Microsoft has quietly removed two long-standing compatibility holds that kept many PCs away from the Windows 11 24H2 feature update — fixes for a face‑detection/camera regression and a Dirac audio driver problem were finally delivered in mid‑September — but the September cumulative update also introduced a fresh DRM playback regression that can block Blu‑ray, DVD and some digital‑TV apps that rely on legacy rendering paths.
Background / Overview
Microsoft stages feature updates with targeted compatibility holds when platform changes could break existing hardware or middleware. Two such holds were prominent for the Windows 11 24H2 rollout: one tied to integrated cameras and on‑device face/object detection, and another tied to Dirac audio middleware that could cause devices to lose audio output. Both safeguards were put in place in late 2024 but were only lifted after vendor and driver fixes reached Windows Update in September 2025.At the same time, a September 9, 2025 cumulative update (KB5065426) — which folded earlier August servicing changes into the mainstream rollout — introduced an unrelated regression affecting protected‑content playback in apps that use the legacy Enhanced Video Renderer (EVR). That regression surfaces as copyright protection errors, black screens, frequent interruptions, or outright failures when playing DRM/HDCP‑protected Blu‑ray, DVD, and some digital‑TV streams. Microsoft has acknowledged the problem and staged a targeted repair via the Release Preview channel while preparing a broader fix.
What Microsoft fixed (finally)
Camera / face‑detection safeguard lifted
- The affected scenario: devices with integrated cameras that use object/face detection — including Windows Hello facial recognition and apps that call the camera for detection — could cause apps to become unresponsive after upgrading to Windows 11 24H2. Microsoft placed a targeted safeguard (safeguard ID 53340062) to prevent those specific configurations from receiving the 24H2 offer.
- The resolution: Microsoft and partners corrected the compatibility issue and removed the safeguard in mid‑September 2025. Eligible devices that receive the required vendor and cumulative updates should now be offered the 24H2 feature update via Windows Update; Microsoft notes it can take up to 48 hours for the offer to propagate.
Dirac audio (Bluetooth / speaker) problem resolved
- The affected scenario: some systems shipped with Dirac Audio middleware that includes a binary named cridspapo.dll. After installing 24H2, those devices could lose audio endpoints entirely — integrated speakers, Bluetooth speakers, and headsets could disappear from the OS, making both first‑party and third‑party apps unable to use them. Microsoft applied a targeted safeguard (safeguard ID 54283088) on December 18, 2024 to protect affected devices from receiving 24H2 until a vendor driver rebuild was distributed.
- The resolution: OEMs and Dirac rebuilt compatible driver packages and Microsoft distributed the corrected drivers via Windows Update in early‑to‑mid September 2025; Microsoft then removed the compatibility hold once telemetry showed the targeted populations were healthy (public dashboard updates appeared around September 11–12, 2025). The fix was driver‑level — not a change to the 24H2 feature package itself.
The new problem: DRM / EVR playback regression
What broke
- Symptom set: after the August 29, 2025 non‑security preview (KB5064081) and the September 9, 2025 cumulative update (KB5065426), users began reporting failures when playing DRM/HDCP‑protected content in certain desktop playback applications. Typical symptoms are copyright‑protection error dialogs, black video windows, frequent playback interruptions, or freezing during Blu‑ray, DVD, and some digital‑TV app playback. Streaming services and modern UWP/browser‑based players generally remained unaffected.
- Root cause (technical summary): the regression is tied to the legacy Enhanced Video Renderer (EVR) rendering path, which many older DirectShow/Media Foundation applications still use for protected playback. A servicing change altered the platform’s protected media initialization or validation logic, causing EVR‑based apps to fail the secure rendering handshake (HDCP/DRM) and fail closed — intentionally blocking playback to avoid potential content leakage.
Scope and who is affected
- Narrow population, high pain: the regression disproportionately impacts a smaller but important set of scenarios — Home Theater PCs (HTPCs) that play physical discs, legacy desktop Blu‑ray/DVD players, set‑top PC broadcast/tuner apps, capture/tuner workflows, and kiosks/digital signage that still rely on EVR and OS‑level protected paths. Mainstream streaming apps typically use modern renderers or app‑managed DRM and have not been widely reported as affected.
- Enterprise and prosumer impact: organizations with media‑playback kiosks, lecture capture systems, or broadcast ingest equipment may see operations disrupted until a fix is applied or a validated workaround is in place. For many hobbyist HTPC users the result is frustration and lost playback of legitimately purchased content.
Microsoft’s response and mitigation path
- Acknowledgement and staging: Microsoft added the behavior to its Release Health/known issues list and staged a targeted remediation to the Release Preview channel (reported as a small hotfix sequence), allowing pilots and Insiders to validate the repair before broad rollout. Microsoft’s public guidance has been to delay installing the implicated updates on content‑critical systems until the fix is validated.
- Short‑term options for affected users:
- Avoid installing KB5064081/KB5065426 on systems that must play protected disc or broadcast content until the Microsoft fix is available and validated.
- If already affected, consider enrolling a test device into Release Preview to receive the staged repair and validate with exact playback apps.
- Use an external/standalone Blu‑ray player or an unaffected device as a temporary fallback.
- Advanced users may remove the cumulative update as a temporary rollback (wusa/DISM), but this reverses security updates and has side effects; preserve diagnostics before rolling back.
Why these stories matter: compatibility, drivers, and the protected media chain
Third‑party middleware is the brittle link
The Dirac audio incident is a textbook example of how low‑level middleware that hooks into platform initialization can fail when the OS changes behavior. When vendors ship binaries such as cridspapo.dll that run deep inside audio stacks, even small OS timing or enumeration changes may break endpoint enumeration and stream initialization — creating a “disappearing device” problem rather than degraded performance. The Root‑cause fix had to come from the vendor, which is why Microsoft distributed rebuilt drivers via Windows Update and removed the safeguard only after telemetry validated the population.DRM and EVR reveal the tradeoff between security and compatibility
Protected playback is designed to “fail closed” by design: if the platform cannot guarantee a secure end‑to‑end path (application → OS DRM stack → GPU driver → display), playback must be blocked to comply with content licensing. That defensive posture protects content owners but makes the media chain fragile; a servicing change intended for security or reliability can inadvertently break the handshake and lock legitimate customers out of content they own. This explains why EVR‑based legacy apps, still used in many prosumer workflows, were the first to surface problems after the servicing change.Rollout mechanisms worked as designed — but at user cost
Microsoft’s staged approach — compatibility holds and targeted releases through Release Preview — is intended to protect the broad population from regressions. In these cases it did prevent many users from receiving problematic feature updates until fixes were ready. The downside is visible: affected users experienced long waits for a fix, or required manual mitigation. The camera and Dirac holds that blocked 24H2 for many devices remained in place for months while vendor fixes were developed and validated. That delay exposed a tension between shipping features and preserving compatibility across a vast hardware and middleware ecosystem.Practical guidance for Windows 11 users and administrators
For home users and HTPC owners
- If playing Blu‑ray/DVDs or running digital TV tuner apps is critical, pause the installation of recent August/September updates (KB5064081 / KB5065426) until Microsoft’s fix is published and validated for your playback software.
- Keep the system updated with vendor drivers and the latest security/quality updates before accepting the 24H2 feature update; a restart after driver updates often speeds the 24H2 offer appearing in Windows Update.
- If audio disappeared after an upgrade and you have Dirac middleware, check for a driver update in Windows Update (the corrected Dirac/driver package should arrive via Windows Update), then reboot and verify audio endpoints.
For IT admins and media‑critical fleets
- Inventory: identify devices that rely on legacy EVR paths, Dirac audio middleware, or other low‑level vendor components.
- Pilot rings: validate cumulative updates on a small representative set of machines before broad deployment.
- Driver management: treat vendor driver updates as part of OS feature update sequencing; deploy corrected vendor drivers to pilot rings first.
- Rollback plan: maintain tested rollback procedures for LCUs and a documented SSU interaction plan; uninstalls can be non‑trivial and may require image restores for complex setups.
Strengths, risks, and critical analysis
Notable strengths
- Microsoft’s staged rollout and safeguard mechanism prevented wider damage by targeting only affected device populations for both the camera and Dirac audio issues; this is an effective safety valve when deep middleware incompatibilities are found.
- The Dirac audio fix being distributed as a vendor driver via Windows Update is the right operational choice: drivers are the correct place to resolve middleware incompatibilities and allow Microsoft to validate telemetry before lifting safeguards.
Significant risks and lingering weaknesses
- Long resolution windows: both the camera and Bluetooth/Dirac audio problems lingered for many months (first reported in late 2024) before the fixes propagated in September 2025. That delay imposed a real cost on users who rely on the affected functionality. Extended hold periods highlight the difficulty of coordinating vendor rebuilds and the operational risk of deep middleware interactions with platform changes.
- Fragility of legacy components: the DRM regression exposes a systemic fragility — legacy EVR‑based rendering paths remain in production usage and are brittle when the platform hardens or shifts DRM/HDCP behavior. The migration burden falls to app and hardware vendors, who must rewrite or modernize playback stacks to use MediaPlayer/IMFMediaEngine and the Simple Video Renderer (SVR). That work is costly and slow, so similar regressions can recur.
- Communication and guidance gaps: while Microsoft publicly documents known issues, the initial guidance for some affected users was limited and left hobbyists without clear rollback or remediation steps early in the incident. Better preemptive guidance and clearer rollback instructions would reduce confusion and operational downtime.
The longer view: what this episode signals for Windows servicing
- Expect continued reliance on safeguards: Microsoft will keep using targeted compatibility holds as a primary defense against large regressions. That mechanism is necessary for managing an enormous hardware and middleware ecosystem. However, the community should also expect periodic friction when low‑level middleware or legacy APIs collide with security or behavior changes.
- Vendors must prioritize modernization: installers and playback vendors that still ship EVR/DirectShow stacks should plan migration roadmaps to modern media APIs. Large device manufacturers and middleware vendors must test against Windows Insider and preview servicing channels earlier to avoid long public delays.
- Administrators must treat updates as change management: for content‑critical endpoints, updates are not routine — they are change events. Robust pilot rings, coordinated driver deployment, and rollback plans will be essential for minimizing operational impact.
Conclusion
September’s servicing activity closed two stubborn compatibility chapters — the face‑detection camera safeguard and the Dirac audio driver hold — allowing many previously blocked PCs to receive Windows 11 24H2 after vendors pushed corrected drivers and Microsoft lifted targeted safeguards.At the same time, a separate servicing change carried into the September cumulative update introduced a painful DRM playback regression for legacy EVR‑based apps that Microsoft must repair; a staged fix is in the Release Preview channel as Microsoft prepares a broader rollout. The episode is a reminder that modern OS servicing demands tight vendor coordination, proactive testing, and careful change management — especially where low‑level drivers, DRM, and legacy renderers intersect.
Practically, users who rely on physical media or specialized playback/tuning workflows should pause the affected August/September updates until Microsoft’s EVR repair is rolled out and validated, and administrators should treat vendor driver deployment as part of their feature‑update sequencing to avoid repeating these costly compatibility fractures.
Source: TechRadar Microsoft fixes two Windows 11 bugs that've been hanging around for a year - while another unfortunate glitch creeps in