Loosing Channels / Guide disappearing – IceTV and Vista (Possibly also MCE2005)

[impact]

Finally have a working fix that hopefully stops the channels disappearing, and other channels reappearing, Guide disappearing and all those lovely things that just annoy us here in Australia – Argghhhh…..

But Warning - do at your own risk - I have only limited testing of this - so if your guide is not being broken daily - dont try this fix - your just lucky !!!

Step A: Keepkey no longer works. So if you have it installed – remove it.

To uninstall KeepKey the instructions are:

1. figure out where you unzipped KeepKey to e.g. C:\keepKey
2. Start Button / All Programs / Accessories
3. Right click on Command Prompt / Run as Administrator (command prompt starts)
4. Type the following commands in the command prompt
5. cd /d %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
6. net stop "keep key"
7. installutil /u C:\keepKey\keepKey.exe
   (where this path is dependent on the where you unzipped KeepKey to)
8. Optionally delete KeepKey files off your hard disk. Namely.
   rd /s /q C:\keepKey

Step B: Make sure your guide is setup the way you want it – have all of the channels correct, guide listings associated with it.

Step C: Stop the MCUpdate process from stuffing your guide up again

1. Click on the Start Button
2. Search for the Task Scheduler – just type Task Scheduler in the search input box at the bottom and press enter
3. The Task Scheduler will now be running (after the usual Vista are you sure prompts)
4. On the left hand side, drill through the selections Task Scheduler Library / Microsoft- / Windows- / Media Center
5. In the middle panel, you will see the tasks, Right click on MCUpdate and choose Disable

Your done…


Your guide should now stay pristine – what have we done?

Well every day (8am in my case) my computer contacts Microsoft asking for any updates relevant to Media Center, its not related to drivers and things like that – its checking to see if there is any specific items for MCE… Things like new Online Spotlight applications. It is during this update it also refreshes certain registry items the way it thinks it should… and of course since we use unauthorized guide applications, Microsoft update resets some stupid things on us – thus mucking up our guide data…

Turning off the MCUpdate process means you will not see any new Online Spotlight applications (big deal eh in Australia – not much of interest eh?) – but at least your guide will be clean.


Last words of warning;
- we have turned off the scheduled task, but this task is run whenever you do a fresh install of Media Center, or when you go through the setup process. So at some stage if you accidentally go through the Settings / General / Windows Media Center Setup option again – your guide will muck up, and you may need to repeat Step B and Step C again.
- If you use the optimization options in Windows Media Center – it appears to have no effect (?) – the MCUpdate task does not appear to start / run – it seems to stay disabled
- Turning this task off should not impede anything else – you will still get Windows updates / Office Updates / Ultimate application delivery – as far as I know at present – its just going to be updates to Online Spotlight
- In theory – if you learn from others that the Online Spotlight has been updated, simply turn the task back on, run it, get the update, fix your guide, and turn the MCUpdate back off… That’s a whole lot better than changing the channel order and guide information daily….

And lastly – Use at your own caution…. It appears to be working for me. My machine is not broken – I am still recording, the Xbox360 still streams, no men in black suits have arrived at my door. But its your risk – this is an unsupported patch, not from Microsoft, and we really can not tell what the consequences are in doing anything. All I can say is that I had the problem, and this appears to have fixed it for me (with very limited testing).

I am not a big online spotlight fan – so I don’t mind missing the updates… Until some real content arrives – whatever happened to Reuters and the other items we used to have in this region – oh that’s right, Australia fell off the map of the world again….

I hope this fixes your guide issues as well as it does for me – (rep button is the star to the left !!! lol !)
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[ozbear]

When did KeepKey alledgedly stop working.

It is still working here, as far as I can tell.

Oz

[impact]

Stopped for me this week - and a few others... Who knows / who really cares - so long as there are solutions...

As per the first lines - if you guide is working - your lucky - dont do anything... If you have problems and keep key no longer works for you try this...

[ozbear]

Originally Posted by impact

Stopped for me this week - and a few others... Who knows / who really cares - so long as there are solutions...

I care. Things don't stop working without a reason and I don't like voodoo.

Oz

[odgregg]

KeepKey is still working fine for me as well.

Also the instructions you've given for un-installing KeepKey are not complete. You'll have to un-register the service as well, not sure on the exact command line for doing this but it'll be similar to the one used to install the service in the first place.

[ozbear]

Originally Posted by odgregg

KeepKey is still working fine for me as well.

Also the instructions you've given for un-installing KeepKey are not complete. You'll have to un-register the service as well, not sure on the exact command line for doing this but it'll be similar to the one used to install the service in the first place.

Or, for those that decide to take this route, just go into Services, Select the KeepKey service, Stop it, and change its startup type to Disabled, so it stays dead across reboots.

Then, if the above "solution" (incidentally first reported by Merag here, so no begged-for rep points to Impact ) doesn't work, it is simple to turn KeepKey back on.

Oz

[impact]

I didnt really want to unregister it yet... you can if you want... but I just wanted to stop it initially - this hack is a work in progress still...

People are complaining about their guides getting mucked, and it appears to work for me - so I did not want to sit on it for another week, instead let those WHO NEED it - give it a shot.

For those that dont need it - great... and by the looks of it - the problem only occurs if you have re-ordered channels, moved them in a different order, or hidden channels - some people like to see all the channels in the guide, some dont. And the latest theory is if you dont hide channels, then keep key will work for you. Hiding channels, rearranging their order and each day the guide goes screwy.

[vbap]

Originally Posted by impact

Hiding channels, rearranging their order and each day the guide goes screwy.

I don't use Keepkey or Vista, but I used to always re-arrange channels/assign different numbers. A few months ago I gave up and left the channels in the order they are found, with the default channel number. The only change I make is which channels to show (I only show 5 SD channels + ABC2, SBS2).
I haven't had the guide go screwy in that time (for what it's worth...)

[odgregg]

I've also edited/hidden channels and KeepKey still works fine (on two different machines).

I haven't changed the order of them though, so perhaps that's the cause?

[impact]

Originally Posted by ozbear

Or, for those that decide to take this route, just go into Services, Select the KeepKey service, Stop it, and change its startup type to Disabled, so it stays dead across reboots.

Then, if the above "solution" (incidentally first reported by Merag here, so no begged-for rep points to Impact ) doesn't work, it is simple to turn KeepKey back on.

Oz

Must be the mood I am in... hot weather or something... but sometimes I think I like you more than others.... LOL

The referenced post by Merag is in a thread about RC2 - I am talking about RTM. Similar but differing problem, and did not explain the fuller consequences of doing such actions.

Give him rep points - do I really care about rep points - it was tongue in cheek... Did not see the LOL eh?

See how forums are really useless for finding information - a new user just starting with Vista does not want to troll through hundreds of thousands of posts to find the solution to their problem and reading extra crap about individuals flaming each other and petty arguments... And then of course there is a whole docotrate thesis to be writtne on those who hang around forums doing such instead of just trying to help others...

Yep.

[impact]

Originally Posted by odgregg

I've also edited/hidden channels and KeepKey still works fine (on two different machines).

I haven't changed the order of them though, so perhaps that's the cause?

The theory is narrowing down to being change an order and your stuffed... In my case I have SBS come up at ch3 and I move it down to 28 or whatever - because that is the way I am used to the lineup!!! -swapping it with an unassigned channel.... and boom.

I think we are getting confident in this analysis....

[DeadlyChicken]

thats a very good point. I have posted on a forums before asking for assistance and I got the standard

FFS google it

or something, to which I replied, I did and trawled throguh 3 pages of forums posts with people asking the same question and getting told to FO and GOOGLE IT !!!

its annoying to have to repeatedly re post the same resolution for a problem, but its a lot nicer than having to search for a day and a half just to find the one forum post that someone actualy answered straight out instead of demanding the OP go google it