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PostPosted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:16 pm 
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yakuza wrote:
Abulia, I believe Cougar did an excellent Wiki conversion of your article, and would encourage you to update the Wiki if you felt so inclined. Let me know if you sign up for an Wiki account and I'll make you an editor.
I'm happy for you guys to just manage the Wiki. It's another account I'd have to remember and just more content to update. :)


All:
The Super FAQ got a massive update today and I've started using posts #2 and #3 for info. I'll poke through the threads later and see any obvious items that ought to be addressed.

If anyone sees any mistakes or if items aren't clear, please point them out. I'm a little scatterbrained at the moment after reworking the FAQ.

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:28 am 
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Problem with having this in two places... I have no idea whats been updated to update the Wiki easily. I don't mind updating the Super FAQ on the Wiki but need to understand whats changed...

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:41 pm 
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make the first post a pointer to the wiki. that way when he edits the first post again you can move that info to the wiki. This would enable people new to the site to know there is a Wiki and move them to it but still have a dialogue in the forum about it. Just a suggestion.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:37 pm 
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Abulia, I've given the Wiki a little refresh and tried to work out where to put things that were not in the first post. I've also Wiki'd you're OSX post as well. Again, can you check if I haven't missed anything.. I eat Apples and that's the only type in my house :-)

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/wiki/in ... nvironment

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:03 pm 
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Hello,

I'm new to the MSS and Apple TV world. Lately I've been thinking about getting rid of my TV service and replacing it with a MSS system. I currently have DirecTV. I like the MSS/Apple TV idea. I would like to have a system that can provide my family with many audio/video options that is easy to use. My wife would especially like the last part. Right now I have four remotes and all of them need to be used at some point or another when switching from watching live TV to watching a DVD. I have a few questions.

First, I'll tell you a little about my setup. I live in a house 40 miles west of Chicago. I have an antenna on my house. I have an older iMac 2GHz PowerPC G5 running OS X Tiger version 10.4.11 that contains my photos and tunes in my second floor office. I have one TV in my first floor family room. My internet service provider is AT&T. My download speed is only 768 kbs.

I want to be able to watch live TV, play my music over the home theatre stereo system, view my photos on the TV, play DVDs(HD and SD). There are a few shows/channels that I don't believe I'll get over the air. My wife likes HGTV and I like to watch Formula One and some bicycle racing. It would be nice to stream those types of things from somewhere over the Internet. I would also use the MSS to backup my Mac.

So my questions are:

I assume that if I got a TV tuner, something like the HDHomeRun Networked Digital TV Tuner, I could feed the signal into the MSS and stream it through the Apple TV. How would you play/pause/record live TV with this setup?

I'm thinking about switching my service provider to Comcast. For $43 per month I can have 12 mbs download speed. Is there a better choice?

Should I consider upgrading the operating system to Leopard?

Should I consider buying an AirPort Extreme Base Station?

If I buy movies through my Mac can I make them available on the MSS/Apple TV?

How would I play a DVD using the MSS? Does it have a built in DVD player?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you might be able to give.

Al


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 2:01 am 
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Al, since you haven't gotten any answers yet (probably due to the somewhat broad nature of your questions), I'll give it a whack. I have limited Apple experience, but I do have an iPod Classic that I encode video to and have pretty extensive experience with Windows Media Center.

[I assume that if I got a TV tuner, something like the HDHomeRun Networked Digital TV Tuner, I could feed the signal into the MSS and stream it through the Apple TV. How would you play/pause/record live TV with this setup?]

I have never used the HDHomeRun, but I don't believe there is any way to stream live TV to an AppleTV. Maybe there is a way to transcode it, but I have a feeling that anything in that neck of the woods would be something of a hack.

[I'm thinking about switching my service provider to Comcast. For $43 per month I can have 12 mbs download speed. Is there a better choice?]

Sounds like a good price for the speed. I use Uverse and feel it's better (faster/cheaper), but it's only available in limited areas. Verizon FIOS is also usually faster than ComCast, but again limited availability.

[Should I consider upgrading the operating system to Leopard?
Should I consider buying an AirPort Extreme Base Station?]

Sorry, no clue here.

[If I buy movies through my Mac can I make them available on the MSS/Apple TV?]

I think this is covered in the excellent FAQ at the start of this thread.

[How would I play a DVD using the MSS? Does it have a built in DVD player?]

I don't believe there is any way to do this directly. There is no DVD drive in the MSS. You would rip and encode the DVDs, leaving them as files on the MSS which could then be streamed to the ATV. This process takes time and effort, though.

The closest solution to what you're asking for would definitely be a Media Center PC. As far as I know, that's really the only way to work Live TV into the equation, along with DVD playing and streaming in the same box. However, if you want HiDef content your only options with Media Center are OTA antenna or cable. DirecTV recently cancelled their planned interface box to Media Center. In addition, updates to MC are slow as molasses because MS has tied them to new versions of Windows, and there are many features people want that MS seems unwilling to provide due to the risk of upsetting Hollywood. For example, people want to rip DVDs to the Media Center and play them with full menus over extenders, but MS does not permit this. I believe they have not even updated MC to play h.264 content yet either, really putting it behind the technology curve.

My first recommendation to you is to buy an upscale Logitech Harmony remote (I use the 670, others may prefer the 880 or other models. While this will cost a bit over $100, the difference in usability once properly programmed is tremendous. Your family will no longer have to worry about whether each component is turned on or tuned to the right input, the Harmony will handle all of that. A lot of people think "I'm not spending $100 on a remote", but if you think about it you will realize that the experience of not having all the clutter and having to know exactly which remote does what and how to operate them all is WELL worth it.

My next recommendation would be to get some type of media extender box. The FAQ at the beginning of this thread makes an excellent case for the AppleTV, and it sounds like this would be a nice solution. Just don't expect miracles, and know that there is a learning curve to figuring out how to encode videos and make everything work smoothly. Another good option is an Xbox360, which can function not only as a Media Center extender, but also as a digital media reader for photos, music, and videos.

I personally use an iPod Classic 120GB to store videos on the go, and store the same files on my MSS for streaming to the Xbox 360. This is pretty workable, and provides a good balance until the right "all in one solution" becomes available (I'm not holding my breath at this point).


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:27 pm 
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Thanks for the response, poddie.

[The closest solution to what you're asking for would definitely be a Media Center PC.]


It sounds like a Media Center PC would be a good way to go for me. Would I still need an extender such as the Apple TV? Would a Logitech Harmony remote still be useful?


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:47 am 
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Hey guys, just got a MSS and an Apple TV. Found that SuperFAQ and start playing with my toys. Did not play long because when I got in my MSS using Remote Desktop Connection, I went to apple to download iTune. Got there nicely but when I hit "download" nothing happened. Then I went on my pc and dowloaded the software, copied it to server "program" folder, launched it and ....nothing again.

How do I download and install the software directly from the MSS? What am I missing

BTW1: Im running a pc station on vista.
BTW2: I'm a "crashed test dummy" of computer... :), everything wrong usually happens to me

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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:58 am 
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I dont use the browser on the server due to the security settings. Since you already downloaded it on your other machine and put it a folder o the server just drag it to the desktop. once on the desktop right click on it choose properties and click unblock and run it. Enjoy.


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:52 pm 
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Super! Gonna try this as soon as I can. Thanks.

Update: It worked! Was able to install the iTune software on my MSS. Now time to understand the "librairies" issues...I'll be back with more questions that is certain maybe in another topics, I'll get around to know it is there. THANKS!!!!!!


Last edited by MarcoDIYO on Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:53 pm 
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Al,

I agree with most of what Poddie wrote.

There's a bit of "you can't get there from here" in what you're asking, though.

Just so you know where I'm coming from, I spent a significant part of last year getting a Media Center-based HTPC running the way I wanted it. Pre-built ones were never an option for me because they're somewhat overpriced, non-upgradable, and/or limited in capabilities. So, I built one. Hardware-wise it was fine from the get-go. Low power/thermal output dual core 45nm CPU, fanless MB, ATI 4870 card with audio via HDMI, BD drive, HTPC case with display and IR receiver.

Basically I wanted to be able to rip/store/watch movies and other program material on one machine. I looked in to the DVR-like function you mentioned, but never did it. I'll go into that in a minute...
Ultimately I was able to get the machine to do what I wanted. VMC has VERY limited file support out of the box. What makes it powerful is its capability of acting as a "10 foot UI" for a bunch of other plugins and helper apps. That's also the problem. An HTPC is in no way an appliance. There are so many different pieces of software/drivers from different sources that keeping the thing stable is sort of a moving target. The only real support resource is the HTPC forum up on AVSforum.com. The guys on there are great, but still... no one's system is exactly like your own. Sometimes all it takes is a driver update or a minor update to one of the plugins/helper apps and the whole thing collapses like a house of cards. Sometimes I want to just be a couch potato and not a PC tech.

Eventually I got tired of it and pulled ethernet all over the place and went back to using a networked media player with media stored centrally on the MSS and rips done upstairs onto the MSS over the gig network.

Regarding the DVR stuff, I too looked into using the Homerun device. It seemed very powerful in that it could serve itself up over the LAN to any client machine anywhere on the network. However, the showstopper with that is an artificial one. Either you're restricted to OTA programming or the VERY FEW channels that your cable company provides clear QAM, meaning you could view them without a STB or cablecard enabled tuner. I recall finding a website that would tell you which channels your provider had in the clear and being shocked by the small number mine did (Comcast in Northern NJ). That killed it for me. As for tuners that support cable cards, there aren't any that a regular consumer can buy. There's some sort of industry agreement that only allows them to be sold via OEM. Even then the only one I've ever seen is an ATI device that came bundled with one of those $3000 HTPC's.

As for "Media Extenders", that's more of a brand name than it is a generic term. Whenever you see another with that tag, it means that it's designed/licensed to mimic the functionality of a vanilla Media Center PC. When you first bring one up, it gets paired to the PC via a generated code and then you can view/hear any of the Microsoft sanctioned media you have on the PC. So, no divx/mkv/vob/m2ts, etc. Even if you have the Media Center machine itself configured to do all this stuff, the Extender won't do it. Linksys, Dlink, and of course Microsoft (xbox 360) all produce Media Extenders. The Apple TV (I have one of those, too) by definition is not a Media Extender. It's a specialized networked media player. It is also very limited out of the box in what it can play and do. Even with 3rd party plugins the limited hardware power prevents it from doing several things that other networked players can (like play mkv, stream netflix, play m2ts, etc).

If what you want to really do is record/play over the air broadcast material, then the homerun with a basic HTPC will do the trick. There are easier ways to do it though (maybe cheaper) like get a Tivo or something like that.

Ultimately my system now consists of two Popcorn Hour media players (A-100 in bedroom, A-110 on the main system) for mkv/divx/m2ts/vob/dvd iso playback, Roku in the bedroom for latenight streaming of old school Netflix content (like Colombo/Quincy/Kojak), an Apple TV upgraded to 250 gig on the main system synced to itunes on the MSS for music playback, and a networked FiOS DVR for tv recording. Of course the EX470 is the central storage system. The old HTPC has been relegated to being my ripping/transcoding machine. It's quiet and doesn't use much power, so it's good for those 15 hour mkv jobs.

Sorry for the long post...

Oh, and:
Leopard - yes, it's worth it (my current machine is a Rev B Macbook Air and I love it)
Airport Extreme - There are cheaper options and limited in its routing capabilities, but it's not bad. I have a Time Capsule, which is basically the Extreme with an internal hard drive. I use it only for the Time Machine backups for the 2 macbooks in the house and as the dedicated 802.11n 5.0GHz access point for the net that feeds the PCH in the bedroom downstairs. An Airport Express is at the far end as a bridge. With this setup I can stream 1080p mkv files (or dvd iso/vob) via wlan. Before this I tried the TC and a dlink n router in dual mode config and it was at best the same as 802.11g. The Apple box did the best in 5.0/n-only mode so I kept it.
Logitech remote - I have 3. The main system uses an 890, which is the same as an 880 but it does IR and RF. It took a while, but I could fully controll the HTPC via the IR software that came with the case. I swear by those things, but some people don't like that you have to make all changes via a computer connected to the internet.

John

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:24 pm 
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This might be of interest to a few people:

http://albumbrowser.klarita.net/itfw.html

http://mysite.verizon.net/teridon/itune ... index.html


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PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2009 11:51 am 
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I know a lot of people have a few issues with the scripts running. when I saw this I thought about this forum topic;

http://lifehacker.com/5256234/iwatchsyn ... -to-itunes


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 12:51 pm 
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T-Bone wrote:
I recently started playing around with the Remote application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Scouring all over the internet it seems that people are disappointed in the application due to the fact you can not see your appletv content if you stream it. This is Kinda true and kinda false. Here is what I found out

Streaming -- leaves content on the MSS and as u update iTunes it updates the appleTV on the fly.

Syncing -- This is where the solution and confusion lies.

When you sync your appleTV there is actually 2 forms of syncing that can happen. The first being that you move a copy of the content to the appleTV to reside. The second is selecting syncing and unchecking all the syncing options to that no content is actually synced to the appleTV. Sounds really dumb but the end result is that iTunes syncs a DB type file to the appleTV. This will now enable the remote application to see the content your infact streaming. The only issue this presents to me right now is that when I add content to iTunes I have to click sync in iTunes to update that DB file or the content will not Show up on the appleTV or the remote application. I would attach screen shots but Im at work. Since Abulia is going to be updating this thread I figured I would add this piece of info.

Im not sure how this will effect iTune Store purchase and having multiple appletv's as I dont have multiple or make iTune purchases at this time. I will tell you that The Remote application does infact add a kick a@@ factor the the appleTV. hahaha!!!


T-bone, just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for posting the info above. Over the last year I had been working toward my goal of having a networked media setup that is pretty easily controllable, and doesn't need a TV to be turned on to control music. The HP MSS was the first step in this. I tried a Logitech Squeezebox, and it worked well but a friend showed me the extra capabilities that an Apple TV and iPod Touch as remote control would bring. I decided to wait for the new Touch models this fall, and finally got one a couple of weeks ago. (Too bad the rumored camera wasn't included, but for my main purpose it's not a big deal.) After downloading the Remote app, I was scratching my head trying to figure out how to control streaming content from the MSS to the Apple TV, via the Touch. I searched here a couple of times and only now finally found your instructions. This was the final piece in my dream! It's working beautifully - in fact, it's easier and nicer to control the Apple TV via the iPod Touch than via its own remote. Woohoo! lol, I'm excited. Thanks again.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 8:47 pm 
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Skerik, Im glad the information helped you out. The reason I originally psted this is due to numerous peoe I saw on the apple forums having the same issues setting the app up. I had hoped that it would be part f the wiki but it didnt seem to work out that way. I plan on rewritting this and including pictures,that is when Im not being so lazy. Oh and when I have a good enough internet connection to upload and submit to Cougar and Yakuza again.

Here is the Versions of iTunes that work with WHS:

8.02 - and prior
9.00 - Never could get working kept getting a services error even n clean install.
9.01 - yet to be tried anyone else try jumping from 8 to 9.01?


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