After using extender, FF/RW/Skip stops working on main HTPC?

[mobidutch]

I have been using a Windows 7 Media Center HTPC for several years, and so far it has enjoyed a pretty good wife-acceptance-factor. We recently added a TV in the bedroom, and in an attempt to preserve the WAF, I went with a LinkSys DMA2100 media extender. The extender itself seems to work great..pretty much replicating the same media center experience to the bedroom (minus the Netflix plugin).

However...every time I start an extender session in the bedroom, the fast/skip forward and rewind functions on the main HTPC in the living room stop working, and only a reboot will fix it. What could be causing this? Has anyone else seen this same issue?

Thanks!

[barnabas1969]

Do you have iTunes installed on the PC?

[mdavej]

It's also been recently discovered that Google running in the background can also hijack remote control functions. So check your tray and make sure Google isn't running.

[barnabas1969]

It's also been recently discovered that Google running in the background can also hijack remote control functions. So check your tray and make sure Google isn't running.

I think that probably depends on the extensions which are installed in Google Chrome. I have Chrome running in the tray for AutoRemote (to forward events from the Tasker app on my smartphone to EG on the HTPC), and it doesn't affect the Media Center remote.

[mobidutch]

OK thank you both for your replies. I uninstalled itunes, since I really don't need it on the HTPC. I will also uninstall Chrome just to be sure. And last night I copied all the registry settings for Media Center under HKEY_Users from the logged in user to all other profiles, because it looked like the extender created it's own user profile, and it only contained a few Media Center settings, none related to skip intervals. Will report back....

[mdavej]

You don't need to uninstall Chrome. Just be aware that if it's enabled to run in the background (you can disable that in the Chrome settings), some extensions may possibly interfere, as Barnabas said. I've personally had no issues with Chrome and WMC, and I run lots of extensions, but I don't allow Chrome to run in the background because I don't want it taking up any resources.

[mobidutch]

You don't need to uninstall Chrome. Just be aware that if it's enabled to run in the background (you can disable that in the Chrome settings), some extensions may possibly interfere, as Barnabas said. I've personally had no issues with Chrome and WMC, and I run lots of extensions, but I don't allow Chrome to run in the background because I don't want it taking up any resources.

Ok, thx for clarifying. I'll check. Will report back. Thanks!

[barnabas1969]

And last night I copied all the registry settings for Media Center under HKEY_Users from the logged in user to all other profiles

I don't think that was a good idea. Copying specific settings for things like captions and skip intervals is fine... but copying the entire Media Center key is probably a bad idea.

[mobidutch]

Copying the keys did not seem to affect anything, positive nor negative. But disabling the Google background process solved the problem. Thanks!!

[crawfish]

If you want to solve the problem for Chrome, iTunes, and any other programs that can steal the multimedia keys, see the thread I started yesterday:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... f=7&t=7555

As I stated there, I haven't tested it with extenders, and I would be interested to hear how it goes with them. In any event, the procedure is easily and completely reversible, consisting of merging a .reg file to overwrite ReportMappingTable, and installing Autohotkey if you're not already using that great program.

[mobidutch]

Last night I did a fresh install of WMC7 on an SSD (recordings and live buffer on HDD), and after connecting my LinkSys WMC extender, the problem is back. As soon as I use the extender to play back content, FF/REW and skipping stops working on the main HTPC. This time I did NOT have Chrome or iTunes installed. VERY frustrating!!!

[Skybolt]

You might want to try a Server grade NIC. I had similar issues with my extenders and the main HTPC and tried that out of sheer desperation and ALL of my weirdness went away, well with the 7MC anyway. It's like a completely new system now. The original RealTek NIC had great speed test speeds and appeared to work just fine. This is worth every penny.

[mobidutch]

You might want to try a Server grade NIC. I had similar issues with my extenders and the main HTPC and tried that out of sheer desperation and ALL of my weirdness went away, well with the 7MC anyway. It's like a completely new system now. The original RealTek NIC had great speed test speeds and appeared to work just fine. This is worth every penny.

Seems worth a shot...thanks for the tip!