Streaming Recorded TV from my closet computer: it actually work

I remember I tried streaming Recorded TV from the server computer in my closet to my media center (Lenovo S12), and it was not working.  The performance was super sluggish and I had to give up.  But today I tried it again and it was working great.  That really makes me wonder why if worked this time while not the other.  Just me write down the setting I have now, so that letter if it failed again, at least I know what setting I should twist:

Server:

• Recorded TV hosted in an external SATA harddisk through eSATA interface

Client

• Resolution: 1280 x 720

One thing that slightly bugged me for a while was that the media center prevents me from deleting a file that I just finished watching.  Irritating, right?  No problem.  Here's what I did:

• Go to the  machine where the Recorded TV files were being hosted.
• Go to property page of that folder.
• select [Security] tab
• In "Group or user names", choose [Edit...]
• Add the user "Everyone"
• give "Everyone" Full control

That's all.  Now I can delete watched shows at will.

Swapping harddisk full of Windows Media Center RecordedTV shows doesn't work as I planned

Here's what I did: I got 2 USB/eSATA based harddisk craddle, one connected to the living room computer while the other one connected to my closure server computer.  I used my closure server computer to record TV shows, and use the living room computer to watch those recorded TV show.   I thought I could easily swap these 2 harddisk and preserve the drive letter (so that the Recording process in the closet computer won't be interrupted.  Well that didn't work as planned.  The letter got reset everytime I plug in the drive, so I was like, whatever. 

Copy 28G of data from PC to 32Gb SD card : takes an hour

I know it's just a Class 4 card, and 32Gb of data is a lot.  Still, it takes an hour to copy all the files, and I was ... well, guess I have to accept the fact.

Make XBMC to display Chinese: way easier than I expected

Turns out all I need to do to make XBMC showing Traditional Chines is by doing these:

• Go to Appearance Setting, select Skin, and then at "Fonts" select "Arial Based"
• In Character set, select "Hong Kong (Big5-HKSCS)

That's all. Not need to install font or whatever.

Correction ... all I need is directx_Jun2010_redist.exe

Turns out all I need to install in directx_Jun2010_redist.exe, and then Boxee and XBMC will work properly.  Now I need to work on finding how to display Chinese properly on XBMC.

Trying to make Boxee and XBMC run as portable

I spent some time making both Boxee and XBMC support proper Unicode file name and such on the Lenovo S12, and now that tried to run these 2 items on the MacMini running Windows 7, I don't want to reinstall and then configure all over again.  So I simply move over the Boxee and XBMC directory, and attempt to run the exe directly.  Both failed as they complain about missing some d3dx9 files.

So I downloaded directx_aug2009_redist.exe , and that got Boxee running.  But XBMC still complained about the missing of d3dx9_43.dll .  So I downloaded "directx_Jun2010_redist.exe" and that solved the problem.

By the way, I got Samba connection error, but PS3 Media Server connection worked ONCE I set up the default SMB user name and password.  Since I am lazy, I am not going to waste time to figure out the detail, and just let it be.

Reemember to sync your clock when using Windows Media Center

I started using my machine in the closet as the Windows media server.  Things seemed to work out except that a few minutes of the video got cut off in the beginning.  Later I realized that the clock on my server machine was not set up properly, thus the problem.  So yeah, need to make sure the clock on your Windows Media Center machine is properly set, or else you you miss part from your favorite show.

new ION driver ... will see ...

Also installed the newer ION driver through Windows Update ... see if it helps on the Lenovo S12 problem.

Continue disappointed by the Lenovo S12

Very not happy finding out that the Lenovo S12 SHUTTED ITSELF down while I was in the middle of watching a Recorded video.  What the hell.

And the worst part is that the laptop was 2 months pass the warranty.  Again, son of the bitch.  So with both the Overheat ThinkPad and autoshut down Lenovo, looks like I will never buy a Lenovo laptop again in my life.

In the meantime I need to find a way to keep the shutdown from happening again.  So now I turned on the power saving so that once in a while it will go to sleep mode when "necessary".  Also I lower the resolution from the highest to the lower one.  Hopefully this will help resolving the heat problem.


We'll see ... will continue document the progress.

Windows 7 Ultimate edition with Service Pack 1 32 bit edition, installed on Lenovo S12

It's time to wipe that damn Lenovo S12. I kept being fustrated by the Lenovo S12 being sluggishly slow.  And in the last one week, things went from bad to worst.  The machine simply SHUTDOWN itself frequently when I was pausing on either Windows Media Center or XBMC or Boxee.  Something was seriously screwed up on the machine and it's time to get them all fixed. 

So I went for what usually ultimately solved system problem: reinstall the OS.  In fact, I had to since I couldn't even play Windows Media Center recorded files anymore.  No matter what files I play, I got video error.

So I reinstalled the OS from a clean partition (by wiping the old OS partition clean first), did the Windows 7 Ultimate edition with Service Pack 1 32 bit edition installation, and then did all the latest Windows update.  And finally map the Recorded TV harddisk.

Result, the Windows Media Center Recorded TV files are played properly now.  I am not saying that the system is snappy now (because I still sense some lag here and there) but at least this is the best I can get, and I am pretty OK with.

Ah, so it works on the original copy

This is surely odd.  I just found out that all the recorded video problem I had before was caused by COPY Windows Media Recorded TV files.  In fact, the problem ("Video Problem") that I encountered on the copy of the Recorded TV files does NOT occur in the original file.  So maybe I am able to make all my TV recording happen in my closet, and so that I can have more flexibility on swappy in and out that damn Lenovo S12. 

Experiment will start tonight.

Lenovo saga, and glad that I have Playstation 3

I started to wonder that it was the XBMC that drove the Lenovo S12 to the edge.  Come to think about it, it always shutdown while I was pausing some video file playing on XBMC.  So now I am having the S12 pausing on Windows Media Center TV playback, and see if it yields any difference.

For the worst cast, I might need to start using the MacMini as the windows media center machine, and start satying in the Windows side all day long, which may not be a problem come to think of it. 

On the other hand, I found that use O!Play and PS3 to watch video and photo a pretty good alternative.  In fact, I would argue that if the format is correct, using PS3 to play video and browse photo may actually be a better experience than using Lenovo S12.

Lenovo S12 keeps shutting down

Starting to worry about the Lenovo S12 I have.  I use it as a Windows Media Center DVR.  Recently it kept shutting down itself when I am not using it.  Maybe some stupid Windows update fk it up.

Giving up on replacing Dreamcast battery

After opened up my Dreamcast and examined around the battery area, I decided that it didn't worth the risk ane effort to replace the battery.  That is because in order to yank the battery out, I have to apply heat to melt the connect point, plus the replacement battery is extremely hard to fine.  Guess I have to live with setting the clock everytime I start up the machine,

Lame problem Windows Media Center TV recording: problem when pay back on another machine

This seems to be consistant with my experience with Windows 7 Media Center TV Recording before, that TV shows records on one machine (in my case, the Lenovo S12) has problem playing back on my MacMini  Windows 7 side,  Very once in a while I will get Video Error, and can't proceed unless I exit the video, play it again from the beginning, and force to skip that "problem section".  Very annoying.  There goes my dream of recording video on my S12 and then play back from my MacMini.  Sigh.  So the S12 will continue to be the dedicated DVR machine.