The video decoder is not working is not installed

[ITGuy1024]

Hey everyone,

So I upgraded my HTPC and it's been nothing but a headache. When I try to watch live tv I get this error message.
"The video decoder is not working, is not installed, or is not supported. Try installing the codec or restarting your computer. For more information about codecs, see Windows Help."

A little background information:

My old configuration works perfect and has worked flawless for 3 years. I changed a few things when I upgraded.
The old setup was W7 Pro SP1 32bit, the new setup is W7 Pro SP1 64bit, an SSD and the latest drivers from the vendors. Everything else hardware wise has stayed the same and if I hook up the old hard drive it works fine.

Motherboard: ECS A55F-M4
CPU: AMD A4-3300 with integrated Radeon HD 6410D
Tuner: Ceton Infi 4
Video / Sound go out HDMI, in to a receiver then to the tv.

I have tried everything I can find in two days of searching the internet. Here's what I recall doing but there were a few others I can't remember.
- Installing the old drivers for all hardware (This was the obvious first choice), made no difference.
- Tried ffdshow
- Tried Windows 7 codec pack
- Tried turning off the WMC navigation sounds
- Tried setting WMC to 5.1 surround and HTPC to 2.1
- Tried running WMC as admin
- Tried setting the clock back a few hours
- Rebuild the base performance counters
- Lowered UAC
- Tried changing ffdshow video decoder configuration from mpeg2 setting that was disabled to be libmpeg2


Thanks in advance for any guidance.

[DavidinCT]

Sounds like you or one of your codecs changed the default codecs for live TV. Adding different codecs can sometimes cause havoc with WMC, and if your using a cablecard, WMC is picky about the Codec for live TV.

I would remove all extra codecs and double check the registry for left over things. Re-run TV setup, let it install the components, get live TV working again. If you cant, reset WMC, then got to Add remove programs, Windows features, Media and uninstall Windows Media Center and Windows Media player. Reboot, then go to C:\Programdata\Microsoft\ehome, delete the ehome folder. Reboot one more time, Then go in and re-add WMC and WMP, re-run setup and try again.

Get live TV running first before anything else. Then I suggest if you NEED a codec pack, use Shark007's pack, there is a few posts on that site how to get it fully working on x64.

Do you use bit streaming for DTS/DD - HD/Master audio formats ? This ads another issue but, shark tends to solve that with a few check boxes.

I was one that installed codec by codec, testing everything one by one till it was perfect but, ran into things that just would not work. I tried Shark for the heck of it, everything plays flawlessly, it's all codecs in a nice clean package that is controlled in a central place.

[ITGuy1024]

I would remove all extra codecs and double check the registry for left over things. Re-run TV setup, let it install the components, get live TV working again. If you cant, reset WMC, then got to Add remove programs, Windows features, Media and uninstall Windows Media Center and Windows Media player. Reboot, then go to C:\Programdata\Microsoft\ehome, delete the ehome folder. Reboot one more time, Then go in and re-add WMC and WMP, re-run setup and try again.

When I try to run the live tv set up now I get an error that I can't download the latest guide listings (tried changing my DNS to 8.8.8.8). When I continue I get an error that my computer isn't digital cable ready. If I run the Digital Cable Advisor it just fails and gives a generic error message and I should run WinSAT.

At the same time I have my Ceton Diagnostic Tool open and everything is green all the way down to test the channels in media center.

[miracleed]

ITGuy1024,
I had the same symptom when I was trying to do the guide update. It turned out that in the middle of all the config changes and host updates that I was trying to do I also updated my asus graphics card drivers to v15 or something. Turns out they aren't compatible with wmc7. I got the guide data to finally download and show itself only to click on a channel and have the codec warning show up. It was resolved when I went through the device controller and rolled back both my graphics card driver version AND the sound device driver version to the previous version.

I'm not sure if your root cause is the same as mine, but that is what worked for me. It was a coincidence that it occurred at the same time as the guide info switch over.


Good luck,
Ed

[ITGuy1024]

ITGuy1024,
I had the same symptom when I was trying to do the guide update. It turned out that in the middle of all the config changes and host updates that I was trying to do I also updated my asus graphics card drivers to v15 or something. Turns out they aren't compatible with wmc7. I got the guide data to finally download and show itself only to click on a channel and have the codec warning show up. It was resolved when I went through the device controller and rolled back both my graphics card driver version AND the sound device driver version to the previous version.

I'm not sure if your root cause is the same as mine, but that is what worked for me. It was a coincidence that it occurred at the same time as the guide info switch over.


Good luck,
Ed

I can try to find an older version but I did use the same drivers that I had been using before. Maybe at this point I'll just reinstall windows and start over.

[dmagerl]

Is both the system audio and media center audio set to 5.1? Go into the sounds control panel and set the system sounds to 2.0, or anything different from what WMC is set for.

[ITGuy1024]

Is both the system audio and media center audio set to 5.1? Go into the sounds control panel and set the system sounds to 2.0, or anything different from what WMC is set for.

I tried that already, they are set differently.

[ITGuy1024]

ITGuy1024,
I had the same symptom when I was trying to do the guide update. It turned out that in the middle of all the config changes and host updates that I was trying to do I also updated my asus graphics card drivers to v15 or something. Turns out they aren't compatible with wmc7. I got the guide data to finally download and show itself only to click on a channel and have the codec warning show up. It was resolved when I went through the device controller and rolled back both my graphics card driver version AND the sound device driver version to the previous version.

I'm not sure if your root cause is the same as mine, but that is what worked for me. It was a coincidence that it occurred at the same time as the guide info switch over.


Good luck,
Ed

I took my driver from version 15.7 (7/8/2015) back to 13.1 (1/21/2013) and all 6 versions between still no luck downloading the guide. But I was able to complete the tv setup and activate WMC.

[ITGuy1024]

So just an update - I was able to get the live TV working eventually after uninstalling driver version 13.1 and reinstalling it along with running the live tv setup a few times.

I also discovered that my hard drive sata cable connector was broken and loose so I replaced that.

The live tv picture was really stuttering so I installed Shark007 codec pack (which I was going to use for MKV playback anyway) and that took care of the issue.

The only issue I have left now is getting the guide listings to download. I can manually download updates and it says successful but nothing really ever downloads it seems.