theHTPC.net

This is something that is not a secret, but is also not very widely known. I would imagine that it is because not too many people have a use for it or know how it could be used.

Of course, I’m talking about creating video playlists that can be used within Vista Media Center. I’m sure everyone knows what a playlist is, as they’re most commonly used for music playback on just about any media player available. Anyway, I don’t like rambling that much, so I’ll get right into it.

First, you need a media player capable of generating a playlist with the asx extension. This is most commonly a Windows Media Streaming extension. However, Vista Media Center can recognize and playback this format in both the Music and Video Libraries. I used Windows Media Player 11 to create mine. Simply drag your files into the Drag items here section, arrange them in any order you wish, click on the Untitled Playlist menu directly above and choose Save Playlist As…. When naming your playlist, be sure to add the .asx extension and then choose Save As Type “Any Playlist” so that the asx extension is applied correctly (simply RENAMING it DOES NOT WORK). That’s it, you’re done!

You do need to place the playlist file within the directory structure of your Video Library (obviously) so that it is picked up. You can even create a JPG file of the same name (playlist.asx = playlist.jpg, for example) to get a thumbnail to show up in the library - nice.

“Why do I need this?”, you ask. For me, it was for my son. He loves Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, Dora the Explorer, etc. However, most of these episodes are only a little over 20 minutes long, so as soon as one was over he would come wanting another. He falls asleep to the TV, so at night, this was a bit of a problem. By creating a playlist for all the individual episodes, he doesn’t have to get bored of watching the same feature-length movies he has. I created a new “Playlists” directory and tossed them all in there. Other uses could be for music videos or collections of playlists to group several shorter TV episodes together - similar to what I do for my son…just for yourself (i.e. 2-3 episodes of Scrubs). It’s a much easier solution than joining videos and whatnot.

For you MCE 2005 people out there, you’re not left in the dust. There is a playlist creator available that creates compatible wvx-based playlists. Now, I could not get this to work, so your mileage may vary. It created the lists perfectly. However, my son’s MCE2K5 system was unable to play them. That is what prompted me to upgrade to Vista since I knew it worked. The download for the playlist creator is at XPMediaCenter.com.au and it does require registration to download. Link to the thread is here.

There is also a plugin available that allows creation of playlists within the Media Center interface, but you can hunt for that on your own. I wasn’t interested in it, so it doesn’t get linked :)

I never really cared so much about customizing my Vista MCE menus - until I found a utility that allowed me to do just that.

Some background:

I don’t listen to music, I have no music and, therefore, my HTPCs have no need for music playback.  In fact, I’d find it an incredible waste to require so much equipment to play back mp3s or whatever.  That’s not to say that I don’t understand audiophiles or music lovers in general.  Most home theater equipment was created with music playback in mind, so I’m grateful.

Anyway, considering I don’t need the music capabilities in Media Center, it only makes sense to remove it - or at least hide it.  There’s never really been an easy way of doing that without editing a bunch of XML files, unregistering MCE applications, etc. ad nauseum.  I tried an older application from XPMediaCentre.com.au called MCE Customizer, and while it did some things well, it failed at editing menus for me.

Now, there is a drag-and-drop interfaced application that allows us to hide, move and even delete some menus.  You can also easily create more than two (previous limit for available offerings) custom menus, although you can still only see up to two custom menus in VMC.  This utility is a successor to MCE Customizer and is called MC Menu Mender.  I found a thread at TheGreenButton.com, but the origination is at XPMediaCentre.com.au.

I’ve since tested this out on two of my VMC boxes and it works very well.  I was able to disable the entire Music strip, as well as disable some unused objects within several strips.  It also allowed me to group a few objects into more convenient strips so that I could limit my scrolling for similar object links (i.e. placing the MyMovies Movie Collection object in Pictures + Videos).  I also like the fact that the utility allows you to rename any item available (I didn’t like TV + Movies, so I renamed it to TV + DVD and renamed Pictures + Videos to Movies + Pictures).  I realize most all of this is glam and preference, but it does add to the HTPC experience, in my opinion.

I did find a bug or two that caused VMC to crash upon saving and starting up.  VMC doesn’t like it when objects of static strips are moved to other strips.  I found this out when trying to move “play dvd” from TV + Movies to Pictures + Videos.  If I recall, there was a fix available in the thread at XPMediaCentre.com.au, but it involved some XML hacking that I’m not real interested in doing.  Could I do it?  Sure…no problem.  It’s just that I’m really not that inconvenienced.  The pay isn’t worth the work, if you will.

So, if you’re jonesing for some menu customization with Vista Media Center, head on over and grab the utility.  It’s a very nice addition to my collection.

If you have an extra $1600 just lying around that you don’t know what to do with, maybe you could use a new…keyboard!

I spent a few minutes this morning checking out the latest releases of MeediOS and MediaPortal - two HTPC frontends.  I actually used MediaPortal for a short period of time 6 months ago or more and really enjoyed it.  However, it had a few quirks that I just couldn’t live with and had to go to Vista Media Center, which is what I use now.  I like it, but I’d really like to move on to something else that has more options and a more active community (more plugins, functionality, less cost, etc.).

MediaPortal has a new v2 preview available, but I did not try that.  It looks absolutely awesome though and it my be what I eventually move to.  MeediOS looked pretty good too, but I’m very unfamiliar with it.  I couldn’t find a way to do a MyMovies database import either.  That is a big catch for me as there is no way I’m reinventing a movie database.  I’m sure there has to be a way to do it, but I didn’t spend a very long time searching.  Maybe later if I decide to take a closer look.

I’m just starting to see the real limitations of VMC and starting to get really disappointed with the lack of options.  There are many people out there attempting to come up with plugins, but they either do not apply to me, or the support is so thin that I can’t implement them.  Sometimes I really wish I knew how to code.

I may actually give MeediOS a real run on my son’s system since it doesn’t make use of MyMovies and only needs the built-in video browser.  It’s on MCE2K5 and has been having some real stability issues as of late and I’d like to try that before removing my secondary encoder from service to make him a new VMC system.

I don’t really have anything additional to add except that I never did mention that the X10 devices I installed apparently had no issues with noise interference.  I was very worried that they wouldn’t work correctly, but so far I can’t see any effect at all.  Considering the bedroom does not have as much, it seems likely there will be no problems there either (knock on wood).

I’ll be installing two wall switches in the bedroom - one each for the fan and light.  Everything will need to be re-wired, but I don’t need to buy anything and it doesn’t appear to be overly difficult.  I’m pretty sure I mentioned it before, but pull-chains suck.

Donavon West of Home Server Hacks is giving away a free copy of Windows Home Server via a special drawing to attract more visitors to his blog.  Pretty good idea and I’m in for an entry or two.

You can read about the contest here.

I got a few minutes to install the first of the X10 devices I had ordered yesterday.  I started with the den, where my primary home theater system is.  All that went in there were two of the wall outlets and a wall switch for the ceiling fan/light.  After installing, I tested using the mini-controller and everything worked as expected.  The only thing that did not work was the “All On” button from the mini-controller.  Not sure why.  I don’t expect I’d use it very often, if at all, anyway.

After getting those installed and working, I went ahead and decided to see how difficult setting up the Harmony 880 was going to be.  I created a few custom sequences in the advanced button cusomtization of my HTPC activity - an “On” and “Off” for each device.  Testing it proved that it worked perfectly.  There is a very slight delay of maybe one second, but I would expect that since it’s doing an IR to X10 translation.

So far, I’m pretty happy with how they operate.  Installation was simple and the devices appear to be of decent quality.  Not as “cheap” as I thought they would be, but they’re definitely not heavy-duty.  Next will be the bedroom outlets by the bed and the overhead ceiling fan/light switch.  I do believe that I’ll be installing an additional switch though, so that I can separate the operation of the fan and ceiling lights.  I hate pull-strings and we almost alway leave the fan on at nights.  Being able to control the lights and fan with the remote will be great.

Considering the grandparents arrive today, I probably won’t get to do anything more this weekend, so check in to see what I’m up to in a few days.  Have a good weekend!

I finally pulled the trigger on unRAID.  As mentioned a few posts ago, I had originally planned on the Pro version, but I just can’t justify more than 6 drives for probably another year or more, and the savings incurred now outweigh the upgrade costs later.

I will be moving to max those 6 drive slots out immediately, however.  I’ve decided to make use of my IDE controllers and offload some mass storage devices directly to my unRAID server.  Since it’s a dedicated device, I see no reason to be using other systems for storage also.

Currently, I have the NSLU2 with an attached 250GB Lacie USB drive.  That drive will be removed, the NSLU2 taken offline and my unRAID server will make use of that 250GB for photo storage.  I also have a 320GB drive in my VPN server for WSUS updates.  I’m going to move WSUS duties back to my old media server and use the 320GB drive to move all the applications, drivers, etc. that are on the NSLU2 to.  My VPN server will then be used for VPN access, FAX, YAC and it will become the new ActiveHome/HomeSeer (I have v1.70) server.  It seemed to be a bit underpowered for WSUS anyways…just not enough memory.

Good news is that I don’t have to worry about housing those IDE drives since they can just go right in the unRAID case and next month, when I get my final TB drive for a while, I’ll just toss it in the remaining slot of the external enclosure.  The NSLU2 is one device on the network (100Mb at that) and I have two drives that will spend the majority of their time spun down since they’re not accessed all that often.  Power saving is a plus!  I also like the fact that my NAS data will now be protected and on Gigabit.  Considering the lack of use my secondary encoder gets (relatively speaking), I may even transplant the E6600 from that box to the server and benefit from one less system running.  It would save power twofold - one less system and I’d be replacing a Pentium D 805.  I’ll ponder that idea, but I hate wasting that nForce board.  Maybe I’ll get another E1200 and use it to upgrade my son’s HTPC.  It’s been acting real funky and I’d like to get Vista on there.

This evening I hope to at least get a few of the X10 outlets put in.  I don’t know how long it will be before I get to start configuring them for use, but I do want to get them installed.  I’ll be sure to update it here - along with my experiences - when the time comes.

Stay tuned.

It’s fairly related to site topics, so I just had to post this up.  You can read Kurt Denke’s (Blue Jeans Cable) reply to Monster’s claims here.  I love when this happens.

I received my order from X10 yesterday and am starting to get excited about installing them. I have discovered a few tidbits of information that I did not come across in my research prior to ordering that have me concerned/disappointed, however.

1. CFL bulbs do not work with my WS467 wall switches.
2. I am probably going to encounter noise interference from my home theater equipment and/or UPS units.

These are some fairly big “gotchas” that I did not think of prior to ordering. Considering my intended usage for the WS467 units, that may not be a problem. The ceiling fan light in the den uses only one bulb, so I’ll just put an incandescent back in there. However, our bedroom ceiling fan light uses three bulbs, so that sucks. I guess I’ll put some 40W bulbs back in there. At least we don’t use that light all that much and I did just put two nightstand lamps in there, so that will help. I’m glad the outlet units don’t care what’s plugged into them.

I ordered 8 of those wall switch units, so it looks as though the majority of them will be used for outdoor light switches. I don’t use CFLs out there, so that’s perfect. It’ll be good for the floodlights too. The rest can be used in closets, I guess. I think I have incandescents in those too. If not, I’ll put them back in. My wife leaves closet lights on all the time, so it’ll be good to be able to turn them off from work with the ActiveHome software.

A potential third issue is the software itself. I really wish I could get a hold of a decent Media Center plugin. I really don’t want to buy anything either…not that I would since I’ve not seen anything that was worth the money so far. It wouldn’t even need any advanced functionality - I’m simply looking for On/Off per device. I probably will have to do without, unfortunately. There is a limited free plugin provided by ExDomus, but I will only be able to use that on one Media Center without client/server interactivity.

Hopefully I’ll get to install something this evening so that I can start to fool around with things a little bit.  It’ll probably only be a couple of outlets, but that’s better than nothing.  So long as I can get that and the ActiveHome portion together, I can fool around with it at work tomorrow.  It would have been nice to get it all working by the time my grandparents arrived though.  While my home automation setup is extremely simple, to them it would be all 2099-like.

If anyone knows how to wire up a universal module to a garage door while still being able to use the wired in switch, please comment.  I’m pretty sure I know how to do it, but the wiring is extremely inconvenient for me to screw up a time or two.