Category Archives: Media Center
Mediacenter now running Windows 7
Windows 7 is released publicly today. I grabbed a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium intending to install it on my mediacenter this weekend, but since there was no good show to record tonight, I went ahead and installed it right away. Windows 7 x64 installation was pretty sweet and smooth, but once again the VFD/IRTrans drivers cost me a few additional hours (refer to my Vista experience).
Unlike with Vista, Windows 7 already installed the latest VFD driver, so my first attempt was to manually install the previous downloaded IRTrans software (v06.09.01). It didn’t work – my MCE keyboard and remote clicks would not register. Adjusting IRTrans settings didn’t help.
After a bit of online research, I noticed that a much newer version (v09.10.09) of IRTrans software was available. This version contained a x64 binary, which I realized might be the difference as my Vista was x86. Unfortunately IRTrans setup.exe failed as it complained its inability to install Visual C++ Runtime 8 SP1 x64. My workaround? Download it manually before running IRTrans setup.
I chose to install IRTrans as a service, but that didn’t work. In the end I disabled the service and added IRTrans USB shortcut to Startup folder.
And now my mediacenter is once again fully operational. Windows 7 MediaCenter is much, much better over Vista’s.
[Update] Well, I thought the mediacenter and its remote controls were fully functional, but it wasn’t until later that I realized I couldn’t turn on/off the PC with the remote. This used to require some setup in XP but just worked in Vista (see my previous Vista post). With Windows 7, the same instructions didn’t work – the Learn Command window simply wouldn’t pick up the power button press. What ultimately worked for me was this:
- Skip the “Learn Command” altogether.
- Open IRTrans GUI Client, select Mode->Device Status.
- In the “PowerON Remote/Command”, use the predefined “mediacenter”/”power” pair instead of “skpower”/”powerbutton”.
- Click on “Set Mode”.
Now my mediacenter is fully operational. *fingers crossed*
[Update @ 2009-10-24T13:55-8:00] Turned out the skip forward and back buttons didn’t work out of ‘box’. I had to follow instructions at IRTrans forum to enable them:
Edit C:\Program Files\IRTrans\remotes\apps.cfg
At the end of [COMMANDS] section, add the following
NEXT [KEY]\CTRLF
PREV [KEY]\CTRLB
New DVD drive for mediacenter
Two weeks ago the DVD drive in my HTPC/mediacenter bit the dusk and called it quits after almost 2 years of faithful service. It was made by NEC, and it was a noisy bugger.
So I was in the market for a DVD drive. I had two choices, buy another DVD drive or perhaps invest in a Blu-Ray one. For a while I actually considered a Blu-Ray drive, which would set me back around $100 for a playback-only unit. But then I read about all the fuss over playing Blu-Ray movies on a computer, compound that with the potential requirement for a new video card, and I aborted my short-lived pursuit for a high-def player.
I ordered a replacement DVD burner from newegg.com. The cheapest I could find was from Lite-On. Three day shipping was free, so I paid about $25 including tax. It arrived promptly via UPS on Wednesday. I swapped it in that evening and ran a quick movie test – I thought it was actually quieter than the NEC.
So there we have it, no Blu-Ray in the foreseeable future.
Second HDTV tuner
Got myself a second HDTV tuner for my mediacenter. $79.99 – $30 + tax + free shipping, I’d say a pretty good deal. There is also a $10 rebate that I need to mail out soon.
The package arrived today. I installed and configured the PCI card without incident. I can now record or view two HD channels at the same time. Kewl!
[Update @ 2007-01-14T21:02-8:00] Visual inspections show that the picture quality of this AVerMedia tuner is not as good as that of VBOX Cat’s Eye DTA-150 ATSC Over-the-air HDTV Tuner.
[Update @ 2007-01-14T22:03-8:00] Strike that previous comment about poor picture quality. The disparity turned out to be the source, verified using my TV’s built-in tuner.
Windows Vista and VFD/IRTrans
I installed Windows Vista on my Media Center PC today and actually got it to work to the point where I can sit back and enjoy.
The Vista installation was smooth, other than the fact that I couldn’t install the x64 version because my DVD is not bootable and that I couldn’t run the x64 setup.exe from my 32-bit XP.
As with my other time installing a flavor of Windows MCE, the party-pooper were the VFD and IRTrans drivers. These software are needed to operate the VFD and the remote controls, so they MUST work.
Below is a summary of the problems I encountered and the solutions. The solutions may not be optimal, but I was content to have the whole thing up and running.
Media Center PC noise reduction
I am pretty happy with my Media Center PC, it has made my TV viewing experience more enjoyable. But if I have to pick one thing that I am not completely satisfied with, then it would have to be the excessive noise coming from the machine.
This afternoon the rattling noise appeared again when I first “awoke” the PC from hibernation. I put my fingers on top of the machine, and to my surprise, the rattling stopped. I tightened all 5 screws securing the top lid, and all that was left were the fan whirls.
I didn’t completely tighten the screws before because I wanted easier access for future upgrades. I have learned my lesson.
Linksys DP1600 V2 Media Center Extender
I have a XP Media Center PC which I intend to upgrade to Vista Media Center when the time is right. I also want to buy a Media Center extender to stream videos and music around the house. Unfortunately all current extenders except XBox 360 are V1, meaning they won’t be compatible with Vista.
That’s what makes Linksys DP1600 so attractive. It’s a DivX/DVD player with V2 extender functionality. The price seems a bit high at £200, but it might be okay if I get a big bonus (yeah, fat chance).
[via Ian Dixon]
MCE and K-Lite Codec Pack
MCE 2005 and K-Lite Codec Pack don’t like each other. At all.
About two days ago I installed K-Lite Codec Pack on my new HTPC. What can I say, I wanted to take advantage of that fancy Conroe E6400 CPU! Little did I realize at that time that MCE 2005 doesn’t appreciate the intrusion.
Yesterday I recorded an episode of NCIS in high-def while watching House. Afterwards I played back the NCIS recording but was dismayed to find that the Dolby D EX sound was, how should I describe it, screwed up. The same video file did play fine in Windows Media Player 10 though.
Tonight the sound was again messed up while I was watching Bones, again in high-def. I did a quick Google search, only to learn that MCE 2005 is very picky about other codecs, especially codec packs such as K-Lite.
I uninstalled K-Lite and things were back to normal. Let that be a lesson to you guys running MCE 2005.
Now I just need to find that perfect combination of codecs that behave on MCE. Will Vista solve this problem?
HTPC completed
I have been talking about HTPCs for about two years now, and I have finally done something about it: my own HTPC now sits in the AV shelf next to my HDTV.
The final parts (versus my earlier list) I used are:
| Case | Zalman HD160 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 |
| CPU | Intel Duo 2 Core E6400 |
| CPU Cooler | CNPS9500 AT 2 |
| Power Supply | ZM460-APS 460w PSU |
| Hard Disks | 2 x SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive – OEM |
| RAM | CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) |
| Video Card | NX7600GT-VT2D256E HD |
| SD Tuner | Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500MCE |
| HD Tuner | VBOX Cat’s Eye DTA-150 ATSC Over-the-air HDTV Tuner |
| DVD Burner | NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A – OEM |
| OS/PVR Software | Media Center Edition 2005 |
| Keyboard | Microsoft Remote Keyboard for Windows XP Media Center |
| Remote Control | Microsoft Remote Control (bundled with the Zalman HD160) |
The most painful parts of assembling the computer involved the cables. There are just too many of them to connect and then to tuck away afterwards. I pushed all the cables to the edges inside the case; I just hope this doesn’t come back to bite me.
The IR software caused the most pain among software configurations. The first problem was making the MCE Remote Keyboard work with the non-Microsoft IR receiver embedded in the HD160 case. It’s almost working completely (‘\’ still doesn’t work), after I followed instructions from this forum thread.
The other problem is making sure the IR software starts automatically following every reboot, otherwise neither my IR keyboard or IR remote would work. ZoneAlarm turned out to be the culprit.
I figured out how to configure the IR software to allow remote power-on and shutdown the computer. The instructions are over at Zalman USA’s website under HD160′s FAQ & Notices section.
Lastly, I am a bit disappointed in my Samsung DLP’s overscan behavior. I used NVidia’s underscan feature to compensate, but it’s still not 100% satisfactory.
Here are some pictures of the HTPC:
Taiwan websites are slow
I haven’t made any hardware changes to my HTPC since yesterday. Instead I have been installing BIOS, drivers and utilities for the motherboard, video card, etc. Let me tell you one thing: downloading drivers from web sites based in Taiwan is absurdly slow – I am getting dialup speed on broadband!
It’s alive! Muahahaha…
Yesterday the last shipment of HTPC parts finally arrived. I was ready to assemble a computer for the first time in my computer-using life.
As of this morning at 2am, I had the CPU fan, CPU, motherboard, RAM, power supply, VFD, and multi-card reader all inside the Zalman HD160 case.
Tonight I finally put in and connected the 2 hard disks, DVD burner, and video card. And of course I connected the video card output to a LCD monitor.
Nervously I plugged in the power supply. The VFD displayed the default message of “Welcome To HTPC”.
So far so good. I then nervously pushed the power button. Nothing. Pushed the button again. Dead silence. I got a bit more nervous, rewinding my memory to see if I could have done anything wrong.
Must be those darn tiny power switch cables. After some trial and error plugging, I found out that I had reversed the polarity on those 2 or 3-pin cables.
Corrections made. Pushed the power button again. Voila. The 2 rear fans started spinning, followed by the BIOS boot up sequence on the monitor.
A few seconds later the infant computer asked for a system disk. Hmm, I needed a keyboard. Luckily I had anticipated this and borrowed an USB keyboard from work.
I plugged in the USB keyboard and banged the Enter key to continue with Windows XP Installer in DVD drive. Nothing happened.
Maybe USB devices were not recognized at this stage, I thought. No problem, I had that covered with a USB-to-PS2 converter.
Tried the converter, no difference.
After some reboots (yap, the reset button was verified as working), I realized that I could use the USB keyboard to go into the BIOS screen. It was there I discovered that USB keyboard support defaulted to false. Easy to fix.
So now I am sitting in front of my 80%-complete HTPC waiting for Windows XP installation to finish. Then tomorrow I will install the TV tuner cards, tuck away the cables, and close the case lid for good.
