So what kind of Media Center PC would a someone who works on Media Center build for his family back home in Canada? Here is what I’ve built:

• Shuttle XPC Barebone System for Socket 478 at 533/800MHz FSB Intel CPU, Model SB65G2 $190
• Intel Celeron D 330 2.66 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 256K L2 Cache Processor $88
• 
  Seagate 200GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive $116

• NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black $65
• DDRAM PC-3200 512M KINGMAX $66
• Hauppauge WinTV-PVR
• NVIDIA 5700 graphics card w/128MB 8x AGP
• Microsoft IR receiver and remote

Total cost for you to build: ~$817

Notes:

• The Shuttle barebones kit was very easy to put together and came with all the necessary parts. If you buy this kit you don’t need to buy retail parts.
• Fan is a little bit noisy. update: I opened up the case and I had put the heat sink on incorrectly. So I fixed that I ran the cabling differently and it is a bit quieter.
• Newegg shipped me the wrong CPU socket type even though I ordered the correct one. I then had to go buy the CPU at my local computer store for $104+tax. Arghhh! I now have to fit with Newegg to return what the shipped me (which I opened because I didn’t realize it was the wrong CPU type until I tried to insert it).
• Photo without the case on
• I’m still trying to figure out how to enable s-video out… Turns out I needed to use the cable that came with the card, my other cables weren’t making a solid connection.
• I have this Shuttle MCE hooked up to my Samsung 46″ DLP via VGA and you can definitely tell a different in quality between it and my Gateway 901x with a Radeon 9800 Pro connected over DVI.
• Now I’m having problems with getting DVD playback working. Ugh. Update: I install the latest chipset drivers for my system as well as new video drivers and now DVD playback is working.

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As thanks for shipping Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (could have come up with a worse product name??) everyone on the team receives a Ship It Award and also a Ship It Present. This year our present is a translucent green remote control and IR receiver. What makes the IR receiver cool is that it is signed by Bill Gates. What makes the remote control cool is that it is a learning remote control so you can teach it to turn off your TV and control the volume on your receiver. This is a very welcome addition to our home as now we are down to one remote control! Finally I could move a couple more remotes to our remote control graveyard behind the TV.

Photo of the remote control and IR receiver.

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Picture of my Media Center setup annotated at Flickr.

Post describing my setup.

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Wondering why you can’t get KIROHD in the Seattle area?

Although the transmitter will be running by the weekend, KIRO-HD will not be at full-power. This delay is caused by a legal challenge from the Canadian government - it claims that KIRO-HD will interfere with Canadian signals transmitted around the Lake Hope area.

Damn, those pesky Canadians! :)

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Having problems playing DVDs that contain Interactual enhanced content on Media Center 2005? DVD won’t play? Is the screensaver coming on when you’re watching a DVD? Are you not getting the MCE fast forward controls?

You have several options:

To disable Media Center from launching the Interactual player when the DVD is inserted go to Start > Run and type in regedit. Edit the reg key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MediaCenter\Settings\Autoscan\ _autoPlayMCLEnabled and set it equal to 0.

If you are in the Interactual experience but want the native DVD experience press the DVD menu button on your remote.

DVDs affected by this:

• the Haunted Mansion
  
• Secondhand Lions*
  
• The Butterfly Effect*
  
• Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Theatrical)*
  
• Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Extended)*
  
• Elf*
  
• Laws of Attraction*
  
• Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle* (Rated & Unrated)
  
• Cellular*
  
• Iron Eagles III: Aces
  
• Detonator 2
  
• Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
  
• For Roseanna
  
• The Guyver
  
• The Guyver 2
  
• Hidden
  
• Kansas City
  
• Live Wire: Human Time Bomb
  
• Mangler
  
• Proof
  
• The Rapture
  
• The Twilight Zone - Season 1

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MCE 2005 FAQ at AVS Forums (via Ed Bott).

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Microsoft.com, Windows XP Media Center Edition Test Kit v2.0:

This program will install a collection of software utilities intended to assist Media Center PC OEMs and device driver developers in evaluating readiness for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

DO NOT RUN THIS ON A MCE THAT HAS CONTENT. It is my understanding that this is for pre-production machines only as it may delete your recorded TV. You have been warned :).

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I didn’t write this article, Greg Edwards did, but I wanted to post it now because I’m getting emails about set top box channel changing problems and want you all to have a happy set top box experience so knock yourself out!

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Title: The Media Center remote control does not change channels properly.

Symptoms:

Even after learning your set-top box remote control, the Media Center remote control does not change channels properly.

Cause:

Media Center may have misjudged the speed of your set-top box’s remote control, and therefore your Media Center remote may be sending signals incorrectly.

Resolution:

• Using your keyboard, press WINDOWS + R.
• In the “Run” box that appears, type “regedit,” and click OK.
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Service\Video\Tuners
• Look in subfolders whose names are in curly brackets and contain a bunch of random numbers and letters until you find the UserSettings folder. (There may be multiple folders with this name.)
• Click on UserSettings, and open the “STBCode” file on the right-hand side of the window. (If this file does not exist, go back to Step 4.
• Try changing the number contained after the <keyinterval> tag to 100, 175, and 250. Each time, close out of the registry, restart your system, and try your remote to see if it works normally.
  • If you have a Scientific Atlanta 8600 set-top box, change the numbers after the , , and tags to 100, 100, and 400, respectively.
  • If you have a General Instruments DCT 2244 set-top box, change the numbers after the <keyinterval>, <keyduration>, and <channelpause> tags to 1000, 300, and 1200, respectively.

If you want to tweak the numbers further, here is more detailed information:

The value of Key Duration is defined during set-top box setup. The other two registry entries are left blank by setup, and the values for Key Interval and Channel Pause are calculated in the following way:

Key Interval = Key Duration
Channel Pause = 2 * Key Duration

Key Duration	Key Interval (Default)	Channel Pause (Default)
FAST	100	100	200
MEDIUM	175	175	350
SLOW	250	250	500

If XXX for Key Interval and YYY for Channel Pause are replaced with numeric values, they are used instead of the defaults.

If your box seems to be dropping digits, try a longer Key Duration. If that doesn’t help or doesn’t fully solve the problem, try a longer Key Interval.

If the box is mixing digits from the previous channel change into the current one, try adding to the Channel Pause, and then Key Interval values.

NOTE: all values are in milliseconds, were 1 millisecond is 1/1000 of a second.

Repro Steps:

• During TV set-up, use IR learning on the remote controls of certain set-top boxes, such as Scientific Atlanta 8600 or General Instruments DCT 2244.
• While watching television, try to change the channel with your Media Center remote control. It may not change properly.

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Yahoo, Blockbuster Plans to End Late Fees in 2005:

Blockbuster Inc., the nation’s biggest movie rental company, says it will eliminate late fees on games and movies as of Jan. 1 — but if you keep them too long, you buy them.

Wow. But certainly not surprising given the pressure of their own unlimited rental program as well as Netflix. Some things to think about:

• How will this affect ‘indie’ video rental stores? (i.e. My local Broadway Video) Will they adopt this model? Can they even adopt this model? Often they have way less copies of a movie then Blockbuster does and I imagine their distribution network isn’t as efficient as Blockbuster’s for re-supplying.
• How will this affect video on demand pricing and ‘rental periods’ from companies like Cinema Now and Movielink? While VOD does not have late fees, they need to be competitive with the offline model. If this means Blockbuster rentals are $5 for 30 days, paying $5 to be able to watch a movie in a 24 hour period is not very appealing.
• Will the price that Blockbuster charges for a purchase when you don’t return it be competitive with Walmart/Amazon/Half.com?

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Tim emailed me asking the following:

Are you aware of any 3rd party software out there whereby I can achieve
the following??

• With remote, I can receive a call… hear through speakers and talk
  via a microphone

• Use CallerID with a contact list that will not only show the number
  (only shows # now) but also their name and photo…

We do not have this functionality in Media Center 2005 but perhaps one of my readers knows of a 3rd party application that could be used to achieve the above?

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