HTPC - a girlie building one out of old scrap
Well, it looks like the time has come to do something about the sorry state of this homes entertainment system. I have been thinking about it for the last 2 years or so but havn't yet figured out what I want.
There are a few events that makes this look like a good time. 1) Vacation. 2) Malfunctioning surround receiver. 3) Going crazy over a really bad HD channel box (picture quality is good but the EPG sucks big time). 4) Got an old Shuttle XPC scattered around in pieces, hood to the left, chassi on the shelf, PSU in the drawer, memorysticks hmm... oh there they are beside the printer... harddrives... pick any of the S-ATA in the harddrive-pile at the desk (if you havn't figured that out before, I'm a little bit geeky :P )
List of components
Shuttle XPC SB61G2
200 Watt PSU
Intel P4 2.4 GHz
2 GB RAM
320 GB S-ATA2
ASUS RADEON HD3450 512MB GDDR2 AGP VGA/DVI/HDMI LP
LOGITECH HARMONY 900
Marantz NR 1501
Pioneer DV-360
Sagem HD ITSD81 (to be replaced by Dreambox or Vantage 8000TS whichever I can afford)
Sony KDL-40D2600
What the HTPC will NOT do
Decode the coded channels from CanalDigital (satelite provider). I can't afford to buy a TV-card, a CI-slot and a CA-module.
Handle streams/broadcasts/movies in HD, the CPU isn't powerful enough to do that and a "new" CPU for that old MB is just too expensive. It doesn't matter much though because HD material is huge on disc and DivX is good enough for now.
Let the adventure begin...
I've got the PC up and running now. It was not a piece of cake to fit the graphics adapter. Well, at first it was easy but then I found out that I needed to feed it with a separate powercable from the PSU. And since the AGP-slot is the outermost slot and the space between the slot and the hood is a mere 3-4 mm, it got a little cramped up and a very tight fit with the cable in place.
I also found a new reciever yesterday. A Marantz NR 1501 with 30% discount. That was a deal too good to ignore. It has what I need from a reciever, 4 HDMI in and 1 HDMI out, 7.1 sound (7 x 50 watt). Ok not the most powerful out there, but in this small appartment 7 x 50 watt will be more than enough.
I think I learned another important lesson today. See, one way to assemble a home theater is to RTFM before starting. I should have. But didn't. No real harm done though. The HTPC works but need to get software installed.
I started with configure the Logitech remote. But a little down the road on that, the config process said "make sure the surround reciever is on". Uh oh, that one was still not unpacked. So, unpacking it and for once read the manual and see and behold "make sure the speakers are located 3-4 feet above the audience ears when sitting down"... of course there aren't, yet. So that's what I need to take care of tomorrow, putting up the speakers on the walls (drilling a whole lot in concrete :P ).
So, this is the right order to go about this:
Speakers
Surround reciever
Remotecontroll
A short note before bedtime... system up and running but without the HTPC. It took a few hours but 99% of that time was to get the speakers up on the walls. The Marantz NR 1501 is the fastest reciever to set up that I have come across (so far).
Plan for tomorrow is to calibrate the sound/speakers and install the Logitech remote.
Is it possible to fall in love with a remote? 
I must admit that when I payed the bill for the remote I almost cried blood. It's NOT a remote you find on the bargain shelf in a discount store. But now when it's installed and the old pile with remotes have had their batteries removed and been tucked away... What a difference! One remote controls everything. With only a light tap on the touchscreen on Watch TV, the decoder, the soundsystem and the TV starts. Gone are the days where I needed 3 remotes to just watch the news. To watch a DVD is equally simple and I love it. Not to mention what a relief it is to be able to reclaim my livingroom table 
.
Well, now when all the above is done, I can continue to finish the HTPC. There is one detail that worries me though. I don't (yet) have a IR receiver to the HTPC and I really want to be able to control it with the remote. I have searched high and low for a IR receiver but havn't really found one currently produced and sold. There WAS one but not anymore, I'm talking about the Microsoft Media Center remote for Win XP. I hope to find a used (or new) of those on Ebay.
Is your new Remote a Harmony by Logitech, Mags?
I installed one of their touch screen remotes (don't remember which model - but it cost about $400) at my parents house when I re-did their entertainment/TV system. That remote is the greatest thing!
Maggie you are absolutely correct... press Watch TV and the remote turns on the LCD, Receiver (and checks that it's set to the cable box HDMI) and HD Cable box. Want to watch a DVD? (Sorry Mags... my parents don't have a HTPC) Press Activities, then Watch DVD. The remote turns off the Cable Box, Turns on the DVD player and switches the HDMI input on the receiver from cable to DVD.
I watch TV at their house now just to play with the remote. So, yes Maggie, I believe you can fall in love with a remote. LOL
Yeah it's a Harmony, the 900 model. I payed 2800 SEK for mine, that would translate to 400 USD so it's probably the same as you got for your parents.
It's not just me who likes that remote then, good, then me on my usual level on insanity :D
look into using XBMC for the OS on your system, if you're still working on this project.
www.xbmc.org - they have an amazing system setup, i use it on my old xbox and have used it on PC's before. they operate on linux/win, and have a standalone linux OS of it to boot right into it without running it 3rd party from within your immidiate OS.
p.s.i thought we lost the captchas for *everything*? time to select-all/copy my post before i fail the first 3 captchas.
I'm still working on this project. I have a difficult problem with Codecs (movies don't play in MediaPortal but they play nicely in just about any other player). Apart from that I have the system up an running with WinXP and MediaPortal.
i'm tellin you - XBMC.org
you can run it from within a windows boot, or as a standalone OS. it's amaaazing. check it out, if you don't love it you're not human!
This brings memories for me.
I had a SB61G2 and I realy loved it. Unfortunally I destroyed it one new-years eve. As iy happends I put in a TV-card (DVB-S) but i missed that a little rubber pad had fallen away so the tv card was pressed against the drive cage.
Naturally there was a major shortcut, burning out the motherboard and the tv-card. I still have the chassies laying around. The PSU and the DVD has been reused for a lab-machine and I now have a Mcubed box as a HTPC.
and since I'm also a swede
Kul att stöta på flera ute i stora vida världen.
While sitting here over my breakfast, I did a search to see if anyone else had issues with Harmony 900 controlling a Marantz NR1501 (all buttons don't get mapped automatically). And you should have seen my face when my own old forumpost popped up at second place in the search results. And I think it's about time for a status update...
So, what happend since last time? Technically everything worked great, even amazing, the CPU and memory and graphics adapter all was enough for movies to be played with very good results. But I had a constant never ending struggle with missing and/or invalid Codecs. No matter which player and set of Codecs or combination thereof worked 100%.
I, who never gives up, gave up on Saturday last week. I will donate the Shuttle to someone that needs it and who loves to spend hours mucking around with Windows before being able to watch that movie... And then I'm gonna cuddle up in front of my TV to watch a movie with Plex, running on my new Mac Mini 2011-edition.
I should get going or I'll be late for work, have a nice day everyone :)
Mac Mini 2011? Where did the optical drive go? Did they leave it back in 2010? And is Thunderbolt supposed to replace USB 3.0? But for HTPC streaming, it looks mighty cool ;)
They got an optical drive to it, but I chose not to buy one since I believe that in 2011 an optical drive should be able to read and write Blue-Ray, and theirs are not.
The only Downside with Macs.
The lack for Bluerays.
IF you need a new home for the SB-61 im interested
/Mats
kazaa lite codec pack does it all, no matter what. never been without one major or minor codec using that pack. everyone should have it in their arsenal.
Kazaa codecs rule!
You're in way over my head!
"Once in a while you get shown the light
in the strangest of places if you look at it right."
-Garcia/Hunter