Operating System Win7 or WinXP? -> 32bit or 64bit? (1 Viewer)

[eetaylog]

Ive been out of the MP loop for a year or so now (im still running 1.0.1 on WinXP), but the stability and a few gliches with my current setup is making me want a clean install or maybe even an upgrade to Win7 OS.

For a start, hybernation has never really worked properly on my XP install, meaning that we have to leave MP on constantly if we want to record anything when we're not going to be in the house (rather than standby -> MP waking the system up for recording). My TV recordings also seem to be taking a bit of a battering lately as well with a few bugs that mean i lose all my recording from the TV database whenever i do a channel rescan.

Anyway, back to the point of my thread... im a bit lost in the forums these days since MP has exploded since the days of when i first started coming on here (~2007), so i cant really find satisfactory answers to my install questions which are simply...

For a clean install with MP 1.2 Beta:

• Win7 or WinXP
• 32bit or 64bit?
• Professional or Ultimate?
• Is 1.2 Beta even the best way to go? Id like to think so as id like to give all the latest releases of some newer skins and plugins a try, but dont want them to be unstable.

Im running the following system

MediaPortal Version: MP1.0.1
MediaPortal Skin: BleazleWide
Windows Version: XP + SP3
CPU Type: AMD AM2 X2 4600+
HDD OS: Samsung F1 500Gb
HDD: 2xSamsung F1 1Tb
Memory: Corsair 3Gb
Motherboard: Gigabyte nForce 430 Micro ATX
Video Card: ATI Radeon 4670
Sound Card: On board 7.1
TV Card: Hauppauge Nova-T500
Video Codec: DivX7 h.264
HTPC Case: Antec Fusion
Cooling: Scythe Mini Ninja
Power Supply: Antec 430W
Remote: Hauppauge
TV: Samsung 42" Plasma
TV - HTPC Connection: DVI-HDMI

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[mbuzina]

Hi eetaylog

Most people by now are on Win 7, while there still is a strong faction of XP people around. I guess it mostly depends on drivers. If your system is Win 7 compatible and has good driver support (TV Card!), is usually better.

I would recommend 32 bit on your system as you will not benefit from 64 bit (the opposite might be the case, you 64 bit installs are larger) and driver support is less of an issue (it might work fine, but I would recommend checking all HW component drivers before going 64 bit). I am perfectly happy with the 1.2.0.0 beta as it speedy and quite stable (although there are a few bugs around esp. with regard to tuning).

The quality of waking is often dependant on system & bios and the respective HW attached, so Win 7 *might* have the same problems. At least win 7 has some proper power debugging tools (PowerCfg) which may indicate what is wrong.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi eetaylog

For a start, hybernation has never really worked properly on my XP install, meaning that we have to leave MP on constantly if we want to record anything when we're not going to be in the house (rather than standby -> MP waking the system up for recording).

That sort of thing is often very hardware/driver dependent as you probably know. A few points:
1. You want to use a static IP address for the stability of TV Server and your DB. If your computer gets assigned a new IP address by your router (DHCP server) when it wakes then that can throw any server that is bound to the old IP address for a loop.
2. The Nova T 500 is known to need quite a long time to reinitialise after resuming from hibernate/standby. There is a delay setting in the "general" section of TV Server configuration that should allow you to compensate for that. You could also use devcon if necessary to restart the driver.

[*]Win7 or WinXP

I'd say 7. It comes with codecs built in and the renderers are better than XPs.

[*]32bit or 64bit?

Depends what else you use the computer for and whether your hardware has 64 bit compatible drivers. MP is 32 bit only so there is no advantage in 64 bit if the PC is only for MP. Having said that, I also don't know of any disadvantage in using 64 bit so I would pick 64 bit for the RAM limit benefits.

[*]Is 1.2 Beta even the best way to go?

I'd say - yes - definitely. 1.2.0b is much more stable than 1.1.x and it has been out for long enough that most plugin and skin developers to provide updates. I do note that Bleazle is not going to provide BleazleWide for 1.2.x (not enough time).

mm

 

[eetaylog]

Hi eetaylog

Most people by now are on Win 7, while there still is a strong faction of XP people around. I guess it mostly depends on drivers. If your system is Win 7 compatible and has good driver support (TV Card!), is usually better.

I would recommend 32 bit on your system as you will not benefit from 64 bit (the opposite might be the case, you 64 bit installs are larger) and driver support is less of an issue (it might work fine, but I would recommend checking all HW component drivers before going 64 bit). I am perfectly happy with the 1.2.0.0 beta as it speedy and quite stable (although there are a few bugs around esp. with regard to tuning).

The quality of waking is often dependant on system & bios and the respective HW attached, so Win 7 *might* have the same problems. At least win 7 has some proper power debugging tools (PowerCfg) which may indicate what is wrong.

Thanks for the reply. You make a good point regarding the BIOS, maybe i just need to update it to get hybernation to work, but even so i would like to try some of the newer skins and plugins, which require 1.2Beta and above (which i believe will only work properly on win7 due to the SQL install?).

So which version of win7 would you recommend, professional or ultimate?

Thanks again.




Hi mm, thanks for the reply...

1. You want to use a static IP address for the stability of TV Server and your DB. If your computer gets assigned a new IP address by your router (DHCP server) when it wakes then that can throw any server that is bound to the old IP address for a loop.

I believe im using a static IP address, i only ever have issues when rescanning the tv channels though so im assuming its an SQL problem.

2. The Nova T 500 is known to need quite a long time to reinitialise after resuming from hibernate/standby. There is a delay setting in the "general" section of TV Server configuration that should allow you to compensate for that.

Yeah im aware of this issue with the T-500, ive set everything up to delay the initialisation of my tv card when waking but my problem is that i cant get the system to go into hybernation in the first place. I think i may need to update my BIOS?

Having said that, I also don't know of any disadvantage in using 64 bit so I would pick 64 bit for the RAM limit benefits.

This is nail-on-the-head why i was considering 64bit. So i take it there are still RAM limitaions between 32/64bit wersion in Win7? I know there was a 2Gb limit in XP, do you know what it is in Win7?

I'd say - yes - definitely. 1.2.0b is much more stable than 1.1.x and it has been out for long enough that most plugin and skin developers to provide updates. I do note that Bleazle is not going to provide BleazleWide for 1.2.x .

Yeah i noticed earlier that Bleazle has stopped supporting the skin, which is a shame as i helped him out with some of the design work a few years back so its sad to see it being stopped, but i was looking at going down the Avalon skin route anyway

 

[mbuzina]

1.2 Beta works on XP as well, so you might try to get it running on your current XP before spending a sum on win7. As to the version: for MP all of them work (except I guess the starter editions for netbooks, which misses Aero and meybe the special EU version without media play (is that still around?)).

So I would probably do
1. Backup my system
2. Uninstall MP (I guess that an update from such an older version MIGHT cause problems), remove the left over files from MP
3. Update Bios & check drivers
4. Install MP 1.2.0.0 Beta
4.1 Backup again (working environment with 1.2beta)
5. Install Plugins (check here: Plugin/Skin List for MP 1.2.0.0 Beta - MediaPortal Wiki for compatible plugins & skins)
6. If you have issues with standby, install PowerScheduler++
7. If everything works fine, install skin(s)

If that does not help, upgrade to win7.

 

[eetaylog]

1.2 Beta works on XP as well, so you might try to get it running on your current XP before spending a sum on win7. As to the version: for MP all of them work (except I guess the starter editions for netbooks, which misses Aero and meybe the special EU version without media play (is that still around?)).

So I would probably do
1. Backup my system
2. Uninstall MP (I guess that an update from such an older version MIGHT cause problems), remove the left over files from MP
3. Update Bios & check drivers
4. Install MP 1.2.0.0 Beta
4.1 Backup again (working environment with 1.2beta)
5. Install Plugins (check here: Plugin/Skin List for MP 1.2.0.0 Beta - MediaPortal Wiki for compatible plugins & skins)
6. If you have issues with standby, install PowerScheduler++
7. If everything works fine, install skin(s)

If that does not help, upgrade to win7.

Ive got myself confused now, im not sure what made me think that MP 1.2 didnt work on XP?? but anyway, i will do all of the above and see if i can resolve the standby issies by upgrading my BIOS.

Thanks for all the pointers.

...oh, and enjoy your 100th post thankyou

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

A lot of your hardware is similar to mine and they all run fine on Win7 Ultimate, if there is no, or very little price difference then I would get 64bit anyway.

Regards

 

[eetaylog]

A lot of your hardware is similar to mine and they all run fine on Win7 Ultimate, if there is no, or very little price difference then I would get 64bit anyway.

Regards

Do you know the memory limitations between 32 and 64bit?

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

32bit = 4gb, even then windows reports less, but will use it.
64bit- only limited by what your motherboard can support (found in manual or website).

 

[mm1352000]

32bit = 4gb, even then windows reports less, but will use it.
64bit- only limited by what your motherboard can support (found in manual or website).

32 bit memory address length with binary addresses => 2^32 bytes addressable => 4 GB
64 bit memory address length with binary addresses => 2^64 bytes addressable => 1.7 x 10^10 GB