Paths for WMC 10 in the windows registry

Discussion of getting WMC to work on Windows 10 (unsupported)
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jachin99

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Paths for WMC 10 in the windows registry

#1

Post by jachin99 » Sat May 11, 2019 6:56 pm

One user on MDL said he was able to fix audio problems by placing the ehshell path under the proper registry key. Technodevotee began pointing out this fix in post 9229 on page 462 of the WMC 10 forum post.

In post 9243 on page 463, the same user also states he didn't experience any fullscreen issues on WMC 10 without using the launcher in V 8.2.3 after he...

1/ put the app path registry entries in and checked that ehshell.exe loaded the correct version of MSVidCtl.dll from ehome.

2/ set windows sound to 5.1 and checked that my video app played in surround.

3/ went into WMC and set the speakers to 5.1 and tested it. As expected, it played the same sound repeatedly but I let it finish and clicked on I heard sound from all speakers anyway.

4/ exited WMC and went back in then tested playing a wtv file in surround and it worked.

Note: It is important that you exit WMC after setting it to 5.1 because it will always fail to play until you do.

The odd thing is that on this one and my Living Room PC, I can set WMC to 5.1 with windows sound set to 5.1 but not on the other one I tried.

I wonder what the difference is?

edit: I have just realised that I don't have launcher on this one but WMC works perfectly in full screen mode!

An example Path registry file for Windows media center looks like this...

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ehsched.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\system32\\ehsched.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ehrec.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\ehome\\ehrec.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ehrecvr.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\ehome\\ehrecvr.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ehshell.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\ehome\\ehshell.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ehtray.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\ehome\\ehtray.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ehvid.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\ehome\\ehvid.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\mcupdate.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\ehome\\mcupdate.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ehmsas.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\ehome\\ehmsas.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ehprivjob.exe]
@="c:\\windows\\ehome\\ehmsas.exe"
"path"="c:\\windows\\ehome\\"

technodevotee

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#2

Post by technodevotee » Sat May 11, 2019 11:10 pm

Thanks jachin99.

For those of you who don't like trawling through strings of posts here is a precis of the whole story.

Because of the complexity of my Living Room PC Media Center setup, I was still running V12 and had suspended updates for about six months so that I could install them at a time of my choosing. My time ran out and the PC upgraded from 1803 to 1809 earlier this week. When it restarted it was obvious that WMC had been removed as usual so I attempted to install V8.8.2 but couldn’t get it to start and installed V8.8.3.

Among other things, I had problems with repeated stuttering sound, playback freezing and the infamous missing files error.
While researching this problem I discovered that Windows sound was set to 5.1 and, having changed it to stereo, I was able to set WMC to 5.1 and everything started working again.

However, I remembered that when I was running V12, I was able to use the system with it set as 5.1 in both windows and WMC. How could this be when everyone says it has to be set to stereo in Windows and 5.1 in WMC.

By comparing settings on my PCs, I discovered that I had set up app paths for all the Media Center executables to force them to use the DLLs in the ehome folder but they had somehow been removed during the upgrade. I had forgotten about that because it was back in March 2017.

Having restored my app paths, everything started working as I had it before.

In case anyone is interested in trying it out on their system, I have put the reg file(s) here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/91m7g0xvvrmgb ... s.zip?dl=0

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#3

Post by technodevotee » Sun May 12, 2019 5:37 am

For the sake of completeness, I should add a few points to my last post.

These app paths obviate the need to replace MSVidCtl.dll in the system32 folder with an older version. In fact, it is best to use the latest version so that other Windows applications function properly.

Once the app paths are set, it should be possible to set Windows to 5.1 and then set WMC to 5.1 and it should pass the audio test. If it doesn't there may be something else on the system that isn't right. One of my PCs would only output in stereo no matter what I did and I found a different registry entry that was causing the problem.

Although I have set up and tested this on three of my PCs, all with different hardware, I obviously can't guarantee that it will work for everyone.

It is assumed that you will have taken a backup of the registry before trying this.

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#4

Post by pbcopter » Mon May 13, 2019 4:08 pm

Hi @Technodevotee

I tried your App Paths with Windows 10 1903 18362.86 with the hope that I would not need to replace MSVidCtl.dll and all worked except I still needed to replace MSVidCtl.dll.
I the uninstalled WMC and reinstalled using WMC 8.8.3, then reapplied the App Paths and then running WMC it only showed a blank blue screen until I replaced
MSVidCtl.dll. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

technodevotee

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#5

Post by technodevotee » Mon May 13, 2019 9:14 pm

If you need to replace the dll in windows\system32 the app paths aren't working because WMC shouldn't load them from there.

As I said, I've got three PCs running like that and they all load most dlls from windows\ehome.

I proved it by starting WMC, opening resmon and under cpu, clicking on the check box by ehshell and any other WMC executables in processes (the top pane). It shows the dlls that are being used in associated modules (the bottom pane).

Can you confirm that msvidctl.dll exist in windows\ehome and is the old version (6.5.9600)?

OH! I've just noticed that you are running Windows 1903 but I haven't tried it with that version yet.

Was WMC fully working before as I believe there have been issues reported?
Last edited by technodevotee on Mon May 13, 2019 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#6

Post by pbcopter » Mon May 13, 2019 11:11 pm

I looked at resmon and although a module association exists from ehrcvr.exe and ehshell.exe to c:\Windows\ehome\MSVidctl.dll there is also a module association from ehshell.exe and ehrcvr.exe to c:\Windows\system32\msvidctl.dll. I don't know why but it prevents WMC from working correctly unless I replace msvidctl.dll in system32.
Any ideas?

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#7

Post by technodevotee » Tue May 14, 2019 5:12 am

maybe it is windows 1903?

what are the version numbers of msvidctl you have when it isn't working?

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#8

Post by pbcopter » Tue May 14, 2019 9:56 am

Good morning.

The version of msvidctl that comes with 1903 18362.86 in System32, is 6.5.18362.1 and does not work. I replace it with the version in ehome.

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#9

Post by technodevotee » Tue May 14, 2019 10:52 am

I have checked my working systems again and they all have 6.5.9600 in ehome and 6.5.17763 in system32.

As you say, ehshell and ehrcvr do load the dlls from both locations but it doesn't cause any problems for me.

I am currently installing 1903 on one of my spare PCs and will try my setup on that when it has finished.

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#10

Post by pbcopter » Tue May 14, 2019 11:00 am

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were using Windows 10 1809 17763. I have had no issues when using that build. I also found that I needed to replace CPFilters.dll in system32 for 1903 18362 build. This is not necessary in the later Insider build 20H1 18894, however.

It may seem strange, but my first priority, with each new build release, is to make sure WMC can be installed.LOL

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#11

Post by technodevotee » Tue May 14, 2019 12:06 pm

Not strange at all - I do exactly the same.

I've got a total of 8 PCs - 6 desktops & 2 laptops.

Two are older models that are spare/testbed machines with interchangeable HDDs and I normally like to have one at the latest version and one at the last stable version.

Three of the desktops have WMC on them and are used virtually all the time. They get upgraded once I've tested everything on one of the testbeds.

One is effectively a server which hardly gets touched and is always upgraded last.

Been a bit too busy with other stuff lately to try out insider builds though.

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#12

Post by technodevotee » Wed May 15, 2019 6:20 pm

Unfortunately, 1903 wasn't on my radar when I published this and it doesn't help much with the new issues that brings.

I've tested 1903 and am having the same issues as others are reporting.

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#13

Post by technodevotee » Mon May 20, 2019 6:19 pm

technodevotee wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 5:37 am These app paths obviate the need to replace MSVidCtl.dll in the system32 folder with an older version. In fact, it is best to use the latest version so that other Windows applications function properly.
I have a confession to make: My memory must be defective because I was positive that I was successfully running V12 on 1803 with the old version MSVidCtl in ehome and the new version in system32 using my app paths but try as I may, I can't get it to run that way now.

So, my claim is unfounded and it looks like it was actually 8.8.2 where it started working like that. Obviously, this is due to the excellent work that MDL member Kévin Chalet did with his modifications.

However, the app paths DO make a difference for certain aspects of how Media Center works, most notable the ability to change and test the sound settings in the way I described. It also allows me to WMC full screen without any problems on some of my PCs.

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#14

Post by technodevotee » Fri May 24, 2019 2:20 pm

Anyone who has been following my ongoing investigations into running WMC with App Paths may be interested to know that my claim wasn’t entirely false after all: Running V12 using app paths with old DLLs in ehome and new DLLs in system32 DID work on 1803 for some recorded TV shows. Just not all of them. For that, I needed to roll back MSVidCtl in system32.

I proved it by reverting and testing my Living Room PC to make sure I wasn’t going completely mad.

No doubt there are some of you who think I am – I mean who would want to run V12 anyway?

Well, I do, because I want to run WMC full screen in RDP for remote admin purposes. I know that you can’t play live or recorded video in a remote session and that extenders don’t work but I don’t need either of those things. I just don’t want to have to keep switching from windowed to full screen and back all the time because it is a PITA.

I have built a V12/8.8 hybrid installer so that I can install it on 1809 and 1903 as well.

I named it Version 13 because it has been a bit of a nightmare. Unfortunately, it currently needs all the workarounds that V12 needed - I still need to install EncDec and switch out MSVidCtl in system32 but it does everything I want and it installs and runs fine on every PC with every version of Windows build I have.

There are several interesting things that came out of all of this.

The properties on the shortcut ARE available again so I can set the required options to make it run full screen on all my PC without any other modification. No need for launcher or other hacks.

I can also set both the PC and WMC to 5.1 surround and run the speaker test. This is important to me because other software I use needs windows sound to be set to 5.1 to work properly.

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#15

Post by technodevotee » Thu May 30, 2019 10:54 pm

I've just done an upgrade from 1809 to 1903 RTM on one of my testbed PCs that was running my custom version of WMC v12.

Windows left windows\ehome and programdata\Microsoft\ehome alone but removed most of the WMC registry entries.

I restored the registry backup made beforehand with backuprestoresettings and WMC sprung into life but wouldn't play anything.

I had to put the three DLLs in system32 and import the registry settings for the XDS Codec (encdec) and it is all working again.

Nah. Couldn't have been that simple could it?

No services, no assemblies or other stuff so I had to run the install.bat to put everything back. Might just as well have removed and reinstalled as before.

Anyway, it is working now.

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