Windows Media Connect Service Can’t Connect to Domain Shared Folder
I’m trying to connect the XBox 360 to my music, videos, and pictures.
The XBox 360 can connect to a service called Windows Media Connect, which in turn can connect to network shares. This lets the XBox 360, which can’t be on my domain, connect to a service which is running on a machine which is on the domain, and that service can access shares offered by other machines on the domain.
But you can’t stream video from WMC on Windows XP, only the Media Center Edition. So I’m setting up a computer as an MCE box, but this brings some new problems.
You can’t add an MCE box to a domain. Because the MCE box isn’t on the domain, the Windows Media Connect service running on it can’t connect to the network share where my media is stored.
You can fool the Media Center software into finding “My Music”, “My Pictures” and “My Vidoes” on the network by using a profile batch file that runs when the XBox 360 connects. Each Media Center Extender (which is what the XBox 360 is in this case) has an account on the Media Center, so having a profile for the MCX1 account that maps drive letters to the network shares makes them available to the Media Center software.
But this doesn’t work for the WMC service. This service (wmccds.exe) runs as “Network Service”, and apparently doesn’t start up if you run it as anyone else. “Network Service” is a special built-in account with limited permissions – it doesn’t have access to the network share.
Interestingly enough, I tried configuring the WMC service to run as a regular user, and the service would start up and then immediately shut down. I also got a message in the event log at one point that it was shutting down because an unauthorized window was detected, ‘cmd.exe’. This was probably the cmd window running the profile batch file that was mounting the network drives – so that technique isn’t going to work.
I’m not sure what to do about this. It seems my options are:
- Find some way of giving the process that WMC is running in the ability to connect to the network share; doesn’t seem like this will be easy
or
- Put a big hard drive in the MCE box and move everything there.
Admittedly what I’m trying to do isn’t the mainstream case, but still, it doesn’t seem like it should be this difficult. I’ll probably end up moving the drive that has my music on it into the MCE box if I can’t come up with another solution. Anyone have any ideas?
December 6th, 2005 at 6:40 am
I have baically the same problem. I use a Linux file server with samba shares wich I have all my music on. Now since the 360 can’t connect to standard windows shares (stupid, stupid, stupid), I have use this “Windows Media Connect”. Since the xbox can’t use any other UPnP-server (wich is what “Windows Media Connect” basically is) than “Widows Media Connect” I have to use my HTPC for this (runs Win XP Pro). The problem is.. My HTPC uses the samba-shares from my file server.. And “Windows Media Connect” can’t use those. It lets me add a folder located on it, but my 360 doesn’t find anything.
Will someone make a 360-compatible UPnP-server for Unix or a network drive AND 360-compatible UPnP-server for Windows? Please!
//Ree
December 6th, 2005 at 8:13 am
I guess you guys aren’t as lonely with your problems as you think…
I too run a Linux fileserver (With samba among others).
Normaly i just mount my window shares from the linux server automaticly when loggin in to my workstation (WinXP mce).
But it just doesn’t work for XboX360 media Extender…
I thought though if it somehow was possible to getg a hold of the password that the XboX360 uses to access my XP mce workstation… Then i could add it as a user on my Linux server, and then just add network folder…
Just a thought though…
December 7th, 2005 at 5:23 pm
Just an FYI it is possible to connect MCE to a domain. I couldn’t find the exact thread I found on http://www.thegreenbutton.com. But there are plenty of threads that tell you haw to connect MCE to a domain. There are some draw backs…i.e. extenders can’t connect to the mce because when connected to a domain Fast User Switching is disabled. But supposedly people have found fixes for that.
The way I did it was.
1. Boot to Barts WinPE. (search for Windows PE and you will find it. It’s free.)
2. Click Start -> Open Registry
3. Load Hive
4. Navigate to c:\windows\system32\config\system
5. Name it MCE (or what ever)
6. Navigate to reg entry HKey_Local_Machine\MCE\WPA\MedCtrUpg\
7. Change IsLegacyMCE from 0 to 1
8. File -> Unload Hive
I wrote this from my chicken scratch so you may want to check out the forums I gave a link to above before attempting this. You shouldn’t attempt this if you don’t know what you are doing.
December 16th, 2005 at 4:39 pm
That’s cool but I’d like to stay within supported scenarios – not because I plan to call them for help, but because you just know the next time they release an update they’ll set it back, or disable the system or something for you tampering with it that way.
What I’d like to see is a way of mounting a drive for a user before the profile runs – so that the WMC service could see the shared drive as if it was local. I believe you could do this with a kernel driver, but I haven’t seen one.
December 26th, 2005 at 5:03 am
Seems I am not alone in having considered, tried, and failed at this. Apparently that 8 digit number you use when configuring the MCE is used to generate the password for the MCXn user, or I’d just create a domain account and synch it. It is interesting to ponder the fact that the XBox does indeed have the core for an RDP client within it.
The avenue I’m now considering, to both achieve the ends I want with Windows XP-MC + Xbox 360 without losing the already built out Media Services I have going (hosted from my server array with a substantial amount of storage dedicated to the purpose), is starting out with a small shared storage device and seeing if I can hook it into both my Media Server and the XP Media Center. If I can, I’ll begin migrating most of my media to shared storage devices.
I would consider a NAS, but I suspect since the Extender doesn’t see the files hosted on my Samba “openshare” box, it probably wouldn’t see the NAS either. Since Windows Media Connect permits the sharing of video, I wish MS would have just gone ahead and let us access via that, but then we’d never get the opportunity to watch the little WMC dancers dance to the music. I don’t dislike Media Center, but it’s inability to join a domain presents problems.
December 31st, 2005 at 8:09 am
Is there any way to connect a pc with service pack 2 and windows media connect to xbox360 and still stream audio to the games console?
how can i get media center without spending any money?
any help would be much appreciated
January 4th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Not sure if you guys know about this by now, but there’s a UPnP mediaserver available for linux now called Twonky MediaServer (http://www.twonkyvision.de). You can download a free trial which unfortunately self-terminates after 30 minutes. The program is about 20 euros ($25 US) which is too expensive for my tastes. I’m holding out for a free UPnP server for linux, one’s bound to pop up soon enough. Any other leads?
January 5th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Ok. While this isn’t a fix for Windows Media Connect, this is a working FREE solution for you linux users out there. It was so damn simple i couldn’t believe it. The best alternative for Windows Media connect for linux is to download TwonkyVision’s TwonkyMedia trial as i mentioned earlier (http://www.twonkyvision.de) and making a loop script to execute the server before it’s been auto-shut off.
Here’s how it works. First of all, if the executable “twonkymedia-trial” doesn’t receive a WORKDIR=/dir/name flag, it builds the content in the current directory. It builds the database (twonkymedia-db directory and contents) and the config HTML file and the ini when twonkymedia-trial is executed. So here’s where it gets fun:
First, let’s make a directory where everything will live:
mkdir /etc/twonkymedia
Now, extract the contents of the twonkymedia zip to /etc/twonkymedia. Once you’ve done that, go to that directory:
cd /etc/twonkymedia
and create a new file called trick_twonky.sh
nano trick_twonky.sh
Now edit this file as follows:
#!/bin/bash
while [ 1 ]
do
/etc/twonkymedia/twonkymedia-trial &
sleep 1380
killall twonkymedia-trial
sleep 15
done
For those of you that didn’t catch on to what’s happening, we’ve just created a script that first of all executes the twonkymedia-trial executable to start the whole process. I figured out that the trial doesn’t run for “30 minutes” but actuall konks out around 25 minutes. So our script sleeps for 23 minutes (1380 seconds) and then kills any mention of the twonkymedia-trial process, sleeps for 15 seconds, then starts all over again.
As far as i know, a terminal window has to remain open for this script to be persistent (i don’t know how to do it otherwise) but it will continually shut down the twonkymedia server every 23 minutes (before it auto-shuts off) and turns it back on.
Of course, you could be more elaborate and change the while loop to check for the twonkymedia-trial service and if it’s running, sleep. If not, run it. I had some problems with this though, creating duplicate mediaserver processes and thus screwing up the port number (9000, 9001, 9002, 9003, etc) each time.
Once you’ve got everything all set up, feel free to edit the config.html file to your tastes and save your changes. It should remember your settings each time it’s been shut down and turned back on and should auto-scan content directories each time it starts.
Have fun, kids!
January 5th, 2006 at 7:00 pm
Oh, last but not least – i forgot. For those that don’t know how to execute a shell script, it’s as follows:
(go to the directory with the script /etc/twonkymedia)
execute the script like so:
. trick_twonky.sh &
That’s . , not ./, just to clarify. And we’ve tacked on the ampersand to make sure it runs as a background process.
January 5th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
*Ahem* Sorry. I forgot to entitle my tutorial:
8 Quick Lines Of Code To Keep Your TwonkyMedia Trial Running
(as per the previous topic)
January 6th, 2006 at 9:37 am
Good stuff Joe – I’d seen TwonkyVision before but at the time they didn’t mention XBox 360 compatibility.
Does it work with video as well as audio?
January 29th, 2006 at 6:33 am
Have a look at this and your File Server blues will be over.
Works with MCE 2005 and Xbox 360 no probs. Uses windwos logon scripts to force MCX1 to use another account to map network drives.
January 29th, 2006 at 6:35 am
Oh and it won’t matter if you’re using a domain or not. As long as the user you are using to connect to the network shares has permissions on the file server your MCE2005 box doesnt need to be a member of the domain.
I created a new user “MCE.User” for all my MCE sharing security.
January 29th, 2006 at 6:36 am
Forgot the link
http://dotchris.net/?p=6
February 10th, 2006 at 3:34 am
Using Windows Media Connect with Xbox 360, I don’t have any special user. The Windows Media Connect service runs as NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService. How can I use the dotchris tactic to expose my samba shares to my Xbox?
February 19th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
HOW TO SETUP an Xbox 360 on a Windows Media Center Edition 2005 machine to connect to music and pictures on a Windows Server 2003 computer (domain or otherwise):
A few things first:
Yes, you can add a MCE 2005 machine to a domain using the hack listed above. Not really so much of a hack, because if you add it to the domain during setup, you have no problems, or if you upgrade from MCE 2004, the feature is also available. However, there is a VERY specific reason it’s disabled by default in 2005: Media center extenders don’t work if the machine is part of a domain. The reason for this is as follows:
Media Center Extenders are really just a Remote Desktop Connection into the MCE PC, with an extra side channel for a/v data (try to use mstsc, the Remote Desktop Client in Windows XP, to connect to an MCE machine, but on port 3390 instead of the default port 3389. It won’t let you log in, but it proves the point that it’s just RDP). The key to MCX, though, is that when an MCX connects to the host machine, the user on that machine IS NOT BOOTED OFF. That works because of something in Windows XP called Fast User Switching that allows another user to connect without requiring the first user to log off (normally it “disconnects” the other user, meaning their programs are still running, but they aren’t actively controlling the session). On Windows Server, you can install Terminal Services Server to allow multiple concurrent active sessions. On Windows XP, even with FUS (Fast User Switching), only one session is allowed to be active at a time, with the notable EXCEPTION of MCX’s. So, MCX is based off of Terminal Services technology, but when you join a machine to a domain, FUS must be turned off. So, now we try our workarounds: in a beta build of SP2, Microsoft was going to allow two active sessions, not just one. So you can get a patch that “downgrades” that one DLL in normal Windows XP that will allow both a remote user and local user to have active sessions (and with some more tweaking, unlimited active sessions). In testing, though, that hack only works when a machine is NOT part of a domain. I’ve tested with a an MCE machine using CLASSIC login (not the Welcome Screen that normally allows FUS), manually re-enabled the FUS Service, and applied the patch, and I could do it. However, the patch does not work once a machine has been added to a domain. Sorry people no dice. MCE machines with MCX’s connected CANNOT join a domain.
Now, on to accessing your media on your Windows Server in other ways. For the MCX to access it, use the login script to map a network drive using alternate credentials as outlined above. When you add your content from within Media Center, remember, that drive shows up as a LOCAL drive to use the different credentials.
But I want to access my music from within games using Windows Media Connect? I have that one solved too. WMC CAN share folders from network shares. In an all WinXP environment with Simple File Sharing (NOT recommended by me
) enabled, it just uses the Guest account to connect. However, the Guest account doesn’t work to connect to WS2003. WMC runs on the WXP box as the Network Service account. So the logical thing is to give the Network Service permissions to that share. The problem with that, is that it is the network service on the WXP box, which when it tries to access the network defaults to the Guest account, or NO credentials at all. The solution, grant access to the shared folder to the NETWORK account. That allows ANYTHING that accesses it from the network, regardless of how they authenticate (or don’t authenticate). Yay! I have access to my music on a WS2003 Domain Controller both through an MCX and WMC running off of a MCE box!!!!!
If you’re having troubles with WMC, you can look at a more detailed log than the System Event log by doing the following:
Stop and start Folder Sharing in Windows Media Connect (Settings Tab, or WMConnectCDS in the Services snap-in). Open the Event Log, System, and one of them should list where the “real” log file is (you have to double click to get the details). On my machine it is C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Media Connect 2\FileScanLogFile.txt.
Thanks, and Enjoy!!
April 11th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
look guy’s this is of topic but,i have a wired connection to my 360,i can use wmc fine if i plug it straight 2 my pc,but if i wanna go on live i have 2 plug it 2 my router,which has only 1 ethernet port,and 1 usb port,…..so baiscly wen i go on live the router is connected 2 comp via usb and is also connected 2 xbox 360 via ethernet,….can i not somehow use live and wmc at same time?
April 29th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Media Center does not need to join the domain to access domain controlled files. You just need to ensure the user/pass that MedCent is running with are the same User/Pass you have set on the domain.
Say the current login account on MedCenter is..
User : JShmoe
Pass : alamagordo
the domain version MUST be the same. Windows will automaticaly try the username/password combo it is currently running under when it receives a prompt from the remote system to provide security credentials. If there is no matching user/pass depending on how the request was initiated either a password request box pops up or it doesn’t. a user trying to browse to it will usually get the request box, software won’t.
I’ve used this method to get into domains and pull down some software needed to update the system from a differnt domain (Crossing domains, where no Trust relationship exists)
June 25th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Cody Cutrer Says:
The solution, grant access to the shared folder to the NETWORK account. That allows ANYTHING that accesses it from the network, regardless of how they authenticate (or don’t authenticate). Yay!
Can anyone explain to me how that should be done using a samba share on a linux machine….?? Simple add a ‘NETWORK’ account to my samba server?
July 21st, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Simple solution to all of this crap…
Use linux. Ubuntu Dapper 6.06 to be precise.
There is so much more to life than f##king around with stupid settings and registry hacks, only to realise that you’ll have to reformat your hdd thanks to stupid windoze.
At least with linux, once you figure out the settings, you’ll never have to edit them ever again, or EVER think about reformatting (unless your hdd dies).
I still have one XP machine left, but only because I can’t get EAC running under wine yet.
Streaming video over NFS or VLC is no problem AND FREE@@!!!
Wake up to reality people.
September 11th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Hey everyone. I’d like to help out some. I have my own problems. However, this is what I have.
1 XBOX 360
1 Dell PowerEdge Server running Windows 2003 Standard, Exchange, IIS and all my File Storage – including Music and Video Store.
1 Sony Windows XP Pro SP2 – Media Connector and MCE with 1 TV Card
1 Home built Windows XP Pro SP2 – Media Connector and MCE with 1 TV Card
1 Home built Windows Vista RC1 – Media Connector and MCE with 1 TV Card
1 Laptop Windows XP Pro SP2
ok thats out of the way here is the solution, I have a domain call dontpanic.local.
You don’t have to join any computers to the domain if you don’t want to. In Windows XP Pro SP2 you have an option under users and account to add network usernames and passwords to your non-domain account. This allows me to pre-program all of my domain accounts for me and my clients into my Media Center PC. This keeps me from having to enter passwords or username and I don’t have to have the same username on my MCE as my domain account.
Control Panel | User Accounts | (If on domain then Advanced | Manage Passwords) if not on domain say a MCE then Click user account | Left side Manage Network Passwords and Accounts.
This allows you to add username and password for any domain or pc on your network.
Step 2
I have all my pc’s map to a M: Drive which maps to my music folder on my server. You can always add anonymous access to your shares to allow anyone to read access that folder this allow Xbox360 to access the shared folder from the 360 and play music from that folder.
I also use Media Connect on the main host pc to connect my music.
There are 2 options for music and photos. Media connector or Media Center. If in media center you have to setup the maps for photos and music from within the media center on the xbox360 or connect box. You dont have to have a password to allow the user account MCX1 on the host pc to access shared folders.
Now I’m sure this doesn’t help to much but showing people how my network is setup and setting I’ve found work my allow you to fix your problem. I canwork 100% on my MCE without joining it to the domain. I think after joining it to the domain performance issue’s would arise. There are reasons Microsoft doesn’t allow both domain and Fast user switching at the same time.
If you have any questions please email me at jbenisek@gmail.com or jb@dontpanic.biz
I am doing some upgrades with Vista RC1 and will viso out the network layout and design and let you know where you can go to see it in the next few days.
October 31st, 2006 at 9:39 pm
I would assume…if you setup a Windows Media Connect Box on the same box you use for linux(dual-boot) you could sync with the 360 then just go create identical shares/user names on your samba server and all should be honkey dorey. Fyi I stole the above guys name/email to post this because i don’t feel like adding my e-mail address.