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Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 170

post #5071 of 7564
1/17/13 at 7:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr View Post

if the Echo shows up as a play-to target

IIRC, this is something that WMC just does and channels it back through the MCX session.

I found that it works OK for music, but not as well as a real DLNA DMR.
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post #5072 of 7564
1/18/13 at 6:23am
https://twitter.com/cetoncorp/status/292167085222666241

Mitch Stevens ‏@BFBluesMStev
@cetoncorp is the Echo Compatible with windows 8 Windows Media Ctr?
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Ceton Corporation
‏@cetoncorp
@BFBluesMStev MIcrosoft has unfortunately disabled support for all extenders except Xbox 360 in Win8.
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The fact that Ceton is stating this in a tweet makes me think they are not going to try and make it work with Windows 8. Here's to hoping someone finds a hack for this...
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post #5073 of 7564
1/18/13 at 7:00am
Doesn't sound like they have much of an option.
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post #5074 of 7564
1/18/13 at 8:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by McLuvin View Post

https://twitter.com/cetoncorp/status/292167085222666241

Mitch Stevens ‏@BFBluesMStev
@cetoncorp is the Echo Compatible with windows 8 Windows Media Ctr?
Details

Follow

Ceton Corporation
‏@cetoncorp
@BFBluesMStev MIcrosoft has unfortunately disabled support for all extenders except Xbox 360 in Win8.
Reply Retweet Favorite


The fact that Ceton is stating this in a tweet makes me think they are not going to try and make it work with Windows 8. Here's to hoping someone finds a hack for this...

If this correct, then what is the future for something like the Echo? Sounds like it is already EOL if there won't be any support for Win 8.

Ceton will need to develop their own DVR backend software if they want this product to be successful.
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post #5075 of 7564
1/18/13 at 8:07am
I just want it to work better within Win7 with full native playback and HD Audio too.

BTW, I'm perfectly happy with my Win7 setup and see no reason to upgrade to Win8 and have new headaches to conquer. I say go with Win7 as long as it is available as it works perfectly fine for HTPC use.
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post #5076 of 7564
1/18/13 at 9:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I just want it to work better within Win7 with full native playback and HD Audio too.

BTW, I'm perfectly happy with my Win7 setup and see no reason to upgrade to Win8 and have new headaches to conquer. I say go with Win7 as long as it is available as it works perfectly fine for HTPC use.

Considering the Xbox is the only alternative for an extender on Win8, I will have to stick with Win7 as those boxes are not an option in my house.

Really wanted to utilize the apps in Win8 regardless if they work with a remote or not but that does not appear to be an option at this point. I know it's out of Ceton's control but I was hoping that they would either negotiate with MS since they just launched the product or figure out a way around the issue themselves.

I will still jump in with the echo once the units are stable enough and can give me a reason to replace my DMA's.
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post #5077 of 7564
1/18/13 at 9:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I just want it to work better within Win7 with full native playback and HD Audio too.

BTW, I'm perfectly happy with my Win7 setup and see no reason to upgrade to Win8 and have new headaches to conquer. I say go with Win7 as long as it is available as it works perfectly fine for HTPC use.

+1

I just wish they would get it right on any OS to be honest ... This public beta seems to be going well ...
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post #5078 of 7564
1/18/13 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I just want it to work better within Win7 with full native playback and HD Audio too.

BTW, I'm perfectly happy with my Win7 setup and see no reason to upgrade to Win8 and have new headaches to conquer. I say go with Win7 as long as it is available as it works perfectly fine for HTPC use.

The larger problem is that all new PC's are sold with Win8. The market for the Echo is getting smaller and smaller everyday. If a consumer wants a product to play their rips off a share then there are a crap ton of products that do that already for $99 or less.
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post #5079 of 7564
1/18/13 at 10:37am
True but I think that people that use the echo also are more apt to build a system and will install Win7 on that system. I also think Win7 just works better for HTPC use right now but haven't even bothered with Win8 because why do I want to take something that works very well and mess with it?
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post #5080 of 7564
1/18/13 at 10:42am
And that market is shrinking everyday.
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post #5081 of 7564
1/18/13 at 10:49am
It would probably be a good idea to make it clear on their website (and on any reseller's sites) that the Echo isn't compatible with Windows 8. I can picture a lot of people making the seemingly reasonable assumption that if it works with Windows 7 there's no reason it won't with Windows 8 and finding out the hard way after making a purchase. Even though the compatibility situation appears to be out of Ceton's control, it's probably best to avoid as many returns as possible.
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post #5082 of 7564
1/18/13 at 10:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by almostinsane View Post

The larger problem is that all new PC's are sold with Win8. The market for the Echo is getting smaller and smaller everyday. If a consumer wants a product to play their rips off a share then there are a crap ton of products that do that already for $99 or less.

I completely agree. With no Microsoft support and investment for WMC, the entire WMC+Extender model is frozen to Windows 7.
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post #5083 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by t-c View Post


I completely agree. With no Microsoft support and investment for WMC, the entire WMC+Extender model is frozen to Windows 7.

 

My take is it's been frozen for years. The Echo was announced over a year ago and if it was a viable market it would have shipped long ago (they would have invested the time and resources to do such). By all accounts (product wise) it was released way too early... I think they decided to punt and recoup what they could before they can't even give them away for free.

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post #5084 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:20am
Debbie Downer.
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post #5085 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Debbie Downer.

Lol
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post #5086 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles R View Post

My take is it's been frozen for years. The Echo was announced over a year ago and if it was a viable market it would have shipped long ago (they would have invested the time and resources to do such). By all accounts (product wise) it was released way too early... I think they decided to punt and recoup what they could before they can't even give them away for free.

May be some of that, I cerntainly won't argue that point, but you also need to take in to account that MS killed alot of there plan's for them during the past year.

That doesn't excuse the extreme premature launch of the Echo, Yes JMO.

-Debbie Downer smile.gif
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post #5087 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I just want it to work better within Win7 with full native playback and HD Audio too.

BTW, I'm perfectly happy with my Win7 setup and see no reason to upgrade to Win8 and have new headaches to conquer. I say go with Win7 as long as it is available as it works perfectly fine for HTPC use.

That's fine for us existing users, but it simply means less adoption of the HTPC model going forward. Eventually 7 will no longer be on sale, plus people who want to convert an existing PC to an HTPC will incur an extra cost if it includes 8 (unless they are ok with using XBoxs and the other limitations we currently see in 8).
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post #5088 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:30am
Stock up on Win7 licenses.
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post #5089 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

May be some of that, I cerntainly won't argue that point, but you also need to take in to account that MS killed alot of there plan's for them during the past year.

That doesn't excuse the extreme premature launch of the Echo, Yes JMO.

-Debbie Downer smile.gif

Yeah it seems with no WMC in embedded 8 and now locking out non-XBox extenders, that Ceton just got dumped on. Pretty crappy of MSFT to work with them on the Q and the Echo (to the extent that they licensed stuff and whatever else goes into that) while probably planning this the entire time.

One thing I will hold out hope for is that Ceton can find a way to make the Echo work with 8. The tweet says that MSFT doesn't support it. The hair splitter in me says that is different than saying they have locked it out. A lot of things are made for, both software and hardware, for Windows that are not supported by MSFT, but still function just fine. As long as the terms of service don't limit extenders to the XBox, if Ceton is willing to put forth the effort, they should be able to make it work themselves.

I'm probably just being optimistic though. frown.gif
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post #5090 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Stock up on Win7 licenses.

I did that when they ran the $19.99 'student' special at launch three years ago! I only just ran out with my MIL's PC last year!
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post #5091 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:39am
Surely there had to have been discussion with MS at the time they licensed the extender model about future OS support beyond Win7. Unless there's a clause stating that future support beyond the current OS is never guaranteed; which I wouldn't have agreed to w/out at least guaranteed Win8 support (being that it was right around the corner). I suppose it doesn't matter a whole lot now... and unfortunately adds a little confusion now that they released the Win8 app which works with extenders (remote wise).
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post #5092 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:41am
Are you referring to the Glass app?
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post #5093 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncarty97 View Post

Are you referring to the Glass app?

I was referring to the My Media Center app on the Windows store...
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post #5094 of 7564
1/18/13 at 11:57am
Ahh, hadn't heard of that. That is a bit strange given the revelation about the Echo and Win8.
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post #5095 of 7564
1/18/13 at 12:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgrinch View Post

I was referring to the My Media Center app on the Windows store...

Quote:
Originally Posted by ncarty97 View Post

Ahh, hadn't heard of that. That is a bit strange given the revelation about the Echo and Win8.

AKA ceton Companion App. They changed the name to My Media Center for some reason when the latest version just rolled.
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post #5096 of 7564
1/18/13 at 12:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncarty97 View Post

Yeah it seems with no WMC in embedded 8 and now locking out non-XBox extenders, that Ceton just got dumped on. Pretty crappy of MSFT to work with them on the Q and the Echo (to the extent that they licensed stuff and whatever else goes into that) while probably planning this the entire time.

One thing I will hold out hope for is that Ceton can find a way to make the Echo work with 8. The tweet says that MSFT doesn't support it. The hair splitter in me says that is different than saying they have locked it out. A lot of things are made for, both software and hardware, for Windows that are not supported by MSFT, but still function just fine. As long as the terms of service don't limit extenders to the XBox, if Ceton is willing to put forth the effort, they should be able to make it work themselves.

I'm probably just being optimistic though. frown.gif
MSFT changed the RDP protocol in Windows 8 that is used by extenders which means extenders will need to be updated to use the new protocols. I have not yet seen a definitive statement that they have locked out everything but the XBox. It could simply be that the XBox is the only extender that has been programmed for the new protocols. Older extenders like the Netgear are end of life and will never but updated but that's not the same as being "locked out".
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post #5097 of 7564
1/18/13 at 12:14pm
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2796618

An extender for a Windows Media Center PC is a standalone device that connects to your network and TV display. By connecting an extender to a wired or wireless home network, you can operate your Windows Media Center PC and stream media from Windows Media Center to your extender and TV. Microsoft Xbox 360 is the only extender that is supported in Windows 8 Media Center PC. Third-party extenders that work with earlier versions of Windows won’t work with Windows 8.
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post #5098 of 7564
1/18/13 at 12:22pm
Next paragraph:
Quote:
Windows 8 introduced a number of significant infrastructure changes on which extenders for Windows Media Center relied. These include changes to the RDP protocol. Because of these necessary changes, extender devices that were designed for Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 cannot connect to Windows 8 Media Center PCs. These devices should still work with earlier versions of Windows.

It does not say that they cannot be designed to work with Windows 8, only that if they were designed to work with earlier version (XP, Vista, Win7) they will not work with Windows 8 because of the changes to the RDP protocol.
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post #5099 of 7564
1/18/13 at 12:39pm
Microsoft Xbox 360 is the only extender that is supported in Windows 8 Media Center PC.
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post #5100 of 7564
1/18/13 at 12:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by flipper59 View Post

Microsoft Xbox 360 is the only extender that is supported in Windows 8 Media Center PC.

support =/= can be made to work with

Also its not like they can't change the wording of that page down the line should they so choose.
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