Mega 865 with tv tunercard ?

hi all
I have a mega 865 with a tuner card from msi.
am i only one with problems when using tuner with media center deluxe III
When i go to tv mode first of all its taking a long time before it starts.
Then when i zap 3 tv channels then my computer is locked up.
tv card broken ?

Thanks Derek182,
I will try this tommorrow.
I laughed when I read your posted link to "hschroed" post. "Microst in a nutshell" and their well kept secrets.  
New and faster technology!  "P4 - Now with Hypertreading Technology"  - We lock your PC faster......
Thanks again

Similar Messages

  • Mega 865 with a ATA Controller card

    I have a Mega 865 with a P4 3.0 GHz, 1GB RAM and a Seagate HD running on Windows XP sp2.
    My server crashed so I put the Promise ULTRA 100 TX2 Controller card in the PCI slot after I removed the cover of the Mega. I have 3 disks that get the power from an external power supply connected to the Controller card. When I start the Mega 865 and open Windows Explorer, I only see Total Size 5 MB on each of the 4 partitions that are on the 2 harddisks connected to the IDE 2. When I check through the Control Panel, Computer Management, Disk Management I can see the entire disks. I can enter each folder on these disks, but the PROBLEM is that I can not put any more data there. I get the message "There is not enough free disk space".
    Because this controller card works in other computers and so does the disks I think that there is a problem with the Mega 865's motherboard and/or it's BIOS.
    Is there anyone who have seen or heard about something like this before ?
    Or are intelligent enough to solve my problem.
    I don't have the money at the moment to buy a new server  
    a picture: http://www.pbase.com/obibobi/image/35413700/original
    Edited to be more clear: the 3 extra disks are connected to a EXTERNAL power supply.

    I would say further obibobi's actions probably depend on whether the data on HDD-s needs to be preserved or not.
    Since I have never heard of "write protect" function in RAID controllers, the described situation seems like a h/w problem to me. having said that, I must admit though that I have never dealt with Promise stuff so far, not to mention ATA RAID controllers.. :(
    In case if existing data on disks may be lost, best way forward seems to flush the entire configuration of the Promise controller and to try to re-configure it. Along with that, it may be useful to reduce the existing power consumption of Mega PC as much as possible (e.g. removal of AGP card, clocking down the CPU).
    It is not entirely impossible that PSU of Mega can't handle the Promise card...
    If existing data on HDD-s must be preserved at all cost, I would try to find a better host system for this disk array...

  • MEGA 865 with Parhelia Triple Head Display.

    I have a problem with my MEGA 865, I am running the latest BIOS, however, if I boot with no VGA display connected to the onboard board, when I connect it to my Parhalia display card, I get no display.
    In order to get a display showing, I must first connect something to the onboard VGA on boot, then move it to the AGP card afterwards.
    If I try to boot normally, ie, with the three displays connected, the screen shows powered on, but I get no display.
    Anyone got any suggestions?
    T.

    I tried that and the subsequent BIOS clearing so I could get a display back shortly afterwards.
    It appears that the only way I can get the primary display to work, is to connect something to the VGA out on the mainboard, whether it is enabled or disabled.
    Luckily I have a KVM box that I can use to mimic having something connected, but, it's irritating me.
    Any other suggestions? All welcome!

  • Help! Mega 865 problems

    Hi, maybe someone here can help me with a problem that's developed on my Mega 865 with P4 3.0Ghz (Northwood).
    Everything was working fine up until a couple days ago.
    I had WinXP pro installed and it was okay except for a minor (but weird) problem. I would try to shut off the computer but it would never completely shutdown. It would shut down then immeduately restart. It wasn't a problem since the computer was on most of the time anyway.
    The bigger problem comes after installing the utilities on the Mega 865 drivers disk (Mega theater, pc-alert, etc). The entire computer started to slow down, so I restarted the computer and it powers up again, but all I get is one long beep. Nothing else. Nothing on screen, just a beep that goes on until I hold the power button to shut it off again.
    Any ideas? TIA

    Thanks for the advice. I agree with you, everything seemed to be working fine until I decided to install the PC-Alert and MSI theater from the install disk (DUMB IDEA!!!!!). My problem now though is that I can't even get my computer to boot to uninstall the programs or ever reformat and reinstall Windows :(
    Anyway ideas? Is there a jumber for resetting the bios? I'm trying to get a new P4 chip or another motherboard to see if the Mega 865 + PC-Alert combination fried my chip, after that I can only think of getting an RMA as a solution.
    John

  • Help with MEGA 865 PC

    Hi, this is my problem:
    I have a Msi Mega 865 Deluxe barebone pc , i also have a Tv tuner card for mega pc ( TV @nyware ) . I have lost the cable that connects the front panel LCD remote control to the Tv tuner card remote input.  I need to build a new cable but i don't know the correct position of the pin. I see on the front panel LCD that the first o three pin is numebered PIN1 and the last PIN3 . Also, on the Tv tuner card the pin ( of the remote control input connector ) is numbered from PIN1 to PIN3. The Pin1 on the LCD correspond on the Pin1 on the TV card ? Pin2 -> Pin2 and Pin3 -> Pin3? or the configuration is different?
    Please help me!!!
    Thancks !!

    please help me, i have a mega pc 865 and i lost the cable from the front panel lcd to tv pci card , i also have lost the adapter of the tv tuner card. If you hava mega pc 865 with tv tuner card post the correct pin configuration , i don't know if the front  pin1 correspond to the tv tuner card pin 1 and so... . I post a jpg to explain my problem.

  • Help with mega 865 pro and maxtor sata 6L300S0

    i have a mega 865 pro i just install a new HDD model maxtor sata 6L300S0 300 GB and it is very slow on the mega i contact maxtor and they say i have to verify if i have correct SATA driver installed. but everything looks ok on the system. where i can download that driver again? any one can help me?
    What im doing wrong?

    I'm having the same problem with my Mega 865 pro and my Maxtor 6l200mo (200gb).
    Seems to boot up fine, dosn't take any longer to load up startup items than my old system. Though using pretty much any program results in the system pausing and stuttering for a few seconds. I have noticed it most recenltly when watching video files (mpeg/divx). While i'm watching a video, it will keep pausing at random times.....sometimes every 5 seconds....sometimes every 5 mintues. It does the same when i'm not connected to the internet too, and does the same if I am simply playing mp3s or just on the internet! When it seems to do it most is like now! I have an mpeg playing (300mb) in a window, and while I am browsing the internet and even typing this post, it is pausing for a few seconds which is really frustrating! My old system was pretty similar spec to my current Msi system, though it wasn't a barebones system and was slighty lower spec. That worked flawlessly doing the same tasks so my guess is it must be an Ata problem. Another Mega865 gripe that is bugging me!
    Any help will be much appreciated. Cheers!
    P.s My hd Tach results were pretty much the same as centarlrocks

  • Mega 865 probs with 3.3v ...

    uhm well ive got a brand new mega 865 and i thought kewl :P i mean it looks sweet and i like the hifi stuff etc etc
    well so i started it up and the first day was fine.. second day it suddenly shutdown and stuff.. wel after taking out the power cable and leaving the pc for a while, it worked again and when i looked @ pcalert4 it said that my 3.3v was getting up to 3.9v etc.. and thats the reason why it was crashing..
    now my question is obviously how do i stop ik crashing..
    - is it because the power supply is 2 weak? (i dont think so seeing that msi delivers the power supply with the mega barebone)
    - is it the psu ? coz i read about some1 having the same problem with the 3.3v and a mega barebone...
    anyway my pc specs are:
    p4 3.2ghz
    2x 512ddr corsair
    6800 LE
    winxp sp1
    thats the most important i think

    Quote
    Originally posted by cteun
    application hang of shareaza, msi pc alert, no really system applications
    If your system is hanging while you are running, turn off PC Alert.  
     PC Alert Abuse:stop:
    In fact, disable PC Alert so it dosen't launch when your system boots.  It causes a momentary pause while it is refreshing the system information.  It's fairly noticable, especially if you are gaming, or writing a document.

  • MEGA 865 Deluxe with MSI DR8-A 8x8 DVD±R/±RW Writer

    Hi everyone,
    I am just about to put this box together, please advice..
    Heard any compatibility issue on this one? IE, ejecting problems or loosing functionality in PC or HIFI mode? or any issues at all....
    MEGA 865 Deluxe with MSI DR8-A 8x8 DVD±R/±RW Writer
    It will be a bummer if I go put this together and it doesnt work properly. That will be money down the tube.
    Thanx.

    I have the same box and optical device. I have yet to get an audio CD to play completely through in HiFi mode. It will play for 3 to five minutes and then quits, LCD reads No Disk. I can get it to start up again with no problems but it only plays a few minutes at a time.  It works fine in PC mode both in playing Audio CD's and DVDs so I am guessing that my problem lies in Hi Fi circuitry/or wires. I believe you should be able to use the 865 in Hi Fi mode without O/S, Memory, or even a CPU. Good luck.
    DS

  • Prospective Mega 865 buyer with a few questions...

    I'm looking into upgrading my Home PC, and I really like the small form factor of the Mega 865. My main goal is to have a very quite computer (my current PC has a noisy Maxtor hard drive), and the small form factor is a real plus. Here are a few questions:
    1) How quiet is the Mega 865? Is the power supply fan very quiet?
    2) If I use a Northwood 3.0 GHz CPU, do I need to buy a standard cooling fan or does the Mega 865 have it's own CPU cooling fan system? If so, how quiet is this fan?
    3) What's the highest screen resolution that the Integrated 865G Video can output in True Color?
    4) Can I fill one of the two memory slots with a single 512 MB module, or do I need to fill both slots with a module?
    If anyone can help answer these questions, I would greatly appreciate it. Any other comments would also be appreciated!
    Thanks,
    ppcinfo

    i don't have a mega 865 personally, but i'll try and answer what i can.
    1) the mega 651 was very quiet under normal loads, you'd only hear the cpu fan whirr faster when the cpu was getting hot. i imagine its the same on other megas.
    2) all the megas come with their own custom designed heatsink and fan, i doubt you'd get anything else to fit. BTW the northwood is probably a better bet than the prescott, as they don't run as hot
    3) i don't know about the mega 865, but i recently built a PC for my mom, based on the Aopen XCCube EY65, which uses the same intel 865g chipset as in the mega 865 (only doesn't support any prescott cpus  ). it runs on her 18.1" tft in 1280x1024 in truecolour mode, but only allows for a max of 16mb shared VGA memory. as she don't play games (she's an architectural glazing designer, using AutoCAD) thats fine for her.
    4) you can just use one stick of RAM if you want, but stick to some good stuff, cheaper generic RAM usually causes problems on MSI mobos
    thats my tuppence worth, can any mega 865 users clarify anything for us?

  • MEGA 865 Problems with XP install....HELP!!

    Hi guys, i just bought a MEGA 865 Deluxe and I can't install Windows XP (Sp1)...i have reached the point where i am seriously considering throwing it out of the window (after 4 hours of troubleshooting!!!).
    Specs are: P4 3.0
    Crucial 1gb DDR400
    Maxtor DiamondPlus 9 SATA 160Gb
    Sony DW-G120A Dvd-rw
    Bios v1.3
    Ok what happens is that during startup it will identify both HD and DVD...it will start reading the Windows CD, but then stop and try to boot from other sources. The DVD-rw works fine in Hi-Fi mode. I tried using another old CD-ROM i have with no luck. I took out the Maxtor and used my IDE seagate from my other PC...again nothing (btw the XP CD works...tried it in another pc). I have toyed around with all possible combinations in the BIOS...manually resetted to defaults...tried all different combinations for the DVD settings (SL,MA etc)...even moved the DVD to the Primary IDE cable...and still nothing. Searched in this forum, and tried some tips...like Disabling USBs, Changing the SATA to Legacy and so on...and still...guessed right... NOTHING!!
    I am pretty desperate for some advice. Any tips to try are welcome, before i start sending stuff back for refund.
    Thanks in advance!

    Yeap...i guess you were right kane81. The CD wasn't bootable...since then i obtained a newer XP version that is bootable but guess what my luck had in store. I fired up the pc as usual, and i got a message on the monitor 'no signal'...?? Tried with another monitor...played with the cable in case it wasnt put in good. Nothing. black screen. It seems like the hard disc is working, but i get nothing on the screen. Also in order to turn it off, it doesn't respond anymore to the 'PC' button....need to pull off the plug. It's like the BIOS has been erased or something. Any ideas? Faulty M/board? Should i send it back and get replacement?
    From all machines i ever had, the 865 is the best looking one. I am dissapointed all i could do since i bought it is listening to radio

  • Booting Xp with wireless set to gateway on Mega 865 Pro

    Hi Guys,
    Does anyone know how I can set the wireless card up to automatically switch to Gateway mode after XP has booted.
    It goes into Station Mode by default but I can see a setting to say I want it to start in Gateway mode.
    Any Ideas?
    Danny

    Dunno if you allready did, but you need to have the latest BIOS to run Win XP SP2 on the MEGA 865 Pro. When i bought mine, Sp2 wasn't out yet and things worked fine. When i tried installing SP2, everything went fine, untill i boot. Black screen and nothing, after a while MSI released a new BIOS fixing the problem, newest BIOS i think is 1.30
    Mosher

  • SATA Hard Drive no longer recognized by Mega 865

    I recently put together an MSI Mega 865 barebone system with the following specifications:  
    Processor: Intel 3.2c Ghz (Northwood core)
    Hard Drive:  Western Digital SATA 10kRPM Raptor
    Memory: 1 GB (2 x 512MB) Kingston 3200 (400Mhz)
    DVD Player: Plextor 8X DVD RW
    Video Card:  HIS Excalibure 9800Pro 128 MB
    OS:  WinXP
    Finally got everything up and running, and then I went to boot up, and the system can no longer find the SATA harddrive.  In fact, it's not even an option in the BIOS now.  
    My question is the following:  
    Would the SATA be available all of the time, or only if a SATA enabled harddrive was recognized?
    When the system is first powered on by plugging the power cord into the wall, the hard drive makes a small amount of noise, as if it's spinning a bit.  When the computer starts up, there is no noise at all, although the hard drive does get warm (which makes me think there is power to the unit).  
    I tried the 2nd power supply (old IDE) for the hard drive, but that provided that same results as the SATA power supply.
    There were some inconsistencies with my mega 865 prior to this.  First, the HIFI would randomly lock up, and the only way to get it back was to unplug the computer from the wall.  2nd, it had lost communication on the serial port (why, I don't know).  3rd, and final, it doesn't seem to recognize my hard drive (or my hard drive is ruined).
    Can someone help me out here, I'm not sure whether to return my HardDrive, my MSI Mega 865, or both.

    The system worked for 4 days or so.  One day, I started it up, and it couldn't boot because it couldn't detect the SATA drive.  When this happened I decided to flash it to the the latest BIOS, but even this did not help.
    The unit had problems before, it would lock up on initial power up, the HIFI/CD/DVD would not respond (when the computer was not on of course).  I would have to plug and unplug the unit 3 or 4 times before it would power on and not lock up.
    I contacted MSI support, and explained my problems.  They told me to return the unit to the reseller.  I'm not sure if the problem was the unit, the hard drive, or both, so I went ahead and returned the HD and the MSI unit.  It'll be another 2 weeks or so now before I get my computer up and running.  :(

  • Things to know before (and after) building a Mega 865

    As I am seeing a lot of the same questions regarding the Mega 865 I created this document,
    29-Oct-2004 Added Northwood benefits
    29-Oct-2004 Emphasized NOT to use live update for bios update
    Processors in general
    Start with the processor, I would say get something around 3 gighz (give or take) which is quite affordeble. If you are going for a prescott, make sure you upgrade your bios to 1.3 (see below).It will run a bit hot (understatement) otherwise.
    If going for northwood any version is ok I believe. When I chose mine I let $$$ descide, and the prescott was on sale. (If I would buy a CPU for the Mega again, I would most likely go for a Northwood this time). Before buying your processor make sure your processor is supported, you can find the supported processors here;
    http://cweb.msi.com.tw/program/products/slim_pc/slm/pro_slm_cpu_support_detail.php?UID=547&kind=4
    Harddisk
    As for Harddisk, I would suggest anything goes but take a serial ata since that is becoming the new standard nowadays.
    When buying a HD larger than 130 Gig, make sure you install from a Windows XP SP1 CD (or higher) or divide your HD in smaller pieces. Otherwise you will not get a bigger partition than 130 Gigs.
    DVD/CDROM
    As for DVD/CD player, there is a special thread (see below) where everyone states if their DVD/CD player is working with the mega (there are some issues with some drives in HiFi mode, EVEN if they are MSI)
    Mega PC barebones optical drive compatibility list
    Memory
    As for memory, get at least 512 Mb or 1024 Mb if you want to sit cosy. two sticks of DDR400 (a.k.a 3200) will do. Get a a-brand like Kingston, Samsung or look around on the forums what will work.
    Installing Windows XP
    Before installing Windows disable your USB devices, if you fail to do this you run the chance of not installing Windows XP on your C: drive (harddisk) and this will cause you trouble later on. After installation is complete you may enable them again.
    Prescott processors & full size AGP cards
    As for the GPU (Graphics card), this depends on what you are going to do with it. If you wanna try out at showshifting, and viewing get one with integrated TV tuner. Or use the on-board (some people are quite happy with it) and add a separate PCI tv tuner. If you wanna do hefty gaming (Doom3, Far Cry ... etc) you may want to get an better one. I'm quite happy with my Radeon 9800.
    Please note; According to MSI, Prescott processors in combination with full-size AGP (add-in) cards are not supported. This is most likely a power issue since the full-size cards use a lot of power to run. Some forum members, stuborn as they are, are running with a full-size card.
    Also note that you are installing a full-size card on your own risk in combination with a Prescott processor.
    To calculate your estimated power supply take a look here;
    http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
    The following graphics cards seem to be working (please add to this thread if you have tested a full-size card with a Prescott processor so I can add it to this document)
    Club3D Radeon AIW 9800 PRO
    ATI Radeon ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT
    ATI Radeon 9800 SE
    AOPEN Aeolus 5900XT 128 Mb
    Wise words from Stu:
    If you do not want to take chances, go with a Northwood processor. Apperantly there is little perfomance difference between a Northwood and a Prescott processor, and the Northwood runs slightly cooler too.
    Windows XP Service Pack 2 & Bios Update
    When installing Windows XP with SP2 make sure you have the latest Bios version loaded (1.3) or install a Microsoft work-around fix. SP2 will not install without it, and you will have a hard time getting your system to work.
    The Microsoft work-around fix can be found here;
    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;885626
    The latest bios version can be downloaded here;
    http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_detail.php?UID=547&kind=4
    To install the latest bios, I would advise against using live-update. Use one of the following options instead;
    1) Burn a bootable CD-Rom also containing the bios and flash software, (note some of the original Win98 CD's are bootable to MS-DOS prompt)
    2) Create a bootable USB-memory key
    --- Download the HP util to create one
    --- http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/hpcpqdt/us/download/20306.html
    --- Then create a bootable floppy on an other system or download from
    --- http://www.allbootdisks.com/
    --- (I used the Win98SE No ramdrive )
    --- Then use the HP tool (on an system with an floppy drive) and enter a: as the source for booting,
    --- and use the above created floppy.
    --- Then copy the rest of the files from the a:\ drive (like autoexec.bat, config.sys etc) to the memory key.
    --- ... and ... voila one bootable USB
    --- make sure in the bios that the boot order of the USB key is before the Harddisk and your set to go.
    3) Attach a floppy drive to the Mega 865
    Bios update failure
    Some people still manage to goof-up their bios, by doing the bios update from windows (winflash, live-update). I think there is only one road to travel when this happens, you have to attach a floppy drive to your mega. Then follow the following instructions (Award bios)
    http://www.msi.com.tw/html/support/bios/note/boot.htm
    Good luck !
    PC-Alert
    Do not use the PC-Alert version from the MSI website as this does not work together with your Mega 865, instead only use the one on the CD-Rom that was supplied. In general even the supplied PC-Alert has caused a lot of grief (Taking up resources, reboot problems ... etc). If you choose to install PC-Alert, at least remove it from your start-up folder where it is installed. You can always start it manually from the MSI menu in your Start menu.
    A good alternative to Pc-Alert is Speedfan, this program should be able to spot your 2 temeperature sensored CPU fans. You can then connect these fans to the CPU temperature sensor and be able to tweak the RPM's according to your need. Speedfan 4.17 can be found here;
    http://www.almico.com/speedfan417.exe
    Temperatures
    As these tiny PC's have very little space, it is quite normal for them to run a bit hot. Do not be alarmed to see CPU temperatures around 60-65 degrees when running on load (depending on your processor of course).
    Wireless Network adapter
    As for wireless internet, the mega865 has a built-in mini-pci nic (network card). which supports only the 11 Mbps data rate. I think you have to try it out and see how it goes, you can always upgrade to 54 Mbps. I would suggest to get a 54Mbps access point, so you can always upgrade if needed (54Mbps will also work with 11 Mbps) Some forum members have succesfully replaced their Wireless Network adapters with a 54Mbps one. The following network adapters seem to be working;(please add to this thread if you have tested a wireless 54Mbps network adapter so I will add it to this document)
    Intel PRO/Wireless BG Network Adapter
    6 Channel sound
    I recently bought a 5.1 set from Soundblaster. You can connect the 3 connectors to the back of your Mega, then in the Sound util set it up for 5.1 surround sound and you are ready to go. Definately worth it !
    Reboot problems
    When you run into problems when the Mega reboots suddenly, watch out for a couple of things.
    Always check your event/log viewer. It is in your configuration management, but the easiest way to start it is to enter the following in your Run or Command line entry
    eventvwr /s
    Check if you see red-dots in your application section or system section. Google the problems before dropping them on the forum ! (As most problems are not Mega related IMHO)
    One problem I had was caused by BITS 1.5, I had to upgrade to BITS 2.0. (I think it was recently released by Microsoft-Update but I mention it anyway). Bits 1.5 caused my Mega to reboot.
    LCD Display / Sound problems
    If you have any problems where your front LCD display is not working or your on-board sound is 'missing' first try unplugging your mega from the power outlet (so completely powering down) for 2 minutes. If you still have problems, drop them on this forum.
    LCD API ?
    Alas, no external programs are available to 'drive' your LCD display. Nor will MSI release an API/Blue print on how to control it.
    If you find anything missing here or have additional tips, please add them to this thread and I will update this document.
    Good luck with your Mega !
    Raymond

    rkoppen i salute you  
    a truly glorious summing up of the main points asked about the Mega 865 in particular, although many points will invariably refer also to the other Mega series
    if i can add my tuppence worth, anyone considering going for a powerful graphics card can always shy away from the prescott
    i was reading an article just when the prescott core cpus came out and the review basically said that there wasn't really much performance wise between the new prescott and the older Northwood cores.
    obviously newer prescotts have higher clock speeds now (3.2? 3.4??), but surely a 2.8ghz CPU is still going to be powerful enough to play the latest games!! (in conjunction with a top graphics card obviously)
    is the extra temp increase surely worth the extra couple of hundred mhz?

  • Anyone want a Mega 865?

    I've got a Mega 865 that has (again) died.  Can't remember the actual CPU in the machine and have been too fed up with it to remove it to see.  I know it's some sort of P4 - I think around 1.6ghz.  MSI has consistently failed to support this product in my case, and I've been unable to get support from MSI yet again.  The original unit was DOA 2 years ago.  This unit was somewhat flaky all this time (repeatedly had to unplug and replug unit for front panel to work.  It has 512mb Corsair DDR memory in it.
    Anyone interested in buying it for pennies on the dollar with or without CPU and RAM?  I'm not going to waste any more time on it.  I want to keep the drives.  The unit doesn't have a single, solitary scratch or blemish.  I do have the original remote (though I never used it).

    Please read and comply with the Forum Rules.
    we do not allow buying or selling of any product in this forum. however, if anyone is interested then please contact the topic-starter directly by PM or Email (use the buttons on the left)

  • Media Center DVD 'Stutters' on MEGA 865

    Hi
    I am an IT professional, but I am a newcomer to the MEGA series PCs.  I bought a MEGA 865 Delux for a 'computer newbie' friend as payment for a favour, and I am in the process of configuring it all now.  
    Spec is
    MEGA 865 flashed to bios 1.2
    MSI DVD Player DR8-A2 BIOS 1.6
    NO TV CARD (yet)
    Win XP PRO SP2
    512MB RAM
    Celeron 2.0GHz (yes I know, but I had a new one going spare, it'll do for now)
    I have applied ALL latest drivers
    I have applied ALL latest BIOS patches
    Windows XP is fully patched up to SP2
    I am currently running in 1024x764 Truecolour 70Hz mode.
    Everything works great, my friend should be really pleased with it  ... except  
    MEDIA CENTER III !!!  
    Now that was kind of the idea of buying the MEGA PC, my friend could use it with the remote control for DVD, Radio etc etc, but when I play a DVD using the media center it 'stutters', the video and sound are interrupted and it really is unwatchable.
    Looking at the CPU resource is see that it is strained to 100% utilisation.
    If I run the same DVD Movie with PowerDVD (came with the MSI DVD Drive), or even with Windows Media Player, it plays beautifully and the CPU is comfortably down at 40% utilisation.   Unfortunately the remote seems to do nothing for PowerDVD.
    Is anybody finding that the Media Center works great on their system? (if so, what's the secret?)
    Has anybody else encountered similar problems to mine?
    Does anybody know how I could fix the problem so that when I present this great new system to my friend as an expression of my gratitude, it is not 'flawed'?
    Please help if you can, I would like to deliver the system in the next couple of days.
    Thanks
    Steve

    Thanks for the advice everyone.
    After much searching I found the elusive registry changes and applied them to my system.  Unfortunately these changes made no discernable difference to the DVD playback.
    While I appreciate that there are a number of Open Source projects in development (dependant on 'Girder', pay software that still does not appear to FULLY replace the advertised functionality of the Remote/LCD/Radio etc), and also alternative products that I could purchase, I do not feel that I should have to buy these to make my MEGA media center PC play DVDs.  
    It's not as if the inability to play DVDs is a minor issue in a Media Center.  It's fundamental!!
    If it will not work as a media center PC 'as supplied' then it seems to me that I should return it to the retailer and buy a 'Shuttle PC' for much less money.  I could spend the savings (I reckon on about £70) on a better CPU or just pocket the difference.  Features and software that do not work are of little use to anybody.
    With all due respect to you all, if everybody who bought the system and had these problems returned it to the store as 'not fit for purpose' then I suspect MSI would have resolved the issue long ago.  It seems to me that end user tolerance has resulted in MSI's indifference.
    If I have no fix by Thursday then it's back to the store.
    I have mailed MSI Tech Support, hopefully they will come up with something as the system looks great otherwise.
    Still open to suggestions that do not include 'break up the CD' or 'buy this other software'.
    Thanks
    Steve

Maybe you are looking for