DRM Channels Not Working on Android Devices

[signcarver]

1 year on app... in theory it should reactivate/renew on its own each year but that api broke with no way to kickstart (such as reinstall)... every now and then it also requires a new app to kickstart such drm update and/or SD needs to do some other behind the scenes work for such (i.e. send more money) so such problems frequently happen each year or so around this time but it has been 18 months since last android app for a drm update so I am surprised we weren't seeing such 6 months ago but perhaps the api was working until very recently.

At a glance I couldn't see anything dropped in past year but there have been changes to some things that I think they may be using including a new error (renamed) thrown on a certain condition of failure (the purpose of such seemed it a likely candidate if throwing of such error triggered the renewal process but the name of the error thrown changed). I have no real knowledge of those things as it relates to SD's app so this was speculative looking at things that have changed on android. But I also saw that those older methods wouldn't be dropped until 2025so it is probably something else.

[RF2016]

Following up to my prior posts regarding 2 of the 3 ONN Boxes
No longer playing DRM channels


Today ( Saturday Aug 31st)
The last WORKING Box,
Is Now NOT Working

3 of 3 No longer play DRM channels
( 2 newer boxes, and 1 older)

Here is the kicker
When I turned this box on, so we can watch the news during dinner
The Box had already downloaded the ONN Box ssytem update, and was installing it.

It rebooted, and the 1st thing I went to check is if DRM Channels worked.

All DRM channels stopped working After the ONN Box update.


So to me the issue is more, than DRM licenses expiring

Prior to this ONN box system update
DRM Channels worked

[ERamseth]

This still hasn't been fixed right? I had to jump through a lot of hoops to watch college football on fox sports 1 yesterday... The channel wouldn't come in on my ShieldTV.

[cejack]

Yeah - it's totally borked on all Android devices from my experience here.

I can deal with not having protected content DVR which was nixed a long time ago and has not come back into being. That was a downer when that happened but did not kill the usefulness of the HD Homerun.

However, if HD Homerun only works with protected content on iPhone / iPad / Windows devices, this really hampers those of us that can buy a cheap Android box and wirelessly stream protected live TV content wherever we want in the home to a full-size TV.

Windows and Apple products don't have the plethora of relatively cheap and easy to configure devices of small stature to hook up to a full-size TV. Never saw the value proposition of "Apple TV" versus the much more robust "Android TV" and the apps that could be loaded or side-loaded onto the Android Device.

This could be an existential problem for a lot of HD Homerun users if this is not rectified soon.

Right now, I can only stream content via Chromecast via the cable company's web application. This uses data and counts against my monthly cap whereas HD Homerun streams do not use outside Internet data and are only broadcast locally on my internal network.

If this is not fixed - I think I and many users will likely sell or give away their HDHomerun devices and chalk this hardware up to the dustbin of technology history like many others.

-cj4

[elviso33]

In the same boat. Please workout a fix asap.

[pmarsh]

Ugh just came here to check for a solution.

This is not good any hope for an update/fix?

Edit: saw the earlier posts, luckily on FiOS I'm just missing a couple. Feel bad for those really hit hard.

[ERamseth]

Ugh just came here to check for a solution.

This is not good any hope for an update/fix?

Edit: saw the earlier posts, luckily on FiOS I'm just missing a couple. Feel bad for those really hit hard.

im in that same boat. unfortunately my Terps football is on FS1 often...

[phoneguyinpgh]

Dear Silicon Dust employees; Since this seems like quite an important issue to many of your customers, do you think you could sticky this thread and provide status updates twice a week by EOB on Tuesdays and Fridays please??? Thank you.

[jasondeanny]

Not sure what everyone else is paying monthly but Spectrum NYC charges $10/mo. for CableCards. I'm going on three weeks where my main Android TV devices won't display DRM channels. While I understand that SD has to get possibly engineer something new for Google's API and get that app approved and who knows how long it takes for them to light it up in the app store, it's at the point where it's now costing a little $$ for a device with limited/reduced functionality.

While I've certainly enjoyed the freedom of watching basically anywhere without being tied to the cable box, has the product simply outlived its usefulness? While Spectrum's app isn't the greatest, I can at least drag my tablet around. If they had an app for GoogleTV or whatever they're calling it these days, there honestly wouldn't be such a great need for my HDHR Prime.

The issue was acknowledged on August 9th and we're a week away from the one month mark. There should have been some progress or a resolution by now. Maybe it's time to cut the cord... wish I could swap this for a Flex 4K.

[RF2016]

I want my DRM channels back

I watch Fox News often, ( Not able for the last month now)
I just emailed FOX Marketing & Tech and let them know what is going on,
Also advised them to remove DRM from their channle lineup

There are 5 Channels on Verizon FIOS that use DRM out of the 400 plus channels under Verizon.

DRM is useless, not needed, and is causing loss of viewship for some stations.
And fustration for SD, and its customers.

[Ken.F]

There are 5 Channels on Verizon FIOS that use DRM out of the 400 plus channels under Verizon.

Only 5? The DRM channels in my FIOS lineup are all 23 of the HBO and Cinemax channels, FX, Fox Sports 1, BTN, Fox Business, Fox News, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, FXX and Fios 4K5.

I think it's odd that all of the Fox owned channels are DRM but the Starz, Showtime, MGM+ and The Movie Channel premium channels are not.

[RF2016]

Ah, Seems you have Verizon's premium lineup, we had that years ago but gave up HBO and the rest of them, for 2 reasons, sometimes I would see the same movie advertized on the Subscription channels, when the same movie was playing for free on regular channels,.

For us, HBO, Cinimax etc, are not as good as they use to be years ago.....there is also a LOT more competition playing some of the same movies.

Add to the fact Verizon keeps raising prices, we ended up lower our bills and dropped the premiun channels and then when we want to watch a movie, we use either Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Regarding DRM, FOX has like 7+ channels between news, and movie channels,
(High number and low number channels broadcasting the same content (High Def/Low Def))

In regards to DRM,
If it is so good of a technoloy why are soooo many stations not using it.,
If someone wanted to copy content, and they have a 4k TV they can just record it
by viewing/recording it off the view of a TV, since the resolution of TV's is so high,
8K TV is the next big deal coming soon, and out already.


To me DRM has created more problems than it solves

[cap33444]

One of the DRM requirements is that it must stop working 1 year after it was first activated. When some devices work and others not it will most likely be due to when they were activated.

We have confirmed an issue with Android devices reactivating due to a Google dropping support for an API used to activate.

Working on a solution...

i appreciate the feedback and that you're working on a solution!

but when say "... 1 year after it was first activated..." - is that when the DEVICE was first activated or the cablecard or IP Address or something else?

just wondering if a factory reset of our device (TV/HD Homerun Prime/etc) would reset that clock. I'm sure it's not as simple as that, just wondering.

thanks!

Well, I guess it's not me - Hisense, Chromecast on GoogleTV and Nvidia Shield are all broken, only my WIndows App is still working... bummer. Specific reason I swapped out all my Firesticks for Google/Android players... All these played fine over the weekend as I last recall playing DRM channels.

[RF2016]

In doing my research on the DRM issue

Seems this issue has been going on much longer

Feb 23, 2024
viewtopic.php?t=78946

[nickk]

In doing my research on the DRM issue

Seems this issue has been going on much longer

Feb 23, 2024

Unrelated issue.