Intel 770 graphics with 8.9.1 WMC full screen issue

[purpleb]

I got a newer 12th gen Intel system with 770 graphics.

After installing WMC on Win10 (my guess Win11 same), when I use full screen in WMC and when changing channels or doing other items in WMC, WMC locks up and hangs. Sometimes the screen is blank with the mouse working but that is it. I have to hit Cntrl-Alt-Del to get the system back and WMC works file full screen.

If I do not use full screen, but windowed screen, I do not have the issue. I have all options turned on in compatibility to run WMC with latest Win10 updates and latest Intel graphics driver software.

Is there a registry fix for this? I remember in the early stages of Win10 and WNC, it seemed like it was the same issue. I do not have an issue with the old Intel 630 graphics hardware.

Any ideas for a fix?

Thanks in advance,
purpleb

[Pinpoint]

Sadly, it's a well-known issue that is now documented by Intel: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... phics.html (as I guess they received a lot of complaints from buyers of recent Intel NUC models and had to document it publicly )
TL;DR: given that they see WMC as obsolete software, they consider it incompatible with their new platforms and won't even bother working on a fix (and AFAIK, nobody with a 12th+ generation CPU has found a fix/workaround).

You say it works fine in windowed mode... maybe you should give The Maxifier (that used to be developed by Gary Smith) a try and see how it goes?

[purpleb]

Thanks for the note. I read something on the web on it but not officially. Yes, if not supported, they all like to bail quick compared to fixing a customer issue to help sell more systems. With NUC going away from Intel, that does not help. I use a mini PC which is similar.

I tried The Maxifier 1.12 and that had the same issue. I could not download a newer version to test. Send me a link if you have one for 1.15 which was released.

I use WMC and use the old Kodi integration app info WMC for a solution only using the WMC remote. Now coming back from Kodi into WMC, it goes full screen so I have to use a mouse to change WMC back to windowed for no hangs.

Thanks again,
PurpleB

[Pinpoint]

I found the 1.5b2 installer on one of my machines and posted it on Mega: https://mega.nz/file/SXYnyByT#j_O3lfQub ... ngdzgY-69I

If it still doesn't work, you can give ExpandWnd a try: download the archive from https://github.com/urbans0ft/ExpandWnd/ ... s/tag/v1.0, extract the .exe, start WMC using the /nochrome option (type C:\Windows\ehome\ehshell.exe /nochrome in a terminal) and use ExpandWnd to resize the window (type expandwnd.exe "Windows Media Center" with the quotes in a terminal)

Let us know how it goes

[purpleb]

thanks for the note. I have been traveling and now back at home.

I will try both items this week and give a status on them.

PurpleB

[Pinpoint]

I just bought an Intel NUC 10 and despite reports from other users here indicating that this generation was not affected, I encountered issues that were very similar to the ones you described in your OP... issues I definitely don't have with my Intel NUC 8 machines.

I didn't want to send my NUC 10 back so I decided to investigate and found a way to disable the fullscreen exclusive mode by patching ehshell.dll. Unlike the other options discussed in this thread, this approach doesn't require resizing the WMC window using an external utility and is a real WMC fullscreen mode, with all the appropriate minimize/close buttons in the top right corner still active.

Disabling the fullscreen exclusive mode is also very helpful on 4K/8K machines where you frequently switch between fullscreen and windowed, as the delay usually seen with the exclusive mode is completely eliminated with the patch applied.

My current patched version has a downside, tho': if you closed WMC when in fullscreen, it will not go fullscreen when re-launching it. I found a way to prevent that by forcing the fullscreen mode permanently (my NUCs always run WMC fullscreen so it's not a big deal for me), but I'm trying to find a better fix.

I'm very curious to know if the same patch would fix the issues you guys see on Intel NUC 11/12 or on machines equipped with a recent Intel iGPU or discrete Intel Xe GPU. If anyone has a sacrificial machine that is affected by these issues, please reach out!