Media PC

secret_squirrel

Its fairly straight forward providing you have a bit of technical know-how.

If you are at all uncertain I would recommend an off the shelf solution. Plenty of companies are making media pc's just choose the one you like the look of.

Power in a MCE box comes a poor 3rd to Silence and Disk Space imo. You dont need a monster pc unless you are going to play games on it too. And a Highspec gaming gfx card pretty much rules out quietness. A decent sized HD is a must.

You are correct on the wireless dongle - however a I would recommend speccing an internal card - they are cheap and its one less object ruining the clean lines of your media pc.

A sky digital box wont make it any harder than any other Set Top Box. Bear in mind that you wont be able to record 1 channel and watch another without a 2nd sky box. If this aint an issue (and its much less of one for me than I thought) you will be grand. Alternatively you could get a 2nd hand digibox from ebay and sky multiroom or a Freesat card.

SouperComputer

secret_squirrel wrote:

Alternatively you could get a 2nd hand digibox from ebay and sky multiroom or a Freesat card.

[silly, but always bugging me question] can multiple Digiboxes be used with one dish? [/silly, but always bugging me question]

ice27

secret_squirrel wrote:

Its fairly straight forward providing you have a bit of technical know-how.

If you are at all uncertain I would recommend an off the shelf solution. Plenty of companies are making media pc's just choose the one you like the look of.

Power in a MCE box comes a poor 3rd to Silence and Disk Space imo. You dont need a monster pc unless you are going to play games on it too. And a Highspec gaming gfx card pretty much rules out quietness. A decent sized HD is a must.

You are correct on the wireless dongle - however a I would recommend speccing an internal card - they are cheap and its one less object ruining the clean lines of your media pc.

A sky digital box wont make it any harder than any other Set Top Box. Bear in mind that you wont be able to record 1 channel and watch another without a 2nd sky box. If this aint an issue (and its much less of one for me than I thought) you will be grand. Alternatively you could get a 2nd hand digibox from ebay and sky multiroom or a Freesat card.

Cheers Squirrell,

Actually my tv set up is like so at the moment

1) Living Room - Multi room box with Sky
2) Dining Room - Sky + Box
3) Upstairs - Digibox with UK card connected via coax & digi sender that is linked to Sky + in dining room. ( Unfortunetely to avid interference i have to sitch off the wireless router that is attched to pc upstairs, to enjoy perfect picture quality sometimes th elaptop aswell - cant do anything about that i guess)
**All inputs into the sky quad are used as a resut**

It may seem mad needing a media centre with all this already but it would be nice to have a recording funtion and especially for the misses to have live tv on the Sky box in the living room. Also the possibility of bing able to have a jukebox on the LCD in the room for all the mp3'a.

So do you think you can recomend a nice quiet media centre for exactly what i am looking for?.

Cheers and thanks for the help so far!:)

ice27

SouperComputer wrote:

[silly, but always bugging me question] can multiple Digiboxes be used with one dish? [/silly, but always bugging me question]

Hi Souper,

I have 3 digiboxes running off 1 minidish.

I have a quad LNB - this alows you to have 4 inputs into a dish. However I have sky+ in one room and this alone needs two inputs , therefore i have used all of them. As far as I know there is such a thing as a LNB with 8 inputs but i reckon u would need a larger dish. Head over to the Hosted>ICDG>Satellite forums and somone with more expertise can help you out!!!!

DjDangerousDave

Hey all,

Just managed to get through this whole thread, hope thats the hardest part of setting up a Media PC for myself.

What im thinking about doing is installing sageTV on a computer, sticking that in the attic of my house and then viewing tv on all the other computers around the house via the sageTV Client.

I'd just like to get some advice from you guys and see what you think.

As far as i can see the only wat to view live tv and other recorded content from a WMC pc is to have an extender on your network, for example an xbox 360. Would i be correct in saying this?

With sage there is a client that allows you to directly access all the content on the media center as if you wre sitting at it. This is what draws me towards it as opposed to WMC.

With regards to tuners again im drawn to sageTV as it seems to have compatability with the WinTV-PVR-500MCE which would be very nice as it has the dual tuners and radio. I have read here and on thegreenbutton.com that there are some issuse with WMC and the 500. Would this still be an issue, or has it been resolved?

I think i would not have too many problems setting up an epg for myself with sageTV as i plan to use my basic dublin ntl subscription as the source. And you guys seem to have all the work done for me :-)

I cant think of anything else at the moment, brain overload ofter reading this thread i guess. I would really like to hear your comments regardin everythingi have just posted.

Thanks,

Dave.

FrankGrimes

yep the only way to remotely view media from the MCE PC (in the MCE UI of course) is through either a first generation HP or Linksys Extender, a first gen Xbox as an extender, or using the Xbox 360 as an extender.

Not sure from your post if you've realised it but most people would buy a HTPC case for their MCE machine and get it as silent as possible and then have this sitting beside the TV and connected right to it. You can then use an Xbox 360 to access media from another room.

Do you have other computers already around the house and would these be suitable for watching TV on (appearance, sound, monitor/TV)? Sounds to me like a very expensive way of doing things if you want to have a dedicated PC (getting a PC decent looking and silent is costly) in the living room acting as a SageTV client only and another dedicated PC in the attic acting as a server only.

In my setup I have my MCE PC in a dedicated computer room and a first gen extender in the living room (to be replaced by Xbox 360 and moved into other room for viewing). The MCE PC can be used as a normal XP Pro machine for doing any normal PC stuff even while people pull media from it via the extenders in other rooms, and of course you can watch TV on it aswell if you want. It means I bought one PC for the house (got extender in US for $140) and will get an Xbox 360 if I feel wreckless enough to splash that cash for the marginally better MCE extender experience (though widescreen is a big plus).

MythTV is regarded highly by some so look into the client capabilities of that.

The PVR 500 MCE is designed for MCE and works perfectly with it. You will need an additional AV Cable Set to add a second back plate if you want input from two separate STBs (though it only needs one input for basic cable). It is fussy with some mobos though this is not to do with MCE but check up on compatiblility first.

This thread might give some ideas for streaming content to multiple machines on a network with MCE: http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=41&MessageID=144116

DjDangerousDave

FrankGrimes wrote:

yep the only way to remotely view media from the MCE PC (in the MCE UI of course) is through either a first generation HP or Linksys Extender, a first gen Xbox as an extender, or using the Xbox 360 as an extender.

Would i be right in saying that a normal x box would need modifacations before it can be used to do this?

Dave.

FrankGrimes

yep - you would need to mod it alright.

secret_squirrel

FrankGrimes wrote:

yep - you would need to mod it alright.

I dont think you do - you just need the Media Center Extender Kit for Xbox.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/extender/owner/mcxkit.mspx

The only reason to mod the xbox was if you wanted something the normal extender software couldnt give you such as streaming live tv.

I think I am correct in saying that the Extenders dont support streaming live TV? Only pre-recorded stuff?

MR DAZ

Lads

Looking fro some advice here..

I have a laptop in my sitting room running MCE connected to my dell lcd tv ..i have my main pc upstairs.. and both are connected via a wireless access point(linksys g)

i have my movies/tv show/music shared over the network both using "g" rev wireless cards

ALso I have full signal in the sitting room.. when i go to watch a movie/tv show

it plays fine for about 6-10mins then it pauses for a second before continuing...like its buffering or something

Its getting really annoying...is anyone else getting this type of problem or am i doing something wrong


thanks in advance

Darren

masteroftherealm

Hmmm try changing your wifi channels and see does that work

FrankGrimes

secret_squirrel wrote:

I dont think you do - you just need the Media Center Extender Kit for Xbox.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/extender/owner/mcxkit.mspx

The only reason to mod the xbox was if you wanted something the normal extender software couldnt give you such as streaming live tv.

I think I am correct in saying that the Extenders dont support streaming live TV? Only pre-recorded stuff?

Yeh I think you're right that you don't need to mod the normal Xbox to use it as an Extender - just pop the CD in and away you go. However, most people using it for this purpose seem to mod it so that they can get it to play Divx. Xbmc seems to be the software they install.

Any form of Extender WILL steam live TV - they really are like sitting at the MCE PC itself, apart from a few gremlins (cant play Divx, HP/Linksys not supporting widescreen, and then the fact the menu transitions and slideshow transitions are not animated, which some people actually seem to matters).

secret_squirrel

MR DAZ wrote:

it plays fine for about 6-10mins then it pauses for a second before continuing...like its buffering or something

Couple of things :
make sure all drivers and the linksys firmware is up to date.
See if your AP supports QOS (quality of service) enable that between the IP's of your laptop and PC.
See if there are any other wireless networks in the vicinity that might be interfering - a tool like netstumbler will tell you which channles they are operating on. You need to be 2-3 channels away from any others if possible.
Have you any other wireless equipment? eg 802.3b? This will drag the performance of your AP down. Also wireless TV senders, cordless phones and even microwaves have been known to interfere.
Any bluetooth devices - they also use the same spectrum.

MR DAZ

Thanks for the replies lads...

No other wifi equipment in house also no video senders etc....and the microwave in the kitchen is hardly ever plugged in

I didnt get a chance to try mess with it yet ..but i think the suggestion of changing channel might do the trick.

I'll try fixing it this evening when i get home... keeep all suggestions coming

OliviaC

Hi,

Im mid way in setting up my Media Center, Im looking to have it hooked into my NTL digi box ( dc221kn ) which doesnt seem to have an svideo out ( although I guess there is the possability the scart cable caries the svid ). What Im would liek to know is if anyone else has done this and what they did to get the best picture quality

Thanks

secret_squirrel

Cant comment on the actual picture quality but as you guessed your best bet is for a scart-to-svideo cable. Be careful I have a horrible feeling they may be directional. ie scart-svideo does not equal svideo to scart.

OliviaC

For anyone who is interested im using a Hauppage PVR 150 to record off NTL Digital via a scart to composite cable and the picture is quite good and certainly very watchable.

What I would like to know is what are people doing about getting the missing channel EPG's - Like SKy two ( originally sky mix ) has no listings against it. there must be someway to get this data ?

FrankGrimes

to get the missing channels you will have to ditch the official epg and go with an alternative. search for 'irish epg' in this forum and you will find a thread started by 'graham' with full details of how to set this up.

OliviaC

Thanks Grimes, sounds like a lot of hardwork again , as it took me forever to get all 100+ of NTL channels in. Im only missing a gfew , the most annoying being sky two.

heller

When using windows xp media centre edition, it appears that in order to record a TV programme, you have to find the programme in the guide and select it.

Is it possible to do it the old-fashioned way, by programming channel, date, time to start and time to finish?

Graham

Nope, it's EPG or nothing as far as i know. I've never seen any options that indicate you may be able to do it any other way.

FrankGrimes

it is possible to do a manual record alright. I'll have to look at the menu option you need to select when I get home later on but I think its something along the lines of 'Add Recording'

karltimber

am just setting up my MS mcs amchine and have a question.

how is the media centre put into hibernate until it needs to record.

it it built in (standard windows hibernate) or a separate program

if it is the normal hibernate in XP how is it worked with the MS remote

tia

secret_squirrel

heller wrote:

Is it possible to do it the old-fashioned way, by programming channel, date, time to start and time to finish?

Yes. Just goto Recorded TV. Select scheduled recordings. Select Add recording. You can then enter the channel time and whether you want a regular recording period (ie every week).

I use it to record progs on Sky1 since the guide cant seem to cop on that half of the shows on sky are repeats from earlier in the week.

In unrelated MCE news I just upgraded my FX5200 to a passively cooled 6600GT the difference in picture quality ranges from good (TV) to stunning (Divx) would have done it a long time ago if I had known it would make such a difference. I havent ever seen such good pictures on my TV before. I would also say it beats playback through a regular dvd player.

heller

Thanks for the replies. I am thinking of buying one of the new MCE-based PCs. So far I have seen a HP M7240 (1500eur), a Dell Dimension 9150 (1400eur), and a fancy-looking Advent (2000eur) in PCWorld at Liffey Valley. Any comments gratefully received. I don't mind using a 19" monitor for my TV.

I read this thread, and I suppose the EPG problems are still around?
In other words, has Ireland become an official EPG country yet?
Thanks to all the people who posted how to set it up.
I have NTL digital, so Graham, I think you said you had a file that you were willing to share....I might come begging!

Graham

EPG is now a hundred times easier than it was 12 months ago, now it's just a laborious process to setup rather than a small technical marathon. Biggest job is manually assigning channels, not difficult at all, just tedious.

One or two channels are still missing (litterally 1 or 2) but apart from that, it's a piece of cake and you end up with a much more reliable EPG as a result.

It should take you no more than 2 or 3 hours to get a ready-made MCE machine setup, but again the same advice applies. When it's all working, TAKE A BACKUP. If anything goes wrong then, it's a 10 minute fix.

Many months on and MCE is definately still the way to go.

SouperComputer

the Advent has serious thermal issues, AVOID!

FrankGrimes

karltimber wrote:

am just setting up my MS mcs amchine and have a question.

how is the media centre put into hibernate until it needs to record.

it it built in (standard windows hibernate) or a separate program

if it is the normal hibernate in XP how is it worked with the MS remote

tia

Hey Karl, the standby is called S3 standby and it seems to require a fair bit of setup. Haven't ventured into it yet, but plan to soon. You'll be wanting to install WebGuide 3 so you can remotely access your guide, and I think this needs a Wake On Lan setting or something like that so your machine wakes up when you try to access the guide remotely.

This thread has plenty of info on setting up the standby.

Heller - would building your own Media Center PC be an option for you? I set out a few months back from not knowing my PCI from my PCI Express and what not, and thanks to all the info on the web was able to get up to speed quick enough and built my own one and have since built one for my sister and all is well. It means you get way more bang for your buck. For 2 grand you could build a monster media center which will whup any of the pre-built ones you listed below. If you are buying pre-built, Hush PC make super looking machines and theyre silent, though in my view way over priced for the mediocre specs.

Graham - when you say to take a backup, what do you mean? Is it just copying the contents of the eHome directory to a DVD or is there a more sophisticated backup process you use - I've never been disciplined at saving backups

SouperComputer

On Hush, be forewarned that the MCE models actually make (or made) a racket. Although passivly cooled throughout, the HD (Seagate BTW, very quiet by itself) is mounted on a bracket that amplifies the HD noise. I noticed this even over my projector. Even the smallest of seeks are VERY audible.

TBH my 10K scsi is quieter in my daily PC with no silenceing proivisions such is the amplification from the chassis in the Hush.

Now this is from a couple of systems I worked with about three months ago, they may have sorted this out since then.

Id second building your own. Unless you want HDTV a 1.8Ghz (or equiv) chip with 512Mb RAM is sufficient. HDTV 2.8Ghz is what you should be aiming for.

For backup, an overkill but very effecive way is to use Acrois Truimage. You can make incremental backups, great for any tweaking you want to go.

Ru

Graham wrote:

Just found a link to this, why oh why is all the really great stuff only available in Japan.

Super Mega Sony Media Centre

It'll be here by Feb/March.

I bought the VAIO RA304 and it's a great machine. The VAIO Media Software is pretty good when you get it going, however typical of Sony it was unstable and of course after i spent the wrong side of €2500 they have decided to drop VAIO Media in favour of Windows Media.

Great for gaming and it's the best looking machine i've seen.......at the time!