TimSchreck-MS:

I just wanted to provide an update on where we are with resolving this issue.  We've been working with partners and now have a solution that will resolve the recording canceled/stopped due to copyright restrictions for a broad segment of Windows Media Center users.  The previous solution did not apply to systems with set-top box configurations or to systems using CableCard tuners.  This new solution will continue to work for systems without set-top boxes and provide the same functionality to systems with set-top boxes.  Content Protection for CableCards is handled by the tuner, not by Windows Media Center.  The upcoming solution will not affect CableCard configurations.

While it is too early in the process to discuss specific availability, I wanted to let everyone know that we recognize the frustration surrounding this issue and that we are close to providing a broader solution.

 

great, I'll be happy to have this issue fixed

TimSchreck-MS:

I just wanted to provide an update on where we are with resolving this issue.  We've been working with partners and now have a solution that will resolve the recording canceled/stopped due to copyright restrictions for a broad segment of Windows Media Center users.  The previous solution did not apply to systems with set-top box configurations or to systems using CableCard tuners.  This new solution will continue to work for systems without set-top boxes and provide the same functionality to systems with set-top boxes.  Content Protection for CableCards is handled by the tuner, not by Windows Media Center.  The upcoming solution will not affect CableCard configurations.

While it is too early in the process to discuss specific availability, I wanted to let everyone know that we recognize the frustration surrounding this issue and that we are close to providing a broader solution.

I'm very pleased to read this.

My daughters will be extremely pleased that they will be able to record all of their favorite shows.  It has been almost 2 years since they've been reliably able to record Pokemon and a few other shows (especially the Spiderman cartoon movies - none of these ever recorded and we must have tried about a dozen times).

Note we are in Canada (hopefully we will be included in this patch).

---

STB w/R5000HD USB I/O, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, Quad Q6600, 4.0 GB RAM, ATI HD 3870 512MB, Ultra XVS 600W PSU, 3x SATA 500GB, 2x SATA 300GB, LG GGC-H20L, PVR-250, Toshiba 51H83 (51" HDTV), Yamaha RX-V2400 Amp, 5x Energy Speakers, SVS Sub, Harmony 880 Remote

The Sima CT-200 worked for me last year when I had a digital cable box.  Now I just have analog cable TV going into my computer.  Is there a way to hook up the Sima for this configuration?

Obviously what we need is a box that simply converts the analog cable tv signal into either s-video or composite signals so we can use the Sima to get rid of the CGMS-A signal.  I noticed my VCR has a cable in and composite video out.  But it doesn't seem to be up to the task. 

Sorry if this has already been addressed somewhere but can't afford to waste any more of my life reading this.  Fat-cat Hollywood and the cable companies can go to hell.

err, this has been patched already for straight cable implementations

months ago

I'm tired of waiting

My IPTV's PVR arrived today

my HTPC case has been converted into a kitty litter box

fuxing my recordings since rollup 2, then taking years to even admit it was MS"s fault and still not fixing it in that time frame is enough

I will also be recommending to all of my HTPC customers that they switch to sage

congrats on sucking MS

enh, I'll stick with VMC. I would have done the customary "can i have your stuff." but then I read your sig, and you can keep those dinosaurs.

I record 6 movies/tv shows a day and only get that error once a week, and just for movies. No biggie. I think I can wait. Been waiting since 2005, i can wait longer.

Gee, how nice to have your opinion akaliel.   You even read this thread?   I can't record virtually ANY kids shows, nor most of the sci-fi shows I like, and movies is a 30% chance at best.  

The chances of recording are REGIONAL, based on where you live, and which provider you get TV from..  Where you live is apparently better - OR you don't have kids - OR you like to watch crap which isn't worth flagging.

This is a serious issue for a lot of us.  There is no point having a PVR where you schedule a recording and cross your fingers.   And waiting YEARS for the promised "FIX" is absolutely inexusable.   Which is why we just lost a HUGELY valuable supporter like Tikker.

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize this was a strict whine and *** thread.  I thought people come also come on here and state what the situation is like for them.  My brother has never encountered this error, he lives in the same city as me, but is on a different cable company.  I'm considering switching to his.  Obviously this bug with VMC doesn't effect everyone.

I record tons on my HTPC, kids shows, prime time, new shows, movies, I can even record VOD and PPV without getting a restricted content error, but for some reason the old chick flick from 1994 my wife wants is prohibited.  I agree.  It's bullshit.  So Tikker is gone?  I'd never heard a single positive thing from that guy.  All he did was complain and condescend people.

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.  I'd like to see it fixed too, don't get me wrong.  I don't want to have to get TelusTV, andI don't want to use Sage.  I wish MS would put more focus on VMC and less on the Xbox 360's tv stuff.  But it'll get fixed, when they want to fix it.  No sooner, no later.  There's nothing any of us can do about it.  Believe me, Tikker's constant complaints did nothing.

I've never been accused of being a troll b/c I'm not complaining with fervor.  Guys, I came to this thread b/c I'm having this problem too.  Obviously not as bad as some.  But why all the hostility?  It's a PVR for pete's sake.  Not the end of the world.  And there are tons of workarounds with using other HTPC software.  Why so mean?  Besides Tikker was nothing but disrespectful, not an example to use for a person we're claiming was bad to lose.

akaliel:

I've never been accused of being a troll

OK, you're a troll.   First time for everything ;-)

ROFL

I guess if I'm going to be a troll it might as well be the kind that doesn't rave like a madman.  Okay, Randy, I didn't mean any offense to you, but I didn't think I was unreasonable for me to post that I didn't have a ridiculous number of errors regarding this.  I still do have them and that's completely unreasonable, I think, and I do want this fixed, and it should have been years ago.  But with as little as I do get it, it's not enough to push me to Sage.  I do not blame you for doing that though.  I probably would have if I were u a long time ago.

I'm not offended.   "Gee, it doesn't bother me much"  is really baiting, in a thread with thousands and thousands of posts of very unhappy media centre users who have been affected a LOT more than you have been.     For years.  With endless promises of that "fix" coming soon. 

What response were you expecting, exactly?

Most wives are far less understanding that yours, when their shows don't record.
And kids? 
How do 3 or 5 yr olds respond to "sorry kiddo, no Care Bears for you, that dang CGMS-A again".

The issue in this thread - SPECIFICALLY - is that in Canada there are no rules governing what they CAN and CAN  NOT flag with CGMS-A.   The USA - does - mandate this.  Broadcasters are simply not allowed to flag shows with "COPY NEVER" unless it is a PPV or VOD.

In Canada, there are no such rules.   The CRTC does not even acknowledge the existence of CGMSA signalling and will not get involved.   The broadcasters are dumping the flag on everything from reruns of REBA from the 80's,  to virtually ALL the content on "Treehouse" where I live.

In Canada, it's not a legal flag.   And it's being abused.  And it should have been dealt with 2 years ago by Microsoft, to support their Canadian user base.   *THAT* is what this loooooooong thread is all about.

Okey Dokey?

Actually I was specifically targetting Tikker with that post b/c of what he said to me the day before.  In retrospect I should have sent a PM.  I was intentionally being an ass, b/c he was to me so I was just paying him back in kind.

I've warned my wife that if the problem gets worse it'll affect more than the odd movie.  So far, we've never gotten in on a regular show.  But I mentioned the possibility of Grey's Anatomy not recording and that got her attention.  If it begins to be an annoyance I'll drop VMC fast, it wouldn't be the first time I fired up Sage b/c of a problem I had with MS.

Oh I know what the issue is, I've made all the same phone calls and read all the forums.  A friend of mine works at Shaw and he said they put the flag in themselves so they can get you to buy their PVR's.  Then he laughed.  I'm not sure if he was kidding or not but it sounds like something they'd do.  I certainly wouldn't put it passed them.  The fact that Telus in my area doesn't have this issue at all is really suspect, especially b/c they don't sell a PVR.  I'm actually considering switching to them, I wouldn't mind a pure digital signal anyway.  We'll see, the TV season is about to begin and then I'll be recording up to 15 shows a day.  Thank god for terabyte hard drives.

What you said about being Canada and an illegal flag being abused is nearly verbatum to the letter I sent to the CRTC and the angry phone call I made to the moron at Shaw who tried to play dumb about Media Center even existing.

Didn't mean to bait anyone, sorry if I did.

Out of curiousity RandyG, where in Canada are you and who do u get your cable from?

Oh and to answer your earlier question.   I never tell my 5 yr old and 2 yr old about a movie or show I plan to record, simply for this reason.  I just say, "Oh look, I've recorded Care Bears!"  The next day "if" it records.  Otherwise they'll just watch Incredibles for the thousandth time.  I've ripped most of my DVD's to a terabtye drive, so I can just scroll through the box art and they start shouting when I select whatever it is they want to watch :)  That part at least works well in VMC.  That's what ticks me off the most.  So much of VMC does work really well compared to the alternatives and I *really* want to use it.  But if it's simply going to not record what I ask it to then it fails at such a basic level.

I'm a tinkerer and I always liked the customizability of Sage, I'd probably be using it if my wife wasn't so in love with the look and feel of VMC.  But we'll see.  As soon as it doesn't record House, she'll be looking for a torch and pitchfork.