I too am having the nVidia DVD decoder error. My MSVIDCTL.dll file is all checked out. I don't know what's up. Anyone have a solution?

What is the status of this hack?  Is MCE2005 usable on  W2003 server?

Well, this has certainly been an adventure so far. With a fresh install of 2003 server and SP1, I followed instructions on page 1 exactly, first error was that media center said my video card (ATI x800xt) was not supported, fixed that by installing UniANCatalyst1156a drivers, which by the way give me the correct ATI control panel features in 2003 Server. Then when running media center setup I encountered a number of critical errors, most I could skip through and go to the next and finally got most of the shell working. Pictures, Music, DVD, and the online services work fine - even videos streamed from aol music work. The my video will play avi and wmv files, and even shows that I recorded in MCE 2005 will play so the codecs are there. DVD's play fine. TV is another story entirely though - when starting media center setup, I get to the Internet connection part, select always on connection, click next and then I get a "A critical Media Center Process has unexpectedly failed.... Code 3" Which is strange because I know media center sees my connection because the online spotlight work fine through it. - Any ideas on what is causing this error? I can next through this and go onto tv setup where I run into a whole other set of problems. The tv tuner setup runs through, sees my settop box, the remote changes channels - it recieves picture and sound in the little setup preview screen (which means I have the right drivers installed -yay!), after configuring the remote, when I finish it goes on to the set up program guide and I get that annoying critical Media Center Process error. Even if I skip through that and select not to use the guide, I still get an error. If I go to live tv and click on it, it does nothing at all, no errror - nothing - but I know that Media Center can get the signal, the drivers and codecs are all there because I can get reception when I do the tv setup. To say it is a bit frustrating is an understatement - I am so close! I am figuring it has something to do with the process that is causing the error in the internet connection setup and tv setup, but I have not been able to figure out what is causing it, or how to fix it. Any idea would be appreciated. The one other thing I have run into is when shutting down server I get a message box that says there is a media extender attached and shutting down will disconnect it - is this a normal message to get? Thanks for any input and by the way - this forum rocks!

PS. The remote so far works great, even the little green button sort of works - it opens up my start menu - which in a way I like even better!

---

Intel 925XE 3.46E, 4 GB DDR2
SATA RAID 0 2x250
ATI X800XT 256mb PCI-E
MCE 2005, Server 2003, Longhorn 5048, SUSE

of course after I wrote that last post I didn't give up, and now basically nevermind it. I went and copied the entire ehome folder from my MCE 05 partition, then reran the install.bat and presto everything works!!! Must have been missing some file somewhere.

---

Intel 925XE 3.46E, 4 GB DDR2
SATA RAID 0 2x250
ATI X800XT 256mb PCI-E
MCE 2005, Server 2003, Longhorn 5048, SUSE

Does this work on Enterprise Server as well?

Yes

Hi there

This is my first posting in this forum and I'm also new to MCE.

My first experience with MCE is a few days old, since three days I have MCE running on my XP Pro box. For the installation I followed Turge's instructions posted earlier in this thread (http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=27&messageid=78447#bm80685). After messing around with .NET 1.1 and after many failed attemps I finally have a working MCE

My attempt ended up in a slightly modified install script I want to share with the community here. I also want to post a few hints and tricks as well.

1. What has been modified in the new install script?

• installation will now stop when .NET Framework 1.0 installer is aborted
• 'MEDIACTR.CAB', 'PLUS.CAB' and 'SONIC.CAB' and are copied only once to save time during installation
• added echo instructions to make things more clear for the user

2. The new folder structure:

• 'MEDIACTR.CAB', 'PLUS.CAB' and 'SONIC.CAB' are included only once to save space
• renamed folder 'ehshell backup' to 'ehShell patched'

3. Where to get the files from?

Instead of installing the whole MCE system on a PC to copy the neccessary files from, I grabbed them from the installation CDs: just have a look at CD1\I386 and CD2\CMPNENTS\MEDIACTR\I386. For uncompressing the files (ending with '_') use the expand command. Example: 'expand EHOCGEN.DL_ ehOCGen.dll'
I was unable to find a file called wstrenderer.ax_ on the CDs, other posts in this thread mentioned to rename 'wstrendr.ax' to 'wstrenderer.ax' (execute 'expand WSTRENDR.AX_ wstrenderer.ax'). Therefore my folder structure doesn't contain 'wstrendr.ax' anymore.

4. Some issues with .NET Framework 1.0 and 1.1:

There was some confusion with .NET 1.1 on my test system (VMware virtual machine). Because the Framework was already installed in version 1.1, I also installed the .NET SDK 1.1. Unfotunaltely I run into trouble 2 times with 1.1. First the MCE installer reported some errors (at instruction 'rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction Freestyle 128 medctroc.inf' in the installation script). The cause was the missing .NET Framework 1.0. After installing Framework 1.0 everything worked fine for me and finally I was able to start MCE. The next problem appeared when I re-tested the installation on a clean XP Pro installation (also using a virtual machine). The installation just worked fine but I was unable to start MCE, the error was caused by the missing .NET Framework 1.1!? The reason was the use of .NET SDK 1.1 for compiling the patched ehshell.exe...
After compiling again with SDK 1.0 I finally had a proper working installation script and all the necessary files :-D
FYI: Microsoft says, different .NET Framework versions can be intalled and used simultaneously on a Windows system. I hope so

Here we go

Folder structure

¦   install.bat
¦   MEDIACTR.CAB
¦   PLUS.CAB
¦   SONIC.CAB
¦
+---Copy Files
¦   +---Windows
¦       +---Inf
¦       ¦       medctroc.inf
¦       ¦       plusoc.inf
¦       ¦       sonic.inf
¦       ¦       sysoc.inf
¦       ¦
¦       +---System32
¦           ¦   ehocgen.dll
¦           ¦   encdec.dll
¦           ¦   medctroc.dll
¦           ¦   mpg2data.ax
¦           ¦   msvidctl.dll
¦           ¦   plusoc.dll
¦           ¦   quartz.dll
¦           ¦   sbe.dll
¦           ¦   sbeio.dll
¦           ¦   vbicodec.ax
¦           ¦   wstpager.ax
¦           ¦   wstrenderer.ax
¦           ¦
¦           +---CatRoot
¦               +---{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}
+---ehShell patched
¦       ehshell.EXE
¦
+---Framewrk
¦       1.0.3705.0.exe
¦
+---Registry
¦       MCE.reg
¦
+---Tools
        sn.exe (from SDK, C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\FrameworkSDK\Bin\sn.exe)

Contents of install.bat:

@echo off
rem Install .NET Framework 1.0 if needed
If NOT EXIST "%systemroot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.3705\ngen.exe" call :InstallFramework

echo.
echo Copy Needed Files
xcopy /E /I /Y /H "Copy Files\Windows" %systemroot%

echo.
echo Copy CAB Files
copy MEDIACTR.CAB %systemroot%\System32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}
copy PLUS.CAB %systemroot%\System32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}
copy SONIC.CAB %systemroot%\System32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}

echo.
echo Register DLLs
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\eHome\custsat.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\encdec.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\msvidctl.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\quartz.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\sbe.dll

echo.
echo MCE installation will start now
echo When you're asked for the CD, press OK and browse for MEDIACTR.CAB
pause
rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction Freestyle 128 medctroc.inf

rem Install Add-Ons
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusTheme 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusSpac 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusGold 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusDavn 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusNatr 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusMpix 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusDancer 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusParty 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusAudio 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusCDLM 128 plusoc.inf

echo.
echo Copy Needed Files Again
xcopy /E /I /Y /H "Copy Files\Windows" %systemroot%

echo.
echo Register DLLs Again
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\eHome\custsat.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\encdec.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\msvidctl.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\quartz.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\sbe.dll

echo.
echo Backup Original ehShell
ren %systemroot%\ehome\ehshell.exe *.bak

echo.
echo Copy Patched ehShell
copy "ehShell patched\ehshell.exe" %systemroot%\ehome

echo.
echo Prevent strong name errors
Tools\sn -Vr *

echo.
echo Setup Registry
regedit /s Registry\MCE.reg

echo.
echo Installation completed. Start %systemroot%\ehome\ehshell.exe and enjoy!
pause
exit

:InstallFramework
echo Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0 not found!
echo .NET 1.0 will be installed, MCE Setup is not compatible with .NET 1.1 or later
echo Existing newer .NET versions will not be affected
echo.
echo Press CTRL-C to abort
pause
Framewrk\1.0.3705.0.exe /Q
rem check again for .NET 1.0, installation might have been aborted of failed
If NOT EXIST "%systemroot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.3705\ngen.exe" exit

Contents of MCE.reg:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Applications]
@=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Categories]
@=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Entry Points]
@=""

ehShell.exe:

Have a look at http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=27&messageid=78447#bm80685. Hint: look for the string "StartupError.NotFreestylePID" in ehshell.il, the line "IL_001e: brtrue.s IL_002d" is found three lines higher.

Make sure you're using .NET SDK version 1.0 for compiling!

Credits, credits, credits: Turge, Cactus, Raphael and tmksnyder!

 

Hi Cactus, Turge and all for a very interesting thread.

I am just about to jump onto the MCE band wagon, all my bits are ordered.

I have come from the land of TiVo where I had a totally hacked box that 'almost' did everything for me. Now I live in Canada and want to try a different route.

I would dearly love to bind MCE with my existing Win2k3 SBS server, and would really like the definitive 'go for it' from you guys as I found a comment from raphael to say he no longer posted these details due to the many problems folks were having.

He also alludes to the fact that MCE OPK is a cleaner way of binding the two together(?). Out of interest how would this be done? Any pointers gratefully received.

Thank you all for the information so far, it has been very interesting reading. My wife thinks I am potty lol jabbering on about turning our mail server into a glorified video recorder

I couldn't really comment since this was only a project to see if it could be done. I never actually had a video tuner working on the server. My primary goal was to install it on XP PRO since I didn't want to lose any functionality. I have since found a hack to regain the "disabled" features in Media Center so that's no longer an issue.

My recommendations would be to install your Server on a second partition and experiment with it. (I'm not sure of what Rafael is referring to with the OPK. I can only assume he's referring to WinPE somehow?)

Sincerely,
a fellow Canadian

Oh that throws a spanner in the works!

I assumed (silly me) that the server install included use of the tuner thus making a MCE 'server'.

-back to the drawing board....and thanks!

Hi robc,

I had it working *with* the tuner. I used a Hauppauge PVR350 myself but I'm sure any card that works on XPMCE will work on the server versions.

I don't think anything on a SBS will differ that much from a normal W2K3 server version, so I don't see why it wouldn't run on SBS2K3. Make it happen

As for the OPK, go for it. I installed it all by hand as mentioned in the very first post of this thread and don't have any experience with OPK. I hope you get it working.

Cheers,
Cacti

WOOT!

Now that's great to hear.

Thanks chaps, I shall report back when I start the project.

Hello,

I can't seem to install anything. Whenever I run rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction Freestyle 128 medctroc.inf, I get a popup box saying "Installation Failed" on win2k3 server. I have no idea why. Anyone hasve any advice?

Thanks.

Jonathan

Any progress on Rollup 1? I've tried throwing down with the DLL files from the EXE and repatching ehShell.exe, but that doesnt seem to work, it seems to want more.

---

Homebuilt MCE Box:
Intel Core 2 Duo 6300
1 Gig of DDR2 667
Intel DG965WHMKR ViiV Platform
2x 500 Gig HDDs in RAID0
4x 300 Gig HDDs in RAID5
2x ATi TV Wonder 650 Tuners (HDTV)
1x ATi TV Wonder 550 Tuner (Cable)

Hi emuman100

Is the .NET Framework installed in version 1.0? It's required for the installer. I also remember a logfile was created somewhere when the installation failed during my tests, this might be a help for you.

BTW: I was unable to get MCE recognizing my PVR150 on XP Pro. Since I wasn't running 2003 server I just reinstalled my PC with MCE and patched it to make it joining domains (just wanna be able to cache my network passwords). Now I have both, XP Pro and MCE.

 

cheers

urxter