[WBHoenig]

If you have had the problem of MCE2004 or MCE2005 where you get the above error (or something like it; I don't remember the exact message" and are not able to play DVDs or Videos, here is how you fix it.

1. Make sure you have the .Net Framework 1.1 or 2.0 BETA. Then download the SDK for your version. They can all be download from The Microsoft Download Center

2. Copy ehshell.exe (in the %windir%\ehome) directory to a tempory location.

3. In C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\(either v1.1 or v2.0)\bin folder (or wherever you installed the SDK), open ildasm.exe.

4. Click File>Open and open ehshell.exe in your temporary directory.

5. Click File>Dump. Check only Dump IL code and Expand try/catch. Click OK. Once that process is finished, close ildasm.exe.

6. Open Notepad. Browse to your the temp directory that ehshell is, and you should see two new files, ehshell.il and ehshell.res. Open ehshell.il. This may take a while, depending on the power of your computer.

7. Search for the string get_UsableVideoMemory in the file. Just below that, you should see the value 0x2000000. Change that to 0x1000000. Save the file and close notepad.

8. Go to your temp directory, and delete the copy of ehshell.exe that you have.

9. Using the Open Command Window Here powertoy, open Command Prompt to your tempory directory. Type "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\(v1.1.4322 or v2.0.40607)" \ilasm /resource:ehshell.res /exe ehshell.il and press enter. If this process fails, download a new version of ehshell.res Here, and replace the old version with this version.

10. Start Safe Mode

11. Backup your old ehshell.exe in the ehome directory to a different folder.

12. Copy and paste the new ehshell.exe from your temp directory to the ehome directory, replacing the old version (MAKE SURE YOUR OLD VERSION IS BACKED UP!!!!!).

13. Boot the computer again normally.

14. Start Command Prompt at the ehome directory.

15. "C:\Program Files\Microsoft .NET\FrameworkSDK\(v1.1 or v2.0)\bin\sn -Vr ehshell.exe

Now You Should have a completely working version of Media Center 2004 or 2005!

[prathapml]

Thanks for this guide

My card is compatible with MCE, but the emulated VMware card is not - so it will be useful in that context.

[Yogi76]

I have an ATI Radeon 7000 series video card on a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 machine that gives me the "Your video card or drivers are not compatible with Media Center" error. I tried the above steps, but I am still receiving the error and I still can't play videos in Media Center. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Yogi

[Marsden]

Do you have WHQL Certified drivers for MCE 2005?

[Yogi76]

I am running the ATI Radeon MCE drivers that I downloaded at http://www2.ati.com/drivers/wxp-mce-8-121-...22a-022141c.exe. My card is not listed as a compatible video card at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediace...nerlisting.mspx, but I was under the impression that this hack was to get around that.

Yogi

[Francesco]

I have the same videocard (radeon VE aka radeon 7000 (32mb of ram)), i've done the same things and I'm still getting the same error

[Francesco]

i've found a referenge in the assembly to a certain "DisableDxCheck" thing, probably it's a registry key that when disabled turns all the dx9/ram check off... i'm giving a look at this right now i'll post some updates as soon as I can

[Francesco]

Just open regedit and point to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Display Settings

Then Add 2 DWORD KEYS called DisableDxCheck and DisableDx9CapsCheck and set both their values to 1 and media center should start without problems and without all those nasty recompiling things

Have fun

[Yogi76]

Francesco, that did indeed work to start Media Center without giving any errors. However, I cannot view any video in Media Center, be it live tv from my E-Home Wonder TV tuner or a regular video file. I can hear sound, but no video comes through. Seeing as you have the exact same video card as me (Radeon 7000 VE), I was wondering if you are experiencing the same problem. I may just have to break down and buy a new video card, but I don't want to spend a bunch of money. This is an extra computer that is using a spare TV tuner I had. My main computer with an up to date video card is running Media Center with no problem.

[WBHoenig]

This guide will only help if your video card has memory of between 16 and 32 megabytes. The video requirments are actually more tham 32 (33 or more) mb of ram. This makes it 16 (or should). Although this is most cases with Media Center Video, there are still other ways to make this happen.

[Marsden]

MCE 2005 requires a beter video card. Why kludge a work around if you don't have to? Your overall experience on MCE is going to suck rocks with just 32 Megs of video RAM!

[WBHoenig]

What if you have a MCE laptop???

[mourad amr]

I had a problem in starting from step 14 till the end I could not write the comand

15. "C:\Program Files\Microsoft .NET\FrameworkSDK\(v1.1 or v2.0)\bin\sn -Vr ehshell.exe it says that it is not recognized as internal or external command

please tell me how to write it as i get a message of
If you have had the problem of MCE2004 or MCE2005 where you get the above error (or something like it; I don't remember the exact message" and are not able to play DVDs or Videos, here is how you fix it.

1. Make sure you have the .Net Framework 1.1 or 2.0 BETA. Then download the SDK for your version. They can all be download from The Microsoft Download Center

2. Copy ehshell.exe (in the %windir%\ehome) directory to a tempory location.

3. In C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\(either v1.1 or v2.0)\bin folder (or wherever you installed the SDK), open ildasm.exe.

4. Click File>Open and open ehshell.exe in your temporary directory.

5. Click File>Dump. Check only Dump IL code and Expand try/catch. Click OK. Once that process is finished, close ildasm.exe.

6. Open Notepad. Browse to your the temp directory that ehshell is, and you should see two new files, ehshell.il and ehshell.res. Open ehshell.il. This may take a while, depending on the power of your computer.

7. Search for the string get_UsableVideoMemory in the file. Just below that, you should see the value 0x2000000. Change that to 0x1000000. Save the file and close notepad.

8. Go to your temp directory, and delete the copy of ehshell.exe that you have.

9. Using the Open Command Window Here powertoy, open Command Prompt to your tempory directory. Type "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\(v1.1.4322 or v2.0.40607)" \ilasm /resource:ehshell.res /exe ehshell.il and press enter. If this process fails, download a new version of ehshell.res Here, and replace the old version with this version.

10. Start Safe Mode

11. Backup your old ehshell.exe in the ehome directory to a different folder.

12. Copy and paste the new ehshell.exe from your temp directory to the ehome directory, replacing the old version (MAKE SURE YOUR OLD VERSION IS BACKED UP!!!!!).

13. Boot the computer again normally.

14. Start Command Prompt at the ehome directory.

15. "C:\Program Files\Microsoft .NET\FrameworkSDK\(v1.1 or v2.0)\bin\sn -Vr ehshell.exe

Now You Should have a completely working version of Media Center 2004 or 2005!

[WBHoenig]

I have a change to make to my post ---

Here is the old version:

Quote

If you have had the problem of MCE2004 or MCE2005 where you get the above error (or something like it; I don't remember the exact message" and are not able to play DVDs or Videos, here is how you fix it.

1. Make sure you have the .Net Framework 1.1 or 2.0 BETA. Then download the SDK for your version. They can all be download from The Microsoft Download Center

2. Copy ehshell.exe (in the %windir%\ehome) directory to a tempory location.

3. In C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\(either v1.1 or v2.0)\bin folder (or wherever you installed the SDK), open ildasm.exe.

4. Click File>Open and open ehshell.exe in your temporary directory.

5. Click File>Dump. Check only Dump IL code and Expand try/catch. Click OK. Once that process is finished, close ildasm.exe.

6. Open Notepad. Browse to your the temp directory that ehshell is, and you should see two new files, ehshell.il and ehshell.res. Open ehshell.il. This may take a while, depending on the power of your computer.

7. Search for the string get_UsableVideoMemory in the file. Just below that, you should see the value 0x2000000. Change that to 0x1000000. Save the file and close notepad.

8. Go to your temp directory, and delete the copy of ehshell.exe that you have.

9. Using the Open Command Window Here powertoy, open Command Prompt to your tempory directory. Type "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\(v1.1.4322 or v2.0.40607)" \ilasm /resource:ehshell.res /exe ehshell.il and press enter. If this process fails, download a new version of ehshell.res Here, and replace the old version with this version.

10. Start Safe Mode

11. Backup your old ehshell.exe in the ehome directory to a different folder.

12. Copy and paste the new ehshell.exe from your temp directory to the ehome directory, replacing the old version (MAKE SURE YOUR OLD VERSION IS BACKED UP!!!!!).

13. Boot the computer again normally.

14. Start Command Prompt at the ehome directory.

15. "C:\Program Files\Microsoft .NET\FrameworkSDK\(v1.1 or v2.0)\bin\sn -Vr ehshell.exe

Now You Should have a completely working version of Media Center 2004 or 2005!

Here is the new version:
If you have had the problem of MCE2004 or MCE2005 where you get the above error (or something like it; I don't remember the exact message" and are not able to play DVDs or Videos, here is how you fix it.

1. Make sure you have the .Net Framework 1.1 or 2.0 BETA. Then download the SDK for your version. They can all be download from The Microsoft Download Center

2. Copy ehshell.exe (in the %windir%\ehome) directory to a tempory location.

3. In C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\(either v1.1 or v2.0)\bin folder (or wherever you installed the SDK), open ildasm.exe.

4. Click File>Open and open ehshell.exe in your temporary directory.

5. Click File>Dump. Check only Dump IL code and Expand try/catch. Click OK. Once that process is finished, close ildasm.exe.

6. Open Notepad. Browse to your the temp directory that ehshell is, and you should see two new files, ehshell.il and ehshell.res. Open ehshell.il. This may take a while, depending on the power of your computer.

7. Search for the string get_UsableVideoMemory in the file. Just below that, you should see the value 0x2000000. Change that to 0x1000000. Save the file and close notepad.

8. Go to your temp directory, and delete the copy of ehshell.exe that you have.

9. Using the Open Command Window Here powertoy, open Command Prompt to your tempory directory. Type "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\(v1.1.4322 or v2.0.40607 or v2.0.50215)\ilasm.exe" /resource:ehshell.res /exe ehshell.il and press enter. If this process fails, download a new version of ehshell.res here, and replace the old version with this version.

10. Start Safe Mode

11. Backup your old ehshell.exe in the ehome directory to a different folder.

12. Copy and paste the new ehshell.exe from your temp directory to the ehome directory, replacing the old version (MAKE SURE YOUR OLD VERSION IS BACKED UP!!!!!).

13. Boot the computer again normally.

14. Start Command Prompt at the ehome directory.

Now You Should have a completely working version of Media Center 2004 or 2005!




You still must go to the old post if you need to download the nwe .res file.

[e-bode]

Hi,
I had my first ever play with MCE 2005 over the weekend, and struggled a little with this configuration:

IBM Aptiva PII400 +128Mb, with Voodoo3 3500 (32Mb-Euro (No FM))TV card.

The basic install went very well and I am very pleased with the results so far, plenty of tweaking of unncesssary stuff means it actually runs quite happily in less than 90Mb RAM; however I cam across the very problem this thread is describing.

I have run up DXDiag and all checks out with the card supporting DX9.0c
I have installed the latest version of cyberlink DVD codec and checked compliance and functionality all OK.
I have tried the Registry Keys mod, this only poduces a black screen, functionality appears to all be there, sound works fine, mouse is OK, just no picture...
I have recompiled ehshell.exe and worked through the version signing that WBHoenig removed from latest post, (its in the\SDK\ rather than \FrameworkSDK\) directory and I found won't launch without this.
Neither of these have improved the situation and I am now at a loss as to other opportunites that may me available to tell MCE to ignore the card type and continue, anyone got any suggestions or had experience with my Voodoo3 card?

any advice will be gratefully received. (apart from trash it and buy new :-) )

Many thanks
Craig

[Francesco]

Why are you insisting in do all that long process for nothing? You can just change those 2 registry entries and have media center working! If you gave a better look at the .net disassembly you could see that it checks those registry keys in those 2 points and if you change them everything will work without touching the sources so your source changes are useless, really useless. Just use the registry keys and everything will go fine without dirtying up your windows installation with .net sdks.

If somebody is interested in the registry keys just give a look at the previous posts.

[Francesco]

Yogi76, on Apr 19 2005, 05:30 AM, said:

Francesco, that did indeed work to start Media Center without giving any errors. However, I cannot view any video in Media Center, be it live tv from my E-Home Wonder TV tuner or a regular video file. I can hear sound, but no video comes through. Seeing as you have the exact same video card as me (Radeon 7000 VE), I was wondering if you are experiencing the same problem. I may just have to break down and buy a new video card, but I don't want to spend a bunch of money. This is an extra computer that is using a spare TV tuner I had. My main computer with an up to date video card is running Media Center with no problem.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's strange, it works fine, probably your radeon ve doesn't have enough video ram to have it running. You should consider upgrading.

[Aydin_107]

You CAN upgrade from Windows XP Home/Professional Editions.
The problem you encounter in the Media Center Setup is common. When i installed Media center, when asking for the Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2, i put in my own Service Pack 2 cd foolishly, and then once that did not work i tried my other "XP Pro" cd (version 2002 no service pack). After many upgrades and formats i tried my media center disk 1 cd (as CD 2 was in the drive at the time of asking for Xp Pro with SP2. Sure enough that was the problem, a simple labelling error!

[raskren]

I don't understand how this is allowed to be posted? This thread documents hex editing files and circumventing built in operating system checks allowing you to install unlicensed software (warez).

This info was posted on an independent website for a good while. MS came down on the author and had it removed.

[niklasfin]

Hi Guys,

I have tried following all of the above steps. So far, nothing has changed. Well, I tried what Francesco suggested, with the regitry key chage. This made the warning message disappear, but MCE turned black. Now, whenever I turn on MCE, it goes black, until I press ALT+F4 and return the Windows. Does anybody know about this issue?
An email would sure do good!

Thanks,
Niklas