Setting up WMC on Win10

Discussion of getting WMC to work on Windows 10 (unsupported)
symelt

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Setting up WMC on Win10

#1

Post by symelt » Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:14 am

So I built a new PC with Windows 10 and I am trying to get Windows Media Center on this system.
All I use WMC for is recording TV specifically saying I want to record this series and having it automatically record all the new episodes of that show.
I have a Hauppage 950Q USB TV tuner.

I tried installing the WindowsMediaCenter_10.0.10134.0v2.1.rar method that came out last year, but its a little crashy and the guide wont load (US OTA signal is all I use, no cable card or anything).
I know there are new versions and such of this that were built up to fix this issue, but I haven't been able to find them.

Any help would be appreciated.

Finally if there is an easier way to solve this problem than fighting the windows 10 WMC fight please let me know

Thanks

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DavidinCT

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#2

Post by DavidinCT » Sun Mar 13, 2016 2:44 pm

Your on a VERY old version (v2), it was so buggy it was hardly useful and guide data didn't work very well on that one... MAKE SURE YOU USE THE UNNSTALLER that came with it before installing a new version.

Start with the newest build, there was a lot of things fixed. Guide data, DRM channels, etc work. Extenders (360)CAN work with some hacks in the threads..

v12 is here...
https://mega.nz/#!7kdR1ICb!1TCdTd_UpqtY ... 8PVD21mrAU

this is the x64 version. Newer builds always show up here..(you have to sign up to the site to view all content)

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... ost1200602
-Dave
Twitter @TheCoolDave

Windows Media Center certified and WMC MVP 2010 - 2012

Tolbert1906

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#3

Post by Tolbert1906 » Sun Mar 13, 2016 4:25 pm

I've tried v2.0, v2.1, and now v12. None of them has worked for me. I've run everything correctly as administrator and get no errors when installing. But when I try to open Windows Media Center, nothing happens. I just click on it and nothing opens. I think I've seen where others have run into this problem, but I haven't seen a solution. Any ideas on what might be wrong?

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DavidinCT

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#4

Post by DavidinCT » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:06 pm

Tolbert1906 wrote:I've tried v2.0, v2.1, and now v12. None of them has worked for me. I've run everything correctly as administrator and get no errors when installing. But when I try to open Windows Media Center, nothing happens. I just click on it and nothing opens. I think I've seen where others have run into this problem, but I haven't seen a solution. Any ideas on what might be wrong?
Make sure your following the directions...Run the test before installing any build to make sure that 2nd prompt comes up before installing.

I had that problem too with v12. It's the version you WANT to be on if possible. The suggested thing from a lot of people. Download V8 (it's in the thread on there), Install it, Run it, and uninstall it. Then Install v12.

If you still cant run v12, then try v11, it works and but, as there was a lot of fixes in 12, it's the preferred one to be on.

Hope that helps
-Dave
Twitter @TheCoolDave

Windows Media Center certified and WMC MVP 2010 - 2012

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Crash2009

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#5

Post by Crash2009 » Sun Mar 13, 2016 10:39 pm

If you are going to run v11 , one thing that will pop up is future scheduled recordings will not start.

The workaround is open an elevated cmd prompt and type the following command

net localgroup "administrators" "Network Service" /add

If you are going to run v12 , here is the link to the first day v12 was available. I was the first one to install v12, it was a rough install, but it went. My notes are in the first few pages of the link.

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... ost1200602
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Tolbert1906

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#6

Post by Tolbert1906 » Sun Mar 13, 2016 10:53 pm

DavidinCT wrote: Make sure your following the directions...Run the test before installing any build to make sure that 2nd prompt comes up before installing.

I had that problem too with v12. It's the version you WANT to be on if possible. The suggested thing from a lot of people. Download V8 (it's in the thread on there), Install it, Run it, and uninstall it. Then Install v12.

If you still cant run v12, then try v11, it works and but, as there was a lot of fixes in 12, it's the preferred one to be on.

Hope that helps
Thanks, I got v8 working on my machine. I tried uninstalling it and reinstalling v12, but now it doesn't even install. I get a "DISM" error. So then I tried fixing that using the instructions here:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 816?auth=1

but the "Restorehealth" option didn't work for me. I don't know what's going on. It's getting to be entirely too complicated/frustrating. I think I'll just have to stick with v8. Thanks for your help.

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#7

Post by Tolbert1906 » Mon Mar 14, 2016 4:45 am

Ok, I got v12 to run on my PC finally! First, I installed v8. Then I ran system file check (sfc /scannow) at the command prompt as administrator. Somehow, I think I ended up with corrupted system files after the first time I tried to install v12. The system file check repaired them. After running sfc, I uninstalled v8. Then I installed v12 and it worked.

Now I just need to figure out how to get the Guide to download.

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Crash2009

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#8

Post by Crash2009 » Mon Mar 14, 2016 9:24 am

Tolbert1906 wrote:Ok, I got v12 to run on my PC finally! First, I installed v8. Then I ran system file check (sfc /scannow) at the command prompt as administrator. Somehow, I think I ended up with corrupted system files after the first time I tried to install v12. The system file check repaired them. After running sfc, I uninstalled v8. Then I installed v12 and it worked.

Now I just need to figure out how to get the Guide to download.
Everybody's guide is broken right now.

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... =6#p103297

About all you can do to prepare for when the guide is working again is to follow the directions in the Workaround.txt file in your WMC install folder, have a look at the Readme.txt while you are in there.

Code: Select all

Common issues workarounds:

===============================================================================
If WMC does not find any tuners (HDHomerun):

restart the system
then put the system in sleep state
and then wake it back up

===============================================================================
Manually backup WMC settings for reinstall later:

#1 stop the WMC services (ehRecvr, ehSched, Mcx2Svc)

#2 copy the following folder in a safe place (ProgramData is a hidden folder):
"C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome"

#3 open regedit.exe and export the following registry key to .reg file:
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center"

# when installing WMC later and before starting it, check that the services are stopped
then import the .reg file, and copy the eHome folder back in place.

===============================================================================
Simple guide for live TV setup by "GunnerHook":

1.  Do clean install of Win10 build 10240.

2.  Install HDHomerun tuner drivers.

3.  Download and install WMC pack.

4.  Open command prompt as administrator, and execute:
attrib -r C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts
notepad C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts

Add these 2 entries at the bottom if they don't exist:
2.16.216.176    cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com
65.55.186.113    data.tvdownload.microsoft.com

save the file, and reboot
 
5.  Right click and Launch WMC as admin for the very first setup of WMC
Go through the live setup on WMC, put in correct zipcode, finish all the basic steps of live tv setup in WMC.

6.  Install DVD player app (through WU or manually as descibed above)

7.  Add NETWORK service to the administrators group in order for scheduled recordings to start correctly.

8.  If you are using HDHomerun and you get no tv signal available for this channel, reinstall the HDhomerun drivers again AFTER the TV setup was completed in WMC.

===============================================================================
If the initial tv setup wizard stuck, reboot the system
then launch this file as administrator while WMC is running
C:\Windows\ehome\mcupdate.exe

===============================================================================
If you have "Decoder Error", you may install Shark007 codec pack:
http://shark007.net/

check this file for recommended settings:
http://mediacenterworld.nl/download/Shark007_setting_win10_MCE.pdf

===============================================================================
If the search through guide in WMC fails with an error that indexing was still occuring,
Open an elevated command prompt, and execute:

reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Service\EPG" /v SearchRegistered /f
net stop WSearch
cd %windir%\ehome
ehprivjob /DoRegisterSearch

===============================================================================
If you are having activation issues of the CableCard Product key:

when your activation fails, click back in the wizard
then open command prompt as administrator, and execute:
slmgr -ipk MVV4F-R2T29-WBHYJ-BBFQY-J64XX
slmgr -ato

then continue the wizard

===============================================================================
If you have Guide data download problems (specially US residents):

1.Open notepad (right click> run as administrator)

2.Open host file ( File>open> c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts)

3.Add this to the end of the file-
2.16.216.176 cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com

and place one of the below ip addresses depending on your location in the US
west coast or east coast
65.55.186.113 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com
central or southern us
65.55.5.170 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com

ex. If you lived on the east coast you would add this to the bottom of the file:
65.55.186.113 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com
2.16.216.176 cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com 

4.Save the file (file>save)

5.Open CMD command prompt (file>search for cmd>right click>run as administrator)

6.Type: ipconfig /flushdns
If you type it correctly it should say: "successfully flushed the dns resolver cache."

7.Close Windows Media Center if it is open

8.Start>type "c:\ProgramData\Microsoft\ehome" 

9.Delete file "mcepg2-0" and folder "mcepg2-0" this will force you to set up live tv from scratch in WMC (or delete anything named m***.db and the corresponding folder)

10.Open windows media center and go through the Live TV setup and you should now be able to download guide data

===============================================================================
old-not-needed workaround, left for reference:

to make WMC wake up for recordings, you may need to make "NETWORK SERVICE" a member of the administrator group

Run lusrmgr.msc, or right-click on Start button and select: Computer Management > Local users & Groups
then:
Groups > Administrators > Add > "network service" > Check names > OK

or directly open command prompt as administrator:
for /f "usebackq delims=" %x in (`powershell "(New-Object System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier('S-1-5-32-544')).Translate([System.Security.Principal.NTAccount]).Value.Split([IO.Path]::DirectorySeparatorChar)[1]"`) do set "admins=%x"
for /f "usebackq delims=" %x in (`powershell "(New-Object System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier('S-1-5-20')).Translate([System.Security.Principal.NTAccount]).Value"`) do set "netsvc=%x"
net localgroup %admins% "%netsvc%" /add

Windows 10 Home edition don't have Group Policy, thus you need to try the command prompt directly


Tolbert1906

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#9

Post by Tolbert1906 » Sun Mar 20, 2016 8:01 pm

Thanks, I completely missed the sfc /scannow in the Readme.txt file. That would have saved me some trouble. So far I haven't had any success downloading guide listings. I've tried different zip codes. I'll keep at it.

Edit: Found a zip code that works. I have guide data.

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Crash2009

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#10

Post by Crash2009 » Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:32 pm

Tolbert1906 wrote:Thanks, I completely missed the sfc /scannow in the Readme.txt file. That would have saved me some trouble. So far I haven't had any success downloading guide listings. I've tried different zip codes. I'll keep at it.

Edit: Found a zip code that works. I have guide data.
If you feel like getting a little more "precise", or you are missing a channel (s), you can also try different lineups within your own zip. To confirm the lineup prior to actually selecting it in WMC, view the HTTP lineup at http://roviguide.com/

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#11

Post by csvencer » Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:55 am

Tolbert-

Just to recap, you did this install from a fresh Win 10 setup with no WMC from previous installs, correct? Reason I ask is I'm running Win 8 with the bootleg'd version of WMC from 10 and it "works" 95% but FF and RW don't work. I am thinking about jumping to Win 10 if I can do it from scratch.

-Svence

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#12

Post by Covale » Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:47 pm

I have tried several times to get both v11 and v12 working. I had v11 working but could not get the guide and didn;t know about the "workaround" at that time, so I uninstalled it and tried v12 at a later date. I then got v12 working but could not run the digital cable advisor and coulldn't find any tuners, so I eventually uninstalled and gave up. Well I tried again today, following the instructions to the letter and now when I try to run WMC I can see it pop up in the task manager then quickly dies.

I have done several reboots, I did the sfc /scannow, did the two dism tasks, however the second one complained about not being able to complete. can anyone help?

I am using a Ceton card in my living room on a dedicated Windows 7 PC but am trying to get WMC v12 running on my office PC running Windows 10.

Also, I would like to note that it would be a really good idea if someone with admin forum access and a dedicated member here on The Green Button would collect the instructions to get WMC working on Windows 10 and sticky them so we don't have to crawl through 336 pages of forum posts on "mydigitallife.com" just to find out that the instructions are possibly outdated.

Thanks to all of you for all your efforts. It's mind boggling that Microsoft would just abandon WMC with so many current active customers not only using, but relying on WMC to deliver all the wonderful advertising distributed to our living room televisions.

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#13

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Apr 21, 2016 1:37 am

Covale wrote:Also, I would like to note that it would be a really good idea if someone with admin forum access and a dedicated member here on The Green Button would collect the instructions to get WMC working on Windows 10 and sticky them so we don't have to crawl through 336 pages of forum posts on "mydigitallife.com" just to find out that the instructions are possibly outdated.
It's actually 436 pages now. V10 is only 30 pages, V11 is only 48 pages, V12 is only 100 pages.

There is also 2 ways to search. The upper most obvious Advanced Search sucks. A couple lines down from that there is a slightly hidden, more accurate Search Thread

I have tried to break it down a little by offering some shortcuts in my signature over at MDL.

V8 has the best uninstaller, and is suggested when things go wrong, such as in your case. There has been a time or 2 that I ended up doing a Win10 restore to get back in the game.
V10 was the first one that I tried and some of the tasks that I learned about with that one (for me anyway) carried over to V11 and V12, such as installing LAV Filters before you get the error. Then install PlayReady, and DCA with an external software directly into Win10 rather than installing the normal way within WMC.
V11 is the best in my opinion, with the exception of the Network Command that must be run to enable future recordings. I wrote a lot of stuff on 3rd party Apps in that chapter, such as: GuideTool, Seans WMC Backup, Ceton's MMC.
V12 was a tricky install. There were several reports of errors here and there. Several different methods to correct them. V12 is where we got into RDP quite a bit, both from Win7 into Win10 and vice versa. Also there are several Success Steps for Xbox in WMCv12

Download all 4 WMC Versions and print the Readme.txt and Workaround.txt from each version.

Long story short. click on V12 in my signature, I was the first tester to install V12. I explained what I thought was important while it was fresh in my mind. Shortly after that several others did the same thing.
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#14

Post by Covale » Thu Apr 21, 2016 7:38 pm

Crash2009 wrote:It's actually 436 pages now
I was actually referring to the page number that had the post, but I got your point. Also, my request for a stickied and updated guide was for TGB, not mydigitallife.com, which appears to be an all inclusive site for anything media related. It just makes sense that a guide for WMC should be on The Green Button. :thumbup:
This guide should be written by someone who is serious about maintaining it. It should be the above all go to guide for WMC on Windows 10. Nothing about Windows 8 or anything else and should be complete with links or even better, attached files that are needed to complete the install. I would be more than happy to assist with the formatting and prettying it up, if someone wants to get the ball rolling. It's kinda what I do.
Crash2009 wrote:V8 has the best uninstaller
Do you still have links for v8 and v11?

Thanks for the quick reply!

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#15

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Apr 21, 2016 9:06 pm

The link for v8 is in my signature at mdl.

I may be qualified but I am not authorized to start posting files etc. In the US.

Out of respect for the developers, I would have to ask for permission.

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#16

Post by Covale » Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:33 pm

For anyone else looking for all the files (from Crash2009's sig on MDL):
v8 v10 v11

BEWARE v8 download is riddled with installware... you first have to download an exe that launches a downloader. Then you will be prompted several times to accept or deny, always choose deny else infect your system with crap. Also, you will have to go and uninstall a copy of Chromium that gets installed. Was dumb luck I caught that one and removed it before my first reboot. Who knows what it would have done. One last thing you will get a new search engine installed to your default browser. Promptly remove. Sucks that was the only source for v8 or I would not have even bothered.

Did not have problems with any of the other links - they were all safe. Wish me luck on the WMC Windows 10 install! I will report back with my success/failure.

ceash2009's links continued next post due to forum limit to 3 URLs per post.
Last edited by Covale on Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#17

Post by Covale » Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:34 pm


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Crash2009

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#18

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:25 am

Covale wrote:v8 download is riddled with installware... you first have to download an exe that launches a downloader. Then you will be prompted several times to accept or deny, always choose deny else infect your system with crap. Also, you will have to go and uninstall a copy of Chromium that gets installed. Was dumb luck I caught that one and removed it before my first reboot. Who knows what it would have done.
Don't use the download manager and you wont get the crapware. or better yet.....Go get yourself a decent browser that knows how to deal with the crapware.

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#19

Post by Covale » Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:33 am

Ok, I finally have it working - sort of... I did as you suggested and ran the v8 uninstall, then for good measure I ran the v12 uninstall because the shortcut to WMC was still in the all programs. Rebooted and installed unstalled Playready and rebooted again. Then installed v11, per your recommendation. Ran the TV setup, found the tuners on my Windows 7 PC in the living room (this is the office PC) and I was finally able to watch TV, just not premium channels like HBO and Showtime. I was getting an error "Display Driver Error. The video playback device does not support playback of protected content.", so I researched that.

Found a post that gave the following instructions:
Crash2009 wrote:Here are the directions to reset DRM. See the bold part YOU WILL LOSE ACCESS TO ANY PREVIOUSLY RECORDED PROTECTED CONTENT. Doesn't really matter to me as all of that was lost before I got to this point.

Microsoft PlayReady can be very problematic to troubleshoot. Below is our best suggestion for fixing PlayReady, but you will lose access to any previously recorded protected content.

a. Uninstall PlayReady from the 'Programs and Features'

b. Enable the explorer to show hidden files and folders. To do this go to Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View tab > Show hidden files, folders and drivers

c. Go to %ProgramData%\Microsoft\ and delete the PlayReady folder.

d. Go to %ProgramData%\Microsoft\ and delete the DRM folder.

e. Go to %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\DRM and delete all files and folders underneath (don't delete the DRM directory itself)

f. Open the registry with elevated privileges. To do so, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and then point to “Run as administrator”. In the command prompt that opens, type regedit.exe.

g. Go to HKLM\Software\Microsoft and delete the DRM key.

h. Run the ResetDRM tool. See http://www.cetoncorp.com/support/index. ... ady-issues

i. Restart the computer.

j. Run Windows Media Center setup again

k. Run the PlayReady install from inside Media Center

If you have any questions or continue to have problems please let us know.

Thank you,
Ceton Support
Followed them to the letter, including once where you had to run ResetDRM where the link given was broken. I found it here and also required me to run internet explorer in administrator mode... not as easy as it sounds [first find iexplore.exe - not MS Edge - on your Windows 10 PC, there is no shortcut, right click and run as administrator] then go to the link Microsoft provided. You get an error at the end because the link to whatever video file they try to run is also dead, but the process completes.

Now I am back to where I started where I can watch all channels, just not any premium channels. Same error as before about video card and all that nasty business. Would really be nice to finally get this working, as all I watch are those blasted premium channels. Thanks again for all your help, Crash. I would not have gotten this far without you. You are truly as dedicated as I am. Once I get this working, you and I should consider writing a full how-to.

Curse Microsoft for discontinuing WMC! Some other company like Ceton really should have got in touch with Microsoft and picked up the WMC project. Could have probably even got it funded by a gofundme since there are still so many people using the product and can't live without it. I know I would.

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#20

Post by Covale » Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:40 am

Crash2009 wrote:Don't use the download manager and you wont get the crapware. or better yet.....Go get yourself a decent browser that knows how to deal with the crapware.
This is all the options you get:
Image

Once you click download, all you get is their downloader exe. And I am using Chrome which is just a tad lass safe than Firefox, but light-years better than any MS browser. I handled it just fine, nonetheless... wasn't blaming you for the dastardly deeds by a file hosting site.

EDIT: oops, sneaky site. You can avoid all that crapware by unchecking the sneaky box under the download button. It looks disabled and is unclickable so I just hit download. I never fall for such tricksy links. my bad.

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