End of an era.. good bye MP

[vvulture]

Hi all...
I am signing off and leaving the PC based Home Theatre behind...

I got tired of the constant instability of the software that is out there, and not just MP. I am talking about MS Media Centre, SageTV and the likes.

I ended up going with THIS instead. In particular, the DP-S1 model which is the top of the range.

Fast to boot, super quiet, IceGuide compatible, networkable, expandable, plays almost anything etc... too much to list.

Anyway, good luck to you all. Maybe one day in the distant future i may make a comeback, but until then.........

[Spragleknas]

My guess: See you whenever MPII hits the DL pages

Bye - until then

[vvulture]

Originally Posted by Spragleknas

My guess: See you whenever MPII hits the DL pages

Bye - until then

I doubt it very much... Problem is, they have not yet released truly stable versions of MP1 and TVE3.
What makes you thiink that MP2 will be any different ?

For me personally, enough is enough... It would've been a different story had the devs focused on exisiting bugs and issues rather than introduce new feature after new feature which were not necessary.
The fact that they are working on MP2 just means less time in fixing MP1 and TVE3.

Anyway, i have moved on... :-)

[ziphnor]

I ended up going with THIS instead.

I hope you have better luck with that (i mean it, not being sarcastic . However, i hope you wont be surprised the first time it crashes on you Seriously though, while i agree that PC based HTPC's are less stable, its usually the case that the more complex the software in the box, the less stable it is and the more problems its has. You have to remember that these boxes are actually becoming more and more *like* a PC With that comes all the features of a PC but also all the bugs.

I doubt it very much... Problem is, they have not yet released truly stable versions of MP1 and TVE3.
What makes you thiink that MP2 will be any different ?

The fact that MPII is being created in realization that MP1 have some structural problems that needs to be fixed as these are making MP1 hard to maintain. Consider the whole of MPII a much needed bugfix in form of a re-write.

It would've been a different story had the devs focused on exisiting bugs and issues rather than introduce new feature after new feature which were not necessary.

I dont know where people gets this idea. Work is being done on MPII because its necessary and all the work that goes into the TV server/TV plugin is bugfixing.

[guytpetj]

Sorry to see you go vvulture, don't like to see a fellow Aussie go.

Don't know why MP was not good for you. Why it was not stable enough for you.
The Devs of MP have an almost impossible task. Each persons computer is different, different hardware combinations, different software combinations. What works perfectly for one will be a nightmare fo the other.
Hope you give MP another go.

As you can see in my signature, I have a few HTPC's, and for me they work great. My wife, kids and me can't imagine a life without MP.

[vvulture]

Hey Peter,

I too am sorry to go, but in all honesty i got fed up with the server side of things always crashing. You can see from the TVE3 threads that quiet a number of people were complaining of the same thing.

Basically, my wife got fed up ( and quite rightly so ) with me spending countless hours trying to get it working properly.

I totally understand what the devs are up against, but unfortunately i cannot wait any longer. If a stable 'final' release of TVEngine had been released, things may have worked out differently.

I am glad that you are having no problems with this as i feel you are in the minority. Most people have issues with MP in a Server/Client environment.

So far, i am very happy with the Beyonwiz units i purchased.
- I can record on one unit, and watch the recording on the other via ethernet.
- Channel change is instantaneous
- Uses next to no power at all
- Skipping thru a recorded file is a breeze
- No stuttering and/or sync issues
- I can still watch all my DivX collection

The only drawback is that i have to go back to using DVD discs... but hey, small price to pay i think. Besides, having 3 small children doesn't give you much time to watch movies anyway.


cheers

[zag2me]

Originally Posted by guytpetj

Sorry to see you go vvulture, don't like to see a fellow Aussie go.

Don't know why MP was not good for you. Why it was not stable enough for you.
The Devs of MP have an almost impossible task. Each persons computer is different, different hardware combinations, different software combinations. What works perfectly for one will be a nightmare fo the other.
Hope you give MP another go.

As you can see in my signature, I have a few HTPC's, and for me they work great. My wife, kids and me can't imagine a life without MP.

That's why the Devs should recommend some hardware (not just wiki recommendations but some real hardware that they are concentrating on) and stick with it. Most people want a stable TV app rather than having 100's of different manufacturer cards that kind of work. I remember seeing changelog after changelog of new cards supported in the tv engine instead of new stability fixes for existing cards.

Find a good TV and Graphics combination then stick to it, maybe it could even be a branch off of the media portal code for an embedded type system that runs on specific hardware that is known to perform well

[vvulture]

Originally Posted by zag2me

Find a good TV and Graphics combination then stick to it, maybe it could even be a branch off of the media portal code for an embedded type system that runs on specific hardware that is known to perform well

Good idea, but problem is that even with a simple driver update from manufacturer can create problems....
I have 2x HD3870 in my gaming rig running in crossfire.. going from Catalyst 7.12 to 8.1 screwed my crossfire setup.
Just an example.....

[jojjal]

So far, i am very happy with the xxxx units i purchased.
- I can record on one unit, and watch the recording on the other via ethernet.
- Channel change is instantaneous
- Uses next to no power at all
- Skipping thru a recorded file is a breeze
- No stuttering and/or sync issues
- I can still watch all my DivX collection

I second that.....but via MP..

Ive been using MP for allmost 2 years now and yes i hade to convinse my family to just bare out with it....and they did.... it have been many "hard resets" soft resets and so on but hey we hanged in there...

and just reasentley i could see the light in the tunnel....and it some times i had to where sun glasses.. this MP got really potantiales to be a really good application......

since i installed a reson build thern (4 days ago) ive have not done a single restart (hard way), teletext just works, skins is great, vids just starts, radio just streams, and MP is just good..


Conclusion;

It is just now the fun begins....


Thanks

[jhb]

At least in my environment. I have more problems with my other regular PCs than with MP. I need to reboot my TV (!) more pften than MP. I have around one MP reboot every two months. I am running an SVN build from october without the TV server (actually I am also running the TV-server, but not in the family "production environment").

Being a SW developer my-self I understand the focus on the new architecture. If teh code and architecture gets too messy, a rewrite based on the current knowledge is to prefer. Developing new features is by the way stopped (frozen) both for MP I and TVE3...
...since adding features will compromise stability.