DRM Protected Channels

[jsuaggie]

I purchased a MECOOL 4K Android tv box running Android TV OS 11. Currently, any DRM protected channel only displays a message that says

Unable to play channel: Content Protection Error Content Protection Required

What am I doing wrong?

[signcarver]

What tuner device... nothing works with ATSC3 DRM with the HDHomeRun 4k (yet)... it "should" work with cablecard (hdhr prime) DRM but I think there may have been a (mecool) firmware update that messed that up... Also recently the other DRM platform apps have needed certificate updates (windows, ios) but they did not release an android one at that time but my android devices are working fine. Also note you need permissions for location services as well as often need wifi to be on (for such services to work)

[jsuaggie]

Sorry for the confusion. I have a HDHomerun Prime and a Mecool 4K Android Tv box. I have the Android box connected with Ethernet and connected to WiFi. Location is on in the HDHomerun app. I am not getting the DRM protected channels as I hoped.

What am I missing?

[signcarver]

First I would check that the card is properly paired... an incorrectly, but partially, paired card can often work with anything but DRM channels.

Next I would look at other equipment, anything that might delay network transmission as there is a 7ms RTT so often moca/wifi (particularly the combination of the 2) may interfere with being considered "local" There is also an HDCP requirement that sometimes can be bad when running at 4K or with certain cables and TVs.

It has been awhile since I used the mecool device... When I had it, I didn't have any issues but I believe it did here a firmware update recently that caused issues of it passing the "authenticity" of the device (i.e. not rooted) as the checksum (or whatever) wasn't matching with what "google" had on file. Assuming it isn't the device and its firmware, and not being rooted, On other devices I have had to reboot a few times for all permissions to "hold" i.e. right after I give the HDHomeRun app location permissions, I reboot... it got to the point that right after any change I would reboot (install app, reboot, launch app, reboot, launch app and try DRM channel, it should ask for location permission grant and reboot, go to permissions and manually toggle such permission on/off reboot, launch app... Normally not all are needed but for a time several years ago I made such "nonsense" my routine in getting DRM up and running as more reboots were apparently required than what should have been needed.

I also suggest turning on sending of diagnostics data to SD and posting your DeviceID so the people at SD can take a look as it may be something a bit more trivial as to what is tripping it up that they can easily see.

Also in rereading your post, you didn't state exact model of mecool... some models won't work (I think I heard this on the KM2 Plus Deluxe but also some others).

[jsuaggie]

It’s an Android 11 Mecool 4K TV box. According to Google it’s Play certified. I will try your reboot suggestion.

[NedS]

New version of the android app with updated certs for cableCARD will be coming out soon.

[replayreb]

I have 5 Nvidia Shields and two of them, in addition to my Android phone's HDHomerun app, recently stopped tuning DRM channels. Any ETA on the update? Thank you!

[replayreb]

Downloaded the beta update today and DRM is working again. Thank you!

[jsuaggie]

I downloaded the app from the Google play store. I am still unable to play DRM protected content on my HDHomeRun prime. Where did you download the beta?

[nickk]

We are still working on the issue - it has not been addressed yet.

[jsuaggie]

Got it. Thank you very much.

[replayreb]

What I think happened was I tapped to sign up for the beta program for the HDHomeRun app in the Google Play Store on my phone to see if I could at least get that working and my Nvidia Shields updated to the beta version released February 13th and that solved my DRM issue.

[jco23]

is there a beta version for the windows version of the software so that I can view DRM? if so, can someone please provide a link. thx!

[signcarver]

is there a beta version for the windows version of the software so that I can view DRM? if so, can someone please provide a link. thx!

The windows 10 software works with DRM for what this thread is about (prime with cablecard). You will need a properly paired cablecard as well as other requirements for DRM (hdcp, no cloning of displays, . . . ). If you were asking about such for ATSC3, nothing from SD works with encrypted channels yet.

[jco23]

is there a beta version for the windows version of the software so that I can view DRM? if so, can someone please provide a link. thx!

The windows 10 software works with DRM for what this thread is about (prime with cablecard). You will need a properly paired cablecard as well as other requirements for DRM (hdcp, no cloning of displays, . . . ). If you were asking about such for ATSC3, nothing from SD works with encrypted channels yet.

thanks for the response. I do have prime with a properly paired cablecard. I was receiving AND able to view the DRM channels that were part of my subscription as of last week. However, those DRM channels no longer appear on the Channel Lineup despite several refreshes. I am able to manually type in the DRM channel and tune to see the content on the Windows 10 software app despite the channel not being listed. However, I do not watch on my computer, only my Android TV. So I'm wondering how to get that channel to appear in the lineup.