Shuttle x200m = Quiet Server

[coppit]

Hi all,

After reading the good results that someone had with the Intel integrated video of the Mac Mini, I decided to try the Shuttle x200m as a SageTV server.

I must say that I've been pretty happy with the results. I formatted the drive to wipe the pre-installed Vista OS and put Windows XP on instead. The machine is very small and quiet, and the 400 GB drive is big enough to save my HD video. (I store music and archived video on a separate reliable unRAID server.)

The onboard video isn't good enough to render VMR9, but overlay works fine. CPU usage is minimal, and I can stream HD to a client while watching HD from the machine. I configured my machine with a Core 2 Duo and 1GB of RAM. I'm not using the wireless, but rather the GB ethernet. I have 2 VBox USB HD tuners that I have hooked up to a powered USB hub.

My only complains are (1) that it doesn't upmix stereo to 5.1 before sending it out the S/PDIF (instead I rely on my receiver to do Dolby encoding), (2) Shuttle made me call them 3 times to get my order processed, (3) the machine's motherboard apparently doesn't supply enough power to keep the VBox tuners happy, and (4) I can't get certain keys (e.g. aspect, subtitles) on my Harmony remote to be recognized by SageTV. On the latter one, I think that the driver for the built-in IR is not exposing the right info to SageTV.

I haven't yet played with the FM tuner, and only tested the analog tuner to make sure it worked. Hm... Is there a STVi for SageTV to cause it to timeshift FM broadcasts? I'd love to see Car Talk in my recordings list.

David

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by coppit

Hi all,

I haven't yet played with the FM tuner, and only tested the analog tuner to make sure it worked. Hm... Is there a STVi for SageTV to cause it to timeshift FM broadcasts? I'd love to see Car Talk in my recordings list.

David

I think a better approach is to use something like replay a/v from appian, and have it store data files in a directory that sage indexes and makes available in the music menu. Replay Radio encodes the audio in a format and inserts the proper tags so Sage can display the program title etc... It also gives you the option of storing the last N programs, so you don't end up with an infinite number of old radio episodes stored. It's not that helpful for music, but then there are better solutions than radio for that anyway (Yahoo Music Ulimited, etc...) that Sage already supports.

Also, it uses the internet stream from many stations, and gives you a pre-built list of shows that can be recorded from a large number of internet radio stations. The quality tends to be better than an FM tuner, and for talk programs, which are typically aired on AM stations, it's a pretty nice solution.

I use it to record Dr. Laura and other stuff that my wife likes to listen to. The only issue is that the commercials you hear aren't always local, which I think generally is more interesting than local ads anyway. :-)

Thanks,
Mike

[Deadbolt]

Originally Posted by mikesm

I think a better approach is to use something like replay a/v from appian, and have it store data files in a directory that sage indexes and makes available in the music menu. Replay Radio encodes the audio in a format and inserts the proper tags so Sage can display the program title etc... It also gives you the option of storing the last N programs, so you don't end up with an infinite number of old radio episodes stored. It's not that helpful for music, but then there are better solutions than radio for that anyway (Yahoo Music Ulimited, etc...) that Sage already supports.

Also, it uses the internet stream from many stations, and gives you a pre-built list of shows that can be recorded from a large number of internet radio stations. The quality tends to be better than an FM tuner, and for talk programs, which are typically aired on AM stations, it's a pretty nice solution.

I use it to record Dr. Laura and other stuff that my wife likes to listen to. The only issue is that the commercials you hear aren't always local, which I think generally is more interesting than local ads anyway. :-)

Thanks,
Mike

I agree with Mike that that Replay A/V works pretty well. I also use it to record Sirius broadcasts for later consumption. However, for some reason it doesn't always tune correctly...I'm just starting out with it so it is most likely user error

[dj7675]

I have been hoping someday that a small box like this would be available that could play HD files. You mention that it does play them. I was wondering if you could comment on how well it plays HD and if you have seen any issues. Also, is the HD OTA, Cable, or Satellite? Looks like a nice form factor and if it plays HD well might make a nice client.

Darin

[coppit]

Originally Posted by dj7675

I have been hoping someday that a small box like this would be available that could play HD files. You mention that it does play them. I was wondering if you could comment on how well it plays HD and if you have seen any issues. Also, is the HD OTA, Cable, or Satellite? Looks like a nice form factor and if it plays HD well might make a nice client.

I'm playing OTA HD. I've had some problems with my ABC recordings like "Lost". I haven't had a chance to debug it yet... It could be a weak signal or a misaligned antenna. Otherwise it's pretty rock-solid. PBS HD of nature shows look outstanding. Last week Edie on Desperate Housewives looked every bit of 40 (but I think that was the point of that episode).

[dj7675]

That is good to hear. Might give it a go. On HD recordings I get an occasional audio dropout on recordings, if you have had any audio drop outs like this, does this box recover from the audio drop out ok? Right now I use a Roku HD1000 for HD playback and it recovers from these pretty well...

Thanks

Darin

[coppit]

Hm... I can't really speak to that. My artifacts are of the picture-freezes-just-long-enough-to-miss-the-key-line variety. I see MPEG blocks and then it recovers and continues where it left off. This is why I think it's a video input problem rather than a playback problem. I was getting similar artifacts when I wasn't using the powered USB for my USB tuners, and when I wasn't recording to a local drive but rather over a slow network.

[dj7675]

Thanks for your reply. Sounds like it may work pretty well. I am stuck in need of an "fairly" slient HD client. It seems we have been waiting forever the the soon to be released sage hd client. Every time I get ready to go the pc route I talk myself out of it to wait for the hd client. Considering Price/performance it will be hard to beat if it works as it should. I am just not very patiently waiting. Much longer and I may try a pc route.

Darin

[hemicuda]

I've got 2 spare 1+gig machines collecting dust, but it'd be cheaper to buy an HD Ext than make them small/silent.

I'd go for 1 if not 2 HD extenders. that's really what I'm waiting on before I get an HDTV + HDHomerun.