akaliel:

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize this was a strict whine and *** thread. 

So why aren't you using Sage then?  Being unable to record virtually anything at all?  I use VMC b/c it's maybe 5% of the time I get that annoying popup, so it's tolerable.  I don't see why I'm getting so much grief from guys like you and Tikker simply b/c I'm not "plagued" by this error and don't have a grand tale of woe.

it's clear you've obviously not actually read either thread, or have any comprehension of what's actually gone on in the past regarding this issuee

I've been following this for a long time and have been following the various broadcast flags for years. No, I didn't read all 30+ pages of this thread b/c it's mostly angry complaints to MS that I am already familiar with. I'm having this same problem guys, just to a lesser severity.

I'm also having a much more annoying problem with the Component out for my HD3650. I can't find anyone else who's having the same issue. A bloody flashing line in the middle of my screen, like the tearing from an out of sync refresh. I'd like to strangle ATI and MS both. Think I'll just get that Xonar HDMI 1.3 though, that looks wicked.

Has anyone tried connecting your STB to your Tuner card via the coax? 
My brother did that with Telus TV (whom I called and verified they do pass through whatever flags are present in the signal onto us).  But my brother has never even heard of this error.  He's been using Telus TV for over a year.  He's got some ancient Tuner card with only a coax input.  It's odd but who knows, might be worth trying.

Oh and I have a question, It's the CGMS-A giving us a hard time, but then why am I getting it on Movie Central, a digital channel?  I'm really starting to think it's Shaw that's the problem maybe not so much MS and the Networks.  I'd appreciate an answer if anybody has it.  Tikker I'm just going to be ignoring your insults and barbs from now on and reporting them to the moderators, so u can save your breath.

go ahead

if you'd read the thread, you'd see your question has been asked and answered a bunch of times

basically the cable companies are inserting the CGMS-A flag in stuff that it has no business being in

Every PVR aside from MCE correctly ignores the flag, but for some reason, since rollup 2, MS has made MCE unconditionally accept it. 


the Cable Co's are definitely at fault for inserting it (IPTV, and most satellite providers are NOT doing this) but it was MS's decision to respect the flag in Canada, despite it not being a valid flag here

go read the original thread

RandyG proved it all out with oscillioscope and other gear, and strips it out before it hits his media center

To help them sell PVR's most likely.  My friend wasn't kidding then.  Would I be wrong in assuming that Shaw is the biggest violator of this?

akaliel:

To help them sell PVR's most likely.  My friend wasn't kidding then.  Would I be wrong in assuming that Shaw is the biggest violator of this?

I'm not sure

Shaw does it, Rogers does, Videotron does

telus/sasktel/aliant do not

the satellite providers haven't been complained about much iirc


but again, it's only MCE that's affected

media portal, sage, gbpvr, meedio, beyondtv, etc etc all work fine

MCE worked fine prior to rollup2

regardless of whether shaw/rogers/videotron use CGMS-A randomly, or on everything, it should be ignored by every MCE box in the Canadian market

that is 100% MS's issue, it's something that they conceded over a year ago, and something they've still not fixed

it does seem like they're finally maybe moving on it

but this will be the 3rd or 4th time they've said a fix was in the works, and all the previous fixes either didn't work, broke more stuff, or just disappeared during a re-evaluation

go back and wade thru the entire thread.  perhaps after that you may have a slightly different perspective

Are Telus, SaskTel and Alaint all IPTV?

Oh I know MS isn't blameless here, I was just saying they're not the ones abusing it.  They're just the ones ignoring it.  In the MCE setup you're asked what region you're in.  And we all pick Canada, right there should be a flag in the code of MCE that turns off the CGMS-A restriction.

Previously MS released a patch which supposedly fixes this problem with analog setups.  I'm going to try running my DCT into the coax input of my Tuner.  It's a long shot but an easy enough thing to try, you never know.  If it does work there will be an image quality hit, but I'll see if it's much.  It's worth a try I think.  I'll post my results here, for those that care to see it.

Akaliel,

Go ahead and try your experiment if you want, but I assure you that a number of us were using coax connections and encountered this error... it is all in the thread.

Most of us now are monitoring this thread to listen for 'NEW' information on the issue, so to be honest listening to you rehash stuff that has been thouroughly covered already is kind of annoying.

The thread is here in all its glory, if you are really interested in knowing more about the issue please read it. If you then still have questions, ask away, but it is rather inconsiderate to ask questions without taking the time (as many of us have) to read the information available.

I'm not trying to be nasty, I'm just really tired of this whole issue and I would like to be able to monitor the issue without listening to folks repeating the same old questions... especially uninterested in listening to them being asked with attitude.

I never got it at all while I was on coax from the wall.  I only got it when I tried going through the DCT via SVideo.  But I'd like to see if going from the DCT via coax works any different.  It's worth a shot, and I'm not sure if anybody has tried that in particular yet.

I have to say though, from the first moment I posted on these forums I received nothing but hostility.  I posted a few things I learned in a different thread and was mocked for it.  I posted in this thread and was harassed.  Seriously, I know this is a frustrating issue.  But I've only responded with attitude when I was greeted with hostility.  I know you're waiting for MS to post that they have a fix, but that's a long wait for a train don't come.  And MrSheep, this thread and the previous are 30+ pages of people rehashing the exact same thing.  I'm hardly the only guilty party here.  I have read it now, the whole thing.  Very little was actually said.

Thread Closed.

We all know the issues.  This will be reopened when I see fit.

---

Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

Re-opened.

---

Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

I thought the whole point of copyright was to stop people recording TV programs that are copyrighted !

ALL Movies are copyrighted as well as most TV shows.

If anybody is operating illegally it's Microsoft in allowing recording of this stuff.

People over the years have been used to recording TV with a video recorder and forgetting they are actually breaking the law. So when an organization actually starts enforcing the law they feel that some action should be taken ... WRONG. 

Today we released 2 udpates that expand the original solution released in June.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955519 applies to all Windows Vista Media Center versions.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956147 applies to systems with the Windows Media Center TVPack.

The solution in these updates apply to systems either with or without set-top boxes and address the scenario with incorrect or improper CGMS-A broadcasts. 

These solutions do not apply to systems with digital cable tuners.  For digital cable tuners, the firmware of the tuner provides content protection.

While we know CGMS-A has been one of the reasons behind content protection errors on Media Center, we continue to investigate reports where these updates have not resolved the issue.

 

---

Tim Schreck
Media Center SE

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

TimSchreck-MS:

Today we released 2 udpates that expand the original solution released in June.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955519 applies to all Windows Vista Media Center versions.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956147 applies to systems with the Windows Media Center TVPack.

The solution in these updates apply to systems either with or without set-top boxes and address the scenario with incorrect or improper CGMS-A broadcasts. 

These solutions do not apply to systems with digital cable tuners.  For digital cable tuners, the firmware of the tuner provides content protection.

While we know CGMS-A has been one of the reasons behind content protection errors on Media Center, we continue to investigate reports where these updates have not resolved the issue.

 

* sweet *  .   Tim, you are a man of your word, and appear to have provided some long-promised results on this long standing issue :-)

What is the expected release date for the XP-MCE fix?

It's still a bit too early in the release process to have a solid date for the Windows XP Media Center 2005 update.  Unless something drastic shows up in testing, I think it's safe to say that this should be available in weeks rather than months.

---

Tim Schreck
Media Center SE

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.