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Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 1:05 am
by davomate
Due to Microsoft stopping support releases for Windows 7, I recently updated my Windows 7 to Windows 10 and installed Media Center 8.8.4. All good except I cannot add my two xbox 360 extenders.

When I try to add them it says configuration error. I have added the media center extender to the allowed list of apps in the Windows 10 firewall, to no avail.

Anybody else got this to work?

Thanks

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:07 am
by dab2kab
As far as I know, those media center packages for windows 10 don't enable extenders. There's remote desktop protocols or something like that that extenders rely on that aren't included in the packages. So extenders simply won't work by default. There is supposedly a way to make them work but 1) it's absurdly complicated 2) as far as I know the method only works on old versions of windows 10, like version 1511. You can search the windows 10 media center thread on the mydigital life forums for those instructions. But like I said, it's really complicated and requires an old version of Windows 10. Im fairly computer savvy and I tried it once and just gave up without getting it to work and went to windows 8.1 instead. Extenders can be a big enough pain to connect without throwing an unsupported os in the mix.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:47 am
by technodevotee
I followed the progress of WMC on MDL very closely and was under the impression that the patches required to use XBOX 360s on Windows 10 had been included in version 8x and that was why it stopped working full screen in an RDP session.

I created V13 using files from V12 precisely because I wanted it to run full screen in an RDP session on newer builds of Windows 10 and, because I don't watch TV in an RDP session or use extenders, I'm not bothered that those functions don't work.

One thing that I don't think changed was that you had to run WMC (ehshell.exe) as administrator to configure them.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:24 pm
by tonywagner
davomate wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2020 1:05 am Due to Microsoft stopping support releases for Windows 7, I recently updated my Windows 7 to Windows 10 and installed Media Center 8.8.4.
I've never understood this -- Win7 support releases are ending, so you're upgrading to Win10, but still trying to use WMC which is specifically *not* supported by Win10?

Kudos to those who get WMC working in Win10, but as you can see, you're going to have a lot more support headaches running WMC on Win10 than just continuing to run an unsupported Win7.

Go get Windows 8 if you must, 3 more years of Microsoft support. But you're probably safe just sticking with Win7 for now too. I suspect if any big vulnerability blows up, they'll probably issue a special patch for Win7, like they did with XP a few times. But if you are still paranoid about security, you can quit using your Win7 PC for anything but WMC, and isolate it on your network with your router too.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:27 pm
by tonywagner
FWIW, here's a thread for getting extenders working with Win10 from 2 years ago:

viewtopic.php?p=123021#p123021

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:00 am
by technodevotee
Yeah. Although the RDP patch is built in, there are a few more steps required:

You have to switch out MCX2PROV.exe with MCX2PROV.exe.XB360, enable multiple RDP sessions and a couple more steps. However, reading through the thread on MDL again, I'm unclear as to which builds some of these refer to. For example - is it necessary to use RDP Wrapper or did the RDP patch supersede that?

Good luck...….

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:58 pm
by prsa01
FYI - Kodi has add-ons that allow anything that can run kodi to do, at least most, of what an extender can do. You run server wmc on your wmc box and select the corresponding pvr/dvr within kodi on the "extender".

Caveats - I've never used an extender with wmc so while this setup does what I need it to do (schedule and watch recordings, watch live TV) via the remote system, I'm not sure it will do what you are looking for. I also have NOT used this with win10 so no firsthand knowledge that serverwmc works with it.

Most of my use has been on a windows kodi setup but it was usable for the short time I used it on a 2nd Gen firetv box as well. Everything I did was via wired ethernet.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 3:39 am
by jachin99
When they connect easily extenders are mostly an exact clone of the PC they connect to. Clo ing Kodi setups is much more difficult, especially when you have numerous add-ons, even when acting as a client to something like emby.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 11:10 pm
by davomate
tonywagner wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:24 pm Go get Windows 8 if you must, 3 more years of Microsoft support
I did buy Windows 8 a few years ago, but did not install it once I realised I could no longer buy the WMC key for it. Is there a WMC install available for Windows 8?

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 4:06 am
by tonywagner
davomate wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2020 11:10 pm I did buy Windows 8 a few years ago, but did not install it once I realised I could no longer buy the WMC key for it. Is there a WMC install available for Windows 8?
Not anymore, that I am aware of. You'd have to already own a WMC key for Windows 8, I think. Maybe you could buy one on the resale market? The folks here would know better:

viewforum.php?f=49

Or just stick with 7 like me. :) Seriously, WMC is an unsupported product, no sense going out of our way just to run it on a supported OS.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:33 am
by technodevotee
davomate wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2020 11:10 pm I did buy Windows 8 a few years ago, but did not install it once I realised I could no longer buy the WMC key for it. Is there a WMC install available for Windows 8?
The thing is that the changes to RDP that broke extenders happened in Windows 8 and carried over to Windows 10 so, while you can install the current versions of WMC on Windows 8, extenders wouldn't work out of the box and you would have the same problems as in Windows 10.

It seems to me that in certain use cases, as Tony says, it is better to just stick with Windows 7. As long as you take the necessary actions to stay safe with it you should be OK. And if you need a PC for general use, get yourself a laptop or notebook.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 12:35 am
by davomate
technodevotee wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:33 am It seems to me that in certain use cases, as Tony says, it is better to just stick with Windows 7. As long as you take the necessary actions to stay safe with it you should be OK. And if you need a PC for general use, get yourself a laptop or notebook.
It is a dedicated Media Center PC (in a HTPC case in the entertainment unit). Internet/gaming PC is seperate Windows 10 machine.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 7:18 pm
by technodevotee
technodevotee wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:33 am The thing is that the changes to RDP that broke extenders happened in Windows 8 and carried over to Windows 10 so, while you can install the current versions of WMC on Windows 8, extenders wouldn't work out of the box and you would have the same problems as in Windows 10.
So, I was re-reading the thread on MDL and it seems that what I said isn't strictly correct.

Apparently XBOX 360s worked in 8.1 but MS disabled third party extenders such as the Ceton Echo (they confirm this on their website) and they don't work at all on anything except Windows 7.

Some people on MDL got their XBOX 360s to work with WMC on early builds of Windows 10 with a lot of work but they stopped working when a certain update was applied.

It is now unclear to me whether this has any connection to the changes made to RDP or whether it is a completely separate issue.

The problem is that I don't have an XBOX, a Ceton Echo or any other type of extender so I am unable to test any of this stuff.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 6:14 pm
by technodevotee

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 7:25 pm
by DaveEnVelo
I am having the same issues with a Linksys DMA 2200 after a clean install of W10 and 8.8.4. I can get WMC to see the extender but it fails at the configuration step.

Re: Extenders on Windows 10 Media Center

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:47 am
by technodevotee
Microsoft removed support for Third Party Extenders leaving only Xbox support in WMC on Windows 8. The only exception being the Ceton Echo but even that didn't work in the same way. Reportedly, it was changes made to RDP.

The version of WMC we are using is from Windows 8.1 and it was the same situation when Windows 10 came out. However, on versions since 1511, extenders do not work at all. I think it is something to do with the removal of Windows Media DRM (which also broke Cable Cards) but can't be sure. It is an understatement to say that getting that working is a tricky proposition technically and then there is the question of whether it would even be legally permissible.

When (if) we find out how to get Xbox working, there is a very slim chance that Third Party Extenders can be got working as well.