Making It Work
October 16, 2011
I finally realized that some of the most important info to make an HTPC usable as a good source component is buried deep in a couple of older pages, so I thought I would move them to a findable location (bottom of this page).
For me, it takes a couple of things (ok, lots of things, but these stand out) working well to make an HTPC behave like a good audio/video component in my sound system. I'm not really interested in esoteric outboard DACs. I'm really not interested in using a high-zoot AV receiver either (I can think of much better ways to spend $1000 to $7000). I am looking for quality sound, at the lowest cost to me.
For me, in a good HTPC, the programs perform the switching functions between TV (recorded or live), DVD, Bluray, CD, FM radio, or internet radio playback. With excellent analog output, the need for a pre-amp is basically gone. Both of my HTPCs work well with their analog outputs connected directly to a stereo power amp's inputs.
The need for a regular remote control is a show-stopper. Unless you have the control necessary to make things behave on a Windows PC running two or three media players simultaneously, you (at least I) won't like the experience. Using a keyboard and mouse is an option for some folks, but I can't see Windows screens to type properly that far away, I can't remember that many keystroke commands, and using a mouse or trackball at 10' to 20' isn't easy either. Remote control via a single Harmony remote is the route I took for my HTPCs.
The way my HTPC navigates between the two programs that are always open on it (Beyond TV and J. River's MC v16) never displays anything but the two programs' 10' user interfaces. This not only looks good, it also allows my remote to function properly.
Obviously, you will have to have a keyboard and mouse. Things will eventually crash, you'll need to log in during boot ups of the HTPC, you'll have to do maintenance chores, and you may want to use the HTPC to surf the internet or other regular uses. On my 40" LCD TV I have to be within about 6' to see the Windows desktop well enough to use it. If your situation allows seating close enough to the screen, you may well find yourself using your HTPC for other things. I found this RF Keyboard, complete with self-contained trackball and mouse wheel to be extremely convenient and easy to deploy (it uses no drivers). BUT, the keyboard has to be completely optional during HTPC use, the remote is what makes it work as a source component for me.
One other workable option is a wireless connection to your network, a smartphone, and a remote control app. Some are quite nice, but they won't control Beyond TV (too old), and it looks like something running on the HTPC or the server is required to interface with the app on your phone. They're just more than I wanted to fart with at this stage, and another layer of software that may require maintainence with every phone upgrade, or worse yet, become obsolete and need replacement.
Please Note:
There are files attached to this page (scroll to the end). Most are in depth instructions you may, or may not need. The only thing absolutely necessary to making an MCE remote receiver work with XP (I'm pretty sure they just work in Vista and Windows 7) is the irbus.inf modification described in in Step 3 of the "Curing Problems with MCE Remote Installation in Windows XP.pdf". This modification is necessary for XP users, Microsoft is no longer updating the irbus.inf file with manufacturer's hardware IDs, and you must make the necessary entries in the irbus.inf file for it to work. It's not bad, if you follow the instructions step by step, it will actually work.
Sound Cards:
First, a couple of quick sound card tests, the PCI bus Striker card from HT|Omega for about $75 and the the PCIe bus Xonar DX from Asus for about $80. Both provide 7.1 analog outputs and have developed good reputations. I installed both cards in one of my systems and ran RightMark's test suite on them. I also listened to both using my test amp and a small pair of Minimus 7 speakers.
Striker :
The Striker I got had problems. With its large following, I suspect I got a bad card, but I didn't have time to get a second one to test. Soooo, take this with at least one grain of salt.
It tested poorly, and produced noticeable noise when listened to. Under no signal conditions at about 1/3 volume or higher, I could clearly hear hiss from the speakers 3' away on my table top. I wasn't impressed with the sound quality, but I listened for noise first and I'm sure this affected my opinion. The test results are attached at the bottom of this page.
This card was surprisingly good. It tested excellent across the board in RightMark and sounded like it tested. Under no-signal conditions, at any volume, I could hold the little speakers over my ears like headphones and hear nothing but silence. Seriously, zero hiss under no-signal conditions even at full volume. This card was my choice for several reasons:
Excellent sound quality and zero noise.
It's a PCIe bus card and the PCI bus is slowly being phased out.
There are ASIO drivers available for this card (also third party drivers, but many are using them).
So far, the analog output from both of the Xonar DX cards has worked so well, I haven't touched my receivers in months.
This is slightly different kind of soundcard. It comes from the low end of the pro market and can use both ASIO & WDM drivers simultaneiously. I can't tell if this card is slowly being phased out, or if E-MU's suppler is having trouble keeping up with demand. I suspect it's on the way out, but it is an absolutely great card and easy to use under XP Pro. Its analog outputs are dead quiet like the Xonar, and I would expect similar test results from RightMark. I haven't tested it because I can't get RightMark to talk to it properly.
For HTPC use, it's very good, you have complete control over MC 16's sound coming into it via the ASIO driver, and regular Windows sounds coming in over the WDM driver. See the Main PC Update page for a few more details.
Remote Controls:
Now, on to the remote control of the HTPC. I am currently using Harmony 880s to control my systems. I do this with the following:
A USB port receiver from a Windows certified MCE remote is installed in the HTPC.
A program called Event Ghost interprets the commands received by the MCE remote receiver, and:
Switches the focus to the media player program the command is intended for.
Generates the correct keystroke shortcut commands for the media player program.
I use a Harmony 880 remote control for several reasons (I would imagine any of the other Harmony models would work, I started with a 680):
It comes with a charger cradle (finicky contacts, but they usually work).
Lots of programmable buttons in the LCD window (8 instead of 6 like most of the other Harmonys).
Set the Harmony to emulate a Microsoft Media Center PC (TSBX-IR01). This will communicate correctly with the MCE remote receiver.
With this set-up, you have 49 buttons available to do things in Windows on your HTPC. The button count comes from the MCE remote (49 buttons, total). The Harmony can replicate any of those button presses, and the real power comes from Event Ghost.
The Harmony remote is configured to send MCE commands, you will decide what the MCE command does in Event Ghost.
The MCE remote receiver receives the command (via Windows XP Pro SP3 drivers).
Event Ghost intercepts the command, process what it means, then sends the keystroke shortcut to the media player program you have programed it to send it to.
The media player then does what you have told it to do.
You smile and enjoy...
The media player program does something weird
You frown, cuss under your breath, then go looking for why...
Event Ghost will switch between the programs as directed, and send the correct command for the button press received. A good example is the Stop command. In Beyond TV, this is the Escape Key. In J. River's MC 16, this is Ctl-S. Event Ghost uses either the BTV configuration or the MC configuration, depending on which program has the focus, then sends the correct keystroke combination when I press the Stop button on the Harmony remote.
To give you some idea of what to expect from Event Ghost, here's a screen cap of the Program running.
Of course, you just tell it to run minimized after you have it set up to your tastes.
It's the first icon, a green triangle pointing to the right in the task bar. I never see it unless I open it.
I run Event Ghost in the background on all three of my PCs, both HTPCs and my main PC in my study. It appears to be bullet-proof, and has never caused any issues.
If you've read this far, I'll try to bore you even more with the main remote map I use to keep track of this. These are screen caps of the Excel spreadsheet I use.
The "Full Remote Control Set-Up.pdf" file, attached below, is a print out of the spread sheet you can enlarge for easy reading.
I've written instructions for myself for Event Ghost set-up because I find myself forgetting things. This is the "Event Ghost Set-Up.pdf" file attached below.
The same for Harmony remote set-up in the "Harmony 680 Set-Up.pdf" file attached below. While it doesn't apply directly to the 880, everything in it translates easily to the 880.
IR Receiver driver files and inf file modifications:
The "Curing Problems with MCE Remote Installation in Windows XP.pdf" and the "irbus drivers.zip" files attached below are important. If:
You have XP or or XP Pro, SP2. Not XP Pro, SP 3.
You have XP Pro, SP 3, but you have "experimented" (i.e., hosed the IR receiver drivers) and it won't work.
You have a clean XP Pro, SP3 installation, and haven't tried an MCE remote IR receiver yet.
The zip file contains the device drivers and .inf files needed to make it work (you won't need the device drivers if you are in group 3 above, you have them and they are the right ones).
All of the groups above will need to modify the irbus.inf file to include the vendor's current hardware ID. This is not really hard, just a tad involved. The "Curing Problems with MCE Remote Installation in Windows XP.pdf" file has the instructions on what driver files go in what directories, and a complete set of instructions on how to modify the irbus.inf file.