Windows 7 Ultimate Media Center x86

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Regs

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# 39034 7-Aug-2009 23:51

grabbed my copy off of MSDN today and installed (fresh) tonight. Took me all of about 50 minutes to get up and running.

My <now very old> config:
Samsung PS2S4S Plasma SD Panel (848x480 native)
Asus A8NVM-CSM Motherboard
AMD Athlon 3200+
1.5GB Ram
Gigabyte nVidia 8400GS with 256MB
2 x Hauupauge Nova-S-Plus DVB-S Tuner Cards
Bunch of HDDs

My Install:
1) boot and install off Win 7 USB drive
2) run updates
3) install winrar
4) download/install latest nVidia driver (190.38)
5) install soundmax sound driver (cause winvista and win7 do not install driver with spdif capabilities)
6) install matroska_splitter - deselect MPEG-TS support (otherwise it screws up playback of mts files from panasonic hd video camera)
7) merge registry hack to enable win7 MKV playback
8) install irtrans software (to drive remote control and VFD)
9) merge reg hack to force daily time updates
10) start media center and run through wizard configuring screen (DVI) and sound (spdif)
11) add media library folders
12) attempt to set up live TV - "no supported tuners"
13) install 2_123_27056 hauppauge driver and restart
14) set up live TV, choose Optus D1 (NZ), select custom single oscillator, enter 11300, ignore signal meter
15) check guide - all channels there
16) test playback of MP3, WMA, AVI, MTS, MKV, Recorded TV
17) make irtrans hack (edit apps.cfg file) for skip forward and skip backward (didnt need this in vista/xp, only win7)
18) configure auto-login for media center user
19) add additional users for LAN access to media
20) reboot again for luck!

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Snowflake
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# 244159 8-Aug-2009 11:00

I am about to follow in you tracks. Taking ages to download iso from TechNet. It took almost 12 yesterday to 68%. Left computer on, but it decided to go to sleep before completing, so i am continuing it now.

My setup is a little less complex than yours, so hopefully should be a lot less hacking. Did it automatically pickup the FreeView channels without manually searching?

GF

Regs

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Snowflake

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# 244162 8-Aug-2009 11:10

my download came down real fast. used the "top downloads" link on MSDN which gives you a multi-thread download off the akamai caching servers. i grabbed 4 ISOs at about 600KB/sec each :-)

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rhysb

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# 244181 8-Aug-2009 12:43

Yeah I used the Top Downloads on technet and got the x64 down in about an hour.

I'm hoping to re-setup later today or tomorrow. MC is such a breeze to setup now.

babygwc

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# 244204 8-Aug-2009 14:36

Hi Regs, could you please elobrate(links or descriptions) on the various reg files, hacks etc that you do. Ive not really bother with Win7 until now (RTM), and am feeling lazy (eg googling how to do all the various hacks/tweaks you have mentioned).

Any help is appeiciated.

Cheers

Regs

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# 244220 8-Aug-2009 15:51

babygwc: Hi Regs, could you please elobrate(links or descriptions) on the various reg files, hacks etc that you do. Ive not really bother with Win7 until now (RTM), and am feeling lazy (eg googling how to do all the various hacks/tweaks you have mentioned).

Any help is appeiciated.

Cheers

here are a few notes. if you look at xpmediacenter.com.au ot thegreenbutton.com you will find a bunch of 'tweaks' and 3rd party apps for MCE

Create a Bootable USB Key Windows 7 Install
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd535816.aspx

Daily Time Sync
to force the time to sync on a daily basis which is a must if your clocks a bit dodgy and you want your tv recordings to be on time. This assumes you have already switched on internet time sync in the clock control panel:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient]
"SpecialPollInterval"=dword:00015180

MKV File Playback
after installing the matroska splitter (no codec packs needed!) you need to add the following registry entries so that WMP and MCE see the MKV files and play them back. more on this here: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/p/65609/314597.aspx

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mkv]
@="MatroskaVideo"
"Content Type"="video/x-matroska"
"PerceivedType"="video"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mka]
@="MatroskaVideo"
"Content Type"="audio/x-matroska"
"PerceivedType"="audio"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\WMPlayer\MIME Types\video/x-matroska]
@="MatroskaVideo"
"UserApprovedOwning"="yes"
"Extensions.SpaceSep"=".mkv"
"Extensions.CommaSep"="mkv"
"Extension.Key"=".mkv"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\WMPlayer\MIME Types\audio/x-matroska]
@="MatroskaVideo"
"UserApprovedOwning"="yes"
"Extensions.SpaceSep"=".mka"
"Extensions.CommaSep"="mka"
"Extension.Key"=".mka"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\WMPlayer\Groups\Video\mkv]
@="MatroskaVideo"
"Description"="Includes files with .mkv extensions."
"Extensions"=".mkv"
"FriendlyTypeName"="Matroska Media File"
"MIME Types"="video/x-matroska"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\WMPlayer\Groups\Audio\mka]
@="MatroskaVideo"
"Description"="Includes files with .mka extensions."
"Extensions"=".mka"
"FriendlyTypeName"="Matroska Media File"
"MIME Types"="audio/x-matroska"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\WMPlayer\Extensions\.mkv]
"Permissions"=dword:0000000f
"UserApprovedOwning"="yes"
"Runtime"=dword:00000007
"PerceivedType"="video"
"MediaType.Description"="Matroska Media File"
"Extension.Handler"="MatroskaVideo"
"Extension.MIME"="video/x-matroska"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\WMPlayer\Extensions\.mka]
"Permissions"=dword:0000000f
"UserApprovedOwning"="yes"
"Runtime"=dword:00000007
"PerceivedType"="audio"
"MediaType.Description"="Matroska Media File"
"Extension.Handler"="MatroskaVideo"
"Extension.MIME"="audio/x-matroska"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Extensions\Descriptions]
"819"="Matroska Media File (*.mkv;*.mka)"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Extensions\MUIDescriptions]
"819"="Matroska Media File"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Extensions\Types]
"819"="*.mkv;*.mka"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\MLS\Extensions]
"mkv"="video"
"mka"="audio"

IRTrans Remote Control Hack
if you have an irtrans remote control and the SKIP buttons don't work you probably need to make the following changes to your apps.cfg file found in the /Program Files/IRTrans/remotes/ installed dir:
under the [APP]MEDIACENTER entry, find:
    NEXT [FNC]NEXT
    PREV [FNC]PREV
and change to:
    NEXT [KEY]\CTRLF
    PREV [KEY]\CTRLB

Sound drivers for my A8NVM-CSM Mobo with Analog Devices AD1986A Onboard Sound:
this driver worked for vista/windows7 and either x86 or x64
ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/Driver/Audio/ADI/AudioAD1986A610x6100_Vista.zip

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Snowflake
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babygwc

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# 244247 8-Aug-2009 17:08

Wow, thanks!!! fantastic.... really appreciate the effort!!

Nety

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# 244367 9-Aug-2009 09:25

I grabbed the 32bit and 64 bit home premium off top downloads in a couple of hours on Friday. I then did a clean install of media centre on Friday.
The only issue I had has been that the Soundblaster Audigy would not play ball but to be honest it was a pain in the RC too. Ironically I switched it to the on board realtec card and it worked perfectly.
Seems a lot quicker/smoother so far.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

rhysb

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# 244442 9-Aug-2009 14:49

Regs, Hauppauge have just released some updated drivers for the Nova-S Plus/HVR-x000 cards 2.124.27191. Not too sure what's changed, but they had promised new drives when Win7 RTM'd.

There's also some new drivers for the HVR-2200 7.6.1.27118

BlueToothKiwi

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# 244467 9-Aug-2009 16:56

I am very annoyed that I could not upgrade from Win7 RC to RTM. Especially given how stable my HTPC setup was [after the painful perseverance with ATI people].

I did know it at the time I installed RC.

So far I have done a clean install on my laptop - but holding off wiping off HTPC and starting over - as I am so scared to break it.

P.S. Nice meeting you yesterday, RhysB
Tim

Tim M, Auckland
Blog: http://paddler.co.nz

rhysb

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# 244483 9-Aug-2009 17:41

Although it is not recommended, you can upgrade from RC to RTM by modifying the cversion.ini file.
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/07/29/how-to-direct-in-place-upgrade-windows-7-beta-or-rc-prerelease-version-to-windows-7-rtm/

It was a pleasure meeting you too :-)

Regs

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# 244528 9-Aug-2009 20:00

rhysb: Regs, Hauppauge have just released some updated drivers for the Nova-S Plus/HVR-x000 cards 2.124.27191. Not too sure what's changed, but they had promised new drives when Win7 RTM'd.

There's also some new drivers for the HVR-2200 7.6.1.27118

thanks for the tip. i went looking when i installed the RTM but all the support links went 404 so i used the drivers i already had. I guess they must have been busy updating their site at the time. Will try these out and see how things go.

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Snowflake
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about.me/nzregs
Twitter: @nzregs

Regs

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# 244576 9-Aug-2009 23:54

After updating the drivers my TV didnt work until I went through the "set up TV signal" wizard again... at least the built NZ Optus D1 settings make it easier now (thanks mikehayton). will know tomorrow, maybe, if these make any difference to the no signal bug

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mikehayton

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# 244585 10-Aug-2009 05:09

no problem.

thanks again to rhysb for helping test out the settings
(I havent met rhysb or regs :P)

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

rhysb

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# 244632 10-Aug-2009 10:28

Still waiting for you to come down for a catchup Mike ;-)

JessicaD

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# 245038 11-Aug-2009 04:33

Everyone,

Its great that so many are excited about the release of Windows 7 RTM to MSDN+ and TechNet+ subscribers! To keep up to date on the latest news for Windows 7, check out Windows 7 Team Blog available here: http://tinyurl.com/5cub8y

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team

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