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.

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?

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)

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!!

http://dotchris.net/?p=6

I created a new user “MCE.User” for all my MCE sharing security.