[SOLVED] Avid Media Composer - Workarounds?


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Update: 18-APR-2020

 

Here is the fix in order to get Avid Media Composer 2018.12.10 working on Windows 10:

  1. Edit your Windows VM template in XML
  2. Change:
        <cache mode='passthrough'/>
        <feature policy='require' name='topoext'/>
      </cpu>

    To:

        <cache mode='passthrough'/>
        <feature policy='disable' name='hypervisor'/>
      </cpu>
  3. Change:
          <vendor_id state='on' value='none'/>
        </hyperv>
      </features>

    To:

          <vendor_id state='on' value='none'/>
        </hyperv>
        <kvm>
          <hidden state='on'/>
        </kvm>
      </features>
  4. You can double check that all is well in Candyland by running systeminfo in the Command Prompt inside Windows which should net you:
    Hyper-V Requirements:      VM Monitor Mode Extensions: Yes
                               Virtualization Enabled In Firmware: Yes
                               Second Level Address Translation: Yes
                               Data Execution Prevention Available: Yes
  5. Final Notes:
    If you installed Windows 10 N (meaning no cruft e.g., games, Xbox, Windows Media Player), Avid will get very angry at you and chastise you because it cannot find WMVcore.dll. Here's how to fix that.
  6. Windows Settings > Type in: feature > Manage Optional Features > Add Feature

     

  7. From here you will want to install:
    1) Media Feature Pack
    2) Windows Media Player
  8. Reboot your VM and you should be good to go. Happy editing!

 

Sources:

===

Was curious to know if anyone is able to run Avid Media Composer 2018/19 or Media Composer First in a Windows VM.

Avid checks to see if the Windows 10 is running as a VM and if it checks true, the software won't launch as they want you to purchase an enterprise license. However, that is not an option for me I'm simply trying to learn how to use the software so I can have viable job options and pay off these student loans.

 

  1. I just tried removing the Hyper-V lines from the XML template with no luck — Windows 10 still reports back that it is a virtual machine according to task manager.
  2. Do I need to recreate the template without Hyper-V enabled and then run the exisiting VM image?
  3. Or do I need to disable Hyper-V in a fresh template and perform a fresh Windows 10 install?

Just trying to get Windows 10 not to report that it is running in a VM. Maybe then I can get Media Composer to work.

  • I was able to install and open an older version of Media Composer, but it opens with errors and doesn't play back the video & audio previews — so that is a bust.
  • I can use Media Composer in my macOS VM, but I am having issues with temporary freezing inside the VM

 

 

Edited by Zer0Nin3r
Found a solution that works.
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It very much depends on how AMC detects a VM. It's very much trial-and-error to see what works.

 

1. Unraid Windows 10 template already uses cpu passthrough so that should be transparent to the OS.

 

2. Try adding this code right above </features>

<kvm> <hidden state='on'/> </kvm>

 

3. You might want to try both with Hyper-V and without (create new template for each).

 

4. The default Windows 10 template uses i440fx which is super old (1996!) so potentially is a red flag (nobody runs modern AMC on that sort of hard-ware). So maybe try switching to Q35. Remember to add this right above </domain> (otherwise your PCIe will be running at x1)

  <qemu:commandline>
    <qemu:arg value='-global'/>
    <qemu:arg value='pcie-root-port.speed=8'/>
    <qemu:arg value='-global'/>
    <qemu:arg value='pcie-root-port.width=16'/>
  </qemu:commandline>

 

5. While you are at it, try both SeaBIOS and OVMF.

 

Now if AMC blacklists QEMU manufacturer and/or Seabios + OVMF + Q35 + i440fx then you are SOL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
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  • 1 month later...
On 6/26/2019 at 5:43 AM, testdasi said:

 


  <qemu:commandline>
    <qemu:arg value='-global'/>
    <qemu:arg value='pcie-root-port.speed=8'/>
    <qemu:arg value='-global'/>
    <qemu:arg value='pcie-root-port.width=16'/>
  </qemu:commandline>

  Just trying to understand this, so I suppose logically if you put in two values of the same variable, the one that will be used is perhaps the one that the system loads last right? Like on my Huanan X79-8D dual E5 2650 board I have in order from top to bottom, two PCI-e x1, PCI-e x16, NVME, and PCI-e x16. So in my case I should add it like


  <qemu:commandline>
    <qemu:arg value='-global'/>
    <qemu:arg value='pcie-root-port.speed=16'/>
    <qemu:arg value='-global'/>
    <qemu:arg value='pcie-root-port.width=16'/>
  </qemu:commandline>

 

Right?

 

On 6/27/2019 at 1:02 AM, Zer0Nin3r said:

Wow. Thank you so much for showing me some possible solutions. 🙏

Definitely will give these recommendations a shot and update this thread accordingly.

These lines work for me, although I don't use Avid (Vegas and AE user here) I reckon it'll work for you as well.

 <features>
    <acpi/>
    <apic/>
    <hyperv>
      <relaxed state='on'/>
      <vapic state='on'/>
      <spinlocks state='on' retries='8191'/>
      <vendor_id state='on' value='C-Fu'/>
    </hyperv>
    <kvm>
      <hidden state='on'/>
    </kvm>
  </features>

 

On 6/26/2019 at 5:43 AM, testdasi said:

 

 

Edited by C-Fu
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On 6/25/2019 at 2:43 PM, testdasi said:

<kvm> <hidden state='on'/> </kvm>

It still shows up in Win10 as a VM.

 

Screen Shot 2019-08-11 at 16.49.58.png

 

I wasn't able to get Avid to work. SeaBios wouldn't post. I imagine I would have to re-install the OS from scratch in order to get it to post.

Edited by Zer0Nin3r
Status update.
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I tried putting this inside any windows VM, at the 2nd last line or right after <domain>

  <qemu:commandline>
    <qemu:arg value='-global'/>
    <qemu:arg value='pcie-root-port.speed=16'/>
    <qemu:arg value='-global'/>
    <qemu:arg value='pcie-root-port.width=16'/>
  </qemu:commandline>

but everytime after I click save and re-edit the VM, these lines go missing. What am I doing wrong?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/14/2019 at 10:16 AM, C-Fu said:

Damn, that sucks. I'm guessing since I've added the same lines a bunch of times, it will screw up the VM? 

 

Cause my VM doesn't seem able to start anymore :/

Did you change the bios and forget to change it back?

 

If anything keep the VM image file and delete the Windows template and then start a new template and name it the same as your old template, which will point it to the saved VM image file and set the template to the settings you had previously.

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