THE MEDIAPVR PROJECT
I decided to start yet a new project. It is kinda of an intern project to the HTPC. I have taken some spare parts that have been lying around collecting dust and started to piece together a basic PVR system to replace the VCR to the upstairs TV. Though my "better half" has not totally bought into the idea of having a computer attached to the TV and getting rid of the ol'VCR. On a side note, I'm also hoping that this will get rid of the cheap DVD player connected to that TV as well. Here is the main guts of the system:
HARDWARE
Motherboard: Asus P2B-F with BIOS update 1013A
CPU: PIII 850MHz with 100Mhz FSB. It actually works nicely, considering the motherboard natively supports up to a PIII 550MHz according to ASUS documentation. In reality this board should be able to handle a PIII 1G processor...but I don't think I will chance that.
It is using a Molex Radial Fin cooler:
RAM: 224MHz PC100 (want to upgrade to 512 eventually)
HDD: 40G Seagate IDE drive. Would like to add a larger drive for more recording storage...like an 80 or 128G drive.
DVD-ROM: LG GDR-H30N 16xDVD-Rom Internal Drive. Basic run-of-the-mill drive mainly for DVD movie playback. I ended up removing the Plextor writer from the system as it is not really required. Now I can replace the standalone POS with the PVR system.
Video: ATI Radeon 7000 64M with DVI/S-Video/SVGA outputs. Originally installed in the system was an ATI Rage Fury Pro 32M Capture card (though not using the capture features). It has since been replaced with the Radeon, mainly for the reasons that it has S-Video out for current use, DVI out for future use, and it was still AGPx2 compatible, so it could be used with the motherboard.
Sound: Creative SoundBlaster 16 2 channel sound card. This is a legacy card from CL. Old but still does a nice job for stereo playback. Most likely I will get a nicer card for the HTPC and use the CL Live 5.1 card from that system here.
Network: D-Link DFE-538TX 10/100 LAN card. Run of the mill 10/100 base LAN card. I rigged a DIY WOL harness between this card and the motherboard so a network computer can wake the system if need be.
Capture Card: Hauppauge WinTV-150 PVR TV Tuner card (was going to use this in the HTPC but was taken out for the Twinhan 1020a DVB-S card instead). Using the composite input for video. Most likely will connect the coax input to the ol'VCR and backup all my tapes (well the ones that are worthwhile). This card comes with a 45-button remote and IR Blaster which I am using to control the whole system, minus a few features.
Power Supply: Thermaltake 420W TR2 (W0072). I'm pretty pleased with this one. It is pretty quite (spec indicates fans run at 19dB). Picked it up at a resonable price on eBay, though after I did find a local store selling them with a $25 mail-in-rebate :( . Oh well, still pleased with it...and being a Thermaltake, I'm expecting many years of reliable use.
SOFTWARE
WinXP with SP2 - OS...unfortunately required
Got All Media 6.7 - for all media playback/PVR functions
IRBControl for set - top box control within GAM
Descaler - MPEG1/2 codecs
ffdshow video codecs - for video playback other from DVD and TV viewing
Real Alternatives - codecs for playback of Real Media, Quicktime Media, and any other off wall types of media.
AC3Filter - used for audio codecs.
mc2xml - for EPG downloading
Ant Movie Catelog/Renamer - for DVD movie cataloging
Omega drivers - for the ATI Radeon
Hauppauge drivers - for the capture card control and IR Blaster control
RealVNC - for remote admin access control
Poweroff and sleep.exe - small apps for controlling the PVR system and the music-server's power state via the Hauppauge's remotes Red/Green buttons.
nircmdc.exe - a small command line utlility to open/close the DVD-Rom drive. This has been tied in with the Huappauge's Yellow/Blue buttons.
Toddler Keys - to lock out the Power button and DVD eject button from little, exploring fingers and minds ;) . Well worth if for anyone with small children.
NOTES
Currently the system is sitting in the HTPC case. I'm planning on purchasing a nice case for it. Looking at a Thermaltake TR2 power supply. Not the best, but much better than the generic supply that comes in the case I'm looking at.
I'm also waiting for a ATI Radeon 7000 to replace the Rage Fury Pro. This card has a DVI connection for connecting to an eventual flat panel display. It has an S-Video connection for allowing a connection to our existing TV.
I decided to use Got All Media over Xlobby for basically the PVR features that GAM offers. Though I could configure Xlobby to act as a PVR, when trying that on my test computer, it used alot of resources to pull it off. I found GAM to work great on my test computer, and so far on the MediaPVR, it is working pretty good. A bit of a learning curve, but currently it will import an EPG. I've set it up to play movies/video across the network. It is having problems with my music breakdown, so I might have it call on a Xlobby thin client screen and control my music-server that way. I've done some pausing of live TV, but I haven't scheduled any programming yet. I've been able to control the system (when GAM is running ) via the Hauppauge remote, which is pretty cool.
Two down points right now:
1) I haven't figured out how to get GAM with the Hauppauge remote to control the satellite set-top-box. Using the Hauppauge IR Blaster Config setup, I've been able to turn on/off the sat box...I've even changed channels, but I can't figure out how to blast it from within GAM.
-well concerning this point, I found a little executable called IRBControl. Using that and configuring it within GAM, I'm now able to control the set-top no problems via Channel Up/Down, Prev. Ch, number buttons, and EPG selection. Now I have a fully functional PVR system.
2) WinXP didn't alow the install of ACPI...even though the P2B-F board is supposed to be compliant. This means that I cannot use suspend mode, which is really important so the system will turn on to record, then go back into suspend. Also it needs to wake automatically for EPG updating. I have found a few workarounds for this, so I'm going to have to try them.
-tried some work arounds last night, but so far nothing has worked. I'm thinking of upgrading the BIOS to 1014.003 Beta. Not sure if that will help or not, but I've seen that poeple have been able to get ACPI configured with the P2B-F board, so I'm a little perplexed as to why it isn't for me.
UPDATED 21/12/07
I've been successful at fixing the ACPI issue. Found a technique that explained how to go through and configure it during WinXP install. Still it was a big PITA! I'm now able to wake the PC via WOL, and wake the PC for schedule recordings or EPG updates. The only minor issue now is that when the system goes into sleep, it only goes in S0 or S1...ideally I would like the system to go into S3 mode, where even the power supply goes into a reduced state. I may still have to perform a BIOS update to get the extra levels of suspend.
Currently there are no pictures of the actual system...only the product pictures shown above. I have to add some. Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped about this setup, and I think once it is deployed, the wife will really appreciate it as well.
Now I have two major issues solved with this setup, I had the opportunity to try out schedule recordings, both when the system is running, and when the system is in standby. Both worked great. Now just waiting on the Radeon 7000, a final case and supply, and a cheepy DVD drive, and this system is ready for deployment.
OFFICIAL LOG
*24/12/07*
Man-o-man, what a weekend. Up until that last post above, everything was working great. The only thing was that in using a ATI Rage Fury Pro's S-Video output, I was limited to 800x600 screen resolution. That is fine for now, but eventually I was planning on connecting this system to a Plasma, so I wanted a DVI connection for a DVI to HDMI cable, but still had to be AGP 2x complient. That was the pulling force for getting the Radeon 7000.
Well it came in, I installed it in the computer, then downloaded and installed the latest ATI Catalyst drivers. After that, I could not get any video to display at all. One thing led to another, and out of frustration, I ended up trashing the entire system and start over again. This time I didn't use the Catalyst driver, but tried some archived Omega drivers. Well some endless tweaking later, I now have the system up and running using VMR9.
*25/12/07*
Found out that LiveTV and DVD watching liked VMR9, all other video files required GAM to be set to Overlay mode. Pretty frustrating finding this out.
I picked up a case that doesn't look too bad...not HTPC style but never-the-less, looks like a decent mid-tower case. I transfered everything over to it, then found a problem that the system wouldn't go into standby. Found out that I rigged the WOL cable from the LAN card to the motherboard wrong. I inadvertenly swapped the +5V line and the signal line, so according to the computer, it was always getting a WOL signal regardless. Everything is fine now.
I also won off ebay a Thermaltake TR2 430W power supply, so things should be pretty silent with that system when it finally comes in. I'm hoping to put up some pictures soon.
*26/12/07*
So as promised, some pictures. The system currently is attached to the home theater Panny RPTV (47" widescreen) via DVI to HDMI cable. The 7000 works good. It is running at 1776x1000 (one of the standards in the Omega drivers). There is some video slicing as I know I'm pushing the card to its limit, but once connected to the upstairs TV, which is only a 32" Panny CRT, it will be connected via S-Video at 1024x768.
So here is the inside guts of the PVR, the cards from left to right: D-Link LAN card (can barely see it behind...), Hauppauge PVR-150, Creative SB, and the Radeon 7000. Right now it is a generic PSU, but will be swapped out for the Thermaltake when it comes in. The CPU fan is also a stock 50mm type, and I may look for something with the same footprint but alot more quieter.
Another shot of the inside. To note here is the 40G hard drive, and in the top corner, the CDRW Plextor...which will be replaced with a DVD-Rom drive. Also not my DIY WOL harness...looping around there...cheesy but works.
The front of the case. Pretty basic, but doesn't look too bad...compared to the plain beige cases that I typically use...for instance, take a look at my music server case.
System powered on...not too sure of the big blue LED...kinda cool, but I don't know for a media PC. Might be a sticky point for WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).
Pretty bright...though as mentioned above...kinda cool.
Got All Media start page. These pictures don't do it justice, that's for sure. Picture looks far better.
Got All Media DVD selection page.
300 in all it's "upscaled" high def glory. Though if the system was better than a simple 850MHz slot1 CPU, I could do a bunch of post-filtering/processing and better the image still. But for its intended use, it's pretty decent.
Got All Media's TV Module. Yes that's "Goldfinger"...Sean Connery was the best Bond in my eyes.
*28/12/07*
A couple of more images taken. This time it is again 300, but the connection to the RPTV this time is S-Video, and the resolution is 1024x768. Image still looks really good. Again, the pictures don't really do it justice.
*30/12/07*
Well this project is winding down. I moved the system to its final resting place, and it seems to be working great. A few minor glitches, but nothing that can't be solved. The system is connected to a Panny 32" CRT TV (4:3 ratio standard viewing) via s-video. Though the wife has yet to play with it too much, other than play some pacman via MAME, I don't expect too much in the way of resistance from her.
*2/1/08*
Increased the text sizing in the menus, so they show up better. Below is an image of the new size:
Funny thing is that after I modified the xml files, I found a setting to increase the font size right within GAM.
I also played around with the Hauppauge irremote.ini file. So now the Hauppauge remote can shutdown GAM and WindowsXP of the PVR, it can also start GAM if sitting at the desktop. It can also wake up the music-server and place it into standby via a couple of buttons. Slowly doing more and more minor tweaks to get the system to behave exaclty the way I would want it to work...and still look good in the end (and most importantly...easy to use).
*4/1/08*
Added TV station logos, so when flipping through the guide, a quick visual can be made of the logo to deteremine the broadcasting company. Took some time editing the mapping file, but looks nice in the end.
*9/1/08*
The Thermaltake supply came in, and I installed it. System is quiet now except for the Slot1 CPU fan. Will have to look into a silent 50mm fan for that now. Very happy with the Termaltake. Hopefully I will get some good, reliable, long lasting power from this supply.
*11/1/08*
Minor update: Added a button on the main page that is associated to a command which places the system into sleep. I never realized the option was there...guess I'm learning as I go. This is nice as I no longer have to exit GAM then close down windows. Also when resuming, it automatically starts back into GAM.
I'm also planning on redoing the codecs in the system. Which means getting rid of PowerDVD, and using Dscalers MPEG2 codec as well as others outlined from the GAM site. This is good as if these codecs work well, these will most likely be the ones I will used in my HTPC when it is ready.
*20/1/08*
Replaced the Plextor burner with a LG DVD-Rom drive. This allows for the playback of DVD movies now. I wasn't using the writer for its true intended purposes and file.
I also experimented with downsizing the resolution from 1024x768 to 800x600. I did this as the GAM text seemed to be quite fine and failed the WAF (wife acceptance factor). I also noticed at the higher resolution that the screen would alternate in brightness...this point is pretty hard to explain. I didn't realize that 800x600 would cure this problem, as I though it was something in the Omega drivers, and not really hardware related.
Now even though the bulk of the system is completed (hence I'm saying it is complete), I am still tweaking the system. The one last major tweak that I have to perform is to silence the CPU fan somehow. Slot1 CPU fans on a standard heatsink are typically 50mm types. This one is no exception, and I had looked at a Rasurbo RS50M. Problem is that the CPU fan currently in the system is attached to the heatsink with molded plastic which makes it virtually impossible (or extremely difficult) to seperate the fan from the heatsink assembly. You see, this heatsink is a Molex Radial Fin. What I'm going to experiment with is a DIY fan controller to slow the fan down enough to make it more quiet. I'm going to have to monitor the CPU temperature, and balance between acoustics and temperature.
*21/1/08*
Found a small command line utlilty called nircmd.exe. It allows for the opening/closing of the DVD-Rom door. So now with a push of a couple of remote buttons (Hauppauge's Yellow/Blue), I can now install/remove a DVD movie as if I had a typical DVD player. The Hauppauge's other two buttons (Red/Green) have been tied to placing the music-server in/out of sleep respectively.
*29/1/08*
Well, things are working well with the GAM setup. No complaints here...but outside of the actual PVR software, I have an 18 month old that had discovered the Power button, and DVD-Rom eject button. Well I found a small application called Toddler Keys that is able to "lock out" both buttons. It works really well, and I would advise anyone with small kids that like to explore the buttons of the computer to download and use this software (it's free). The only thing is that the app also locks any eject command...even software eject. So I made up a .bat file and tied it to a button on my remote that when pressed, the bat file will exit Toddler Keys, and allow the DVD tray to open. Then assuming the only reason to open the tray is to insert/remove a DVD/CD, the user will manually close the tray. Another button on the remote is used to re-start Toddler Keys to lock the DVD drive again. This is working great and is acting as a valid deterent (she's not really into pushing those buttons so much anymore...as they don't do anything). BUT...and I add a big but to this...she has now discovered the reset button...and it still does stuff. So I will have to open the box and physical disconnect the button from the motherboard. Frustrating...but at the same time, pretty funny...watching her little mind think about things and the reaction when she does something.
*4/3/08*
From the start, I was not able to import my music into GAM from my music server. Reasons being that I alphabeticallize my music into individual directories. My directory structure was C:\Music\#\Artist\Album, where # is either a number (0-9) or letter (a-z). GAM does not have the ability to flow down from the Music directory to create an overall database. So I had to enter all the alphabeticallized sub-directories in order for GAM to create its database. I guess that's a notch for Xlobby. In the end, I now have the ability to play my music from the GAM machine.
*24/4/08*
I ordered from ebay a Zalman Fanmate 2 fan controller, that would allow me to control the speed of the CPU cooler fan, and to make it less noisey. It finally came in the other day, and last night I had a chance to install it and try it out. I can slow the fan right down to around 2000 rpm (from over 5k, that's quite slow). At that speed it is virtually silent, though I worry about the CPU heating too much. Currently I've sped the fan up to about 4000 rpm, and it is still relatively quite, and the temps are remaining pretty stable according to my ASUS Probe software. This now pretty much completes any major work on this system, and now I can officially say that work on this system is done, ALBEIT, some minor tweaking here and there of the GAM interface.
*21/8/08*
I recently swapped from zap2xml to mc2xml. This program is great as it doesn't actually scrape from any website, but actually attains guide information as a true EPG updater. So far it is working very well. It updates about 2 weeks worth of guide info, and is more descript than zap2xml.
I've also started resizing text and will re-organize some of the text on the screen. I'm doing this because I'm using the setup on an older CRT 4:3 ration TV. The text comes across as small, but I've adjusted and allowed for some overscan, and some of the screen menus are cut off. So far, I've completed re-vamping the main screen, TV main screen, movies screen and movie info screen. More to go, but it is rather tedious as I'm working at the xml level, and have to constantly restart to see the changes taking effect.