Ray Casey

Comment #366 from Ray Casey [Reply]

Good stuff! Great site and your “meta data” (tages, catagories, links, etc..) is the best out there on how to use Media Center. I think you have the best TAXONOMY for categorizing information. Makes for a GREAT IP database for trouble shooting. Keep up the good work as YOUR IP (your work) is work MONEY and VALUE. Protect it! Make sure others are not stealing it and getting affiliate (ad) revenue from by using YOUR content, site and hardwork. Good stuff! great job!

Dennis

Comment #368 from Dennis [Reply]

Hi!

Greate webSite! Thanks taking you time!

Question:

Have someone fixed SUBTITLES on the windows media center yet?

DJ Subterrain

Comment #377 from DJ Subterrain [Reply]

Might have been a good idea to mention this is 32 bit only? I tried using it on my Win7 Build 7077 x64 and now I can’t restore my TV, Will have to do a complete clean reinstall. Thanks for that!!

mhealy

@Reply #380 from mhealy [Reply]

This isn’t 32-bit only, you do however need to use a compatible 64-filter. Using FFDShow x64 SVN, for example, you will need to enable MPEG in AVI.

I would however advise against trying to setup custom codecs without a full knowledge of how directshow codecs operate in both x32 and x64 systems.

Garry Whittaker

@Reply #381 from Garry Whittaker [Reply]

IF you can’t restore live tv try checking that the decoders have been renamed properly. If you accidentally didn’t run as administrator this can stop the rename. If you look for .mcdu.bak in the system64 directory and rename these back to .dll this should fix things.

Anonim

Comment #399 from Anonim [Reply]

Will this utility allow one to use ffdshow for viewing live TV? That would be great for upconverting standard definition channels! I love the website, keep up the good work

MichaelHealy

@Reply #400 from MichaelHealy [Reply]

Yes, it should but you will need to enable “MPEG in AVI” inside the codec settings in FFDShow Video Configuration.

Nick

@Reply #401 from Nick [Reply]

Actually, to get live TV to work, I had to check the mpeg2 and mpeg1 decoders as well in the ffdshow configuration…

MichaelHealy

@Reply #402 from MichaelHealy [Reply]

Yah, FFDShow isn’t really that good of a choice for live TV. I would actually recommend using Cyberlink’s decoder as in this post on disabling the DTV/DVD Decoder or the Total Media Theater decoder.

Nick

@Reply #404 from Nick [Reply]

Yeah, I actually had to go back and disable it…it screwed up a few things with my recorded tv, such as creating thumbnails for my shows. May or may not try the cyberlink decoders…do they really add all that much better quality/performance?

Michael Healy

@Reply #405 from Michael Healy [Reply]

I use Cyberlink’s decoder for my live TV and in my opinion it’s slightly better quality but not really a drastic improvement.

NickDeMayo

@Reply #407 from NickDeMayo [Reply]

That’s what I have experience in the past, so I never really bothered with it. Anyways, thanks, and I love the site!

Dave Bryce

Comment #437 from Dave Bryce [Reply]

Michael,

Can I ask, I would like to use Cyberlink for my TV, CoreAVC for h264/x264 and FFDShow for avi/divx/xvid etc.

Is this possible using the MCDU in 7MC or does it only allow for one video codec.

Many Thanks

Michael Healy

@Reply #439 from Michael Healy [Reply]

Yes, It is possible but you’ll need to use more than just MCDU. First you’ll need to install all three codecs. Then replace the default TV codec with Cyberlink using MCDU or this guide.

Next, open FFDShow’s video configuration and set h.264 to disabled. Use Filter Manager and set FFDShow to Preffered+1 and CoreAVC to Preffered.

This should defer h.264 to CoreAVC, use Graphstudio to double-check that h.264 is being handled by CoreAVC and with any luck you should be all set.

Dave Bryce

Comment #440 from Dave Bryce [Reply]

Michael,

Many Thanks for this and many thanks for all your hard work with this site. It’s awesome and I’m slowly learning about MediaCenter in a whole new light.

Dave Bryce

Comment #441 from Dave Bryce [Reply]

Hi Michael,

I just disabled h264 in FFDshow and set FFDshow as my default video in MCDU and all is working a treat.

CoreAVC now handles h264/x264 and ffdshow for the remainder of video.

Now to just install PDVD and use that for the tv.

Many thanks again

vick

Comment #461 from vick [Reply]

Is it possible to use Microsoft decoder for live tv only? (and ffdshow for video files)

MichaelHealy

@Reply #464 from MichaelHealy [Reply]

You can try using this method though there are reports that it doesn’t work in certain builds or with the x64 architecture. I haven’t tested it very thoroughly myself as I prefer to replace the live TV decoder as well.

The creator of MCDU, garrywma is planning on updating this app to provide more support for irregular setups and to use registry entries as opposed to renaming files once a suitable solution for doing so has been found.

Christian

Comment #708 from Christian [Reply]

Hi Michael,

Have installed ffdshow and used the registry hacks to get mkv to play. Both mkv and avi is playing fine but along came a problem. 7MC no longer will play vob files. Dreaded Decoder Error bluescreen when i try a dvd. The file renders ok in graphstudio with ffdshow both in audio and video. ffdshow is set to preferred +1 and CLsid is correct in registry as default decoder. Any ideas?

Christian

@Reply #789 from Christian [Reply]

Solved, 7MC didn’t like to use FFDshow for DVDs, rolled back to original in MCDU and DVDs play fine with Microsofts decoders (in reality it was the Audio codec that screwed things up) and FFDshow kicks in for avi and mkv.

Ki Shodar

Comment #1138 from Ki Shodar [Reply]

Does this hack also work with Windows Media Player 12?

Michael Healy

@Reply #1161 from Michael Healy [Reply]

It should work with WMP 12 as well as far as I know, yes.

Steve Muller

Comment #1211 from Steve Muller [Reply]

Where can I download MCDU ?

Michael Healy

@Reply #1212 from Michael Healy [Reply]

Right Here, sorry the link was sort of buried at the end.

Mitch

Comment #1296 from Mitch [Reply]

Hi guys, GREAT software and site!

Just one question. I’d REALLY love to be able to enable the PDVD9 TruTheater filters within media center for live TV and DVDs. Is there anyway we can do this?

I know the benefits of a DXVA capable GFX card, but with a beefy core 2 under the bonnet, those upscaling and refresh rate fixes are just too nice.

Michael Healy

@Reply #1301 from Michael Healy [Reply]

I’m not sure what codecs are 100% compatible but you can easily try any codec using this guide on Replacing DTV/DVD Decoders. Just have the PDVD9 software or codec installed and use Filter Manager to find the proper CLSid.

battles

@Reply #1305 from battles [Reply]

Michael,

Your site is awesome. Many thanks on behalf of the Media Center enthusiasts who spend countless hours poring over myriad websites trying to get their MCE’s to work properly. Couple of quick questions for you (and I aplogize if I am posting them in the wrong spot):

i) is there any benefit to using the media foundation video codecs vs. ffdshow. For example, do the media foundation video codecs support hardware acceleration (vs. ffdshow that doesn’t)?

ii) I recently installed Win7 RC and I can play all of my blu-ray .m2ts and .mkv files with Win7′s native codecs except .m2ts and .mkv files that are encoded in VC-1. I assume the solution to this problem would be to bypass the media foundation codecs by assigning ffdshow (via MDCU) which can play vc-1, but I’m wondering if I do so, if I will lose the benefits of any hardware acceleration that the media foundation codecs offer (that is, if media foundation employs hardware acceleration).

iii) if there is some benefit of using the media foundation codecs, is it possible to continue using a subset of the media foundation codecs while also using ffdshow for the playback of formats not supported by the media foundation codecs?

iv) on a completely unrelated note, do you have a view on how media browswer compares to OML (Open Media Libary) as a replacement for Win7′s native movie brower?

v) on a completely unrelated note, is there any real benefit of converting a .m2ts file to an .mkv file (besides reducing file size), as both with the proper codecs in place, are supported by wmp 12 or MCE?

Many thanks,

Battles

MichaelHealy

Comment #1308 from MichaelHealy [Reply]

Wow, that’s a long one!
Yes, Media Foundation codecs do support DXVA (hardware acceleration) if you have the right hardware. The downside is there are no customization options for WMF codecs like there are in FFDShow.

When bypassing WMF you will lose DXVA unfortunately if you switch to a non-DXVA decoder. There are DXVA compatible decoders available though including a free one from MPC-Home Cinema.

It is possible to use a combination of WMF and a seperate codec using this method.

I haven’t had the chance to give OML a real tryout yet to make a good comparison but I’ll be sure to do so soon. And I’m not too familiar with m2ts but I would hazard the only difference being size and maybe chapter marker and subtitle support.

battles

@Reply #1309 from battles [Reply]

Thanks Michael. If you were to rip a blu-ray dvd using anydvd, the resulting movie files found in the “stream” folder would be saved in .m2ts file containers. Since wmp or mce can play back .m2ts files using ffdshow, I’ve never been clear on the benefit of converting .m2ts files to mkv files. Sure, when you convert the files, it allows you to pick and choose what audio streams, subtitles, etc. you would like to include in the mkv file(which allows you to save a couple of gigs of storage space), but that is about it. Since ripping a blu-ray disc, tagging it, etc. is a fairly time intensive/manual process, the time it takes to convert to mkv on top of the rest of the steps, has been a deterent for me converting to mkv without any clear reason to do so (but if there were a compelling reason to do so, I’d love to know!).

Out of curiosity, in your configuration are you choosing to bypass all of the native media foundation codecs in Win7 using ffdshow, or are you using a combination of media foundation and ffdshow? I assume the way you use both is just by disabling certain file support in ffdshow so that mce or wmp will have no choice but to use the default system codecs.

From a picture quality / frame rate standpoint , have you found ffdshow to be superior to media foundation?

Finally, what codec have you found to play back vc-1 formated blu-ray mkv files with the best frame rate?..I have found that playback can be quite jerky at times.

MichaelHealy

@Reply #1314 from MichaelHealy [Reply]

Aside from size then I’d be inclined to say there would be no major benefits to moving from m2ts to mkv. My configuration changes so often it’s hard to keep track around here, lol. Right now I’m running default WMF with Haali and the new AC3Filter to pickup the slack.

My preference is for FFDShow Audio and Cyberlink Video for live TV, complete FFDShow Video/Audio for movies. Keeping FFDShow Audio across the full setup let me keep volume normalization set the same across every area.

As far as performance and picture quality I don’t notice a world of difference either way. WMF might be a little smoother than FFDShow but that could just be due to DXVA support. Cyberlink’s decoder may be 1% clearer than WMF in Live TV but nothing major there either.

If you’re getting jerky playback I would try out a DXVA codec like the MPCVideoDec that you can download from Media Player Classic and see if that does any better. I’ve found that on certain machines the splitter can also cause this problem so maybe try changing between Haali/Gabest.

Steve Muller

Comment #1323 from Steve Muller [Reply]

Everything is working with FFDSHOW now except my VC-1 (remuxen untouched video) MKV files? And yes, VC-1 is enabled in FFDSHOW.

Can someone help me?

Steve Muller

Comment #1324 from Steve Muller [Reply]

Did a Clean install again (windows 7 64bit v.7127). Shark codecs made my sound config dissapear so I couldn’t use this anymore. I am now trying this solution MKVs for Minimalists on Windows 7 on Hack7mc.com Installed FFDSHOW 32 and 64 bit.

Everything is working including VC-1 (remuxen untouched video). Only problem is that VC-1 codec mkv files are not using FFDSHOW???? So if anyone can show me how to fix this?

Media Player Classic picture quality with FFDSHOW for VC-1 is way better then the codec MCE is using.

Michael Healy

@Reply #1330 from Michael Healy [Reply]

Can you check what codec is being using with Graphstudio? There’s no configuration options for the Media Foundation codecs.

Steve Muller

Comment #1329 from Steve Muller [Reply]

Is there perhaps a way to configure the media foundation video codec just like ffdshow? Seems like nobody knows how to play VC-1 with ffdshow ;-(

Aaron

Comment #1342 from Aaron [Reply]

Hm… I have tried this over and over with RC Windows 7,ive tried using powerdvd9 codecs and ffdshow codecs and it always just gives me an error when i go to live TV over media centre that decoder doesnt work.

What am I doing wrong?

Emissary

Comment #1348 from Emissary [Reply]

This tool was working great for me at the beginning of the week when I first started to use it and I was able to successfully set ffdshow as the default. However, yesterday I noticed the default Microsoft decoders were being used, and any time I tried to set it back to ffdshow in the MCDU utility, I’d get an error saying “cannot create a file when that file already exists.” This happens now whenever I try to set the decoder to something other than the Microsoft one.

The only thing I can think of that changed between when the tool was working and stopped was that I installed a few Windows updates.

I’m using Win7 RC.
Anyone else experience this?

Michael Healy

@Reply #1356 from Michael Healy [Reply]

Open Windows Explorer and go to your C:\Windows\system (and sysWOW64 if on 64-bit) and do a search for “bak” or “mcdu” and see if there are any files that come up in the search. If there are check to see if those files exist without the “.mcdu.bak” (or something like that) and as regular “.dll”.

Those Windows updates may have recreated the original files which would have re-enabled MS DVD/DTV and MCDU might be trying to rename them again but coming up with an error because the old backups are still there.

You could most likely get around it by simply changing the name of the mcdu backup files to something different (ie, “.bak2″).

stormking

Comment #1353 from stormking [Reply]

MCDU is a great tool for flipping between the MS filter and FFDShow. Make sure to close down 7MC before switching though, it doesn’t seem to take correctly otherwise.

On Windows 7 x64 Build 7077, I am having trouble getting FFDShow to play back divx/xvid content. For H/X.264 mkv files, FFDShow is correctly enabled (icon shows in the tray). I have read this is due to MS locking codecs and that it appears that at least right now with divx/xvid codecs, they are restricted to use the MS filter from within 7MC. Is this correct or is there a workaround to get divx/xvid content to use FFDShow while playing back from 7MC x64 7077?

Lukeman

@Reply #2036 from Lukeman [Reply]

I have exactly the same problem x264 works erfectly but xvid/divx wnpay with ffdshow and for some reason the audio is out of sync with microsoft codec.

Please help

Michael Healy

@Reply #2037 from Michael Healy [Reply]

Try using the DirectShow Filters Tool to change the xvid/divx default codec to FFDShow. The more recent versions support changing the xvid/divx decoders and should get your videos playing through FFDSHow.

Andrew

Comment #1362 from Andrew [Reply]

Hello,
I have several problems with changing default decoders.
With every audio decoder that I choose(AC3 or ffdshow) I get a message about unsupported decoder in media center.
Only default audio decoder works fine.

Better situation with changing video decoder, dvd works fine vith Cyberlink decoder, but when it choosed I can’t see video on all h.264 videos.

Chris Hooper

Comment #1545 from Chris Hooper [Reply]

This won’t work with ffdshow in Win 7 RC Build 7201 (x64). I have run the utility as administrator and changed the default video codec to ffdshow, and enabled mpeg for avi, mpeg1 and mpeg2. However, media centre will not use the ffdshow codecs for live tv or dvd playback.

I think Microsoft have ‘closed the hole’ with the latest RC build of Win 7.

Michael Healy

@Reply #1547 from Michael Healy [Reply]

It unlikely they have found a way to defeat the procedure used by this program, as it involves the renaming of system files. However, there is another program you can try. Try this program to change the preferred Windows 7 codecs.

subtitles

Comment #1675 from subtitles [Reply]

how do we allow subtitles (srt,sub) in WMC12\WMP12 ?!

its been asked a lot, what no one knows the answer here?

Michael Healy

@Reply #1682 from Michael Healy [Reply]

This has been covered quite a few times here. If you are using FFDShow you can enable subtitles by following this guide otherwise you should install DirectVobSub from the MPC-HC codec site.

ssalsekki

Comment #1822 from ssalsekki [Reply]

Just did a clean install of window 7201 and then installed ffdshow beta 6 and ran this MCDU utility. I can see that it properly renamed the msmpeg2vdec and msmpeg2adec dll files. I also ensured that the preferred audio/video decoder registry settings have the correct CLSIDs from ffdshow. I then upped the merits to Preferred +255 for ffdshow audio/video using filter manager.

Still no go. Someone help please?

Peter N.

Comment #2125 from Peter N. [Reply]

Tried this tool using ffdshow and haali media splitter. The ffdshow video decoder icon is appearing in the notification area which is great; however the audio icon is not. When i play back mkv files i get audio through my spdif to the amp but no audio through the HDMI to the TV.

How can i get the HDMI audio working? My wife does like using the amp for the kids movies – too loud!! Do i really need ffdhow?

Youg

Comment #2153 from Youg [Reply]

Ok i was thrill to use this app but it actually mess my Media center. Win7 – RC .

Before changing the MS DTV decoder, everything was working fine (MKV, MPGE2 HD, TS Folder, etc)

After changing it to FFDSHOW for Video (audio work fine) the media center is unable to play MPHG2 HD and my DVD ripped (ts folder).

Tried to set it back to MS DTV decoder, it didn’t worked. In filter manager, MS DTV Decoder is grayed out (does it mean that it can’t find the decoder file?).

Now i can’t play ripped dvd and the TS file (MPEG2 HD).

What can i do to correct this?

Michael Healy

@Reply #2155 from Michael Healy [Reply]

go to C:\Windows\system32 and search for any files with “mcdu.bak ” in the filename and rename them to “.dll”

Youg

@Reply #2156 from Youg [Reply]

That’s what i was thinking about. Will do that when i’ll get home. Just in case i downloaded them so i have a backup.

Youg

@Reply #2160 from Youg [Reply]

Ok, now everything work except playback of my ripped DVD (with dvd drecrypter and anydvd to ts folder).

I set everything back like it was. Now i get an error message saying that no decoder was found….but before trying the MCDU it was worlking.

They play fine in MPC.

Any idea?

Youg

@Reply #2164 from Youg [Reply]

ok, it look like my filter manager is not working. I set FFDSHOW to preferred in it’s own configurator, and now i’m able to watch dvd.

One problem is with fast forward, it freezes the movie. But i’ll have to check into that later.

Garry Whittaker

Comment #2516 from Garry Whittaker [Reply]

Hi all

I’m working on a revised version of the utility that should be more reliable at restoring the backed up files if a windows update has occured. I still don’t have a method that avoids the rename though as there doesn’t seem to have been any discoveries around registry keys etc since I wrote the first version.

Cheers
Garry

Marcus

@Reply #11498 from Marcus [Reply]

This messed up my computer big time. Switching to PowerDVD decoders was fine (except no hd audio), switching back however broke Media Center. Had to rename them back myself and was pretty tricky as permissions were all messed up too

hijacked

Comment #4032 from hijacked [Reply]

Hi, could you give me a mirror to download this utility?? the official link is broken

athec

Comment #4511 from athec [Reply]

Hi, my status after using the MCDU on win7:

WMP will not play wma and dvd-mpeg2 via ffdshow, but graphedit is playing through ffdshow regardless of video or audio format used (wav, wma, mp3, mpeg2 has been verified). Also WMP will no longer play any dvd, as it reports “a problem encountered” (rough translation from native language)

My q: Does the MCDU utility include the WAV and WMA audio formats? If not, is this something to hope for?

Many thanks for this site and all the attempts to re-enable us to use ffdshow.

jacob

Comment #4897 from jacob [Reply]

Just a heads-up – using MCDU in Windows 7 KILLS thumbnail generation of mpgs, mp4 files (and possibly more) in explorer.

This wasn’t the case with the Vista Media Decoder Utility, but it is in Windows 7. If you care at all about explorer thumbnail generation DON’T use this.

Tui

Comment #4910 from Tui [Reply]

I tried it and it messed up playback ability of MKV and aac files.

David

Comment #12826 from David [Reply]

First thank you for a great tool.

Of course I do have a question. Windows 7 – x64.

When I change the codec it works as expected. The M$ dll is renamed and TV Online works. If I reboot, Then TV Online cannot find a codec anymore. I have to open the MCDU change back to M$ codec. Start W7MC and start TV Online. Then stop and I can then choose my codec again. But each time I reboot it breaks again.

I have noticed that it is changing the .dll in System32 folder. I thought x64 used different .dlls.

Second I know it is a classic one but I cannot get ffdshow to appear in MCDU drop down list. I have enabled the MPEG for AVI and MPEG1/MPEG2 codecs but still no go.

I have a feeling this is also a x64 issue but not sure.

Surprisingly COREAVC shows up in the dropdown list.

David

Comment #12894 from David [Reply]

Ps. I gave up. With my x64 W7 this tool does not show all codecs installed, in may case ffdshow. Secondly for whatever reason the changing of codecs is not permanent and on a reboot W7MC cannot find a codec to use for TV Online. I have had nothing but trouble with this feces of a product called Media Centre which M$ charges Europeans for when DVB-C does not work, they know it and they do not care. Its like selling a car without wheels. Such a car would be laughed at so I have no idea why we put up with M$.

James

Comment #15093 from James [Reply]

Dang, MCDU is the only thing I can get to force ffdshow thus allowing me to choose embedded subtitles in .mkv’s in WMC7 on my x64Ultimate systems properly. Unfortunately it then disables my ability to play other formats like .mov files (of which all of my associated move trailers are in). Registry editor method doesn’t seem to work to allow the best of both worlds *sigh*.

Coach purses

Comment #16195 from Coach purses [Reply]

Hi, Michael,That’s what I have experience in the past, I tried it and it messed up playback ability of MKV and aac files. thanks for sharing with us!

sjoerd

Comment #31254 from sjoerd [Reply]

I have installed ffshow and MCDU. However ffshow is not shown as possible decoder in MCDU. Do I need to enable something?

Michael

Comment #36864 from Michael [Reply]

What a great tool this is, just ran to change decoders and all I get now in MCE is searching for tuners, bloody fantastic, thanks very MUCH.

Don’t suppose anybody knows how to fix this, do they ??

Alan Pargut

Comment #38425 from Alan Pargut [Reply]

WooooooUUUU thanks soo much, you resolve me a huge problem, with mp4 thanksssssssssssssssssss

Jeroen Kloppenburg

Comment #41443 from Jeroen Kloppenburg [Reply]

This program unfortunally did nothing for me… Sounds works OK, but the video does not show. Not a black screen either, just the blue background from MC…

If anyone knows what went wrong I would love to learn how to fix this, as HDTV plays very badly….

anti depression treatment

Comment #41862 from anti depression treatment [Reply]

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Comptia A+

Comment #48213 from Comptia A+ [Reply]

Hi to repair thumbnail problem check in c:\windows\system32

Take ownership on 2 files

rename msmpeg2vdec.dll.mcdu.bak in msmpeg2vdec.dll
rename msmpeg2vdec.dll.mcdu.bak in msmpeg2vdec.dll

have a good day!!