This might be a alternative to Program launcher if your not happy with that program

https://brentf.homeserver.com/blog/tech ... or-v0-0-1/

Is it assumed that on your home machine's iTunes installation, the ONLY music/data store you have is on the MSS? Otherwise, how can you be sure that the purchase ends up on the MSS? Also, the script linked from Ars ... is it importing it's own data thus updating the database (on the MSS)? Is this similar to iTunes Library Updater? http://itlu.ownz.ch/wordpress/

Alrighty I have come to the install phase of the AppleTV. Things I have noticed

1 I would have loved to just use PVconnect and have the AppleTV see the content. It was a hassle to set up and reorganize me media in to movies and TV shows.

2 The script ran but it duplicated all my media in iTunes. Not cool, big hassle.

3 I noticed that iTunes couldnt run coverflow at all not sure why. if anyone knows please let me know. When media plays on the MSS itself throught quicktime it was choppy as hell. Can anyone help me with this?

4 When running the script it will start iTunes. The problem is that it also fires off a set of pop up boxes you cant do anything til you click ok on the boxes. Has anyone found a work around to that?

5 There is no way to strech a 4:3 image to fit a 16:9 tv. This was really disappointing. I have a ton of media that I diappointingly found out wouldnt fit the screen fully.

I realize that JesD wrote this a long time ago, and please, please, please forgive me if this has been addressed, but I wanted to make an observation regarding Hanbrake and the fps average that is displayed. (I don't know if JesD even checks this thread anymore )

I recently decoded a movie on my quad-core PC and the fps was about 54 average. On the other hand, a friend with an older single-core pentium 4 had an average 6.8 fps on a similar movie (both were animated movies, about 90 minutes long). However, when watching the video on his AppleTV, it was like watching a regular DVD. The same is true on my system. This made me come to the conclusion that the average fps that Handbrake reports is NOT the actual fps that is encoded - rather the frames-per-second that the program IS ABLE to encode (ie - how many frames handbrake actually encodes per second) So - making the average FPS higher in handbrake is not the objective - the program will do it's own job processing the file.

Also - I wanted to point out that I think the AppleTV has hardware that plays the videos much smoother than on the PC - especially slower PC's. Even on my fast system, the videos don't play nearly as nice as they do on the Apple TV which is connected to a 50" flat screen TV. I was initially afraid that the small imperfections I saw on the computer would be huge on a large TV, but the fact is that you can't really tell the difference between AppleTV and the real DVD.

My one problem that maybe somebody can help me out here with... How do I get 5.1 audio out of it? I don't know if there's a problem with how I'm encoding - I make sure I always check the 5.1 audio track on Handbrake. I have the AppleTV connected to my HDTV via HDMI cable and then the audio out from the TV to my 5.1 receiver via optical out (which should carry the signal, I would suppose). Anybody know how to turn on 5.1 audio in the menu that the thread starter talked about (he mentions it is a menu item but doesn't say where, and I can't seem to find it). I know my audio receiver is set to play 5.1 fine as my DVD and TV play 5.1 audio fine. Thanks for the help!



Edit: nevermind about the last paragraph... I finally broke down and read my TV's owner manual which clearly states that the optical audio out will not pass through 5.1 audio from an HDMI input source... I think that's rather lame for a new TV... I hooked up the AppleTV directly to the receiver and did indeed hear the whole 5.1 soundtrack just fine.

Alright I broke down and installed program launcher. The Tab creator didnt work like I thought it would. Program launcher looks nice but the issue that I have is that on some occasions when I minimize itunes my console screen truns all blue or black and I cant do anything but restart. anyone else have this same issue?

I also noticed that Western digital has gotten into the digital media game.

http://www.wdc.com/en/library/aag/4178-705027.pdf

I get the sound device error too and this is what works for me:

- Configure Tweak UI for Autologon. Yes, I know this isn't secure.
- Create a batch file that pauses for 30 seconds and then runs an AutoIt script. This allows me to cancel the batch file if I happen to log in interactively.
- Add the batch file to the Startup folder.

And here are the files involved:

Start_iTunes.cmd

Start_iTunes.au3


Whenever my MSS reboots because of Patch Tuesday or for any other reason, iTunes starts without any intervention.

THanks Hestaman

It makes sense becuase now that I think about it, the lower the fram rate reported by henadbrake, the higher the time it reported for the encoding to complete...

SO I guess if you are willing to wait long, you can use almost any computer...

Thanks again

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3 Apple TVs - Streaming from MSS
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Hi Abulia,

first I would like to thank you for the faq and the hard work that obviously went into it. Being an owner of a 40Gb Apple TV for half a year now I've become quite convinced that media streaming is the future. Since I have a little cash to spend now I was considering a Drobo to protect my growing iTunes library (mostly movies). The only problem with that approach is that my iMac would still be needed to operate as my iTunes server. Since it currently resides in the same room as my Apple TV this is not a long term solution. The HP MSS seemed (according to your posts) to be the only way of creating NAS short of buying a Mini and stowing it away with some added storage.

The only thing that the faq hasn't answered for me is how to actually setup and manage the MSS using only a Mac. I use an iMac G5 so there is no Boot Camp for me and I don't own any Windows equipment. The new Encore line is promoted as being more Mac-friendly but one reviewer on the Interwebs stated that you absolutely need a PC to set it up. Reading through this thread I came across a statement from you that you're OSX only, and that was before the new Mac-friendly line came out. So did you borrow a PC to set up your MSS or did you use Boot Camp or is it feasible to do it on Mac? A quick guide to do that (or a link) would be very appreciated, as I've never configured a server before. But I will learn quickly..

Thanks in advance!

Hi Number 6. Welcome to the forums.

Abulia did a great writing up the initial post but I haven't seen him in these forums in quite some time. You may want to private message (PM) him and see if he responds in case he doesn't get alerted for updates to this thread.

Regardless, you will need access to a 32-bit Windows PC for initial setup of the EX47x Mediasmarts (MSS). It seems that will also be the case for the new line as well where you will need access to a Windows PC for setup.

Considering that you are using an iMAC G5, your options are rather limited short of borrowing a Windows PC. Even then, you will need to install Remote Desktop software on your MAC so that you can at least access and manage the MSS. RDP software is available for Intel MACs. Not sure for the G5 though.

_________________
Richard

My gadget blog: http://www.gadgetinsane.com

Thanks Richard for your reply,

too bad it does not sound very encouraging. Apple disappointed me at Macworld by not showing
anything that would complement the Apple TV, so I thought the MSS might be a solution.
But being manageable only by a Windows PC is not an option.

I'll try to PM Abulia anyway. Maybe he'll come back to the forum...

Thanks again!

Thanks again Richard for the tip to PM Abulia. He did indeed reply and was very helpful. He did not want post on the forum however since he seemed to have had some unpleasant replies to his work.

But I still feel this thread contains unique information which is hard to find anywhere on the web and I thought I would share what he told me here on the forum, so that anyone who's looking has a chance to find it.

So as you said a Mac user will need to get hold of a Windows machine to setup the MSS. There is no way around that.
Then there is info about the G5 compatibility which I quote directly from the e-mail he sent me:



I tried to download the RDC software from the hp website to verify that it would work on a G5 but it is nowhere to be found so I will take Abulias word for it. There is also zero documentation about this software at their site which I find really odd. I just wanted to get a feel for the interface since, as I said before, I am not too knowledgable about servers and network administration.

His next quote suggests that after the initial setup and the installation of iTunes everything is fine for a Mac user:




Obviously I could not check out that part since I am still undecided about the MSS. But I think his very thorough FAQ speaks for his competence and so maybe someone else can profit from this.

All:
Since the creation of this FAQ I have made several enhancements (scripts and the like) to make the process a little easier. So some of the information found in the first post is, unfortunately, a bit out of date. In the near future I will be updating. At that time I will also look through the messages in this thread and see if any items need clarification.

My apologies for the length of time between updates; I was not motivated to continue working on the Super FAQ based on the comments of many individuals who, for whatever reason, did not appear to appreciate the time put into it.

_________________
The Apple TV guy | Read the Apple TV Super FAQ!

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.

Though I don't use Apple TV I appreciate what you've done here, thanks for the contribution.

_________________
Alex Kuretz
Remote Notification: Monitoring and alerting for your Home Server via email, Twitter, text message, RSS, push notifications, and on your Mac desktop
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Abulia, just wanted to let you know that your Super FAQ was instrumental in helping me decide to buy a MediaSmart Server and an Apple TV to use in combination for my home. In addition, much of the information there helped me to configure them to work with each other. I also know a couple other people that I discussed your post with, offline.

So I sincerely appreciate the effort you put into it. I apologize on behalf of others whom may have led you to feel unappreciated, but please know that there are many of us who do appreciate the guidance.

Thanks!

Abulia - I for one greatly appreciate all your info. It has been very benificial in making decisions for getting an AppleTV.

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!!!