my xbmc and aeon auriga.

Media center remote control can be used with XBMC or not?

Greetings earthlings.. hehehe.. hi everyone, since I can see a lot of HTPC enthusiasts here, could anyone help me with this problem.. actually I got two old junkyard PC that is still running.. I'm thinking about converting it to entry-level HTPC.. here are the specs :

Spec 1 :
CPU = AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton
MB = MSI VIA KT600V = http://asia.msi.com/index.php?func=proddes...no=&prod_no=567
RAM = Kingston DDR 400MHz 768 MB
VGA = HIS ATI Radeon 9250 AGP 4X 128MB = http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-373.shtml

Spec 2
CPU = Pentium 4 HT 3.2 GHz
MB = MSI VIA P4M890M-L/IL = http://asia.msi.com/index.php?func=proddes...o=&prod_no=1082
RAM = DDR2 667MHz 2GB
VGA = Asus Nvidia Geforce 9400GT 1GB = http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=D2OP...AaHA&templete=2

I'm planning to put this to my parents' living room.. Buy a TV card.. plug in Astro to that TV card.. mean while for the TV set, currently we are only having old TV (SD, CRT type) which I plan to connect to the HTPC using S-Video connector

For the casing, I already have the XQBOX 800 = http://www.hifi4sale.net/audio-v ... panel-new-t7408.htm

My question to u guys are :

1. For both spec 1 and spec 2, which one is better for the HTPC setup? I do plan to play some AVI (DIVX,XVID) and some HD (H.264,MP4,MKV) content on it..
2. Is it worth it that I concentrate to setup HTPC on either one of these specs or better for me to buy new, state of the art configurations?

Your guys opinion is really much appreciated.. TQ

This post has been edited by azwandy: Aug 14 2010, 12:24 AM

Spec 2 la since it hv more cpu & gpu power.. but if you wanna install latest os like win 7 ultimate edition ( for the media player s/w ) , it might be a bit under power la... perhaps install win xp with xbmc perhaps a better choice...

I think the 9400GT should support DXVA using media player classic for playing mkv files...

The specs 2, does the GPU have S-video output to tv ??

For yr tv-card, do you plan to use it to record astro programs or just pipe astro to PC then to tv ???

It can be used provided that u did some key mapping configurations....

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Added on August 14, 2010, 1:08 amSpec 2 will run win 7 fine without any hitches....

This post has been edited by Aura: Aug 14 2010, 01:08 AM

Where i should make key mapping configurations? In XBMC?

Thanks for the opinions..

Yes, I do think that the Spec 2 is more suitable for the HTPC..

But I'm thinking of installing Win XP SP3+XBMC.. Win 7 Ultimate?? It might be a little to heavy for the system..

For the spec 2, unfortunately the 9400GT only have Analog, DVI and HDMI output..

I'm planning to buy a ATI HD5770 for my current gaming+HTPC rig (info in my siggy) and swap the 9600GT which include the S-Video out to Spec 2 PC..

For the TV card, I'm planning to buy K-World TV7134 PCI.. is it a good brand or not??

BTW, the TV card do include an RCA jack in port.. ater, I'm thinking about hooking up the Astro to the TV card, and record some Astro shows to the HDD..

in XBMC, how to rename TV series file to make it appear with episode name and episode picture?
I try to rename with many type of filename but still fail.

This post has been edited by minimize: Aug 14 2010, 01:50 AM

all the tv series have to scrapped for info and the info be ready in a nfo file.
i use ember to scrape all the tv series info although i do think xbmc itself could scrape it.

Refer here -> http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=62966

They hav a very thorough explanation on how to get the MCE remote to work.....

If u r using XBMC built-in scraper, u hav to export the video library 1st.... U can do this in the settings menu in XBMC.... When u r asked single file or separate file, choose separate file.... U'll get all the nfos, thumbs and fanart in individual folders of ur movies and tv shows.... Edit with xml for info display and replace the thumbs and fanart for pic.... Then import it back to ur XBMC.... It should reload everything that u changed....

This post has been edited by Aura: Aug 14 2010, 08:33 AM

Sound quiet tricky and not easy as movie scraper, but i will try. Any easy method to made scaper for TV series?

use ember. and pair with tvrename for renaming.

For me (iam using XBMC also) i just make sure the Folders are the name and the files inside are following this scheme.

Foldername (Lost) --> Foldername (Season 1) ---> Filename S01E001.avi

1st Folder depicts the TV show name, 2nd Folder depicts the Season, 3rd Filename depicts the season and episode of that particular file. The built-in scraper for TV Shows (www.thetvdb.com) uses the SxxExxx format to get the info.

This format will allow XBMC to get the info for your TV Shows based on www.thetvdb.com database. Works with anime also ^^

Hope it helps

This post has been edited by netherlord: Aug 14 2010, 02:38 PM

What folder should i select in add source at XBMC? Foldername (Lost) or Foldername (Season 1)

you should select (Lost) so it will use the foldername to search for the show info.

How to make XBMC auto start when when windows start?

put the xbmc shortcut in start menu > all programs > startup

Hahaha, my XBMC world like charm right now. Really like it interface screen. All scaper for movies and TV series are working.
Good bye 7MC.

How to put weather forecast at top taskbar?

This post has been edited by minimize: Aug 14 2010, 10:14 PM

Try XBMC in Linux Ubuntu... with Nvidia VDPAU, CPU utilization below 10% for 1080p mkvs. Forget abt resource hungry Windozzzzzzz....

Or just use XBMC live... boot from USB thumb drive!

7MC with MediaBrowser have the ability to separate your files into isolated custom categories like concerts, music videos, bluray bdmv, low definition, high definition and yada yada. with xbmc, you're stuck with videos and movies.