EPG123 failing to find WMC after Win10 update to build 20H2

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TimPrice

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EPG123 failing to find WMC after Win10 update to build 20H2

#1

Post by TimPrice » Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:01 pm

Just wondering if anyone else is having the same issue. Since the Windows 10 update (Win10 ver. 20H2), I had the issue of WMC 8.8.4 not starting. I updated to WMC 8.8.5 and all works great, but one thing, EPG123 no longer sees MCE. In response, I cleaned off EPG123 and reinstalled it to V1.6.3.1. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling several times (both MCE 8.8.5 and EPG123 V1.6.3.1). I still have the issue that EPG123 V1.6.3.1 will not see MCE at all to implement its stuff.
So, I have a couple of questions, hoping that someone can help me:
Has anyone had this issue?
What is the qualifier that EPG123 utilizes to decide if MCE is installed or not?
Is there a workaround for this, ie. EPG123 being fooled into believing that MCE is actually there?

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garyan2

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#2

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:31 pm

EPG123 will look for the presence of c:\windows\ehome\ehshell.exe. If it doesn't see it, it will prompt with the following message.

Code: Select all

WMC is not present on this machine. Closing EPG123 Client Guide Tool.
It will then look into the dll's mcepg.dll, mcstore.dll, and BDATunePIA.dll files using reflection to determine what version WMC is on the machine. If it can't access the dll's, or the versions are not one of the expected (6.1.0.0, 6.2.0.0, or 6.3.0.0), then it will prompt with the following message.

Code: Select all

Could not verify Windows Media Center is installed on this machine. EPG123 Client cannot be started without WMC being present.
There is no way to trick this. The client needs to understand which version of WMC is installed in order to access the WMC database. Without being able to open the database the client really can't do anything. Have you run the client as administrator to see if maybe this is an access problem to the dll's? Maybe the security descriptors for the ehome folder is not correct. Did you uninstall 8.8.4 before installing 8.8.5? I'm on 20H2 now with 8.8.5 and don't have an issue.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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garyan2

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#3

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:39 pm

One other note on the above... the dll's need to be in the GAC for the client to determine the versions.

c:\windows\microsoft.net\assembly\gac_*\
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

TimPrice

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#4

Post by TimPrice » Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:13 pm

Thanks,
I get the second error splash-screen. I will start looking there.

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#5

Post by TimPrice » Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:57 pm

Sorry, forgot to answer the question: Yes, I did uninstall prior to reinstall. I did have an issue with the windows update to 20H2, in that MCE would no longer boot. I then upgraded to 8.8.5 and that then allowed me to boot into MCE. All works as expected, but the issue with reinstalling 1.6.3.1
Thanks for your time,
This program is the best, used it for years.
Tim

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#6

Post by TimPrice » Fri Apr 16, 2021 10:42 pm

I am assuming that you are refering to the GAC_32 directory. Not sure if I am running a 64 bit machine makes any difference, but none of them are found in the GAC_64. (Side Note: Was there ever a 64 bit version of MCE, just curious?) The BDATunPIA.dll is in the directory under "c:\windows\microsoft.net\assembly\gac_32\BDATunPIA\v4.0_6.3.00_31bf3856ad64e35\". The other two are in "c:\windows\ehome\". By "Refection" do you mean that they are copies, or need to be copied somewhere?
Thanks again,
Tim

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garyan2

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#7

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:41 pm

On my system, I have BDATunePIA in both GAC_32 and GAC_64; mcepg and mcstore are both in GAC_MSIL.

I'm probably not using the term correctly, but my use of "reflection" is internal to epg123 on how it can look at an object without "touching" the original object.

EDIT: Looking at my code, it is only looking for the assembly version of mcepg.dll in the GAC. So if it is not there, then epg123 will give the prompt that it couldn't determine if WMC was installed.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#8

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:59 pm

Here is the relevant actions in the 8.8.5 install batch file for mcepg.

Code: Select all

mklink /h %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\mcepg\v4.0_6.3.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35\mcepg.dll %SystemRoot%\ehome\mcepg.dll >nul 2>&1
...

set _ngen=%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\ngen.exe
...
%_ngen% install "mcepg, Version=6.3.0.0, Culture=Neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=msil" /NoDependencies /queue:1 >nul 2>&1
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

dpur123

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#9

Post by dpur123 » Wed Aug 18, 2021 7:26 pm

I am also getting the initialization Error and the Missing Windows Media Center error when attempting to run EPG123Client. I have never used Windows Media Center with Windows 10. I got to this forum after searching the 2 error messages. I have been using NextPVR and Schedules Direct. What caught my attention was auto recording this week of The Price Is Right which should not happen as these are reruns and I had configured NextPVR to only record new episodes. Also the 3 episodes recorded this week use a date & time nomenclature instead of a season/episode nomenclature. Additionally my Schedule only runs thru 7 more days (normally I have 14 days). My guess is if the errors cannot be corrected, schedule will not update beyond August 25, 2021 and my other auto records will cease to occur. My last to updates occurred on 8/15/21 and 8/10/21. I am guessing the culprit is within the 8/10/21 update as that is 8 days ago and my schedule is short 7 days. I don't believe NextPVR is part of the issue but my versionis 4.2.4. If EPG123 Client does not run, updates from Schedules Direct do not occur.

Sans a solution, my only choice would be to restore prior to 8/10/21.
Purdy

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#10

Post by dpur123 » Wed Aug 18, 2021 7:37 pm

Also, my system indicates Windows 10 Home, Version 21H1, Installed on 11/29/2020, OS build 19043.1165, Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3530.0.
Purdy

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#11

Post by dpur123 » Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:20 pm

Oops. Just realized the original post was Apr 16, not Aug 16. Guess I should start anew.
Purdy

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garyan2

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#12

Post by garyan2 » Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:59 pm

If using NextPVR, you don't want/need the client. You just need to use the server component of epg123 to create an xmltv file. Check the epg123 website, click the Install tab/button, scroll down and click the button for server only for epg123.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

DavidD

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#13

Post by DavidD » Wed Dec 29, 2021 11:57 pm

Hello all,
Was there a resolution to this error? I recently installed 8.8.5 WMC on a new Windows 10 Pro 20H2 system (Since my Win7 laptop died). I followed the instructions and ran 'as admin' under an admin account and WMC launches, and detects my USB tuners. Now I install EPG123 1.7.0.12 and the client comes up with the message box "Could not verify Windows Media Center is installed on this machine. ..." And then dismiss and that's that. I have EPG123 server running on a different PC with my SD account getting the data so that works. But I can't launch client on this new Windows 10 install.

I looked at the GAC directories and noticed that Some are in the GAC_32 but not in GAC_64. (Like other poster had). Is the 8.8.5 installer flawed? EPG123 flawed? Anybody know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.
David
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garyan2

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#14

Post by garyan2 » Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:30 am

The client is looking for "mcepg, Version=6.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" in the GAC. There should be a hardlink to the mcepg.dll located in folder C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\mcepg\v4.0_6.3.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35.

If the hardlink is there, then I would suspect that the 8.8.5 script did not successfully install it into the GAC.
viewtopic.php?p=144555#p144555
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#15

Post by DavidD » Thu Dec 30, 2021 7:09 am

Thanks for this. It turns out...it was my fault. Indeed the components didn't get registered in the GAC_64 or MSIL. I looked at the ngen.log files generated and saw that various hardlinks weren't working and thus couldn't register, etc.
So, I uninstalled 8.8.5 (that I had) and decided to redownload 8.8.5 from the link provided in this forum.

My mistake was downloading WMC from a different site. The contents were very similar (only 1 or two files were different) but that was all it took to mess up the WMC installaion/registration.
Now, when I installed using this forum version of the download it works. Thanks!

Just in case anyone else has this issue in the future, make sure you use the version of WMC linked from this forum and not from other sources.

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