[talker]

My HP Media PC and the loaded Media Centre program worked fine for roughly 2 years and then stopped downloading the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) making it impossible to record TV offerings.

Generally, it works the same as the EPG on cable DVR(PVR), you find a program and hit the record button and if you want the entire series you select that option.

Obviously, if the EPG doesn't download the program offerings for the next 2 weeks (which was normal) you can't make any selections.

I have tried all MS sites including The Green Button (dedicated to WMC issues) and various newsgroups but have yet to find a solution.

Does anyone here have any ideas on how to restore my Media Centre software to it's former, fully-functioning self?

Thanks in advance,

Terry

 

[talker]

I have restarted my PC and Media Centre many, many times. I have also re-entered and even changed my postal code and nothing gets it working.
I have been without Media Centre for over 3 months.
Somewhere, someone must have a remedy.
Please help.

 

[talker]

Hey Pete, Happy New Year!

I just got around to your response an hour or so ago.

Joined and downloaded the Big Screen trial app. So far, after several attempts, I'm nowhere.

It didn't show selections for Canada, even after refreshing, so I chose Australia, got a provider listed but, naturally nothing I wanted. It didn't download any EPG even for that location.

I'm wondering if I jumped the gun by going with your suggestion of selecting the Media Reset option immediately. I noticed later, when nothing happened, that I was supposed to select something else first. Now, I'm trying to do that and getting nowhere, fast.

I'll get back at it but I wanted to thank you for your input, you're the only person in several months to suggest something along these lines, from Big Screen or elsewhere. Thank you.

I think I'll go back to square one and see if I get a drop down menu that shows Canada.

Cheers,

Terry

 

[talker]

I spent the better part of the day Sunday trying your software suggestion and got nowhere. Sorry.

I`m running W7 and haven`t seen any number on WMC. I`ll assume it`s version 7 because it came built into W7. It can`t be removed separately like IE or other programs.

However, for some reason I decided to check out my video card in spite of the fact it was working properly. I was presented with an opportunity to re-jig the EPG settings that I couldn't access through WMC or any Windows page on the web.

Lo and behold, I was shown a page full of EPG with "No information available" and a button to "Download now.

I`ve clicked that button and have been told the info is being downloaded.

Stay tuned. I`ll post results here if and when I get them.

This could be a Happy New Year after all!

 

[talker]

I got further than I have in the past.
The EPG grid popped up with no listings and a button to start the refresh.
After plugging along for a bit I got the error message that it lost contact with the Windows Media Player and therefore couldn't update the EPG. What one has to do with the other is beyond me!
I have restarted the refresh process several times now with no joy. Sadly, I have used my Christmas vacation (10 days) working on this and must return to the job today.
I'll keep you posted.

 

[talker]

I'd missed those 2 pages on the Green Button. But their fixes didn't work for me.

I had done a re-install of W7 a couple of months ago to no avail.

I also did a withdrawal of the MC works from the program options and that provided no joy either.

I back at square one again and every bit as frustrated as those people who posted on The Green Button.

I must admit, I'm curious as to why MS hasn't come forward on one of it's Forum pages or just the Media Centre page with a fix.

MS has also downloaded some updates to my machine under the guise of hot fixes but they obviously don't contain what I need to get MC running properly again. This, particularly in light of the number of people scattered around the internet suffering from the same problem.

Somewhere, there has to be a solution to this issue.

 

[talker]

Hi Jeneral,

I hadn't tried renaming the folder until you suggested it.

I tried it a few times but can't get the job done.

MS says I need Admin authority, which I do, but renaming the file as I have done over the years successfully, doesn't work here. I get an error message telling me that the program is open somewhere and so I can't change the folder name. There are no other programs using the file/folder that I am aware of.

I was going to rename the folder eHomeold and then start a new folder called eHome then restart MC and see what happens.

Any idea how to rename the folder?

I also have several files called mcepg followed by a different number. I'm thinking there are too many of them and that may be part of my problem. Mind you, I removed the original one when I started having trouble and it made no difference. Now it seems, more have been added.

If you can think of anything new, I'd be most appreciative.

T

 

[talker]

Wasn't able to access "Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services." Doesn't show in my Control Panel.
Perhaps I didn't mention I'm using Windows 7 x 64 bit. Don't know if that makes a difference or not.
Naturally, "Windows Media Center Receiver Service and Windows Media Center Scheduler service" did not show either.
Does the phrase, "tear my hair out" have any clue for either of you?
Whatever help you can be again, is greatly appreciated.

 

[talker]

After establishing an empty folder for WMC I filled in the blanks again and it started chugging away but the progress bar for the EPG didn't move and there are no channels available for watching live.
What now?

 

[talker]

Okay. I'm a dummy. I have now stopped both services as suggested earlier this week.
I'll take another stab at downloading the EPG into a blank folder.

 

[talker]

Still no joy.

 

[talker]

Successfully tested!
Still no live TV or EPG download.
I can't begin to imagine the amount of time I'll have on my hands when we eventually solve this issue.

 

[talker]

As requested:


12:24:28 PM - Testing internet connection.
12:24:37 PM - Connection established.
12:24:45 PM - Retrieving Directory.
12:24:45 PM - Retrieving Directory.
12:24:45 PM - Processing Directory.
12:24:46 PM - Processing of Directory is complete.
12:24:46 PM - The NetTV package is not available.
12:24:46 PM - Testing internet connection.
12:24:46 PM - Connection established.
12:24:46 PM - Retrieving ClientUpdate.
12:24:47 PM - Processing ClientUpdate.
12:24:48 PM - Retrieving ClientUpdate.enc.
12:24:48 PM - Extracting DefaultGeoSettings.mxf.
12:24:48 PM - Processing DefaultGeoSettings.mxf.
12:24:51 PM - Retrieving NetopWhitelist.cab.
12:24:51 PM - Extracting Whitelist.xml.
12:24:51 PM - Processing Whitelist.xml.
12:24:51 PM - Processing of ClientUpdate is complete.
12:24:51 PM - Retrieving MCESpotlight.
12:24:51 PM - Processing MCESpotlight.
12:24:51 PM - Retrieving MCESpotlight.cab.
12:24:52 PM - Extracting SpotlightResources.dll.
12:24:52 PM - Processing of MCESpotlight is complete.
12:24:52 PM - Retrieving MCEClientUX.
12:24:52 PM - Processing MCEClientUX.
12:24:52 PM - Retrieving UpdateableMarkup.cab.
12:24:52 PM - Extracting Markup.dll.
12:24:52 PM - Processing of MCEClientUX is complete.
12:24:52 PM - Retrieving SportsSchedule.
12:24:52 PM - Processing SportsSchedule.
12:24:52 PM - Retrieving SportsSchedule.enc.
12:24:52 PM - Extracting SportsSchedule.mxf.
12:24:52 PM - Processing SportsSchedule.mxf.
12:24:53 PM - Processing of SportsSchedule is complete.
12:24:53 PM - Retrieving SportsV2.
12:24:53 PM - Processing SportsV2.
12:24:53 PM - Retrieving ScheduleSupplement.cab.
12:24:53 PM - Extracting ScheduleSupplement.mxf.
12:24:53 PM - Processing ScheduleSupplement.mxf.
12:24:54 PM - Retrieving SportsTemplate.cab.
12:24:54 PM - Retrieving SportsTemplateCore.cab.
12:24:54 PM - Extracting Microsoft.MediaCenter.Sports.UI.dll.
12:24:54 PM - Retrieving Broadband.
12:24:54 PM - Processing of Broadband is complete.
12:24:54 PM - The Broadband package is already up to date.
12:24:55 PM - Errors during the last update.
12:24:55 PM - Will retry at 17/01/2011 1:24:55 PM.

 

[talker]

In answer to your list of questions:
Yes
No
It does
Successfully updated driver software
Restarted PC after prompt

I then tried using your zip code but got nothing. Not even the EPG.

I then tried my own settings again to no avail.

No TV...no EPG.

Sorry.

 

[talker]

My machine came with Vista about 28 months ago.
October (2009), when W7 became available, I used an online download from MS in the form of an upgrade.
WMC worked fine for about 6 months after that and then quit downloading the EPG. I could still watch live TV.
Then, this past September it totally gave up. No EPG, no live TV. I have been trying everything since then to restore it to full functionality.
Thanks for staying with me through this.
I believe I have already tried downloading drivers for my video card but I'll have another go at it and let you know the outcome.
Cheers

 

[talker]

I had the option to roll back the Video card driver so I did. No change.
I then reinstalled the latest driver from the I-net. No change.
In both cases, the hard drive processor light flickered after I ordered MC to get the latest EPG. The progress bar didn't move past the first bar and the processor light flickered for quite a while. That has become normal, however.
I'm still stumped.

 

[talker]

I have an Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800 (Model 78xxx, Combo ATSC/QAM)
installed.
Hope this helps somewhat.

 

[talker]

Looks like everyone gave up!

Does no one have a workable answer for me?

I still don't have a working Windows Media Centre.