New WMC install on Win7

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Space

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New WMC install on Win7

#1

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 1:54 am

It looks like the the motherboard died on my WMC HTPC, so as a stop-gap measure I am trying to get WMC running on my other Win7 system.

I installed the old HDHomerun Prime drivers and then started a "Clean Start" in the EPG123 client.

Apparently this may not be all I needed to do because right now the "Clean Start" is saying "Preparing a manual database update...", then says "Waiting for initial WMC database build" as the WMC window pops up on the screen for a second then goes away. It then says "Preparing a manual database update..." once again and the cycle continues. It's been running for about 15 minutes this way now...

I started going through the "Live TV" setup in WMC but when it got to the zip code part, I just canceled it, should I have continued?

Any advice?

Thanks!

EDIT: The WMC screen that pops up is is a menu that says "Set Up Internet Connection", "Set Up TV Signal", "Set Up Your Speakers", "Configure Yout TV of Monitor", "Run Setup Again", "Install Playready".

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#2

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 4:57 am

I killed the EPG123 client and then went in to WMC and did "TV setup". I then ran the "Clean Start" again and it worked this time.

I had forgotten what a PIA it was to get WMC configured. Had all kinds of problems with live TV and DRM channels, but eventually got them working...

For now I am going to try to record to an external USB drive, since I have no drives with much space on this PC, although I might move the drive over from the failed HTPC. I remember that some people had issues with the USB drive not being "ready" when WMC wanted to start a recording and this caused missed recordings, anyone have any advice on this?

Also, what is the best way to get my Series moved over from the failed HTPC? Should I use the EPG123 transfer tool or just import the backup in some way (not exactly sure how to do this)?

Thanks!

EDIT: I found this post, can I just import the latest backup on to my new system? Does it matter that they are two totally different systems? If this is the way to do it, should I make a backup through EPG123 first in case there are problems so I can go back?

Sorry about all these questions, I know I can probably find the answers if I search here, but this is pretty stressful right now trying to get this done quickly so I don't miss too many recordings, plus having to deal with potentially multiple terabytes of DRM recordings that will probably now be useless due to having to replace the motherboard...but I guess I knew it was inevitable...

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#3

Post by garyan2 » Sat Apr 23, 2022 5:19 am

Here is the typical sequence of status messages from a clean start.

Step 1
Backing up WMC configurations ...
Deleting eHome folder contents ...
Deleting HD PVR tuner files ... (if Colossus HD PVR installed)
Refreshing registry keys ...
Starting Windows Media Center ... (opens and then hides WMC)
Waiting for initial WMC database build ...
Performing a manual database update ... (probably not needed anymore)
Increasing tuner limits ...
Updating satellite transponders ...

Step 2
Creating HD PVR tuner files ... (if Colossus HD PVR installed)
Opening WMC for TV Setup ... (restores WMC to view on the Windows Media Center Setup page)
Waiting for user to complete Step 2 ... (user performs TV Setup and then closes WMC)
Activating guide in registry ...
Disabling background scanner ...

Step 3
Opening EPG123 Configuration GUI ...
Waiting for EPG123 to close ...
Transferring recording requests ...

To answer restoring a backup from 1 system to the other. It will work just fine as long as the tuners are the same. If the backup has a tuner that the new system does not have, then it will not restore your tuner configurations. Making a backup before doing the restore is never a bad idea.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#4

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 8:54 am

garyan2 wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 5:19 am...
To answer restoring a backup from 1 system to the other. It will work just fine as long as the tuners are the same. If the backup has a tuner that the new system does not have, then it will not restore your tuner configurations. Making a backup before doing the restore is never a bad idea.
The tuner will be the same Ethernet connected HDhomeRun Prime with the same IP address, etc. I installed the same SiliconDust drivers on the "new" system as were on the old one.

So, you are saying that I can do a full restore using the last backup from the old system (not sure when the last backup occurred, but I assume it happened at least every 5 days along with the garbage collection). How do I go about doing this restore? I'll be taking the backup files from the old hard drive on the old system and copying them over to the new system. Where should I put them? Or will the EPG123 restore ask me which files to restore?

Thanks again!


Some additional info on the PC hardware issue, if anyone is interested or has any ideas:

It looks like the system froze sometime after 6am EDT on 4/20 (this is the last time I saw it tune a channel in the HDhomerun logs.) The light was blinking as it does normally when it's sleeping, but it would not come out of the sleep state (although I think the fans were on, so I don't think it was really sleeping), so I had to hard reset it. When it tried to come up, I didn't get POST or any video signal at all. There were no beeps made by the motherboard (although I'm not sure if the motherboard speaker is working). There is a single solid green light lit on the motherboard. Looking at the hard disk activity lights after turning it on, there is nothing (the system isn't booting), so I don't think the problem is just the GPU. I also swapped in a new CPU and PSU and it still had the same issue (I also put the CPU from the failed system in another computer and it was able to POST and I could go in to the BIOS), so I'm pretty sure it's the motherboard that is the problem at this point, but I'm open to suggestions... The motherboard is a ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0.

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#5

Post by garyan2 » Sat Apr 23, 2022 2:25 pm

To restore the latest from the old system, you will need to some manual construction of a backup zip file. Though EPG123 will force a WMC backup every 5 days along with garbage collection, it does not create the zip file. From the old system, grab the latest files from c:\programdata\microsoft\mcepgX-Y\ and rename them.

c:\programdata\microsoft\mcepgX-Y\lineup\yyyyMMdd_HHmmss => lineup.mxf
c:\programdata\microsoft\mcepgX-Y\recordings\yyyyMMdd_HHmmss => recordings.mxf
c:\programdata\microsoft\mceptX-Y\subscriptions\yyyyMMdd_HHmmss => subscriptions.mxf

Put all 3 files in a .zip file and then use the client [Restore] on the new system. You will be as up-to-date from the old system as is possible.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#6

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:19 pm

Thanks for the help!

I did as you instructed but afterwards I ran WMC and there were no Series or scheduled recordings. Do I need to reboot or restart a service or something?

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#7

Post by garyan2 » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:22 pm

Have you imported the guide after the restore?

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- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#8

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:24 pm

garyan2 wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:22 pm Have you imported the guide after the restore?

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No, should I do that?

EDIT:
Also, is it OK if i copy the EPG123 config file over? There are a lot of channels that I have unselected for download on the old system, will using the old config load my selection list on the new system?

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#9

Post by garyan2 » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:28 pm

Yes, you need to have guide listings in order for anything to be scheduled to record. Also yes to copying over the cfg file.

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#10

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:31 pm

I already have guide listings from before the database restore. They were still there after the database restore...

EDIT: Before the database restore I already had guide listings. After the restore, I went in to WMC and it still had those listings. I went to list all the Series and there was nothing, so it is not an issue with missing guide listings, it is an issue with missing Series.

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#11

Post by garyan2 » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:38 pm

Open the transfer tool and see if they are listed on the right side.

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#12

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:54 pm

Yep, I did that just before you posted. I opened the zip file I made (that DOES include the recordings.mxf file which was renamed from:
ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\mcepg2-2\backup\20220418_010440 from the old hard drive.)

The transfer tool complains, saying that "This zip file does not contain a recordings.mxf file with recording requests."

I compared the zip file to one that does load (the backup I made before I restored the old backup) and it loads fine.

The only differences I see between the zip files are that the zip that loads contains an extra "[Content_Types].xml" file, the files in the zip file that I created include "An" in the "Attributes" field, and dates in the "Created" and "Accessed" fields when displayed in 7-zip. The other zip file has all those fields blank.

I used 7-zip to create the zip file, not sure if any special parameters are needed...

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#13

Post by garyan2 » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:57 pm

Try creating the zip file using the windows native method. Dont know if 7zip compression is recognized by .NET.

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#14

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:59 pm

OK, I added that "[Content_Types].xml" from the other zip file to my zip file and now the transfer tool is happy.

So did the restore not actually do a restore due to that file being missing?

Did it mess up the WMC database in some way?

Should I try another restore with the new zip file ("[Content_Types].xml" included)?

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#15

Post by garyan2 » Sat Apr 23, 2022 10:01 pm

Interesting. The xml file is something that .NET adds to zip files. Try the restore again since it sounds like epg123 couldn't read it.

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#16

Post by Space » Sat Apr 23, 2022 10:17 pm

I did the restore again and my Series have returned!!!

This time, I saw the changes in EPG123 client after the restore, which I didn't before.

The guide listings were missing in WMC which I assume is expected...

I then did and EPG123 guide update, and it looks like everything is working now with guide listings and scheduled recordings listed.

I guess this is a "bug" that EPG123 client does not report a problem when the zip file is not in the proper format (in this case missing that "[Content_Types].xml" file). The initial restore ran pretty quickly compared to this last one I did, so I assume, as you indicated, that it was not actually able to read the files correctly and therefore did not actually do the restore (other indicators being that the guide listings were still there, no Series, etc.).

I guess it would be a good idea to pop-up some message about the zip file not being readable (or whatever .NET may not like about it), assuming it actually does return some sort of error code, or if it doesn't, maybe verify that the contents of the files are valid (perhaps they appear to be empty when this problem occurs?)

Thanks again for taking the time on a Saturday to help me out, I really appreciate it!

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