With 2005, I would have these issues. Law and Order comes to mind, it would record about 10-25 min of the show and stop (ring a bell here ?). It would get the "restriced content" message in the event log.

I have called the local cable company and even the tv station, the only flag that the tv station put in is "never copy" and according to what I have read, I should be able to record and timeshift, but, could not play back on any other computer. After checking the event log, I would check AMC, as this one is funky and does bring down the "never copy" flag, but, I could not even watch the channel.

So, in a nut shell, when I see AMC with this problem, I know I will have problems with recording because of the CGMS-A/DRM issues. It's my "known issue" here.

I have rebult the machine about 5-6 times over the last 2-3 years, so I have watched the signs. I do know with 2005 you will have no issues, intill you install Rollup 2.

I did not mean to offiend and I am glad you are not offended. I do feel this has everything to do with this, and I never noticed this decoder issue in MCE 2005, only in Vista. So, I felt it needed to be noted. It might not be the fix here but, it could very well be part of the problem.

If your using Vsta with the Nvidia decoder, try the MS one, then try to record again, under what I have seen, that will fix the problem (crossing fingers for you)

Just trying to help the cause....

---

-Dave

MCP, MCSA, MCSE 2003
Windows Vista Connected Exp:Home Theater for Technologists
Windows Vista Connected Exp:Home Theater for Sales professionals

Home theater specialist (10+ years)

MCE rollup 2 implemented "copy never" as "DO NOT RECORD" at all.
So if your cable co put that flag on, then you can't record at all anymore.  That is the theme for sure ;-)

I don't think changing the decoder will help when you can't record at all... since it's already been stated by Jessica that MCE will NOT record CGMS-A "copy never" flagged material.

I can't try the MS decoder you suggest since I am afraid to put that "free upgrade to Vista" DVD in my drive until ALL these DRM issues are fixed. 
My family depends on this box now after using it exclusively to manage the TV for three years.

 If this is a workaround, then I'd be convinced to update though :-O   

Somebody else needs to try it first though (Shaw/Rogers) LOL

Hey, this is Ask Jessica, after all...

JESSICA, any chance that replacing Nvidia decoder with MS Decoder bypass CGMS-A "Copy Never"  restrictions on recording TV?

No

The decoder has nothing to do with the recording process.

--
Jason Tsang - Microsoft MVP

Read my blog for the latest in Media Center topics
(and other topics that interest me)
http://jtsang.blogspot.com

More information by me
http://jtsang.mvps.org
http://www.classicsunveiled.com

Find out about the MS MVP Program -
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/default.aspx



wrote in message news:182566@10.240.6.244...
> Hey, this is Ask Jessica, after all...
>
> JESSICA, any chance that replacing Nvidia decoder with MS Decoder bypass
> CGMS-A "Copy Never" restrictions on recording TV?
>

---

Jason Tsang - Media Center MVP
http://blog.jasontsang.ca

JasonT:

No The decoder has nothing to do with the recording process. -- Jason Tsang - Microsoft MVP 

To what level do you mean ? When if you read my posts, it was to me that it is a decoder issue on my Vista machine, when I used the microsoft one, it works.

Maybe I am wrong but, after 2-3 rebuids of vista on this machine so far, the decoder is seems to be causing the problem in my case....

Interesting though...

---

-Dave

MCP, MCSA, MCSE 2003
Windows Vista Connected Exp:Home Theater for Technologists
Windows Vista Connected Exp:Home Theater for Sales professionals

Home theater specialist (10+ years)

Jason is correct. The decoder doesn't have anything to do with what we capture.

I think somewhere a zillion posts ago in this thread we discussed the different flags for CGMS-A. "Copy Never," "Copy Once," "Copy No More" are all different. My belief is that "Copy Never" was intended for stuff like PPV, that content owners don't ever want someone to be able to copy. We expected premium networks to use "Copy Once" - which would allow you to time-shift and record. Obviously what cable companies and content owners do in "the real world" could differ from our expectations - and beta testing and internal testing didn't expose this kind of problem when we were testing our CGMS-A implementation.

---

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

Remember that no other decoder than the MS in-box one works with Vista. If you remove the MS decoder and use another, we will not guarantee a positive experience. Your issue, David, sounds different from the problem we're seeing in Canada.

---

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

Help. Until recently I had no difficulty recording any shows on any specific channels.

I'm using - MCE 2005 with Star Choice Satellite signal. (windows auto update is on)

Now I receive the under noted message on channels & programs that previously recorded just fine.

********************

“Program” cannot be recorded. Restrictions set by the Broadcaster and/or originator of the content Prohibit recording of this program.

********************

These programs record just fine on my VCR as well as my Star Choice DVR up stairs. This clearly appears to be an MCE issue with MCE detecting phantom "restrictions"

I challenged Star Choice as the source of this copy problem and received the following reply indicating the error is with MCE.

Help! 

 

From: Star Choice - Customer Resolutions Team

Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 11:49 AM

Dear Sir: 

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact us, through the CRTC, regarding your concern about your inability to record, from your Star Choice Satellite Receiver, your favorite programs onto your Windows Media Centre computer.

 

Star Choice does not transmit a “Copy Never” flag.  Our understanding is that this inability has nothing to do with Star Choice but is a software incompatibility with your media centre.   

 

If you care to contact one of our technical agents, please call 1-888-554-7827.  They are available 24/7 to answer any further questions or concerns. 

 

Sincerely,

Debbie Makwana

Customer Resolutions |  Administration

Star Choice Communications Inc.

2924 11th Street NE.  Calgary, AB  T2E 7L7

Phone: 888-554-7827

Fax: (800) 872-8219

Debbie.Makwana@starchoice.com

Has anyone submitted a complaint to the CTRC?  I am curious what their response would be.  I have just submitted a complaint myself.

I have recently joined this forum due to the problems I am having recording television shows using Media Center.  Here is my scenario:

- cannot always record "Most Haunted" on W network Canada. 

- Shaw (analog) Cable customer in British Columbia

- not using Vista

- have only been having problems within the last couple of weeks ; had been able to record my show for almost a year with no problems

 

I read through most of this thread and boy is my head spinning from all of the technical information.  All I want is to be able to record my favortie TV show!  What's the point of buying this expensive media computer if I can't record?  Wahhhh! 

Chippies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Chippies,

  I also submitted a complaint to the CRTC about a month ago.
I got what sounded like a really good and somewhat personalized response to my submission from Gary Krushen of CRTC Client Services who said the following:

"In order to pursue this matter, I have asked Shaw Cablesystems Inc. (Shaw)  to respond to your concerns within 3 weeks.  I will contact you again once we have had the opportunity to review the reply from Shaw.
Your complaint and all related correspondence will be placed on Shaw Cable's public file at the end of three weeks. The Commission may review it at licence renewal time and interested parties may consult the file at any time."

I then followed up on a previous email that I had sent to Shaw's customer service and told them that I had filed a formal complaint with the CRTC.

A guy from Shaw (Malan Ruby) did eventually call me and he sounded quite sincere about his promise to go look into the matter and get back to me... however I haven't heard anything back yet from either party.

Like you, I really hate not being able to record on my Media Center.

I am betting that there are a lot of others out there feeling the pain as well. Green Button appeared to be having some SMTP problems with their "Join" functionality  for a while and many of us could not join as members to jump in and report back to Jessica on individual experiences with recording.

Hi Jessica,

Sorry for the delayed response, however the Greenbutton join functionality seems to have been out of commission for a while.

To answer your questions:

For anyone else experiencing this issue: If you can add to this thread with the following information:

- Cable company

   SHAW

- City/State or Province/Country

   White Rock, BC, Canada

- Channel attempting to watch to record

   Definetely for me, all of the Movie Central, MC1-4 and EA1-2 channels consistantly fail now and do not record. I also occassionally experience the same problem when trying to record other programs like "House" or others on different channels but it has not been consistent and I can't tell if there is a pattern. It is possible that it is related to another wierd behaviour I have started to see where the MCE box seems to have problems successfully changing the channel... and/or issues with the prior channel that the tuner was set to prior to attempting to record, not sure yet.

- Show attempting to watch or record

On Movie Central stations... any movie or series... for example I have missed all of the new "Stargate Atlantis" series because of this problem as well as others like "Regenisis" (a Canadian series) and there have been dozens of movies (everyone I have tried since about December) that it fails to record.

And any other information about what happens (stops after 5 min, stops after 13 min, comes back on later, etc).

Originally when the problem first started, the behaviour was that the first few minutes leading up to the movie starting (or just into the movie) would record and then the message would come up and it would stop recording, leaving me with the situation where it looked like the movie or show recorded but when I went to play it, I found it was only 2 minutes long. Now (most of this year), however, the behaviour is different. Nothing seems to get recorded. It still seems to take a minute or two of filler between movies before the warning comes up, but when it fails to record there is not even a 2 minute clip now. Basically there is nothing except a stack of the

"Recording Canceled '----------' cannot be recorded. Restrictions set by the broadcaster and/or originator of the content prohibit recording of this program.

 RecordedTV Cancel Help"

Also, for the record I have 
   - the Motorolla STB DCT-2224
   - HP Media Center M7000
   - running XP MCE 2005 with rollup 2

Bottom line, this DRM issue has been rendering my Media Center nearly useless to me for months now.

I really hope that someone at MS, CRTC, or SHAW can fix what ever it is that is actually broken and interfering with us using the services that we are paying for.

   

MrSheep:

...I also occassionally experience the same problem when trying to record other programs like "House" or others on different channels but it has not been consistent and I can't tell if there is a pattern. It is possible that it is related to another wierd behaviour I have started to see where the MCE box seems to have problems successfully changing the channel... and/or issues with the prior channel that the tuner was set to prior to attempting to record, not sure yet.

Yes, I've watched that happen many times.  If the cable box was on a CGMS-A protected channel, and it's set to record a regular channel, 40 or 50 % of the time MCE will "pick up" the "Copy Never" during the channel change, and screw up the recording on the regular unprotected channel.  If you hit record right away, you can still record your show, IF you are lucky enough to be sitting there at the time to see the message pop up.   

MCE waits for a certain number of flags before triggering the "restricted content" message.  It seems random because sometimes it gets the required amount of flags to stop the recording during the channel change, and sometimes it doesn't.

RandyG:

JessZahn:

I love your math. I'm not sure I can validate it (although I could probably find out how many EPG downloads we do for Canada each day), but I like the theory.

Anyway, no, no update - except that people here are talking about the issue and what to do. I just don't have anything else I can say to you guys at this time.

Another two weeks have rolled by with 7,578 views now.  I won't do the math again :-)

Jessica, how are your guys doing?  Are they talking to the Canadian cable providers?  Will there be a Canadian MCE patch to fix this?

JessZahn:

Funny you should bump the thread today. This morning I sent a ping to the folks who handle DRM issues to ask whether there was any news. I haven't heard anything yet.

However, even if I do hear something, it's possible I won't have anything to share publicly.

Another week gone by and 9,234 views now.   When 10,000 people have read this thread trying to figure out why their MCE can't record their favorite shows anymore, will there be a patch to fix this Jessica?   ;-)

Seriously, any progress on this?     This needs to be addressed, or you may as well stop selling MCE in Canada.  There is no point having a PVR that only records when it feels like it...

I do not have an update. I will post something here as soon as I do - but I cannot promise I'll a) be able to say anything publicly or b) that anyone here will definitely take action.

---

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

RandyG:

Seriously, any progress on this?     This needs to be addressed, or you may as well stop selling MCE in Canada.  There is no point having a PVR that only records when it feels like it...

Don't say that - I would still prefer to have my MCE machine that doesn't record 100% of the time to my Sci Atl cable box from Rogers that has tons of silly bugs.  There are already inanities in MCE such as not allowing Digital OTA when your location is set as Canada - someone at MS seems to believe that TV broadcast signals stop at the border - plus there is the fact that there IS some OTA digital broadcasting in Canada.