| Latest info: |
| 25/01/2004 |
Have been trying all weekend to get S3 (Suspend to RAM) working, but to no success. Unit goes into standby, fans spin down. Clicking keyboard fires back up but no video output (to TV or SVGA), HDD clicks a bit then sits idle. Nothing on screen, keyboard num/caps/scroll don't respond. System dead. To recover from this I have to physically either reset bios or remove GFX card and put it back in :-( |
| 15/02/2004 |
Still plodding on. I'm not happy with the quality i'm getting watching anything on the TV via the MCE. I'm finding my eyes start to feel tired after a while, so suspecting the refresh rates or something are not quite right. Needs a bit of time to try and fiddle about to get things right. I've dropped resolution to 640x480 for a bit and see if that helps. |
| 18/02/2004 |
Contact on TGB from Ken who has seen these issues on my shuttle and gfx before, he suspects power supply. Doh! I ordered the new GFX a few days ago. Will see how it goes, and this weekend might try another PSU just in case it makes a difference. |
| 20/02/2004 |
I've found that the gfx and mbd aren't compatible (Ignore the shuttle compatibility lists!). So i'm shelling out for a new gfx card, Connect3D ATI Radeon 9200SE 128MB. Hopefully this will solve some problems. |
| 22/02/2004 |
Removed the 'Asus GF FX5200 V9520T 128MB' graphics card due to the power off/restart problems. Problem SOLVED with the Connect3D ATI, although i'm not impressed with the TV-Out, not as good as the nVideo (Which is contrary to what I was told, hence why I'd bought an ATI). |
| 22/02/2004 |
S3 (Suspend-to-RAM) isn't working, system just stops when suspending, even hibernating is failing. So this is the next problem to solve. General performance has increased since I put the extra 256Mb RAM into the unit, TV is smooth now, recording, rewind, playback is all excellent. Also after adding a SCART switchbox everything plugs together nicely also. Although had to DISABLE the Scart Control on my Grundig SKY Digibox, otherwise the screen was always blank. |
| 23/02/2004 |
My Phillips MCE Remote Control & USB IR Receiver arrived, and wow i'm impressed! It allows me to use my SKY digibox through s-video perfectly, and changes channels automatically as needed. Installation was easy (just plugged in USB and it worked). Highly recommended if you're struggling with the unit. In the UK only supplier I could find was getitgotitgood.com. |
| 28/02/2004 |
After formatting and re-installing the whole MCE setup, suspend-to-ram is now working properly, WOW! The unit is running much faster too, so obviously my driver fiddling about caused some slowdowns. |
| 24/03/2004 |
Argh! After a while using the box and enjoying it, the PVR-250 looks like its fried :( no idea why or anything, its definately NOT heat as thats constantly monitored. Take a look at the details: thegreenbutton.com - forum posting |
| 20/04/2004 |
Still waiting for my PVR-250 card to be returned. It has been tested and found faulty, so its gone back to Hauppage for replacement. Why they can't send me a new one I don't know. So at present, my MCE is useless. |
| 09/05/2004 |
Now available for download below. MCE2WebGuide2 is a tool written by Reinhard Brongers that will read the data from your MCE EPG and write out the datafile needed for WebGuide2 (So you don't need to use the XML grabber). The file below i've modified the source and re-packaged it with a step-by-step installer and running status in the console window. Download it now, and any problems drop me an email. |
| 20/05/2004 |
Back in business! Finally got my PVR250 back from microdirect, so its installed, along with my new DVD-CDRW drive into the MCE unit. Have had to tidy up its software a lot, uninstalled DVD player software and installed WinDVD now. Things seem to be running smoothly. |
| 31/05/2004 |
Made some more mods to the MCE, removing old programs, generally tidying up to try and make things run faster. Unfortunately it still responds slowly when TV is running or recording. |
| 07/06/2004 |
I've removed TheaterTek's DVD software and installed WinDVD. Performance has improved, and the occasional jerks/slowdowns in sound seem to have been solved, so i'm going to stick with this for a while. Unfortunately I've given up all hope of using Jeff's DVR2WMV software, as even when using DVD decoders that he recognises/supports the program always crashes out, so giving up on that one for now. |
| 25/10/2004 |
Added the new package for EPG2WebGuide2 by Reinhard. He repackaged everything after making mods to make it work with MCE2005 version. Download the various versions below. |
| 23/12/2004 |
I've had a re-install of my MCE machine, as it was slowing down, crashing frequently and generally was bad to use. After the re-install, everything went back on easily, all drivers, etc worked fine and I set the system up without problem. The only problem appears to be that it crashes occasionally still. I need to look into this more, but haven't had the chance yet. Maybe while i'm off work over the festive period. Happy Christmas to everyone, have a good time! |
| 03/07/2005 |
Goodbye MCE - Unfortunately the PSU in my Shuttle has finally given up. The past couple of weeks its clock was drifting badly (jumping to 2003, 2000, random almost). And now it finally gave up, not supplying enough power to boot the system. I've decided to give up on MCE as its just too buggy and quirky, and I never did get the picture to look as good as I wanted. So the innards have been ripped out and re-used on my network elsewhere. |
Media Centre PC 