DVD Changer Information Disclosure To System Builders
After reading Chris’s post about us ignoring small OEM and system builders and all the comments on my response I was worried that maybe we had screwed up and had not properly disclosed the information. To fully understand the situation I sat down today with the eHome program manager who represents the system builders.
What I learned confirmed that the information I provided to our team on DVD changer support in MCE 2005 UR2 was included in both the OPK documentation (page 30 of the Preinstallation Guide Addendum for UR2) and in our hardware requirements document (section 1.11.1.6 on page 21). I distinctly remember sitting in on the meeting about the hardware requirements document, spent time modifying several different versions of the OPK document, and sent off a copy of my spec (titled Multidisc Changer Support) to our editor. All three of these documents about DVD changers were released to ‘Beta Place’ for UR2 beta 2. Many different people had access to this information: OEMs, software vendors, hardware vendors and select system builders. For system builders who didn’t have access to this information it was made available through the more generic Microsoft system builder channel. Nearly everyone had equal access to this information prior to launch. And this information is still available today through the system builder site. If you, a system builder, were to make queries to the support people who run our system builder channel about DVD changers it would make it back to me. To date I have only received queries about changer support from Sony, PowerFile and Niveus. If you were to query me I would point you in PowerFile’s direction if you didn’t want to build your own hardware and write your own driver (you still might have to write your driver if you go with PowerFile).
To be clear, the documentation I provided was sparse. It is in fact less information then was included in my post. I did not write a white paper or any other similar document on DVD changer support. Large OEMs got just as much information, in fact, just as little information as a system builder, and they received it at the same time you did. Yes, I could have provided more information, but really what has been released is all you need to build your own changer. If you do a deal with PowerFile for your hardware all you need to know is that the device is plug and play. The feature is that simple!
Going forward, you can feel free to contact me directly about DVD changer support. Alternatively representatives from PowerFile have posted their information in my blog comments. Feel free to contact them for information on their hardware and their pricing.
I also heard some comments about a similar lack of information disclosure for Away Mode. What I learned is that if you have the correct mother board (as documented in the OPK doc) and you use the drivers included on the OPK disc it will work. I personally am not really excited about Away Mode and don’t know what the fuss is about.
As for CableCARD disclosure, this is something I can’t comment on, but expect more announcements from us shortly.
In conclusion, I feel we did ensure adaquate information disclosure about UR2 features. However, I understand that a lot of information is available through the system builder channel and that it may be hard to find what you’re looking for. If that’s what happened to you, I’m sorry you didn’t find the DVD changer information. Also understand that we want the system channel builder to be successful. We want to sell more copies of Windows and get PCs into more living rooms and the system builder channel is an opportunity channel for us to accomplish that through, so let’s work together to make that channel successful.
Call me stupid Matt but where are the docs you refer to?
I have looked all around the MCE section of the OEM System Builder site and all I see are PowerPoint presentation fluff about the Rollup 2 features and how to make an install image with Rollup 2 included.
I’m trying to get access to the site and will let you know.
Same here, I’ve downloaded every document I could find on the OEM System Builder site, including the OPK Preinstall docs and didn’t a thing about DVD Changers. I also have to say that I don’t remember them on BetaPlace when Update Rollup 2 was in testing. I might be wrong about that, but I personally didn’t see a thing about DVD Changers on there.
A question occurs to me: Away Mode is a separate driver install from Rollup 2 if I understand things correctly. How does an OEM go about getting the driver for a system? Clearly Intel is now implementing Away Mode standard with ViiV compliant motherboards. But what about the rest?
Chris, it’s page 30 of the preinstall guide and page 21 of the hardware requirements doc.
The drivers for Away Mode are included on disc 3, the OPK disc.
Matt, and this guide is where?
Matt,
Given the number of comments that were in your orginal post, I would have thought that regardless of whether MS thought these docs were available, we obviously couldn’t find them. In addition, as I mentioned several times, I DID actively ask as many MS people as I could about further information on this subject and received no answer. So you may think that this information was available to us, but obviously there was a disconnect somewhere between what MS thought was happening and what was actually happening. Just acknowledge the comments!
Also, just for the record, we are getting exactly the same response regarding CableCard as we recieved with DVD changers. It would be funny if we found out no additional information regarding CableCard and then it was released and everyone at MS said the information was available to us all along.
Why can’t someone just come out and tell System Builders what’s going on! This isn’t national security, it’s just a way to watch TV for heaven’s sake!
Anway, I wouldn’t worry too much about making the DVD changer info available to us now as I think the moment has passed and we’re now looking towards the next bit of information we can’t find (sorry Brian, unless you’re still interested)…
I agree with Paul,
The DVD Changer information was really just a symptom of the lack of information. Considering that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are just on the horizon a standard red laser changer while cool, is not exactly future looking.
I am however interested in Away Mode and of course the biggie: CableCARD support (and the somewhat similar DirecTV conditional access support).
I can tell you that I had to Google with many keyword combinations to finally find an OEM system builder chat transcript from a while back that said the MCE OPK is only available in the 3-packs of MCE 2005 V2. I honestly had no idea this was the case, considering the many of the tools in the OPK for XP Home/Pro are downloads from the MS site. As a smaller OEM we haven’t always used the 3-packs.
Paul, I’m sorry you tried to contact us and that communication broke down somewhere. We certainly want to answer your questions if you have them, which is why I spend way too many hours a week blogging.
It’s also very clear that this information is hard to find and as soon as I get access to the site, see how hard it is to use, I’ll make recommendations to the people who run the site. But please, while letting me know that the site is hard to use is informational for me, you really need to let the people who run the site know.
As mentioned in my post, I cannot comment on CableCARD support.
Ths ite isn’t that hard to use, it’s the lack of information provided on the site. :( The only OPK documents on the site for Media Center is titled “OPK Preinstall: Update Rollup 2 for Media Center Edition 2005″ (3_OPK Preinstall MCE2005.ppt) This clearly isn’t the OPK that you are referring too, as it just goes over Sysprep/Setup Manager/Imaging.
If the OPK you are talking about it currently on the site, then the site is hard to use. However, I have searched high and low, and found nothing.
Thanks for the work,
Chris
I’ve kept pretty quiet on this issue but I must agree with SpHeRe31459 on this. There is a very simple problem and a very simple solution.
Problem: Small OEMs do not get the info on the newer technologies as the larger oems.
Solution: Make the information accessible via the system builders site to level the playing field.
It seems pretty simple to me? If you announce new technology and not give info to people asking for it, it definitely sends a message. Especially when another company is already advertising these technology features. Let’s look at the DVD-Changer. If you do a text search in the system builder’s site you will not get any information. If you do a text search for powerfile you will not get any info. I not sure that powerfile is even listed on the preferred manufacturers of MCE2005 compatible hardware. We basically had to google for days just to find out that powerfile creates this changer. Even then we didn’t know that you need special drivers, or special firmware until we read it in your blog. This is the same with away mode. No list of motherboards or motherboard manufacturers that support this technology. The only way we find out the details of these technologies is through our network of technology vendors not through the Microsoft’s OEM program. Intel makes this info readily available and our Nvidia rep calls us up letting us know what’s going on. So for cable card info, we go through ATI. If you go to the OEM site they won’t even list the vendors work on this technology. This is a problem.
Isi
OMS
Chris/Isi, the point of my post is that the lack of information is consistent between large and small OEMs. We do not, and did not in this case, favor large OEMs over small. Information disclosure occured for both groups simultaneously.
Chris, can you find the hardware requirements document on the site? The OPK doc I refer to only talks about a reg key for My DVDs to turn it on. It’s the hardware requirements doc that talks about implementing the media changer interface.
And yes, it’s clear there are problems with the system builder site which I’ll look into as soon as possible.
As for hardware vendor recommendations, I don’t know why we don’t list them, but I could imagine it’s because if we begin to recommend hardware vendors for a technology other vendors will get upset that they are not listed. Instead we list the hardware requirements, and depend on the vendors to market the fact that they fulfil the requirements to you.
Thanks for the explanation Matt.
I’ve downloaded every Word Doc, PDF, and PPT that I could find linked to on the System Builder Site. 12 files, including “HW Req and Step by Step.PPT” and “HW Config and MCE Setup.PPT” Both of the hardware docuements were created in 2004, thus don’t have anything helpful about any of the iems in question. Could just be a simple problem of not getting the documents updated in all the right places.
Thanks for doing all the work here, I know that it’s not your fault just becuase you own the feature or anything, I just think that overall the eHome Team needs to take a look at what’s their for OEM’s and System Builders and see what else you can put out there.
Chris Lanier
OK, my last comment (again). If all information was/is available to all system builders and OEMs, how is it that Niveus (sorry to pick on you again) was able to demonstrate a Media Center with CableCard working? If the info is available somewhere on how this was possible, could you please point us to it? Because even though they know as much as we do, they managed to be able to procure one of these devices and implement it within one of their systems. I’d love to know how that was managed if they know the same as us…
I know Matt you have nothing to do with this, but just wanted to make the point.
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