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Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:39 pm
by soapdishbandit
CZ Eddie wrote:Is this project considered the continuing development to get WMC working on the newest versions of Win10?
Or is it just tweaking the WMC that already works on older versions of Win10?
It already works. Are you referring to working with US Cable card tuners?

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:00 am
by W10MC
CZ Eddie wrote:Is this project considered the continuing development to get WMC working on the newest versions of Win10?
Or is it just tweaking the WMC that already works on older versions of Win10?
This project is mainly focused on developing new applications for WMC in Windows 10 as well as earlier versions of Windows.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 8:00 am
by CZ Eddie
Ahh, sorry I thought WMC was broken for everyone in the latest version of Win10.
Is it just protected media folks? I have cable TV with protected channels (USA + cablecard).

I've been going crazy trying to find a way to watch my WMC recorded TV of protected content from any of my three PC's in my house.
My latest try was Linux KVM + virtual machine + passthrough video-card + RDP.
Only to finally get passthrough video card in a VM working after several days of fighting with VMware and giving up on it for KVM, then to discover WMC does not play TV over RDP.
Win7. And it sucks because RDP on this VM is very fast & smooth.

I keep reading Win10 has cool new options but doesn't work after you let Windows update to the latest patch level.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:09 pm
by DavidinCT
CZ Eddie wrote:Ahh, sorry I thought WMC was broken for everyone in the latest version of Win10.
Is it just protected media folks? I have cable TV with protected channels (USA + cablecard).

I've been going crazy trying to find a way to watch my WMC recorded TV of protected content from any of my three PC's in my house.
My latest try was Linux KVM + virtual machine + passthrough video-card + RDP.
Only to finally get passthrough video card in a VM working after several days of fighting with VMware and giving up on it for KVM, then to discover WMC does not play TV over RDP.
Win7. And it sucks because RDP on this VM is very fast & smooth.

I keep reading Win10 has cool new options but doesn't work after you let Windows update to the latest patch level.
Windows 10 Media Center, has a lot of issues. It's main thing that it's not officially supported, so just taking a good size update, it can completely remove WMC (and has for a lot of people), requiring you to start over in a lot of cases.

The other MAJOR thing, is Microsoft changed the DRM system in Windows 10, completely abandoning the old system, this means older DRM programs like Windows Media Center, Zune and a bunch of other programs no longer work with secure content. This complexly kills Cable card tuners, IN FACT, WMC on Windows 10 wont even see MOST cable card tuners. There is NO work-around for this.

And Protected content will never play over RDP, or from another machine than what it was recorded on. The CLOSEST to RDP playing video was WMC for Windows 10 from T-S (8.8.1), he enabled a hack for it and as it does play content over RDP, it's got issues.

So, Windows 7 is STILL the best WMC, and if you want to play with the hacked versions of WMC... Get 8.1 and install it on there, at least you will be able to play protected content.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 2:26 am
by Venom51
Crash2009 wrote:I downloaded DTBAddin 1.0.0.7 R3

Unblocked the zip, extracted to default, then right clicked W7DTBAddinSetupX64.

I can see the dll's, but so far I have been unable to extract them...WinRar errors out with file corrupt.

I see there is a newer version for W8.

Win 10 uses the WMC from W8.1
I have made some more headway on this. I used some information found in this article https://support.ca.com/us/knowledge-bas ... 68802.html to help log the installation on a Windows 7 machine. That got me a log file that shows what happens during the installation via the msi file. That led me to grabbing the "C:\Program Files\babgvant\DTBAddin" directory structure and copying it over to my Windows 10 machine. I then ran the following 2 commands found in the install log file from an admin elevated command prompt.

"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\InstallUtil.exe" "C:\Program Files\babgvant\DTBAddin\MCEState.dll"

"C:\Windows\ehome\RegisterMceApp.exe" /allusers "C:\Program Files\babgvant\DTBAddin\Registration.xml"

Once both of those items completed I went back into DVRMStoMPEGSettings of DVRMSToolbox and set the Bookmarks path and the Commercial path. Restarted MCE and it now works. I can zip up the C:\Program Files\babgvant\DTBAddin directory from my machine and attach it if there are those still interrested in using the addin. I also have the W7DTBAddinSetupX64.msi file as well.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 3:07 am
by Venom51
Well...maybe not. While I had success on one machine it fails on the other machine still. Now to track down the missing piece to the puzzle or figure out what I did differently on the first machine.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 4:36 am
by Venom51
Looks like it was a .Net issue on the second machine. I pulled .Net via the Add/Remove features and then reinstalled and let Windows grab the files from the internet. That has resolved the issue on the second machine. So the following would have to be done.

1. Download the zip file containing the needed files and directory structure. It's hosted on my home internet connection so be gentle. http://diablo.homedns.org/TGB/W7DTBAddin_WIN10.zip
2. Extract the contents of the zip file.
3. In the W7DTBAddinSetupX64 directory copy babgVant.DvrmsToolbox.Shared.dll, MCEState.dll, MceStateConsumer.dll, MceStateInterfaces.dll, and MemMapFile.dll to the C:\Windows\ehome directory.
4. Copy the babgvant directory to c:\program files.
5. Open a command prompt as the administrator.
6. Run the following commands.

"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\InstallUtil.exe" "C:\Program Files\babgvant\DTBAddin\MCEState.dll"

"C:\Windows\ehome\RegisterMceApp.exe" /allusers "C:\Program Files\babgvant\DTBAddin\Registration.xml"

Open media center and verify that you don't recieve any DTBAddin related error messages.

Mine is now working on both the machines in which I have done the above. Maybe we can limp this dying horse a little further down the road.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 1:57 pm
by Alan G
DavidinCT wrote: So, Windows 7 is STILL the best WMC, and if you want to play with the hacked versions of WMC... Get 8.1 and install it on there, at least you will be able to play protected content.
Yes, this is the way things are if you are a DIY person. You can still buy Win7 product keys and and cable card tuners. I just built an updated HTPC several weeks ago with a new Win7 install. I presume that Win7 will continue to work even when product support ceases in a couple of years. Maybe streaming technology advances a lot by then that one can do everything over the Internet rather than through cable TV providers; things are moving in the direction anyway.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 4:28 pm
by DavidinCT
Alan G wrote:
DavidinCT wrote: So, Windows 7 is STILL the best WMC, and if you want to play with the hacked versions of WMC... Get 8.1 and install it on there, at least you will be able to play protected content.
Yes, this is the way things are if you are a DIY person. You can still buy Win7 product keys and and cable card tuners. I just built an updated HTPC several weeks ago with a new Win7 install. I presume that Win7 will continue to work even when product support ceases in a couple of years. Maybe streaming technology advances a lot by then that one can do everything over the Internet rather than through cable TV providers; things are moving in the direction anyway.


The ONLY features you are getting from Microsoft is guide data on ROVI, if you move to EPG123 with schedules direct you can buy pass this. Anyway, with 7 or 8.1, their guide data and setup information come from the same place and also, it's the same guide data, and format used on the Xbox one's live TV feature. This is why they did this change to save money. So it's even possible, as 2023 comes (When 8.1 dies), WMC might continue working after that. Other content you MIGHT still get is Music art or Movie art and there is 3rd party options for that.

Streaming services are hit or miss now and it's getting worse.. There is 20+ different providers, all have access to different *new* content. So, if I want YouTube RED for a few shows, then want HULU for another show, Need Amazon for another show and we cant forget the great shows on Nextflix (never mind the others each with a monthly fee). It will cost more than cable, the whole point of going streaming, or "cutting the cable" was to cut costs and never mind all the devices needed for this content. I know this is the direction it looks like it's going to go but, in the end because of all these services are all over the place. This confuses most consumers...

At least if they are HTML based we can use ReLaunch and add them to WMC...

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:10 am
by joecrow
DavidinCT wrote:So, Windows 7 is STILL the best WMC, and if you want to play with the hacked versions of WMC... Get 8.1 and install it on there, at least you will be able to play protected content.
Just a side note, AMD have dropped support for to 8.1 (and indeed all versions of 8) on their graphic drivers so if you want to buy a new AMD GPU best use Win 10 or 7 (7 is still currently supported).

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 3:11 pm
by DavidinCT
joecrow wrote:
DavidinCT wrote:So, Windows 7 is STILL the best WMC, and if you want to play with the hacked versions of WMC... Get 8.1 and install it on there, at least you will be able to play protected content.
Just a side note, AMD have dropped support for to 8.1 (and indeed all versions of 8) on their graphic drivers so if you want to buy a new AMD GPU best use Win 10 or 7 (7 is still currently supported).
Interesting... Figured they would drop 7 before 8.1 (as 8.1 is a newer OS). anyway about it... I only use NIVIDIA cards and last I looked still 7,8.1 and 10 support.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:29 pm
by IT Troll
DavidinCT wrote:Interesting... Figured they would drop 7 before 8.1 (as 8.1 is a newer OS). anyway about it... I only use NIVIDIA cards and last I looked still 7,8.1 and 10 support.
This just reflects market share. Win 7 and Win 10 are currently neck and neck, and together cover ~80% of all Windows installs. Win 8.1 is less than 10%; probably just die hard Media Center users. :wave:

http://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-ma ... /worldwide

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:48 am
by PrplHaz4
Any plans to move development of this community extension for WMC into the open - github or the like?

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 4:50 am
by W10MC
PrplHaz4 wrote:Any plans to move development of this community extension for WMC into the open - github or the like?
It is possible, depending on the level of interest and growth in the project.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 9:45 pm
by newfiend
W10MC wrote:
PrplHaz4 wrote:Any plans to move development of this community extension for WMC into the open - github or the like?
It is possible, depending on the level of interest and growth in the project.
How's this project progressing? Any news on if/when we might see UI+ released?
Just curious on how the project is proceeding at the moment.
Thanks,
newfiend

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 3:08 pm
by DavidinCT
newfiend wrote:
W10MC wrote:
PrplHaz4 wrote:Any plans to move development of this community extension for WMC into the open - github or the like?
It is possible, depending on the level of interest and growth in the project.
How's this project progressing? Any news on if/when we might see UI+ released?
Just curious on how the project is proceeding at the moment.
Thanks,
newfiend
Agreed, maybe a complete new look for WMC might spark a little interest here.

Looking forward to this.

To be honest with you, I was looking forward to this feature more than the first release (I've been a beta tester for WMC in Vista and 7, MVP on WMC, I have seen and know about a TON of little hacks and tweaks on WMC) It's great for the newer people here but, I am really looking forward to UI changes.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:43 pm
by IT Troll
It would be great to see some more preview screenshots or maybe even a video.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 5:16 pm
by jachin99
I'm curious also.

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2018 1:45 am
by W10MC
newfiend wrote:How's this project progressing? Any news on if/when we might see UI+ released?
Just curious on how the project is proceeding at the moment.
DavidinCT wrote:Agreed, maybe a complete new look for WMC might spark a little interest here.

Looking forward to this.
jachin99 wrote:I'm curious also.
The project is still on track. Look for something in the next few weeks.

Thanks for your patience!

Re: A New Project for Modern WMC Development

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 3:55 am
by W10MC