is there some way to make use of this old hardware

[buzzerbee]

Hi
I have this old PC that I was hoping to turn into a very basic client box without too much $$

P3 500
128 MB PC100 RAM (both slots used)
integrated video
no AGP
1 PCI used for wired ethernet
1 open PCI
1 USB
I CDROM/floppy
1 HD

I could use the USB for wireless network and open up that PCI but I have a 802.11b network

At a minimum I'd need video out - some $30 -40 video card.
What else could I use to make it work?

Any ideas?

Thanks

[insomniac]

X-card is the only thing that I can think of. Anything else would be too CPU intensive... You will also need to switch out your memory. Thats not enough.

[buzzerbee]

Originally Posted by insomniac

X-card is the only thing that I can think of. Anything else would be too CPU intensive... You will also need to switch out your memory. Thats not enough.

oh. I thought I could stream it out using a 5200 or 9200 video card and sageclient. You're saying that wouldn't be enough? Plus that PC100 RAM is $$ now that no one uses it anymore. Might as well spend the $300-400 on a new rig.. I was hoping to do it for less than $100, or dispose of this stuff.

[insomniac]

heck..i have prolly 20 chips laying around...if thats all you need, ill send some to you for a few bucks + shipping.

If you read around, you will prolly find anything but a hardware card will use a lot of cpu. The best codecs you can probably run with a video card would be the intervideo non css with dxva turned on(low CPU consumption). Im sure that others will pipe in and let you know if they have a similar rig which works without issue.

I.

[buzzerbee]

thanks
what's all this webserver stuff I'm reading about in the internet streaming thread?
can I stream it from my desktop PC to this clunker on?
I don't understand. Do I need sageclient to do that or does it come over the net?
What about that media mVP thing?

[buzzerbee]

ok, got a ATI 9200 (office depot $30AR) and am streaming wmv files on a wired connection from the main PC to windows media player on the P3@ 500. the audio is a little out of sync, but I guess it's better than nothing. if I had to burn files to dvd, I'd never get to watch them... now I need a cheap remote solution!! if I feel confident that I will stick with this, I will probably get sage client, but I want to be certain that it can all work well first.

PS, not sure if more RAM will help the sync issue.

[Naylia]

for about ten to 15 bucks on ebay you could upgrade to a 600 MHz. That might help a bit. You're probably on a 100Mhz bus so that would be the best you could do. Could you try streaming a vob and let me know how that works?

[buzzerbee]

ok, i'll try tonight

[buzzerbee]

I just installed sage client and boy does it s&&k. it pauses about every 5 seconds on recorded shows-- audio and video. wasn't able to view vob files.

[SHS]

buzzerbee it not that sage suck it the fact that you using wireless it in self is not good for streaming high bandwith MPEG and VOB Video files or any type high bitrate video your biggest problem with wireless is wireless encryption protocol WEP which you can expect a 50% or more reduction in speed depending processing power well in your case with 500MHz I'm petty it not going work as a hardwire network.
Also you try diff MPEG decoder some work better then other againe depending on the system by the way what OS is this 500MHz system runing?.

[buzzerbee]

Originally Posted by SHS

buzzerbee it not that sage suck it the fact that you using wireless it in self is not good for streaming high bandwith MPEG and VOB Video files or any type high bitrate video your biggest problem with wireless is wireless encryption protocol WEP which you can expect a 50% or more reduction in speed depending processing power well in your case with 500MHz I'm petty it not going work as a hardwire network.
Also you try diff MPEG decoder some work better then other againe depending on the system by the way what OS is this 500MHz system runing?.

Hi,
I'm not using wireless.

I guess I should have been more clear that this level of hardware isn't good enough; it wasn't a comment on sage.
I can try another decoder but.. I don't know where I'd get one. Aren't they all bundled with software? WinXP pro

edit for typos

[dbfresh23]

That sounds like it could be very useful hardware. I got curious after seeing your post and decided to toss my 2 PVR-150mce tuners into an old P3 667 system I had. Thing hasn't missed a beat! Though i'm not actually watching video on it, strictly server, i'm running a client w/ my athlon and xcard. But still, that ole P3 is recording 2 things at once and running flawlessly.

I initially did this just to play around with it, but now with how well it's working I'm just gonna leave it. You may have a bit more trouble, w/o having a HW encoder in there, but could be worth a try anyway, even if you wind up tossing your 250 in there and use it as a dedicated server.

[buzzerbee]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

That sounds like it could be very useful hardware. I got curious after seeing your post and decided to toss my 2 PVR-150mce tuners into an old P3 667 system I had. Thing hasn't missed a beat! Though i'm not actually watching video on it, strictly server, i'm running a client w/ my athlon and xcard. But still, that ole P3 is recording 2 things at once and running flawlessly.

I initially did this just to play around with it, but now with how well it's working I'm just gonna leave it. You may have a bit more trouble, w/o having a HW encoder in there, but could be worth a try anyway, even if you wind up tossing your 250 in there and use it as a dedicated server.

Hi, not sure I can toss anything more in there. It's a super-slim Sony vaio box and only has 2 PCI slots. One is being used for wired internet and the other has the PCI video card (ATI 9200). Otherwise there's onboard video (4 or 8 mb IIRC!!) There's no AGP and there's only 1 HD slot. I'm not keen to soup it up much as I suspect we'll be getting all new hardware as win64 starts to become a reality (by the end of the year I hope), then the current main PCs (2 yrs old) can be redeployed.

[SHS]

buzzerbee then your sagetv server is not on wireless is that rigth?
Option MPEG decoder are WinDVD or PowerDVD and there other.
If that box has WinXP or ever Win2000 then your best beat is Win98SE with 128MB system memory that or you need upgrade the system memory to min of 256MB which help a lot with thoses NT base OS.
Do you know the model of the Sony Vaio box I had one thoses super-slim PC know Compaq IPAQ 500Mhz Celeron it work well which only come with 64MB and 6GB drive which I then turn around and up grade to 256MB with stick of PC133.

[buzzerbee]

Originally Posted by SHS

buzzerbee then your sagetv server is not on wireless is that rigth?
Option MPEG decoder are WinDVD or PowerDVD and there other.
If that box has WinXP or ever Win2000 then your best beat is Win98SE with 128MB system memory that or you need upgrade the system memory to min of 256MB which help a lot with thoses NT base OS.
Do you know the model of the Sony Vaio box I had one thoses super-slim PC know Compaq IPAQ 500Mhz Celeron it work well which only come with 64MB and 6GB drive which I then turn around and up grade to 256MB with stick of PC133.

hi
the sony is the PCV-L600S
both machines are wired (sage tv and sagetv client)
trying win 98 is an idea.. that's what came with it. I'm not really into buying RAM for this machine. I'd rather just put up with the pauses. I could use my laptop on wired or wireless (dell 700m) as a client but I'm trying to figure out if I could use this, or donate it to somewhere.

I really wanted to use the Sony as the main sagetv box, but I think I'd have to get an external tuner to do that since I don't have a 3d PCI slot.

Alternatively, I wanted to move this main PC (in my sig, AKA the Antec) to the basement with the big TV as the main sagetv box, but then I'd have to do something about my work, which is what I use this main PC for with dual LCD monitors (wish I had 3!). If there was some way to move the Antec to the basement but keep the monitors and zippy speed upstairs in the office, that would be perfect. It may have to wait till the next upgrade cycle.

[buzzerbee]

I don't know what has going on the other day, but yesterday it was streaming fine in sage client and also windows media player. There were a couple pauses/skips-- but maybe 2 or 3 in a 30 minute show.

Since the tradeoff is a couple pauses/skips now and then, or shell out some $$, or burn everything to DVD to watch (too time consuming) .. then I'll deal with the pauses. The disruption is really quite minimal.

I haven't reset it to win98 and may not, because that would open up a networking can of worms for me. I know it can be done, but I'd have to relearn what I've forgotten about it.

So for now, I'll say the specs work fine for a minimal client box or maybe one for casual usage or kids.
Maybe if someone already has a 350 it might be worth it to try it as a server box

[Menehune]

If there was some way to move the Antec to the basement but keep the monitors and zippy speed upstairs in the office, that would be perfect. It may have to wait till the next upgrade cycle.

How far away is the upstairs and the downstairs? I've used a 30 foot KVM cable to move a VGA monitor/ ps2 keyboard/ ps2 mouse out from the server room to another, quieter room. There are KVM extenders that allow you to extend the KVM further using CatV cable for about $200 per pair.

[jhughesjr]

I'm in the middle of doing the exact same thing with a pIII 550.
I was looking at upgrading an old matrox card with an ATI 9500 hoping that would give me enough juice to run my sage client on that machine.

How exactly does the sage client receive the video stream from the server?
Is this mpeg 2?
If so will the Video card be able to handle decoding the stream itself?
If not I've got an old dvd decoder card laying around here too... if I installed that in the machine and looped the video card back through it would the client be able to use the hardware decoder in the dvd decoder card?

Thanks in advance!
Joe

[RedCoat999]

Check out my specs man! I've been running for a good 2 years I think with this ol' dog. In fact, last night I was up late putting it in a new Coolermaster Cavalier 4 case. It can record and play at the same time ok.

[jhughesjr]

My Super-Powerful SageTV System: PII 450 Mhz, WinXP Home
384 MB, 120GB for Sage files, PVR-250, URC8811 remote using IRMAN with wonderful JP1 mods

What is your video card?