HRESULT 0xC00D2904 (NS_E_OUTPUT_PROTECTION_LEVEL

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Constant name:

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Operating System:

Description:

Windows Media Player does not support the level of output protection required by the content.%0

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NS_E_DRM_RIV_TOO_SMALL	NS_E_COMPRESSED_DIGITAL_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED

NS_E_OUTPUT_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED

Read the code before the dialog

The producer of 0xC00D2904 has determined that the active output path cannot meet the license’s overall minimum protection level. Diagnosis of NS_E_OUTPUT_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED therefore starts in Windows Media DRM output protection, the layer responsible for license-policy evaluation that compares the content owner’s required output protection level or scheme with the active audio/video output path.

Start by reading the base OPL and negotiated connector capability for the requested action.

Correlate the owner and the policy

A complete incident ties together license OPL fields, play or copy action, output connector type, compressed/uncompressed state, driver-reported protection capability and selected rendering path; the minimum correlation set is the requested action, required OPL values, active connector, negotiated protection mechanism and whether the stream is compressed at that boundary.

The comparison is useful only if it preserves the fact that the active output path cannot meet the license’s overall minimum protection level.

The final dialog can be broader

The active output path cannot meet the license’s overall minimum protection level.

Why the first HRESULT matters

This result should be modeled as a failed precondition, not as an arbitrary media exception. Demonstrate the precondition by choosing to read the base OPL and negotiated connector capability for the requested action, and remove it by choosing to select an output path meeting the minimum or obtain differently constrained rights. The result comparison should preserve content and device identity so success cannot be attributed to testing a different asset.

Minimum evidence set

Field	Value
Policy input	requested action plus the exact license, certificate, profile, output or registration property evaluated by this result
Direct check	read the base OPL and negotiated connector capability for the requested action

A controlled reproduction

Preserve it and 0xC00D2904 before cleanup, fallback or another media item changes the context.
Associate it with its current Windows Media DRM output protection object and the requested action.
Run the direct check: read the base OPL and negotiated connector capability for the requested action.
Compare the failure with a known-good case that changes only the property named by this condition: the active output path cannot meet the license’s overall minimum protection level.
Apply the targeted fix: select an output path meeting the minimum or obtain differently constrained rights.

Contrast with related results

Result	Why it points elsewhere
`NS_E_COMPRESSED_DIGITAL_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED`	compressed digital video leaves through a path below the required protection level
`NS_E_UNCOMPRESSED_DIGITAL_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED`	the uncompressed video rendering path cannot enforce the license’s minimum protection
`NS_E_ANALOG_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED`	the analog video output cannot apply the policy required by the license

Recovery at the right layer

Do not treat every output-protection result as a missing codec; the decoder can be present while the connector or driver cannot enforce the license policy.

Technical references

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