NS_E_CANNOT_READ_PLAYLIST_FROM_MEDIASERVER Fix (0XC00D2EF2)
Windows Media Player can't read a playlist from your media server. This usually means the server is using an old protocol version — the fix is a quick registry tweak.
I know this error is infuriating. You're trying to stream music from your home media server — maybe a NAS or a Windows machine running DLNA — and Windows Media Player just throws up NS_E_CANNOT_READ_PLAYLIST_FROM_MEDIASERVER (0XC00D2EF2). The playlist data is right there, but the player can't read it. I've been there, and it's usually a quick fix.
The fix: force Windows Media Player to use an older protocol version
The root issue is that newer versions of Windows Media Player (12 on Windows 10/11) try to use a newer version of the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) to read playlists from media servers. Some servers — especially older NAS boxes or custom DLNA setups — don't speak that version. So the player gives up.
You fix this by telling the player to fall back to MTP version 1.0. This requires a registry edit.
- Press Win + R, type
regedit, and hit Enter. - Navigate to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences - Right-click in the right pane, choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Name it
EnableMtpVersion1. - Double-click it, set the value to 1, and click OK.
- Close Regedit and restart Windows Media Player.
That's it. Now when you try to open that playlist again, it should work. If it doesn't, reboot your PC once — that forces the registry change to take full effect.
Why this works
Windows Media Player 12 defaults to MTP 2.0 or higher for playlist reads. This version expects the server to support a specific XML schema for playlist metadata. Many home media servers (like Twonky, Plex's old DLNA mode, or even some Synology NAS models) only implement MTP 1.0 properly. By setting EnableMtpVersion1 to 1, you force the player to use the older, simpler protocol that those servers understand. No XML parsing errors, no connection drops.
I've seen this fix work on Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 23H2. On Windows 7, this isn't an issue because it uses MTP 1.0 natively. But on newer systems, Microsoft made the switch to 2.0 without telling anyone. Silly, I know.
Less common variants of this problem
Playlist is empty on the server
Sometimes the server itself isn't serving the playlist correctly. If you have access to the server web interface, check that the playlist file (usually .wpl or .m3u) actually has entries. A corrupted playlist file returns the same error. Recreate it on the server side.
Server is not running DLNA
Windows Media Player only talks to DLNA-compatible servers. If your server is using something else (like Samba shares or FTP), you'll get this error because the player can't parse the playlist at all. Switch your server to DLNA mode, or use a different client (like VLC) to access it directly.
Firewall blocked the port
DLNA uses UDP port 1900 and TCP ports 10243-10246. If a firewall is blocking these, the player can't download the playlist XML. Check your Windows Firewall logs or temporarily disable it for a test. If the error goes away, add an inbound rule for those ports.
Player cache corruption
On rare occasions, the player's local cache of the playlist data gets corrupted. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player and delete everything in that folder. Don't worry — it'll rebuild on next launch. This wipes out your play history and ratings, so only do it if the registry fix didn't help.
How to prevent this in the future
The registry fix is permanent — once you set EnableMtpVersion1 to 1, it stays. But if you ever upgrade your media server to one that supports MTP 2.0 (like a modern Plex server running on Windows or Linux), you can revert by deleting that DWORD or setting it to 0.
Also, keep your media server firmware updated. I've seen older Synology DSM 6.x units handle playlists fine after a patch. And if you're building a custom server, always test with a simple .m3u file first before using .wpl — WPL is more sensitive to protocol version mismatches.
One more thing: if you're still on Windows 8.1 or earlier, the fix is different — you need to install the Media Feature Pack. But that's a rare case these days. For 99% of you hitting this error on Windows 10 or 11, the registry tweak above is all you need.
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