Plex Media Center experience

Does anyone out there have experience using Plex? It certainly looks attractive; I'm just concerned about gremlins. I have a new 19" HDTV (720p) with multiple HDMI ports and an Imac (1.83 gHz) running Leopard 10.5.7. I'd like to use the Netflix "Watch Now" service. Downloading the software and cabling things up is no problem. But how about the results? Some online posts I've seen (admittedly from the pre-Plex era) speak of problems with screen size and aspect ratio, resolution difficulties and other things. I know that many Netflix offerings are DVD resolution or lower, rather than HD. We'll just have to live with that. But is the user experience likely to be positive, mixed or disappointing? Thanks for sharing!

All these *-dev" packages sounds to me as being Ubuntu named packages. For example; yaourt -ss libmysqlclient only list one package, and no *-dev" package. I think you'll have to go thru the list or just run ./configure and see what happens. Chances are that you have half of them installed already.
Last edited by swanson (2012-02-15 05:03:35)

Similar Messages

MEGA 180 as Media Center (experiences)

I am trying to use my MEGA 180 as a Media Center, i.e. to listen to radio and CD's, to watch TV and DVD's, and to use the HDD to record programs on temporarily to watch later. Plus the TV pause facility. I am using Windows XP home on it, and have all the latest Windows patches. I don't want to have a PC screen atached to it, so the listening needs to be done without turnig the TV on, and the rest without any tiny writing on the screen etc.
HiFi mode works fine for the listening to radio and CD's.
Once I start PC mode, windows boots to the login screen. I would like to boot straight into a Media Center application, missing out this login screen. Any ideas?
I have tried Media Centre Deluxe III, and ShowShifter. Although I much prefer ShowShifter, it has to be ruled out as it does not use the LCD display at all (as far as I know!). Media Center Deluxe III has a lot of functionality missing, and is a little unstable, but it generally does the job. Has anyone had experiences with other packages?
I have found how to give the radio channels proper names (editing a text file with the details called .freq). I can't do the same with the TV channels. Also I haven't found how to remove all the junk TV channels found during the auto-scan. Anyone with any ideas here.
What about a list of remote key functions. I have found quite a few, but I think we could all gain from a documented list of them. They certainly aren't in the manual that I downloaded.
I have noticed that the whole unit powers on sometines when I use the remote for my old video recorder. I have not yet identified the exact cause of this. I also have an infra-red wireless keyboard that may giving it the wakeup indication, but I'm not sure if it was in sleep or power down. The standby mode seems to lock up the box, i.e. it does not power up again properly.
What about getting EPGs and setting the unit up to record TV programs. Can it be set to a no-noise state whilst waiting for the show to start, and then power to that state again when the recording has finished. I have toyed with the boot-up clock in the BIOS, but have not had it working yet.
This could be such a great box given the right software.

Autologon with windows XP
I Use TweakUI to autologin windows xp
you can download it here
Set native resolution to 768x576
I also use TVtool to set the resolution to 768x576 which is the native PAL resolution. This prevents that stuff gets scaled
However, note that MediaCenter III Deluxe doesnt work nicely with it
Many stuff will b offscreen
Remote control
I use Girder for my remote control. It allows me to control all programs using a remote control (unfortunaly not msi's remote control).
TV Guide
Try to see if there's XMLTV support for your country. Many HTPC support XMLTV to show a TVguide

Mac Mini and Boxee as a media center

Seriously considering bying a Mac Mini to run as a media center. Has anyone some recent (2011) experiences, good and bad with Boxee to do the job?
Also, is the low-end Mac mini (2.3 GHz, 2GB RAM,Intel HD Graphics 3000) powerful enough to stream HQ movies and tv-series ?
Thanks for any reply fellows.

Boxee has discontinued making the software available as an independent download for home systems. The goal is to get you to purchase their hardware.
Plex and XBMC are current and free to download.
My recommendation would be to download and install them both.
Try each of them and see which one you prefer.
If I may offer some additional advice...
1) install the maximum RAM allowed in your Mini. Better safe than sorry. Not that you will or should experience any issues. It will simply save you from having to do so in the future. And far too many people run their systems with the basic amount of memory and wonder why their system runs slower as time marches on.
2) Configure and administrate the Mini for ease of use as a media centre. Some OS and 3rd party software can and will interfere with your enjoyment of a simple media centre. Picture this, you're watching a movie on your media centre when suddenly a window pops up to alert you of a software update. I know it sounds like a minor thing but in the middle of a tense or gripping movie scene it can be VERY annoying. You will have to decide what is pertinent and what isn't. If you put the time in to administrate your Mini before regular use as a media centre you'll be happier in the long run.
3) Speaking of administration, you may want to consider using Little Snitch. Buy, install and configure it so that your system is kept safe and any incoming/outgoing connections are established before running the media centre. 'Nuff said.
4) If you have an iPad. iTouch or iPhone you can download remote control apps for your media centre. Some are free and some will come out of pocket. You may need to manage minor settings on both the Mini and your remote (iPhone, iPad, etc) before you can use the app. It's a lot easier than running up to the Mini's mouse & keyboard each time you want to watch a movie (example). You can set up more than one handheld device at a time so that you, your spouse, roommate, children, etc can control the media centre application.
5) This one applies to all computers: invest in external storage devices. For me, I have 2 Terabyte hard drives connected to my Mini Media Centre. This allows me to store my movies, music and pictures external to the Mini safely. The second Terabyte hard drive acts as a backup to the first one in case (God forbid) something happens to the first one. This isn't paranoia. Just good data management and security.
I realize that all of this seems like a lot of work but it's not. Actually considered writing more but I think you get the picture. A little work upfront will make your Mini Media Centre experience a joy.
Hope this helps.

Does apple have media center?

Does Apple have a television on screen like Windows has the Media Center?

If you mean you want to display your Mac on a TV, then the answer is a qualified "yes."
For PowerPC Macs, you can use Front Row to display your movies, pictures, and DVDs in a nice, TV friendly interface similar to the first generation AppleTV. For a more glossy experience, look into XBMC. Plex is an alternative, but it generally (with some exceptions) requires an Intel processor based Mac.
You can also buy a variety of TV tuners from Elgato and other manufacturers that allow you to view (and record) a TV signal on your Mac. They plug into a USB port and connect to a TV antenna, cable line, or satellite receiver. Look into EyeTV or MythTV for controlling what channel you watch.
Andrew

Can any one help me with CD/Audio disc playback problem on media center m8200n running Windows Vista

I have HP Media Center m8200n Dest top running WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 32 BIT edition.It has MEDIA CENTER and MEDIA PLAYER. I experience problems with the computer being able to play CD music discs. What happens is that the Disc will play only for 63 seconds exactly and then stop playing the track, the player will then skip tracks, settle on another one, play it for a few moments and then skip to the end and then play nothing. It gives me an error message that it cannot read the disc. This happens with any and every standard store bought CD new or used. These CDs also do play on my laptop running basically same operating system. This happens whether I trying to Play a disc or burn the disc to the hard drive. The drives work great though as they do play DATA discs all the way through. MP3 discs play fine. It also plays the DVD movies with no problem. Windows media player doesn't make it work, also installed VLC player and REALPLAYER to try some other players and they also don't work for music, only DVDs. They all only produce 63 seconds of music play back from a disc. I've already tried Changing ENHANCEMENTS, UPDATING DRIVERS, UNINSTALLING THE DISC DRIVE and then re-installing back into WINDOWS but none of that helped. SYSTEM came with the integrated REALTEK HIGH DEFINITION AUDIO on the mother boad for multi channel playback options and I've downloaded those updated drivers again but that doesn't do anything. Thinking it might be a hardware drive problem I purchased a new LG BLU-RAY DRIVE/BURNER super multi drive which plays fantastic for any video format from Blu-Ray to regular DVD format with the Power DVD software but the machine is causing even this new drive to have the same problem with the audio and it cuts out playing the audio disc within the same 63 seconds running audio disc. . There seems to be a software glitch and I'm wondering if you can help. Also the sound card seems to work perfectly fine. I downloaded I-Tunes and copied over audio files to the computer via my flash drive and when I play those files from the hard drive, or even the sample windows media files which reside on the hard drive in MY MUSIC, all files play through perfectly, fully, and with great sound. Audio out jacks in back of computer work fine as also does the front head phone jacks upfront. Something in the software when playing a audio disc/file through the dic drives???? I've got hundreds of CD and it's a bummer not beng able to lay them through the system. Does anyone think moving from VISTA PREMIUM to a upgraded version like ULTIMATE or even going up to Windows 7 might solve problem??? What about the 32 bit verses 64 bit editions??? My system should be able to run in the 64 bit frame work also. THANK YOU in advance!!!

Hi,
All dimms work individually? Did you run a bootable memory diagnostic to determine the reliability? Did you run a diagnostic on the hard drive? I believe that your PC came with PC Doctor and that you can create a bootable diagnostic disk. Did you create that disk? Be sure to purchase memory dimms from a manufacturer that will stand behind their product with a guarantee such as Crucial, Corsair or Kingston. Buy directly from the manufacturer and they will stand behind the guarantee. Be sure that all of the dimms are identical. Use CPU-Z to determine that the specifications are indeed identical.
You have some options to consider once you can stablize your PC for updating the BIOS.
Locate a hard drive and use the HP external recovery media to build a VISTA system. -- safest method
Use a VISTA repair disk and at the command prompt try executing the HP BIOS update (Admin). -- safe
Try a bootable BIOS update process as suggested at this site. -- less safe but doable
HP DV9700, t9300, Nvidia 8600, 4GB, Crucial C300 128GB SSD
HP Photosmart Premium C309G, HP Photosmart 6520
HP Touchpad, HP Chromebook 11
Custom i7-4770k,Z-87, 8GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650,GTX 760
Custom i7-4790k,Z-97, 16GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Plextor M.2 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650, GTX 660TI
Windows 7/8 UEFI/Legacy mode, MBR/GPT

Need advice on on a Mac Pro 1,1 Media Center

I currently have a 2009 Mac Mini running as my home media center, but I recently came by a FREE Mac Pro 1,1 and have decided to repurpose it as my media center so I can migrate my Mac Mini to my bedroom TV where it will live an easy life doing nothing but run Plex Home Theater, Netflix, and EyeTV. This machine falling into my lap was also quite timely because my 4-bay Drobo is running low on available expansion and another Drobo isn't in the budget at the moment.
This vintage mac pro is running Lion 10.7.5, has 1 old and crusty 500GB hardrive, dual x5160 processors, 4GB RAM (one stick i'm pretty sure is toast judging by the red light and the kernel panics), and the standard NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB graphics card. It will be used primarily for the following: network storage for iphoto and itunes libraries, streaming video, Plex Media Server & Plex Home Theater, and Handbrake encoding. I also have a goal of safety of data for my movies, photos and music as this machine will supplement my current Drobo storage.
My plans are for a 128GB SSD boot drive installed in one of the PCIe slots and then to load up all 4 of the 3.5" drive bays with WD Green hard drives. I have also ordered 4GB of replacement RAM, so upon removal of the faulty unit I will have 7GB.
Here is where I need advice because I am not very familiar with RAID and the differences between hardware or software raid. Am I better off getting four drives of the same size and setting them up as RAID 5 (I think) using Apple's RAID utility or should I throw in three 1TB drives and then install a fourth 3TB or 4TB drive as a Time Machine backup for the other three?
Should I upgrade the OSX to the technically unsupported latest version? Or is it not worth the trouble for this application?
Also, is there any benefit to upgrading the graphics card to the ATI Radeon 5770? Would this yield an improved image quality? I am outputting to a Denon AV Reciever and subsequently to a 100" projection screen, if that makes a difference. I also noticed the 5770 has an HDMI port, wich would be nice, but not necessary since I can use a DVI converter and woud still need to use the optical audio out anyway.
Much obliged for any input

My plans are for a 128GB SSD boot drive installed in one of the PCIe slots and then to load up all 4 of the 3.5" drive bays with WD Green hard drives. I have also ordered 4GB of replacement RAM, so upon removal of the faulty unit I will have 7GB.
PCIe cards that use or support SSD are not bootable until you get to 2008 (and that is limited too).
Green are not suited for any form of array unless say NAS and WD RED. Better option would be 3 x 2TB WD Blacks in a mirror, and too many people only use two drives, well 3 is much easier safer and works better. Might want to invest in www.SoftRAID.com product even.
Best price and quality, got my 1,1 with 8 x 2GB (ideal is 4 or 8 DIMMs)
2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz @ $25
http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/
With price of 250GB SSD $155 I'd go with that or stick with $89 for 128GB .

How can I use the FM tuner in Windows Media Center?

Hi everyone.
New to the threads.
Found this site while looking for answers to a problem I'm having. ?:|
I received my Toshiba Satellite computer as a Christmas gift. I noticed it has a cool FM tuner feature.
I also have been playing around with Windows Media Center.
However, I cannot figure out how to operate the FM tuner inside WMC....?
I added the NXP FM tuner program to the "extras" on WMC, but instead of opening up the tuner inside WMC it just opens the separate program.
Does anyone know how I can use the FM tuner (or a different one perhaps?) inside WMC?
Thank you! :)

Hello
I don't have any experience with this because my Satellite doesnt have FM Tuner but nice discussion about it you can find under
http://forums.computers.toshiba-europe.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=138027
If you will find final solution it will be nice if you can describe own experience with it. It can be useful for other people here.
Bye and good luck!

WRT610N disconnects and does not work with Vista or media center extenders like the DMA2200

Linksys and all other router manufacturers advertise the greatness of the wireless 5ghz band (especially with 802.11n), but I’m beginning to have my doubts. It is true that the 5Ghz band is hardly being used so you'll have virtually no one to compete with. However, the 5Ghz distance in no way compares to 2.4Ghz, and as a matter of fact, I find it to be quite terrible. At approximately 20 feet away, both my Linksys DMA2200 and HP notebook barely get 1 bar using the 5Ghz N band with my WRT610N router. In comparison, while using my 2.4Ghz WRT54g router, I get 5 full bars at that range, and at least 2 bars from anywhere else in my house.
I have all Linksys equipment in my house as I have been impressed with all of their 2.4Ghz in the past. However, I’ve recently upgraded everything to dual-band N equipment and found numerous flaws in each of the new devices, plus none of them really even play well together. My setup is: Linksys 610n router, DMA2200 media center extender, and a WUSB600N Dual-Band Wireless-N USB Network Adapter for my laptop – all of which are currently using the most up-to-date firmware. Other devices include a WRE54G extender and Nintendo Wii.
Problem #1) The LELA software with the new N devices doesn't even recognize that my DMA2200 is a media center extender. Using LELA, I should be able to select my media extender and allocate more bandwidth for streaming media. However, since my extender only shows up as an “unknown network device” those options are greyed out. I tried to manually change the device to a media center, but still no go. I suppose you can manually allocate bandwidth in the router setup somewhere, but considering these are all Linksys products, it’s absolutely ridiculous that an option specifically incorporated in the LELA software for a Linksys Media Extender does not work!!!
Problem #2) If you are only using one system with the router, the router might actually work as intended. For most of us though there are going to be at least 2 or more systems connected to the router (wired, wireless, or a combination of the two) such as a PS3, Wii, laptop, PC, media extender, Xbox, etc. If that’s the case, you’re probably screwed because you WILL experience frequent dropouts… ESPECIALLY if just one those clients is a VISTA machine. Check the Linksys forums and you will find that this seems to be a problem with all of the new Linksys routers (610N, 310N, and 110).
Here is a Microsoft article that explains the issue
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928233/en-us
Problem #3) Because of problem #2 I will never be able to get rid of the dropouts since my network is using one of Linksys’s media center extenders. The DMA2200 is essentially a VISTA PC to some extent and accepts DHCP requests the same as a VISTA PC. Since it is not really a PC though, there is no registry modification that can be done to alleviate the VISTA problem (not that the registry mod really works anyways). So as long as I try to use my DMA2200 wirelessly with my WRT610N router, the frequent dropouts will occur and there’s nothing I can do about it. This is REALLY TERRIBLE since the DMA2200 is specifically designed to be used with the WRT610N router in order to take advantage of the 5Ghz band and wireless N transfer rates. You absolutely need 5Ghz wireless N to efficiently stream HDTV WIRELESSLY, but if you lose your connection every 10 minutes, it is impossible to watch any type of streaming media.
Problem #4) As mentioned already, when the “N” 5Ghz range is working on the WRT510N router, the distance sucks compared to standard 2.4Ghz G, N or mixed mode networks. You can try to make it better by strictly using N products, disabling the 2.4ghz band all-to-gether, and using the wider 40mhz frequency, but it doesn’t really help. The higher 5Ghz band is a more concentrated signal and therefore simply does not reach as far as the lower 2.4ghz band. I wonder why all of these new products state that the 5Ghz range will increase your distance, when in fact it actually makes it worse?
So… basically, this router does nothing that it claims too and is basically rendered useless on any network with a VISTA machine. This has not been addressed by any Linksys firmware updates or VISTA software updates so there is no reason to even consider using this router if you you’re using VISTA or some type of VISTA Media Center Extender such as the Linksys DMA2200.
Although, I’ve always sworn by Linksys in the past, the amount of wasted time, frustration, and horrible support has really changed my view about them. I’ve reverted back to my old trustworthy WRT54g router and had to run cable through my house so that I wouldn’t have to box my DMA2200 extender up and let it collect dust in the attic. It’s really disappointing that I spent all this money to buy this equipment specifically because they’re supposed to work together, but in fact they don’t. Plus what’s the point of having top notch wireless equipment if you have to run cables in order for them to work?
Message Edited by bobbodavis on 11-15-2008 07:37 PM

I have fixed all the IP adresses to avoid the DHCP problem but I still have problems.
I have sereval scenarioes:
1. MC < 1Gb wire > WRT610N < 5.0n WIFI > MX
I can see HDTV on this one but it disconnects
2. MC < 1Gb wire > WRT610N < 2.4b/g WIFI > MX
No HDTV and disconnections
3. MC < 2.4b/g WIFI > WRT610N < 2.4b/g WIFI > MX
No HDTV but no disconnections - but very slow and streaming like youtube
4. MC < 100Mb wire > WRT610N < 2.4b/g WIFI > MX
No HDTV but nice picture - testing for disconnections right now - 30+ min.
Result:
This test was very good. Stabil streaming, no disconnects for an hour. Won't support HDTV but the rest seem to work fine.
5. MC < 100Mb wire > WRT610N < 5.0n WIFI > MX
Not tested yet - looking forward to this - might bring me HDTV.
Result:
This gives HDTV but there is a problem with stability on the streaming but very difficult to see on the picture. Testing for disconnects - now tested for 30 min. - no disconnects.
This looks really promissing.
I am pretty sure that the WRT610N have a problem in the switching part of the router specially when it has to switch from 1G to WIFI. I bought the WRT610N to get HDTV on WIFI and Cisco markets the DMA and WRT610N as a perfect match. But it definately have problems - i still do not understand their silence about this.
I will come back with the last results when I have them
/John
Message Edited by Infraxpert on 01-05-2009 04:38 PM
Message Edited by Infraxpert on 01-05-2009 05:35 PM

Qosmio F30: How to: Manual Installation Of Windows Xp Media Center Edition 2005

Manual Installation Of Windows Xp Media Center Edition 2005 On Toshiba Qosmio F30 Laptop
Last Update 3 Oct 2006
Important Notes Before You Start:
1-These Steps Used For "Toshiba Qosmio F30" And For Other Qosmio Models That Comes With "Intel Centrino Duo" Cpu's And With Xp Media Center 2005 Installed.
2-Apply These Steps If You Have Previous Experience In Installing Windows Xp , If You Don't Have That Experience , Then You Can Use The Supplied Recovery Cd To Restore Your System.
3- Windows Xp Media Center Cd's Are Not Supplied With Your Laptop, If You Want To Get The Cd's You Can Buy It From Many On-Line Shops And If You Do So You Will Get Valid Windows Xp Product Key Which You Will Not Need It (Because You Already Have One You Can Find It In A Small Sticker In The Back Of Your Laptop And You Can Activate Your Windows With It).
In Other Words ( You Need The First And The Second Cd Of Windows Xp Mce 2005 SP2 Oem).
4- Do Not Try To Apply These Steps On Other Versions Of Windows Xp , Use "Windows Xp Media Center Edition 2005 Sp2 Oem" Only
5- You Must Have Usb Floppy Drive To Install "Toshiba Raid Controller" , It Can Be Installed Only By Having The Driver On a Floppy Disk And By Pressing F6 During The Installation Of Windows Xp, If You Do Not Install The Raid Driver Then Windows Xp Will Not Recognize Your Hard Disk.
6- Disclaimer of liability
I shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of the this site or its content, including but not limited to delays, omissions, and inaccuracies in its content.
Steps:
1- Create Drivers Cd From "Toshiba Assist Utility" ,You Should See The Toshiba Assist Icon On The Desktop, Then In The Toshiba Assist Choose The 'protect & Fix' Tab ,There You Will Find The Option `Create Drivers & Tools Cd` And Insert a Blank Cd To Write It
"If This Option Did Not Work Then You Have To Install The Restore Cd To Get It Work" , The Drivers Are Installed In A Folder Called Toolscd In "C:" Drive. To Install Your Recovery Cd Power On Your Laptop And Hold "F12" And Use The Arrow Keys To Choose Cd-Rom Icon To Boot From the Cd.
2- Create Toshiba Raid Driver From The Drivers Cd, The Toshiba Raid Driver Has To Be Added During The Installation of Windows XP When Asked To "Press F6 If You Need To Install A Third Party SCSI Or Raid Driver".
In Order To Do That , Insert The Drivers Cd "from Windows " It Will Run Automatically Or Run "Browser.Exe" Inside The Cd The Select "Raid Driver" And Click On "Installation" Button, It Will Show You The Raid Driver files , Insert A Blank Floppy And Copy The Files Into The Floppy "Be Sure That All The Files Be On The Root Of The Floppy" or download the Toshiba RAID driver from the Toshiba driver download web page and extract the zip file to a floppy disk."Again, All The Files Should Be On The Root Of The Floppy Not Inside A Folder"
3- Connect Your Usb Floppy Drive And Insert Your Windows Xp Mce 2005 Cd 1 And Power On Your Laptop Hold "F12" And Use The Arrow Keys To Choose Cd-Rom Icon To Boot From The Cd.
When You Get The Message To "Press Any Key To Boot From Cd...", Press Any Key , If You Do Not Press Any Key, It Will Not Boot From Cd-Rom,Press F6 When Asked To "Press F6 If You Need To Install A Third Party Scsi Or Raid Driver".
The Setup Continues Until You Are Asked Whether You Want To "S = Specify Additional Device". Press 's' And Specify The Toshiba Raid Driver For Xp. Then Press 'enter' To Continue With The Installation.
Do Not Upgrade Your Xp Installation ,Start New Windows Installation And Partition Your Hard Disk , Windows Installation Will Ask You To Insert Cd 2, And Will Copy Some Files And Will Ask You To Insert Cd 1 Again ,Continue The Setup Until Windows finish The Insallation.
4- After Windows Finish The Installation Insert Drivers Cd And Select "Microsoft Updates" From The Drivers Cd Click On"Installation Button" ,Click "Qfe" And Install ONLY the Following Updates (Do Not Let The Updates Restart Your PC Until You Finish The Installation of All Updates)
A- Q896256
FIX "Computers That Are Running Windows Xp Service Pack 2 And That Are Equipped With Multiple Processors That Support Processor Power Management Features May Experience Decreased Performance"
B-Q910437
FIX "High Hit Count Watson Crash In Wu Client"
C-Q889673
FIX "Hardware (Dep)-Enabled Computer May Unexpectedly Quit After You Resume From Standby Or From Hibernation In Windows Xp Service Pack 2"
D-Q896243 (Very Important ,This Will Make SD And MMC Cards To Work)
FIX "ADD Support The High Speed SD Card"
Other Updates Are Not Necessary To Install, Because You Will Install It Later When You Run Microsoft Updates From Microsoft Updates Web-site After You Finish Activating Your Windows.
5- download and run "Intel(R) Chipset Software Installation Utility" from Intel website
(Restart Your PC After You Finish The Installation)
Do Not Install "Chipset Driver" From The Drivers Cd , It Is An Old Version , Try To Install The Latest From The Link Above.
6- Install The "Display Driver" From Drivers Cd (No Need To Restart).
Note : To Avoid Annoying Messages During Drivers Installation Try To Do The Following:-
Go To Control Panel , System Properties , Hardware , Drive Signing , Select "Ignore - Install The Software...."
Go To Control Panel , System Properties , Hardware , Windows Update , Select "Never Search Windows Update For Drivers"
7- Now You Have To Setup Your Internet Connection and Activate Your Windows So That You Can Run "Windows Updates" From Microsoft Windows Update Website
Your Internet Connection May Need One Of The Following Drivers (Depending On Your Modem)
A- If You Your Internet Connection Through LAN Then Install The "Network Driver" From Drivers Cd.
B- If You Your Internet Connection Through Wireless Then Install The "Wireless Network Driver" From Drivers Cd.
C- If Your Internet Connection Through USB Then Install The Driver Supplied By Your Modem Manufacturer.
D- If Your Internet Through Dial-Up Then Install The "Sound Driver" From Drivers CD , This Driver Will Install The Sound Driver And Will Activate The Modem Device and ,A Message Appeared "Find New Hardware ,Modem Device" Ignore The Message And Restart Your PC Then Install "Modem Driver" From Drivers Cd.
8- Now Go To Windows Update Web-Site And Install All The Necessary Updates "Try To Run Windows Updates Several Times Until You Install All The Updates Because In The First Time, Windows Updates Website Will Install 3 Files Only After That Restart Your Computer And Go To Windows Updates Site Again And Continue To Install The Updates , Select Custom Updates Method And Install All The Critical And Optional Updates".
9- install "Common Modules" from drivers CD This module is an essential component on Windows XP systems It is required to make other TOSHIBA original programs work properly.
10- Now Continue To Install Other Drivers And Utilities From Drivers Cd But Do Not Install The Following Drivers:-
Atheros Client Utility " No Need"
Bluetooth Monitor " Do Not Install This , Install Only The "Bluetooth Stack".
Enjoy Your Powerful Toshiba Qosmio Laptop.

you can see this tutorial also in this website
salah.coms.ph

Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center - Problems with Activation

Hello.
I was one of those who tried Windows 8 early and got a Windows Media Center key for free.
Today through Dreamspark Premium I got a Windows 8.1 key.
I normally used my new Windows 8.1 key and Windows 8.1 were activated successfully and because I remembered I had a Windows Media Center into my e-mail archive folder I used it in "Add features to Windows 8".
Windows accepted the key, added Windows Media Center and rebooted.
After the reboot, Windows 8.1 got deactivated and it won't accept my genuine Windows 8.1 Pro key.
I do not wish to format my pc or re-install everything . I just want to activate my Windows 8.1.
I do not care about Windows Media Center, I just want to activate them with my genuine key.

Hi,
Based on the current situation, I would like to suggest you to contact Microsoft Product Activation Center by telephone to verify the product key and activate your system.
To start the Product Activation Wizard, follow these steps:
1. At the Start screen, swipe in from the right side, or hover your mouse in the upper-right corner of the screen to display the charms menu.
2. Tap or click the Settings charm.
3. Tap or click Change PC Settings.
4. If your PC is not activated, PC Settings will provide instructions that are customized to your activation error. If telephone support can provide help for your error, tap or click the appropriate link, which may resemble one of the
following:
a. Activate
b. Activate by phone
c. Contact customer support for help
For the detail information, refer to the following link:
How to contact a Microsoft Product Activation Center by telephone:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950929
Additionally, if the issue still persists, I suggest you contact Dream spark support for help.
https://www.dreamspark.com/Student/Support.aspx
Regards,
We
are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
interview project would be greatly appreciated if you have time.
Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.

RE: HP XP Media Center 2005 Ed will not boot from HP System Restore CD's

RE: HP XP Media Center 2005 Ed will not boot from HP System Restore CD's.
The following instructions about the "Code Purple" error FAILED. Error is still present.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
***PLAIN ENGLISH QUICK AND EASY FIX FOR ALL SYSTEMS****
***Windows 7 code purple or Windows Vista code purple***
With the code purple error on the screen, press shift+f10 (the shift key and the F10 key (at the top of the keyboard) at the same time) to open a little screen called a command prompt. (So, you get a little black screen with white text that says something about your Windows verison first and a little ways down you'll see "C:\>".   It's all ready for you to start typing.)
Type the following line, just as you see it here...
notepad C:\hp\bin\checkdmi\checkdmi.cmd
so it will look like this
C:\>notepad C:\hp\bin\checkdmi\checkdmi.cmd
Press Enter.
You will see the text for the file listed in a window using a simple text editor.
Go to the beginning of the text. Press enter to make a space. Type this...
goto cleanup
So, whatever comes after, the first line looks like this...
goto cleanup
Save the file and exit notepad and restart your PC. You are good to go.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RESULT: Same error and problem.
So, NOW THE SCENARIO IS THIS...[ And A CHALLANGE TO ALL HP Software EXPERTS]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1. The PC will not boot the System Restore CD's
2. The Original OS install and [HP_RECOVERY] disk sector has been severely damaged by
all of the following:
   A. Massive Virus Infections as shown by Kaspersky Virus Scan and cleaned up.
   B. The user had originally updated the pc to Vista Business Express Upgrade
       (Supplied by HP with the original purchase and warranty).
        (Prior to the upgrade, Media Center was working correctly.)
   C. The original OS product key(XP Media Center Ed. 2005) has been changed by the Vista Business Express upgrade.
   D. The destructve recovery done by PC-Doctor has done user file damage(s).
   E. All software, and possibly hardware could be corrupted & damaged by viruses,
   incomplete recovery, and the unknown failures and conditions.
To sum up, the system is locked in an unknown state, waiting for expert help.
(I can allow and manage to let someone diagnose, repair remotely using another OS i.e.Linux Opensuse 12.1, or XP Home ed if needed.)
SO IF YOU THINK YOU ARE UP TO THIS CHALLANGE, SEND MESSAGES TO DAVHPForum anytime. Thanks in advance!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hello @DAVHPForum,
Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience! To help you get the most out of the HP Forums I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide First Time Here? Learn How to Post and More.
I have read your post on how you are not able to boot your computer using the HP system restore CDs, and I would be happy to assist you in this matter!
If you are not able to recover your system by following the steps in this document, please call our technical support at 800-474-6836. If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the link below to get the support number for your region.
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html
I hope this helps!
Regards
MechPilot
I work on behalf of HP
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Actiontech router and Windows Media Center on Win8

While waiting for Verizon to solve their network problems and actually get light to the ONT, they left the actiontech router in my house, so I took sometime to get to know it.
It's definitelly something I don't want or need in my network. It's not a bad router if you didn't have a business class product from before (actually it is pretty much the best you can get short of going to hardware firewall routers in the class of Zyxel, Watchguard and some high end, business class, Dells, Ciscos and Netgears).
Well... needless to say, I am running such a router (a Watchguard XTM-26W) and have security subscriptions with them to protect my network. In addition, it offers functionality and discrete access controls otherwise impossible with consumer grade products.
Now, back to the basic subject: I noticed something ominous and wonder if anyone else has noticed it too. I run my TV service through a machine that uses a Ceton 4-HD PCI-E tuner card with a multistream cablecard. It is installed on top of Windows 8 Pro, 64 bit and I use Windows Media Center as my core TV interface (guide and all). The machine is set to go to sleep by itself if no activity (and TV it's the only thing designed and intended to do and the only thong it does) is detected on the tuner for 5 minutes. This works flawlesly and always did while on Comcast service.
Now, the problem: you put the Actiontech router in the network (regardless of whether it's before or after the firewall gateway) and the machine fails to go to sleep. The router introduces some dort of chatter in the networkk that keeps the HDD active and the computer alive in perpetuity. Did anyone notice anything similar? What is your experience with this?
Obviously, I have no intent to keep the Actiontech router in the network under such conditions. For what I know, it is illegal in fact to put out products that send unsolicited traffic through one's network. Not to mention that it is a security risk. Might Verizon re-consider their insistence on deciding what routers to support and what don't or simply drop all support for all the routers since none is ever really needed? They only have the job to deliver a public IP to my equipment and I should be left alone otherwise (according to FCC). Which they otherwise fail to do by putting a piece of equipment that is theirs in the way and mandating that I use it, since 192.168.x.x is NOT a public IP, according to Internet Council.

LeoZ wrote:
Actiontec responded to my inquiry. See below.
It turns out it's another Verizon problem...
"Honestly no idea what would cause the chatter on the network to prevent sleep\stand-by to function.
Verizon would have to review the issue and see what in the code programming would cause this."
Stop the chatter. Put your Media Center hardware behind another firewall. Like I said mine is Linux IP-COP, which constanty drops these trash packets from the single STB I have on the MOCA COAX.
All from the Verizon network router. Almost like a broadcast storm!
This is a Motorola STB, My Cisco had two real IP addresses asigned by DHCP, and they did not do this. I turned in all my STB hardware and ordered a single STB, and was sent Motorola when I had been using Cisco.
wan-1 in into my Linux box and lan-1 is out of it. Then all my harware which includes Media Center PCs are gigabit switches, not exposed to this. I guess you could use another router and not a Linux PC. This STB is going back soon.
Time
Chain
Iface
Proto
Source
Src Port
MAC Address
Destination
Dst Port
22:53:42
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:53:31
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:53:22
RED DROP
wan-1
IGMP
192.168.1.1
00:7f:28:5c:07:1b
224.0.0.1
22:53:21
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:53:11
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:53:01
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:51
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:41
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:31
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:21
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:11
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:01
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:51
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:41
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:31
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:21
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:17
RED DROP
wan-1
IGMP
192.168.1.1
00:7f:28:5c:07:1b
224.0.0.1
22:51:11
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302

Windows 7 as a media center extender?

I have a Vista Ultimate box that I use as my media center. I have a notebook with Windows 7 installed on it that I would like to use as a media center extender. Is this possible?
For the life of me I can't seem to figure it out. My Vista machine hasn't given me the notice of a new media center PC on the network like it does when a new Vista media center shows up...
Appreciate any guidance....

Hi there, I asked the following question over at the Windows 7 beta QnA and got silence, and from what I am reading here, I thought perhaps you could answer. This may be an odd place to post new questions (in mid-discussion) but it seems on topic, and I didn't want to waste readers' time by posting a new topic.
Will Windows 7 stream to another PC or "Play To" recorded TV files that were recorded using WMC?Will
other Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP PCs be able to play
recorded TV streams from a Windows 7 machine over a home network?
If
so, will those PCs be able to get all the show info such as title, time
and date, episode summary, etc in order to navigate and choose the
correct recorded TV episode?
Another, similar question is will Windows
7 be able to act as a software-based media center extender for another
machine (Windows 7, Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, or XP MCE) running
Windows Media Center?
One more question is...is any of this possible in Windows Vista? I have one PC with Vista that I use as my media center/DVR and my other systems in the house are running Xp or Mac O/S. I can share and then access the recorded TV folder via my network and play the files on the other systems in the house (yes, even the Mac) but I don't get any of the fantastic WMC front-end UI, which turns out to be more than just a pretty wrapper slapped on it, because it also gives specific episode names, recording dates, and episode summaries, and groups the episodes per series(if desired). When combing the files via a network share, the naming convention is all convoluted and the experience is not very intuitive. I could use an extender such as the xbox 360 to watch this stuff on tv, but it is more convenient to watching on my computers.

MacMini as media center with eyeTV

I'm trying to collect some facts and thoughts about the idea of using the MacMini as a media center at home. There seems to be some hard feelings regarding FrontRow 2.0 in Leopard, but I can't see that they would have any greater impact in the set up I'm planning - can you?
I'd like to...
...access my iTunes library
...look at iPhoto pics
...watch DVDs
...watch DIVx, AVI, VIDEO_CD
...record TV
...use our old 21 inch 4:3 CRT television + external amp + analog cable (just usual antenna signal)
I don't have to...
...use the Mini to anything else (like surfing, email)
...5.1 sound or something like that
I'm looking at a MacMini with the Elgato eyeTV 250 plus and a DVI-video adapter.
A few questions:
* What about the quality of the recorded video using eyeTV? As VHS or better?
* Is eyeTV integrated into FrontRow nowadays? I'd like to schedule my recordings that way - as simple as possible.
* Do I switch channels using eyeTV, or do I still have the ordinary antenna signal to the TV so I can use that remote i I'd like? Perhaps I need to split the antenna signal into two cables - one going to elgato and one to the TV (side by side with the scart from the Mini).

Hey Goka,
I recently purchased a Mac Mini for this very reason. I've only had it for a few days but here's what I've discovered in answer to your questions:
1.) It will access your iTunes library, including shared libraries over your home network. However, shared libraries currently will not display album art (something many users are frustrated with - I guess previous versions of Front Row did support album art for shared libraries). Hopefully this is an issue Apple will resolve soon in an update. I've written them asking them to address it and many others have as well... you may want to add your 10 cents too. The only trick to the shared libraries is that you have to tell Front Row to look for it each time you boot/wake up your machine (it's a menu item in the Front Row interface called "Sources"). I have yet to experience a stutter on these shared files on our home wireless network.
2.) I haven't tried the iPhoto thing yet but hope to soon. I'll let someone else speak to that... I know it's possible.
3.) I've watched two DVDs right through Front Row. When you have a disc inserted it will become a menu option in Front Row. If you hit menu on your Apple Remote quickly it'll go to the DVD menu with full navigation through your Apple Remote, and if you hit Menu and hold it for a second it'll bring you back to the Front Row menu.
4.) If I understand it correctly theoretically anything you can play in QuickTime you can play in Front Row. I've successfully played some Xvid files so far. However, over our home wireless network larger files were difficult to stream (very stuttery). As a result I just connected an external USB hard drive to the Mac Mini... I can still access and manage the contents over the home network but the files are local to the Mac Mini so they load quickly and play flawlessly. The one trick is to make alias files of your movies (wherever you decide to store them) and place them in your Mac Mini's "Movies" folder (this way they'll show up in your Movies directory in Front Row. I noticed that sometimes accessing things over network required me "connecting" to the computer before opening Front Row on boot/wake up (another reason I opted to store movies locally and manage remotely).
4.) Recording TV... I haven't gotten to this piece yet. I'm hoping someone else can speak to this because this is something I want to do as well. I've been looking at the TVMicro (which comes with TheTube software for $60-90) and the EyeTV (which comes with EyeTV software for $150-200). Both seemed to receive reviews of 4+ stars everywhere I've looked. I wish there was a way to see the software for both in action. My biggest question is can you load the program and navigate (including just regular full screen viewing) via the Apple Remote or provided remote control - I don't want to have to get up and use the keyboard/mouse every time I want to watch TV. From what I've read the software records in either MPEG 1 or MPEG 2 with various quality levels based on what you're looking for. I wish it had H.264 or Divx encoding but I guess you can always do that after the fact. Unfortunately I can't yet speak to how the quality actually looks as I don't have one either. As a fail-safe for old fashioned channel surfing I've thought about using an RF splitter right before it hits the Mac Mini so you can still surf the channels the old way and/or with your Mac Mini (but if you can't do it easily and seamlessly on the Mac Mini I won't buy one).
5.) We're using our 27" CRT TV and the $20 DVI to Video adaptor Apple makes. Looks great to me. Certainly not HD... but neither is our TV. Sounds like we're on the same page... if I'm concerned about 5.1 and HD I'll buy a BR or HD DVD player and disc for optimal quality. I'm trying to keep most of my digital video files at around 1.2GB for movies (this is a 1500 bitrate for Xvid with 2-pass... looks as good as any standard def satellite TV channel I've seen).
Hope you find some of this feedback helpful. I also hope someone else can speak more to the EyeTV and/or MicroTV solutions that are available, how they perform and how you interact with the software.

Apple 23" Cinema Display not supported by Windows Media Center Edition PC

Well I'm learning the hard way and of course that is through experience. I just found out after purchasing my 23"Apple Display and talking to the Apple Support Tech is that Apple does not support the Cinema Display with PC's,
Wish Apple would be more transparent on this issue prior to a costly purchase. For example on the Apple site listing the Display in system requirements:
Windows PC and graphics card that supports DVI ports with full single-link digital bandwidth and VESA DDC standard for plug and play setup
Well I have a Windows PC with a Nvidia Graphics card just as the system requirements state. Yet my PC will not adjust to proper resolution for the Apple Display. The graphics card works fine. Its a driver issue where the Apple Display is not compatible with Window Media Center Edition on Windows PC's
So in conclusion the system requirements for Windows PC's that Apple is stating For Apple Cinema Displays is not correct. The system requirements need also to state that the Apple Cinema Display does not work with Windows Media Center Edition (MCE)
Hope that helps for any users with Windows Media Center Edition thinking or already have purchased an Apple Cinema Display.
73,
John
Mac Pro 2.66 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD Mac OS X (10.4.7) Sony Vaio Desktop PC, G-Drive External HD,Toshiba Satellite Pro Notebook

Well,
Here is the latest from Nvidia Customer Care educating users on the DVI port on the Nvidia GeForce FX 5200:
"...The basic difference you will see in these ports are in their Physical appearance. The DVI-D has less pins compared to the DVI-I port connector. Also the Apple 23" Cinema Display will work at a resolution of 1920*1200. But this graphics card that is Geforce FX 5200 will not support this resolution of 1920*1200. It will support only till 1600*1200. So that's the reason you were having the issues were you were not able to adjust the resolution"
So I ask, which Nvidia GPU card can I substitute for the current one at a reasonable price? I don't need dual link, so single link would be sufficient for my application . Here is some more helpful tips from Nvidia support. Hope this helps other users, utilizing the Apple 23" Cinema Display"
"...go for a Geforce 7600 GS graphics card which is a AGP 8x compatible graphics card. This graphics card is just 129$ graphics card. Please visit the given link to know about the details of this graphics card."
http://bfgtech.com/7600GS_512.html
And now for the final conclusion of what you need to know regarding DVI ports. Evidently Nvidia uses a term called normal DVI port. I've never heard of that term in the literature in shopping for a graphics card and checking the specs. I guess you need to look for the specific term single or dual link specifically. If it doesn't say that, then what I can gather it is a normal DVI port...whatever the heck that is?
"...Yes let me inform you that the Geforce FX 5200 graphics card does have one DVI port and one VGA port. But these single link and Dual link DVI port is totally different compared to the normal DVI ports. As you wanted to connect an Apple 23" Cinema Display to this graphics card. So for this you will need to have a graphics card which will have a Single link or Dual link DVI ports not the normal ports. So to support an Apple 23" Cinema Display, you will need to have either a Geforce 6 series or the Geforce 7 series graphics card. That's the reason I gave you the list of graphics card which comes with Single or Dual link DVI ports, not the normal ports."
Oh well off to the market to pick up either a Series 6 or Series 7 Nvidia Graphics card. The Nvidia Customer Care team was very helpful and replied to my inquires very quickly through email.
Hope this long drawn out expose helps others who might have issue with connecting their proud Apple 23' Cinema Display to their PC
Kind Regards,
John
Mac Pro 2.66 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD Mac OS X (10.4.7) Sony Vaio PC, G-Drive External HD,Toshiba Satellite Pro Notebook

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