Question

Problem streaming Media Player content in IE7 mfpmp.exe

Asked by: hoc_IT

When trying to stream from certain embedded WMV files in Internet Explorer, I get a pop up window, attached below asking for approval to open web content using this program on your computer, and it will open outside of Protected mode.
However, even when i click on allow, it still does not stream the video.
We are using Windows Media Player v11.0.6001.7000 in Windows Vista with all the updates.
If I disable CA Pest Patrol from startup, then i don't get this prompt, n'or does the video open outside of protected mode. everything works perfectly as it should.  However, if i restart PP then i get the same prompt again, and it doesn't matter if i click on allow or don't allow.  I have adjusted and lowered all my security setting to try to bypass this in IE, still to no avail. Additionally, lowing the security settings is not much of an option in my environment.
I have allowed the Media Foundation Protected Pipeline through the firewall both ways, but that still doesn't help it.

When we look at the CA log files, there is no mention of it having a hard time with this exe, n'or is the exe even mentioned. It does not appear to interfere with the file, however when PP is dissabled, it works.

Any help would be great. thanks.

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Asked On
2009-01-20 at 10:14:01ID24067784
Tags

mfpmp.exe

,

embedded media player

,

windows media player 11

,

DRM

,

Vista

,

Media Foundation Protected Pipeline exe

Topics

General Multi-Media Software

,

Internet Explorer Web Browser

,

Anti-Spyware

,

Windows Media Player

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
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Answers

 

by: hoc_ITPosted on 2009-01-22 at 11:34:00ID: 23442689

Perhaps I can cut and paste from another forum, where someone has started helping.  This is just to provide more information on what is already here.

#################################################################
Hi I would just like to add to that post:

Hoping someone has the answer to this question. The scenario is this: I have 2 systems, one is behind a corporate firewall and the other is not, other than that the images are the exact same with all the updates, no other 3rd party apps or codecs. When I try to stream video content from some websites, example: http://tva.canoe.ca/stations/cjpm/nouvelle/20090114.html It will not play. I get the media player window in IE7, the status bar in the window states ready but nothing plays. When I click the play button I am prompted to allow the Media Foundation Protected Media Pipeline (mfpmp.exe) which I allow. When I check the task manager mfpmp.exe is listed but seems to be hooked somehow like it is not makeing a proper conenction as it is only using about 1500K. if I go to a different system that works the mfpmp there is using about 12000K-15000K in task manager. To add to the confusion if I go to this site: http://www.cbc.ca/video/popup_nlp.html?http://www.cbc.ca/livemedia/special/cbcvideo-special-d.asx I am able to stream the media fine, the only difference I can find when I check the video's properties the CBC one is Audio codec is Windows Media Audio 9.1 and the video codec is version 9. The ones for the problematic streaming are Audio is version 9.1 and video is version v8.
Having said that I have come across sites that those numbers change and some work and some do not so I am not sure if they are actually playing a factor or not.
The other strange issue with this is when I stream the video from the CBC site I do not get prompted for the mfpmp.exe nor does it show up in Task Manager.
Kinda at a loss here. i have found multiple multiple hits on the internet for similar problems ranging from codecs to disabling audio enhancements but none have worked. If I disable the Pest Patrol or add to trusted sites it seems to work but this solution will not work for us as we can't be adding every site that a user comes across nor can we disable our Pest Patrol, which I am not totally convinced is the root cause as some sites do stream correctly.
Thanks

#################################################################

Thank you for posting your question. Unfortunately you mentioned that it is CA Pest Patrol causing this issue and will most likely be a CA Pest Patrol setting that needs to be changed. Please refer to CA for support on this issue as it is them causing the problem. The link below will direct you to their website.

http://www.ca.com/us/technical-support.aspx

If you have any more questions or concerns please let us know.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carlos
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

#################################################################

Thanks Carlos, for your reply.  

I was hoping that we weren't going to get an answer pointing us back to CA as the problem.  Usually, what we have noticed, is that CA just helps bring the problem to your attention, however, even though when it's dissabled it works, i'm not totally convinced that they are what is causing the true problem.

Please help me as I am truly trying to understand the purpose of the Media Foundations Protected Pipeline. From what I have read, and please correct me if I am wrong, but when creating a video using the media foundations, you are able to have multiple levels of a stream in a single file, (usually for bandwidth playback) rather than having multiple links (100k 200k 400k etc).  This gives the mfpmp the ability to chose what stream it uses.

If this is the case, especially in Vista with Integrity modes and UAC, should we not be made aware of a pipline opening up to an external server. On top of that, you'll notice that prompt box that we do get is from Internet Explorer Security. Not from CA.

What i'm worried about is, if I add the website to the trusted sites, even with CA fully running, i can view the video no problem.  If CA was truly the culprit, no matter what security zone I was in, I would still get the prompt, or at least mfpmp.exe would still crash and hang like it does.


#################################################################

Let's go ahead and try a couple of things. First I would like for us to remove the website as a trusted site then try running Internet Explorer as an Administrator (This will turn off Protected Mode while using Internet Explorer for that session). At this time we also want CA running. To run the Internet Explorer as an Administrator please follow the steps bellow.

1. Right click on Internet Explorer.

2. Select "Run as administrator"

3. Now try going to the website. Do you get any messages or notifications at this time? If so what does it say and who is it from?


Note: We didnt get any screen shots that you had mentioned in your earlier post.


Please let us know how it goes and/or if you have.

 

Thank you


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carlos
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

#################################################################


Carlos,

So sorry, i forgot to add the screen shot.

Yes, when running as administrator, it goes no problem. That is with or without CA running. Only when running in protected mode, with CA running do we get the problem.


#################################################################


Thanks for trying the steps provide on my last post. The result you had verifies me that Internet Explorer is running like it should and means that CA is what is causing this issue. Your choices are adding the webpage to the trusted sites. Disabling CA when you want to view the site or running Internet Explorer for that session. There might be more settings inside CA that you can look in to and might need to contact CA for support on that.

Let us know if you have anymore questions.

Thanks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carlos
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
#################################################################

 Carlos,

Not that I don't 100% trust what you are saying, but can you explain to me 2 things.

1) How you came up with the conclusion that CA is finally the culprit
2) Exactly what Media Foundations Protected Pipeline does, and why it is not used on all media player streams online when using media player 11.

The reason I ask, is this is going to be a battle between MSFT and CA with myself in the middle.  No one will want to take responsibility for this.

In our environment, which is over 5000 machines, and the first government agency in the world to adopt such a widespread deployment of Windows Vista, 90% of our users are only Standard users, and it is these users that will need to access this website.  Obviously in such a large place, dissabling CA when they want to view the site is not an option.  Adding EXTERNAL websites to our Trusted Site list is highly against our security (recommended by Microsoft) policy. And as users are not Administrators, they cannot elevate IE, nor do we want them to bypass protected mode.

CA blames UAC/Protected mode as like you, one of their first lines of troubleshooting something like this is to elevate or remove protected mode. As soon as this works, they point back at that being the culprit, especially when there are no logs indicating that CA has blocked this program from launching. (We have also added the mfpmp.exe to the exclusion list in CA to not touch it, scan it, or do anything with it).

I hope you can help, and if not, perhaps collaborate with some others to help.

thanks,

-Chris

 

by: MeretePosted on 2009-01-30 at 21:13:45ID: 23515426

I believe your problem is  that you're trying to stream a protected DRM >>embedded WMV files  and may need a codec or a decoder so that WMP will play these files. Directshow codec is required and you find that in ffdshow you can download it here then try again
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/ffdshow
check this as well incase you need the direct draw full package.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/DirectShow_FilterPack.htm
read this to understand what Media Foundation is.
the media pipeline components are not connected; rather they are just presented as discrete components. An application running in the Control layer has to choose which source types, transforms and sinks is needed for the particular video processing task at hand, and set up the "connections" between the components (a topology) to complete the data flow pipeline.
Media Foundation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Foundation
good luck

 

by: hoc_ITPosted on 2009-02-03 at 08:26:04ID: 23538780

wow, thanks for the post.  

I have tried te ffdshow and the directshow, however i'm still getting the same results.  What is happing is, once the IE security window pops up, and I say allow, it still does not play, instead we see the mfpmp.exe hang in task manager at about 1.2 Megs. Where it should load to about 15Megs.

 

by: MeretePosted on 2009-02-03 at 15:21:54ID: 23543513

Once you say allow you may have to close all web page to refresh the new settings.
Have you added IE7 to windows firewall exceptions just a guess there
Drop the protected mode, accept all cookies etc
see if this can assist
Streaming content stops, and you may receive an error message when you click "Next" in Windows Media Player
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934113
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934275/

 

by: hoc_ITPosted on 2009-02-04 at 06:51:53ID: 23548645

So, here's the thing.  We are fully updated with all the MSO's.

When protected mode is dropped, the media streams perfectly.  

All cookies are accepted. - still does not work when in a protected mode.

When added to the trusted sites, the media will stream, but it will open up the full media player and stream there rather than in the webpage.

If I copy the stream location directly into a new page\tab in IE it will pop open the media player and play there.

Even with the firewall dissabled, the problem is the same.

Monitored the differences that are there using procmon when in trusted site and when not, and there is no difference from what Pest Patrol is doing. It's that IE7 is not letting the MFPMP do what it needs to do within IE.  However with Pest Patrol off, there is no prompt, and the media streams as expected.

This I fear is going to be a growing problem as websites are starting to move in to server2008 and will be using the Media Foundations SDK to develop their streaming media. As of lately, we havn't seen a huge problem because most sites havn't gone through the upgrade.

The differences that I can see, is that when a website calls for the MFPMP (it means they used the Media Foudations SDK to prepare their stream) rather than directshow, and there is a component installed that does not allow computer to server direct connects (Media Foundations Protected Pipeline EXE) the stream is killed. However without this, there is no prompt and a direct connect is enabled.

This could also become a security vulnerability as the MFPMP and SDK allows for auto negotiate on the stream, which also means there are several streams in the pipeline, and it waits for your hardware to determine the best stream for your system.  This can open up a lot of "piggybacking" on these streams for virus's or trojans etc.  There should be a popup, but it should be able to work after the popup is allowed.  

 

by: MeretePosted on 2009-02-04 at 16:34:47ID: 23555387

When protected mode is dropped, the media streams perfectly.  Then that must be your only option.
Disable it temporaily and then tick to never to show this you again.
Ways to Turn Off and Disable Vista IE 7 Protected Mode
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/05/26/ways-to-turn-off-and-disable-vista-ie-7-protected-mode/
I dont know what else to suggest other than that.
Microsoft made some mistakes with Vista  UAC and IE7 protected modes, way too restrictive to be useful to everyday computer experience.
Most programs and software of course will not run in protected mode without some down time.
However you know the files are safe / trusted users can watch these streams and you have other protection inplace such an AV up to date and a spyware protcetor all windows updates in place I dont believe there will be anything to be concerned about.
When one considers users still have IE6 without all these extras and have no problems so long as they keep their systems up to date.
Maybe this can assist you.
Understanding and Working in Protected Mode Internet Explorer
 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250462.aspx#wpm_dwact

As I don't have anything further to offer you hoc_IT if you feel you would like to get a second opinion  and are not satisified with my responses which is perfectly right
please use the request assistance tab in your question the moderators will send out a request for more assistance.
Best wishes
Merete

 

by: hoc_ITPosted on 2009-02-05 at 04:30:32ID: 23558631

Merete, thank you so much for all your assistance.

I think I have figured out the root cause of the problem, however, I still need a way to fix it.  It appears as though the following process happens when you try to use the media foundation protected pipeline.
1. IE7 calls the file, scans it, reads the hash, and determines that it is the file it wants to use.
2. CA then Virtualizes the file, scans it, says that it is safe (not a virus, etc) tags the header of the file saying that it is safe, releases the file so that IE7 can use it.
3. IE7 gets a new hash (CA changed the hash when it modified the header) and rejects the file.
4. Prompts the user (IE Security dialog box) because it is not the same file that IE7 originally scanned
5. User accepts the use of this file, however, that file was virtualized and no longer exists (it's calling the hash or PID which is different than the original so the process gets hung and never connects.

What I am wondering is, can that process be stopped or modified,  perhaps in the registry etc. If there is a way to tell it to use the exe rather than PID or Hash, or to not scan it and trust it no matter what.

Putting the check box in doesn't work, because the only time you get the IE Security Popup is when it doesn't work. If Protected mode is off, or you paste the link into it's on IE window, the media streams properly.
 

 

by: MeretePosted on 2009-02-06 at 00:43:19ID: 23567853

Hello hoc_IT of course this completely out of my experience  but I'll try and offer some ideas.
The main problem here is 2 things
 WMV format  which is the Microsoft DRM right there and that has to pass all the microsft DR managers
the 2nd is this Pest control
Do you require CA Pest Patrol with Vista and IE7?
Seems to be the problem and solution right there.
 Like Norton system works some tools are not worth the pain of trying get software functioning properly.
you have IE7 which also has the phishing filters.
I use spyware blaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Here's what I find on the first part of your problem
media foundation protected pipeline exe stopped working<< now you say if you disable this Pest contro
thinsg work even in WMP?l
lets move onto WMP.
 Microsoft  stated a relationship with WMP and the DFX
with  the latest DFX plugin to Media Player 11  it stops
 When disabled  the error stops so disabling DFX things work fine.
Source
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/mediafoundationdevelopment/thread/f3d69e6c-4645-4bd9-ac73-9bebae031629/
Merete

 

by: hoc_ITPosted on 2009-02-09 at 05:18:23ID: 23589721

Shutting down CA is not an option.  This is a large corporate environment with rules and standards. DFX is not used in our environment.

However, this being said, i'm glad to report that we have found a potential bug.  mfpmp.exe exists in Windows\system32 folder and (with everything else in there) is pretty much locked down.

IE first looks for this file in Program files\internet explorer.  Funny, it doesn't exists there, but why would IE when calling this file, look there?  I'm not going to go into the details as to how i found that unless and expert really wants to know.

Simply copying the file does not resolve the problem 100%.  The real issue here is that it needs to run with admin rights.  Which it doesn't, this is why when elevating IE it works. So after copying the file, if you go into the compat tab, for all users, and hit the check box saying run as admin, well, voila.  it works.  

If possible, lets keep this post open and when Microsoft releases the bug fix, i will post it here.

 

by: MeretePosted on 2009-02-09 at 17:15:04ID: 23596399

lol good idea lets tell the cleanup crew not to close it out. :)
Thanks for feedback much appreciated,
You can add this to your knowledgbase and then re-open it later .
 I'm sure Microsoft woud love to hear about another bug and Vista IE7
Maybe too late to report a bug fix  though they realized Vista was a bug and created windows 7 to fix it.
Microsoft has a reputation of releasing OS before they are fully tested.
Regards Merete

 

by: hoc_ITPosted on 2009-09-28 at 06:29:07ID: 31634356

I have resolved the issue.

Also, this is not a Vista bug, this is a Windows "by design"

Experts, should know better to just say "i don't know" rather than sitting on a wild goose chase.  

Working between the AV and MS, i resolved the issue, deployed the GPO that will fix the problem, was thanked greatly by both companies.  Found that Win7 will also have the same problem, and it will not be fixed until WIN8 as they will be doing an entirely new OS.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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