Windows Media Center

[Tony Vella]

Suddenly every time I try to play music I get a message saying that "an
audio error has occurred" with just an OK option. I have no idea what
it's all about. Any help appreciated in advance. Worked OK till a few
days ago.

 

[Ed Cryer]

Suddenly every time I try to play music I get a message saying that "an
audio error has occurred" with just an OK option. I have no idea what
it's all about. Any help appreciated in advance. Worked OK till a few
days ago.

A bit of googling shows a few of these for Media Center, but the only
fixes I've seen have been done with restores.

Two things to try;
1. Will the files play with Windows Media Player?
2. Rip a CD and try that on Media Center. It could be that new files
play ok. If they do, then it's something to do with the user settings of
the old files.

A check for Media Center updates might be of use.

Ed

 

[Tony Vella]

A bit of googling shows a few of these for Media Center, but the only
fixes I've seen have been done with restores.

Two things to try;
1. Will the files play with Windows Media Player?
2. Rip a CD and try that on Media Center. It could be that new files
play ok. If they do, then it's something to do with the user settings of
the old files.

A check for Media Center updates might be of use.

Ed

Nothing seems to help, Ed, I have even uninstalled and reinstalled WMP.
Strange that up to four days ago all the music in my machine played
perfectly. I have installed my old stand-by [winamp pro] and all the
music plays perfectly. Checked with Microsoft Canada and they don't
seem to have any idea how to fix it. The chap I spoke to says they have
received hundreds of similar complaints and that's just from Canada. Oh
well, as long as winamp works fine ......

 

[Paul]

Suddenly every time I try to play music I get a message saying that "an
audio error has occurred" with just an OK option. I have no idea what
it's all about. Any help appreciated in advance. Worked OK till a few
days ago.

Was there an error number ?

It helps to Google the exact error text.

For example, this one

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941234

"Audio Error An unknown audio error has occurred. (80010001)"

Now, when you look at the file list, there is a thing
called "Ehexthost.exe".

Running that in a search, just for fun, dug up this.
It says that Media Center uses an extensible architecture
and "add-ons" can be loaded in the background.

"How to resolve ehExtHost crashes that can occur when launching Media Center"

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/ar...at-can-occur-when-launching-media-center.aspx

I doubt this has anything to do with it, but you have to start somewhere.

Since at least some software now, likes to "update" itself on a daily
basis, it's going to be pretty hard to trace down what new software
arrived on the day in question.

I suppose you could use a System Restore point, and go back in time
to resolve it, but that would be a temporary solution. I probably
wouldn't do that, although if it was only a few days ago, the
timing is good (System Restore works best if used only a few days
since the trouble began - using a three month old System Restore point
might have too many side effects). You probably haven't made that
many changes to the system in a few days of usage.

Paul

 

[Char Jackson]

Suddenly every time I try to play music I get a message saying that "an
audio error has occurred" with just an OK option. I have no idea what
it's all about. Any help appreciated in advance. Worked OK till a few
days ago.

Have you checked the event viewer? There might be some additional
information there. Also check Device Manager for obvious problems.
Lastly, do system sounds play ok? Trying to figure out where in the
audio chain things are breaking down.

 

[Ed Cryer]

A bit of googling shows a few of these for Media Center, but the only
fixes I've seen have been done with restores.

Two things to try;
1. Will the files play with Windows Media Player?
2. Rip a CD and try that on Media Center. It could be that new files
play ok. If they do, then it's something to do with the user settings of
the old files.

A check for Media Center updates might be of use.

Ed

Nothing seems to help, Ed, I have even uninstalled and reinstalled WMP.
Strange that up to four days ago all the music in my machine played
perfectly. I have installed my old stand-by [winamp pro] and all the
music plays perfectly. Checked with Microsoft Canada and they don't seem
to have any idea how to fix it. The chap I spoke to says they have
received hundreds of similar complaints and that's just from Canada. Oh
well, as long as winamp works fine ......

Are you saying they won't play on WMP either? That's two MS programs.
That gives me a slight shudder concerning "media rights". There was a
recent Windows update, details of which I'll paste from my own installation;


**********************************************
Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2641690)

Installation date: ‎11/‎11/‎2011 12:15

Installation status: Successful

Update type: Important

Install this update to resolve an issue which requires an update to the
certificate revocation list on Windows systems and to keep your systems
certificate list up to date. After you install this update, you may have
to restart your system.

More information:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=233124

Help and Support:
http://support.microsoft.com
*********************************************

If MS have received loads of complaints, maybe they'll be releasing an
update to correct the update in the near future.
I live in the UK and all my music seems to be playing ok on both WMC and
WMP.

Meanwhile there are stacks of freeware progs available. I stand by Real
Alternative and VideoLAN.

Ed