Finally ready to give up on Windows MCE, need advice (1 Viewer)

David Winner

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Hello to all, please forgive if I am bringing up a topic that has been addressed already, I haven't been able to find my answer so I am going to ask...

Background:
Windows Media Center Enthusiast since day one!!
Current Setup:
HTPC Win7 64 w/ Ceton six tuner PCIe card. Two Ceton Echo's, WHS 2011. Time Warner Cable.

How much can Media Portal really replace WMC? Is MP compatible with Cable card and protected content from the cable provider? Is MP really a replacement for WMC? I've been wanting to give up on WMC for a while now, but there just hasn't been the compatibility for protected content. I want to move on. Please give some advise!! I also see that MP is compatible with COMSKIP, that is a plus.

Thanks
 

ge2301

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  • January 11, 2014
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    Hi and welcome to MP2.

    Your question can not be simply answered. If MP2 is capable to replace WMC depends mainly on your expections and focal usage.
    MP2 is different in terms of navigation, it really improved a lot lately, but is not yet as smooth as WMC maybe. However MP2 offers much for features as WMC by adding plugins. You can use MP2 as Emulator of a long list of consoles, access online video content, see the cinema program of your city, ...
    Recordings from WMC can be imported by MP2 in case you have a collection.

    Visually MP2 is also different and it's worth a try. If you are patient and wait for a while, you'll also have a new skin, that will look like WMC, but offering all the advantages of MP2 at the same time:
    https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/wmc-design-for-mp2-skin.131062/
     

    David Winner

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    Thanks for your reply, and I agree it can be a difficult question to answer, so let me ask a more focused question....

    I use WMC to mainly watch and record TV, our household needs are simple, I have the wife and child who have there shows they like to watch. The thing is, many of these shows are on channels that are not broadcast, so they are considered protected. All of the network shows (and some of the other channels in cable are not flagged as protected) that record the comskip kicks in. And off course we use multiple TV in different rooms to watch, so that is why the Echo are so important. From what I read, networking a small HTPC box I can use MP to replace the Echos'. SO I guess it comes down to the TV Signal. If the cable card doesn't work, will MP work with protected content if I switch to satellite?
     

    osre

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    I'm more or less in the same Situation as you.
    Because of a shortage of time I havn't tried everything fully so far but:

    Multiple TV's via small HTPC boxes:
    yes. MP2 is fully Client/Server based.
    You need one Server with the TV Card(s) and can connect multiple Clients to it (will not Need any Special harware)
    One of the Clients can be the Server too, so no extra machine is needed.
    All Clients will see all recordings, since there is only one media library, managed by the Server.

    Cable Card with protected channels:
    I only use DVB-S2 without encrypted channels, but I would say your Card should propably work, including the protected channels.
    The WIKI contains a copatibility list for Tuners if I remember right.
    I'm not sure about recording on protected channels. I read somewhere that existing WMC recording from protected channels will not be playable by MP2.
    btw. MP2 currently uses the same TV Server as MP1, so everyting related to MP1 TV-Server is true for MP2 too.
     

    David Winner

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    Yes I understand the client/server relationship, and I'm sure MP will work great with My Movies, that is the other app we use a lot. But it seems that the recording protected content still may be an issue. I will research some more and look at the wiki for compatible tuners. But at the end of the day if it doesn't record Protected content, I cannot not switch yet. Remember the wife/simplicity factor that we need to have if our HTPC systems are going to be for everyday use.[DOUBLEPOST=1461007107][/DOUBLEPOST]DRM and Limitations
    These days almost all cable TV is encrypted to control access to the content. Some cable providers even encrypt local channels that have traditionally not been encrypted. All encrypted content is labelled with information describing the restrictions. Please see here for more information.
    MediaPortal will only support "copy freely" content. This is mainly due to two reasons:

    1. The expense of licensing DRM technology or having MediaPortal certified by CableLabs.
    2. The conflict between the closed and restrictive nature of DRM and the open and free nature of MediaPortal and our community.
    In practical terms that means you may not be able to view or record content from some channels. Exactly which content and channels are accessible depends on your cable provider and how they choose to label their channels.

    I believe I have found my answer in the Wiki section.....
     

    osre

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    I know for sure that MP1/2 users use DVB-S2 with CAM's to watch protected channels. I'm 99,4% sure it is supported there (0.5% less because I personally never tried it).
    Some have also working CAM+ for HD+ channels working with recording and timeshift.
    I don't see why cable should not work, specially since most cable channels are encrypted.
     

    David Winner

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    I agree, I guess the only way to find out is to try. I will report back. Should be easy set up. Download and install on my current WMC HTPC and run outside of WMC.
     

    osre

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    btw.
    you can simply try it.
    1. stop all WMC Services
    2. Install MP2
    3. Setup TV
    4. try
    5. Stop all MP2 Services (and disable autostart of them!) or uninstall it (Settings will stay)
    6. Start WMC Services again

    That's how I test new MP2 worsins on live HTPC, while I'm still using WMC there.
     

    David Winner

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    thanks for the hot tip.
     

    mm1352000

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    David, it won't work. The information you found in the wiki is correct. If a channel/program is "copy-once" DRM protected, MediaPortal won't be able to show or record it. WMC can; MP can't. Sorry.
     

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