PlayReady Issues

trelf

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PlayReady Issues

#1

Post by trelf » Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:44 pm

Hey all,

I recently upgraded my PC, and in the process, I decided to do a clean install of W8.1. Media Center installs just fine, but during initial setup, I simply cannot get by the PlayReady portion. When updating, PlayReady continuously fails, and prompts me to try again. I've tried every suggestion I've come across to get past this point (uninstalling PR, manually installing PR, stopping ehrecvr svc. and deleting/renaming *hds, etc.), but thus far, none of them have worked. If it makes a difference, I'm using two HDHomeRun Primes, with current release (20200225) software/firmware on Spectrum cable.

Figuring it might be machine-specific, I installed W8.1 + MC on another computer, and was met with the same issue. From here, I have no idea what to do. Is anyone else, by chance, experiencing this issue? Has anyone been able to get past this point? Looking for some help, folks - I'm truly stuck.

Thanks in advance!

-T

technodevotee

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#2

Post by technodevotee » Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:32 am

Have you tried going through the initial WMC configuration with the connection to the internet disconnected?

seang86s

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#3

Post by seang86s » Fri Feb 28, 2020 4:32 pm

Hi there. I'm having the same issue with Windows 7. I have a thread here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12871.

I'll try disconnecting from the internet while doing the setup tonight.

trelf

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#4

Post by trelf » Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:01 pm

technodevotee wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:32 am Have you tried going through the initial WMC configuration with the connection to the internet disconnected?
I haven't, but I'm using network tuner appliances (2X HDHomeRun Prime) and am in a household whose internet is pretty much always in need. I'm definitely willing to give it a try, but it might be a day or two. Maybe @seang86s can give it a go before I'll be able to.

@technodevotee, when dealing with PlayReady, has disconnecting from the internet ever resolved the updating issue?

Also, to build upon my initial post, I've tried this setup both on a desktop (connected via DVI to a temporary monitor) and a laptop (Lenovo X250, using its built-in display).

trelf

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#5

Post by trelf » Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:09 pm

seang86s wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 4:32 pm Hi there. I'm having the same issue with Windows 7. I have a thread here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12871.

I'll try disconnecting from the internet while doing the setup tonight.
Ha! Yes, after making my post, I noticed that you'd posted a few days ago in the 7MC board. Though you're using W7, it sounds like you and I are in the exact same boat. I just said in another reply that I won't be able to try running setup w/o internet for a day or two. Crossing my fingers, hoping that when you try, it'll be the fix we're looking for. ;)

technodevotee

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#6

Post by technodevotee » Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:18 pm

trelf wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:01 pm
@technodevotee, when dealing with PlayReady, has disconnecting from the internet ever resolved the updating issue?
There has been some discussion elsewhere about why the initial setup (including playready update) fails and it was suggested that it is because the MS servers that are expected to be available are no longer responding. By disconnecting from the internet, I guess it just configures itself offline.

I suggested disabling the internet rather that simply unplugging the network cable or turning off wireless because I assume that the PC needs to see the HDHR tuner during the initial setup phase although I suppose you could re-run Live TV setup later.

trelf

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#7

Post by trelf » Sat Feb 29, 2020 2:22 am

technodevotee wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:18 pm
trelf wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:01 pm
@technodevotee, when dealing with PlayReady, has disconnecting from the internet ever resolved the updating issue?
There has been some discussion elsewhere about why the initial setup (including playready update) fails and it was suggested that it is because the MS servers that are expected to be available are no longer responding. By disconnecting from the internet, I guess it just configures itself offline.

I suggested disabling the internet rather that simply unplugging the network cable or turning off wireless because I assume that the PC needs to see the HDHR tuner during the initial setup phase although I suppose you could re-run Live TV setup later.
That makes sense, @technodevotee. I ended up just changing the gateway on my NIC to localhost, which basically kills the route between my machine and the inet, while allowing local traffic. Since I can't get through the initial setup, I couldn't just go to Settings->TV->TV Sig->Update PlayReady - I had to just go through from beginning. When I got to the PlayReady part, it gave a different error this time, stating that it couldn't connect to the internet to update or that the server couldn't be contacted... something along those lines. Boo. :/

I'm starting to have a very bad feeling about this. :cry:

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#8

Post by choliscott » Sat Feb 29, 2020 5:35 am

I did a install of Windows 8 and Media Center using the standalone Playready installer and recieved the same message

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technodevotee

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#9

Post by technodevotee » Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:07 am

What about manually installing PlayReady 1.3 with the internet disabled?

trelf

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#10

Post by trelf » Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:06 pm

technodevotee wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:07 am What about manually installing PlayReady 1.3 with the internet disabled?
This morning, I gave that a go. I uninstalled PR from Programs & Features, rebooted, set my gateway to localhost, and installed the .msi I found in your sig. I ran through the tuner setup, and it again resulted in my being stuck at the PlayReady update screen. :/

I have another W8.1 machine on my LAN that has MC installed and working. I know it's a shot in the dark w/ DRM and all, but can files be copied from the working one to another that won't update? I'm not even sure which files I'd need to copy, were it possible.

Any other ideas, @techno? I'm willing to keep trying whatever I can. Thanks!

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#11

Post by choliscott » Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:50 pm

Besides copying files, there is also the issue of items such as the registry.

I know that in previous installs that I saw the same problem that I was able to eventually have it update. I'm wondering what would happen if you told it to ignore trying to update (try again later), could you still watch copy protected shows, especially if you installed with the standalone installer.

To answer the question if I tried installing with the internet disabled, I did not. Did the windows install, activated WMC, installed drivers, installed updates

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#12

Post by trelf » Sun Mar 01, 2020 2:21 am

choliscott wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:50 pm Besides copying files, there is also the issue of items such as the registry.

I know that in previous installs that I saw the same problem that I was able to eventually have it update. I'm wondering what would happen if you told it to ignore trying to update (try again later), could you still watch copy protected shows, especially if you installed with the standalone installer.
I've tried that, and I just get a blank screen with no sound. Sure, PlayReady has never been the easiest to deal with, but I'm feeling like this is a larger issue. Three people with at least four machines on two different versions of Windows are experiencing the same problem, and it's all happening after MS has officially ended MC support. Seriously hoping we're not SOL.

If SiliconDust didn't require my PC to be on 24/7, I'd already be on W10, using their DVR service. It makes no sense why the recordings wouldn't create a task to wake the machine.

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#13

Post by mce99 » Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:56 am

I did a clean install of Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center. I keep getting "The PlayReady update was incomplete... try again" dialog. Windows and Media Center are activated. I have a HDHomeRun Prime. The tuner is working correctly in Android TV and Windows 10 HomeRun app. In 8.1, Non DRM channels tune in fine but DRM channels prompt to update PlayReady. Sounds like the same story as everyone else. How do we submit a ticket to Microsoft?

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#14

Post by technodevotee » Sun Mar 01, 2020 7:55 am

Can't really help much more with this I'm afraid because we don't really need to use PlayReady here.

It gets installed and can cause issues but most people just uninstall it when it does. I've only had problems installing/updating it a couple of times and that was due to an invalid security token due to having made a lot of changes to the PC.

I assume there's nothing helpful in event viewer or firstrun.log?

edit: here's a thought. Is it possible that the system actually wants the old version of PlayReady?

Could it be that the message is misleading because all it knows is that it isn't working so it suggest updating?

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#15

Post by mce99 » Sun Mar 01, 2020 6:37 pm

Here is the relevant section from FirstRun.log

Code: Select all

   <FirstRunModule t="23:46:36" Name="PlayReadyInstall">
        <NavigateTo t="23:46:36" Page="FR.PlayReadyIntro.xml" Nav="Forward" />
        <FirstRunModule t="23:46:37" Name="Drm">
            <NavigateTo t="23:46:37" Page="fr.DrmConfig.xml" Nav="Forward" />
            <EstablishConnectionAndDoWork t="23:46:43">Failed</EstablishConnectionAndDoWork>
            <NavigateTo t="23:46:43" Page="fr.drmconfigfailed.xml" Nav="Forward" />
            <FirstRunModuleFinish t="23:46:47" Name="Drm" Result="Security components not configured" Duration="0:10.542" Reason="Ended" />
        </FirstRunModule>
        <FirstRunModuleFinish t="23:46:47" Name="PlayReadyInstall" Duration="0:10.642" Reason="Ended" />
    </FirstRunModule>
EstablishConnectionAndDoWork fails.

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#16

Post by technodevotee » Sun Mar 01, 2020 7:07 pm

just making an image of one of my working Windows 8.1 test rigs and will try uninstalling and reinstalling PlayReady to see what happens.

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#17

Post by jeepman » Mon Mar 02, 2020 3:36 am

FOLLOWING!

I am facing the same issue. I got my 8.1 Pro Pack on Saturday, and now have 8.1 with Media Center. I now have my 3 Tuner HDHomeRun showing up in Setup TV Signal, but I just hit the issue with PlayReady incomplete. At this point, I guess I am awaiting more ideas.

EDIT: My HDHomeRun is also the Prime version, 3 Tuners: HDHR3-CC.

EDIT2: As I read the full Post, I think I should point out I am using a VM using Parallels on my MacBook Pro where I have the VM use 2 Cores, and 8GB RAM, so I think it is a good base system. I installed 8.0 Pro, and did an update to 8.1 via Windows Update. I then used the Pro Pack Product Key to enable Media Center. I am honestly glad I did not wipe my W7 MCE 32 Bit system yet, because it is working just fine. I really hope we can figure it out.

EDIT3: I can also confirm that my non-DRM channels are playing just fine, but for channels above 21, I get "Display driver error" and then below that I get "The video playback device does not support playback of protected content."
Last edited by jeepman on Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

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garyan2

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#18

Post by garyan2 » Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:06 am

I'm following this with a lot of interest, and I know all the talk has been around Win8.1, but I'd like to add a data point and maybe some hope? I took a fresh Win7 install in a VM and successfully downloaded and installed PlayReady as part of WMC setup without any intervention or tricks.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#19

Post by jeepman » Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:36 am

What do others think about this one?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 42fafe4757

I don't have time to try it tonight, but I wonder if it still works, or was it even a valid approach?

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#20

Post by seang86s » Mon Mar 02, 2020 1:39 pm

garyan2 wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:06 am I'm following this with a lot of interest, and I know all the talk has been around Win8.1, but I'd like to add a data point and maybe some hope? I took a fresh Win7 install in a VM and successfully downloaded and installed PlayReady as part of WMC setup without any intervention or tricks.
Hi Garyan2. Were you able to set up a cablecard tuner and view protected content? During a new setup, Playready installs successfully when running thru the Setup TV Signal portion, but at the end it tries to update Playready components and that is where is fails. I'm primarily using Windows 7 for this. I've tried installing Playready as part of WMC setup and tried installing Playready 1.3 and 1.31 manually with no success.

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