Media PC

SouperComputer

I did manage to bakup/restore and EPG a while back. Silly me didnt make notes though! I was under pressure just to get it finished.

Acronis True Image allows you to make incemental disk images. Dead handy when your get all "developmental" on your HTPC

secret_squirrel

Funnily enough my guide screwed up the day after I made that last post. Grrr damn you microsoft.

spartacus93

Im having a strange Media Centre issue. Take this for example (it happens for most artists) I have David Grays 3 albums ripped onto my computer.
They show up in iTunes correctly with their album and artist names.

However when i go into Media Centre and go to D.G. it only show 2 albums under albums. When I go to songs all the songs from the "missing" album are there. (as well as the other 2).

If for example I play a song from the album that doesnt show up on the album page, the name of the album still appears.

Any ideas? Thanks Lads. (TV card in the post, cant wait!)

secret_squirrel

Just a thought by try setting windows media player to automatically download album information from the internet.

I've noticed in the past that there are some strange interactions between Media Player and Media Center, probably because Center uses some media player components when running.

spartacus93

secret_squirrel wrote:

Just a thought by try setting windows media player to automatically download album information from the internet.

I've noticed in the past that there are some strange interactions between Media Player and Media Center, probably because Center uses some media player components when running.

Thats turned on. Its annoying me because Media Centre is reading the ID3 tags, but some dont work for some reason. They're all MP3 files.

Thanks anyway.

RunDMC

As you may know, Channel 6 launches on Thursday. On NTL Analogue, it will replace MTV, which in turn will move to a new spot. Any idea how Media Center will handle this? Will the channels be moved automatically, will we have to re-tune?

SouperComputer

RunDMC wrote:

As you may know, Channel 6 launches on Thursday. On NTL Analogue, it will replace MTV, which in turn will move to a new spot. Any idea how Media Center will handle this? Will the channels be moved automatically, will we have to re-tune?

judging from how long it took them to get the EPG going in the first place, I think you may have to go through setup again. Hopefully im wrong

secret_squirrel

I would say you would be ok get to get channel 6, but there wont be any guide listings for it for ages....

You will probably have to rescan to find MTV again, but personally I wouldnt bother. E4 in the mornings has more music in a coupla hours than MTV does in 24!

donspeekinglesh

I just got a PVR-150 for recording from my Sky Box. What's the best way of cabling it up? The analog output is going to a PVR-500 card.

Also does anyone have a copy of the XMLTV file for Sky Ireland? Would save me an age in setting up all the channels for the grabber.

Thanks!

subway

the only way tv will work with a pvr 150 in mce is through rf.
the line in audio constantly gets messed up and distorted.

donspeekinglesh

Should have mentioned I'm not using MCE (using Beyond TV) - so I have the option of s-video, and component. Do they carry sound though?

subway

the sound carries fine,
its the fact that everytime you run the tv card the sound gets a litttle more distorted.

its a know problem with hauppauge cards.
you need to stop the service using the card to get it to reset to normal.

this is impossible in mce but im not sure of other programs

donspeekinglesh

I'm sure a regular reboot would sort that out. Though the sound on the PVR-500 card works fine - only gets rebooted every few weeks.

Cheers! So I'll pick myself up a scart to s-video lead so.

Wavey

Anybody know the new MTV freq?

weluvujoe

hey im in waterford, and just installed a tv tuner card dat woz made for mce. the zap tv 1001.i can get all my channels except rte1, bbc2,that weird euromix channel and setanta sports. its really annoying and i have tried everything to try and get them. does anybody know what i can do?? i have tried uninstalling/reinstalling the tuner etc with no luck. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

SouperComputer

weluvujoe wrote:

hey im in waterford, and just installed a tv tuner card dat woz made for mce. the zap tv 1001.i can get all my channels except rte1, bbc2,that weird euromix channel and setanta sports. its really annoying and i have tried everything to try and get them. does anybody know what i can do?? i have tried uninstalling/reinstalling the tuner etc with no luck. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

what service are you on. NTL analouge?

Usually you need to scan for the channels manually, download and EPG and manually map the EPG's to the stations you have scanned for.

weluvujoe

hey, thanks for replying, but i got it fixed!!! what i did was move a file called "prefs" out of the ehome folder, and then ran media center, that file contained all the restrictions on frequencies (i assume anyway, it seemed to) and i just ran the scan in media center again and it cam up with evry channel! it came up with the same channels a few times, but you can just delete them! ALL IS FIXED! I LUV MY MEDIA CENTER! I'VE BEEN USING IT 2 DAYS, AND ALREADY I COULDNT BE WITHOUT IT!

bandy

Can anybody recommend an off the shelf media pc. I am looking at some of what they call dedicated media pcs such as the new sony VAIO VGX-XL100, elenox artisan, evesham ebox2. I am connecting to a Dell tv so dont need a monitor included. I have NTL digital. I also want it in the sitting room so would rather like one that looks like a piece of hi-fi kit and have a quiet operation. I have a budget of up to 1500 but would like to get it for less.

Does anyone have any views of the above machines.

Thanks

Krusty_Clown

Here's a review of the Sony. Doesn't look like you'll get much change from your 1.5k.

Some feedback: It only has a single analog and a single digital tuner (which you won't be able to use with NTL Digital). So no dual recording/watching (although with NTL digital you wouldn't have been doing this anyway).

The GeForce 6600 is perfect for the job of running Media Centre, and outputting to your Dell, however, if you decide to upgrade to Vista in the future (distant future?) it may not be up to the job. Given the Sony Vaio chassis, it may not be customisable (e.g. swap out better graphics card, larger HD etc.) but I'm not certain on this one.. Looks like a decent piece of kit, that will meet your Media PC need, but will probably remain a dedicated Media PC.

The Evesham looks the part, but the graphics cards are quite weak (again I'm no expert on graphics cards, so someone else will have a more informed opinion), won't give you any change from your 1.5k, and your warranty is from the UK. TV-Out options aren't great either..

Have you considered some of the Dell options? You could pick up a moderate spec Dell machine for less then a thousand euro, which will leave you with enough change from your 1.5k to up-spec some of the weaker areas of the Dell PC (such as the graphics card / HD). Like the other PCs, make sure it's upgradeable.. Some of the small factor Dells are not designed with upgrading components in mind.

Remember, you don't actually need to have your media PC in the same room as your TV. Use some long cables, and you can put it anywhere, out of sight. (Except for the infrared receiver!).

secret_squirrel

Krusty_Clown wrote:

however, if you decide to upgrade to Vista in the future (distant future?) it may not be up to the job

Justify this please - its utter BS afaik. Are you seriously telling me a card optimised to churn out millions of polygons a second is going to struggle with the Vista Presentation layer. I dont think so.:mad:

SouperComputer

Graphics cards are not at important as they seem to be perceived with MCE.

Even with HiDef, you can get away with a pathetic 32mb SIS onboard, which is pretty pathetic!

However, if you do decide to scrap MCE and perhaps try MythTV, then an Nvidia card is a good way to go for driver support.

As for vista, even if it did need a 6600, it would make more sense to purchase the card then at a cheaper price when you go to use it, than pay a premium for it now.

Of course, if you plan playing the latest games with decent quality, then this post is near enough a waste of time for you, but it should benefit others who are going a bit nutso on their graphics card selection

Do you have any computers that could be decommisioned in your home? A 1.7Ghz or therabouts is fine for the job.

Krusty_Clown

secret_squirrel wrote:

Justify this please - its utter BS afaik. Are you seriously telling me a card optimised to churn out millions of polygons a second is going to struggle with the Vista Presentation layer. I dont think so.:mad:

Which part of the following sentence did you not pick up on?

Krusty_clown wrote:

...again I'm no expert on graphics cards, so someone else will have a more informed opinion...

Gee, thanks for the constructive comments though.

secret_squirrel

Sorry I thought your post was misleading at best and needed clarifying - especially if someone is going to spend money as a result of them.

The last thing you need to buy in a media PC is top of the line GFX with a jet engine for a cooler. Unless as Souper mentioned you want to play top of the line games as well.

Its also worth remembering that if you are connecting to a HD Ready TV at 1280x768 or there abouts even a 6600GT or similar card will play most games comfortably at that resolution.

spartacus93

So, my media centre pc is finally finished. Running MCE 05, and using a Hauppauge PVR150.

Just wondering if there is anything else it can be made do? Any plugins ye would recommend?

I can do all the normal recording TV, storing music, picture, and videos. I also use My Dvd.

Am I missing anything?

hshortt

Try the MyMovies plug-in, its very good, lists a cover for all your dvds and you can specify which ones are available off the hard disk so you can play them directly. Geddit http://www.binnerup.dk/

Also worth considering is a divx or xvid codec so that you can play back any content in that format on your MCE machine.

Personally, I've been watching Sopranos season six courtesy of Bittorrent in xvid format.

cheerio
Howard

hshortt

Anyone get the listings for channel six using the standard guide yet?

Cheerio
Howard

spartacus93

hshortt wrote:

Try the MyMovies plug-in, its very good, lists a cover for all your dvds and you can specify which ones are available off the hard disk so you can play them directly. Geddit http://www.binnerup.dk/

Also worth considering is a divx or xvid codec so that you can play back any content in that format on your MCE machine.

Personally, I've been watching Sopranos season six courtesy of Bittorrent in xvid format.

cheerio
Howard

Oh sorry, I said My DVDs, I meant my movies. It's a very good plugin, someone on here mentioned it.

SouperComputer

Also worth considering is a divx or xvid codec so that you can play back any content in that format on your MCE machine.

Be sure to bear in mind that such formats are not viewable on an MCE extender yet.

Krusty_Clown

Here's a list of Third party applications and plugins, from http://www.thegreenbutton.com's website.

Some recommendations
MCEWeather - 5 Day forecasts, satellite piccies etc..
Garfield Comics/Comics for Media Centre - Used to be a big favourite - gone now, due to copyright issues (anyone have a copy?)
GMAPMCE - Google Maps on Media Centre - If you're extremely lazy..
MCE Mame - Mame arcade emulator frontend - again for the extremely lazy
Microsoft Solitaire - Just because!
RocketBoom - Dunno why, just like it..

Other Plugin sites (copied from TheGreenButton):

MoreMCE.com
Ben's House
Windows MarketPlace
MCESoft

secret_squirrel

Just a warning folks that MCE trashed my Guide settings again somewhen over the weekend.

You might want to backup the file prefs.xmk in the directory

\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\eHome\EPG\prefs

If you havent done so already.