VMC - XmRadio App - Audio

Good Day..

I am at my wits end and I am hoping someone can help.
I have Vista Home Premium on a purchased rig that is about 1 month old.

Every part of the Media Center works in regards to Video & Audio. The live tv app works, I can play recorded tv, play CD's DVD's, mp3's through my music, everything works.

What does not work but it used to is the XMradio app within media center. I select the app, I log in to my account, I select Listen Now, I see the channel line up, I select a channel and it says "playing" but there is no sound.

I know most of the apps within Media Center use Windows Media Player. Launching WMP on it's own and testing what it does and does not do, everything works here also. However there is no way to play XM radio directly through WMP.

I don't use the XM app within media center too often but if I had to guess, it may have stopped working correctly after the install of SP1 but I am not certain.

I have uninstalled & re-installed my sound card drivers as well as found an update. I don't think it is the sound card drivers as all other sound applications work.

I think that there may be some association with the XM app and WMP that is missing or corrupt however I can find no information as to how it actually works or what file or reg entry has the configuration.

Any help in his matter would be great. If I can not resolve this issue, my next step would be a clean install of the OS but as we all know, that takes a tremendous amount of time and work. There has to be some config file or XML file or reg entry that is keeping the XM radio app from streaming to WMP and / or the sound card.

Hi Barryware,

Have you tried repairing the XM app install from the "programs and features" control panel or checking for a updated version of the application from the software manufacturer?

Thanks for the reply.. there is no repair option. The XM app is part of the media center. On my MCE 2005 rig (which works), it is located under "online spotlight", in the Vista Media Center, it is located under "More Music".

It is not a third party app.

I have never heard of it, Do you have a link for it somewhere?

I don't have a link. As I said, in media center 2005, the XM radio app in located in the "online spotlight".

In Vista MC, the app is located under "music & radio", then under "more music". it is grouped in with a bunch of online stuff. You may have to scroll sideways to see it.

I dont think its available down here in Australia yet or am I looking in the wrong place?

That's the right place.. Mine is full of stuff. I'll see about a screen shot.

Yeah I wouldnt mind seeing the screenshot...I might change my system locale to the USA if they are getting more content...

Image Attached

yes, Im definatly changing my locale to the US and getting access to some of this content...


Do you have Service Pack 1 installed?

I did have SP1 installed but I believe that may have been what broke the XM satalite radio app but I am not certain.

I did start a support ticket with MS a few days ago on this issue but except for a confirmation of the ticket, I have not heard back.

Being as anal as I am, I imaged my drive and have been working on a fresh install. As you know, it takes hours & hours.

I usually build my own rigs but I ran across a deal on an OEM rig so I bought it. There was no way I could come close to the price of this very well equiped rig if I were to buy parts & build it myself. This is the first computer I have ever purchased. Building your rig is 1/2 the fun.

I did a factory image restore, then you have to spend hours cleaning off all the crud that comes with a pre-loaded machine, go through all the Windows updates which takes a bit of time. Update all you hardware drivers if updates are available, then install your software and update all of that.

So... I am not completely finished with the rebuild but I have most of my main apps installed.

I planned on NOT installing SP1 till I was finished. Prior to the update, I would image the drive so I could put it back incase something went wrong but as of now, using windows update, SP1 is not available to me.

I don't know why as my rig is pretty much back to the "out of the box" with the exception of a bit of house cleaning. The SP1 update was available to me prior.

I know if your rig ihas something that may conflict with SP1, it will not show up as an available update but I have no idea what it could be.

Rumor has it that MS may have pulled it back to correct some issues with driver compatability. Some drivers that were signed and worked under Vista, no longer work under SP1 but I can find no documantation that states that is the case.

I have been looking for some type of tool or utility that will check your computer and let you know what may conflict with SP1 but I have not found anything. I forgot the name of it but there was an MS utility available for those to check thier XP rig to make sure it would accept the Vista upgrade. Do you know of such a utility?

Are you PAL or NTSC in your area?

I just found "Update Readiness Tool" - KB947821 on the MS website

I'll give it a shot when I get home tonight.

Hey Barry,

What was the result of the readiness tool? (PAL down here in Aust)

barryware said:

I just found "Update Readiness Tool" - KB947821 on the MS website

I'll give it a shot when I get home tonight.

Click to expand...

I never used the readiness tool. As it turns out, SP1 will not be available for download / update unless you have your computer completely up to date including windows defender.

However, my problem (that kept SP1 from showing) was with the HD audio driver. The confusing part is that I installed the realtek HD driver version 1.91 which is a year newer than the driver on the rig and a half year newer than the driver windows update wanted to install.

Windows update kept wanting to unstall an older driver. Just released a few days ago, was version 1.93 of the driver which I installed. Windows update no longer wanted to install an audio driver and the SP1 update then became available.

I made a fresh image of my system drive and installed SP1. After testing most of the apps, everything is running and my origional problem did not re-appear.

So SP1 didn't have anything to do with my origional problem as I thought it did. I don't know what may have caused it but after hours & hours of work, my rig is close to being finished and so far, I have no issues.

barryware
I also have the same problem with my xm app. Everything works fine except xm, I can log in but no sound. My HP computer came installed with sp1 and no help from support! so did updating Realtek hd driver solve your xm problem?

Negitive... Nothing worked. Microsoft did respond a couple of days later and gave me all kinds of things to do. Basically, I had to run the command prompt to register some DLL files.

Nothing worked so I imaged my drive, backed up my data, and restored the factory image.

As everyone knows, doing a complete rebuild of your rig is painfull and takes hours and hours.

Below is the "cut & past" of what MS told me to do. Maybe it will work for you.:

From the problem description I understand that When selecting "Xm Radio" within Media Center, there is no audio. Other applications have audio. You tried to uninstall and reinstall the audio driver, but to no avail. If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me know.

I understand the inconvenience you have experienced. Please be assured that I will do my best to help you.

I would like to explain that this behavior may occur if one of the following factors is true:

1. Some DLL files are not registered normally
2. The audio codec is corrupted.
3. Third party software conflicts.

To troubleshoot this issue, I suggest we try these steps:

1. Close Windows Media Center and any other windows.
2. Click the Start Button, All Programs, and Accessories
3. Right click "Command Prompt" and choose "Run as administrator".
Note: Please click Continue if the User Account Control (UAC) window prompts.
4. Type the following commands and press Enter after each line.

regsvr32 jscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
regsvr32 wmp.dll
regsvr32 msmpeg2vdec.dll
regsvr32 msmpeg2adec.dll
exit

After that, please start Media Center and check if it can work properly.

If the issue persists after registering DLL files, please refer to the following link to install the third party codec for Vista.

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Vista_Codec_Package.htm

Please Note: The third-party product discussed here is manufactured by a company that is independent of Microsoft. We make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

If the issue persists, to provide more effective support, please assist me in collecting the following information for further research.

Let me know if it worked for you. Didn't work for me. Since my re-build of my rig, everything is working but I am still not done reinstalling & configuring my apps.

Barry

Barry
I tried registering DLL files-still no audio(xm only from wmc ) I hate installing other codecs that might cause other problems. Good luck on your rebuild!!
Thanks for all the info let me know if you get things working.
Jim

I got everything working...

But....

I restored the factory image and started over.

As of today.. I'm done. I may have caused the problem. I am a gearhead when it comes to computers. I am new to Vista and I am sure I installed / uninstalled something that screwed things up.

Thank goodness for data backups. I am kinda glad. I didn't play around with all the trash I installed when I first got this rig so my rig is clean & prestine.

Just an update...

As I have been rebuilding my rig, between each program / application install I have been testing to make sure that the XM radio app was working and it was.

It just stopped. What caused it to stop working was I launched a file that required WMP to start. Because it was the first time that WMP was launched, it went through the whole setup (which is a PITA.. Just play the file!).

Anyway... After that, XM has quit working through Media Center. I don't know why and I haven't spent any time trying to repair it. I thought I would share the info. If I can get it running again, I will let everyone know what I found.

So the problem is with WMP, not the XM app. While playing XM through VMC, if you launch the volume control and select "mixer", you will see that WMP is active. XM plays through WMP.

Thanks for the update!
Jim