Is MCE supported within Vista SP1 on Intel iMacs?

Setup: Parallels Desktop 3.0 build 5608, Vista Ultimate SP1 up to date, Mac OS X 10.5.4 up to date, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD2600. Image memory is set to 2GB, Video memory to 64MB.

I can't seem to play any video at all in the Media Center in Vista Ultimate. Is this supported please?

E.g., when trying to play a non-DRM'ed dvr-ms file previously created on a PC, I get the error message in MCE: "VIDEO ERROR - Files needed to display video are not installed or not working correctly. Please restart media center and/or restart the computer". I see other sorts of errors when trying to display other sorts of video.

Typically this problem is caused by some sort of video driver incompatibility I understand. Are other people getting this to work, or maybe it's just not supported? Thanks!

 

Try this
1. Minimize hardware acceleration level in display properties.

Right click on Desktop -> Personalize -> Display Settings -> Advanced
Settings -> Troubleshoot tab. Put hardware acceleration level to zero.

2. Set Color in Display Settings to 24 bit making hardware acceleration
set to maximum.

 

Thanks John -- but no luck. Same symptoms.

 

I s there an example in Internet of video I can test?

 

In a default Vista Ultimate install, inside Windows Media Center, go to TV + Movies, recorded tv. In there, hit any of the three clips, e.g. Apollo 13. These show the error for me. These are sample dvr-ms files included with the OS under C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV.

FWIW, the sample .wmv files in the OS play in Windows Media Player ok.

 

When you receive please click Web Help, and see what is error code, today we checked situation, and installing Klcodec resolved problem
Please note, installing Klcodec package is not Parallels recommendation, and provided for information purpose only

 

I don't see an option for "Web Help" so there is no error code visible. I also checked eventvwr and could not locate an error code in there either.

I installed the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (is this what you are referring to?) from the following location and that did not cure the problem for me. Same error message.

http://www.codecguide.com/download_mega.htm

 

"I installed the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (is this what you are referring to?) from the following location and that did not cure the problem for me. Same error message."

What is actually error message?

 

As mentioned in my original post, the error message is: "VIDEO ERROR - Files needed to display video are not installed or not working correctly. Please restart media center and/or restart the computer."

 

I hope this thread addressed all problem
http://forums.xbox.com/10059806/PrintPost.aspx

Please note, this problem is also on real PC

 

No John, that thread does not help.

Let me return to my original question, which no one has answered yet. It would be great if you could confirm this please John: Is the playing of video supported in Vista's Windows Media Center under Parallels on Intel iMacs?

If John cannot confirm that this is supported, has anyone else here seen this work at all please?

I basically want to know if this problem is worth trying to fix myself, or whether it's fundamentally not supported so any attempts at fixing it will be fruitless. Thanks for any assistance on this specific question.

 

Yes, if you have codecs installed
I suppose , if you provide me direct link to Video (Our test Vm is Business Vista ), thus I do not have files you mentioned, I mean pls, provide URL link

 

I am having the same problem as the original poster. With Vista Home Premium. There's no link to provide you with, it is ANY video I try to play, with any codec, with any format from any source. All these videos play fine in Windows Media Player, but not in Media Center.

I think the question that needs to be answered is: Can ANYONE with Parallels Desktop 3, running Vista Home Premium, play any video content in Vista Media Center...?

EDIT: Could the problem be that Parallels is limiting us to 64mb video memory? I think Vista Media Center might require 128mb. Is there a way to hack that memory higher?

 

Memory limit can be hacked , in Parallels Desktop version 3.
Please check system requirements, if media center requires 128mb of video memory, this may be problem

 

Does that mean you can manually edit something to make it 128mb? One message forum somewhere else says Vista Media Center requires 256mb...

If it can be hacked to greater than the GUI's 64mb limit, how do you do it?

 

No, it is impossible in Parallels Desktop version 3.
Video memory limit can be set to 64mb only, this is BIOS restriction.

 

Same....

I am experiencing this same issue with MCE and Parallels 3.
Every video file as well as trying to initiate my tv tuner brings up the same error. Did we ever come to a resolution on this or was it basically just down to the video memory allocation not being substantial. It would be really helpful to get this working. Any help much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

In system requirements for MCE
Memory 128 mb
DirectX 9
in Parallels Desktop current video memory is limited to 64 mb