What is the "safe" hardware to buy ?? (1 Viewer)

[pshdo]

Hi there.

I have a HTPC with MP running on it, but now i´m thinking of building a dedicated HTPC, that have nothing else to do than be a HTPC....

But what hardware should i buy if i don´t want any problems at all ??

I know that a lot of hardware is supported, but i think that some hardware is supported "more" (if you will) than other hardware, just by the fact that it is that hardware that the developers use them self......
Or by the fact that it is the hardware that is most common used in HTPC......

So if i´d like a HTPC (with MP) to:
Have a analog TV recorder.
As little noice as possible from the htpc.
Optical in/out from soundcard.
S-Video out.
Remote controlled.

And the HTPC should be able to play any DVD, Xvid, radio, TV or Music i select in MP and/or record TV, what hardware should i then buy (and how mutch ram and how big CPU ect.)

I´d like a system that is as "mainstream" as possible so i eg. can play with CVS updates, i have until now seen a lot of bugs in varius CVS updates, that i think maybe partly is from me choosing wrong (semi supported) hardware.......

 

[FlipGer]

Hi,

as far as i can see in your sig, you already have a mainstream computer.

Analog TV: Hauppauge PVR is the way to go. 500 for multituner
Graphics card: Most devs have nVidia based cards (5xxx and above), but an ATi Radeon (9xxx) does also work quite well.
Ram: 512 MB plus
OS: Windows XP + SP2 (MCE seems to cause trouble)
Sound: Do not know, onBoard should be enough in most cases. But i like my Audigy ZS 2
Codecs: As minimal as possible. Best is to use only those from MP for MPEG (TV, DVD, Movies) and ffdshow for the rest (DivX, XviD, AC3, Ogg, etc.).

CVS: is a work in progress! And especially at the moment there a big changes, so do not wonder, that some "releases" (CVS) do not work.

Flip.

 

[pshdo]

Hi there, thanks for the answer......

CVS: is a work in progress! And especially at the moment there a big changes, so do not wonder, that some "releases" (CVS) do not work.

I´m pretty mutch on the right track with hardware then, thats good to know.....

On the other hand, with the CVS, it seems to me that they are not tested at all, or at least only on one system or so ??

Is the CVS just compiled from the updates that are uploaded, and put out on the CVS site without any testing done at all ??

What should people then use the CVS for ??

I Know that the CVS builds are not official releases, more a kind of "beta"- releases, but it seems that noone bother test them at all, leaving users with a bad impression if they dare to try a CVS update.....

I have tryed severel CVS updates all the way back to the time i started using MP, i can say that MP itself (the official releases) have improved big time from then and until now, but for my part the CVS have never worked as one might think they should.....
Always have i been disapointed, and kicked myself for trying one more a CVS....

That was the reason i thought of buying hardware that match the CVS compilers hardware (or the developers hardware), to be more "mainstream" and so i also could get updates from day to day..... :wink:

 

[Callifo]

The cvs isnt finsihed thats why it doesnt always work. Look at it this way, you might have 4 people working on it in different sections. One finishes up for the night and uploads what he's done. He hasnt finished but he has done the section he wanted to complete for now. You download it and find it doesnt work properly. Since its still being worked on (just not at that time) and hasnt been tested its probably not going to work properly so unless you really want to play around it probably isnt worth downloading them.

 

[FlipGer]

Hi,

as Callifo said, there are many people working on different parts, which may not be ready when the CVS is done.

The CVS's from myshare are made automatically and are not tested at all! So why using them? No reason than finding bugs in new features.

The release system of MP changed a bit. In the early days there was a (more or less tested) release every week. Since this year the official releases come much more lately (as can be seen at the 0.2.0.0 roadmap). There are only official working and tested prereleases. In these prereleases no features are added for bughunting. After a final release new features are added. So the CVS is really only a snapshot of the current work, with some things just not working.

So today CVS is really only for people which want to test out the latest version or to find a bug in one special plugin / module. Bugs in CVS should not be placed in the forum, only in IRC!

HTH, Flip.

 

[pshdo]

Ok then, ill stop trying to use CVS as of this moment.....

I simply don´t see the fun of getting burned one time after an other.....

When they on the CVS site call CVS updates for "the bleeding edge", i thought that it was vaild at least a little tested "beta"-versions if you like.....

Maybe i´m just that stupid...... :wink:

:idea: Or maybe The teamleaders on the mainpage should warn people a little stronger against trying CVS versions..... :wink:

One might think that ordenery people (like me :roll: ) without any programming skills, perhaps try to use CVS lets say 2 or 3 times without any sucess, and after that simply give up on MP and find some other HTPC software like eg. M$, and that would be a said development i think....

 

[pdream]

Offtopic: Why would MCE not work? I want to purschase a MCE system with mediaportal on it too, isn't this possible?

 

[FlipGer]

Hi,

MCE will work! Many people are using MediaPortal on it. Pshdo asked for a system with less problems and this seems (only in my eyes) to be currently XP+SP2.
XP+SP2 and MCE have different patch levels / drivers versions, what can cause trouble. XP seems to do a better job at the moment.

But this is no advice, not to buy MCE (since it is nearly a XP pro and has a very nice remote).

Flip.

 

[pdream]

Hi,

MCE will work! Many people are using MediaPortal on it. Pshdo asked for a system with less problems and this seems (only in my eyes) to be currently XP+SP2.
XP+SP2 and MCE have different patch levels / drivers versions, what can cause trouble. XP seems to do a better job at the moment.

But this is no advice, not to buy MCE (since it is nearly a XP pro and has a very nice remote).

Flip.

Still offtopic: Good to hear, I worry little about security since I'm a very clever user. I've heard great things about the remote, I only wonder how much uses it has in normal windows mode. Any site wher eI can find this?

Sorry for this thread hijacking, at least it keeps the thread on top.

 

[Marcusb]

I always use the latest CVS updates from MyShare. Sure, there are a few that do not work properly, especially if DTV is your main TV type.

As has been stated a numner of times before, all you have to do is to copy your MediaPortal directory to a back up before you install the CVS. If there is a problem, then copy the old directory back in.

Also, don't forget to run the start.bat file after a CVS update or you *will* have problems.
For the most part, I have found that CVS's are very good. There have not been many that are "broken" but that's why you create a back up.

This is also in the instructions on the CVS download page along with warnings that the CVS is a "Work in Progress". I don't think there needs to be more warning about this than there already is...