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WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:21 am
by technodevotee
I have created a hybrid installer named WMC-V13 by using the files from V12 and a modified installer from V8.

I have made two versions available, 32 bit and 64 bit, which should install on any version of Windows 10 including version 1903.

As many of the changes that have been made since V12 was created as possible have been incorporated.

I have also incorporated some of my own tweaks, including my recently published add-ons. However, in order to keep the installer as familiar as possible, some of these are provided as scripts that can be used if problems are encountered, rather than being built into the installer.


Known issues:
No support for cablecards in later versions of Windows 10 (not really surprising as this is a Windows issue not a WMC issue).
As far as I know, extenders do not work (I haven't tested this as I don't have any).
The System Tray Icon (ehtray.exe) doesn't work at all in the 32 bit version (needs further investigation).
In any version of Windows 10 since 1709, some DLLs in system32 need to be replaced to get WMC working properly (I have incorporated two self explanatory scripts to accomplish this).
WMC crashes when downloading details and/or artwork for certain music (also known to happen on other versions of WMC which points to an incompatibility with new Windows files or features).

Notes:
I have done lots and lots of testing with DVB-T and DVB-S cards but haven't tried either of them on anything prior to version 1709 or on Windows 8.1.
I have found that, when installing on a virgin installation of Windows, it is a good idea to let Windows completely finish configuring everything and has been rebooted several times before attempting to install WMC.
A reboot is sometimes required after installing the DLL patches.
I discovered that many of the entries in the V8 installer files are hard coded for a Windows installation on drive C:. The implications of this are obvious I'm sure but there are far too many of them to change so I had no choice but to leave them alone.

Usual warnings apply:
1. There are numerous possible combinations of Windows and WMC versions so these installers may or may not work for you.
2. There are almost limitless combinations of hardware and software, so they may or may not work for you. They may also mess up something else.
3. It is assumed that you made a backup of the system before using either of these installers.
4. Don't blame me if you mess up your Windows installation and you hadn't made a backup!

32 bit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/go55yh47lja3t ... 86.7z?dl=1

64 bit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4v756j6i3gsn ... 64.7z?dl=1

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:16 am
by technodevotee
I probably should have been clearer about known issues and the add-ons to fix them that I included in WMC-V13.

There are a number of reasons I didn't build my add-ons into the installer:

Firstly, some of the issues only occur in later versions of Windows 10 so work arounds such as my add-ons to fix them are only needed in later versions of Windows 10.

Secondly, some of the issues may also recur when Microsoft change Windows at a later date so the fixes may be needed again.

Thirdly, I have no way of knowing what Hardware or Software you have on your PC or what else you use it for. I therefore can't know what collateral damage would occur by running the add-ons on your particular setup so I adopted an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' approach.

Fourthly, many of the more technically minded users have an in depth knowledge of how the installer works so rather than creating problems by making a lot of changes to it at once, I made a few changes in the installer and put the other stuff outside.

Fifthly, those same, more technically minded users may prefer to use their own known techniques to overcome some of the challenges we have faced in recent years.

Here are some of the known issues in WMC-V13 and how to fix them:

It suffers the same problem seen on other versions where there are no thumbnails. This is because MS switched the functionality of EncDec.dll to MsVidCtl.dll. In later versions, they removed the DLL and the registry entries that link to it entirely. You can run fix_thumbnails.cmd to fix that.

It suffers the same problem seen on other versions where there's no sound or picture when trying to watch or play TV. This is because MS changed the functionality of MsVidCtl.dll. You can run replace_dlls.cmd to fix that.

It suffers the same problem seen on other versions where there is an error about all tuners being in use when trying to record or crashes when trying to play recorded TV. This is because MS changed the functionality of CpFilters.dll. You can run replace_dlls.cmd to fix that.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 12:01 am
by technodevotee
Tray Icon (ehtray.exe) is now working on 32bit version.

Added script to clear security token cache (reset_security_tokens) into installers.
May be useful when initial setup data and/or playready won't download.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:46 pm
by BMV
Hey technodevotee today i have installed the WMV13 32-bit version and it work well on my 32-bit computer.
The 64-bit version with your dll patch of WMC-8.8.3 and this also works perfectly.
There is only a minor flaw when installing the 32-bit version. When I click on a speaker on the Speaker setup page and then click on next, the page for selecting the count of speakers and the page for testing the speakers wil not apear, but the page with the explanation of what to do if the speakers don't work properly apears.
The speakers works well, you just cannot test them in the setup.
Thanks for this great job.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 10:08 pm
by technodevotee
You are welcome, I enjoyed the challenge.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't noticed the issue with speakers but I'll have a look at it when I get a chance.

Did you download the latest version with the fixed EHTRAY?

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 6:13 am
by BMV
I have downloaded the versions in post #1.
If there are newer ones I would like to hear that.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:02 am
by technodevotee
if you downloaded it in the last few days, you automatically got the latest version. There were a few tweaks, fixes and additions.

I ran it up this morning and don't get 'select the number of speakers' or speaker test options. Like you say, it goes straight to what to do if there's no sound.

I'm going to put up 1709 with V12 on another PC and compare them.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:32 pm
by technodevotee
Installed v12 on windoes 10 v1709 and it is exactly the same. Looks like something is missing somewhere. That will be interesting.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 6:38 pm
by BMV
That is strange I used WMC v12 on 1709 and then everything worked perfectly. To set up the tuner, the option for a SetupBox was also added first. And with the speakers came the options for selecting the type of speakers and testing them. These options are also shown with WMC v8.8.3 (64-bit).

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 7:46 pm
by technodevotee
Yes, it works as expected in 64 bit but not in 32 bit.

I was using 64 bit V12 on 1803 until the beginning of May.

There's only a few files different between 64bit versions of 12 and 8.x and the registry settings are also almost the same.

But there are quite a lot of differences between 32 bit and 64 bit versions so I am comparing what gets installed in each version as I write.

It may be that a file was never patched or the registry settings were never completed.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:19 pm
by BMV
I have just installed WMC-V13 64-bit on my 64-bit computer and it is working well.

It is installed on Windows 10 1903 and before the installation of WMC-V13 64-bit i have uninstalled WMV-V8.8.3 64-bit.

So WMC-V13 64-bit is not installed on a clean Windows 10 1903!

But the pages for select your speaker system and testing the sound appears correctly.

I hope this information helps you a bit.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 9:49 pm
by technodevotee
Thanks, you confirmed my findings with 64bit V13. The 64bit V13 was actually fairly straightforward to create and I haven't had any complaints about it so far.

But the 32bit was much more complicated because I couldn't find a 32bit 8x to work from and had to get a lot more creative.

Anyway, I've compared the files and registry settings that get installed between 32bit V12 and 32bit V13 again and everything seems to be there.

Next, I compared the files and registry settings between 32bit V13 and 64bit V13 and nothing is leaping out at me yet.

If all the files and registry entries are present then I think there might be another of the 32bit files I used that was never patched or not patched properly. Unfortunately, the information about how the files were patched was almost exclusively to do with 64bit and most of it has disappeared anyway. I've been hoping that someone out there has a later version but nothing has come up so far.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 11:09 pm
by NFavero
Does this version of WMC happen to work on Windows 8.1 Pro? Or do you know one that does, without being able to find the appropriate one anymore for download. I was thinking if it did, it wouldn't be affected by updates, like Windows 10 is …

Thanks

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2019 5:43 am
by technodevotee
NFavero wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 11:09 pm Does this version of WMC happen to work on Windows 8.1 Pro? Or do you know one that does, without being able to find the appropriate one anymore for download. I was thinking if it did, it wouldn't be affected by updates, like Windows 10 is …

Thanks
The V8 and V12 installer used to work on Windows 8.1 (t is based on Window 8.1 Media Center after all) and I didn't remove the functionality when I created V13 but I've never tried installing it on 8.1 myself.

Edit:
Until today....
Just installed 64it V13 on a Windows 8.1 installation that had never been used with Media Center and as far as I can see, it works perfectly.

I had to install LAV filters (I chose to install the Shark 007 Standard codec Pack). There is no need to use any of the supplied workarounds because thy are only relevant to certain versions of Windows 10.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2019 7:08 pm
by BMV
Thanks a lot for your time and the work you have done. Hopely someone have newer patched files for the 32-bit version.

I also have take a look, and found some differences between the 64-bit Install.reg and 32-bit Install.reg.

The keys with: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Fusion\References\...] doesn't exist in the 32-bit Install.reg file.

I don't know if they are needed in: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Fusion\References\...]

But this has nothing to do with the problem of the speakers.


I have make a complete new installation of the Windows 7 Games for Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. (For all 35 languages)

And when Windows Media Center is installed this installer can also installed the games for it in the Windows Media Center - Extra library.

All games and Windows Media Center games installation can be selected.

Since the Game Explorer has been removed from Windows 10 1803, I have adjusted for the GameExplorer.lnk to open the folder with the game links.

For Windows 10 installations below 1803 the GameExplorer.lnk works well.

Perhaps someone with enough knowledge can rebuild a new Game Explorer from the gameux.dll in drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\localizednames\.

And when you uninstall it everything of the games and Windows Media Center will be deleted also from the registry, so no rubbish will be left.

If you want it you can get the installation including sources and script for Inno Setup v6.0.2(u).

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 7:23 am
by Arnaud-31
Hello Technodevotee

Thanks for All you have done !

It works perfectly for me on my x64 Windows 1903 computer (updated from 1803)

I use all the scripts you provided in the "known issues.txt" file

Have a good day

Arnaud

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 9:43 am
by technodevotee
BMV wrote: Sat Jun 29, 2019 7:08 pm I also have take a look, and found some differences between the 64-bit Install.reg and 32-bit Install.reg.

The keys with: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Fusion\References\...] doesn't exist in the 32-bit Install.reg file.

I don't know if they are needed in: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Fusion\References\...]

But this has nothing to do with the problem of the speakers.
Yeah, I noticed those and a few others were missing last night and have added them into the registry for next time I upload the files. Unfortunately, as you say, they don't help with the issue at hand.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 9:44 am
by technodevotee
@Arnaud-31

You are welcome.

Glad it works for you.

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:51 pm
by t22dan
Hi

firstly thanks for keeping this great product going! I have been using WMC wins the days of its first release in XP on about 5 machines around the house.

However due to the latest update I have had to download the latest version (8.8.3) V13 and install which worked great. On either watching a live program or recording the picture and sound are missing!. I have noted the fix which you mention - replace_dlls.cmd - however I can't find this in the download or instructions on the green button on how to get or run it.

Are you able to elaborate the process?

Many thanks
Daniel

Re: WMC-V13 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 10

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 2:43 pm
by technodevotee
I'm a bit confused as to which version you are actually using.

the add-on is included in V13 (my version based on V12 files) so you can run replace_dlls.cmd from the installer folder.

It can also be downloaded for use with V8.8.3 (which has been updated by Kevin Chalet) or any previous version.

it is available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ff3xso3hmr7dq ... s.zip?dl=1

just unzip it into the installer so that all the cmd files are in the same folder and all the bin files are in the folder below.