Transcript: Media Center Edition web chat, September 15, 2005
Published: October 29, 2005
Chat Date: September 15, 2005
Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity
Introduction
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Hi everyone, and welcome to the Media Center chat!
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Today we are answering your questions about Media Center. I'll have our hosts for the chat today introduce themselves:
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
I'm Andrew Brown, and I'm the MVP Lead for Media Center, and the moderator for this chat.
MarkS_MVP (Expert):
Evening Everyone. I'm Mark Salloway, an MVP for Windows Media Center based in the United Kingdom.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Hi, I'm Robert Schlabbach, Media Center Edition MVP from Berlin, Germany!
Todd_MS (Expert):
Hi; my name is Todd. I'm a program manager working on Media Center Extender technologies.
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Go ahead and begin sending us your questions, and we'll get the chat underway.
Start of chat:
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: what is an MVP?
A: MVP stands for "Most Valuable Professional" an award program by Microsoft. See http://mvp.support.microsoft.comfor further information.
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: MCE PC's with 2 TV-tuner cards. Are new functions planned? ex: PIP (Picture in Picture)
A: Please note that we cannot comment on unannounced products, and in some cases may not be able to discuss specific aspects of announced products. This chat is primarily to discuss questions or issues with our current products.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Any plans for more than dual tuner support mixed digital/analog in Emerald or after ?
A: We cannot comment on future product features. But support for mixed TV signal sources has been requested for quite a while, so rest assured that Microsoft is aware of this feature wish.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: is there any plans to support DVB radio and MHEG function
A: Again, we cannot comment on future product features, and again these are much requested features that Microsoft has well been made aware of.
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: When is Update 2 likely to be released? Is it true (like OEMs claim) that they'll be shipping Emerald PCs in November after the update is released on patch Tues next month?
A: We have announced an update to Media Center Edition 2005 that will be available this year. You can find more details here: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/may05/05-17MCEE32005PR.mspx
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Are there currently any DVB-T cards with Common Interface that is supported by MCE 2005? If not, do you have any plans on supporting them in the future?
A: MCE 2005 supports DVB-T, but not the Common Interface (nor any other decryption system). So you can only receive unencrypted FTA DVB-T services with MCE.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: I built a media center pc at home and now I can't watch tv because my wife loves it and is always using it--what can I do?
A: You could get a Media Center Extender or a Media Center Extender for Xbox. That would definitely solve your issue. :)
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: usability question - how do I access websites from within MCE... and how do I add links to My Places?
A: Media Center does not have a "built-in" web browser, but rather hosts websites that are specifically made for Media Center's 10' user interface. For more information about the Media Center SDK, visit http://msdn.microsoft.com.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: on media centre extenders, can you watch live tv?
A: Yes, Media Centers allow you to do just about anything you can do if you were sitting in front of the Media Center PC.
Peter Near [MCE MVP] (Expert):
Q: Streaming video in MCE. Is that possible ? How is it done ?
A: I'm assuming you mean streaming *from* media center, please correct me if I'm wrong. There is a great free app from Orb (www.orb.com) that will allow you to stream recorded or live tv, along with other media, from your Media Center to numerous other devices. It will automatically match available bandwidth so is cool for applications from your home network all the way down to your cel phone. Simple install, and it just sits in your system tray.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: will the xbox360 be able to stream music vids etc via MCE only?
A: Xbox 360 will be able to stream from a regular Windows XP (Home, Pro, Media Center, Tablet PC), music, and pictures. In order to get the full effect of the extender portion built in to Xbox 360, you will need a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 PC.
MarkS_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is it possible, with compatilbe hardware, to run Media Center on a regular home pc? I've received differing answers already.
A: It is possible to purchase Windows XP Media Center Editon and load it onto a regular system. How well it will work greatly depends on having hardware components (and drivers) such as the video and TV Tuner hardware which are designed to work with the version of Media Center you are running. The Media Center 2005 partner list can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/partners/dfw/partnerlisting.mspx
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: Can i get HDTV with my RADEON 9200 SE 128M
A: I don't know anyone personally who has tried this, but this card is more consumer-focused, and HDTV playback requires mid- to high-end video cards.
Chris H Tablet PC (Expert):
Q: MCE crashes frequently. After restart it says that a driver device caused the crash. how do i solve this?
A: Which device is involved, and have you tried reinstalling the specified driver?
Peter Near [MCE MVP] (Expert):
Q: I've had my computer with Media Centre 2004 on it for more then a year now, my problem is, i could not get my Remote Control to work with my Star Choice (general Instrument) receiver. The wizard gives me a remote code that does not configure with my receiv
A: What model of STB do you have from Starchoice? I know that it is working with MCE 2005 anyways in some setups I've seen.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is the upgrade from the original MCE to MCE 2005 available as part of Windows Upgrade downloads or is it a separate product? If so is it only available dfrom the original OEM?
A: You can only get Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 as an upgrade through your OEM. A free upgrade to Media Center Edition 2004 is available through Microsoft/Windows Update from the Windows XP Service Pack 2 update.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is it possible for me to watch streaming video in MCE ?
A: It depends. The content provider would need to build an interface for Media Center to allow Media Center to recognize content as a streaming video.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Why will you not support decryption of non FTA channels in MCE? In my country only 5 of somewhere around 25 channels are FTA. You won't sell many MCE licences without that support.
A: You can connect your MCE machine to an _external_ receiver / set-top-box which decrypts your channels and the non-FTA channels in MCE this way.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: every so often all channels get reset to default order and i have to change them back. will that be fixed in a patch sometime soon?
A: I am not aware of this issue, but I will raise it with the product team.
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: I have Media Center 2005 on a Sony VAIO VGC-RA825G. It has external inputs (composite, SVHS, audio) on the front panel. Is there a way to easily record in MCE from the front inputs, for example if I wanted to record video tapes into MCE?
A: Some OEMs supply video recording applications that may be used to capture directly from non-TV inputs. Alternatively, you could tell Media Center that you have a set top box, in which case it will record off of the s-video input (assuming that the inputs on the front of your PC go to the s-video input on your tuner)
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: I have MCE2004 and when i click on settings and then TV i get "tuner not found...please ensure that both the tuner card and a valid tuner card driver are installed"....this only happens since ive installed SP2....any help?
A: What TV card (type, make, model) are you using and which driver version do you have installed?
Peter Near [MCE MVP] (Expert):
Q: I would really like to be able to log into my media center with my laptop while watching TV. I could install software, make administrative changes, organize music, and add media. I know that currently there is a hack available, but I was wondering if Micro
A: You can log in to MCE via Remote Desktop, but then the remote session will become the primary and bump the console session off. There is no supported way to log multiple users ito MCE at the same time via remote desktop.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: I have a MCE Laptop that has started having a BSOD and when I send the message to Microsoft error reporting I get a message back it is caused by a device driver. I have the crash dump. How can I find out which device driver?
A: It is hard to pinpoint the actual cause of the BSOD. Microsoft has tools available that can give you an estimate as to what is causing the BSOD. I would search www.microsoft.com for WinDbg.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Can anyone tell me if there are confirmed plans and dates within Microsoft to support DVB-S cards with Common Interface in any future release of MCE? That's the single reason I haven't gotten it yet.
A: Nothing has been announced yet regarding future support for DVB-S or the Common Interface in MCE.
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: Lately we see exprerience no audio in Media center.. this usually attributes to recent codec installation mostly from third-party . at times ninstalling them to does not help. any fix for this ?
A: The first thing I'd do is run the Microsoft code checkup utility http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=de1491ac-0ab6-4990-943d-627e6ade9fcb&displaylang=en and see what it tells you. Also, reinstalling the original MPEG decoder should get you back up and running provided the codec that trampled on it has been removed.
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: As a current Vista tech beta tester, is there anything to test regarding the next edition of MCE?
A: I'd recommend you check the newsgroups for the technical beta, as that's where announcements regarding the beta will be released.
Peter Near [MCE MVP] (Expert):
Q: My Star Choice Receiver is the General Instruments 400 series
A: The specific setup I've known to work uses SC 315 receivers. It should work with 400s, but haven't tested. Are you 100% certain that your IR blaster is correctly affixed to the IR receiver on the STB?
MarkS_MVP (Expert):
Q: How can I tell if i have MCE 2004 or MCE 2005, when i purchased my machine (december 04) it stated it was MCE 2005, but the properties of my computer says it's 2004?
A: To check the version number of Media Center installed select Settings > General > About Media Center > Software Version. If you have Media Center 2005 installed the version number will be 5.1.2700.xxxx. On older versions of Media Center the about screen can be found at Settings > General > About Media Center. You can compare this version number against http://salloway.org.uk/mediacenter/2004/version.htm to find the edition. System Properties refers only to the core version of Windows installed, not the Media Center version.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Emuzed EvacapMaui device and the driver is upgrade from HP...sorry i do not know which version (driver) i have
A: Try removing the TV card in device manager, rebooting and reinstalling the TV card. Then reboot again, start the Media Center and set up the TV signal again.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: What is up with the long delay in media center when going from TV to Music? I realize that I have a large media library ??? 30 GB, but I would assume that others have much lager libraries and does the size have any impact on the speed?
A: There are some performance issues when users have large libraries. The product team is aware of the issue.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: ok, reading between the lines here... "Nothing has been announced YET regarding DVB-S and CI". So what are the chances of ever getting it? Or are you not allowed to comment on that?
A: That can mean anything from "I don't know" to "I know, but I'm not allowed to tell"... Obviously, Microsoft is aware of the demand for DVB-S support - I keep making sure they are ;)
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: If i connect my MCE via an external set-top box, im losing much signal quality by converting the signal from digital to analog back to digital again. Why not do it right frpm the start? That would save a lot of computing too.
A: You do lose some quality going from digital to analog to digital. Unfortunately, there aren't any tuner cards that can handle digital in that fashion (but I expect that over time, there will be tuners card readily available to address this issue).
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Robert...i have done that to no avail
A: That's all I can immediately think of, sorry. Please post your issue in the newsgroup (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter), hopefully someone can find a solution for you there.
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: are there any restrictions (e.g DRM) to what can be streamed to xbox360 via MCE?
A: Full details have not yet been announced regarding the MCX functionality built into Xbox 360. That said, existing MCX devices are able to stream protected Windows Media Audio/Video and TV content from the Media Center PC they are attached to, and it would be reasonable to assume that Xbox 360 will be equally capable (that is after all the digital dream - all your content everywhere).
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: If you have an extensive music library on one computer on a separate partition, and you move it to another computer, it seems as though media player has issues with play list and cant find the songs - is there any way to alter the playlist to fix this
A: You will need to go into WMP and perform a search for media files. It should recognize that the ones already in the list do not exist anymore and remove them. If all else fails, just delete them from you library.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Cool, thanks for reminding them. I'm hoping to go for the Vista version of MCE, so keep pushing them for that DVB-S support. Thanks!!
A: I will, believe me. My primary reception is DVB-S, too.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: On the music library performance, there are some tweeks circulating about increasing the cache for the images etc. Do they help and are they supported ?
A: I'm not aware of any tweaks but doing so is at your own risk and not supported by the OEMs and Microsoft. Again, the product team is aware of the issue and is working to fix it.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: But there are tv-cards that have common interface. Are there some kind of DRM issue behind the decision not to support CI?
A: Understandable, but for now, digital (in the USA) is starting to emerge. As digital TV becomes more standard, I think you will see more cards that have broader support for this as well as software support.
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: I'd like some advice on manipulating recorded TV: how can I cut/truncate the DVR-MS file from within the 10' interface ? And no, dCut doesn't do the trick. Any professional applications recommended for this (and to burn the DVDs afterwards) ?
A: I'm a dCut fan, so I don't have other personal recommendations. This is a great question to pose in the public Media Center newsgroup - Microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: Todd_MS: any clue why dCut is not reliable then ? I worked on a 5 hour recording of the Live 8 concert, to conclude afterwards that dCut damaged the file completely. Can't view it anymore :(
A: This is a hard thing to troubleshoot here, but are you running the latest version? Multiple fixes have gone into the latest release. Also, the official dCut page has an address to report bugs to (it's worth noting while I'm on the topic that this is a free tool, and the developer who works on it does so in his free time€)
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: Under what conditions will MCE remember my position in a video when I stop watching partway through? It remembers very well for television, but my results are mixed (and generally less successful) when watching DVDs and other video files on the hard drive
A: I have raised this with the product team.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: But how can you fix the existing play lists so that the will play the songs in the library. So if you have built 30 playlist on the other PC how can you alter the play
A: You will need to manually edit the lists.
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: I find it very difficult to organize Opera CDs in MCE. Operas ususlly span several CDs, and the only way to select them in the right order is to do a playlist. It sure would be nice to be easier to organize classical music. Any hope here?
A: That's certainly an interesting suggestion; I'll pass it along to the appropriate folks.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: With Vista will there be a more open API and UI for deveolopers to make use of. At current we cannot utilize most of the 'visual candy'
A: That's a perfect question to put in the microsoft.public.windows.developer.mediacenter newsgroup. You might also want to search the web for Charlie Owen's blog (sorry, I don't have the URL at hand).
Chris H Tablet PC (Expert):
Q: How can I determine if I have the latest version of MCE installed on my system? What should I see under system on the system Properties page?
A: Open Media Center itself, not the operating system, then go to Settings/General/About Media Center.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: What is the best way to submit bugs with mce to microsoft?
A: If you think there is a bug within Media Center, I would post it to the public newsgroups. There are many Microsoft employees who visit the group.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: Any chance of MCE supporting firewire tv viewing and recording
A: Its a great suggestion and one that the product team has heard before... ;)
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: i would like to see mce more touch screen friendly.
A: That is interesting feedback. What areas of Media Center do you feel this would enhance?
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: Touch screens are great. Many whole house solutions to control media devices from multiple places aroudn the home. but a huge lacking feature of mce.
A: Thanks for the feedback. Microsoft has experience with touchscreen technology in other products, but we have announced no plans yet in regards to Media Center Edition.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is there a way to get a MCE PC to significantly reduce power consumption (not just the monitor) if TV is not being recorded, or other media not be addressed? Like go the sleep mode with wake on LAN or kbd or scheduled recording? The system burns 300w.
A: Media Center is built on top of Windows XP, so you get all the great power management features. You can go into the Control Panel -> Power Options to set your options.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: if you are trying to watch avi files in MCE that are encoded with the new divx codec, the system tray icon for divx pops up on the screen and shows the task bar for a minute as soon as the movie starts to play. Is there any way to dissable this?
A: That's an issue with DivX. You should contact DivX support about it.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: Power saving/Standby: it seems rather unreliable. At times MCE does not go in time based standby, while at other moments it does it flawlessly. Coming out of SB to record works flawlessly. Any clue ?
A: It depends on what you have going at the time. Anything that is full screen (such as visualizations or TV) prevent the power management features.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: With regard to development, any plans to have a MC emulator for use in Visual Studio. Also are there any plans for including MC dev support in Sparkle, Quartz and such
A: There is nothing announced regarding this. However, it is an interesting concept and one that I will send to the product team.
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: Sometimes while watching live TV or recorded TV - media center will switch to the media center startup screen and minimize the picture €“ any idea what's up with that?
A: I can think of a couple things that could be going on: 1) something is sending spurious IR to your PC (or someone is sitting on the remote ;-), 2) the IR receiver itself is acting weird, or 3) something on your PC is passing €œStart€ key presses to Media Center. To eliminate the first two, try unplugging the IR receiver from your PC. If you still see this issue, go ahead and post details to the Media Center newsgroup (Microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Probably this has been asked many times before. When will the BDA architecture be upgraded so that MCE can support QAM (unencrypted) & DVB-S reception ?
A: BDA itself is actually somewhat useable for DVB-S reception (no support for DiSEqC, though). QAM is a bit of a problem, as BDA currently only recognizes QAM cards as DVB-C cards, not at OpenCable cards. To keep up with the latest BDA architecture updates, looking at the latest Windows Vista Driver Developer Kit releases is probably the best bet.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is there a fix for the series recordings getting messed up when your provider adds a new channel to the lineup?
A: I'm not aware of this happening. I would file let the EPG team know about this issue. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mce/reporting/epg.aspx
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Q: How do you get epg data after you add a missing DTV channel or subchannel?
A: You will need to go into Settings -> TV -> Guide and Download the latest Guide listings
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: Will Emerald fix the bug where the Guide forgets which EPG data you've assigned to it? (For example, in the UK, ITV1 West of England has to be Manually assigned to ITV1, in order to show Listing data for ITV)?
A: We are aware of cases in which user changes to the guide lineup are not persisted; we will persist these changes as part of an update that will be released soon. However, it is hard to saw without additional details regarding what you see whether this addresses the specific behavior you have encountered.
Nick_MS (Expert):
Q: where can I find a document that describes all Media Center functions like how to change audio track on the fly (Ctrl+Shft+A), subtitle etc.? (8)
A: These are listed in Media Center help, under "Media Center keyboard shortcuts" (in the "Accessibility Features" section).
MarkS_MVP (Expert):
Q: Can I use a PC (with WinXP) as a media extended for MCE?
A: It is not possible to use a PC as a Media Center Extender. Only the Xbox (With the Extender game disc) and the set top devices from Hewlett Packard and Linksys can be used. You can have some limited functionality with the PC by using Remote Desktop to remotely view Media Center, however you will not be able to view TV/Video this way.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: ever since ive installed SP2 i dont have the green button anymore on my desktop....it is a red exclamation point....why is that?
A: That's a harmless known issue - the location of the green button icon within the executable was changed and your shortcut still contains the old location. You can just right-click the icon, select properties, change icon and pick the correct icon to fix this.
Todd_MS (Expert):
Q: Remote control issue- I"ve been trying to teach my MCE remote control IR signals to universal remote systems. The learned control signal works on the MCE the first time, but not subequently unless another key is hit. For instance, I can go channel up or
A: The Media Center remote alternates key codes in order to minimize accidental double button presses. The Media Center IR receiver looks for this, which is why you see the behavior you currently see. If you go to your search engine of choice and look for €œMedia Center debounce reg key€, you should get pages with all the details.
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
Q: Thanks Guys - appreciate your time
A: You're welcome. See you on the next chat!
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
This concludes our Media Center chat for today. Thanks for coming, everyone!
Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Please feel free to stay and continue to chat about Media Center or other Windows topics.
AndyV_MVP (Expert):
Thanks everyone! See you all at the next chat!
RobertSchlabbach-MVP (Expert):
See you next time!
