Media Center Patches Fix Low Bit Rate Error

In March 2010, Microsoft released two patches for Windows 7 Media Center users that could help to solve a lot of people’s problems. If you are experiencing tuner deadlocks while using a networked tuner then KB981129 should fix that for you. If you are using analog tuners and have received low bit-rate overlays KB981130 should prevent you from seeing that error again.

Currently neither of these updates will come down via Windows Update. If you need these fixes now, click the links below to get them directly from the Microsoft Download Center. The updates will be included in the next cumulative update, but we probably won’t see that for another couple of months.

KB981130 – Download

On Windows 7 Media Center systems with analog tuner(s), customers may encounter low bit rate messages.

The mechanism Windows 7 Media Center uses to monitor bit rate (signal) strength is overly sensitive in some scenarios, resulting in false detection of a low bit rate which triggers an overlay. This update addresses how Windows 7 Media Center monitors the bit rate on systems with analog tuners.

KB981129 – Download

This update fixes addresses a deadlock issue that can occur when using a TV tuner in Windows Media Center. With frequent, fast channel changes (channel surfing), the following symptoms occur:

You receive a tuner conflict error when there is no apparent conflict You receive no tuner available message when there are available tuners The Windows Media Center Receiver Service stops responding There may be other causes of these symptoms unrelated to this fix. For example, these symptoms may occur when you try to query the current state of TV tuners or malfunctioning hardware.