I'm so confused.....W10 after WMC

[rip]

There's so many different choices depending on configuration and needs; I thought I'd list mine here to get some way to go
I've got Suddenlink (west coast), a couple of PCs with TV tuners, and I'd simply like to record TV shows (future or current) and watch some of my ripped DVDs on my home network; soon to be all W10.
Tuners are cheapo WinTv Hauppague tuners and cable is basic minimum.
No HBO or anything else; I record NASCAR events and movies from TMC. That's about it.
I'm looking at Kodi and Media Portal so far. Kodi needs a 'back end' like MP? So, I'd have to run the two concurrently? OR, ????
thanks in advance,
Dana

 

[Kartajan]

Best way to get a good answer is more detail in intended use.
How many PC's?
Do you need a unified experience, or different at each PC?
Is "regular watching" straight to the TV, other devices, something else?
How big is your movie collection- a few mp4's on a thumb drive, a regular HDD with DVD rips, multiple terabytes of BD and DVD rips on a NAS, something else?
I am assuming "Clear QAM" digital signal...

Kodi is very configurable (this is good and bad at the same time), but as far as "native DVR", it needs something else running for a recorder somewhere.

 

[rip]

Best way to get a good answer is more detail in intended use.
How many PC's?
Do you need a unified experience, or different at each PC?
Is "regular watching" straight to the TV, other devices, something else?
How big is your movie collection- a few mp4's on a thumb drive, a regular HDD with DVD rips, multiple terabytes of BD and DVD rips on a NAS, something else?
I am assuming "Clear QAM" digital signal...

Kodi is very configurable (this is good and bad at the same time), but as far as "native DVR", it needs something else running for a recorder somewhere.

thanks for your reply,
unified is fine; straight TV is right from the cable out of the wall; movie collection is from multiple PCs i.e. living room, bedroom, office. (multipule TBs.)

 

[Kartajan]

for that kind of setup I would look at first consolidating your content first.

this is what I would do:
1) Consolidate all your media to a central location. I would put it all on a NAS for ease of access and backup- but a big HDD on one PC intended to be "always on" can do the same thing

2) check NextPVR out. If it meets your needs, set that up to save your recordings on the same NAS/ Big HDD/ Whatever.

3) Evaluate Plex/ Emby/ MediaPortal to determine which best satisfies your usage.

For example, this is what I am running (I chose a HW based DVR, more expensive up front but reduces tuner consumption, Tablo only beat Tivo for their terms on a lifetime subscription):
Feeds:
Synology DS-412+ (NAS Duties, 5.2TB used of 8.1TB current capacity)
Zotac IQ-01 (Plex Server, i7 4770t/ 16G RAM/ 256G Samsung 850 EVO mSATA w/200GB Free)
(2x) HDHomeRun Connect (OTA FEED Live Tuners)
Tablo Quad (OTA 4 tuner OTA FEED DVR)

Clients:
(2x) NVidia Shields
Nexus Player
2 PC's
Misc Phones/ Tablets

 

[Emo]

You can install WMC on Win 10, even on build 1511. I thought I had to make the same choice and stay with Win 8.1 Pro WMC on my HTPC but if done correctly, WMC works perfectly on Win 10. Of course nobody can guarantee that it will work forever but there is an active community dedicated to keep it running (tons of threads on thegreenbutton.tv and mydigitallife.info forums). Here is one of the pages with instructions: http://www.ilicomm.com/how-to-install-windows-media-centre-on-windows-10/ Here are some things to note:

1. If you have previous WMC installation (whether successful or failed) run the Uninstaller.cmd with Admin rights, then open Admin Cmd and run sfc /scannow, reboot.
2. Open Cmd prompt as Admin and navigate to your WMC64 folder with unzipped files. Run _TestRights.cmd and let it finish and open a new window, then run Installer.cmd from the new window. It should complete the install without errors, otherwise repeat the steps.
3. At this point you should be able to find WMC in the Apps=> Windows Accessories folder. If you can't find it, navigate to your Windows/ehome directory and create a shortcut to the ehshell.exe file.

I also tested this workaround on my HTPC, on my desktop (dual boot Win 7/Win10 ) and my laptop Win 10 machine. I can record/view up to 3 shows on my Silicondust HD Prime including premium channels (HBO), although not simultaneously on two or more computers.

I hope this helps.

 

[nerp]

You can install WMC on Win 10, even on build 1511. I thought I had to make the same choice and stay with Win 8.1 Pro WMC on my HTPC but if done correctly, WMC works perfectly on Win 10. Of course nobody can guarantee that it will work forever but there is an active community dedicated to keep it running (tons of threads on thegreenbutton.tv and mydigitallife.info forums). Here is one of the pages with instructions: http://www.ilicomm.com/how-to-install-windows-media-centre-on-windows-10/ Here are some things to note:

1. If you have previous WMC installation (whether successful or failed) run the Uninstaller.cmd with Admin rights, then open Admin Cmd and run sfc /scannow, reboot.
2. Open Cmd prompt as Admin and navigate to your WMC64 folder with unzipped files. Run _TestRights.cmd and let it finish and open a new window, then run Installer.cmd from the new window. It should complete the install without errors, otherwise repeat the steps.
3. At this point you should be able to find WMC in the Apps=> Windows Accessories folder. If you can't find it, navigate to your Windows/ehome directory and create a shortcut to the ehshell.exe file.

I also tested this workaround on my HTPC, on my desktop (dual boot Win 7/Win10 ) and my laptop Win 10 machine. I can record/view up to 3 shows on my Silicondust HD Prime including premium channels (HBO), although not simultaneously on two or more computers.

I hope this helps.

Very tempted to do this but I'd hate for something to break it. And I'm not the kind of person that doesn't install updates on his machines. Hmmm.

 

[lupi]

Now that I've got a full time win10 rig up may try this and see how it goes.

 

[nerp]

Now that I've got a full time win10 rig up may try this and see how it goes.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Charlie98]

I'm still holding out with W7 on my HTPC (and all my other machines...) primarily for WMC. I'll be curious to see if you can get WMC on W10 reliably.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm still holding out with W7 on my HTPC (and all my other machines...) primarily for WMC. I'll be curious to see if you can get WMC on W10 reliably.

Again -- many thanks to Emo for directing us to the web-page of instructions to install WMC under Win 10. It was instrumental to me for offering the WMC download -- apparently at an MS web-page.

So I finally got WMC installed on my Win 10. The Win 10 had been installed as "clean" as opposed to an "upgrade" to the Win 7 boot-system disk.

So right away, I notice certain things. WMC won't initially recognize my Silly Dust HDHR' tuner devices. It won't configure more than three of the six HDHR' tuners, or allow the recognition of more than three.

So far -- because I'll continue to fiddle with this and am always the first to wonder if I took a wrong turn somewhere -- it won't do the handshake for Digital CableCARD. What I got left after that crossroads was a set of guide options for my local cable-provider that only shows basic cable in the channel lineup, and doesn't display those channels anyway.

So at least (and so far), HDHR DVR with HDHR VIEW goes farther as a viable option than does WMC.

Somehow, I might only suspect that the DRM feature required by WMC for encrypted channels is governed by the OS in some way. I say this after proper installation of PlayReady and a proper path through the WMC "Tasks" and Setup menus.

Yet, Win 10 touts a TV, movie and media dialog, but the only options seem to be net TV subscriptions or options promoted through that dialog. Am I wrong about this?

Oh, and just to make it clear -- WMC installed the "Digital CableCard Advisor" in addition to "PlayReady."

Go figure. MS doesn't want you to have Cable-TV access under Win 10?

 

[Kartajan]

The biggest issue with forcing WMC onto Win 10 is that it is such a kludge. So many ways that seeming unrelated bits could cause the unsupported WMC parts to fail. DRM continues to be the biggest PITA for anyone saddled with that requirement... (Which was one of the factors that drove me back to OTA)

I was reading elsewhere about a user who wanted to execute an upgrade for a win7 setup and 20TB of DRM recordings..

Seems like they are just asking for trouble..

As far as the "subscription based content", it is the desire of content providers to preserve their revenue stream that is driving a lot of that. They have recognized that many of the "millennials" are skipping cable.

 

[lupi]

WMC should recognize 4 tuners, above that you'd need to do something to bypass the limit.

 

[Kartajan]

WMC should recognize 4 tuners, above that you'd need to do something to bypass the limit.

This worked on Win7/ 8... no idea what happens w/ 10, but my guess is that it might work since the WMC bits were basically pulled out of a win8 setup...

http://www.mychannellogos.com/tunersalad

same site has other WMC tweaks.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

This worked on Win7/ 8... no idea what happens w/ 10, but my guess is that it might work since the WMC bits were basically pulled out of a win8 setup...

http://www.mychannellogos.com/tunersalad

same site has other WMC tweaks.

Yeah -- I'd come across the Tuner Salad thing some few years ago. My main (mostly-only) HTPC-functioning system has a Hauppauge 2250 card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...116036&cm_re=Hauppauge-_-15-116-036-_-Product

The household LAN has two SD HDHR' triple-tuner cable-card units. There are two tuners on the Hauppauge card. That particular Win 7 system's limitation for the precise number of tuners I've forgotten. But WMC integrates the OTA deployment of the 2250 card (two tuners) with the SD HDHR'-s.

Something else is going on with the WMC hack-install for Win 10. I'll play with it some more, and get back here with my assessment. But there's a problem with the cable-card "Advisor." Maybe tomorrow, I'll boot into Win 10 and go through the hoops again.

 

[Kartajan]

for the WMC into win10 hack, I understand that sequencing is very important.

From the MDL forums:

I normally install fresh 10, DCA, LAV, and tuner drivers before even WMC. The first thing i run in WMC is DCA it's up in extras. Then setup custom all 40 pages. You also need to update playready from within WMC.

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/th...ives/page534?p=1244535&viewfull=1#post1244535

 

[BonzaiDuck]

for the WMC into win10 hack, I understand that sequencing is very important.

From the MDL forums:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/th...ives/page534?p=1244535&viewfull=1#post1244535

Well, I didn't go back and follow a more careful install sequence. But we're up and running -- more or less.

I may have to use Tuner Salad. I get at most three tuners out of six.

I also notice that the "hourglass-circle" seems endless in certain steps of setup, and I don't quite remember things happening that way setting up under Win 7.

BUT! I got all my premium channels under Windows 10, including HDNET for an Alllman Bros. concert. It's all there.

On the other hand, we've discussed the sliding "GUIDE" quality, so I'm not giving up on my quest, either with the Silly-Dust Kickstarter project, or something else.

It at least proves that you can install Media Center under Win 10 and get your premiums. Just some bugs to iron out, but not the sort of bugs people would worry about with a "hacked" media center.

UPDATE: There have always been quirks and complications setting up WMC to my own experience. I think I've re-discovered that making WMC "see" and configure four of the six tuners is best done by temporarily exiting WMC running on another system. Now I have the four-tuner limit and all my premiums.

But the issue of sliding guide quality is now the main uncertainty. I'll plug this sucker into another HDMI port at the AVR and give it a try for a while. This makes it easier to "let go" of Windows 7, but I'm not ready for that.

To think that once upon a time, I just wanted "TV on my computer." Then, vice-versa. With HD. And DVR.

With sprinkles . . .

 

[nerp]

Been reading through forums. Think I'll just stick with Windows 7. :/

 

[Kartajan]

Been reading through forums. Think I'll just stick with Windows 7. :/

Definitely a valid point of view, but do I recommend keeping an eye out for your own "exit path" from 7 as the "Home Entertainment Hub", whatever that path may be...

 

[nerp]

Definitely a valid point of view, but do I recommend keeping an eye out for your own "exit path" from 7 as the "Home Entertainment Hub", whatever that path may be...

Oh I have. We're ready to cut the cord but too lazy to pull the trigger. Then I have to find a use for a somewhat slower AMD box. I did secure a Windows 10 license for it, so the machine is ready for a new life. Been looking at Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Microsoft wireless display adapter, ETC. We migth end up going with more than one of those hooked up to the same TV plus OTA HD and be solid. What I'll miss is the DVR and using VLC to watch recordings anywhere from any device.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Oh I have. We're ready to cut the cord but too lazy to pull the trigger. Then I have to find a use for a somewhat slower AMD box. I did secure a Windows 10 license for it, so the machine is ready for a new life. Been looking at Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Microsoft wireless display adapter, ETC. We migth end up going with more than one of those hooked up to the same TV plus OTA HD and be solid. What I'll miss is the DVR and using VLC to watch recordings anywhere from any device.

Well, I've been using the hack for a few days now, checking all the channels, looking for any hint of a problem. So far haven't found anything.

The WMC64 folder of files provided in links by another poster is apparently the Win 8.1 version.

Once you have it handshaking with your network tuner devices, it offers as much in available tuners that you get with Win 7 without Tuner Salad.

I don't HAVE to drop Win 7 for my dual-boot Win10 for now, but I can see it going that way. My green button is just another chiclet on the W10 start menu now . . .

With the "net TV" options, some communicating directly with your TV, or through your AVR, one has to ask where this is all going because everywhere you turn there's a subscription service, but your cable-internet-TV-phone bundle has a comfortable certainty, familiarity and known price.

You'd rather integrate all of that with the more established cable service you pay for, but you don't want any duplication or a pile of little monthly bills. And no doubt -- OTA has enough content to make it feasible to cut the cable.

 

[Charlie98]

You'd rather integrate all of that with the more established cable service you pay for, but you don't want any duplication or a pile of little monthly bills. And no doubt -- OTA has enough content to make it feasible to cut the cable.

And that, to me, is really the crux... we cut the cable many years ago (even pre-HTPC) While Netflix is keeping us interested, I'm going insane with my wife complaining about nothing to watch. Hulu sucked, Amazon is an idle diversion that is hard to navigate without a better remote. I'm fixing to try Kodi with Assassin's 1Stream and see if that's a better solution. It's just difficult because nothing integrates with WMC anymore... :\

 

[BonzaiDuck]

And that, to me, is really the crux... we cut the cable many years ago (even pre-HTPC) While Netflix is keeping us interested, I'm going insane with my wife complaining about nothing to watch. Hulu sucked, Amazon is an idle diversion that is hard to navigate without a better remote. I'm fixing to try Kodi with Assassin's 1Stream and see if that's a better solution. It's just difficult because nothing integrates with WMC anymore... :\

Yes -- they discontinued the Netflix plug-in for WMC. Because WMC provides an integration of OTA and cable (with encrypted DRMs), it does integrate those and various devices pretty well. But for that reason, I've not tried HULU and other options. I haven't enabled my HDTV for internet access to these things, nor the AVR which feeds it.

Have you tried the WMC hack for Windows 10? I've got it working great on one system. Can't get it to install properly on my laptop, but that's a low priority. I can boot to Win 7 with the laptop or use the HDHR VIEW program on it with Windows 10 (but no encrypted channels yet, or not many.)

 

[guachi]

For me, I'm going to run my W7 system and tuner card (Ceton) into the ground. I will, eventually/probably, no longer be able to record shows on it and then all I will basically lose is new shows.

Thankfully I can remove commercials, encode them (to .mkv for me) and keep what I have basically forever.

Since I actually like the idea of owning my shows, I don't mind taking the time to remove/encode the shows. And if I have the file I never have to worry if one of the numerous services might actually have what I'm looking for. Or wait for a disk to arrive. Or be tempted to rip the DVDs of the disks we do get.

 

[rip]

Wow, I'd forgotten about this thread.
I have tried MediaPortal and found it to be way over the top for my needs. I spent two days trying to get it to do something, anything. Install, uninstall, re-install, re-install W10 because it borked Windows so bad it was just easier to start fresh. arrggghhh
It doesn't totally uninstall itself - probably left some junk in the AppData folder or ???? I gave up.
Anyone use the Hauppauge Media software? I've got a WinTv 1800
Just to reiterate; I've watch analog cable like TMC, AMC, and sports, I record shows, and I rip DVDs, a hundred or more. 4 or 6 machines on my network; two of them have tuners.

 

[Kartajan]

rip: did you look at emby/nextdvr?