Microsoft, how stupid are thee

[Blazer]

I willnot leave my pc on [ default 2:00am] for MS to download WHATEVER updates they feel is needed for my pc, i know i can set auto updates for whenever i want to, but the pc i speak of is ONLY used for Media center, i get home and start to set a recording and OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH Nooooooooooo. media center does not display the GUIDE to choose a channel for recording, for whatever reason its not there.


Media Center need to be an ADDON for the OS and not part OF an OS, after 6 damn years or more you would think such a large company with some of the highest paid people could finally get something right, apparently not.


suggestions for a dependable home recording and Media TV program is welcome, Media Center is the Sh##t can.

and yes i know they are here.

This thread seems to have has lived up to its purpose.

-ViRGE

 

[sivart]

I have a couple of PC's like this (one with Windows 7 MC, one with Vista MC). Vista MC is far more stable in my experience.

I turned off auto-updates and then for MCE updates (guide, etc) I did this:


1) Control Panel
2) System and Security
3) Scheduled Tasks
4) Expand tasks to Microsoft>Windows>MediaCenter
5) Find mcupdate_scheduled and right click on it
6) Choose Properties
7) Click Conditions Tab
8) Unchceck Wake the computer to run this task

Now, as long as I record at least one program a week (or watch something once a week), my guide stays updated and the computer stays asleep unless it's recording or I'm using it.

I manually check for updates about once a month and decide what to install at that point. Never had any issues with the guide on either machine. (Single and dual tuner)

 

[Nothinman]

but the pc i speak of is ONLY used for Media center,

So? It's still Windows and if it has Internet access it's just as vulnerable as any other machine running Windows.

 

[Binky]

I'm confuzzled. What in the hell are you talking about? I've run several VMC and 7MC machines for years and they are very stable if left alone.

 

[Fox5]

If I was just running a TIVO like media center (no blu-ray, online content, premium channels, etc) I would go with Linux and MythTV. IMO the best media center with recording functionality by far. Otherwise, you basically have to suck it up and deal with media center.

 

[coolVariable]

You forgot the stutter bug ... known to Microsoft for 2+ years (since TV Pack) AND STILL NO FIX!!!
What do they say? "It's the fault of the channel operators for not properly encoding their HD television stream!" (which can be viewed without problems by any TV or receiver BUT MCE)

 

[Fox5]

You forgot the stutter bug ... known to Microsoft for 2+ years (since TV Pack) AND STILL NO FIX!!!
What do they say? "It's the fault of the channel operators for not properly encoding their HD television stream!" (which can be viewed without problems by any TV or receiver BUT MCE)

I have a worse problem that makes my HTPC almost useless, at least as far as windows media center is confirmed.

After coming back from resume, the TV functionality of windows media center crashes, whether or not it was in use before hand. Destroys the usefulness of windows media center. (plus, WMC does a really bad job with upscaling dvds, and has no native blu ray support)

 

[Blazer]

I'm confuzzled. What in the hell are you talking about? I've run several VMC and 7MC machines for years and they are very stable if left alone.

i am not one to go hacking any application, i run the setup and made my choices and left it alone, i just expect Media Center to work without having to leave it on 24hrs / 7 days a week, i do however turn it on @ 4 hrs weekly to allow it to download the lattest guide info, i dont use the mce pc to browse the internet or for any other use, its just a mce pc and thats it, i just expect microsoft's media center to work, it seems that ms has a desire to shoot themself in the foot without reason. on a side note as an excersize i have attempted to install linux to a standalone hd many times and been unsucessful, followed guides here and web based.

 

[Blazer]

You forgot the stutter bug ... known to Microsoft for 2+ years (since TV Pack) AND STILL NO FIX!!!
What do they say? "It's the fault of the channel operators for not properly encoding their HD television stream!" (which can be viewed without problems by any TV or receiver BUT MCE)

thats one of the things i dont like about MC is the lack of choice of where to get the guide info, seems a choice would have been a good ideal.

 

[Binky]

Media Center is the Sh##t can.

on a side note as an excersize i have attempted to install linux to a standalone hd many times and been unsucessful, followed guides here and web based.

Ummm, maybe, just maybe, the problem isn't MCE or Linux, but the user or the computer hardware. I know it sounds impossible, but it everything you try fails, maybe there's something else wrong.

 

[coolVariable]

thats one of the things i dont like about MC is the lack of choice of where to get the guide info, seems a choice would have been a good ideal.

AFAIK you can change it with a hack.

Stutter bug = NO fix
Playready bug = NO fix

 

[Blazer]

Binky: it IS a user problem, the user chose Microsoft Media Center to perform the task and was stupid enough to expect it to just work, esp if left alone, with NO hacks, add-ons OR CodeC's, just install and update, then run the MC configuration, afterwards i expected to start the pc ahead of time and be able to set a recording and go to dinner, didnt happen, as of now i am looking to replace it with an off the shelf PVR to record OTA with.

 

[Nothinman]

the user chose Microsoft Media Center to perform the task and was stupid enough to expect it to just work,

That pretty much sums it up. General computing OSes are more capable and complicated than specific purpose, embedded OSes. Which generally means more work to setup and more things to go wrong.

 

[MStele]

Fortunately, the demand for these types of software packages is increasing, so hopefully we will see dedicated HTPC operating systems in the future. I wouldn't even be surprised if MS detached media Center from Windows 7 and created a standalone package, in much the same way WHS came from Server 2003. Even without Microsoft, your going to see more options available over the next couple years. A linux HTPC distro would be nice, except that they won't be able to supply most of the necessary codecs. That is easily solved by third party codec packages that can be purchased seperately though.

For now tho, Win7 Media Center is still very robust and useful. Like the posters above said though, just like any OS its going to take some customization

 

[Blazer]

i remember XPMC and all the time i spent trying to get it stable and dependable, i swore i would not go through that again, i had high hopes that Vista MC would be much more reliable and less maintenance, which it mostly is, i guess i expect to much from MS and MC, i wont purchase a copy of W7 just for MC, and the CodeC's you purchase and install and find another problem and have to update the OS and that breakes the CodeC's, its just a never ending task of problem after problem, I HAVE fixed my problem though, pulled the plug on a dedicated MC box, ill find another use for that pc. as stated looking at an off the shelf PVR solution for my recording of OTA.

 

[Binky]

What is the point of your posts here? You're just bitching and moaning. You aren't trying to get help because you really haven't stated your problem or asked for help.

Complaining without reason will just get you responses like mine saying that you're an idiot and the problem is YOU.

If you want help, ask for help in a real post. Even better, go to a forum specifically for Media Center (e.g. thegreenbutton) and ask for help there. You'll probably get somebody willing to help you get your system running the way you want it.

A default installation of VMC or 7MC works perfectly fine for recording TV shows. You don't need to purchase or add any codecs. If you want to add codecs to play other file types, ask for advice and don't just add some lame-ass codec pack that breaks things. Shark007 codec packs work well without breaking things.

 

[JackMDS]

http://forums.anandtech.com/member.php?u=387Binky what is wrong with you? :awe: - :sneaky: -

Don't you know that asking (and accepting) help is Unmanly (anti Macho). :thumbsdown:

Calling something else "Stupid" is a much better approach. :hmm:

.

 

[coolVariable]

Fortunately, the demand for these types of software packages is increasing, so hopefully we will see dedicated HTPC operating systems in the future. I wouldn't even be surprised if MS detached media Center from Windows 7 and created a standalone package, in much the same way WHS came from Server 2003. Even without Microsoft, your going to see more options available over the next couple years. A linux HTPC distro would be nice, except that they won't be able to supply most of the necessary codecs. That is easily solved by third party codec packages that can be purchased seperately though.

For now tho, Win7 Media Center is still very robust and useful. Like the posters above said though, it just can't do some basic media center functions such as watch live tv or record and watch tv

Fixed that for you.

 

[coolVariable]

What is the point of your posts here? You're just bitching and moaning. You aren't trying to get help because you really haven't stated your problem or asked for help.

Complaining without reason will just get you responses like mine saying that you're an idiot and the problem is YOU.

If you want help, ask for help in a real post. Even better, go to a forum specifically for Media Center (e.g. thegreenbutton) and ask for help there. You'll probably get somebody willing to help you get your system running the way you want it.

A default installation of VMC or 7MC works perfectly fine for recording TV shows. You don't need to purchase or add any codecs. If you want to add codecs to play other file types, ask for advice and don't just add some lame-ass codec pack that breaks things. Shark007 codec packs work well without breaking things.

Wow! You are either a ***** or have some anger management issues.

Have you ever used VMC or 7MC? Are you in the US?
If you did, you would know about the myriad of known issues and bugs with media center that Microsoft has not fixed since Vista came out!

 

[MStele]

Fixed that for you.

I'm not sure if what your saying is necessarily a bad thing. HTPCs (in their current form)are not meant to replace your cable/sat box. They are meant to be a combined solution for playback of various media types like music and video.. Blu-ray, dvd and music can all be handled with ease (with the appropriate codecs).

Obviously DVR capabilities are useful, but that is not the primary goal of MC at the moment. From my understanding there are no way to route a digital video signal (hdmi) through an HTPC. You can do analog signals such as analog cable, s-video, and component but that won't help you much in the future from an HD standpoint. Then you have HDCP to consider, which means decoding an HD signal from a cable/sat source may not be legally feasable in the forseable future. HTPCs are meant to be point source, just like your dvd player or game console. For now we have to be content with whatever overpriced DVR capabilities are offered by providers.

So, I agree that it has some pieces missing, but when you look at the scope of what MC is meant to be those pieces aren't missing insofar as they are precurser to what might become viable features in future releases, assuming the television industry will allow it, which is unlikely considering that their ability to restrict content is only become more pronounced. It was simple when it was just a matter of capturing an analog signal. Things are a whole lot more complicated now.

 

[Binky]

Wow! You are either a ***** or have some anger management issues.

Have you ever used VMC or 7MC? Are you in the US?
If you did, you would know about the myriad of known issues and bugs with media center that Microsoft has not fixed since Vista came out!

I wasn't talking to you, but I'll go with *****.

I've run systems based on MCE2005, VMC, and 7MC, all in the U.S. I currently have a 7MC system with 4 digital tuners and one analog tuner. It's connected to a 6TB WHS box. I have two Linksys extenders, one xbox360, and a second VMC computer hooked up to the 7MC machine via a gigabit network. So yeah, I have experience with Media Center in the U.S.

The "myriad of issues" are generally related to user or hardware problems, or DRM. The DRM issues can hardly be blamed on MS. They are stuck with these idiotic rules (HDCP, DRM, etc.) and we are too.

 

[stash]

I'm not sure what these myriad of issues are either. I've also been using MC since MCE2005, and now have two cable card tuners streaming to an Xbox 360 in the living room and a Linksys extender in another room. We use the system to watch live and recorded TV every day and it's rock solid. I have the system set to auto-update and there has never been an issue.

 

[Raduque]

I built my parents a Vista Media Center PC. It uses their cable box and is networked to a storage PC that holds all the movies and TV shows they want. It also records and plays back TV with no issues. (I only added two things to it: FFDShow and Haali/Matroska Splitter). They have no issues with it, it works flawlessly.

They love the guide, love the DVR and love the interface.

I still don't know wtf the OP's problem is, he's not very articulate.

 

[coolVariable]

I'm not sure if what your saying is necessarily a bad thing. HTPCs (in their current form)are not meant to replace your cable/sat box. They are meant to be a combined solution for playback of various media types like music and video.. Blu-ray, dvd and music can all be handled with ease (with the appropriate codecs).

Obviously DVR capabilities are useful, but that is not the primary goal of MC at the moment. From my understanding there are no way to route a digital video signal (hdmi) through an HTPC. You can do analog signals such as analog cable, s-video, and component but that won't help you much in the future from an HD standpoint. Then you have HDCP to consider, which means decoding an HD signal from a cable/sat source may not be legally feasable in the forseable future. HTPCs are meant to be point source, just like your dvd player or game console. For now we have to be content with whatever overpriced DVR capabilities are offered by providers.

So, I agree that it has some pieces missing, but when you look at the scope of what MC is meant to be those pieces aren't missing insofar as they are precurser to what might become viable features in future releases, assuming the television industry will allow it, which is unlikely considering that their ability to restrict content is only become more pronounced. It was simple when it was just a matter of capturing an analog signal. Things are a whole lot more complicated now.

You should do some serious research into Media Center, since everything in that post is just plain wrong.

1. Media Center is absolutely meant to replace your DVR/STB
2. DVR is the primary use of Media Center
3. I certainly like my HD television through my media center (which you say is impossible)
4. HDCP ... google 'playready'

=> having broken DVR functionality some 5 years after the product premiered (and 2 years since this is a known bug) is pretty pathetic.
(don't believe me ... head over to some of the media center specific forums and have a look at what their longest threads are.)

 

[coolVariable]

I wasn't talking to you, but I'll go with *****.

you have some serious issues.