Page 1 of 2

WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:32 pm
by jachin99
In order to simplify setting things up, I am wondering if anyone has setup epg 123 as a client/server model using WHS 2011 as the Server. I want to do this because I am getting more PCs throughout the house, and I'm trying to simplify keeping up with all of them. Thanks.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 5:14 pm
by garyan2
jachin99 wrote:In order to simplify setting things up, I am wondering if anyone has setup epg 123 as a client/server model using WHS 2011 as the Server. I want to do this because I am getting more PCs throughout the house, and I'm trying to simplify keeping up with all of them. Thanks.
That's how I do it. Just need to have the epg123 folder accessible on the network fo you clients to grab the mxf file.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 5:22 pm
by glorp
I've done it with Windows Server Essentials 2012 too, OP. Works fine. The only real thing I don't like (Gary) is the need to expose the whole directory on the server, including epg123.exe, to all users in order to get access to the .mxf from all clients. That could be solved by having an option to locate building the .mxf in a directory other than the program's directory. But I've mentioned that before and it works as-is as you said.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 1:19 am
by garyan2
glorp wrote:I've done it with Windows Server Essentials 2012 too, OP. Works fine. The only real thing I don't like (Gary) is the need to expose the whole directory on the server, including epg123.exe, to all users in order to get access to the .mxf from all clients. That could be solved by having an option to locate building the .mxf in a directory other than the program's directory. But I've mentioned that before and it works as-is as you said.
You could always edit the task to move the mxf file to your desired location.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 4:32 pm
by jachin99
Thanks for the input, i'll give this a go at some point.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 4:56 pm
by DavidinCT
glorp wrote:I've done it with Windows Server Essentials 2012 too, OP. Works fine. The only real thing I don't like (Gary) is the need to expose the whole directory on the server, including epg123.exe, to all users in order to get access to the .mxf from all clients. That could be solved by having an option to locate building the .mxf in a directory other than the program's directory. But I've mentioned that before and it works as-is as you said.
I'm doing this now but, make an account on the server with a user name and a password, then on the media center machine, make a account on their with the same user name and password. Set the permissions for the share as this new user name. Now the local machine will be able to access this share. You should be able to go on your WMC machine \\machine name\share and it should be able to access it if you did it correctly.

My home computers are on a domain (test location) My Media Center machine IS NOT on the domain, I use this to access domain resources and don't have a problem with it.

This is how I make shares with out opening permissions to everyone.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 11:06 pm
by IT Troll
If you don’t have a domain joined clients, then HomeGroup can muddy the water somewhat. Machines will connect to each other using the HomeGroup in preference to any local user account. In which case you can leave/disable HomeGroup and just use traditional sharing instead.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:30 pm
by rknox
I know whs v.1 is a little long in the tooth, but since I have multiple WMC machines, I thought I would try to install epg123 server on whs. I was prompted to install .NET framework 4.0 and installation otherwise went fine. However, when trying to login I get the "did not receive a response from Schedules Direct for a token request" message. The log file shows several "SD API WebException Thrown. Message: The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a send. , Status: SendFailure" as well as "failed to complete request. Exiting".

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:57 pm
by garyan2
rknox wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:30 pm I know whs v.1 is a little long in the tooth, but since I have multiple WMC machines, I thought I would try to install epg123 server on whs. I was prompted to install .NET framework 4.0 and installation otherwise went fine. However, when trying to login I get the "did not receive a response from Schedules Direct for a token request" message. The log file shows several "SD API WebException Thrown. Message: The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a send. , Status: SendFailure" as well as "failed to complete request. Exiting".
Yah, my intent originally was to have EPG123 work on XP, and by proxy WHS v1, but you get the above message. I can't remember at the moment if the problem is the Microsoft WebClient or the Newtonsoft JSON dll I am using that fail. I didn't have a lot of call to make it work, so I've left it alone. I can try and take a look at it again.

If you update the WHS 2011, I can tell you it works.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:24 pm
by rknox
Microsoft's announcement will likely have all kinds of stuff popping up! I won't go to 2011 - just another unsupported environment! Of course, I guess that's what this "club" is all about. It's not a show stopper, just the one server I currently have running. If you do have time, let me know if you need me to try anything.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 1:36 am
by adam1991
sigh. I was there when this all started for ReplayTV...

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:38 am
by garyan2
rknox wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:24 pm Microsoft's announcement will likely have all kinds of stuff popping up! I won't go to 2011 - just another unsupported environment! Of course, I guess that's what this "club" is all about. It's not a show stopper, just the one server I currently have running. If you do have time, let me know if you need me to try anything.
It doesn't look good. It looks like the problem is the SSL/TLS connection needed to talk with Schedules Direct... I can't find a way to add the proper support for XP just yet.

Need to get educated some more on this.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 2:56 am
by Space
If you need TLS 1.2 on WinXP SP3 (XP already supports SSL 2.0 & 3.0), you can apparently add KB4019276 and then make a registry change to get it working.

You can get the info here (you need to give an email address to have them send it, I tried it and it works).

I've not tried it, so proceed at your own risk.

P.S. The registry change apparently changes you system to a POS device (Point Of Sale) so you should turn off auto updates as it may install unwanted stuff.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 4:22 am
by garyan2
Yah, I was trying TLS 1.2 but it kept giving me an "unsupported" error. I'll take a look at your links and see what I can do.

Thanks!

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 5:48 am
by garyan2
Definitely some progress. Since I really don't like handing out my email, I found this site to provide that one last registry entry needed to make it work.

It does work, but it is reaaaaaaallllllly slow in negotiating the link.

EDIT: I take that back, I rebooted a couple more times and it runs perfectly. There is no method to remove the POS registry key, evidently, so I might play with that a little bit.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:15 am
by garyan2
Here you go... support for WinXP and WHS v1. Just download the zip file and follow the instructions inside.

@Space: You definitely earned your money today! Spot on fix and I found that as long as you don't reboot, you are able to delete the registry key that "makes" it a POS OS. We only need it long enough to get the KB installed.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 11:41 am
by Space
No problem, this forum only works if people help each other...

I don't like giving out my email either which is why I used a temporary email address.

Here is a thread that includes the information I received in the email from SocketTools, it may provide additional information that may be helpful to avoid any future issues (e.g. it mentions that you can't delete the registry key).

It's good that you found out you can delete the registry key if you don't reboot, and I know you mention not rebooting, but you may want to make it clear that if for some reason it does get rebooted with that key in there, there may be no way to revert back to being a normal system and they will be required to open a retail store. SO DON"T REBOOT THE SYSTEM WITH THAT KEY IN THE REGISTRY! :D

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 4:00 pm
by garyan2
Space wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2019 11:41 amIt's good that you found out you can delete the registry key if you don't reboot, and I know you mention not rebooting, but you may want to make it clear that if for some reason it does get rebooted with that key in there, there may be no way to revert back to being a normal system and they will be required to open a retail store. SO DON"T REBOOT THE SYSTEM WITH THAT KEY IN THE REGISTRY! :D
I think this part is actually moot. I don't believe the OS operates any differently with the key in place. It just allowed the user to continue to download XP Updates (along with some POS updates). That service ended April 2019, so the registry key gets you nothing now. Since there is no risk in downloading POS updates I think there is no risk of any downside.

But point taken. I'll probably update the README again.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 10:15 pm
by rknox
Great news. Thanks Gary and Space! I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes.

Re: WHS 2011 as EPG 123 Server?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 10:58 pm
by rknox
I tried installing. First merge was successful but running the KB resulted in a setup error: The updatebr.inf file is invalid. According to documentation KB4019276 works on XP or Windows Server 2008, but not 2003.