Media Center

Plex On AppleTV

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I have had an AppleTV since the first generation one came out years ago. When the second-generation one came out I pick that up and sold the original on eBay. I have loved the idea of an AppleTV for years. I have even made my own homegrown media center on several occasions. If you read this blog you’ll read about several of those iterations. The problem is in practice I really haven’t had huge luck with the AppleTVs. The second-generation AppleTV I currently have has been replaced with a Mac Mini running Plex media center. That has been my media center of choice for a while. I have tried the Boxer box, and the Roku. with both of those I was hoping to plug into my media centers the a library, and with the Roku to use it as a front end for Plex. neither of those options worked out very well. All along the AppleTV has been powered on but not plugged into my TV. I would plug it in to music, but not really using it for TV. I have been generally lazy and didn’t want to jailbreak it. The Mac Mini has functioned generally well so I was in no rush to try anything different again. since my move I have had some more buggy experiences with the Mac Mini then the previous two years or so I’ve had it. It wasn’t enough for me to go making drastic changes, that is until I read that the Plex team had made a front end for the jailbroken AppleTV. So I gave jailbreaking a shot. At first I thought I had bricked the AppleTV, but after about two days of leaving it plugged in and I forgot about it. I turned on my TV and it had worked. I got really lucky.

After the small drama in jailbreaking, it was trivial to get Plex installed. After it was installed I ran into some problems with choppiness of the video. I fixed that by tweaking some of the bit rate settings. Since then it has been working perfectly. I got even luckier when less than a week after I had configured Plex Apple announced that Hulu is now available on the device. I covered that in another blog post.

For right now the AppleTV is now my main media center. I still have my Mac Mini. It’s needed to run the Plex server, and host all the videos and music on my Drobo. it is just not plugged into my TV anymore. It has been an pre-smooth experience so far. MC likes it that she can stream music again directly to the AppleTV without me having to plug it in or read it up since it is now always attached to the television.

We still have a TiVo, and use it for a DVR. Longer-term I would love to find a way to use Hulu, the Internet, and my AppleTV to replace TiVo and and really expensive cable bill. We are not quite there yet in trying that out.

Hulu Plus

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With Netflix annoucning that streaming movies and TV shows will now cost extra I decided to check out alternatives.  I have been skeptical about Hulu plus just because if i am paying for a streaming system I would hope that there is no commercials but with the ability to watch content via a Roku or iPad on Hulu won out and I signed up for a free trial.

Now I am in the middle of my first paid month and I will say I haven’t used it too much but when I have used it I was glad i had the service.  Tivo failed me a few times and just going to an online library was nice.

Having Hulu Plus alone to me was useless since I don’t want to watch stuff on my computer.  At the begining of the month I bought a Roku 2.  The main reason I got one was to use it as a front end to Plex, but Roku offered a Hulu client so I figured why not try it.  Together Hulu with presentation on the TV makes it worth it.

Of course the main reason i bought the Roku was to use it with Plex.  Unfortunately the Plex client for Roku is very basic.  I love the Plex media center but using it on the Roku was not as good as it is on my Mac Mini.  I need to figure out what is wrong with my Mini that the HDMI connection is flakey.

Plex Media Center 9

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Earlier this month Plex came out with a new version. I had been really liking version 8 since I started using my Mac mini as a media center back in late June. I was eager to download the new version when it came out. Initially I was not very pleased. I had significant issues with my media library upgrading. Well, part of the problem was it didn’t upgrade. I had to start over and lost all my customizations. The new version also had issues downloading TV metadata initially. Thankfully the download issues were resolved and I am actually quite pleased now how Plex 9 is turning out.

I also purchased the IOS media streaming app for my iPhone and iPad. That is slightly slow, but it is very cool to be able to stream everything to my portable devices.

I’m still playing around with my set up, but I hope to have everything tweaked the way I like it very soon.

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The New Mac Mini

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I ordered one of the new Mac Mini's the other day.  It should arrive on Wednesday.  It is taking so long since I wanted 4gig's of RAM so it was a special order.  I got the stock HDD and Processor since I don't think I needed more than what it came with.  Now I will agree I have a few computers so why would I want another one?  Good question.  No real good answer.  I don't "need" anything.  However with this new Mini I can use HDMI naitivly so my hopes for a media center machine are once again alive.  I don't know if this Mac will have the same HDMI issues as my other ones have with the adapters to HDMI, or if the native cable will "just work".  If this doesn't work I am sure it is my TV that is the problem.  Well I am already pretty sure it is my TV that is messed up but we will see Wednesday.

If the media center doesn't work out I mainly bought this new one because my 20" iMac is slowly going.  Not sure why since it is only 2 years old but I don't have Apple Care and the screen has lighter colored vertical bars here and there (in regular intervals) that make me think it is the back-lights.  That was an issue for a while but now I am not even able to put most DVD's into the drive.  It starts making really bad sounds and wont spit them out.  I know I use the iMac as a server mainly to host up my iTunes video library but I do want it to work.  If the DVD drive goes I may end up just moving it to my bedroom to use as a TV or streaming host for videos that I wanted to do a while back and use the new Mini to host my iTunes collection.  In the end the Mini will be used as some sort of media center.  If it plugs into my TV or an extra monitor on my desk is really all that is up in the air.

My New Media Center

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I broke down and picked up a new Mac Mini last weekend. I have been tempted to build myself a full fledged Media Center computer again but haven’t wanted to make the investment. I also wasn’t sure if I would be able to setup the computer with my LCD TV to work right. In the past I have had issues with HDMI adapters and any computer fitting to the screen on my 40″ LCD. Even with Mac OS 10.6 set to 1080i (yes there is even an option for that now) the picture didn’t fit the entire screen.

With those questions I still went out and picked up a Mini. In the end I needed to connect my Drobo’s to an actual computer vs using them as network attached storage. The editing I was doing was taking too long over the network (802.11n to my desktop). The new Mini is plugged into the Drobo’s and my TV directly via VGA. The picture is good, but not HD. I still think the issue is with my TV and not any computer since this is about the 5th or 6th computer I have tried plugged into the TV with the same issue. Using VGA the picture works so I am keeping it setup like that. I am able to access the computer using VNC when I want to work on it, or I have a wireless mouse and keyboard plugged into it as well.

Even though the Mini is plugged into the TV i am serving up its content via iTunes so I can stream it to my Apple TV. At least the ATV works with HD so that is why I am doing that. The plus side of having the Mini plugged into the TV and not just use it headless as a server is that I can watch Hulu streaming full screen on my TV now. I can use the remote on my Mac and it is just like using a DVR. I found that very useful since I gave up on hacking the ATV with Boxee long ago.

Other plus to this new configuration is that I can watch DVD’s on the Mini. I don’t have a DVD player and using the Xbox 360 for DVD’s is ok but it is loud. I love the Droo’s, but the speed still isn’t what i expect, but it is better than when I was accessing them over the wireless LAN so I am so far very happy with this configuration.

My new media center setup

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Time For Vista?

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This week I decided to install Windows Vista. Now hold on I know what you are thinking. Yes I still use a Mac as my primary machine. That is why I decided to put Vista on a computer or two. My work laptop has been sitting in my office barely used day in and day out for weeks and I figured I would play around with it. According to Microsoft Vista will run on it just fine. WIth nothing to lose since I do use my Macbook as my main computer for home and work I figured what the heck. As I am writting this post it is running windows update. So the jury is still out on this one.

At home I decided to put the Mac Mini I had doing pretty much nothing to better use and I setup a dual boot of OS X and Vista now that Boot Camp 1.2 is out and it supports Vista. I figured I might as well put my copy of the OS to use. I am replacing my current machine I have running my Beyond TV DVR and put the Mini in its place. I even read an article from the folks at Snapstream that showed how they tested the Intel Mini with their software. I also read and verified that the 4 products I use (Beyond TV 4.6, Firefly Remote Control Drivers, USB-UIRT IR Blaster, & the Hauppauge USB2 Video Capture device) on that machine to run the DVR are in fact compatible with Vista now, so I said why not. I have been having issues since day one with the MCE 2005 install I had been using on my old machine so I was up for a change. I have been using that machine less anyway now that I got an HD DVR box from my cable provider, but since I already own all the gear and it is free to use I am not getting rid of it just yet.

The install and setup of the DVR box was relatively painless. I put Vista on it earlier this week, and took some time today to swap the old machine I was using for the Mini, and then setup the software and all the drivers. The DVR setup is slightly better than the ld system, but it is a bit cluttered since I need to use an external Hard Drive for video capture. The Snapstream article explains why. Initial tests are showing me that the problems I had with MCE 2005 are resolved (for now) with Vista. Until There is an equivalent DVR for the Mac (EyeTV in my opinion is not anyway near as good as Beyond TV) I guess I will be using this setup. More information as I discover them.

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The Ultimate Media Center

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Do you know what the Ultimate Media Center setup is? Please tell me! I thought I found it a few years ago with Tivo, but then I wanted more so I had my Tivo hacked (Yes I didn’t want to deal with it myself so I had it done). Then I went out and built my own DVR with Beyond TV and thought that was perfect. Then I wanted more. I know I am demanding and all, but I keep upgrading and changing my DVR/TV setup.

Now I am on the fence between trying out Myth TV or just getting a dam DVR cable box from my provider and not bother anymore with the endless tinkering.

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xbox

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My home entertainment system now boasts a state of the art gaming console. Well, as of 2001 it was state of the art. I know I am a few years behind the times but I just picked up an xbox. I got one cheap off of ebay. I figured now I can brush up on my halo without looking like a fool in front of my friends. I really suck. Now I can also go online and play against John, Dave or anyone else without having to go over to their house. That means whenever they want to play we can do it, instead of planning a day a week in advance.

I already played a ton of Halo 2 on Friday. I got a head ache from the motion of the game. I used to get that allot when I played Doom or Half Life. I play till I can’t play anymore. I am honestly not a huge gamer, but every few years I get into a game and then play till I am done with it. The last time I did this was 6 years ago with Half Life. When I wasn’t working for a few months as a contractor when I was in Baton Rouge I played every night for like 3 months.

This time around I am playing Halo 2. I didn’t go with the xbox 360 since most of my friends who do play games allot said it is not worth getting it yet. I am getting my regular xbox supped up anyway so I can use it as a mini media center anyway, so why do I need a 360? No games that any of my friends will play are out on it anyway. I figure I will be fine with this purchase for a while. The xbox and a bigger hard drive barely set me back $150. You have to love ebay!

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Video Redux

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I finally took the time to look at an article that shows how to convert video from my DVR program to a format that works with my video iPod. Turns out it is a free video extractor (windows only) that will convert almost any video file (i am using a generic mpeg-2 file that worked flawlessly) into a compatible format for use on the video iPod. I ran a test this morning and it worked flawlessly. I programed my DVR computer to convert a bunch of other shows I have. I also programed my desktop to convert a bunch of misc video’s (a lot of them) to the same format. The conversions take allot of time so I am going to let them run overnight. While I sleep they will perform.

I also broke down and bought an Elgato EyeTV 200 for my Mini. it is not as elegant a system as my Beyond TV, but I wanted to use my Mini as part of the home entertainment center. Since my DVD player was going I removed it and now I have my Mini & my Media Center PC as my only components of my home entertainment center. The Tivo is now in the bedroom, and it will be gone as soon as I watch whats left on it. Tomorrow I hope to go through video’s I have and encode what I want to keep for use on the iPod and get rid of the rest. The other advantage of this conversion is the space savings. An hour long video in MPEG-2 is about 2 gigs, in the H.264 codec it is less than 500 meg. Not a bad savings.

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Multi Region DVD Bliss

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Today was busy, but like most days recently I can’t say my time was taken up by X. it was just hectic with “stuff”. I could give you a breakdown of the time by going into my Request Tracker system, but for this blog purposes I just don’t care! 🙂

I had to hit CompUSA today to get an external CD drive case. I needed it to build my semi-region free PC. I wanted a region free DVD player for the PC, but couldn’t find a really simple way to do it. It sucks. I own 2 different region DVD’s. Region 1 USA stuff, and Region 2 European stuff. I have mainly region 1, but do want to play the region 2 stuff. I also wanted use my DVR (now media center) pc and not my DVD player. I have a region free stand alone dvd player that worked fine up until last week (that is another story), but I am trying to do everything via the media center. Here comes the external cd/dvd bay. I found out that the region coding is per drive. so in theory (and practice) I can get a second dvd player and set it to a different region. I can then play dvd’s from 2 regions. A semi hackish approach but I only need 2 regions, so for my needs it worked out fine. I also don’t have ton’s of region 2 dvd’s so I can put the dvd player I set to region 2 in an external case and plug it into the media center via fire wire only when I need it. So I bought the case and put an old DVD drive I had around. Guess what? It worked flawlessly so far. Such a simple fix, and I didn’t find anyone on the internet talking about it. yeah a region free or region 0 player is better, but this works.

After CompUSA I went over to the store I bought my Omega Speedmaster X-33 from. The battery started to go and I needed a replacement. the branch I went to couldn’t do the work so I need to go tomorrow to the main branch and get the work done.

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