andy vt's tools & blog

Hi,

I know there has been a post or two on this, but I'm on my second clean install of Vista Ultimate 64 and I simply cannot get the commercial skip add-in to work -- I routinely get the "The Media Center Commercial Skip Program is not responding. You will now be returned to media center." or something like that, anyway.

I created the fwlogs directory under users/public/DVRMSToolbox, and 2 files were created related to the recorded programs, but no other activity has taken place. I don't have a clue what MSAS is, or how to fix it, but I do know that a clean install does not correct it either (at least in my case).

I had this working flawlessly in a previous build, but I had a bad motherboard, and now that it's replaced, it does not want to install. I've tried versions DVRMSToolbox For Vista - 1.2.1.1 (x64) down to 1.2.1.09 and nothing works. I'm desperate to get this functionality back, so any advice is welcome. My OS is doctored up with the latest updates, service packs (SP1), etc. If there is any other information I can provide please let me know.

FWIW, I tried the registry merge file, but I was unable to merge it due to an error -- first time I ever saw this before. I also tried to reregister the MCEState.dll, first shutting down ehmsas.exe, in an elevated context but that did not help after the reboot. I enabled logging and posted the events below. It sure seems like everything I read up on, but I can't seem to correct it. Please let me know what I'm missing!

Log Name:      Application
Source:        CommercialSkipAddIn
Date:          7/17/2008 11:46:29 PM
Event ID:      0
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      HTPC-FR
Description:
User: Andy
Unable to launch. System.Exception: Could not initialize MceState
   at babgVant.MediaCenter.MceState.MceStateConsumer.MceState..ctor()
   at babgVant.MediaCenter.CommercialSkipAddIn.CommercialSkip.Microsoft.MediaCenter.Hosting.IAddInEntryPoint.Launch(AddInHost host)
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="CommercialSkipAddIn" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="0">0</EventID>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2008-07-18T03:46:29.000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1084</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>HTPC-FR</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>User: Andy
Unable to launch. System.Exception: Could not initialize MceState
   at babgVant.MediaCenter.MceState.MceStateConsumer.MceState..ctor()
   at babgVant.MediaCenter.CommercialSkipAddIn.CommercialSkip.Microsoft.MediaCenter.Hosting.IAddInEntryPoint.Launch(AddInHost host)</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Log Name:      Application
Source:        CommercialSkipAddIn
Date:          7/17/2008 11:46:30 PM
Event ID:      0
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      HTPC-FR
Description:
User: Andy
Unable to uninitialize. System.ObjectDisposedException: Safe handle has been closed
   at System.StubHelpers.StubHelpers.SafeHandleC2NHelper(Object pThis, IntPtr pCleanupWorkList)
   at Microsoft.Win32.Win32Native.SetEvent(SafeWaitHandle handle)
   at System.Threading.EventWaitHandle.Set()
   at babgVant.MediaCenter.CommercialSkipAddIn.CommercialSkip.Microsoft.MediaCenter.Hosting.IAddInModule.Uninitialize()
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="CommercialSkipAddIn" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="0">0</EventID>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2008-07-18T03:46:30.000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1085</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>HTPC-FR</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>User: Andy
Unable to uninitialize. System.ObjectDisposedException: Safe handle has been closed
   at System.StubHelpers.StubHelpers.SafeHandleC2NHelper(Object pThis, IntPtr pCleanupWorkList)
   at Microsoft.Win32.Win32Native.SetEvent(SafeWaitHandle handle)
   at System.Threading.EventWaitHandle.Set()
   at babgVant.MediaCenter.CommercialSkipAddIn.CommercialSkip.Microsoft.MediaCenter.Hosting.IAddInModule.Uninitialize()</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

I thought it worth mentioning that I installed this on a second x64 box and got the same error. The only commonality, besides x64 is these machines each have 4GB RAM. Otherwise these are entirely different animals (1 is AMD, the other Intel, etc).

Solved!

I uninstalled the program and performed a manual uninstall on anything that was left, as detailed here:
http://babgvant.com/Wiki/view.aspx/DVRMSToolbox/Do_A_Manual_Uninstall

Then I followed the instructions at the top of this post:
http://babgvant.com/forums/p/1281/6805.aspx#6805

Here's the thing -- this is the second time I followed these instructions. I'm not certain if the manual effort helped correct something, or a small hardware change (swapped a failing secondary IDE drive for a new SATA one) fixed some other related issue, but for some reason, it worked this time. My biggest problem was that I could not make changes to the registry. Previously it complained that it could only import binary files from within the editor (or some such nonsense). Whatever I did -- and perhaps it was the right # of reboots -- allowed me to merge the keys and reregister MCEState. All seems to be working as intended. One less broken thing in my life.