MediaPVR Gen1 - REFERENCE ONLY

THE MEDIAPVR PROJECT -Decommissioned

I decided to start yet a new project. It is kinda of an intern project to the HTPC. I have taken some spare parts that have been lying around collecting dust and started to piece together a basic PVR system to replace the VCR to the livingroom TV. Though my "better half" has not totally bought into the idea of having a computer attached to the TV and getting rid of the ol'VCR. On a side note, I'm also hoping that this will get rid of the cheap DVD player connected to that TV as well.

A basic system overview is shown below:

Here is the main guts of the system:

CURRENT HARDWARE

Motherboard: MSI PM8M-VH

The motherboard used in the system will be a MSI PM8M-VH 478 uATX board. It has 3x PCI slots, 1x AGP slot, 2x SATA ports, on-board LAN and sound, and even integrated video (though I won't be using it).

CPU: "Northwood" P4 2.8GHz CPU

This is a P4 2.8GHz "Northwood" CPU. It is an Intel Socket 478 with a 512M L2 cache.

RAM: 1G of Kingston DDR RAM

I just picked up the memory for the system, off ebay. It is 2 sticks of 512M equaling 1G. The memory is Kingston's KVR400X64C3A/512. I ending up getting this memory for the system as those were recommended for using on this system by MSI.

Case: GMC R2 Toast

I ended up picking up the GMC R2 Toast as pictured below, only it is in black with a silver inlet. Looks really nice.

The coolness factor with this case is the fact the the opitcal drive pops upwards, like toast popping out of a toaster as pictured below.

HDD: Western Digital WD1600AAJS 160G SATA drive

I'm starting to lean towards the WD16000AAJS from Western Digital. It is a 160G SATA drive, but there is alot of nice features with this drive that suits the intended purpose for the drive.

I just picked this drive up from the local computer store. It is under $50. This drive is quiet and fast, and will serve a good purpose in this system. Picking up this drive also sparked a change, which has lead to swapping the BES setup to replace the aging MediaPVR computer.

DVD-ROM: Lite-on SOHD-16P9S DVD drive

I just won off ebay a simple Lite-on SOHD-16P9S DVD drive. This will be only really used for watching DVD movies and for installing things. It is an IDE interface drive and is capable of 16x DVD read/48x CD read abilities. Supposedly with the right firmware, it is blindingly fast, and is realatively quiet. We shall see.

Video: ATI Radeon 9500Pro

Even though the board has on-board video, I'm opting for the more powerful ATI Radeon 9500Pro card that I have. It is a 8x AGP card with 128M of ram. It was intended for the music-server but since that system doesn't require such a powerful card of that nature, it is currently spared up.

Sound: Creative SoundBlaster Live5.1

The Live5.1 replaces the legacy board because of audio issues. I had constant audio popping occurring. I tried different audio codecs, different settings of the SB16 board, even made sure that the on-board audio, though not used, was disabled. So I swapped it out with the Live5.1 and used the KX Drivers, and now everything is working perfectly.

Capture Card: Hauppauge WinTV-150 PVR

TV Tuner card (was going to use this in the HTPC but was taken out for the Twinhan 1020a DVB-S card instead). Using the composite input for video. Most likely will connect the coax input to the ol'VCR and backup all my tapes (well the ones that are worthwhile). This card comes with a 45-button remote and IR Blaster which I am using to control the whole system, minus a few features.

Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS - 500W

I just picked up a second OCZ StealthXStream 500W supply (OCZ500SXS) for $30 after a $10 instant rebate and a $30 MIR. I liked this supply so much in the HTPC, that I couldn't pass this offer on this supply. So I swapped the existing supply, which was the Thermaltake in the system for this one. Basically, this one is newer and has better regulations, has Active PFC, and exceeds the 80% effeciency rating. The Thermaltake is now in storage, and will be used for some future system.

CURRENT SOFTWARE

WinXP with SP2 - OS...unfortunately required

Xlobby (last free build Feb./07) - for all media playback, running the following plugins:

-xWeather, xInTheaters, xANT, xWOL, xLToolkitPlugin, xClock, xHideMouse, xHideTaskbar

-using the xStreamed skin (can be downloaded from the xlobby website)

GBPVR - PVR functions ONLY

IRBControl - for set - top box control within GBPVR

Descaler - MPEG1/2 and audio codecs

ZoomPlayer - for DVD/Video playback

Real Alternatives - codecs for playback of Real Media, Quicktime Media, and any other off wall types of media.

mc2xml - for EPG downloading

Ant Movie Catelog/Renamer - for DVD movie cataloging

Omega drivers - for the ATI Radeon display drivers

Hauppauge drivers - for the capture card control and IR Blaster control

RealVNC - for remote admin access control

Poweroff.exe - small apps for controlling the PVR system and the music-server's power state via the Hauppauge's remotes Red/Green buttons.

NOTES

Currently the system is sitting in the HTPC case. I'm planning on purchasing a nice case for it. Looking at a Thermaltake TR2 power supply. Not the best, but much better than the generic supply that comes in the case I'm looking at.

I'm also waiting for a ATI Radeon 7000 to replace the Rage Fury Pro. This card has a DVI connection for connecting to an eventual flat panel display. It has an S-Video connection for allowing a connection to our existing TV.

I decided to use Got All Media over Xlobby for basically the PVR features that GAM offers. Though I could configure Xlobby to act as a PVR, when trying that on my test computer, it used alot of resources to pull it off. I found GAM to work great on my test computer, and so far on the MediaPVR, it is working pretty good. A bit of a learning curve, but currently it will import an EPG. I've set it up to play movies/video across the network. It is having problems with my music breakdown, so I might have it call on a Xlobby thin client screen and control my music-server that way. I've done some pausing of live TV, but I haven't scheduled any programming yet. I've been able to control the system (when GAM is running ) via the Hauppauge remote, which is pretty cool.

Two down points right now:

1) I haven't figured out how to get GAM with the Hauppauge remote to control the satellite set-top-box. Using the Hauppauge IR Blaster Config setup, I've been able to turn on/off the sat box...I've even changed channels, but I can't figure out how to blast it from within GAM.

-well concerning this point, I found a little executable called IRBControl. Using that and configuring it within GAM, I'm now able to control the set-top no problems via Channel Up/Down, Prev. Ch, number buttons, and EPG selection. Now I have a fully functional PVR system.

2) WinXP didn't alow the install of ACPI...even though the P2B-F board is supposed to be compliant. This means that I cannot use suspend mode, which is really important so the system will turn on to record, then go back into suspend. Also it needs to wake automatically for EPG updating. I have found a few workarounds for this, so I'm going to have to try them.

-tried some work arounds last night, but so far nothing has worked. I'm thinking of upgrading the BIOS to 1014.003 Beta. Not sure if that will help or not, but I've seen that poeple have been able to get ACPI configured with the P2B-F board, so I'm a little perplexed as to why it isn't for me.

UPDATED 21/12/07

I've been successful at fixing the ACPI issue. Found a technique that explained how to go through and configure it during WinXP install. Still it was a big PITA! I'm now able to wake the PC via WOL, and wake the PC for schedule recordings or EPG updates. The only minor issue now is that when the system goes into sleep, it only goes in S0 or S1...ideally I would like the system to go into S3 mode, where even the power supply goes into a reduced state. I may still have to perform a BIOS update to get the extra levels of suspend.

Currently there are no pictures of the actual system...only the product pictures shown above. I have to add some. Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped about this setup, and I think once it is deployed, the wife will really appreciate it as well.

Now I have two major issues solved with this setup, I had the opportunity to try out schedule recordings, both when the system is running, and when the system is in standby. Both worked great. Now just waiting on the Radeon 7000, a final case and supply, and a cheepy DVD drive, and this system is ready for deployment.

OFFICIAL LOG

*24/12/07*

Man-o-man, what a weekend. Up until that last post above, everything was working great. The only thing was that in using a ATI Rage Fury Pro's S-Video output, I was limited to 800x600 screen resolution. That is fine for now, but eventually I was planning on connecting this system to a Plasma, so I wanted a DVI connection for a DVI to HDMI cable, but still had to be AGP 2x complient. That was the pulling force for getting the Radeon 7000.

Well it came in, I installed it in the computer, then downloaded and installed the latest ATI Catalyst drivers. After that, I could not get any video to display at all. One thing led to another, and out of frustration, I ended up trashing the entire system and start over again. This time I didn't use the Catalyst driver, but tried some archived Omega drivers. Well some endless tweaking later, I now have the system up and running using VMR9.

*25/12/07*

Found out that LiveTV and DVD watching liked VMR9, all other video files required GAM to be set to Overlay mode. Pretty frustrating finding this out.

I picked up a case that doesn't look too bad...not HTPC style but never-the-less, looks like a decent mid-tower case. I transfered everything over to it, then found a problem that the system wouldn't go into standby. Found out that I rigged the WOL cable from the LAN card to the motherboard wrong. I inadvertenly swapped the +5V line and the signal line, so according to the computer, it was always getting a WOL signal regardless. Everything is fine now.

I also won off ebay a Thermaltake TR2 430W power supply, so things should be pretty silent with that system when it finally comes in. I'm hoping to put up some pictures soon.

*26/12/07*

So as promised, some pictures. The system currently is attached to the home theater Panny RPTV (47" widescreen) via DVI to HDMI cable. The 7000 works good. It is running at 1776x1000 (one of the standards in the Omega drivers). There is some video slicing as I know I'm pushing the card to its limit, but once connected to the upstairs TV, which is only a 32" Panny CRT, it will be connected via S-Video at 1024x768.

Another shot of the inside. To note here is the 40G hard drive, and in the top corner, the CDRW Plextor...which will be replaced with a DVD-Rom drive. Also not my DIY WOL harness...looping around there...cheesy but works.

The front of the case. Pretty basic, but doesn't look too bad...compared to the plain beige cases that I typically use...for instance, take a look at my music server case.

System powered on...not too sure of the big blue LED...kinda cool, but I don't know for a media PC. Might be a sticky point for WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).

Pretty bright...though as mentioned above...kinda cool.

Got All Media start page. These pictures don't do it justice, that's for sure. Picture looks far better.

Got All Media DVD selection page.

300 in all it's "upscaled" high def glory. Though if the system was better than a simple 850MHz slot1 CPU, I could do a bunch of post-filtering/processing and better the image still. But for its intended use, it's pretty decent.

Got All Media's TV Module. Yes that's "Goldfinger"...Sean Connery was the best Bond in my eyes.

*28/12/07*

A couple of more images taken. This time it is again 300, but the connection to the RPTV this time is S-Video, and the resolution is 1024x768. Image still looks really good. Again, the pictures don't really do it justice.

*30/12/07*

Well this project is winding down. I moved the system to its final resting place, and it seems to be working great. A few minor glitches, but nothing that can't be solved. The system is connected to a Panny 32" CRT TV (4:3 ratio standard viewing) via s-video. Though the wife has yet to play with it too much, other than play some pacman via MAME, I don't expect too much in the way of resistance from her.

*2/1/08*

Increased the text sizing in the menus, so they show up better. Below is an image of the new size:

Funny thing is that after I modified the xml files, I found a setting to increase the font size right within GAM.

I also played around with the Hauppauge irremote.ini file. So now the Hauppauge remote can shutdown GAM and WindowsXP of the PVR, it can also start GAM if sitting at the desktop. It can also wake up the music-server and place it into standby via a couple of buttons. Slowly doing more and more minor tweaks to get the system to behave exaclty the way I would want it to work...and still look good in the end (and most importantly...easy to use).

*4/1/08*

Added TV station logos, so when flipping through the guide, a quick visual can be made of the logo to deteremine the broadcasting company. Took some time editing the mapping file, but looks nice in the end.

*9/1/08*

The Thermaltake supply came in, and I installed it. System is quiet now except for the Slot1 CPU fan. Will have to look into a silent 50mm fan for that now. Very happy with the Termaltake. Hopefully I will get some good, reliable, long lasting power from this supply.

*11/1/08*

Minor update: Added a button on the main page that is associated to a command which places the system into sleep. I never realized the option was there...guess I'm learning as I go. This is nice as I no longer have to exit GAM then close down windows. Also when resuming, it automatically starts back into GAM.

I'm also planning on redoing the codecs in the system. Which means getting rid of PowerDVD, and using Dscalers MPEG2 codec as well as others outlined from the GAM site. This is good as if these codecs work well, these will most likely be the ones I will used in my HTPC when it is ready.

*20/1/08*

Replaced the Plextor burner with a LG DVD-Rom drive. This allows for the playback of DVD movies now. I wasn't using the writer for its true intended purposes and file.

I also experimented with downsizing the resolution from 1024x768 to 800x600. I did this as the GAM text seemed to be quite fine and failed the WAF (wife acceptance factor). I also noticed at the higher resolution that the screen would alternate in brightness...this point is pretty hard to explain. I didn't realize that 800x600 would cure this problem, as I though it was something in the Omega drivers, and not really hardware related.

Now even though the bulk of the system is completed (hence I'm saying it is complete), I am still tweaking the system. The one last major tweak that I have to perform is to silence the CPU fan somehow. Slot1 CPU fans on a standard heatsink are typically 50mm types. This one is no exception, and I had looked at a Rasurbo RS50M. Problem is that the CPU fan currently in the system is attached to the heatsink with molded plastic which makes it virtually impossible (or extremely difficult) to seperate the fan from the heatsink assembly. You see, this heatsink is a Molex Radial Fin. What I'm going to experiment with is a DIY fan controller to slow the fan down enough to make it more quiet. I'm going to have to monitor the CPU temperature, and balance between acoustics and temperature.

*21/1/08*

Found a small command line utlilty called nircmd.exe. It allows for the opening/closing of the DVD-Rom door. So now with a push of a couple of remote buttons (Hauppauge's Yellow/Blue), I can now install/remove a DVD movie as if I had a typical DVD player. The Hauppauge's other two buttons (Red/Green) have been tied to placing the music-server in/out of sleep respectively.

*29/1/08*

Well, things are working well with the GAM setup. No complaints here...but outside of the actual PVR software, I have an 18 month old that had discovered the Power button, and DVD-Rom eject button. Well I found a small application called Toddler Keys that is able to "lock out" both buttons. It works really well, and I would advise anyone with small kids that like to explore the buttons of the computer to download and use this software (it's free). The only thing is that the app also locks any eject command...even software eject. So I made up a .bat file and tied it to a button on my remote that when pressed, the bat file will exit Toddler Keys, and allow the DVD tray to open. Then assuming the only reason to open the tray is to insert/remove a DVD/CD, the user will manually close the tray. Another button on the remote is used to re-start Toddler Keys to lock the DVD drive again. This is working great and is acting as a valid deterent (she's not really into pushing those buttons so much anymore...as they don't do anything). BUT...and I add a big but to this...she has now discovered the reset button...and it still does stuff. So I will have to open the box and physical disconnect the button from the motherboard. Frustrating...but at the same time, pretty funny...watching her little mind think about things and the reaction when she does something.

*4/3/08*

From the start, I was not able to import my music into GAM from my music server. Reasons being that I alphabeticallize my music into individual directories. My directory structure was C:\Music\#\Artist\Album, where # is either a number (0-9) or letter (a-z). GAM does not have the ability to flow down from the Music directory to create an overall database. So I had to enter all the alphabeticallized sub-directories in order for GAM to create its database. I guess that's a notch for Xlobby. In the end, I now have the ability to play my music from the GAM machine.

*24/4/08*

I ordered from ebay a Zalman Fanmate 2 fan controller, that would allow me to control the speed of the CPU cooler fan, and to make it less noisey. It finally came in the other day, and last night I had a chance to install it and try it out. I can slow the fan right down to around 2000 rpm (from over 5k, that's quite slow). At that speed it is virtually silent, though I worry about the CPU heating too much. Currently I've sped the fan up to about 4000 rpm, and it is still relatively quite, and the temps are remaining pretty stable according to my ASUS Probe software. This now pretty much completes any major work on this system, and now I can officially say that work on this system is done, ALBEIT, some minor tweaking here and there of the GAM interface.

*21/8/08*

I recently swapped from zap2xml to mc2xml. This program is great as it doesn't actually scrape from any website, but actually attains guide information as a true EPG updater. So far it is working very well. It updates about 2 weeks worth of guide info, and is more descript than zap2xml.

I've also started resizing text and will re-organize some of the text on the screen. I'm doing this because I'm using the setup on an older CRT 4:3 ration TV. The text comes across as small, but I've adjusted and allowed for some overscan, and some of the screen menus are cut off. So far, I've completed re-vamping the main screen, TV main screen, movies screen and movie info screen. More to go, but it is rather tedious as I'm working at the xml level, and have to constantly restart to see the changes taking effect.

*29/8/08*

Growing more frustrated by the lack of skinning information (just to be able to move a couple of menus is killing me...well not literally killing, but you get the idea), and not to mention the lack of support on the GAM's forum. I don't get it, the developer of GAM is selling the product, yet fails to help answer support questions? Why would I bother spending money on a product he appears to not support? For these reasons, I started to look at other alternatives. The one program I've always have liked, and was thinking of using it on here, only its hardware requirements were slightly too high, was GB-PVR. It is way easier to skin and modify and is very easy to setup. Well I tried multiple versions of the program (from version 0.9.8.0.9, 1.2.09 and 1.2.13), and for the most part, it worked, DVD playback from the DVD Drive was rather jerky and irritating to watch. Almost everything else was fine though. Strange as I'm using the same setup as the GAM setup where I'm using VMR9 in Exclusive Fullscreen, same codecs and rendering. GAM works and is smooth in playback, GP-PVR is jerky. Even tried different codec sets with GP-PVR, and though it made a difference, it was still jerky enough to be un-watchable. Too bad, I really had high hopes of swapping over to it, but I'd rather have smooth playback and deal with the skinning issues, then something I can't even watch. That's the only plus I'll give to GAM.

*17/9/08*

Finally completed shuffling menus over to accomadate the overscan. It was quite a learning curve, as there was more too it than I originally thought. This is one program that I will hopefully never have to skin again. Most of the menus look fine. I've oversized the text when items are selected so in some cases, the text gets cut off if the button title is too long. I will correct as I go. Also noticed lately real flakey DVD navigation problems with the Hauppauge remote. Will have to figure that out too.

*18/9/08*

Found a couple of menus that were either just missed or didn't look right so I had to do some additional modifications last night. Everything, concerning the menus, so far now appear pretty good. Would like to understand the logo images more and realize/learn how to adjust those.

*13/10/08*

Because of my recent, but increasingly growing displeasure about GAM, I'm now starting to think about using xlobby with a very basic skin like KISS, and add in maybe the XLTV plugin for recording PVR duties. More on this to come. Rather unfortunate as GAM did have alot of promise. Most likely the final straw was the lack of forum support. A persistant problem has always been a crash when changing from one video to another...and now that the system is used more, this issue is ever increasing.

*14/10/08*

I've been playing around with the Xlobby KISS skin by Buddabing. The family seems to like the simple layout. With big movie covers that can be easily indicate the DVD to watch, it made the skin an even bigger hit. I had a little codec issues with some movies that played back jerky in Zoom Player, but I changed the video codec from DScaler to Cyberlink and the jerkiness seemed to have gone away. I'm modifying screens and will be adding the XLTV plugin to work with Hauppauge's WinTV2000. I mainly want to setup to record and not so much to watch TV via the computer. Family right now have not bought into the LiveTV concept, and most of the times will be watching direct from the STB to TV and not through the computer. Also since I have the music-server, I'm going to modify the music button to go and connect via thin client to the music-server. I found that I have remote control of the thin client screens using the Hauppauge remote, so we will be able to use that as a controller for the music-server in the future.

*15/10/08*

I given it great thought in using Xlobby on this machine. For DVD/movie viewing and controlling the music-server, I most likely will go this route. I had though about using one of the TV plugins to do PVR duties. A couple of roadblocks though being that the plugins for the most part use the tuner portion of the card to change channels. I'm not using the card that way. I have it connected to a satellite reciever, and the reciever does the channel changing. This leads to the problem: how to get xlobby to blast the channel changes with the existing equipment? This is one area that Got All Media excelled at. So I decided to modify Got All Media, taking out everything that is not related to TV, change its skin to match relatively to the xlobby KISS skin, and have GAM continue to be strictly a PVR on the system. I don't even want it to do LiveTV, only to be able to setup and record in the background. Then use Xlobby/Zoomplayer to view the recorded files. I've got the basic of how it will flow. It will be an undertaking to convert GAM to something that matches well with Xlobby, but I figure since I've already setup GAM for recording TV, this will be the best route to take. I will soon have some screen shots.

Main view of the KISS Xlobby Screen. Clicking on TV/PVR button will open something like this:

KISS GAM Guide screen opens by default now.

It would be nice to transfer the KISS buttons over, but right now, I'm not too sure as how to do that. More screens will be shown here and on my Xlobby skin page as well in the future.

*16/10/08*

I've pretty much completed the Xlobby KISS modifyed screens, I only have to move some things away from the screen edges due to overscanning. Also completed is the integration between GAM and Xlobby. I recorded a show using the above setup and it seemed to work great. I just have to setup importing recordedtv shows into an xlobby database. Now I can concentrate and finish off the GAM screens to suit, which should hopefully be completed by the end of the weekend. I think now, I'm going to be finally satisfied with how this machine is running.

*17/10/08*

I was working on the system again last night, and was noticing a huge lag when connecting via VNC. I also noticed lags when opening a DVD movie (Zoomplayer starting), and when bringing up the GAM guide. Looking at the tasks, I found out that Xlobby was at 100% CPU utilization. I've been using Xlobby now for a few years, and know that it should not be dragging down the CPU like that. First spot, and usually the primary culprit for this to occur was a plugin. Sure enough, even though I wasn't using some of the plugins, I had copied everything from the HTPC which is using a whole slew of plugins. The bad plugin ended up being the XReceive plugin. Mainly the conf.ini file has the HTPC IP address still. Since I wasn't using it anyways, I ended up deleting that plugin and all the other not in use...including the default CDEX and USB-UIRT plugins. Xlobby now only takes up ~30% CPU once the system is all loaded. Things are running more smoothly now, Zoomplayer loads way more quickly.

*18/10/08*

Continued doing tweaks to the system, mainly working on minor flow issues in xlobby. Moving some buttons around to take in account the overscan issue etc. On the GAM side I worked on color schemes to make it easier to view on the CRT screen. Also added to Xlobby the xHideMouse and xHideTaskbar plugins. When the system loads xlobby, these plugins will hide both mouse and taskbar. When exiting back to windows, the plugin unhides them.

*20/10/08*

Added xWOL display and status information of the music-server and HTPC to the main menu screen and settings overlay so a user can quickly see if either are running (music-server needed for music, HTPC needed for DVD/Recorded TV). Eventually I will have it monitor the UnRAID server instead of the HTPC, once that system is finally on-line.

*26/10/08*

Well I attempted to try out the Radeon 9500 AGP card that resides in the music-server as it isn't being used to its potential in that machine. THe system would start, but eventually the screen would go wonky, or blackout, or some other anomaly which would make me have to reboot the system. So I ended up going back to the Radeon 7000. I also added an extra 32Meg memory I had kicking around from the system I tore down to use the box for the UnRAID server. So now the system has 256Meg (up from 224). I'm still planning on upping the system to 512Meg.

I also did some other tweaks to the system by using TweakUI, and changed/add somethings to the KISS skin. Wife didn't like the image I had used for weather selection, so I changed that, as well as the navigation of the exit screen.

*4/11/08*

Made a small change to the KISS skin and how movies are accessed. I had the system setup that on the main menu, I showed the status of the music-server and HTPC. To wake the music server, all the user has to do is press the corresponding button. The HTPC was woken by pressing the lower green button on the Hauppauge remote. To me this was confusing so I set up a wake condition when pressing the movie button in the skin. I then added a status icon for the HTPC on the main movies screen, which will indicate when that machine is live. In the future, once the UnRAID server is completed, I will move the status and WOL command to point at that machine.

*6/11/08*

I'm bidding on a couple of 256Meg sticks of SDRAM for the system. If I win these, along with some of the existing RAM in the system, I could have a total of 700Megs of memory. This will be more than enough to zip this system along, and should improve the speed of the system two-fold with opening of GAM with Xlobby, running DVD etc. Even booting the system should have an incredible speed boost. This will now be one of the final upgrades to the system.

Only one other thing is to build a MayIR for this system so it can be started purely via remote. Right now, one must push the power button to start, and I have noticed that my little one has taking a liking to seeing the large blue LED on. Once the MayIR is built, I could even totally disconnect the power button.

*7/11/08*

Memory update...didn't win that auction, but I'm still looking.

*10/11/08*

Added bat files with accompanying vbs files to hide the DOS windows for each bat file. These bat files run xlobby "run event" commands tied to specific screens to goto. The location of these vbs files are then added to the hauppauge IRRemote.ini file, so the following buttons control their respectively named window: Video (movies), Music (music-server thin client connection), Pictures (pictures), Guide (TV EPG in GAM), Radio (weather), Menu (main menu), Go (starts xlobby). This allows even more control to the Hauppauge remote over what I already was able to do with it.

*11/11/08*

Here is my Hauppauge button profile for controlling the MediaPVR system. There will be a couple of more buttons to add, like maybe Zoom Player chapter select and the sort, but the major definitions are complete.

In the near future I will add the irremote.ini, and some of the vbs script/bat files.

*12/11/08*

I just won off ebay 2x256M sticks of PC100 RAM. Mixing in with the existing sticks, I should be able to achieve 704M of system memory. This will be more than enough to run everything required, then some on this system.

*20/11/08*

I am not having much luck lately. First, the 2.8GHz CPU came in and wasn't compatible with the Chaintech motherboard used in the music-server, now the memory arrived today, and one of the modules is faulty. It gives one long beep on powerup, slight pause, then another long beep, followed by another pause etc. While the module that works is not recognized when the other modules are installed...but works fine on its own. I've contacted the ebay seller to see what can be done to fix the problem...hoping my luck will turn around.

The one thing that I had forgotten to add from when I installed the original ebay purchased memory, was that it was ECC type memory. According to the manual, ECC memory could be mixed with normal memory with this motherboard, only the "ECC" quanlities would be ignored. I found this not to be the case. After the initial problems of the one stick not working, and taken out of the equation, I attempted to install the "good" 256M ECC memory with some of my existing non-ECC memory. Well the system did not recognize the ECC memory, and only reported the non-ECC memory in the BIOS. It didn't even give the option of selecting ECC in the memory type (grayed out). Removing the non-ECC memory allowed the ECC memory to then be "seen" by the BIOS. In the end, I could use 1 stick equalling 256Megs, or 4 sticks (128M+64M+2x32M) equalling 256M....so I chose to stick with the 1 stick of ECC memory that was aquired in the ebay purchase, and waited for a resolution to the other stick. I hoped, at least in the end, for the system to have 512M of RAM. If it was only via the two sticks of ECC memory, then so be it.

*26/11/08*

I just received another stick of RAM from that ebay seller. I was excited to get that into the system and up the memory to at least 512Megs. When I went into the BIOS though, it was only reporting 396Megs....DAMN!!! The new stick, even though the sticker indicated 256Meg, it was only 128Megs. So I have informed the ebay seller of this latest issue, and hoping to get it resolved. I removed the one good stick that I got from the original purchase and took a picture of the BIOS with only the newly aquired RAM. I even tried multiple sockets...just to rule out a problem. I'm not a happy camper.

*12/12/08*

Ooopss, I should have address this about 1.5 weeks ago. I recieved from the seller of the memory a third stick, and this time it was a success. I finally achieved my 512Megs. Actually, due to all the issues that I had, the seller let me keep the stick that only read 128Megs as well, so the system now has a total of 640Megs. It is running really smooth wit Xlobby/Zoomplayer. Very happy with how this system has finally turned out. Xlobby/Zoomplayer is running really smooth. The Haupaugge remote pretty much has full control of every aspect of the system (except for power-on), and even GAM with its reduced functionality is running really good. This system is also one of the most quietest systems I have ever put together. As I have mentioned, this system only needs the addition of a MayIR .

*16/1/09*

Well, I ran into my first problem with Zoom Player. I've been running that program forever and it is my choice over Media Player Classic (or MPC-Home Cemina), and Theatertek. Tonight though, it balked. The worst thing was that the family was watching a movie and I was at work when it happened. It consistently stopped at the same time in the movie. Zoom Player more or less crashed. I thought it was my UnRAID server, but I still had communication and the drives were fine. I then thought that maybe it was the rip, or when I copied the movie from the HTPC to the server, so I tried out the movie both locally on the HTPC and from the server on the HTPC. The HTPC is also using Zoom Player. Both cases, the movie ran fine past the same point that was crashing Zoom on the MediaPVR. I re-copied the movie over anyways, but Zoom Player on the MediaPVR always failed (stopped and crashed) at the same point in the movie. So I ended up trying MPC...movie ran fine. I then installed and tried Theatertek. Again the movie ran past that point where Zoom Player crashed. So, I converted over to Theatertek on this system. I quickly got the Hauppauge remote working with it, and it came together without too much issues. Hopefully I won't have anymore issues.

*19/1/09*

I just completed an update to the irremote.ini file for the Hauppauge remote to toggle on/off: video stats, video position and closed captioning in TheaterTek. Works great.

*25/1/09*

Well, I'm at it again with the changes. Decided to change the skin from KISS (modified) to a modified AppleTV skin. It turned out really good, so I'm going to release it soon. I have to get some screen captures to add to this site. Also in updating to this AppleTV skin, I've started to modify the GAM screens to suit, so it actually appears more integrated since using a simple black background. This skin also blends nicely with TheaterTek's black background too. I have to, in the end, bundle the skin for distribution.

I also took some time over the weekend, and went into the service menu of my Panasonic TV and did some modifications, so the set is no longer overscanning so much. Things are appearing much more nicely on the screen, both via TV viewing and when using the MediaPVR.

*26/1/09*

Added some screen shots of the new AppleTV skin that I've deployed onto the MediaPVR system. Also upgraded the main page with a new gif image that also has these shots. View my Xlobby skins page for more details.

*22/2/09*

Never really realized this before, but the popup for a DVD being inserted into the system never really worked correctly, nor did it look right. So I ended up fixing it up, so it looks more like the other AppleTV screens (more like the exit overlay, since it is an overlay as well), and made sure the overlay opened after a disk has been inserted. Even though a "Copy" option exists, I'm not sure as to whether I'm going to install DVD Fab on that machine or not.

*18/5/09*

Over the weekend I decided to swap out the current MediaPVR and replace it with the BES. I just decided that upgrading the bedroom TV would take longer than anticipated. So instead of having the system sit around and collect dust, I figured I could get some good use out of BES, and use it as the new MediaPVR. So the case, motherboard, CPU, memory, Hard drive, DVD drive of BES was used, and I ended up using the soundcard, and PVR-150 from the old MediaPVR system. Making this change over also allowed me to drop Got All Media all together and replace it with GB PVR. Even though GBPVR is a complete system within itself, I will still use Xlobby (with the AppleTV skin) and mod GB mainly for its TV recording features. So far it has run pretty decently, but I still have further integration/skinning to do. The rest of the parts from the old MediaPVR system will be used to replace my aging "workhorse" computer...an old PIII 733MHz machine. The next generation of BES may be a Micro-ITX system, but we will see.

*28/5/09*

Slowly, the new MediaPVR system is getting up to speed. The Xlobby AppleTV skin went on without issue, and I'm skinning the GBPVR interface to look relatively the same. I've done some TV recordings without problems. Though I'm thinking I have some display driver/codec issue as if I run at a resolution of 1024x768, ripped DVD's seem to run fine, with a little "slow" glitch every few seconds. Recorded TV would show a multi-image flicker during horizontal panning, which really looked horrible. Everything seemed to run more smoothly if I backed the resolution back to 800x600. Another reason I was thinking a driver/codec issue was because the CPU usage never got much above 50% utilization. The audio has also given me some issues in that if you listen closely enough, you could here pops every so often. I un-installed the AC3filter codec after reading that it gave people some grief. The GPU cooling fan is also emits too much noise so I'm trying to figure out a way to silence that. On a good note, I figure out one thing. For the longest time, anytime the system is brought out of standby, the Hauppauge remote would take 20 seconds to respond to button pushes. It just seemed that the Hauppauge software is setup in such a way that it just takes forever to work after a standby condition. So what I have done is to shut down the IR.exe prior to putting the system into standby. Upon waking, I use the xPower plugin for xlobby to send an OS execute command to start the IR.exe program again. The remote now responds almost immediately upon waking now...which improves the WAF considerably.

*7/6/09*

I think I finally solved a majority of the issues I was having. Concerning the consistant "slow" glitch that occurred during DVD rips. I un-installed the CCC drivers altogether, and went with the same Omega drivers that I was using in the previous MediaPVR system. This helped a little, but didn't totally solve the issue. What I then ended up doing was going back to using ZoomPlayer, which allowed easier control of the codecs used. This finally solved the glitch issue. Now DVD playback is smooth. When looking at recorded TV, I ended up making some changes to the configuration of GBPVR. I mainly played around with the codecs and the de-interlacing options. Well the de-interlacing options seemed to be the important thing here as now I'm getting smooth playback as well. So now all video playback is at 1024x768. I've turned on the overscan features of the Omega drivers, as well as set the Vertical refresh to "Always On" to help in alleviating video tearing. The other issue was a consistent audio popping, or snapping sound every second it seemed. I ended up swapping out the old SB16 card for the Live5.1 card intended for BES. I still used the KX drivers, but now the audio is sounding great.

*6/7/09*

I picked up a second OCZ supply for a really good deal...couldn't pass it up, and swapped it into the system on the weekend. Now I still need to figure out how the best way to silence the GPU cooler.

*9/8/09*

Well it's been a while and I haven't done too much more with this machine. I had some issues with the EPG downloading...it just seemed that GBPVR would not update properly. Not to sure, but I ended up back tracking in GB version numbers, and it seems to work now.

The other thing that has bugged me about the system was the video card's cooling fan. This little 40mm fan was a noisy PITA. I was looking at an Artic Cooler silencer for that version of Radeon card on eBay, and was pretty close to buying one...when I decided to do the unthinkable. I figured that I was not overclocking the system, nor was I running anything to intensive - video wise, nor at any crazy resolutions, I unplugged the VGA fan altogether. I figured the worst thing that would happen is that in the event of the card overheating, it would cause the video to sputter and stop...maybe send the card into some thermal protection mode. Well, it hasn't and the kid's have watched plenty of movies on the system. So I never bothered about a new VGA cooler for that system...and it is pretty quiet now.

*8/9/09*

Now lately, I've been having issues with GBPVR. Rather unfortunate as I do like the program, but it has not been stable for me at all. I first had an issue where the EPG would not update, so I ended up backtracking in version. That became more stable, but issues now have arose where GBPVR will freeze totally during LiveTV. I first noticed this though when watching a recorded show...it just froze up the computer and I had to do a hard reset. Now I've noticed this occurrence happening even when viewing LiveTV. It is pretty random when it happens, but mostly within 5 minutes...and I have to do a hard reset. It is most likely a simple configuration/codec issue, but I decided to try other PVR software now. I set up SageTV on my test computer, but it doesn't have a tuner card, so I couldn't configure EPG information. So last night, as a test, I installed it on the MediaPVR, and everything seems good right now. EPG data displays, and so far I haven't had any crashing during LiveTV viewing. There are some issues, like once I press "Stop" to stop a LiveTV broadcast and Sage didn't seem to like that too much. But as long as I have a reliable EPG, and PVR, then I will finally be happy...and if that means going with SageTV to do it...well so be it. With Sage installed on that machine, maybe I will try the client software out on the HTPC and get some TV down to that system as well.

*7/10/09*

My PVR software woes continue...I've been trying out SageTV for the last little while, and issues of Sage freezing occurred by just navigating around the menu, or when starting the EPG module, or even going to the recorded TV screen. It got rather frustrating. It even would freeze when watching a recorded show...not just freeze, but the screen would just go black, and I couldn't recover unless I did a hard reset. So what I ended up doing to get around the playback crashing issue was to create a database in Xlobby of the recorded TV shows, then use MPC-HC to playback the files. It works a charm. Now concerning the SageTV general crashing issue when navigating around the menu system...well, I never had problems like this with GBPVR, so I ended up going back to that software, yet still using Xlobby/MPC-HC for viewing the recorded files, as GBPVR's EPG module, and recording features worked fine...just playing LiveTV, and resultant recorded files gave issues.

The other thing I ended up doing with this recorded TV feature in Xlobby, was to give the ability to move recorded TV files over from the local MediaPVR machine to the UnRAID server. This way any other computer can access the recorded TV files...to which I have now setup the HTPC for this feature. I was able to do this by creating a move.bat file with the following lines:

echo %1

echo %2

move %1 %1

cd\

xsend "command:xlobby:run event:TV:refresh" "ip address" "port"

So %1 and %2 are variables that are defined in the Xlobby command. The xsend command will perform a refresh of the recorded TV database after the file is moved.

In xlobby, I then created a move event which uses the os:execute command to run the move.bat file. In the arguments I used this following line:

"%quickwatch>parameter%" "\\tower\disk2\recordedtv\"

So the "%quickwatch>parameter%" is %1 and defines the file location can be found in the database>parameter variable. The "\\tower\disk2\recordedtv\" defines the destination drive location to move the file to.

So currently a DOS prompt will be open for the duration that this .bat file is running, and closes when everything is finished and the recordedTV database is updated. I may also add a overlay that will automatically close after a duration of time (like 5 seconds) that will indicate that the file was moved.

*9/10/09*

Completed a minor skin up to add an additional Xlobby screen to allow playing back recorded TV right from Xlobby using MPC-HC. So I use GBPVR's EPG and recording features to record the show, then in Xlobby, when I enter this new screen, it does a database refresh. Selecting a show will pop open an overlay to allow the user to select to watch the show or move it over to the UnRAID server so it can be watched from any other computer.

The skin has been updated and released to the Xlobby public for all to use.

*27/04/10*

Since I've had some success with running MP on the HTPC, I've decided to go ahead and convert this machine over to it as well. Well, I found out that MP has issues with controlling a set-top box unless you use an MCE remote control. I don't so I've gone back to using GBPVR again for TV recording duties. The other thing I've been seeing on this system is after a while the screen will black out and I have to close MP using the Task manager. Problem here is that if I try and restart MP, it hangs at different spots of the startup. I have to do a fresh restart to get MP working again. I'm thinking it is something to do with the system over all, so I'm in the midst of designing up a new system...one that will allow for the playback of HD content on a future flat screen (when my better half decides it's okay to buy one). Please view the MediaPVR Gen2 section for details here.

Also since using MP, I'm using the StreamedMP skin like what I'm using on the HTPC. The issue with this is that it is a 16x9 skin. So I'm slowly doing some minor converts to the skin to fit it properly on a standard 4:3 display. This entails getting down to the nitty-gritty and learn MP's xml code. Fun stuff all around, and it gives me hours of work to learn.

*5/07/10*

I'm just finishing installing a second MayIR circuit into the system to allow for the ability to turn it on (from power-off or standby) via IR signals. Just finishing some troubleshooting and it should be ready to go when the system comes on-line.

*19/07/10*

At the same time of installing the new TV in the Livingroom, I've re-vamped the MediaPVR. It now sits in a generic enclosure, and resides along with the satellite receiver in the basement. Since the failure of the motherboard in the HTPC, the motherboard/CPU combo, that was going to be used in the MediaPVR Gen2 project, got used to get the HTPC back running, so the above setup is still on the go.

The system is currently taking advantage of the xStreamed skin, running with the Movie Module and the TV Module Option 1 (using GBPVR). The remote is a little sensitive in that I can't point it directly at the receiver. If you do, it seems to overdrive the receiving circuit. Other than that, the system is working great, and xStreamed is looking awesome on the LCD.

*19/07/10*

So I started developing the MediaPVR Gen2 system again and picked up a motherboard. Once I get memory for the system, it will allow me to take this Gen1 system offline as a media pvr. I most likely will end up using the parts (motherboard/CPU/memory) in updating the music-server to a half decent speed machine. This will be one of my last posts on this blog.

*22/11/10*

As of this date, Gen1 MediaPVR is now decommissioned. Some of the parts were used in the Gen2 MediaPVR (Case, supply, hard drive, DVD drive and extra circuitry). The rest of the parts (motherboard, CPU, memeory) were swapped into making the new music server. This section of blog is now closed.