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[lhwidget]

After playing around, I discovered that COX has removed DRM restrictions on the local stations (they applied it across the board when they implemented the "Going Digital" change, I don't know when they turned DRM off on local stations.)  It was a false alarm, files recorded with DRM in place can't be played by JRiver.  It was playing the non-DRM recordings great.  Sorry for the confusion & any false hopes...

Jay


This post is about Windows Media Center and JRiver Media Center.  When you see WMC, I'm talking about Windows Media Center, JRiver means JRiver's Media Center.  Also, if this is old news, I apologize in advance, I'm new to WMC.  My TVs are connected as monitors to Windows 7 PCs, I still don't have any COX Cable boxes in my house.

I've used JRiver for my CDs and movies since v15.  Back then, Beyond TV was a great TV recorder.  I developed an 8 tuner DVR on a server and used it for about 7 years.  Three HTPCs running JRiver and BTV pulled everything from my server and I had the same programming available everywhere in my house.

This year, COX Cable in Oklahoma City (boo, hiss, they suck and their mommies are all ugly) went "All Digital" which meant several things:
1) All analog signals would be discontinued.
2) All un-encrypted channels would now be encrypted.
3) DRM was applied to ALL channels (local, cable like USA and SYFI, and Premium)

1) Wasn't all bad, the digital versions of the analog channels do look a lot better...
2) Forced me to buy 2 Silicon Dust HD Homerun Cable Card machines. OK, a PITA, but my house network is wired, and I could stash these in the closet with my server.
3) Forced me to Windows 7 and Windows Media Center.  As far as I know, it's still the only thing that can handle recording DRM protected content. 

After a month or two of futzing with stuff, I had My three systems for watching live TV, recording and saving my TV till I watched it, etc, etc.

The single biggest complaint I have now is; DRM forces me to record specific shows on specific systems (local HD only, the single point server concept is history), and DRM in WMC won't let you watch a DRM protected show anywhere except on the exact system it was recorded on.  You can't watch a show recorded on the bedroom machine on the machine in the livingroom.  Heck, change the RAM in a PC, and any content recorded before the upgrade won't be watchable (the machine code will change).

Today, I made a stunning (for me anyway) discovery.  I was looking at the TV recording directory on my office PC, and I noticed that JRiver had set itself as the default player for the WMC TV files.  On a lark, I double-clicked one.  It popped right up in JRiver and started playing.  I went to my living room system and shared its TV recording drive.  Went back to my office machine and double-clicked on a TV program on the living room machine.  It popped right up and played just fine.  After sharing the TV drive in my bedroom machine, I have played DRM protected content from all three of my systems on my office PC.

While the content is no longer centrally located, I think I can start using JRiver to watch what WMC has recorded.  This will finally get me back to being able to watch anything I've recorded anywhere I want to.  I don't subscribe to any premium content, but I think this will also work for HBO and other premium services.

What I need help on:
1) Skip forward & skip back don't work.  This is how many people (me included) skip commercials.  I need this.  I'm running v19 of JRiver.  I'll go ahead and upgrade, but I doubt it will help this.  I'm afraid it's a byproduct of the wonky file structure WMC records TV in.
2) Can I set up something automatic that will scan the TV drives and add content every night?  I'd love for a new recording to just appear as it happens, but I don't think JRiver can do this.
3) I need to set up a location in Theater View to put the TV Library.  I'm assuming Video/Shows is the spot, right?

What am I missing/thinking about wrong?  Any better suggestions?

Thanks for your patience.

[RoderickGI]

1. I only have a few WTV files left from my WMC days, but when I play them, on my MC Server (my HTPC) or my MC Client (Office workstation) PC, skipping forward and back works fine, both with an IR remote and a keyboard. Check your skip settings. Note that my WTV files aren't encrypted though, so that may be the issue, but I wouldn't have thought so.

2. Now that you have worked out MC can play encrypted WTV files (be sure about that - test with new recordings that are definitely encrypted), why don't you just run WMC on your server, plus MC (MC means JRiver Media Center) on the server? Then MC can be set up to Auto Import all WMC TV recordings, and they would then be available on all MC Clients very soon after they are finished recording. It sounds like you have tuners associated with (installed in?) each of your Office, Living Room, and Bedroom PCs. You should associate all tuners with the server and let WMC control them all, for better utilisation.

3. If the recordings are tagged as TV Shows, that would be correct. If they are tagged as Movies, then it would be Video/Movies. MC will put them into the correct place based on the tagging. The menu item should already be available in Theatre View. If you have removed it, just create a new temporary MC Library and look at the defaults it has in it. (Make sure that new library doesn't start importing all your media. It will try to automatically the first time you open the library, with a 45 second countdown. Stop the countdown.) I don't recall in WTV files support tagging that is compatible with MC, but you could just use tagging on import to set them all to TV Shows initially if you wished.

Disclaimer: I don't have anything like the setup you have. Windows 10 now, no WMC, no encrypted files or TV channels, etc. So all advice is provided as is. No guarantees! 

[lhwidget]

Thanks Rodrick,
Yes, these are defiantly fresh files with DRM applied. 

It takes at least two PCs, WMC can only handle 4 tuners max, and I have 6 available.  I'l start looking into my remote control macros for skip forward/back command integrity.

Thanks again,
Jay

1. I only have a few WTV files left from my WMC days, but when I play them, on my MC Server (my HTPC) or my MC Client (Office workstation) PC, skipping forward and back works fine, both with an IR remote and a keyboard. Check your skip settings. Note that my WTV files aren't encrypted though, so that may be the issue, but I wouldn't have thought so.

2. Now that you have worked out MC can play encrypted WTV files (be sure about that - test with new recordings that are definitely encrypted), why don't you just run WMC on your server, plus MC (MC means JRiver Media Center) on the server? Then MC can be set up to Auto Import all WMC TV recordings, and they would then be available on all MC Clients very soon after they are finished recording. It sounds like you have tuners associated with (installed in?) each of your Office, Living Room, and Bedroom PCs. You should associate all tuners with the server and let WMC control them all, for better utilisation.

3. If the recordings are tagged as TV Shows, that would be correct. If they are tagged as Movies, then it would be Video/Movies. MC will put them into the correct place based on the tagging. The menu item should already be available in Theatre View. If you have removed it, just create a new temporary MC Library and look at the defaults it has in it. (Make sure that new library doesn't start importing all your media. It will try to automatically the first time you open the library, with a 45 second countdown. Stop the countdown.) I don't recall in WTV files support tagging that is compatible with MC, but you could just use tagging on import to set them all to TV Shows initially if you wished.

Disclaimer: I don't have anything like the setup you have. Windows 10 now, no WMC, no encrypted files or TV channels, etc. So all advice is provided as is. No guarantees! 

[RoderickGI]

There was a hack you could do to WMC to make it handle any number of tuners. The internet should still have details.

But I saw your other thread, and read that your server is running Windows Server 2012 R2, which isn't a supported configuration for MC. So that would give you problems. You would have to put Windows 7 (with WMC) on your server to be able to run MC on it reliably. Although some people do run MC on a server version of Windows, but with issues and lots of tweaking.

[lhwidget]

Thanks Rodrick, I'll check that out.  I'll leave my server for data and PC back-ups.  If the I can break the 4 tuner limit I'll just use my office PC as the server.

Hey, I found my jump forward/back functions, I forgot I had them mapped to the left & right buttons.