Considering the move from WMC (1 Viewer)

[Lehmden]

Hi.

Does WMC actively use tuners when closed with the services enabled?

As far as I remember (it's very long ago since I last used WMC) all tuners are used as long as the WMC services are running. This is due to possible scheduled recordings and the fact that WMC can not record more than one channel per tuner (as MP can with most of the tuners out there)...

 

[mm1352000]

I guess David will have to check WMC for himself. At least we can confirm that MP is not the problem if it doesn't work.

 

[HTPCSourcer]

The conflict can easily be resolved by stopping the WMC ehome services and then launching the TVService:

net stop ehrecvr.exe /yes
net stop ehmsas.exe /yes
net stop ehtray.exe /yes
net stop ehSched.exe /yes
net start tvservice.exe

Switching over to MePo would require a similar batch file where tvservice.exe is stopped and ehome services are started

 

[CyberSimian]

As far as I remember (it's very long ago since I last used WMC) all tuners are used as long as the WMC services are running. This is due to possible scheduled recordings and the fact that WMC can not record more than one channel per tuner (as MP can with most of the tuners out there)...

I think that this is incorrect. When you setup Windows Media Center, WMC displays a list of the tuners that it has detected in the HTPC, and from which you choose which tuners WMC should use. As mm said earlier, you do precisely the same thing in MP. So, it is possible to choose different tuners for each media center to use.

The above is for DVB-T and analogue. I don't know whether cable-card tuners are different in this respect.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[CyberSimian]

it sounds like I could run both WMC and MP side by side on a Windows 7 machine to only service the Ceton Echo for the time being

Yes and no. MediaPortal will deactivate the WMC Windows services by applying a policy. This means that

• it is not possible to run MediaPortal and WMC in parallel at the same time
• Switching from one to the other will require the reactivation of said services and deactivation of TV Service + reboot

I don't know how the Ceton Echo operates, but IP TV can be managed by MediaPortal.

I am not sure that this is correct. My impression is that the only reason for disabling the WMC services is so that the green button on the remote control invokes MP instead of WMC.

If you do not disable the WMC services, and you have specified that WMC is to use tuners that MP is forbidden from using, I think that it should be possible for both to work concurrently (even to the extent of performing simultaneous recordings).

The problem is how to start MP using the remote control (since the green button will start WMC). There is the complicating factor that a number of other buttons on the remote control will also start WMC (e.g. the "Live TV" button, the "Videos" button, the "EPG" button, possibly some others). Whether these buttons would work correctly within MP once MP was running would need to be tested.

WMC on my Vista system is currently non-functional, so I cannot test whether it is possible to use MP and WMC concurrently.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[LJG]

This has rung a bell, and reminded me that I did run WMC and MP concurrently for a little while 3 years ago before making the full switch to MP.

From what I remember, I did split the tuners between WMC and MP as suggested by CyberSimian. I disabled the MPTray, and instead opened MediaPortal using a Harmony remote that I had mapped to a shortcut key, I also had to do some complicated fiddling about with remote configurations to avoid using any buttons that would auto open WMC.

Very fiddly, but do-able. I think I gave up quite quickly and made the full switch to MP.