Entertainment 2.0

Beta testing can be fun.  What’s not so fun is when the latest version of a software takes a step backwards.  Why this happens, I can’t pretend to know.  I just think people might need to know about it.  The fact is however, these shouldn’t be read as complaints.  When you run software that hasn’t officially been released, you take your chances and I’ve taken mine in this case.

There are really two issues I’ve noticed so far that are specific to build 7068 which is what I’m running on my main Media Center at this time.  The first is that Divx/Xvid files look absolutely horrible on the Xbox 360.  Very bad pixelization, some slight stuttering are things that weren’t happening in build 7000 for me.  And just to be clear, we’re talking about the same files here.  These aren’t new, lower quality rips.  As well, after watching the same content this morning on both the Media Center PC and the Linksys DMA-2100, I can say with relative certainty that this is an Xbox 360 issue.  The same piece of content played without issue on both of these devices.  What the difference is, I have no idea.

The other issue I’ve seen so far is one concerning zoom.  This seems to happen on both the 360 and the Linksys but not on the PC itself.  There are several files that when I start them, they squeeze into the center of the screen.  After adjusting the zoom to another setting and then changing it back, everything seems to work just fine.  This happens on my Linksys with both video files and TV programming.

7068 has added some very nice cosmetic features to 7MC.  Unfortunately, MS has also introduced some problems.  Again, I certainly don’t blame them as it was my choice to run unreleased software.  I post this more to let users know as well as let the eHome team know that some things might need a look before the RC hits in (hopefully) May.

While the changes are slight, there are a few things I’ve noticed since installing Windows 7 build 7068 over the weekend.  Nothing major and in fact, it took me a bit to notice but there are a few things worth noting. 

It’s worth noting first off that the core of everything is the same.  After setting up live TV, recording storage and whatnot nothing major has been changed.  You’re going to see the same setup processes as before.  While there are of course some things that we all wanted MS to add, there aren’t enough changes within MCE to make it a totally different experience.  It seems that everything is really just cosmetic.

First is the splash screen when you start Media Center.  The logo fills the screen now and does a very fancy pull back which looks really nice.  It doesn’t take any longer than the original screen but does add some flair. 

The next thing I noticed while going through the setup process was that the drill down sound has changed.  While it’s impossible to describe, I will say that it seems like a softer sound.  I don’t know if you’ll understand what I mean but that’s the best way to describe it.  This along with the splash screen are the only two sound changes I’ve noticed so far.  All other sounds within the UI seem unchanged.

I’ve also noticed animation changes to the menus.  This is most apparent when backing out to the main menu.  When you back out from say, recorded TV, the main menu now seems to fall in from the top of the screen.  It’s a slight change:  it doesn’t scroll down or anything.  Again, this is really a small change but one that is noticeable and adds a bit more flair to the presentation. 

The most notable change seen so far is the speed of the UI on extenders.  While still slower than using the local machine (something that will probably always be that way) it’s much faster now.  While running build 7000 there were times that it was quite frustrating waiting for things to move both on the Xbox 360 and the Linksys DMA-2100.  This is no longer the case.  Both extenders are very responsive to the commands I throw at them.  How much of this has to do with recent issues I was having and how much has to do with the new build is hard to tell but I don’t recall the UIs on these extenders ever being this fast.

The one thing I am frustrated with is the fact that it still seems that the Xbox 360 has issues with playing digital audio with WTV and AVI files.  WMVs that I have play fine.  Also, these files seem to play just fine on the local PC.  Hopefully this is something that MS is looking into and will be able to fix before RTR.  I really want to kill my cable but with HD recordings not playing properly, it makes it a bit harder.

Overall it seems as though MS has worked to dress up the Media Center UI as well as speed the whole system up.  I wouldn’t quite call it a finished product but I think it’s getting there.  The feature set is probably there so I doubt we’ll see more functionality, but the changes they’ve made since build 7000 are certainly nice even if they don’t actually add anything.

I’ll be continuing to play with build 7068 and will of course report anything I find.

Continuing where he left off with adding menu strips to 7MC, Michael Healy from Hack7MC has now posted a how to on removing strips from the menu.  I know for me, I have no need for the sports strip or the Movies strip.  I certainly wouldn’t mind getting rid of them so I can clean up the UI a little bit.  This is the guide I’ll be using to do it.

From the post:

Once you have “Startmenu.xml” opened in Notepad 2007 you will see a couple of folders ad some xmlns declarations in the left hand pane.  It will most likely be quite intimidating to anyone not familiar with XML but we can ignore these for now and just expand “home:StartMenuData”. Then expand the next three folders inside, “Categories”, “constraints:ConstrainedList” and “Source”. Now you should see a large list of folders.

We aren’t concerned with the first twenty of these folders as they are placeholders for the extra programs strip. After these first placeholder folders you will notice a couple of folders marked “constraints:ConstrainedItem”. These are the first few start menu strips, pictures and folders.

Thanks to Michael for keeping up the great work and allowing the rest of us to make 7MC what we want it to be!

This is coming through Richard Miller’s blog over at TDL.  Chris from the ehome team has posted to The Green Button that on the 11th of March, Windows 7 users will need to run their TV Setup again in order to make some adjustments to ID used.

From the forum post:

What this means to you is that on ~3/11/09 there will be a change to the headend which will require you to go through TV Setup. ***NOTE*** This is not through first run, and should keep you from losing any scheduled recordings etc. since it will simply map to use what headend is used to populate guide updates.

You can find TV setup at: task –> settings –> TV –> Setup TV Signal
Once you have gone through TV Setup, there should be no further steps to take. To confirm the change, before going through TV Setup, you can go to Tasks –> Settings –> Guide –> About Guide Listings and note the headend ID’s. After going through the TV Setup process, you should notice the ID for your ATSC/QAM headend has changed.

This change does not affect any other headends/data in any way.
Since this change goes live 3/11/09 I would recommend that you use this process on 3/12/09 to be sure the data has come down completely. If after this process you see no new updates to your EPG, please post here and I will do my best to help confirm any issues.

Be sure to make a note if you’re currently running Windows 7 and have an ATSC/QAM tuner installed.

Michael Healy of Hack 7MC has come through again.  To be honest, this is the stuff I wish knew how to do.  Mr. Healy has today taken time to show us how to add new strips to the 7MC start menu.

Anyone who’s been using Media Center for any length of time knows that the start menu has never been very user editable. (Yeah, I think it’s a word!)  Michael has taken time to show you how to add your own strips.  I know that this is something I’ll be doing soon so I can add a custom strip to handle the extra apps I’ve installed.  I know there’s an “Extras” strip but for me, putting my apps closer to the center of the menu is going to be perfect.

From the post:

The first step to getting your new menu strip is to choose what programs you want to be on it. These programs have to be already entered into the Media Center’s Extra Programs. You can find a guide on adding new entries to the Extra Programs using Media Center Launcher and Configurator right here. Once all the programs you want to launch from your new bar are installed open a registry editor (start > “regedit” > enter).

Head over to Hack 7MC to read the rest of the how-to.

On a related note, if you’re looking to do anything that involves changing the look of your Media Center or anything dealing with 7MC in general, I suggest you subscribe to the feed provided by Michael’s blog.  This is one of the first ones I read every time there’s a new post.

From both Stuart and Ian over at The Digital Lifestyle, comes word that KB963660 is going to make sure that you can continue to watch recorded TV and DVDs after March 15th, 2009.  (My birthday so I must be responsible.)

On that day, if you’re running the Windows 7 Beta, and you haven’t applied KB963660 you’re going to find that you won’t be able to play certain files.  That’s because the codecs for those files will expire.

This was an auto update for me so you should have it by now.  There were a total of five on Tuesday and they were all done when I woke up in the morning.

This weekend I’m completing a project that I’ve wanted to finish for a long time.  This involves moving my main media server (7MC) to my main viewing area, moving my Xbox 360 extender upstairs and wiring a second 7MC machine in my kitchen to act as an extender.  Getting this PC up and running is the focus of this article.  It’s actually not too hard and while you won’t get every feature of your main 7MC machine, you’ll get everything you need to be able to enjoy your media in another location.

The first thing you’re going to need is the second PC.  To get the most out of this, both your main Media Center and your second PC need to be running the Windows 7 beta.  The fact is that you can share recorded TV using Vista, however there is a registry hack involved.  You can find the hack here but I won’t be covering it.  It’s not something I’ve ever done and and I don’t want to point people in the wrong direction on this.

Once you have two systems running Windows 7 and you’ve set up your Media Center on both, the next thing to do is set up your libraries.  This can be done simply by sharing them on the network using homegroups or, you can add folders from your main Media Center PC on the second one.  Something to remember is that they have to be visible on the network so you’ll have to set up sharing.  If you have a closed home network like I do, I just give everyone full permission.  That way, I don’t have to make changes every time I add a new PC to the network.

Once your media folders are shared, you simply go to your Media Center setup and start adding them to each of your Media Libraries.  The nice part is that this is all handled inside the Media Center UI so there’s no need for a mouse or keyboard.  If the folders are properly shared, they’ll show up on the list of locations.  If you’ve recently switched from Vista to Windows 7 you’ll notice the addition of the Recorded TV library. 

Now, while Media Center itself can handle TV, music and pictures, video is another story.  Oh, MC can do it but it’s not very gracious and there are third party apps out there that will make it much easier.

The first one is Media Browser.  This one is a bit tricky to set up if you have multiple video locations so I’ll be covering it in an article soon.  Two easy and great looking apps though are myTV for archived TV series and My Movies for ripped DVDs.  Both look great, aren’t that hard to set up and once running you can access all of your video content in a much easier to use interface.

In the end, setting up a second PC as an extender to your main Media Center machine is just like setting up the first one.  The thing to keep in mind is network shares and the fact that if you want access to live TV, you’re going to need a tuner for each PC.  There is one way around this and that’s to use an HD Homerun as your tuner.  Keep in mind however that this will limit you to ATSC and QAM signals so if you have standard cable it’s not really an option.

I hope this helps anyone who has a second PC lying around and wants to add to their Media Center network.  Do you already use a second PC in your setup?  Comment below and let me know!  I’m curious how other people accomplish this.  If you have any questions about my setup or any of the apps I mentioned, please let me know.  I’m always happy to help!

Michael Healy isn’t resting in the week after releasing his first 7MC theme.  Just a few days after releasing “Homeworld”, you can now download “Road to Nowhere” from the Hack 7MC site.

I really hope Michael takes time to keep making these themes.  Every one of them looks great!  Take a look then head over and grab the latest theme! 

Ian Dixon is today reporting that the Windows 7MC Software Development Kit is now available.

From Ian’s post:

The Software Development Kit for Windows 7 Media Center has been available on Microsoft’s connect site for a while but this is not open to everyone but now its available to all on Microsoft’s Download site, so get downloading and start coming up with some cool addins! (via Charlie Owen)

My hope here (since I’m not a programmer) is that the people developing the great video addons for Media Center will be able to integrate the new video resume feature.  Currently, to use video resume, you have to start the file from inside the “Videos” section of 7MC.  It would be nice to be able to use OML, My Movies and myTV to do the same thing.  Time will tell but I have a feeling it won’t be long before we see it showing up.

Thanks to @Richard_MCE_MVP for pointing this out yesterday.  A user at The Green Button has written a small app that will let you import channel logos into your guide in 7MC.

From the post at TGB:

The package includes 250 American channel logos total. I tried to find as many good quality images as possible. They have been white-washed to fit in the Media Center style, and have been optimized to fit a 1080p screen. You also have the option of manually adding logos, if we cannot find a proper match. Just choose an image from your computer, and it will add it to the guide. If you find a good image that you would like me to convert to the 7MC style, please post a link. I can’t promise I’ll do it right away, as I am very busy right now, but I’ll try to get to it.

Please feel free to post feedback. If something is not functioning correctly, please tell me. If you notice an image in the logos folder that should have been added but did not, post the logo file name, as well as the channel name, call sign and affiliate. This was tested using a limited number of TV services, regions and channels, so please give me your feedback!

You can find the link for the application at the bottom of the first forum post.  A few people have reported some issues with the installation but many have gotten it working perfectly.  Read through the whole thread for more information.

I haven’t had a chance to test this yet as I have to reinstall my main Media Center system today.  Once I do, I’ll run the app and report my findings here.  If you’ve run it, comment here and let us know how it works!