forum, inch by inch, MCE. And it was all working fine before my system crashed. Why do 8.0 and 8.1 upgrades now remove WMC from your Win7system?

[rcarling]

I need help with PlayReady but I don't see where this belongs in the forums.

I am still looking for an up to date (desirably successful) PlayReady install method for a clean Windows 7 disk.

I turned off Win7 updates (this is an SP1) in the belief they are making my life harder, so it is just clean Win7 w/SP1

Is that a mistake, should I get all the recent updates?

Raise your hand if you have successfully installed PlayReady from scratch in the last month from a source on the web (GreenButton forums external link, etc.) I have tried stopping the Windows Reciever Service, deleting the two files in ehome and PlayRady and doing a manual update but MCE acts like PlayReady is not their when MCE does a retry install and then I am in the evil You Computer is not Digital Cable Ready
, oh the agony...

I did it the suggested six times but no luck, sometimes MCE went through as if it was installed but it was just a fake out.

Whats a good MCE replacement that does not need PlayReady, skips commercials, has a sweet interface, supports HDHomeRun and DRM playback.

[stuartm]

I need help with PlayReady but I don't see where this belongs in the forums.



Raise your hand if you have successfully installed PlayReady from scratch in the last month from a source on the web (GreenButton forums external link, etc.) I have tried stopping the Windows Reciever Service, deleting the two files in ehome and PlayRady and doing a manual update but MCE acts like PlayReady is not their when MCE does a retry install and then I am in the evil You Computer is not Digital Cable Ready
, oh the agony...


Whats a good MCE replacement that does not need PlayReady, skips commercials, has a sweet interface, supports HDHomeRun and DRM playback.

The error you are reporting is not associated with Playready, rather it indicates you have not run the DCA (Digitial Cable Advisor). Which you can find here: viewtopic.php?t=13254. Note that you should not run WMC full screen when running the DCA since that will obscure a pop-up you need to acknowledge to make your computer cable ready.
As far as an MCE replacement with the characteristics you want, I'm afraid it doesn't exist. That's why we are all still here and immensely grateful to Gary.

[rcarling]

Thanks for your advice, I have the Digital Cable Advisor tool. I ran it and did a repair option since I had installed this somewhere along the way. Currently I seem to be in the MCE Activation Required, Your cable device must be activated before you can view this content. Go to the eternal land of WMC > Setting > TV > TV Signal > Activate Digital Cable to live out the rest of your life.

[stuartm]

If this is a reinstall then I assume you previously activated your cable card. The activate digital cable step is already done. You should just be able to continue on as Gary describes in his installation instructions.

[rcarling]

I needed to activate this computers "cable card" separately since the HDHome cable card turner is technically activated (shared resource on LAN). In previous tries I didn't see the Digital Cable Advisor in the MCE extras folder. This time after the install it finished and said I was Digital Cable approved. Good sign... I was still concerned if PlayReady would snooker me but with reboots between every step, when I ran MCE after the final reboot and went directly into the MCE (now EPG) Guide my 60 channels of Digital Cable are there and now much improved since NOW ALL CHANNELS ARE WORKING !!!

You can go from Win7 Pro scratch to a full working MCE install (I don't believe the Pro makes a difference). It can be a lot of work and their are many questions I still do not know the answer to. I turned on all Win7 updates, but others keep them turned off, big mistake?

Thanks again and again Gary for creating the Digital Assistant Tool thread, EPG123 and the responses above, and thanks for everyone's quick responses and extremely helpful answers.

[rcarling]

Now that I have gone through this experience of losing an 8.1 Windows Media Center and managed to get back to Win7 MCE, I have cloned all my system drive SSD's on all my computers, Swapped to the clones and Velcro'd the old SSD's into the top of the appropriate computer boxes. Expensive but I really don't wan't to ever go through this agonizing learning curve (for me) if it can be avoided. This is very cheap insurance for me, highly recommended. Again THANKS TO GREEN BUTTON for being there and to all the helpful contributors.