Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

bill martin — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:03:57 GMT

I get the blue screen on LEGAL CONTENT that I have recorded. What is up with that?

re: Blue Screen of DRM ; or The Of Windows Media Center

David Farmer — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:05:59 GMT

I know the cause of all the blue tint on windows media player(DMR). I'm not sure if this is true for all but this is what worked for me. I went to the NVIDIA control panel and under video and Television this is what I did. First I went to "adjust video color settings" I origonaly had the NVIDA settings but you need to check the box for "use video player settings". Then I went to "adjust video image settings" and checked the boxs that said to use the player settings. I tryed the movie and it worked. If anyone reads this and does not under stand it please ask me.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Deaths Low Volt Jester — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:18:10 GMT

You can blame DRM, you can blame microsoft, you can blame the cable companies, hell you can blame the world. I come from all forms of the low volt world. Whether home theater or automation, pc tech or networking (Cisco Certified), telco or cable industries, I've been involved in it all. What this all boils down to is the greed of a few companies, and, unfortunately, you can leave MS, DRM and CC out of the equation. DRM came into existence because of 5C encryption which was brought forth by a few major MEDIA companies ( five to be exact, hence forth 5C Encrytpion) because they were losing money to pirated media. Summed up they Approached ("read as bribed") the FCC and the World Trade Organization as well as a few other World entities and asked for new security protocols to be implemented into all media, "because of the risk and apparent threat of unlawful reproduction of copyrighted media, and/or unlawful distribution of said media." Basically, because some big time media wigs are afraid of smaller pockets they are making everyones life hell. Cable Companies by LAW have to have 5C encryption instilled in any and all copyrighted media they are distributing (like HBO, Showtime, etc.) But for the ease of it all, they are just instilling it in all Digital Media (remember that, it will be mentioned later). So for Comcast and Cox Users channels 2-78 are not DRM channels...above they are. Any devices that are manufactured to decipher Digital Media have to have DRM and 5C encryption. These devices are Cable Boxes, Cable Cards, DVR's, PVR's, Digital Ready TV's, Satellite Boxes, DVD Players, DVD Recorders, TV Tuner Cards, etc. Basically we can yell at these people for making our life hell, but all they are doing is following law. (Side note for linux users, yes we can get around it, but linux is open-source and "free" so to speak, so they do not fall under these mandatory guidelines. They do not profit from their distribution, as Microsoft does.).

So there it is, in a nutshell, Sony, Toshiba and their whorish friends were afraid that might lose a few bucks and created this new type of protection to protect their pockets, and made sure everyone has to abide to it. Gotta Love Capitalism.

So, let me ask you guys this.....Do you really believe that the Digital Conversion coming next year is really to expand the EMS Reponse systems (that already run on digital broadcast) or is the cell phone system (wait aren't they digital already) or is it so YOU WILL NEED A CABLE CARD in you box to use it as a dvr. Remember all analog broadcasts are terminated, which means the analog signal you are currently feeding your box will no longer be there. So your tuner card, better be digital ready, or you best have that expensive cable card tuner card.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Eric Eskam — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:16:57 GMT

Meh - I want HD content, and unfortunately all of it is encumbered by some sort of DRM. So I took the path of least resistance - I stuck with my cable company and got a Tivo Series 3. Does all I want, and "it just works" (well, once the inept cable company figured out how to configure my account in their billing system so it would authorize my cable cards).

I like the idea of Media Center or Myth, but dealing with cable labs is just ridiculous. I'm hoping things like video podcasting will tilt the balance back towards us, the consumers.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Squonk — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:33:10 GMT

Jesper you remember me from tech-ed traing back in the day good ol' hacking the M$ gravytrain well since then i've stepped up and moved into the consumer on demand market and it was interesting the DRM issues these folks talked about we've been dealing with on a more legal issue please everybody here and in the wind come join us EFF.org Electronic Freedom Foundation and take your rights back! its the polititians who fear the armed peasants. anyway yes cluge software makes everybodys life miserable but stick a piece of vxworks code into a microprocessor and build a $10 device to do everything you need in an MCE and tell the bloatware what you think about itself. seems everybody else did the talking for me so these are the only 2 cents i have left. pleasure finding your blog whilst looking to solve a mce problem

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

orlusha — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:36:59 GMT

Hi Bambi, You've almost found a correct term for it.

Here is the stomach, digestion is its function. When a man has a diarrhea, it is called a DISFUNCTION.

So, media playback is called "functionality", so DRM should be regarded a "DISFUNCTIONALITY".

Let us call "DISFUNCTIONALITY (TM)" an operation that requires time and cost to develop, consumes resources AND IS DIRECTED AGAINST END USER NEEDS.

Please use this word in your reviews to distinguish between features and disfeatures to make it clear for everybody.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

petro — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:59:24 GMT

Гореть тебе виста в огне

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Xigam — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:26:23 GMT

@Dean

I have heard of the MythTV extenders, but have not seen much about it. I _think_ MythTV does work on Windows too .. so there might be a migration path there that still includes Windows.

@Heatlesssun

You are right about the cable DRM.. there is the cable DRM that your box or cablecard has to decode, and they are the ones slowing the standards for PC-CableCARD adapters, and requiring Microsoft to honor their encryption via MS DRM.. Microsoft is trying to play ball with the cable companies, but the cable companies are very restrictive.

The reason that Microsoft MCE has the DRM that obey's the broadcast flag/digitalHD is more because of the content providers than Microsoft.

@ nobody

The broadcast flag that HBO, on-demand, and other preimum channels broadcast over the analog signal is what is triggering the MCE DRM.

But if the DRM is working then you won't notice it until you try to convert the file to another format, or convert/play it on a non-windows-DRM device like an iPod.

Or of course, if your Windows DRM breaks like has happened to many of us, then you will notice too..

MPEG 4, is 10 times more compressed, if you want to record and archive a season of shows, then you can reduce your storage from 3.5 gigs per hour to as low as 350 megs per hour, or maybe you want to convert to watch on your iPod, you'd have to crack the DRM first, or strip the broadcast flag from the analog signal before it enters your computer. Doing that is going to get harder and harder.

If DRM worked, _universally_and_without_fail_. I guess that would be one thing.. but it doesn't. And so the solution is no DRM. Amazon is now selling MP3's, so perhaps sometimes soon you'll be able to stream/download video without DRM..

Netflix offers a video streaming service for movies, but you can't save/view them on other devices, or even pipe it over into Media Center which I would have liked to do. So if I wanted to use Netflix's service, I'd have to view it on a Windows computer because of DRM, and in the browser not MCE. Same with all video services that I have checked out.

Not only that, with DRM it seems that you would often be getting into a situation where you are paying for the media over and over in order to view it on other devices.

Maybe it's a wider problem then Microsoft. Microsoft is just more willing to play ball with the content people on their DRM quest than others.

DRM stops legitimate consumers from having the best possible media experience.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Bambi — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:16:08 GMT

RE: Yeah, DRM sucks, but tell your cable company that, not Microsoft.

The problem actually lies on three or more sides.

DRM wouldn't work if the hardware didn't have the DRM built in (hardware like DVD players/recorders for computers, video cards, etc., phones, cable boxes, etc.), ~~ AND ~~ if Microsoft (and other OS vendors) didn't enable the content providers, particularly the ubiquitous Microsoft products, particularly the DRM infested Vista. That's why I call Vista, The Enabler.

Without Microsoft's enabling of the content providers with 'control over what YOU BUY' through the operating system and without CE companies providing 'features' CUSTOMERS DO NOT WANT, then, the content providers (entertainment cartels) would have to provide something that works or not make as much money.

Either way, once you get Operating System vendors and Consumer Electronics manufactures to stop giving in to the entertainment cartels, then you only have to deal with one side of the equation...the content providers aka the entertainment cartels.

But there is a fourth side of the equation as well. Customers. What are customers willing to sacrifice to be able to view movies, TV shows, connect with their devices, play their music, etc. on their computers, phones, PDAs, etc.

As customers, I think we all have to think long and hard on that one; not only for ourselves but what our actions -- or inaction -- will mean to our children and grandchildren? Each generation will have to deal with ever increasing restrictions and invasive behaviors by the entertainment cartels and worse. It's the Pavlov's Dog syndrome yet again -- they will never be satisified with what they could get from customers before as technology gets more and more sophisticated.

I think earlier generations realized this. Do we?

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Dean — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:52:02 GMT

Xigam: thanks, I was not aware of that! But then, with TiVo and they way they handle commersials nowadays, it doesn't bode well for commersial PVR software.

By the way, if you have a modded XBOX, you can get MythTV extenders for it if you ever choose to go the MythTV route. The only limitation is that an XBOX isn't powerful enough to decode HD content...

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Heatlesssun — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 02:57:02 GMT

I've been using Windows Media Center XP and now Vista since 2003. Right now I do not have any of Media Centers (have two) plugged to a cable box. I used OTA high def and analog cable, with ZERO problems. I'm trying to figure out how to do a cable card Media Center, but its not a super big deal, most of the TV I like comes through the analog and OTA.

How EXACTLY are you connecting your cable box to your Media Center? Blame Microsoft all you want, but its the cable companies that are encrypting the high-def signals out of the cable box. Component should work fine however.

I've tried MythTV and LinuxMCE and they ARE NOT SIMPLE TO SETUP EVEN NOW!!!!!!! I might try to work with them some more, but they STILL wouldn't solve the problem of getting a digital high def singal from the cable box, that's encrpyted, and has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DVR SYSTEM!

If I'm wrong please correct me.

Bottom line, I've got two Vista Media Centers with a total of four analog cable and for OTA digital tuners. I can copy and burn as much as I like as LONG as the source media is not encrypted.

Yeah, DRM sucks, but tell you cable company that, not Microsoft.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

lmf — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:53:28 GMT

Dan:

It's guys like you who have made Windows just as annoying as Linux. It doesn't "just work" so give it a rest. As for "research" why the heck should I have to do that?

I don't know that Linux offers a better solution, but at least once it's set up it works, for crying out loud. It just takes longer to get it working. But answers like yours are useless.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

JD — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:15:04 GMT

While no one wants to get into a debate about how to properly diagnose a specific tech support issue, I can appreciate the extreme annoyance of having your system fall down around your ankles.

The more important discussion is around the DRM restrictions that continue to be put in place by content providers. Until those minds can be changed, the only way to have a consistent and acceptable user experience will be to live outside the law.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Xigam — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:46:29 GMT

Hi.

@Jesper

I've had this same issue with MCE.. it took me about an hour to fix it. I'm a tech/programmer guy by trade.. I know this would stump many people that don't have the tech skills.

Eventually, reinstalling WMP 10 and following the KB article, I got everything working again..

FYI, my two cents.. XP MCE 2005 is great. I love it. I use it with two modded XBOX's running MS MCX and XBMC. That way I can play anything.. (Because MCE won't play DivX!)

But you are 100% right that DRM is killing it Microsoft.. I bought my girlfriend a PlayforSure device.. the only thing sure about it was that every month all her licensed media would not play and we would have to reformat the device.. I stopped paying for Rhaspody, and have found it easier to just download MP3's and put them on.. no DRM, no issues *EVER*. I won't again use DRM music. I'll go illegal first, even though I really liked the idea of being legal, and was willing to pay some cash for it, I am not willing to pay in sweat for it.

When I record a show in MCE, if the copy protection is enabled.. Good luck viewing that on other devices that don't support windows media player copy protection.. If you look around, you will be able to find a box that will strip the cdma broadcast flag from the signal before you feed it into your computer.. So you can get around the cdma broadcast flag with some hardware.

So.. I love XP MCE 2005.. it's DRM is not invasive enough to drive me to another product.. BUT..

Vista won't work with my V1 MCE Extenders (old XBox's), one of the reasons it doesn't is because of Vista's DRM.

And Vista's DRM is throughout the system.. I really doubt that my next media machine will be Windows BECAUSE of the DRM. Anytime I mess with it, I get hit with usability issues that only a tech can solve, and when I'm watching TV.. I don't want to be working, I want to be playing..

So I'd like to hear what you think of LinuxMCE..

I myself and looking at MythTV and a (future) Linux port of XBMC to run on a small fanless box for my next media center setup.. I don't have faith in MS dumping DRM.. but I do have alot of faith in me dumping DRM..

@Dean

DVRMSToolbox for Microsoft MCE 2005/Vista does an awesome job of skipping commercials. I think it can use the same Dragon(something) program to analyze the media stream that can also be used on MythTV and BeyondTV. It's 3rd party.. by default, you cannot skip.. but you can add it easy.

@Dan

I think you are the one that needs to do more research. It doesn't sound like you know what you are talking about.

Most people use XP MCE 2005 with a cablebox to decode the cable-encoding, the cdma-a broadcast flag is something different.. XP MCE 2005 does indeed work with protected channels.. cable descrambler vs cdma-a broadcast flag.. look it up and get current.

re: Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

boulder — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:39:07 GMT

DRM is pure filth.

It is high time that tax payers press their politicians for laws that give them some kind of minimum rights.

For instance : if the music and entertainment industry prevents you from creating a backup copy of your CD's and DVD's through copy protection, then they should be forced to swap your scatched copies with a new one for free.

And that is just one example of the battle that needs to be fought.

It is high time that law makers stand up for the general public instead of the "copyright holders", who are permitted to use criminal activities in order to catch other so-called criminals.

Enough is enough.