Mini, Front Row, and HDMI...

Picked up a new Mini to merge our server (iTunes, iPhoto, et al were being served off my laptop, which was fine only when I was at home) with our Apple TV. Mostly a positive thing... moving iTunes and iPhoto onto the Mini went smoothly, the Mini plugged right into the power cable and HDMI cable that were there for the Apple TV, so that went wonderfully. Outputting to a 42" Samsung LED-backlit LCD in our family room.
Our only big downside right now: if we leave Front Row running, and turn off the TV, when we turn it back on later we're greeted with a solid blue screen that doesn't respond to the remote, the keyboard or mouse... we've had to reboot twice in the two days we've been set up like this. For now, we just have to remember to turn off Front Row... if we're on the normal Finder, it doesn't seem to have this problem.
Is this a known HDMI/Mini/Front Row issue, where it gets into a bad state if the TV is turned off, or something particular to my set up? I was kinda hoping this would be our entertainment system moving forward, it's certainly happier in other ways (gives our family a nice central place to plug in iPods, iPhones, iPads, expands easily, etc, etc)...
Thanks in advance!!!
PS: Our other minor gripe, for those who care, is just Front Row feeling like a step back from the Apple TV interface (which used to look like Front Row when we first got it, but got better)... I'd switch us to Plex, but it doesn't play our TV shows and movies off iTunes, so I'm hoping Apple will update Front Row someday to be something happier.

So far so good on the Mini... the down side (other than the hanging blue evil screen) is just how clunky Front Row is. The Apple TV interface wasn't perfect, but it was much cleaner than the Front Row interface.
We were watching Netflix streaming through Plex last night... Plex is awesome, I'd absolutely use it full-time and forget Front Row except we own a lot of movies and TV shows we've purchased through iTunes, and Plex can't play DRM'ed video. Because of that, right now we're using Plex for things like Netflix, Daily Show, Hulu, etc, and Front Row for our purchased media.
We copied our libraries over onto the Mini, consolidating them along the way.
With our previous setup, we had movies and TV shows on an external drive that was connected to my laptop, streaming to the Apple TV... which worked fine except when I needed to take my laptop somewhere, then the family was stuck watching whatever was actually living on the Apple TV.
Music, a lot of it was on my iTunes, but my wife and daughters had stuff on their iTunes on their machines... and with a plethora of iPhones, iPods, and iPads in the house now, we found we weren't using our laptops as media devices as much.
We started talking about collecting all our material (music, TV, movies, photos, etc) and putting it all on one device... then the Mini came out, and it looked perfect to just replace the Apple TV and be our central hub for everything!
So far, it's great... full 1080p, fast little box, moving the material over was painless, everything's syncing there now... just want a Front Row replacement that'll play iTunes video, and want to be able to leave that thing up all the time and expect it to be there when I turn the TV on.

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2010 Mac Mini, Front Row and 5.1 Audio

I recently bought one of the new 2010 Mac mini's for my home theater. I have video going to my TV through HDMI. (I do not use the TV for audio.) I'm feeding audio to my receiver via optical. The problem I'm having is with 5.1 audio through Front Row. I've installed Perian and enabled AC3 passthrough. 5.1 audio works great when I play a video in iTunes (it also works with eyeTV). When I try to play the same movies through Front Row, I'm stuck with stereo audio and see no way to change it. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

I too have the latest mini, hooked up to a Denon receiver via pass-through HDMI.
I am not an audiophile in terms of setting up this stuff and just want to know what I need to do to get the optimum performance out of this mini, audio wise.
When I go to Audio MIDI Setup app, my receiver (DENON-AVAMP) is listed next to the "source" button. I have no clue about channels, bits, etc. When I click on the "Configure Speakers" button I am presented with different configurations so I selected "Multichannel" versus "Stereo". And I can see where you can test all 5 speakers and subwoofer, but I just don't know which "format" I am supposed to select.
The 5.1 mapping is shown when I select 8 channel/16 bit, 8 channel/20 bit, or 8 channel 24 bit. I can click on each speaker in this map and it tests properly no matter which one of the above combinations I select. Just not sure which one I am supposed to be using.
All I know is my Denon is a 5.1 system and all this works perfectly (getting 5.1 sound) with my Playstation 3 hooked up the same way to the Denon.
Does anybody know the correct settings to output 5.1 sound from this Mac Mini?
Thanks guys!

Mac Mini, Front Row and projection TV?

I am wondering whether our plan to get a new MacMini with Front Row to be the heart of our entertainment system is a good idea. We want to use the Mac as our DVD player and stereo (music) source. We also want to get a fairly high resolution projector (like the ones used for presentations) instead of a TV, probably for ~ $1500.
We saw a projection setup at a friend's house (not with Mac, just used for TV) and it was fabulous to watch a basketball game in giant size on their white wall. They could switch from letterbox format to regular TV size display at the push of a button. The picture was very clear.
Our new house will also have a large wall space available. Has anyone done this kind of setup? What words of wisdom, advice, or warning do you have in terms of the setup or the type of projector to get?
considering new MacMini Intel Mac OS X (10.4.7) Considering getting a Mac Mini to be the heart of our home entertainment system.

I too have the latest mini, hooked up to a Denon receiver via pass-through HDMI.
I am not an audiophile in terms of setting up this stuff and just want to know what I need to do to get the optimum performance out of this mini, audio wise.
When I go to Audio MIDI Setup app, my receiver (DENON-AVAMP) is listed next to the "source" button. I have no clue about channels, bits, etc. When I click on the "Configure Speakers" button I am presented with different configurations so I selected "Multichannel" versus "Stereo". And I can see where you can test all 5 speakers and subwoofer, but I just don't know which "format" I am supposed to select.
The 5.1 mapping is shown when I select 8 channel/16 bit, 8 channel/20 bit, or 8 channel 24 bit. I can click on each speaker in this map and it tests properly no matter which one of the above combinations I select. Just not sure which one I am supposed to be using.
All I know is my Denon is a 5.1 system and all this works perfectly (getting 5.1 sound) with my Playstation 3 hooked up the same way to the Denon.
Does anybody know the correct settings to output 5.1 sound from this Mac Mini?
Thanks guys!

OS 10.6.5, mac mini, Front Row, and Bose V20 don;t play nice

Since updating to 10.6.5 my 2010 mac mini using HDMI output to the Bose system will play one ripped video, then won;t play another without locking up (stuttering without audio) and then if I repair privileges, turn everything off and back on, and hold my tongue just right, the movie that wouldn;t play works fine without a lot of rhyme or reason... any ideas? when the audio strats acting up front row may not even play music without backing all the way put and then going back in...
(the log on privilege repair is pretty long, whereas before 10.6.5 it was almost nil)...
Thought?

Since the first post I think I have narrowed the issue to some kind of handshake between the mini and the Bose on the HDMI port... didn;t have an issue like this with OS 10.6.4. Might have to resort to Mini-DVI to HDMI and send the audio optically...

ISight, Front Row and Apple remote problems

I've been using my iMac G5 with the built in iSight for a month now with no problems, however a few days ago I tried to pause iTunes with the remote and nothing happend.
I have since tried to use Front Row and cannot launch it with the keyboard shortcuts, or indeed, find it anywhere on my hard drive. Very strange as I have certainly not deleted it and only updated it to 1.01 recently.
I have also tried to use my iSight to test the remote using an Apple help sheet but when I launch iChat AV it tells me I have no camera installed! I know it did work as I took a photo of myself when I first set the Mac up.
Apple's advice on deselcting the 'Disable remote control infrared receiver' checkbox in 'system preferences>scurity' confuses me further as I cannot find this checkbox anywhere.
I have performed all the updates with Software Updat, repaired permissions and checked the disk with no problems found.
Any advice?
Thanks in advance. Jon
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Front Row will be included with the next version of Mac OS X to come out next year, version 10.5 (Leopard). Until it's released, there is no legal way for you to use Front Row. Also, until it's released, we won't know what hardware will work with it (as far as remote controls). If history is any indication, it will be a $129 upgrade for your current Mac mini.
There are a couple of options for you right now, though. There's a shareware program called Media Central that will work similar to Front Row for you.
-Doug

Front Row and iTunes Radio

Hi,
I found no other forum for my question.
Therefore I post my message here:
I have a brand new iMac G5 20" (build in iSight) and I missing the iTunes radio station in Front Row.
Is this not supported yet?
Sorry for my bad english. I'm from germany
Greetings, Bernd

Hello David,
same problem internet radio and itunes.
Sorry, I mean "internet radio" too and not an real radio
Work around
make a new playlist called radio
Drag the radio linke into it then start front row and
you should see the Radio playlist
Thanx, I will try it.
Greetings, Bernd

Different Playlists in Front ROW and iTunes

Hello
I am new in using Front Row and i have some trouble with it.
When i use the MUSIC playlists then they are not the same playlist as they are in the itunes 9.
For example i have a "BEST OF" playlist. In this playlists are only 5 Star rated songs (about 60 songs) and when i open Front Row than i have in this playlist totally different songs aditionally.
By the way, is there any possibility to check how many songs are in the playlists in FRONT ROW, so i can compare to itunes.
thx for help
Markus

No, you are not dumb. It apparently does not show in Front Row.
Ugh.. I am getting so frustrated with this. Surely someone at Apple wants to be able to play their music videos contiguously from within Front Row...???

Front Row and an external hard drive?

I would like to be able to access files--pictures and movies--using Front Row and the remote, but would like to access these files from an external hard drive. Is this possible to set up/do? Thanks for the help!

Jack,
Create an alias to any folder on your MBP and you can then modify it to point at a folder on your read-only drive. Just open the Get Info window on the alias and Select New Original from the General section. It might not refresh to look as if it's changed the path, but it has. Close the Get Info window and re-open it to see that it's changed. Rename the alias to something more appropriate and move it to the Movies folder of your MBP. Front Row will display the folder in the Movies section of Videos.
MacBook Pro 15", 1.83GHz, 2GB, 100GB 7200rpm Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Quiting front row and continue to play music

It used to be that front row would continue to play music after you quit it from the same playlist but this isn't the case anymore. If you are using FR to listen to music and quit the music stops playing. Anyone know how to have the music continue to play?

Well as much as I like the look of the new Front Row, I don't like the same thing, That it stops playing music upon closing. The older one (Tiger) was so much better Animation and usefulness wise. It also supported Air-Tunes (my best friend). So I thought to myself, "is there any way i can switch back to Front Row from Tiger (A.K.A. Front Row w/ Air Tunes)". I went on a hunt on the internet and I came across this web site
http://www.edalytical.com/articles/2008/01/16/front-row-and-airtunes-back-to-tig er-for-me
When typing the code into the terminal field, you can just copy and past for safety if need be.
Just rememeber to exorcize caution whenever using terminal, for it can really do damage.
And one more thing, I've realized that when going to the video/movies section it likes to freeze (though it always has for me for some reason when I was running Tiger). DVD Function works perfectly.
Hope that helps!

2012 MacMini Dual display mini DP- DP and HDMI- DP not working

I have got this situation that I have to use mini DP->DP and HDMI->DP to connect to two Dell U2412M.
However, only mini DP->DP works okay, I have got nothing/no signal at all on the other one.
Also I can't see dual monitors nor show the display option on the top bar.
can I not use this setup or I miss something here.
Thanks

Looks like those Dell's support both DP and DVI input.
If so, you will need to use the Apple Supplied HDMI to DVI Adapter and a DVI-D cable to one of the Dell's.

Reinstalling Front Row and Photo Booth?

Hi,
I had a hard drive failure a couple of months ago on my 20" G5 iMac. The Apple store replaced it in a day and reinstalled the OS. Thanks. Only after I had my entire computer set back up with all my apps, music, movies, etc., I realized that Front Row, and Photo Booth were not installed. How can I get them back on my machine without reinstalling the OS again? I tried Pacifier, but I don't know all of the different files and packages needed to intsall those two apps. Anyone know of a different solution?
Thanks

Hey there ... Go search for a program called Pacifist. Its a shareware but it will let you do the job. I used it before to Install Mail which I accidently trashed it. It should absolutely work for Front Row too. Hope this will solve your problem. Sawadee Krub

Will can replace Front Row and play podcast from itunes?

One thing I did with Front Row pre-Lion that I can't do with Lion is watch video podcasts on my MacMini connected to my SDTV (no HDMI). Plex doesn't seem to have any connection to iTunes. Is there any Front Row replacement that will let me watch my video podcasts?

new2appletv, I think you missed roestuff's point. They were wanting to BUY a HD movie -- not copy it.
It's frustrating that we can live in a complete HD environment with a Mac Mini, UNTIL we start downloading from iTunes. The alternative to downloading from iTunes, is to buy the DVD or Blu-Ray, both of which are no less "copyable", than the output from the Mac Mini. As all movie/music pirates have shown over the years -- where there's a will, there's a way.
I share the frustration. I have an XServe, a Mac Pro & 3 Mini's running a home theater & TV network around my house. I can happily watch, AND RECORD, HD content from TV stations. I'm not into pirating -- it is all for my own use. Because of alleged "abuse" by some users, I can only expand to 1 further Mac on my network due to the 5 machine limit imposed by iTunes. My frustration is that the content doesn't even leave my house (except for when it is on my iPhone).
Apple need to learn to negotiate better, particularly if they want to be at the centre of a digital world. I can buy a Tivo for the same price as a Mac Mini, and a Tivo doesn't have all of the restrictions placed on it that the Macs do. I feel sometimes that Apple try to prove that they are the Volvo drivers of an online world -- but uncertain what they are trying to achieve.

Is there any way I can browse photos on Front Row and choose the music?

Hi!
Without creating a slideshow or anything in advance, is there any way using Front Row that I can browse my photos and either keep my iTunes music playing in the background or the music I choose in Front Row?
Thanks

I am going to assume you are on Leopard, if so, as far as I understand it, under FR 2.0, this is not possible. This is the sole reason I have yet to upgrade to Leopard, hope you listening Apple!!! I only have one mac, a mini, that I use as a HTPC. Why this functionality was removed is like a Windows type decision, pointless and ridiculous.
I have a seen a lot of talk about being able to install the old version of FR, search the forums, for how to do that.
Under Tiger, it is totally do-able, as long as you ensure your default picture slideshow setting does not have pre-saved music.
Jared

Front Row and 1080P HDTV

I have my MacBook Pro connected to 1080p TV via HDMI-DVI cable. In Front Row, I went to look at movie trailers. They SEEM to not be playing in HD? However, the same trailer viewed via apple.com/trailers site DO seem to be in HD? Am I imagining? Or can I tell Front Row to play 1080p trailers for me?
I'm wondering what will happen if I try to watch movies via Front Row? Will it know they are HDTV?

Oh, yes. As I say, if I go to apple.com/trailers, and click the 1080p version of a trailer to view, it shows fine. Its just that going through Front Row, it seem to show a lower resolution.. This could be that Front Row is just designed to pull down the lower resolution version? I was just wondering if this is configurable...
Mark

Front Row and 5.1 Dolby Output

I have the new model of Mac Mini and have it successfully sending 5.1 output to my receiver from the DVD player as well as couple of other apps.
However, apparently like a number of other posters here, I cannot get 5.1 to work with Front Row. The files do have 5.1 encoded (a get info in iTunes shows it). But if I open the file in QuickTime Player it only shows 2 channel audio and Front Row only sends 2 channels to the receiver.
I've searched here and around the net and found a lot of conflicting info on whether or not this works and if so how to configure it. It's pretty disappointing because I asked the guy at the Apple Store, who seemed knowledgeable, specifically if I could get 5.1 output and he said yes as long as I used the right cables and my equipment supported it.
I did try a few of the tips on the 'net for how to get 5.1 out and none of them worked. Would like to know if anyone has this working under Snow Leopard.

The gurus of Front Row are hanging in the Front Row forum.
Dah•veed

Mini, Front Row, and HDMI...

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