TV-Server Version: rc3
MediaPortal Version: rc3
MediaPortal Skin: Streamed MP
Windows Version: xp sp3 MCE 2005
CPU Type: 2.4ghz
HDD: 80+160+320
Memory: 1gb
Motherboard: ga-8ig1000pro
Video Card: Radeon 9200se
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card: soundblaster pci
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: hvr-1100
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card: dtv2000h
MPEG2 Video Codec: k-lite
MPEG2 Audio Codec: k-lite
h.264 Video Codec: k-lite
HTPC Case: silverstone lc20
Cooling: standard
Power Supply: 250watt generic
Remote: imon
TV: Full HD 32"
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI
I was given a 2.4 ghz PIV with 512meg ram and an 80 gb hard drive by my brother in law. Id been thinking about making an HTPC for a long time and thought this might be a good cost-effective basis for a first build.
Initially I tried running MYTHTV, as I had seen some very impressive videos and could see that it had a lot of potential. I was warned in the forums that Id read that it would be a lot of work to set up, but I had some experience with Linux and was prepared to give it a go.
During the course of the setup (3 weeks), I acquired two tuner cards on ebay - a hauppauge hvr1100 and a Leadtec Winfast DTV2000H. They cost $40 and $60 AU respectively. Then bought a Silverstone LC20 case which came with an IMON remote. The LC20's were around the $130 mark about 6 months ago, but since the financial crisis in the USA, all our computer hardware has had a big hike in price. The Case jumped to $180 within a matter of weeks
( Nice case though. Very happy with it.
After three weeks of trying to get MYTHTV working, I finally bit the bullet, conceded defeat, reformatted, and installed a copy of Windows XP MCE. There were just too many 'mysterious' errors using Linux. I was spending all of my time trying to get it working and was really getting nowhere.
The MCE setup was going swimmingly, until I tried to get EPG for Australia, to which MCE replied 'no EPG data available for your country'. I did a bit of fishing around and found epgstream.net, which has a free xmltv grabber for Aus.
The next annoyance was the lack of skins, and generally customisation options. After coming from Mythtv (which you can do pretty much anything with) I found MCE really limiting.
So then I picked up a copy of mediaportal RC3, and began the process of getting it set up.
In the course of using Windows, I invested in another 512meg ram, which made the whole thing run a lot smoother (was not an issue with Mythbuntu and Mythtv which runs on lower-end hardware) but really improved performance in XP
First issue I encountered was that the TNT2 card was not up to scratch. MP wouldnt play video on it. So I got an FX5500, which installed fine but I had some problems with the driver and there was some screen flicker using an S-Video connection to our CRT TV. I got rid of the Nvidia and installed a Radeon 9200SE which worked fine.
With RC3 I had some major hassles initially with tv database not working, and fixed this by uninstalling and reinstalling the tv server.
Also had some issues with stuttery playback, but that was caused by an inadequately updated copy of MCE. After updating using the instructions here
GeneralRequirements - MediaPortal Manual Documentation
it played TV beautifully - even able to record and watch using both cards. Was very pleased given the low-end nature of the hardware I was using.
Initially had some blockyness when playing back xvids. Got around this by using k-lite and switching on some post-processing options in k-lite codec pack.
I found out pretty fast that the Hauppauge had much better channel-change times than the Winfast! - If I could do it again I would get 2 hauppauge cards, but got around this by setting Hauppauge to first priority and Winfast as second priority, so all our viewing/channel flicking is done with the Hauppauge and the Winfast is only used for recording in background.
The PC was a bit noisy, so I replaced the heatsync with a copper unit and all the fans with Deep Cool 80mm. I took the 40mm fan off the northbridge chipset because I wasnt using inbuilt video so it never needed additional cooling. (I had tried an aftermarket 40mm ball bearing unit on there, but it was very noisy, even after I soldered in a variable speed resistor in series). I then got a 4-port fan speed controller off ebay for $25, installed this in one of the hard drive bays and used speedfan to tune the speed/heat/noise level to make the machine as quiet as possible.
I had a 320gb HD in another machine and my set-top box had a 160gb WD 7200rpm drive in it, which I took out - installed both drives in the HTPC case. (the three drives filled up very fast from out movie collection, so another 500gb is on my current wishlist)
Im running MP with the following:
Moving Pictures (great movies collection plug in)
My TV Series (love this)
My Emulators (running a gameboy emulator for the kids)
STREAMED MP - best looking skin IMHO
So then we went and bought a Full-HD TV, and I was looking forward to playing some 1080p vids. Put some on last night and was disappointed to discover that the hardware's not up to the task.
Findings:
You need fairly hefty hardware to play 1080p - the requirements on the page above didn't apply to me as Im only 400mhz off the cpu speed and have 1gb and a 128 meg card but playback is totally unwatchable. My video card slot is AGP which means bigger bucks for a decent GPU than would be the case using pci-e, so will wait till we can afford a motherboard/cpu replacement before upgrading. (another bunch of additions to the wish list)
Getting it set up and running took about 2 weeks. Now that its working the way I want it to, its a great setup. Very stable, very configurable. There was a lot more work involved than would have been the case with some of the simpler HTPC software around, but Im very happy with the end result.
Just have to talk the wife into letting me make that 1080p and hard-drive upgrades now... wish me luck?!
MediaPortal Version: rc3
MediaPortal Skin: Streamed MP
Windows Version: xp sp3 MCE 2005
CPU Type: 2.4ghz
HDD: 80+160+320
Memory: 1gb
Motherboard: ga-8ig1000pro
Video Card: Radeon 9200se
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card: soundblaster pci
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: hvr-1100
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card: dtv2000h
MPEG2 Video Codec: k-lite
MPEG2 Audio Codec: k-lite
h.264 Video Codec: k-lite
HTPC Case: silverstone lc20
Cooling: standard
Power Supply: 250watt generic
Remote: imon
TV: Full HD 32"
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI
I was given a 2.4 ghz PIV with 512meg ram and an 80 gb hard drive by my brother in law. Id been thinking about making an HTPC for a long time and thought this might be a good cost-effective basis for a first build.
Initially I tried running MYTHTV, as I had seen some very impressive videos and could see that it had a lot of potential. I was warned in the forums that Id read that it would be a lot of work to set up, but I had some experience with Linux and was prepared to give it a go.
During the course of the setup (3 weeks), I acquired two tuner cards on ebay - a hauppauge hvr1100 and a Leadtec Winfast DTV2000H. They cost $40 and $60 AU respectively. Then bought a Silverstone LC20 case which came with an IMON remote. The LC20's were around the $130 mark about 6 months ago, but since the financial crisis in the USA, all our computer hardware has had a big hike in price. The Case jumped to $180 within a matter of weeks
( Nice case though. Very happy with it. After three weeks of trying to get MYTHTV working, I finally bit the bullet, conceded defeat, reformatted, and installed a copy of Windows XP MCE. There were just too many 'mysterious' errors using Linux. I was spending all of my time trying to get it working and was really getting nowhere.
The MCE setup was going swimmingly, until I tried to get EPG for Australia, to which MCE replied 'no EPG data available for your country'. I did a bit of fishing around and found epgstream.net, which has a free xmltv grabber for Aus.
The next annoyance was the lack of skins, and generally customisation options. After coming from Mythtv (which you can do pretty much anything with) I found MCE really limiting.
So then I picked up a copy of mediaportal RC3, and began the process of getting it set up.
In the course of using Windows, I invested in another 512meg ram, which made the whole thing run a lot smoother (was not an issue with Mythbuntu and Mythtv which runs on lower-end hardware) but really improved performance in XP
First issue I encountered was that the TNT2 card was not up to scratch. MP wouldnt play video on it. So I got an FX5500, which installed fine but I had some problems with the driver and there was some screen flicker using an S-Video connection to our CRT TV. I got rid of the Nvidia and installed a Radeon 9200SE which worked fine.
With RC3 I had some major hassles initially with tv database not working, and fixed this by uninstalling and reinstalling the tv server.
Also had some issues with stuttery playback, but that was caused by an inadequately updated copy of MCE. After updating using the instructions here
GeneralRequirements - MediaPortal Manual Documentation
it played TV beautifully - even able to record and watch using both cards. Was very pleased given the low-end nature of the hardware I was using.
Initially had some blockyness when playing back xvids. Got around this by using k-lite and switching on some post-processing options in k-lite codec pack.
I found out pretty fast that the Hauppauge had much better channel-change times than the Winfast! - If I could do it again I would get 2 hauppauge cards, but got around this by setting Hauppauge to first priority and Winfast as second priority, so all our viewing/channel flicking is done with the Hauppauge and the Winfast is only used for recording in background.
The PC was a bit noisy, so I replaced the heatsync with a copper unit and all the fans with Deep Cool 80mm. I took the 40mm fan off the northbridge chipset because I wasnt using inbuilt video so it never needed additional cooling. (I had tried an aftermarket 40mm ball bearing unit on there, but it was very noisy, even after I soldered in a variable speed resistor in series). I then got a 4-port fan speed controller off ebay for $25, installed this in one of the hard drive bays and used speedfan to tune the speed/heat/noise level to make the machine as quiet as possible.
I had a 320gb HD in another machine and my set-top box had a 160gb WD 7200rpm drive in it, which I took out - installed both drives in the HTPC case. (the three drives filled up very fast from out movie collection, so another 500gb is on my current wishlist)
Im running MP with the following:
Moving Pictures (great movies collection plug in)
My TV Series (love this)
My Emulators (running a gameboy emulator for the kids)
STREAMED MP - best looking skin IMHO
So then we went and bought a Full-HD TV, and I was looking forward to playing some 1080p vids. Put some on last night and was disappointed to discover that the hardware's not up to the task.
Findings:
You need fairly hefty hardware to play 1080p - the requirements on the page above didn't apply to me as Im only 400mhz off the cpu speed and have 1gb and a 128 meg card but playback is totally unwatchable. My video card slot is AGP which means bigger bucks for a decent GPU than would be the case using pci-e, so will wait till we can afford a motherboard/cpu replacement before upgrading. (another bunch of additions to the wish list)
Getting it set up and running took about 2 weeks. Now that its working the way I want it to, its a great setup. Very stable, very configurable. There was a lot more work involved than would have been the case with some of the simpler HTPC software around, but Im very happy with the end result.
Just have to talk the wife into letting me make that 1080p and hard-drive upgrades now... wish me luck?!
Canada
