Windows XP Media Center Edition (September 21, 2006)

Chat Topic: Windows XP Media Center Edition
Date: Thursday, September 21, 2006

Please Note: Portions of this Chat have been edited for clarity.

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Hi everyone, and welcome to the Windows Media Center chat!

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Today we are answering your questions about Windows Media Center.

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Now, I'll have our hosts for the chat today introduce themselves:

Introductions

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Mark Pendergrast, and I'm a Program Manager for the eHome Devices team, focusing on AV issues. Welcome to the chat!

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Hi, I'm Bryan Socha MVP for Media Center (www.microsoft.com/mvp). Also known as Accident on thegreenbutton.com.

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
I'm Todd Bowra, and I'm a program manager working on Media Center Extender technologies. I will be the moderator for this chat.Mark_S (Expert): Hi Everyone. I’m Mark Salloway a Media Center MVP from the United Kingdom.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, my name is Aaron and I am a program manager on the Windows Media Center core platform and SDK team. Thanks for attending the chat.

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Go ahead and begin sending us your questions, and we'll get the chat underway.

Start of Chat

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: can general xp questions be asked of the experts in this chat?
A: If you have general Windows XP-related questions - rather than ones about our chat topic, Windows Media Center - you can ask them in 50 minutes when our current chat is over. Thanks!

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I want to write a program that controlls Media Center, I already can start music using playmedia but what's more possiable?
A: There is a lot of additional functionality that you can control within Windows Media Center. I would suggest taking a look at some of the SDK documentation at http://msdn.microsoft.com/mce for some more in-depth information.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Windows Media Center doesn't let go of my TV tuner so I can use it in Windows Movie Maker. Movie maker says video capture device is in use. What's a work around for this problem so I can use Movie Maker?
A: There are some services that run behind the scenes that might be holding onto your TV tuner. You can stop those services and see if it allows you to use MovieMaker. You would want to stop ehRec, ehRecvr and ehSched I believe. Those services are used for recording shows and things like that, so keep in mind that if you stop them you might interrupt a recording that is in progress.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: I would like to know how Windows Media Center will work in conjunction with my Comcast set-top box doubles as an HD receiver and DVR. As in, what will I use to change channels, record to, etc? How will the two work together?
A: It will work like any other set top box. It will connect to an analog tuner and you will use the ir emitter included with your media center remote or media center pc to control the set top box channels. You can find more details at: https://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/using/setup/settop.mspx and Barb Bowman's article on 2 set top boxes at: https://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mce/expert/bowman_dualtuners.mspx

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: I have a wired ethernet connection to my xbox 360 from my media center pc but I still get choppy video at times and the Network Congestion indicator on the TV. Are there tweaks I can do to my settings or something to prevent this?
A: There are a couple things you can do:
- Update your PC's Ethernet card drivers to the latest version available from your PC OEM's website
- Change your Ethernet card to 100 mbps full duplex if it's set to Auto Detect or vice versa:
. 1) Right click My Computer, select Manage, click Device Manager
. 2) Expand Network adapters; double-click your network card
. 3) Select the Advanced tab
. 4) Select Link Speed & Duplex; what is the Value? Try changing it to 100Mbps/Full Duplex

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: aaron: I already looked at the SDK but some command's /functions arn't explained
A: Which commands and functions are you referring to? What kind of application are you thinking of writing?

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [10] I have had good luck with the Linksys remote extenders. Now, other than the Xbox,it is unclear about the future of how to extend Media Center. What are future plans for MS XP and Vista?
A: Glad to year you've enjoyed your Linksys Extender. You'll be happy to hear that we're working with a number of large CE manufacturers on next generation Extenders that will be optimized for Vista. We can't reveal any more details right now unfortunately, but stay tuned...There will be lots of great announcements.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Does Media Center in Vista fix the issue where the mouse is locked in the secondary screen?
A: When you run Windows Media Center in full-screen mode on a dual-monitor system, only the monitor that Media Center is currently displaying on is usable. The secondary display will not redraw and you cannot use it or interact with it. This is the design for how all full-screen DirectX exclusive applications work, and unfortunately Media Center does not have any control over that. As a workaround you can change Media Center from full-screen mode to windowed mode and then resize the window as large as it can go.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: I have built my own MCE system, and have now signed up for Digital Cable TV from Time Warner. That means i will get a set top box from them. Which IR blaster do i need to buy to get this to work with MCE? I am using a linksys extender and not MCE directly
A: The set top box will still connect to your media center machine and the ir emitter (blaster) comes with the remote control for media center. https://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/using/setup/settop.mspx has more details.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: for example I just can't figure out how to get the currently playing media using Microsoft.MediaCenter.AddIn.MediaProperties (using c#)
A: The sample code titled "Sample 6: Determining Media Status (Play State) from an Add-In" might help you get started with this scenario. Can you please take a look at that and see if it helps?

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [19] GUI flicker issue -- some parts of GUI are flickering or not showing at all when surfing through menu; for example I can see only upper or lower part of Guide in MCE 2005 UR2. Nvidia 6600 with newest driver fron nvidia, s-video to tv. Any suggestions?
A: Have you tried connecting the PC via another cable (component) or even to a PC display via VGA?

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: Thanks for the answer, any idea where i can but the remote/ir emitter package?
A: The remote is available from many online and retail stores. Searching for Media Center Remote Control on search.live.com should assist with locating a store.

Mark_S (Expert):
Q: Is any other device needed to use a XBox 360 as a media extender?
A: Only a Media Center 2005/Vista machine (Home Premium or Ultimate for Media Center Extender) networked to it and a TV. You might want to look at the Media Remote for the Xbox if you were planning to use it as a long term thing in the living room or such.

Joe [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I have a very stable XP MCE system that has a high Wife Accpetance Factor (WAF). Has anyone been brave enough to upgrade a similar system to RC1?
A: I have 2 Media Center PC's at home. One in my living room that I install weekly builds on and One that is my main home PC/Media Center in my office. When RC1 was released, I installed (clean) RC1 on my main home PC and configured it to use the XBox 360 in my living room. I was pretty happy with the results. Having said that, it's an RC, so there are going to be a few glitches: I had to download beta drivers for my ATSC tuner. I missed some ATSC recordings due to "Tuner or Power Failures". Analog seemed much more reliable. I haven't gone back to XP.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: Re: Q[8]: I logged in to my MCE box remotely and changed the adapter to Full Duplex 100mbps. Not completely unexpectedly, my remote connection died. Should it come back? Should it have died?
A: That can be any number of things from your networking equipment doesn't support your setting, there is a problem with your cable, your nic card might want a reboot. It’s a dangerous setting to do remotely and you will probably need to reboot the computer and possibly change the setting back and troubleshooting your network to see why the setting didn't work.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: Hi, Recorded TV, Videos and DVD all go through my sound system, but live tv just uses the computer speakers. Is there a setting somewhere I'm missing?
A: It sounds like you may be using a set top box and have it connected to the computer wrong. The audio for this should be connected to the tuner and not your sound card. If this is not the case please give more details about your television provider and how it is connected to your Media Center pc.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [28] Tried connecting the PC to monitor alone, to tv alone -- every time the same. Tried to install different driver (but any would be worse than WHQL certified MCE Nvidia driver, isn't it?) -- the problem persists.
A: Yes, the WHQL driver should be the best out there. Have you posted this issue to the MCE newsgroup? Other folks may have seen the same issue. Or, have you sent mail to Nvidia as well?

Mark_S (Expert):
Q: Does anyone know if there is a way to use a PC Tablet to control MCE and the extender? I would like to be able to control my music from a different room
A: With what comes in Windows you could connect to the Media Center machine using remote desktop from the Tablet. The experience wouldn’t be that nice but it would allow you to control it. There may be a more suitable 3rd party option.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I already looked at Sample 6: Determining Media Status (Play State) from an Add-In but somehow the sample just won't run. Also do you know how I can control the volume and stop the music playback?
A: What kind of errors do you get when you try to run the sample? Does it compile correctly? The MediaTransport interface contains some options for controlling music playback. There is an AudioMixer object that allows you to control volume settings, but that is only available to hosted HTML applications and not code-based background add-ins. I also want to note that there is a lot of enhanced functionality in these areas available for Windows Media Center for Windows Vista, and there is a link to the Windows Vista RC1 build of the Media Center SDK at http://msdn.microsoft.com/mce as well if you're interested.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [33] Mark it had worked fine w/media 10 could it be an issue w/media 11
A: Aha....very good data point. Thanks for the heads up. What model keyboard is it? I'll try and repro this in house if so.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: Follow up question on the REmote control/IR Emitter. Will this work with the linksys extender, when i change the channel on the extender, will the MCE computer tell the IR emitter to change the channel on the set top box?
A: Yes that is exactly how it works.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [37] MSFT wireless multimedia keyboard 1.0a
A: OK. Thanks. I'll look into this...Not much more I can do for you at this time though. I can post a resolution in the MCE newsgroup if I learn anything.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The sample compiles correctly but ik looks like the following line kicks in:// Do not do anything if this is not a background add-in.
if (null == m_sCategory || 0 != m_sCategory.CompareTo("background"))
{
return;
}
A: Do you intend to develop a background add-in? If so, you will need to install and register the sample application that you are building as a background application to avoid that if clause. If you want to display UI that is more than a dialog box and you are using Windows XP Media Center Edition, you will want to create a Hosted HTML application. You will have a lot more flexibility for displaying UI using other means in Windows Media Center for Windows Vista.

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: Again flickering: it never happens in the main Start menu, only in the deeper menus of MCE. This could mean driver is ok, so where to look for the solution?
A: This behavior can be indicative of not having enough video RAM to run at the screen resolution you’ve selected. I suggest trying to run at a lower resolution to see if that resolves your issue.

Mark_S (Expert):
Q: Is there by any chance a possibility that MCE in near future will support dvb subtitling?
A: Not in Media Center 2005 or the initial Vista release. A lot of new technologies including DVB Subtitles were discussed at WinHEC this year for 2007 and beyond. See my blog for some more details http://www.salloway.org.uk/mceblog/PreparingForTVBeyondWindowsVista.aspx

Joe [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I purchased a Media Edition laptop for my wife to use for her business (realtor) because the hardware specs looked like they would be appropriate for Vista. I've found out that the agency requires her to connect to a domain. How do I accomplish this?
A: Windows XP Media Center Edition does not support connecting to a domain. Windows Vista Ultimate will contain support domain join, Media Center, and much more. See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/editions/ for more details.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: In MCE for Vista, can i scroll through the channel info, without actually changing the channel, like other DVR boxes do? The channel wont change until i press ok on the channel info.
A: Press the up or down arrow on the remote control or keyboard and it will activate the mini-guide.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [46] Any quick way of quickly shutting down MCE? I've been using Ctl-Alt-Del, end task.
A: Sure is. In the MCE UI, on the start page, you'll notice some icons in the top left corner of the screen. Click the red icon, and you'll be prompted to shut down, restart, pause, sleep, etc...Very convenient.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [55] Thanks... with the mouse but not the remote?
A: You can use those same shut down commands with either mouse or remote. Works the same for both. Check them out.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Yes I want to develop a background add-in, and a hosted HTML would be tricky. But what's best: using Windows XP Media Center Edition with a background add-in or has Windows Media Center for Windows Vista more advantages? (if yes to last, HOW??)
A: It depends on your scenario and what you're trying to implement. Windows Media Center for Windows Vista has 2 new technologies that allow you to create rich UI applications and integrate them into Windows Media Center - Windows Media Center Presentation Layer applications and Hosted .NET Framework 3.0 XBAP applications. You can find a summary of the technologies available to application developers in Windows Media Center for Windows Vista at http://blog.mediacentersandbox.com/PermaLink,guid,817c2b05-2a9e-47ac-80c9-1c4db5b26c18.aspx.

In order to build and run that sample code as a background add-in, you need to make sure to include <category category="Background" /> in the RegisterMceApp registration file when you register it. Otherwise you'll hit that if clause you mentioned in the sample code.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: I'm having a problem with the IR Blaster, when the channel number contains double digits the IR Blaster is only sending the repeated number once. This doesn't happen during the TV setup wizard - it sends repeated digits with no problems.
A: This article will help you fix your problem: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;896480

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: My video card has 128 megs of RAM, tried at several different resolutions my TV or monitor can show. It doesn't resolve. Maybe changing some settings could help? Passed all the tests in dxdiag, can I do something more?
A: What video card are you using?

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Hi all. We've got about 15 minutes left. Get those questions in!

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [38] Whenever I press the green button there is a long pause (~1 min) between reception of the signal (via red light) and the execution on screen. Subsequent operations are okay but the first one of the day periodically has this delay. Any ideas on the cause?
A: Couple follow up questions for you on this: Does this happen even after a full restart of the machine, or is this only when you come out of sleep? Have you tried using a mouse to open MCE and does it happen that way too?

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
As a reminder, please make sure you send your questions using the "Ask The Experts" option. Thanks!

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: ok thanks so far, can I send you a mail if I get stuck (using http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/contact.aspx)
A: Yes, definitely let me know if you run into any issues.

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: If i install Vista, will my old Linksys extender work with it, and will the interface be the new Vista MCE interface?
A: Unfortunately no, if you have a stand alone Media Center Extender from Linksys or HP, or are using the first generation Xbox with the supplemental disc, these will not be compatible with Windows Vista. These devices will of course continue to work with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. In the case of Xbox 360, it will work as an Extender against both Windows Media Center 2005 and the Ultimate and Home Premium versions of Windows Vista, inheriting the new Media Center user interface provided in Windows Vista.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [57] Thanks... didn't see that as a way to shut down; will try that. Thanks for the "Skip" suggestion, that should work well enough...
A: You're welcome. I've found that shut down option to be much more convenient than picking up a mouse/keyboard. You can do it all via remote - even sleep, so I think it'll definitely improve how you view MCE. ;-) And yeah, use that 'skip' button in the guide (along with the filtering ability - to screen out the types of shows you like - like sports, etc.).

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [60] are we allowed to ask questions/comments concerning Vista RC1? not pertaining to the Media center part of Vista though -
A: You can certainly ask questions about MCE as it pertains to Vista RC1, but other topics should be brought up in other, more general Vista chats.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there an option to record FM programs much like recording TV?
A: This is currently not supported.

Mark_S (Expert):
Q: Follow-up on extender technology for Media Center - will another PC running XP Home/Pro (or various flavors of Vista) ever be allowed as an "extender" device?
A: There have not been any announcements regarding this. In Vista you can get a very limited effect by sharing Windows Media Player libraries between machines.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: My video card: Galaxy GF6600 AGP-8X 128MB DDR 128bit w/TV/DVI and ForceWare 91.47 released Sept 14, 2006, WHQL Certified.
A: Some 6600's work better with older versions of the drivers. You can try downgrading the driver. something around the 89.xx revision might work best.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [54] What about design of MCE in Vista? Is the layout we see in RC1 the final layout?
A: Good question...It's close to the final layout, but we may have some tweaks before RTM.

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Okay, we'll be ending the Windows Media Center chat in 5 minutes. Last chance!

Mark_S (Expert):
Q: Im trying to install the IIS thing, its supposed to be under Add/Remove windows components, but it's not there, the support page said i Should install "the Windows TCP/IP Protocol and Connectivity Utilities", but I cant find those either??
A: Can you verify you are running Professional or Media Center Edition?

Joe [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I want to add a 2nd TV tuner, a Leadtek WinFast USBII (external), to my Sony media center pc in order to schedule & record FM Radio. However, the Leadtek is incompatable with MCE. Will I be ok if I use provided software and not turn on Sony?
A: If the FM tuner is not compatible with Media Center, you should be able to use the sotware provided with your FM tuner with no problems.

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I want to add a 2nd TV tuner, a Leadtek WinFast USBII (external), to my Sony media center pc in order to schedule & record FM Radio. However, the Leadtek is incompatable with MCE. Will I be ok if I use provided software and not turn on Sony?
A: If you add a second tuner and do not configure it within Media Center, it will not interfere with Media Center functionality on your system and you can use it separately like you describe.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [69] I have not noticed an anwers to the PREFERRED tuner card for MCif there is one
A: We can't necessarily recommend one tuner vs. another, but we DO have a list of hardware that's been certified to work well with MCE. Here's a link: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/partners/directory.mspx. I think there are some TV tuner cards on that list as well. Hope that helps.

Bryan Socha (Expert):
Q: Recorded TV, Videos and DVD all go through my sound system, but live tv just uses the computer speakers. Is there a setting somewhere I'm missing?
A: Are you using a set top box?

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: Is there plans to add some Auto Zoom feature when watching TV in MCE 2005 or Vista MCE? It would be a great feature instead of manually changing aspect ratio when different channels send in different aspect.
A: Thanks for the suggestion; I'll pass it along to the appropriate folks.

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
This concludes our Windows Media Center chat for today. Thanks for coming, everyone!

Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Please feel free to stay and continue to chat about Windows Media Center or other Windows topics.

Mark [MSFT] (Expert): Thanks everyone. Great chat about MCE. Happy to help folks here. And see you next time on a MCE chat.

Mark_S (Expert):
Thanks for coming everyone

Aaron Stebner [MSFT] (Expert):
Thank you all for attending the chat. Hope to see you again soon.

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