7MC x64 “Audio Error – An audio error has occurred”

[SJMaye]

Apologies on the front end here guys.  I posted this at TGB, but nothing.  I am hoping the Wizards on these forums can help.

For Xmas I built and gave a 7MC to my Dad.  Since then he has had a bunch of trouble.  This one has me stumped.  We ripped several CDs in his music library.  I played many of them without incident. 

Now whenever he tries to play a CD he gets a blue Media Center dialog box stating, “Audio Error, An Audio Error has Occurred”  and OK.

I see entries in the event viewer.  I have no idea why it is doing this.  Can anyone here help?

 

Specs- i3-530, H55M Pro, 4GB ram, Win 7 Ultimate.

 

[mikinho]

Can you provide the below?

1- How you have the HTPC connected?  Is it via HDMI, TOSLINK, Analog, etc

2- Are you connected to an AVR or directly to the HDTV

3- You have Intel MEI installed?  (See Intel MEI is needed for bitstreaming HD Audio with H55H57 chipsets)

4- What format did you rip the music to?  If WMA then you may have an issue with your DRM license.  Let me know me and I can provide instructions to reset your DRM cache.

[SJMaye]

Hello again mikinho,

1- How you have the HTPC connected?  HDMI

2- Are you connected to an AVR or directly to the HDTV.  I am running and I3-530 with a MB with HDMI output.  I connect the HDMI cable to the HDMI port on the MB out to the HDMI port on the HDTV

3- You have Intel MEI installed?  (See Intel MEI is needed for bitstreaming HD Audio with H55H57 chipsets) I assembled this build.  I did not install this software during the build.  Thatmay be the issue, but why was it working fine before?

4- What format did you rip the music to?  If WMA then you may have an issue with your DRM license.  Let me know me and I can provide instructions to reset your DRM cache. This is a “could be”.  To be honest I cannot remember what the format was.  I simply ripped using windows media player and all played well that I tested.  I never do it for myself so it was new to me.  I will check the formats.

[/quote]

[mikinho]

Keep us updated on what format and I can help troubleshootfix from there.

[SJMaye]

With regard to DRM.  I ripped these to the computer.  They played well for me.  Then he had a serious error with media center.  When it did that from previous experience I guessed the media center database had gotten corrupted.  I went to the file folder and deleted all files there and allowed it to remake them.   Media Center seemed fine, but I did not try any music files at the time.

Is there any chance that changed things with regard to DRM and these music files?

[mikinho]

It is possible.  The DRM folder cache is

%ProgramData%MicrosoftWindowsDRM

If you delete it and reboot it shoudl reset WMP12 licenses.  You should first check what format they are and see if they play in WMP12 first.

[SJMaye]

The folders and files I deleted were in %systemdrive%programdatamicrosoftehome .  I found the fix here- http://mymce.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/fixing-media-center-has-stopped-working-in-windows-seven-media-center/

So, I never did anything to the folder you mentioned.  But you have given me a good lead.  I will just need to go to my father’s house to check the file formats and this folder.

Another thing you mentioned was the HDMI cable.  I am recalling how HDMI can be affected by DRM.  Yes, I am connected via an HDMI cable, but after the reset of media center I cannot remember going in and setting the connection type.  It was working fine, so I did not mess with it.

I will be in touch.  Thx 

 

[SJMaye]

[quote=mikinho]

It is possible.  The DRM folder cache is

%ProgramData%MicrosoftWindowsDRM

If you delete it and reboot it shoudl reset WMP12 licenses.  You should first check what format they are and see if they play in WMP12 first.

[/quote]

 

Hi Mike,

 

I finally got the info we were looking for.  The music file formats are WMA and MP3.  Both play fine in WMP.  I did not delete the folder mentioned.  I thought I would wait to hear back from you.

To clarify what MC is doing.  Click to play an album.  The album does play, but you get that dialog box with the Audio Error in it.  I will try getting a snapshot when I get to my Dad’s house.

 

[SJMaye]

[quote=mikinho]

It is possible.  The DRM folder cache is

%ProgramData%MicrosoftWindowsDRM

If you delete it and reboot it shoudl reset WMP12 licenses.  You should first check what format they are and see if they play in WMP12 first.

[/quote]

To add to the really strange.  This folder does not exist.  Just checked yesterday.  The computer has been rebooted a couple times.  If it was going to remake the folder and reset the licenses you would have thought it would be there.

All I can say is, “CRAP”.  This machine is finally running pretty good for him for everything else.  Why this?

[mikinho]

Sorry I missed your last response!

I would honestly wait a few more days and install W7 SP1 to see if that clears it up.  SP1 includes a few fixes w/ audio over HDMI.

[SJMaye]

Will do.  We can wait.  Is SP1 going to fix the HDMI handshake?

[mikinho]

The best answer I can give is “Maybe”.  It fixes certain HDMI handshake issues but certainly not all of them. 

[SJMaye]

Mike,

I wanted to come back and say the problem is resolved.  Unfortunately I am not 100% sure if I know what fixed it.  The reason I believe caused it is embarrassing I did not find this in the first place. 

As discussed I waited for SP1.  Installed.  Can’t remember for sure, but I did not get the same audio error message, but still did get some sort of error when playing music.  I opted to do a full reinstall of the Win7 OS.  After that I still got the error.  I tried something different.  I have all my music, pictures etc on my second HDD.  I decided to rip a new CD to My Music on my C: drive.  It worked fine.  Then I knew it was related to that folder on my secondary HDD.  I dropped out of MC to have a look at the folder.  When trying to open it it required Administrator access.  The dialog stated it would only be required this once.  I opened as administrator and all files looked fine.  Reopened 7MC and the music now played with no error.

I am glad it is fixed, but sure is strange how the folder I created got its access rights changed.  I hope this will help others in the future.

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