jsoap1:

The other reason I mentioned this, was to show that the Showcenter uses the licence issued to the PC rather than retreiving its own licence.

How does that work then? Surely the machine playing the content has to get and validate the licence? Is it because we are (you're not though?) using the WMP11 streaming engine to send data over the network and WMP11 is happy to get the licence then stream the file elsewhere?

 

Another aside, though I'm not sure of the relevance. If you put the original file in a directory, and have the "dimensions" column active, the file with DRM doesn't have any dimensions shown. Once the DRM is removed, the dimensions are shown.

Tanky:

jsoap1:

The other reason I mentioned this, was to show that the Showcenter uses the licence issued to the PC rather than retreiving its own licence.

How does that work then? Surely the machine playing the content has to get and validate the licence? Is it because we are (you're not though?) using the WMP11 streaming engine to send data over the network and WMP11 is happy to get the licence then stream the file elsewhere?

 

Another aside, though I'm not sure of the relevance. If you put the original file in a directory, and have the "dimensions" column active, the file with DRM doesn't have any dimensions shown. Once the DRM is removed, the dimensions are shown.

After some digging around, the Sigma EM8620L supports Windows Media DRM 10 for Network Devices, which is different from the version that supports Portable Devices.

I found a white paper outlining the process for both at http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/7/a/b7a9aeae-d9f2-435b-a2dc-f3b0909d1d62/A_Technical_Overview_of_WM_DRM_10_for_Devices.doc

The upshot is that the SC200 can only get it's licence from a PC running Media Connect or WMP11 ( I have used both)

to quote:

1.The first time a device is used, it must be registered and authorized by the server using Universal Plug and Play. Registration involves a device ID number supplied during manufacturing, and a signed XML device certificate. This certificate identifies the device, and also contains information used to ensure secure communication.

2.During initial registration, the server pings the device to verify that it is close enough to be considered inside the home. This proximity detection also validates the device.

3.Periodically, the server repeats proximity detection to revalidate the device.

4.The device requests content for playback from the server.

5.If the server determines that the device is validated and has the right to play the content on the network device, it sends a response containing a new, encrypted session key, a rights policy statement specifying the security restrictions that the device must enforce (such as High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection), followed by the content. The content is encrypted by the session key. Each time content is requested, a new session is established.

6. The network device must parse the rights policy and determine if it can adhere to the required rights. If it can, it may render the content.

 

Portable devices, on the other hand, can either get the licence directly, if an internet connection is available, or they can get a licence from WMP, via the sync process which uses MTP (media transport protocol).

The BBC website talks about copying files from the PC to portable devices, but does not explain that this needs to be via MTP, rather than as a straight file copy to a card or USB mass storage. 

 My head now hurts, and I've now forgotten what I was trying to do in the first place!

 Trevor

My head hurts too. Am I right in saying that says that it an SC 200 should be able to get a licence when backended by a WMP11 machine? Of course, we know it can't

Yes, and it does work, with the lower resolution mobile downloads. Make sure that the file plays OK in WMP11. Enable sharing in WMP11 and it should find the SC200. On the SC200, make sure that uPnP is enabled and the WMP11 server will appear in the startup screen.

More interesting info on this.

Today I installed WMP 11 as my uPNP server. I thought I was being all 1337 and clever getting it to work, but it was quite easy really!

Anyway, back at the topic. I downloaded the Royal TV lecture on iPlayer and copied the file to one of the directories that is streamed to the SC200. Using WMP11 as the server, I ran to the SC200 and sure enough, the file showed up in the SC browser but...

1. The SC200 didn't show the horrid filename that iPlayer gives you,  122334_726242_download.wmv, it showed the file *title* (not filename), which was Royal Television etc etc. So that's a good mark for WMP.

2. I tried to play it from the SC and it said "acquiring license"

3 Then the let down. The usual "unsupported" error and audio but no video.

Such a shame. I had real hopes that this would work 

Channel 4's On Demand thingy uses the same kontiki technology to deliver WMV files. 4OD only works with WMP10, so I had to upgrade from 9, but I got the new keys from mirakagi quickly and was back under way.

The nice suprise is that these files play happily on my SC200 once the DRM has been removed, they don't need to be reencoded like the BBC files do.

I Haven't downloaded any BBC i player programmes for a while ( nothing worth watching!!) but decided to download something today, I was confonted with the message that they don't support Download manager anymore and that I needed to download the new i player desktop manager, which I proceeded to do.  This is where the problems start again, when I opened up my Fairuse4wm to strip out the DRM it couldn't see the download! I checked the format that had been downloaded and it's not a wmv file anymore, it's something called an air file which as far as I can see is not supported by FU4WM.

Does anybody have the work round for this?

Cheers Steve

Hi, the iPlayer desktop has gone over to flash files, however if you click the dropdown "more downloads" you can get the "Windows Media Player" wmv file, which will co-operate with Fairuse. Note that the "Portable devices" file will play fine on the Showcenter using WMP11 as a server. OK the quality is low but looks fine on my 16in kitchen TV.

 Trevor

I hadn't looked at this for a while so I had a look at Channel 4 4oD service again.
Previously the wmv files were tweaked so that they would only play in the 4oD PC client, however they now play in Windows Media Player.
So all you need to do is, run up WMP11, turn on sharing, add the 4OD download directory (usually c:\\document and settings\all usersdocument\my deliveries\4od) to the library search path (F3). The WMP uPnP server should show up on the Showcenter start screen, and you can then browse to the 4oD programs, and watch them on your TV.

The 4oD application downloads and embeds the licence in the wmv file, which means that you will be able to view the programs offline, but cannot transfer the file to a different PC.

Hi Trevor, I attempted to download the windows media player file via the drop down, but this is telling me that I need to upgrade my version of media player before it will let me download anything.  I obviously don't want to be doing that otherwise I will end up with the same problem that originally resulted in me using Media Player vers 9 in the first place! Getting pretty fed up with all this faffing about now!!

Steve

Steve F:

Hi Trevor, I attempted to download the windows media player file via the drop down, but this is telling me that I need to upgrade my version of media player before it will let me download anything.  I obviously don't want to be doing that otherwise I will end up with the same problem that originally resulted in me using Media Player vers 9 in the first place! Getting pretty fed up with all this faffing about now!!

Steve

Hi Steve,

I'm guessing that you are using internet explorer, if so the download process uses an activex plugin to aquire and embed the licence into the downloaded file. If you download using firefox, none of this happens, and you should be able to download file without the licence and process as normal.

Trevor

 

Hey nice one Trevor, good old Firefox, didn't think of that one!  I use Firefox on all my other pc's but use Virtual pc to run WM9 on, just run it bog standard with hardly anything on it and never gave the browser a second thought, anyway, all sorted again for a while. thanks for your help.

Steve

Worth noting that the iPlayer "Windows Media Player" downloads, are working again with the SC200.

Once the file hasd been downloaded, make sure you can play it in Windows Media Player 11, and configure library sharing to point at the directory that the file is stored in, and configurwe sharing to allow the SC200 to connect.

Good luck
Trevor