PlayReady Updates

[Crash2009]

I thought that PlayReady was a one time thing. Something that you install when you first setup a tuner, and that's it, done, over. Recently I have been loosing channels here and there and calling the Comcast # and telling the headend to "hit me". Every time I had done that in the past, shortly after, WMC would ask me if I wanted to install the PlayReady update. So I do, and everything starts working again. This last problem was kinda different, instead of the usual "you are not authorised" I got the "you cant play that on here" I wasn't trying to play anything, I just wanted to watch TV. The message it gave me was the one that tells you that you can only watch it on the device that recorded it. Long story short, I call them up, and get a human on the phone, they tell me they sent the signal and restarted my RNG-110 and DCX-3400. I'm thinking WOW aren't you clever, you restarted both of your rented devices. Then it came to me "restart the computer" actually "shut down" and "turn back on" "Fire up WMC" and PlayReady was there, waiting for permission to install.

Seems like everytime I make a change to the account, something stops working. Why is that? Is there any way to automate PlayReady? Or should I just get in the habit of rebooting after a change to the account, or a hit from the headend?

[JohnW248]

Your specs don't show which version of Windows you are running. Do you have any virtual machine software installed on your computer?

[Crash2009]

I am running Win 7 Ultimate. No VM's that I know of. What do you suspect John?

[JohnW248]

I was wondering if you had a VPN driver installed on your system. Windows puts ALL drivers on all adapters and that can interfer with the InfiniTV4. Go to network and sharing and then click on change adapter settings. Right click on the Ceton adapter and choose properties. If you have VPN with a check mark, uncheck it (don't uninstlal it'll take if off your system if you do) and then reboot the machine. I had some weird issues with DRM pairing and playready updates and I think it had to do with Win7Pro and having set-up XP on it which added VPN to all the network adapters.

If you re-install the Ceton driver I think that this setting will come back so if you find it and re-install the Ceton driver you should check this again.

John

[Crash2009]

I had a little look at the properties of my 3 network connections. Didn't see anything named VM or VPN. I will dig around a little deeper on the subject.

This is what I get when I right click on the Ceton adapter, and look at driver details.

[JohnW248]

Are you bridging tuners form the Ceton on other computers? If you aren't you should turn that off.
What I was talking about is a MS driver called Virtual PC Network Fitler Driver which would intercept calls and can interfer with tuner pairing, etc. Bridging can cause issues as well and if you aren't using it go to device manager and open the Ceton driver click on advanced and then the second item is bridging and say no.
If you are using a tuner on another machine make sure you've set-up bridging properly.
There is one other reason for losing cableCARD activation and that is a problem with on board memory on the tuner card itself. If you keep having that problem you should do scans from the Ceton Diagnostic untility and sumit a trouble ticket. Activation issues can trigger playready as well. Everything I've run into playready issues I can usually find it before an issue by going to Tasks in Media Center and TV and TV Signal when Playready appears there it should be run, if it isn't there you shouldn't get an alert for playready updates. Usually this just re-writes a registry key.

Also on the Network and Sharing Change Adapter page, click on Advanced and then check bindings. Make sure you Ceton is ONLY bound to Printer & File Sharing and (with ip4 and ip6) and Microsoft Network for the same two. If there is anything else listed for the Ceton Card and you have not bridged it for use on another machine, uncheck it and reboot.

John

[Crash2009]

At present, I am not sharing any tuners with other workstations, although, I plan to soon. Had several other projects to finish first, such as wiring the house, throwing a box together for WHS2011, and getting TFTP, SNMP, PRTG, and a managed switch working. I didn't know anything about these things so I had to do a lot of reading, and ask a lot of questions. It has been a slow process.

I installed the Ceton a few months ago. As I remember the Ceton driver installed the bridge. I did upgrade the drivers of the Atheros prior to installing the Ceton. I could have missed something in that area.

Alt advanced bindings. Never been in there before, Thanks! It appears that the Ceton is not bound to anything. The only thing that is bound is the bridge. The bridge is bound to both File and printer Sharing and Client for Microsoft Windows.

So, if I am not using network tuners at present, you figure I should burn the bridge and bind the Ceton to File and Printer Sharing (with Ipv4 and Ipv6). Should I create a restore point first?

[JohnW248]

You really don't need a restore point, just change the binding to NO in the device manager panel under Advanced and then check the binding in Network and Sharing. Then reboot. See if that helps with your problem. If not then open the Ceton Diagnostic tool and click on diagnose and do a scan. Open a ticket with Ceton and describe the problem along with your cableCARD type (moto/cisco or NDS) and if you have SDV or not (tuning adapter) and the next time your card is not activated, do a scan first and then call in for pairing and do a scan right after that as well to elminate any problem with the Ceton card memory. Also when you start the diagnostic tool it will check your FW and if it is out of date will allow you to update the FW on the Ceton.

Once you file a ticket, if Ceton has had any issue with this on your cable system they might have some specific suggestion or a FW update for your specific MSO.

Sometimes these things take a lot of watching and scanning of the diagnostic tool to determine exactly what's going on. I have check marks in all those boxes for both my PCIe card and my USB device. Once the card is no longer bridged maybe those will come back, maybe not... but that might be part of the solution.

John

[Crash2009]

Thanks for your help. I makes sense to remove the bridge if I am not using it. Come to think of it, I had it setup this way to run the Ceton without a cableCARD. Now that I have the card in there it likely should be changed. I will tear it down later this week.

Where did you learn all this stuff?

[JohnW248]

Where did you learn all this stuff?

Been doing it for quite a while. Started out with the ATI DCT units on a Dell XPS420 with the special bios when there was NO customer support (and that was under Vista and everything was locked down as copy once--it didn't matter what the cable comopany had set). Got the Ceton card when it first came out and it arrived and the XPS420 died. Luckily it was under extended Warranty and Dell couldn't fix it so replaced it with the 9100 XPS and Win7 64. So I've been through alot of this the hard way. There are lots of little things that you wouldn't think would be a problem but because of the DRM imposed by cable labs you can run into issues with all sorts of minor things.

Hopefully your problem will resolve itself with these changes. I don't know what you might be looking out with two bridged adapters. There were problems when the Ceton Card appeared first in the bindings with other applications grabbing the card when they really needed to grab the network adapter that had internet access.

See how it works and if it still persists, do run the scans and file a ticket. The more information they get the better they can make the product.

John

[Crash2009]

I read about that ATI CableCARD mod bios project. There were rumors in 2003, a release in 2006, and DYS instructions in 2009. You have been around awhile.

I am very new to the HTPC scene. Less than 6 months ago I was using XP Pro, Nero 7, and a TV Wonder to stream 9 channels from the house to the garage. It worked, but not very well. I should have upgraded years ago.

I will give Ceton a before and after. Your suggestion might resolve an annoyance that I have had with my Atheros 8121 adapter. The indicator lights report 1 green/1 amber (100mbs) at the adapter and 2 greens (1000mbs) at the switch. Seems to work OK, but I remain open to improvement.

[Crash2009]

Something is not quite right in there. I attemped to unbridge, and everything fell apart. Had to restore. Going in there is like poking a hornet nest with a stick. I think I need to uninstall the Ceton and remove it from the case prior to going after the nic. I emailed Atheros for their input.

[JohnW248]

Did you go to device manager and open the Ceton device under network devices and then click on the advanced tab and bridging and say no?

Otherwise maybe you should do a remove and then reboot and see what your network devices look like and then do an install and watch it closely and DON'T install bridging on the new install.

John

[Crash2009]

I must have misunderstood your directions. Going to try again from this angle. Plan to just change bridging value to No and reboot.

[Crash2009]

No hornets this time. Going in this way was painless. Just one little problem, after I re-booted the Ceton was unable to get a signal. I turned on bridging again, and rebooted, and it started working again.

[Crash2009]

Adjusting the Bridging Value and rebooting appears to have shook something into place. The NIC displays 1 Gbps now. Prior to this both the Ceton and the NIC displayed nothing.

Isn't the Ceton supposed to display 1 Gpbs instead of 100 Mbps?

[JohnW248]

No, surprise surprise, the Ceton is 100m which is plenty fast for 4 HD streams (and 6 streams).

I wonder if you changed your Ceton IP address when you turned on bridging. The default for the InfiniTV4 is 192.168.200.1 and it should appear in your Network as a Media Device and if you click on it once and then right click you can open the web page gui and that will show you the current IP address. If you change it you'll need to reboot again but I'd try running it in default mode. When you restart the machine open the web gui and check each tuner for pairing with media center they should each be "green" in order.

Copy and paste the following in notepad and save it as Ceton Temps with html as file type. Then open it in a browser and it'll show you all four of your tuners, tuning, temp, copy protection, etc.

Code: Select all

<html>
<body>
<div class='header'>Ceton InfiniTV Temperatures</div>
<table>
	<tr>
		<td width=100>Temp</td>
		<td width=100>Signal Level</td>
		<td width=100>SNR</td>
		<td width=100>Playback</td>
		<td width=100>Frequency</td>
		<td width=100>Modulation</td>
		<td width=200>Copy Protection</td>
		<td width=100>Channel</td>
	</tr>
</table>
<div id="variable_row">
	<div id="variable_label">Tuner #1:</div>
	<div id="variable_value">
		<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=0&s=diag&v=Temperature'>
		</iframe>
		<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=0&s=diag&v=Signal_Level'>
		</iframe>
		<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=0&s=diag&v=Signal_SNR'>
		</iframe>
		<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=0&s=av&v=TransportState'>
		</iframe>
		<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=0&s=tuner&v=Frequency'>
		</iframe>
		<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=0&s=tuner&v=Modulation'>
		</iframe>
		<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:200px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=0&s=diag&v=CopyProtectionStatus'>
		</iframe>
		<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=0&s=cas&v=VirtualChannelNumber'>
		</iframe>
	</div>
</div>
<div id="variable_label">Tuner #2:</div>
<div id="variable_value">
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=1&s=diag&v=Temperature'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=1&s=diag&v=Signal_Level'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=1&s=diag&v=Signal_SNR'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=1&s=av&v=TransportState'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=1&s=tuner&v=Frequency'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=1&s=tuner&v=Modulation'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:200px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=1&s=diag&v=CopyProtectionStatus'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=1&s=cas&v=VirtualChannelNumber'>
	</iframe>
</div>
<div id="variable_label">Tuner #3:</div>
<div id="variable_value">
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=2&s=diag&v=Temperature'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=2&s=diag&v=Signal_Level'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=2&s=diag&v=Signal_SNR'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=2&s=av&v=TransportState'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=2&s=tuner&v=Frequency'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=2&s=tuner&v=Modulation'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:200px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=2&s=diag&v=CopyProtectionStatus'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=2&s=cas&v=VirtualChannelNumber'>
	</iframe>
</div>
<div id="variable_label">Tuner #4:</div>
<div id="variable_value">
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=3&s=diag&v=Temperature'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=3&s=diag&v=Signal_Level'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=3&s=diag&v=Signal_SNR'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=3&s=av&v=TransportState'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=3&s=tuner&v=Frequency'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=3&s=tuner&v=Modulation'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:200px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=3&s=diag&v=CopyProtectionStatus'>
	</iframe>
	<iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width:100px; height:75px;' src='http://192.168.200.1/get_var?i=3&s=cas&v=VirtualChannelNumber'>
	</iframe>
</div>
</body>
</html>

[Crash2009]

WOW! Looks like you hit that one out of the park John. Thank-you. My IP's were messed up. I tried that html code, and when that didn't work, I uninstalled the Ceton and did a factory reset. Rolled back the NIC driver while I was at it. Then installed the Ceton "without" Network Tuners.

[Crash2009]

WMC worked with no effort on my part.

[JohnW248]

So let's hope that cures your problems.