Author Topic: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)  (Read 44104 times)

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JacobKlein

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Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« on: December 16, 2006, 10:22:01 PM »
Avast! support team:

First, thanks for creating a product that I feel comfortable installing on all of my relatives machines.  Your detection rate, pricing scheme, and quick Vista support... make your antivirus solution one of the best.

That being said, I'd like to report a problem that I've been having.  For weeks now, I have been trying to get the Windows Vista Media Center to work properly with Transcode360 (also known as Transcode 360), but had been encountering an error on my Xbox360:

-----
Video Error
Files needed to display video are not installed or not working correctly.  Please restart Windows Media Center or restart the computer.
-----


Essentially, Transcode360 works by reading any video file (like divx/xvid) and re-encodes them into mpeg2 on-the-fly, so that the Xbox360 (which only reads mpeg2) can play your computer's video file.

There's even a new version of Transcode360 specifically designed for Vista (announced and available at: http://runtime360.com/2006/12/12/new-blood-and-transcode-360-for-vista-released/) ... which still gives me the errors.

IMPORTANT PART:  My problem is with Avast!, however.  If I have it installed (4.7.892) alongside Windows Vista (RTM), I will receive that Video Error every time I try to use Transcode360 on my XBox360.  If I "Stop On-Access Protection", I STILL get that error.  BUT, if I UNINSTALL Avast!, the error goes away completely, and I have no problems playing the videos!

It is worth noting that my Transcode360 research leads me to believe that other AV Vendors (McAfee, Symantec) are also having the same issue with Transcode360, while some are not (Windows OneCare).

But I'm especially stumped that clicking "Stop On-Access Protection" does not fix the problem!  I thought that disabled Avast! completely, but somehow it must not be!

I'm working with developers on the Transcode360 side to see if they can figure out the problem as well.

Is this an issue with:
- Transcode360 (which works fine when Avast! is uninstalled)
- Avast! AV code
- or Vista itself

I would appreciate any and all help you could provide.  I really don't want to leave Avast!, but if I cannot figure this out, I will have no choice.

Thanks,
  Jacob Klein (JacobKlein)


Offline Vlk

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2006, 11:07:08 PM »
During the next week, there will be an announcement about the availability of a pre-release version of the upcoming avast program update. This update, among a number of other things, has a completely revamped device driver for Vista (i.e. the inner workings of the on-access scanner on Vista will change completely). So -- I'd suggest to wait for this version, and if the issue prevails even after applying this update, proceed with further investigation...

Thanks
Vlk
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Offline Lisandro

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2006, 02:10:06 PM »
During the next week, there will be an announcement about the availability of a pre-release version of the upcoming avast program update. This update, among a number of other things, has a completely revamped device driver for Vista (i.e. the inner workings of the on-access scanner on Vista will change completely).
Are any of these updates affect Windows XP or will only apply to Vista?
I suppose there will be an avast program update for all users and not only Vista-ones.
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Offline Vlk

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2006, 08:23:52 PM »
Yes, you're right, and it's actually bringing a number of cool new features...
Stay tuned, it's coming (soon ;))
If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving's not for you.

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2006, 08:25:10 PM »
The best things in life are free.

Offline Bluesman

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2006, 09:36:06 PM »
Yes, you're right, and it's actually bringing a number of cool new features...
Stay tuned, it's coming (soon ;))
Sounds great!! :)

Keep up the good work!
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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2006, 09:49:29 PM »
Yes, you're right, and it's actually bringing a number of cool new features...
Stay tuned, it's coming (soon ;))
Sounds great!! :)
Yes, it really sounds great  ;D
Another Christmas present for us  ;D
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Offline Lisandro

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #7 on: December 26, 2006, 01:15:17 PM »
During the next week, there will be an announcement about the availability of a pre-release version of the upcoming avast program update.
Well... where is it?  ;D
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Offline Lisandro

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2006, 02:23:12 AM »
During the next week, there will be an announcement about the availability of a pre-release version of the upcoming avast program update.
Well... where is it?  ;D
Bump  ;D
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JacobKlein

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #9 on: January 01, 2007, 05:29:38 PM »
Vlk (et al):

The absolute newest beta version of Avast (v4.7.925 Beta) still does not work with the latest Transcode360 for Vista (v1.6.1 Beta), as I posted at http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=25697.msg209951#msg209951

Furthermore, I have tried stopping on-access protection with this new version, and even then I cannot get Transcode360 to work.

The way Media Center works is... I (user: Jacob W. Klein) access Vista from my Xbox360, and Windows logs in another account (Mcx1) who acts as the Media Center Extender to extend the media to the Xbox360.

Is there any way that avast! could be suffering some sort of multiple-user problem, such that stopping on-access protection for one user doesn't quite do the same thing for all users?  Just a thought/hunch, though I'm probably wrong.

The fact of the matter is that this should work without disabling my AntiVirus at all.  I hope you can get this fixed - thanks for your time.

Regards - Happy New Year,
  Jacob W. Klein

During the next week, there will be an announcement about the availability of a pre-release version of the upcoming avast program update. This update, among a number of other things, has a completely revamped device driver for Vista (i.e. the inner workings of the on-access scanner on Vista will change completely). So -- I'd suggest to wait for this version, and if the issue prevails even after applying this update, proceed with further investigation...

Thanks
Vlk

Offline Vlk

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #10 on: January 01, 2007, 08:30:19 PM »
Please try stopping the "avast! antivirus" service. (Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services). Does that prevent the problem from happening?

Thanks
Vlk
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JacobKlein

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #11 on: January 03, 2007, 06:20:33 PM »
Vlk:

I tried that, and it still did not work.  This time through, I tried a more exhaustive approach...

Here is what I've tried:

  • Install avast! v4.7.892, restart, T360 fails.
  • Disable on-access protection, T360 fails.
  • Stop all avast! services (main, updater, email, http), T360 fails.

  • Update avast! to v4.7.925 Beta, restart, T360 fails.
  • Disable on-access protection, T360 fails.
  • Stop all avast! services (main, updater, email, http), T360 fails.

  • Uninstall avast!, restart, T360 works.

I hope this is the type of testing you were looking for, but it appears that something is interfering even with on-access disabled and services stopped.  Maybe some uber-low-level AntiVirus-device-driver isn't getting nullified somehow?

Thanks for your help, but we're still broken.  I'm here to try any other suggestions you might have, or any other pre-release hotfixes.

Please try stopping the "avast! antivirus" service. (Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services). Does that prevent the problem from happening?

Thanks
Vlk

Offline Vlk

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #12 on: January 03, 2007, 07:08:23 PM »
OK, if you can, please try one more thing:

1. install avast (if not already installed).
2. go to Administrative Tools -> Services, and set the startup type of all avast services to MANUAL (mainly the "avast! antivirus" service).
3. restart the computer and see if the problem is still here.

It is true that starting and stopping the service is not 100% equivalent to not starting it at all (the device driver stays loaded) - so this is definitely worth trying...


Thanks
Vlk
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JacobKlein

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #13 on: January 03, 2007, 07:36:11 PM »
Vlk:

Still no luck.  Here's what I tried (using v4.7.925 Beta):

  • Set "avast! Antivirus" and "avast! iAVS4 Control Service (aswUpdSv)" services to MANUAL, restarted, verified mouseover on GUI shows 0/0 services running, T360 fails.
  • Used msconfig to disable the automatic startup of ashDisp.exe, restarted, verified all avast! services on MANUAL and stopped, verified no ashdisp.exe GUI, T360 fails.

I hope this is what you wanted... any other ideas?


OK, if you can, please try one more thing:

1. install avast (if not already installed).
2. go to Administrative Tools -> Services, and set the startup type of all avast services to MANUAL (mainly the "avast! antivirus" service).
3. restart the computer and see if the problem is still here.

It is true that starting and stopping the service is not 100% equivalent to not starting it at all (the device driver stays loaded) - so this is definitely worth trying...


Thanks
Vlk

Offline Vlk

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Re: Avast! interferes with Transcode360 (Transcode 360)
« Reply #14 on: January 03, 2007, 08:56:39 PM »
OK, let's go even one step further.

Try disabling the following drivers

aswMonFlt
aswTdi
aswRdr

To do this, open RegEdit, go to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\<driver-name>

and change the value Start to 3 (which means Disabled). Then restart the machine.

If that doesn't solve the problem either, it must be some kind of magic ;D

Thanks
Vlk
If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving's not for you.