Windows Media Center Expert Zone Chat (February 26, 2009)
Chat Topic: Windows Media Center Expert Zone Chat
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009
Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity.
mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Welcome to today’s Windows Media Center Chat! We are pleased to welcome our Experts for today’s chat. I will have them introduce themselves now.
Introductions:
Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Hi, my name is Todd. I am a program manager working on Media Center Extender technology.
Dennis [MSFT] (Expert):
Hello, I'm Dennis and I also work on Media Center Extender.
Start of chat:
mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Q: Hello, I downloaded an application for Win Media Player = XP PowerToy that requires xp of greater to operate. It works perfectly (I have Vista), however every time I restart my computer I get the "This app requires Windows XP or greater to operate.
A: Thanks for the question. It's a bit off topic for a Windows Media Center chat, but I'd just wager a guess that the XP Power Toy just wasn't tested with Vista and that the error message was probably created more to indicate that it didn't work with previous versions of Windows rather than promising support for future versions.
Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: Why does the 5 second and 30 second skip option for vista and XP MCE work so poorly with a DVD. When you click the button it will take up to 2 seconds before it will respond unlike the TV. I have changed the settings from chapter to skip.
A: There are a variety of factors that could be at play here. The one that’s likeliest to impact the responsiveness of seek with DVD content is the fact that hard drives are much more responsive than DVD drives, meaning that Media Center is able to get the TV content to play more quickly than it can with content stored on a DVD.
Tim - MSFT (Expert):
Q: So is there any way that I can delete this annoying message?
A: Hi NAN - what message are you referring to?
mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Q: The one that appears for XP PowerToy
A: Hey NAN. If I'm not mistaken, the PowerToys you mention are downloadable from here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx. There's a note there that specifically says: "We take great care to ensure that PowerToys work as they should, but they are not part of Windows and are not supported by Microsoft...PowerToys are for Windows XP only and will not work with Windows Vista.”
Todd [MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: The DVD content is on the HDD. Have you tested this? Because on every Version of Media center I have it acts the same.
A: Yes, we test DVD playback :-) Because seek is used so frequently during TV playback we have heavily optimized the way in which it works to reduce seek time as much as possible (to the extent that it may be faster than seek in other experiences).
Tim - MSFT (Expert):
Q: I also on XP Media center keep getting the Message "Messenger Failure" Media Center was unable to open Messenger. Please make sure that windows messenger is installed on your system. but I never use messenger nor did I intend to.
A: Jim - this is likely due to a security update that was released. Jason Tsang - a Media Center MVP - has a good write up of this on his blog - http://blog.jasontsang.ca/2008/08/windows-messenger-error-in-media-center.html
mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Q: Oh and by the way that particular one was created by Microsoft, it said it underneath the app.
A: Again, this is off topic for today's Media Center chat, but I'm attempting my best effort here. Since it wasn't tested for Vista and isn't supported for Vista, we wouldn't have documented any solutions for it. My best guess would be that some setting is getting whacked during shut down or start up that is causing the problem and probably requires a tool like FileMon or RegMon from sysinternals.com to know for sure.
Dennis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: It would also be nice if the audio from Media center would go out multiple devices at the same time.
A: Thank you for the feedback. I believe this is a Windows limitation as it only sends sound out the primary audio device that is configured, but we can look at it for a future release.
Dennis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Vista MCE: It would be nice if you could change the sound output device through Media center interface, as my Sony TV will only accept HDMI audio from the Intel Video, so I have to go to control panel every time I switch over to the SPDIF.
A: Thank you for the feedback. This is something we can consider for a future release.
Tim - MSFT (Expert):
Q: I have two 2250 Happauges in my Vista MCE: one is OTA, the other is cable. Occasionally it will report there's no signal because it seems to get confused, but 95% of the time it gets it right. Any settings I should be checking to ensure a smooth ride?
A: is the no/low signal on the OTA, cable or both?
Tim - MSFT (Expert):
Q: Q[15] Follow up: I mostly remember it on the Cable. It happens occasionally. The 2250 is a true dual tuner card, so I can record 2xCable and 2xOTA at the same time totaling to 4 recordings concurrently by having 2 cards installed.
A: don't have an easy answer here. Essentially would need tool to check signal strength and see if it’s consistent, if there's any drop related to dual tuner functionality, etc.
Tim - MSFT (Expert):
Q: One of my media centers keeps turning itself on when It's in hibernate. but it’s not recording anything. Is there and even logged somewhere for that?
A: is this at regular time? this may be due to checking for guide updates
Dennis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there a discrete IR Power code for On vs Off? There should be if there isn't because it makes integration difficult with remotes considering you should make the media center auto sleep when it's not recording or being viewed.
A: Windows Vista and Windows 7 Media Center support the RC6 protocol and we support discreet codes for On/Off as well as a generic Power toggle. I don't know about Media Center 2005. However it is up to the OEM remote control to decide what they will send. Same thing for Media Center Extender.
Tim - MSFT (Expert):
Q: q[17] follow up: is there a even logged that would have the detail needed? I think because there are 8 tuners 2x Cards each has 2xCable and 2xOTA it gets confused which card can do what. Does that sound possible?
A: you might look under event viewer, both under \windows logs\system and under \applications and services logs\media center
Dennis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Since the big UI change on the XBOX 360, it hasn't been working right with the Harmony Remote I use. Normally it will start right up in Media center when I hit the remote power on for that. FYI.
A: Thanks. We've not heard of of this issue. I use a Harmony remote and do not have this issue. Which model do you have?
Tim - MSFT (Expert):
Q: Does Windows 7 Support Blu-ray in Media center? Can Vista Support smooth Blu-ray with some sort of a patch?
A: Jim - can't discuss Win7. not sure what you mean by smooth blu-ray. Vista Media Center will/can interact with 3rd party players that support blu-ray playback by using our extensibility platform. There is information on http://thegreenbutton.com on how to create your own MCML app to do this.
Dennis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I would be nice since if one MCE can show TV shows recorded on a different one. Is there a way to do this without just using the Video Library folder?
A: This will be supported in Windows 7.
Dennis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Q[20]: its the XBOX 360 one. I have to manually hit the Media Center button to work around it.
A: I'm confused now. In Q20 you said you used a Harmony remote but now you're saying you're using the Xbox remote. Which remote control are you having issues with?
Dennis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Q[24]: Sorry. It’s the harmony XBOX 360 one. http://tinyurl.com/3ctsfr
A: Ah. I assume you have it set up to send the green button command to power on the device vs. having it power on the device and then send the green button command. If you're doing it via 2 steps, then you likely need to increase the delay before sending the green button command as it now takes longer to get to the dashboard.
Tim - MSFT (Expert):
Q: Q[22]: Follow up: The patch is rough for playing back blu-rays.
A: Jim - not sure what you mean. Windows Vista Media Center does not natively support Blu-Ray playback. In order to playback Blu-Ray discs, you will need to install an application that supports Blu-Ray playback. Once that's installed, you can create an MCML interface in Media Center that will launch that application to do the Blu-Ray playback
mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Thank you for joining us today for our Windows Media Center Chat! We hope that this was a good use of your time. If we weren’t able to answer your question of if you have others, please don’t hesitate to check out our public newsgroups: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.mspx
A special thank you to the Microsoft experts who came out to help!
We’ll see you again for another chat next month, for the list of upcoming chats please check: http://www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx
