Don't know. I stayed with V12 on all my PCs because it had been working reliably but switched over trying to fix this damned tray problem and I can't go back now as it won't install any more (as I think others have found). I wondered if it was something to do with getting playback in RDP, which I notice does work, even if it is a bit pixelated). edit: I've successfully rolled 'em all back to V12 now so I'm reasonably happy again. I'll just use the tray workaround from @StefanR for now.
OK. I've been through the installation routine and got all the right messages. However when I try to start WMC nothing happens. Win 10 pro 64 bit. I've tried clicking the icon as well as running the exe as admin. Any ideas?
OK then, please show me this "better alternative" you speak of that can do DRM-protected cablecard channels (in the USA) with timeshift/DVR and I'm on board. You won't though, because they don't exist. Silicondust has been promising this for almost 2 years now and still no solution that can do everything WMC does for cablecard users in the US. No one else seems to even be attempting it, so your statement is not correct for all use cases at all. The project linked by crash is the most promising thing I've seen in a long time, hope it really takes off and actually goes somewhere for cablecard users like me.
I don't live in the US so I remain unaffected. I made the right decision 2 years back to cut the chord and have never looked back ever since. Live streaming/video on demand is the future. The less reliant we are on cable TV and the dumb sap operas the better. Doesn't mean I am discrediting the work of whoever are working on the project. But it needs to morph into something spectacular.
Can't argue with that in concept anyway. Just still too many limitations/compromises for me to rely solely on streaming services - sports for one, DVR/timeshift issues, etc. Plus I accumulate shows and sports broadcasts to my media server, so WMC gives me complete control over the file (for non-DRM stuff anyway) so I can do MCEBuddy/comskip processing, etc. Besides, by the time I cobble together all the different services to get everything I want (and that with some compromises), the money spent on cable service is not much different to be honest.
I have been doing a lot of tests and investigations regarding the full screen freeze issue that has appeared recently with Windows 10 1709. Here, I would like to share my findings. The short conclusion is: * WMC in full screen really needs to have the compatibility flag "Disable full screen optimization" enabled. At least on my Dell XPS 13 9360. * Windows refuses to load Application Compatibility shims for "system files". My current solution: * Crudely copy the entire "C:\Windows\ehome" folder to "C:\Program Files\ehome", enable the "Disable full screen optimization" flag on "C:\Program Files\ehome\ehshell.exe", and finally make sure that the desktop start shortcut points to "C:\Program Files\ehome\ehshell.exe". Longer description: I noticed that a clean 1709 install with V8.8.1 WMC and "Disable full screen optimization" enabled worked well in full screen. However, after installing "WMP Tags Plus 2.6" (that contains a call to sdbinst.exe), WMC would break in full screen. Uninstalling "WMP Tags Plus 2.6" and the custom Application Compatibility database "Windows Media Player 64-bit Plug-in Fix" was not sufficient to make WMC work again. Copying the entire "C:\Windows\ehome" folder to "C:\Program Files\ehome", enabling the "Disable full screen optimization" flag on "C:\Program Files\ehome\ehshell.exe" made WMC work again. I think that the v12 installer probably records the WMC files as system files at install-time since it uses dism, and the V8.8.1 installer probably does not since it uses xcopy. Any call to sdbinst.exe seems to cause the system to refresh/re-evaluate what files are considered being system files, and from this point onwards even WMC files installed by the V8.8.1 installer will be classified as system files. Process Monitor indicates that there is some code in the image loader that prevents apphelp.dll from being loaded if the launching exe is a system file. Future work: Maybe there is some way to permanently convince Windows that the C:\Windows\ehome files are NOT system files. If not, maybe WMC should be installed to some folders outside of C:\Windows. The enabling of the "Disable full screen optimization" flag can be automated by using the Application Compatibility Tool in the "Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit" to create an sdb file that enables DisableDXMaximizedWindowedMode on ehshell.exe. Then the installer script can call sdbinst.exe on this sdb file to have it installed. Some references: Google "forensicswiki windows application compatibility" Google "blackhat malicious shims" Patrik
@patrikp Nice. You beat me to it. I had been working toward a similar idea on a spare PC. One thing I would be interested to know is whether automatic Windows System snapshots include the files you moved to program files\ehome. I had to recover one of my PCs by rolling back yesterday and windows ehome was almost completely empty. I'm not sure but it looks like MS have excluded them from snapshots somehow. I could have gone back to my last system backup but it would have lost a whole load of other stuff. Edit: Just noticed that you didn't move the files. You copied them. I think you would need to use v8.8.1 to install Media Center in a different location (because I assume the installation location is hard coded inside the packages that V12 installs) having edited the install/uninstall files and registry settings to point to the new location.
Just wondering if anyone has tried Nir Sofer's Advanced Run utility to get round this hanging business. It is just a matter of creating a config file and calling advanced run from a command line/batch file/desktop icon (referencing the config file if it isn't saved in the same folder) and the name of the program to run. It certainly seems to do what it says it does but, for some reason, I don't experience the problem that other people are getting on any of the PCs that have upgraded to 1709 so I can't tell whether it resolves that issue or not.
just done a fresh install of 1709 and mc v12 on my test pc and it is working fine. You could try uninstalling v12 and installing v8.8.1.
Thanks for the suggestions. I did wind up reinstalling with Win 10 1511 updated Apr 2016 (from MSDN) and the v12 WMC package and I got CableCard recording working again. I did also need LAV, too, as you suggested. Once it was working I locked it down (hopefully) so no Windows updates, and all is good. Thanks to everyone who did all the work on this!