Updated 10-28-06:

The new URL for the mvpmc project (thanks to atlr):

http://www.mvpmc.org/

---------------------------
Original post:

I just noticed that there is a sourceforge project (new software for the Hauppauge MediaMVP) that looks like it might be able to serve directly as a ReplayTV thin client (no PC server necessary).

http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main

It looks like it is in the early stages of development, but seems to be able to play files off of a ReplayTV server. That would be very cool, since the MediaMVP is sub $100.

I am not at all involved in the project, just happened to stumble across it.

Sorry if this is old news, but it appears to be fairly recent work.....

It plays files off of DVArchive, not directly from Replay units.

I have a MediaMVP and it plays the MPEG's downloaded by DVA 3.1 just fine. I've heard that there should be a discrepency with audio but I haven't seen it yet. Does anyone know what conditions make the offset audio occur?

--
Daniel

According to this post, it appears that mvpmc is pretty close to being able to stream directly from a ReplayTV box.....

-------------------------------------

http://www.shspvr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5551

Posted: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 20:38:01 +0000 Post subject:

I have added minimal support to mvpmc for connecting to a ReplayTV. I have tested it against DVArchive 3.1, and it works there. I've been told it does not work with series 5000 ReplayTVs, but I think it should work with the 4000 series.

If anyone is interested in extending this to make it work better, please let me know. I don't have a ReplayTV, so I won't be able to do much more than I have without help.

Jon

------------------------------------------------

Is there anyone here who could help out from the Replay side?

http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main

Hmmm..... Isn't this were JeffD should jump in?

Regards,

Wayne

I would stick with the XBox. The extra features like DVD player, and playing games would seem to be a huge benefit for not much extra money at all considering these things go for $100+

Originally posted by waynethedvrguy
Hmmm..... Isn't this were JeffD should jump in?

Regards,

Wayne

I got the replayTV, but I don't have the MediaMVP... damn.

Or should I loan this guy one of my boxes? I've currently got one offline and two in the boxes still.

jastori:

Right now, going the XBox route is THE way to go ($ for $ vs. benefits).

Regards,

Wayne

Wayne and MIS man... I think you guys really MIS the point that the MVP media player is good to go out of the box and is alot cheaper than a mod'd X box for most people.

Frankly, I spend so much time watching TV on my Replays that I don't have time to play video games and I already have all the DVD players I need.

While I concur that the Xbox is the better all-around choice if you don't mind spending a little more time/money doing the mod or having it done for you, I understand the attractiveness of a more ready-to-go solution such as the MediaMVP. I would suggest to whomever is working on the RTV MediaMVP stuff to take a look at the ReplayTV module used in XBMC (libRTV.lib). It includes all the basics required for streaming from ReplayTVs and C++ source is right there on the XBMC SourceForge CVS...

Hello,
MediaMVP ReplayTV support is for real. I should know since I'm the developer ;-)
Been working on it for about 3 months now.
I've been holding off on announcing it since it's not quite ready for primetime.
What it does so far is:
-Runs SSDP discovery and discovers all replaytv's & dvarchives on the lan.
-If dvarchive is present it does enough handshaking to kick dvrachive into 5K mode.
-Once devices are discovered it presents a menu of devices to select.
-When a device is selected it pulls down the guide snapshot, parses it,
and displays a list of shows/episodes.
When a show is highlited all the movie/episode details are shown.
Selecting a show starts it playing.
You can presently pause, ffwd, and bring up an onscreen display while playing.

I only own RTV5K's so to work on 4K stuff I kicked dvarchive into 4k mode.
It seems to correctly parse a 4K guide from dvarchive but hasn't been tested with a real 4k
unit. (Anyone want to do some 4K testing?)

Major things missing:
-Parsing the .ndx file, and seeking. I hope to implement 28sec-fwd, 7sec-back, and
<minutes>jump seek functionality by the end of this month.
-rtvlib functionality and menus to allow deleting a show & resuming play from the
last point viewed.

One last note is that mediamvp requires a dhcp server & tftpserver to boot the load.
Our development/build environment is linux based. I use my linux box to boot the mvp.
I understand there are some free windows based dhcp & tftp servers though for
those without a linux box.

Once I complete "Major things missing" I plan on creating mvpmc replaytv webpage
with configuration details, screen shots, etc... This will probably happen around early
Febuary.

Hopefully some of you will find it useful.
Regards,
John...

Originally posted by John Honeycutt


I only own RTV5K's so to work on 4K stuff I kicked dvarchive into 4k mode.
It seems to correctly parse a 4K guide from dvarchive but hasn't been tested with a real 4k
unit. (Anyone want to do some 4K testing?)


John Thank you for all of this work. I have two 4000 series, two 4500 series and DVA 3.1 running. I also own the Media MVP and have no use for it. I would like to be able to actually use my MediaMVP and would love to try your beta release and feedback my findings.

John, your MediaMVP application sounds great! Keep us posted on your progress. Your effort is appreciated.

I agree. Congrats, John, on the work you've done so far. I may have to grab one of this units from ebay just to check it out.

Great contributions like this make all our Replays worth more!

Make sure to put a donation link - I know the folks here *cough cough* are not afraid to donate a few bucks for a product / work that is valued. I do see the value in one of these.

Thanks for the support guys.
John...

John for your skipping (I don't know how the replay .ndx file works), but if you need help with indexing the file yourself let me know. I might be able to help out. (not that you couldn't but maybe you've got more important fish to fry).

Anyway, I just thought i'd offer up any help if you wanted any.


EDIT: After thinking about this I don't know if there's a way to do it without the .ndx file... I have to look into what the mediamvp project is doing.

This sounds too good to be true!

Bump.

Looks like version 0.1.2 has been released.

Anybody with a MVP playing with it?
I'd _love_ to have a thin client or two for <$100 ea.

Originally posted by plyons10
Wayne and MIS man... I think you guys really MIS the point that the MVP media player is good to go out of the box and is alot cheaper than a mod'd X box for most people.

Frankly, I spend so much time watching TV on my Replays that I don't have time to play video games and I already have all the DVD players I need.

Peter:

With a 14yr old and an 8yr old, a modded XBox w/XBMC is a neccesity. Once you've got one, it's a no brainer to use it as a thin client. The downside is that you actually have to get the kids to agree not to play games while you use it as a DVA client.

Having said that, I am looking forward to trying out John's RTV/MediaMVP. This seems to be a good/cheap solution.

Don't forget to check out the LinkPlayer2 as another good-looking possibility.

Regards,

Wayne

I agree that the hacked Xbox is far more powerful, but for many folks the MVP would be a better solution as it requires no xbox hacking. I have a ton of friends who bought replaytvs after seeing mine, but I don't want to be in the business of hacking xboxes for all of them!

Having a product that requires no hack and and can play streams from replays would be great, esp. if it has commercial skip that XBMC doesn't.

Plus, you would have to add a hack to enable it to be turned on remotely like you do with the Xbox.

Note I have 3 hacked Xbox's in my house, but I support them all... :-)

Thanks,
Mike

After reading this thread I looked around for a MediaMVP and found that RadioShack has them on clearance for $79.99 the store I was in only had one so that's all i got so far.

Amazon has them for 90 with free shipping.

Originally posted by quartrj
After reading this thread I looked around for a MediaMVP and found that RadioShack has them on clearance for $79.99 the store I was in only had one so that's all i got so far.
Just a point of reference, I bought a MediaMVP 12months ago for $99
with $50 rebate from Circuit City.

newegg occasionally has refurbs for around $70 with their usual free/cheap shipping

i bought two, and love them. i will love them even more if they can talk directly to my replays

This would be a KILLER APP for the average RTV owner if it was ported to Windows and was idiot friendly!!!

Originally posted by RobPlay
This would be a KILLER APP for the average RTV owner if it was ported to Windows and was idiot friendly!!!

:confused:

We already have something better than this: DVArchive + RTV-optimized VLC.

:confused:

We already have something better than this: DVArchive + RTV-optimized VLC.

This will stream to a MediaMVP?

Originally posted by RobPlay

This will stream to a MediaMVP?

:confused:

I'm not sure you understand what this thread is about.

1) The MediaMVP ships with server software that runs on the PC and allows the MVP to play media files stored there.

2) Someone wrote an addon that allowed MediaMVP to stream directly from DVArchive.

3) Someone later wrote an addon that allowed MediaMVP to stream directly from ReplayTVs.

4) If you want to stream from a ReplayTV and/or DVA to a PC, then you can use DVArchive + VLC (or another MPEG-2 streaming capable player).

5) If you want to stream from the PC to RTV, use DVArchive.

Given the above, what exactly do you think would be "killer" if ported to Windows?

j.m.
"--killer if ported to Windows"
I'm a real novice at this but it appears you have to compile the mvpmc software on a linux machine. I think RobPlay (and myself) are asking if anyone has compiled a windows exe file?

Thanks for the win32 DVarchive launcher, I like it!

jdn

Originally posted by j.m.
We already have something better than this: DVArchive + RTV-optimized VLC.

I don't see how streaming from RTV to your PC is better than streaming from RTV directly to a MVP. The mvpmc makes the MediaMVP a true thin client (with strings attached that are explained later in this post).

Originally posted by j.m.
1) The MediaMVP ships with server software that runs on the PC and allows the MVP to play media files stored there.

2) Someone wrote an addon that allowed MediaMVP to stream directly from DVArchive.

3) Someone later wrote an addon that allowed MediaMVP to stream directly from ReplayTVs.

4) If you want to stream from a ReplayTV and/or DVA to a PC, then you can use DVArchive + VLC (or another MPEG-2 streaming capable player).

5) If you want to stream from the PC to RTV, use DVArchive.

Given the above, what exactly do you think would be "killer" if ported to Windows?

I think your point 2 is wrong. The MediaMVP can already stream from DVArchive out of the box.

What you left out is:

6) If you want to stream from the RTV to a MediaMVP thin client use mvpmc, which requires having a Linux system on your network, and you being a knowledgeable Linux user, capable of doing builds.


I could be wrong, but it seems that you don't understand how the MediaMVP works and what mvpmc does. The MediaMVP can stream directly from DVArchive out of the box. The MediaMVP does not have a hard drive and gets is OS kernel loaded over the network whenever you boot it. When you turn it on, it initiates a particular network protocol to find the boot server and load the OS. The software that comes with MediaMVP and runs on your Windows server responds to the network boot protocol to serves up the OS. In addition, this software searches you harddrive for any media files (including DVArchive mpg's) and serves them up to the MediaMVP whenever the MediaMVP requests them.

What the mvpmc does is replace the vendor supplied OS kernel that gets loaded to the MediaMVP with a stripped down Linux kernel, including software to stream directly from ReplayTV. So the host computer is only used to load the software to the MediaMVP. Once the software is loaded, the MediaMVP streams directly from Replays without any PC intervention.

The problem for people that aren't Linux gurus is that the host PC has to be Linux, and with the current state of the project, the OS that is loaded to the MediaMVP has to be built. The configuration involved is very complex for non-Linux gurus. This is why RobPlay would like to see the app ported to Windows. Then the average Windows would have to capability to have a cheap unmodded thin client to stream directly from ReplayTV, without any PC or DVArchive intermediary (with the exception of having you PC available to serve up to OS to the MediaMVP upon reboot).

I hope this clarifies.

if the mvpmc could be ported to run on a hacked linksys nslu2 (which after hacking is a lightweight linux server) that would be even better, since you wouldn't have to worry about keeping a PC on.

if the mvpmc could be ported to run on a hacked linksys nslu2 (which after hacking is a lightweight linux server) that would be even better, since you wouldn't have to worry about keeping a PC on.

Does the nslu2 have A/V out connections? If it does, then it would be better. Keep in mind, though, that the PC does not have to be kept on. It only needs to be there when then MediaMVP is booted. With the original software, I've never had to reboot it in a year (but I have accidently kicked the plug, which forces a reboot). However, I don't know how stable the mvpmc system is.

Would it be possible to distribute the dongle.bin file that someone with linux compiled and let a windows user put in place of the dongle.bim that comes with the mediamvp. Seems to me that if this modified bin file doesn't need the linux OS then the mediamvp shouln't care where the dongle.bin file comes from.

Would it be possible to distribute the dongle.bin file that someone with linux compiled and let a windows user put in place of the dongle.bim

I think that the answer to this should be yes. My previous post was slightly incorrect in stating that Linux was necessary to load dongle.bin to the MVP. It is only necessay to build the dongle.bin. It seems like all that's necessary is to substitute a modified dongle.bin in the appropriate Windows directory.

Originally posted by oldyellow
I don't see how streaming from RTV to your PC is better than streaming from RTV directly to a MVP.



I didn't say it was. You took my quote out of context. What I said was that DVA + VLC was better than what RobPlay suggested, namely (as best I could tell) that someone port the MVP software that allows streaming playback directly from RTVs to Windows.



I think your point 2 is wrong. The MediaMVP can already stream from DVArchive out of the box.


Are you sure? I realize that it can serve up the MPEG-2 files in the DVA storage paths, but this is different from streaming directly from DVArchive over the network. I would be surprised if the MediaMVP ships with native capability to request the XML listing from DVA and use it to stream from it. In fact, AFAICT the original version of mvpmc added that capability.


I could be wrong, but it seems that you don't understand how the MediaMVP works and what mvpmc does. The MediaMVP can stream directly from DVArchive out of the box. The MediaMVP does not have a hard drive and gets is OS kernel loaded over the network whenever you boot it.

You're right that I did not realize it has no storage and boots over the network. Nevertheless, I'm still not sure what RobPlay wants ported to Windows because (like quartrj) I would think one can use the standard Windows MediaMVP server app to serve up even the modified mvpmc boot image. I still think RobPlay wanted software that could stream from RTVs and ran on Windows (rather than on MediaMVP harware), and that already exists in the form of DVA + VLC.

The only real issue here AFAICS is why doesn't the mvpmc project distribute pre-compiled binaries? That would make it easy for even Windows users. I assume it is because it uses parts of the original MediaMVP dongle.bin without permission, and the author doesn't want any trouble. Just a guess though.

BTW, while the MediaMVP is not bad if you are just interested in a thin client for RTV use, an Xbox + XBMC is heads and shoulders above it in general. It's not even close, really--supports DD/DTS via optical out, HDTV via component out, many more A/V file formats (including DiVX), a more sophisticated interface, DVD, streaming from RTVs, streaming over the network using samba, shoutcast, etc. I could go on and on. I'm not aware of any other media client that can touch it.

Originally posted by jdn
j.m.
"--killer if ported to Windows"
I'm a real novice at this but it appears you have to compile the mvpmc software on a linux machine. I think RobPlay (and myself) are asking if anyone has compiled a windows exe file?

Thanks for the win32 DVarchive launcher, I like it!

jdn

I think I see what you and he are saying now; however, it is not a matter of porting mvpmc to Windows. That won't work. Mvpmc runs on the MediaMVP hardware itself, which is designed to be Linux PPC-based. Really, all that has to be done is for someone to distribute a pre-compiled mvpmc binary for people to serve to the MVP via the Windows server software that comes with it. I assume that the project's author has reasons for not doing so; however (see above)...

(You're welcome, BTW. :) )

Figure I'll try to address a few questions & give a status update.
Info on on the mvp boot sequences can be found by following the protocol.txt link from the
"Dom's media server" link from the mvpmc home page.
(Sorry avsforum won't let me post links since I don't have a history here)

To boot mvpmc for replaytv use requires several steps:
1. bootp for the ip address (requires a bootp/dhcp server)
2. tftp the mvp binary (requires a tftp server)
3. tftp the config script
After booting, the mvpmc software runs the config script.
The config script needs to do several things: Set the timezone, run rdate to
set the clock, & start the mvpmc application.

So the box booting the mvp needs to support 3 things:
-bootp/dhcp server
-tftp server
-rdate server (or an internet rdate server can be used)

All of this is possible from a windows box, I just need to spend some time setting it
up and documenting it.
It may be possible using the hauppauge server application.
The way the hauppauge server coexist with other dhcp servers is that
it uses non-standard bootp/tftp ports so there may be issues with
tftp'ing the config file after tftp'ing the load.

There hasn't been much demand for Windows booting as the majority of mvpmc users are using it as
a mythtv thin client which is linux based so they all have linux boxes that can be used
as the boot server.

Where's the binaries?
When Jon Gettler and others did the original MVP hacking they didn't
have the source for the IBM drivers that access the mvp audio/video
hardware so they reverse engineered the system calls and we currently
strip the ibm driver binary from the origianl dongle.bin and link it
into our load. j.m. is correct that there was concern about
distributing a load with the ibm driver in it.
The good news is that the ibm driver appears to be open sourced so this
should no longer be an issue.
Nightly mvpmc builds are currently being done.
To find out where see the mvpmc-devl mailing list archive and read the thread
titled "Binaries". Hopefully we will start homing binaries off the mvpmc page in the near future.

Where are things at:
5K seeking and jumping are now working.
( To get this working for the 4K I need 30 minute 4k mpg & ndx files )
Ability to delete shows now works.
The major missing feature is evt file processing for commercial skip.

Also, I added CIFS support a few weeks back that allows mounting and
streaming from W2K & WXP shares.

What's next:
Hopefully get a mvpmc replay webpage done with screenshots & faq.
Come up with an easy recipe for booting from windows boxes. Document it.
Back to development, commercial skip, 4k stuff, resume from last play
pos, etc..

John...

Wow... I didn't expect so much activity around my comment... thanks to everyone who responded. I think what I was wishing by asking for a Windows based install of MVPMC is just an easy way to set it up. I have 2 RTVs and a couple of DVAs running at any given time. I think it would be great if I could stream shows to the guestroom TV via MVP. I could muck around with tftp and try to get it to work but I really don't have the time. I have GB-PVR (Windows install) working with the MediaMVP - that was pretty easy. Me like easy. But I never ereally use the MVP - RTV steaming would make it well worth the $80 I spent on it.

John please keep us updated and when you do have it ready for us lazies to crank it up I'll be first in line to beta test 4 ya.

Originally posted by oldyellow


The problem for people that aren't Linux gurus is that the host PC has to be Linux, and with the current state of the project, the OS that is loaded to the MediaMVP has to be built. The configuration involved is very complex for non-Linux gurus. This is why RobPlay would like to see the app ported to Windows. Then the average Windows would have to capability to have a cheap unmodded thin client to stream directly from ReplayTV, without any PC or DVArchive intermediary (with the exception of having you PC available to serve up to OS to the MediaMVP upon reboot).

I hope this clarifies.


Exactly. (Read: It would be killer!) Thanks oy

Originally posted by oldyellow
Does the nslu2 have A/V out connections? If it does, then it would be better. Keep in mind, though, that the PC does not have to be kept on. It only needs to be there when then MediaMVP is booted. With the original software, I've never had to reboot it in a year (but I have accidently kicked the plug, which forces a reboot). However, I don't know how stable the mvpmc system is.

no, it doesn't have av out connections, because that is not its intent. the unit as it comes from linksys is basically a Network attached storage adapter. It has two USB 2.0 ports and an ethernet port. You hook up USB 2.0 external hard drives and it serves them up over the network as NAS drives. However, since the unit runs Linux, it has been hacked with new firmware that lets you use it as a Linux server for whatever code you build or has been built for it. There are media servers for it as well as web, ftp servers and more.

This mediamvp boot function seems like it would be easily achievable with the hacked nslu2 because it is already running linux and is designed to always be on.

More info: http://www.google.com/search?q=nslu2+linksys+hack&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Originally posted by quartrj
Would it be possible to distribute the dongle.bin file that someone with linux compiled and let a windows user put in place of the dongle.bin that comes with the mediamvp. Seems to me that if this modified bin file doesn't need the linux OS then the mediamvp shouln't care where the dongle.bin file comes from.

Originally posted by oldyellow
I think that the answer to this should be yes. My previous post was slightly incorrect in stating that Linux was necessary to load dongle.bin to the MVP. It is only necessay to build the dongle.bin. It seems like all that's necessary is to substitute a modified dongle.bin in the appropriate Windows directory.

Back to my original question. If someone made available to me a working dongle.bin I will try to use the tools distributed with windows to load it into my MediaMVP. If this works it will answer all the questions regarding a windows distribution.

Originally posted by quartrj
Back to my original question. If someone made available to me a working dongle.bin I will try to use the tools distributed with windows to load it into my MediaMVP. If this works it will answer all the questions regarding a windows distribution.

I have sometime to try this also. I would even try hacking something out in VB...

Originally posted by j.m.
Are you sure? I realize that it can serve up the MPEG-2 files in the DVA storage paths, but this is different from streaming directly from DVArchive over the network. I would be surprised if the MediaMVP ships with native capability to request the XML listing from DVA and use it to stream from it. In fact, AFAICT the original version of mvpmc added that capability.

I agree. I didn't realize that you meant capturing a stream being served up by DVArchive specifically. However, if the goal is to stream files downloaded to my PC via DVArchive to the TV in my bedroom, it doesn't matter whether I am streaming via DVArchive or via Hauppauge's server software. I used the MediaMVP in this way for a long time and it worked well. The MediaMVP even has a quick skip button to aid in skipping commercials.

As far as guide data is concerned, you are also correct. The MediaMVP cannot read guide data out of the box. However, I have "hacked" it so that it can read guide data. The UI for the MediaMVP is based on HTML, and many people have used this fact to reskin it with custom UI's. I have customized my interface in the following way.

1) I wrote a small program to read the DVA XML guide data, reformat it and save the reformatted XML in a directory accessable to the MediaMVP. This runs in a batch file that is executed everytime DVA downloads a show.

2) I wrote my own UI based on dynamic HTML to simulate ReplayTV's replay guide. It loads the XML file I made accessable to the MediaMVP and displays all of the guide info on the MediaMVP.

My custom guide lets me use my MediaMVP with an interface exactly like the Replay's replay guide (essential for the wife acceptance factor). It displays categories, program descriptions, recording info, etc. While not a true thin client it works great for files on my server.

Oooh! If only your dynamic html display (that looks just like the Replay's) could be integrated into the server. Then, if you didn't see the box (or the remote--and that could probably be hacked too) you'd never know the difference.

Maybe it is only me, but this is getting VERY cool.

Originally posted by oldyellow

1) I wrote a small program to read the DVA XML guide data, reformat it and save the reformatted XML in a directory accessable to the MediaMVP. This runs in a batch file that is executed everytime DVA downloads a show.

2) I wrote my own UI based on dynamic HTML to simulate ReplayTV's replay guide. It loads the XML file I made accessable to the MediaMVP and displays all of the guide info on the MediaMVP.

My custom guide lets me use my MediaMVP with an interface exactly like the Replay's replay guide (essential for the wife acceptance factor). It displays categories, program descriptions, recording info, etc. While not a true thin client it works great for files on my server.

This sounds very cool. Any chance you might want to share some of what you did with us MVPers?

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
Figure I'll try to address a few questions & give a status update.
Info on on the mvp boot sequences can be found by following the protocol.txt link from the
"Dom's media server" link from the mvpmc home page.
(Sorry avsforum won't let me post links since I don't have a history here)



Has there been anyone trying to get this running on Mac OS X?

Seems like it would be very easy to start all the services the MediaMVP needs to grab the dongle.bin from a Mac and play content right from the Mac.

Any chance you might want to share some of what you did with us MVPers?

That was my original intent. I worked on it for a little bit several months ago, but had to put it aside because of other things eating into my time. Also, I found out about the mpvmc project and knew that anything I was doing would become obsolete. I did not feel that what I had was ready to release to the public. It is what I would call early alpha. It works fine for me, but I need to type installation and configuration instructions and don't have much time to provide much support.

I will try to get things together enough to post what I have.

Originally posted by John Honeycutt

To find out where see the mvpmc-devl mailing list archive and read the thread
titled "Binaries". Hopefully we will start homing binaries off the mvpmc page in the near future.


http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=10321959

Duh.... Now if someone would explain FTPing to me.... So OK, as soon as I get home tonite I'll try replacing the dongle.bin that came with the Hauppage distrib and let everyone know if it works.

This mediamvp boot function seems like it would be easily achievable with the hacked nslu2 because it is already running linux and is designed to always be on.

I misunderstood. I though you were asking about the nslu2 as a possible replacement for the MediaMVP itself, rather than as a easy and cheap boot server. I guess it is possible to use the nslu2 in this way. However, the problem with this is it is an additional expense. The reason for using the MediaMVP/mvpmc solution over a modded XBox is the cheaper price. If all you want is a pure Replay thin client, and don't mind not having other features (better A/V connections, gaming, DVD's, etc) that are not useful to playing Replay files, you can have one for half the price of a modded XBox. If you have to buy an additional device to boot your mpvmc, then you might as well get the Xbox.

Also, given the additional information in this thread after my original comment, the boot server does not have to be linux-based, so any Windows box should be able to perform this function, as long as it has 1) bootp/dhcp server, 2) tftp server, and 3) rdate server.

From the mvpmc-devl email archive
Dirk Lison has graciously provided precompiled binaries for lamers like
myself that can"t seem to get it compiled locally. :) I have mirrored
his tree (with his permission, of course) to ftp://buoy.com/pub/mvpmc

Yahoo!! I will also be trying to get it working.

Replacing the dongle.bin didn't work on the first try. I tried it with both the Hauppauge software and GBPVR. The MVP cycles between Finding DHCP server and Loading Application.

Replacing the dongle.bin didn't work on the first try. I tried it with both the Hauppauge software and GBPVR. The MVP cycles between Finding DHCP server and Loading Application.

Has anyone else tried to make the dongle.bin work with windows?

It seems according to the post above, you need to play with setting up
bootp/tftp servers. You can probably figure out what to do by going
through the protocols.txt file.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5141823#post5141823

Originally posted by sfhub
It seems according to the post above, you need to play with setting up
bootp/tftp servers. You can probably figure out what to do by going
through the protocols.txt file.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5141823#post5141823

Does not the Windows software suppled with the MediaMVP already take care of this? Otherwise, how would it work? If the software isn't working with the modified .bin file, I'd guess it has some checks in place to prevent using unofficial .bin files. I'm sure one could get around these checks but as I don't have a MediaMVP I can't be sure... Does the software produce some kind of error message when trying to use it with modified (as opposed to official) .bin files?

The way I read it, the media mvp manufacturer's software does provide
the services, but on non-standard ports, but after some tinkering, the
new firmware looks for the config file at standard ports, which are
available on the linux boxes. I may have read the post incorrectly.

Specifically I was referring to this snippet:

> The way the hauppauge server coexist with other dhcp servers is
> that it uses non-standard bootp/tftp ports so there may be issues
> with tftp'ing the config file after tftp'ing the load.

Originally posted by sfhub
The way I read it, the media mvp manufacturer's software does provide
the services, but on non-standard ports, but after some tinkering, the
new firmware looks for the config file at standard ports, which are
available on the linux boxes. I may have read the post incorrectly.

Specifically I was referring to this snippet:

> The way the hauppauge server coexist with other dhcp servers is
> that it uses non-standard bootp/tftp ports so there may be issues
> with tftp'ing the config file after tftp'ing the load.

Ah, I see. It should be possible to either modify the Windows software to use standard ports or the modify the custom firmware to use the non-standard ports. The latter would be easier since source is available, but the former should also be possible.

Call me crazy but I'm trying to build a windows based launcher for MVPMC. Does anyone know a good resource on how to write a dhcp server in VB6? (I know VB6 is lame but it is all I know.)

I think I've got the tftp and rdate figured out.

Thanks in advance.

It would be easier to figure out why the Hauppage Windows software doesn't work with the modified firmware and fix that IMO.

Originally posted by RobPlay
Replacing the dongle.bin didn't work on the first try. I tried it with both the Hauppauge software and GBPVR. The MVP cycles between Finding DHCP server and Loading Application.

RobPlay does your setup work with the original dongle.bin. I saw this post and another one where you ask about coding DHCP services in a windows environment.

It looks like you need to setup dhcp services first then try to get the modified dongle.bin to load. There are many freewae dhcp services you can google to and download.

I'm getting my DHCP services from my Linksys router.

I'm sorry I asked for the dongle.bin and have not tried it yet I will try it today.

It works with original Happauge dongle.bin. Let us know how you make out. Good luck!

I live in Austin Texas and my mom in Marshall Texas. I have a cable modem (maximum upload speed of 350 kbps) and my mom has DSL.

I was wondering if I could set up a VPN connection to put her my subnet with my Replay and she could play shows off of it with a Media MVP?

Worst case I could probably put a FTP server on her computer and upload shows automatically, but this would let her pull shows direct from my replay and not wait for me to download from RTV and upload to her.

Anybody know what the bandwidth requirements for playing medium shows would be? My download speed with DVArchive seems to be in the 80-130 kbps range.

Thanks,

David Stidolph
Austin, TX

Yahoo!! I will also be trying to get it working.

Here is an update from my efforts this weekend. Remember that as previously stated in this thread, what is necessary is to have a bootp and tftp server to serve up donble.bin.mvpmc and it's associated configuration file. It is also necessary to have a server that can accept an rdate request to set the date/time for the MediaMVP.


Executive summary:

I got the mvpmc to boot from my windows machine using 3rd party utilities and a java rdate server that I wrote, but I think something in my date conversion is incorrect, which is preventing me from accessing my Replays due to dates being out of sync.

Long Version:

Since I have WinXP Home, I did not have any of the above mentioned capabilities. I was able to find both a third party bootp server and a third party tftp server that I can run from my windows desktop. I was not, however, able to find anything to handle the rdate request.

Being slightly motivated to get this working, I looked up the protocol used by rdate and found it in RFC 868. It is a very simple protocol, which can be summarized in the following excerpt.

When used via TCP the time service works as follows:

S: Listen on port 37 (45 octal).

U: Connect to port 37.

S: Send the time as a 32 bit binary number.

U: Receive the time.

U: Close the connection.

S: Close the connection.

The server listens for a connection on port 37. When the connection
is established, the server returns a 32-bit time value and closes the
connection. If the server is unable to determine the time at its
site, it should either refuse the connection or close it without
sending anything.

I then wrote a quick and dirty Java program to serve up the rdate request. This program simply listens on port 37, and when a connection is made it gets the current date/time, which in Java represents the number of milliseconds since 1/1/1970 GMT. I then divide by 1000 (to get seconds) and add 2,208,988,800, to get the number of seconds since 1/1/1900 GMT, as defined later in the RFC. I then converts this to a four byte array, with each byte representing an octal, and write the four bytes to the socket and close the connection.

I fired everything up and it did not work. After inspecting the log files on my bootp server, I determined that the DHCP on my router was interfering. I then disconnected that and fired it up again. I could see the activity on the bootp server and that the tftp server was serving up the files. I then could see my programs log indicating that a connection was made and the four byte integer was written. When I went to look at the screen of the mvpmc, it was displaying the menu, so it booted. I could navigate the menus, but when I tried to access the other Replays, I got an error message saying that the time was not in sync.

I feel like I am very close. If any body has any idea or sees a flaw in my logic, please chime in. Help would be appreciated.

Originally posted by dstidolph
I live in Austin Texas and my mom in Marshall Texas. I have a cable modem (maximum upload speed of 350 kbps) and my mom has DSL.

I was wondering if I could set up a VPN connection to put her my subnet with my Replay and she could play shows off of it with a Media MVP?

Worst case I could probably put a FTP server on her computer and upload shows automatically, but this would let her pull shows direct from my replay and not wait for me to download from RTV and upload to her.

Anybody know what the bandwidth requirements for playing medium shows would be? My download speed with DVArchive seems to be in the 80-130 kbps range.

Thanks,

David Stidolph
Austin, TX

I think you are getting your bits and bytes mixed up. Your upload is 350kbps, which is only ~44 KB/sec. If your download speed with DVA is really only 80-130 kbps, that is really slow (10 to 16 KB/sec). Even if you mean 80-130 KB/sec, that is still really slow assuming you are talking about a LAN-based download from your RTV to PC.

In any case, your upload, like that of 99% of people's, will not be sufficient to stream RTV video at any quality. Even standard quality requires around 150-200 KB/sec (1200-1600 kbps), which is 4-5x your upload speed. Bottom line is that you are not goin to be able to stream to your mother. What you can try is to set up a VPN and set up DVA on her PC. When properly configured (which may take some work), she should be able to use DVA to open your RTV(s) and download shows of her choice to her PC.

Originally posted by oldyellow

I feel like I am very close. If any body has any idea or sees a flaw in my logic, please chime in. Help would be appreciated.

FWIW I found a few free Win32 RFC868 TIME servers (maybe the term rdate was throwing you off?).

http://www.adjusttime.com/atcs.php (free, can run as a service)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/nettime (open source but abandoned)

It looks like the first one should work very well.

Great work OY! Thanks for the effort so far. I'm sure your close. A qestion that comes to mind is why does the Happauge software bootp not get screwed up by your router's DHCP server (I assume it has something to do with port 67 v. 16867 as described in http://www.rst38.org.uk/mediamvp/protocol.txt ).


Originally posted by oldyellow
I was able to find both a third party bootp server and a third party tftp server that I can run from my windows desktop.

I found a few freeware tftp servers but no bootp. Can you hook me up? I'm actually trying to write a VB app that does bootp/tftp/rdate all rolled into a systray icon like GVPVR so the rdate info is very handy.

New update. I now have it working with DVArchive, but not with my Replays (which is really the point).

I was previously hardcoding the ip addresses of my two Replays in the configuration file (dongle.bin.mvpmc.config). I switch it to use the discover option. Since DVArchive was running, it discovered that, along with my two replays. When I tried to access the DVArchive files, it worked - letting me stream shows. However, when I tried to access my Replays, I got the same error message as in my prevous post, indicating that the time was probably off.

Is it possible that the time is in sync with my DVArchive server (since that is where I am running my home-written RFC868 time server), but not with my Replays? I check the DVArchive messages and the most recent timestamp offset message shows 0 seconds for both of my Replays. Does this mean that my Replays time is within 1 second of my PC's time?

Originally posted by j.m.
FWIW I found a few free Win32 RFC868 TIME servers (maybe the term rdate was throwing you off?).

Thanks. I'll try one of those. I was googling for rdate & windows rather than RFC868. Maybe this will make a difference.

Originally posted by RobPlay
A qestion that comes to mind is why does the Happauge software bootp not get screwed up by your router's DHCP server (I assume it has something to do with port 67 v. 16867 as described in http://www.rst38.org.uk/mediamvp/protocol.txt ).

I am guessing that it attempts to use port 16867 BEFORE it tries to use port 67. That way, if it finds a server on port 16867, it does all of its business over that port (and the associated private tftp port), without disturbing any bootp/tftp servers you might already have on your network

Originally posted by RobPlay
I found a few freeware tftp servers but no bootp

Here is a link to BOOTP Turbo from Wierd Solutions.

Wierd Solutions Download Page (http://www.weird-solutions.com/download/index.html)

Originally posted by oldyellow

Is it possible that the time is in sync with my DVArchive server (since that is where I am running my home-written RFC868 time server), but not with my Replays? I check the DVArchive messages and the most recent timestamp offset message shows 0 seconds for both of my Replays. Does this mean that my Replays time is within 1 second of my PC's time?

My guess is that DVA doesn't enforce the +/-40 second restriction that real ReplayTVs do when streaming...

Hallelujah!! it works.

The problem must have been with my hacked time conversion. When I used the a time server I downloaded from the internet, it works. j.m. was probably right in that DVArchive does not enforce +/-40 second restriction. I changed my home-written program to spit out a bogus time to see if this would break the DVArchive access and it did not.

To summarize, I am using the following utilities to get the MediaMVP mvpmc to work on my network sans linux.

1) Bootp Desktop from Wierd Solutions
2) Solarwinds.net TFTP server
3) Net Time Server & Client v 2.1 from Han-soft software (this is a 30 day trial).

Everything seems to be working. I now have a true cheap thin client. I will be following the development of this project to keep up with the updates.

Originally posted by oldyellow
However, when I tried to access my Replays, I got the same error message as in my prevous post, indicating that the time was probably off.
Have you tried NTP syncing your time to ntp-production.replaytv.net?

Originally posted by sfhub
Have you tried NTP syncing your time to ntp-production.replaytv.net

No I haven't and that's a good idea I will do in the future. My problems were time related, but I think it was more programmer error that the actual clocks being too far out of sync. Now that I am using a 3rd party time server, it works.

Is there any possibility of having all these servers combined into a DVA plugin?

I'd venture a guess that most of us have DVA running 24-7 and you need a PC running to boot the MVP anyway.

It seems logical to a non-programmer, anyway. =)

Originally posted by aeblank
Is there any possibility of having all these servers combined into a DVA plugin?

I'd venture a guess that most of us have DVA running 24-7 and you need a PC running to boot the MVP anyway.

It seems logical to a non-programmer, anyway. =)

DVA doesn't currently support plugins, and this isn't really related to DVA anyway; so that's not going to happen. I do think it would be good for MediaMVP users if someone wrote an all-in-one TFTP/bootp/TIME server for Windows (or better yet, cross-platform) for use with the MediaMVP. There is source code available that could be drawn upon to make that happen pretty easily I'd think. I had considered undertaking that project, but that would necessitate me purchasing a MediaMVP for testing. After looking into the MediaMVP more, I've concluded it is just too limited in functionality to justify spending $80-100 on one. My Xbox and XBMC does so much more; so I'm just going to spend a little more and get another for the living room.

Originally posted by j.m.
I do think it would be good for MediaMVP users if someone wrote an all-in-one TFTP/bootp/TIME server for Windows (or better yet, cross-platform) for use with the MediaMVP.

I think this is an excellent idea, and would be willing to work on it. I have looked up all of the involved protocols, and it seams like it should be easy enough to do. I already have the time portion working in Java.

Thanks OY . I've got some sample VB code for tftp if it's any help.

Hey all,
I'm sorry I didn't see all the activity in this thread this week. I'm subscribed to the thread but never got an email notification of any posts.
If I had known, I would have offered help.
I see OY got it working which is great.
The last couple days I've also rounded up a set of free windows tool's to play
dhcp, tftp, & time. Verified everything last night.
I'm currently in the process of making a web page to document how to boot
& debug mvpmc from a windows box.
Hopefully I'll have it finished sometime tomorrow.
John...

I've completed the mvpmc-windows-HOWTO.
It's available from the "Project Links" section off the mvpmc web page.

Hope it helps. Let me know if you find any issues with it.

j.m.

What mod did you use for xbox? I have a new xbox and I'm trying to figure out whether to use a software mod or a hardware mod.

FYI...

I've created a mvpmc ReplayTV webpage:
http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/replaytv/replaytv.html

Also, the mvpmc Windows-HOWTO is at:
http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/windows/mvpmc_windoze_howto.html

Originally posted by j.m.
I do think it would be good for MediaMVP users if someone wrote an all-in-one TFTP/bootp/TIME server for Windows (or better yet, cross-platform) for use with the MediaMVP.
Originally posted by me oldyellow (me)
I think this is an excellent idea, and would be willing to work on it.
Originally posted by me John Honeycutt
I've completed the mvpmc-windows-HOWTO. It's available from the "Project Links" section off the mvpmc web page.
While having a single launcher seems like a good idea, the real desire is to have the ability to boot mvpmc without the aid of applications that run on your desktop. With the exception of the time server/client, the tools I have been using all run from the desktop. It is not realistic to have them constantly running. You don't want to have to manually start a bunch of applications on your desktop every time you want to boot your mvpmc. If the tools listed on the mvpmc-windows-HOWTO page all run as services, or as icons in the system tray, I believe that there little need for a single launcher. That being said, I spend a little time working on such a thing this weekend and here are my findings (for any geeks like me who are interested).

The tftp and RFC768 time server protocols are very simple and easily implemented. However, the problem (for me at least) was figuring out how to implement the bootp server. The protocol is not complicated at all, but as far as I can tell, it can't be done with the normal socket interface. The problem lies in sending a datagram to a hardware address that isn't mapped to an ip address. I used Ethereal to capture the network traffic and here is what I found out:

In a bootp reply (or dhcp offer) the destination address in the ip header is the address being assigned by the server and the destination hardware address is the mac address of the client (the MediaMVP). Attempting to send a datagram to the ip address being assigned causes an ARP (address resolution protocol) message to be sent from the server asking for the hardware address of the yet to be assigned ip address. But, since the client hasn't received the reply yet, it does not know it's ip address, so it cannot respond to the ARP request. Since the server can't resolve the ip address to a hardware address, the datagram never gets sent.

There are only two ways around this problem that I can see. One is to gain access to the header information one level lower than the ip header to manually set the destination hardware address. The other is to add an entry to the host's ARP table, which will pre-empt ARP request. Microsoft has an API for gaining access to the ARP table, but it looks like it is only available for it's server line of products (I have XP Home), and if you are running on of those OS's you should already have the necessary services available to you.

While I will probably not spend any more time on this project, I would be interested in finding out the simple solution to the issue I have described. If anyone has any ideas, I would be interested. It's been a while since I've been a programmer, and I'm sure somebody out there knows how to get around this issue. If there is a straight forward solution, I might finish it just for the fun of it.

Hmmm... reading through this thread I'm wondering about getting a MediaMVP, since I already have a NSLU2. I could probably run that as the server to respond to what the MediaMVP needs.

And I see someone already compiled the console version of mediamvp to Unslung for the NSLU2 -
http://www.rst38.org.uk/mediamvp/

I can install that, so it seems it wouldn't be that much work to get the MediaMVP running on my network. Also I just got a good price on a wireless G bridge (actually a d-link wireless "gaming adapter"), so that would help with this setup.

Very tempting. Anyone think this sounds very hard, once I have mediamvp running on the NSLU2?

Originally posted by dewolfxy
Anyone think this sounds very hard, once I have mediamvp running on the NSLU2?

If I understand what you are going for, I think it's do-able. As I understand it, there are two separate MediaMVP related projects. They are:

1) mpvmc (MVP Media Center). The purpose of this project is to create software that can be uploaded to the MediaMVP that allows it to act as a stand alone thin client. The only server software needed are standard dhcp/tftp/rfc868 time servers needed to boot the device (since it doesn't have a hard drive). Once the device is booted, it runs on it's own and doesn't need server software. Discovering and streaming direct from Replays on your network is one of the capabilities of this new sofware. It will only need to be rebooted if power is lost (or the system becomes unstable).

2) MVP Media Server. This is the project you refered to in your post and has not been talked about a lot in this thread (only to reference to protocol information involved in booting the device). The purpose of this project is to create server software that interacts with the "out of the box" MediaMVP client software. In addition to requiring a server for its boot process, the "out of the box" MediaMVP client software requires it's proprietary server softare to operate. This project aims to replace that software so that the MediaMVP can work with media types for which it was not originally intended. AFAIK, streaming direct from Replays is not in the list of capabilities for this project.

If you want to use the NSLU2 as a server to run the MediaMVP Media Server (project #2 listed above), that seems possible. However, that would not get you the ability to use the MediaMVP as a thin client and stream directly from your Replays.

If you want to use the MediaMVP as a thin client to stream directly from your Replays, you would want the mvpmc (project #1 listed above). The only server requirement is running "standard" services for dhcp-bootp/tftp/rfc868 time. If you already have these services available on your network, you do not need the NSLU2.

I'm guessing that you want to use the NSLU2 to run MediaMVP Media Server (project #2) as a thin server for the mvpmc (project #1). That would be a good thing to do if you don't already have dhcp-bootp/tftp/rfc868 time services available on your network. If you already have these services available, or have a box available to run those services on (windows/lunix/unix) it would be easier just to that. If you don't have (or want to) use existing services/hardware, I think it depends on how the MediaMVP Media Server is written. It it provides dhcp-bootp/tftp/rfc868 time services in a standard way, you are home free. All that's necessary is a little configuration. However, if it doesn't provide the standard services, but responds to the "private" requests by the stock client software, I think that I will not work. You will have to have "standard" services because that's what the mvpmc client is expecting. If the dhcp and tftp daemons are not alread included in the MediaMVP Media Server build, it seems like putting them there shouldn't be too difficult.

Circuit City has the MediaMVP for $80 after rebate:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Hauppauge-Digital-Media-Receiver--1000-/sem/rpsm/oid/79778/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do?sourceid=qIpcQhuAPCB5ATGUDNI8&affiliateid=20026380&carriage=befree

Thanks for the response. My goal is to get the NSLU2 to run the "server" (project 2) so that the mediamvp can run as a thin server (project 1) for the replay, as you guessed. I basically don't have any PCs in my house that are "always on", and I would want the NSLU2 to function in that role (it already does, providing samba and FTP services for my home network). I may, however, get a MacOSX box soon that will function as a DVArchive server and could run the tftp/dhcp services that the mediamvp needs. I think I'll wait until I get that before I pursue this further.

Originally posted by RobPlay
Circuit City has the MediaMVP for $80 after rebate:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Hauppauge-Digital-Media-Receiver--1000-/sem/rpsm/oid/79778/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do?sourceid=qIpcQhuAPCB5ATGUDNI8&affiliateid=20026380&carriage=befree

NewEgg has it for $83.50 + $1.99 shipping here (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=15-116-617&depa=0), saving the rebate troubles. And you'll probably come out ahead after the tax at Circuit City, as long as you don't live where NewEgg is (CA I think).

Ok first let me say that I appreciate all of the effort that people are putting into this project.

I'm tring to use the steps listed in this thread to get my MVP's to boot from Wwindows.

It looks like the two MVP's I have are on firmware REV 1.0 and they don't request an IP address via DHCP untill the Haugeppauge services are loaded.

Is there a newer / different REV version I should be using. If so where can I get it.

Originally posted by quartrj
It looks like the two MVP's I have are on firmware REV 1.0 and they don't request an IP address via DHCP untill the Haugeppauge services are loaded.

Is there a newer / different REV version I should be using. If so where can I get it.

Are you getting the firmware version from the splash screen that appears on your TV when you boot the device? If so, that mine also says REV 1.0. However, I did update to the beta test software about a year ago (the newest beta is different from what I am running). I guess, from the splash screen, that the Beta test sofware only updated my server software, and not the firmware on the device. The latest Beta sofware can be downloaded from Hauppage's site (http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/support/support_mediamvp.html) .

For the record I am using all of the software posted in the mvpmc Microsoft Windows HOWTO (http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/windows/mvpmc_windoze_howto.html) that was referenced earlier in this thread. Following the set-up instructions for that software worked like a charm for me.

I did have to make couple of changes from the dongle.bin.mvpmc.conf file shown in the howto. Here are the listings in my config file. I commented out the entries for set the timezone and mount the share.

rdate -s 192.168.0.103
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover"

Of course the ip address in your config file should be the address of the server running the time software. Also it might be a good idea to disable your original MediaMVP server software.


The Hauppage beta software I am running is a beta of 2.2, which is the current release. If you attemp to switch out your Hauppage software, I would go with the current release instead of the current beta

Both my boxes show Firmware REV 1.0 too.
Have you tried snooping your lan with a tool like ethereal?
What I see during my boot process:
When power cycling the box the first thing I will see is a text box at the
bottom of the screen "checking ethernet connectivity"
Next it goes to "Contacting DHCP Server"
If a DHCP server does not respond within about 8 seconds it goes to
"Contacting MediaMVP Boot Server".

Originally posted by oldyellow

I did have to make couple of changes from the dongle.bin.mvpmc.conf file shown in the howto. Here are the listings in my config file. I commented out the entries for set the timezone and mount the share.

rdate -s 192.168.0.103
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover"



I'm guessing you live in the CST timezone?
That's what we default the SW to since the person that started the project
lives in MN.
Anyone not in the CST timezone needs to set it or all the show times will
be off.

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
I'm guessing you live in the CST timezone?
That's what we default the SW to since the person that started the project
lives in MN.
Anyone not in the CST timezone needs to set it or all the show times will
be off.

That explains it. BTW, many thanks for the effort you have put forth!!

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
Hello,
MediaMVP ReplayTV support is for real. I should know since I'm the developer ;-)
Been working on it for about 3 months now.
I've been holding off on announcing it since it's not quite ready for primetime.
What it does so far is:
-Runs SSDP discovery and discovers all replaytv's & dvarchives on the lan.
-If dvarchive is present it does enough handshaking to kick dvrachive into 5K mode.
-Once devices are discovered it presents a menu of devices to select.
-When a device is selected it pulls down the guide snapshot, parses it,
and displays a list of shows/episodes.
When a show is highlited all the movie/episode details are shown.
Selecting a show starts it playing.
You can presently pause, ffwd, and bring up an onscreen display while playing.

I only own RTV5K's so to work on 4K stuff I kicked dvarchive into 4k mode.
It seems to correctly parse a 4K guide from dvarchive but hasn't been tested with a real 4k
unit. (Anyone want to do some 4K testing?)

Major things missing:
-Parsing the .ndx file, and seeking. I hope to implement 28sec-fwd, 7sec-back, and
<minutes>jump seek functionality by the end of this month.
-rtvlib functionality and menus to allow deleting a show & resuming play from the
last point viewed.

One last note is that mediamvp requires a dhcp server & tftpserver to boot the load.
Our development/build environment is linux based. I use my linux box to boot the mvp.
I understand there are some free windows based dhcp & tftp servers though for
those without a linux box.

Once I complete "Major things missing" I plan on creating mvpmc replaytv webpage
with configuration details, screen shots, etc... This will probably happen around early
Febuary.

Hopefully some of you will find it useful.
Regards,
John...


Thank you! Thank you!

These MVPs are great - they are the perfect match for our Replay "collectors".

Add me to the list of users of the great MVPMC software using the Windows method.

I'm tempted to buy two more Media MVPs one for the kitchen and one for the tot's room.

Outstanding.

Even without the MVPMC software patch, heavy DV archive users can use the original Hauppage SW as supplied. They even have internet radio and DiVX transcoding for those who have faster server machines.

This Media MVP is easily my best A/V purchase since my networked replays. The MVPMC software is delicious icing on the cake.

I am pretty psyched about this. I should be getting one next week. One of the best parts about this is that it is also a frontend for MythTV. If ReplayTV goes the way of the dodo I will probably be moving on to MythTV. So this is "future-proof" for me.

Originally posted by Scyber
I am pretty psyched about this. I should be getting one next week. One of the best parts about this is that it is also a frontend for MythTV. If ReplayTV goes the way of the dodo I will probably be moving on to MythTV. So this is "future-proof" for me.

I'm a second wave ReplayTV user; buying my 2020 when they were released. (Currently on loan to my mom for her soaps)
I've weathered one perhaps two heart stopping moments when I thought the service was going to be terminated. However, it's still running.
It was a tough decision to buy the refurb 5040's when they were the cheap DVR rage but I had faith. SO, I’ll use my Replays till the guides stop or they die from a non-hard drive related problem. I even have hope that if the service is terminated that someone will find an alternate solution which allows us to continue using the DVRs.

That being said; I'm itching to buy a PVR-350 from Hauppage and run Myth TV in concert with my two 5040's. Should ReplayTV die, I'd be unhappy but I would have an alternate ready to take over with MVPMC loaded thin clients on every analog tv in the house.

After this???

Next step would be perhaps a Roku HD1000 for a thin client on the HD tube set and a QAM HD tuner for my PC.

just go a mediamvp in tonight, had it up and running in about an hour or so. setup isn't too painful, other then the fact most hardware routers don't allow for a dhcp skip list, so I had to disable dhcp on my hardware router and instead run dhcp off my server, not something I wanted to do but I can live with it...

seems to work great so far!

Originally posted by rkramer
just go a mediamvp in tonight, had it up and running in about an hour or so. setup isn't too painful,
Yes, quite quick and easy. other then the fact most hardware routers don't allow for a dhcp skip list, so I had to disable dhcp on my hardware router and instead run dhcp off my server, not something I wanted to do but I can live with it...
I only run the required servers when booting the MVPMC from a power off reset. The build is very stable; not needing a reload in over a week. As soon as the MVPMC load is complete I shut down the services of DHCP/TFTP/Time Server etc. Simply, I do not run any services for MVPMC other than available Replays and the occasional run of DVArchive.
My setup:
I run most of my media devices on a dedicated switch (a spare router/switch) which is then connected to the active router/firewall with a crossover cable. I used the caveman method to disable router's DHCP by simply unplugging the crossover cable for the duration of the software load.
An interesting note: I reloaded the original Media MVP software to play with the new version and later switched back to the MVPMC without disabling DHCP on the router or unplugging. I assume that the NT services I run for MVPMC responded to the request before the hardware router was even aware that the MVP was online. Perhaps disabling the DHCP server on the hardware router is only necessary should the tftp boot instruction not be received by the MVP.
Please do not try any of my ill conceived methods as they are not based on any technical merit or experience other than "dumb luck."



seems to work great so far! Excellent!

Marc

Originally posted by dewolfxy
NewEgg has it for $83.50 + $1.99 shipping here (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=15-116-617&depa=0), saving the rebate troubles. And you'll probably come out ahead after the tax at Circuit City, as long as you don't live where NewEgg is (CA I think).

My local Radio Shack (Norwalk, CT) had a couple of these units for $79.

I wonder if I should head back there this weekend. I would have grabbed them for $50 -- just to have if I ever felt like hacking around with.

An interesting note: I reloaded the original Media MVP software to play with the new version and later switched back to the MVPMC without disabling DHCP on the router or unplugging. I assume that the NT services I run for MVPMC responded to the request before the hardware router was even aware that the MVP was online. Perhaps disabling the DHCP server on the hardware router is only necessary should the tftp boot instruction not be received by the MVP.


without getting too in depth, the mediamvp sends out a dhcp on a high port number first, IIRC 16,000 something, and then falls back to standard dhcp if it doesn't get anything... the mediamvp software responds to this high port, so normally the rest of your network is never affected. This would be possible with the aftermarket firmware also if someone developed a dhcp server that would listen on a non-standard port. (dhcpd on linux probably is capable of this, i'm just talking windows here...)

I did find a good solution though, my main router (linky wrt54g) is based on linux, and you can customize your iptables rules. I just set that to block dhcp access to the mediamvp's mac address, and then set up turbo dhcp to only hand out to the media's mac. the network is perfectly happy with two dhcp's in this config, with all machines going to the linux and the mvp going to the turbodhcp server.

Just picked up my MediaMVP from Radio Shack (on clearance for $79.99). Can't wait to get home and try this out.

So I finally got it up and running last night (been busy and it took me awhile to switch me network to static IPs). Was working pretty well. My wife was already asleep so I didn't get to test the audio, but the video looked good!

One thing was that I couldn't get the automatic replay detection option to work. I kept gettting a "network is unreachable" error. I had to specify each Replay's IP address. Not a huge issue, but it is a little annoying.

Originally posted by plyons10
My local Radio Shack (Norwalk, CT) had a couple of these units for $79.

I wonder if I should head back there this weekend. I would have grabbed them for $50 -- just to have if I ever felt like hacking around with.

You might have to call around, but I had little trouble locating as many units as I needed all at Radioshack for the clearance price of $79 bucks.

They don't show up on the RS internet catalog. I assume this is because they are on clearance and once they are gone, there might not be any restocking orders.


Marc

Originally posted by Scyber
So I finally got it up and running last night (been busy and it took me awhile to switch me network to static IPs). Was working pretty well. My wife was already asleep so I didn't get to test the audio, but the video looked good!

All of my recordings are in medium and standard. I have yet to attempt a HIGH stream fearing bandwidth issues. (I normally don't record in HIGH anyway)

I've only used the "gadget" on 27" and smaller televisions. I can't comment on quality for larger screens. PQ is equal to watching from a Replay IMHO.
One thing was that I couldn't get the automatic replay detection option to work. I kept getting a "network is unreachable" error. I had to specify each Replay's IP address. Not a huge issue, but it is a little annoying.

Odd indeed. However, I've had the opposite. On two occasions my two replay's would loose connection to each other but the MVPMC could still see both and play back with no problems.

Lucky so far!

Originally posted by rkramer
without getting too in depth, the mediamvp sends out a dhcp on a high port number first, IIRC 16,000 something, and then falls back to standard dhcp if it doesn't get anything... the mediamvp software responds to this high port, so normally the rest of your network is never affected. This would be possible with the aftermarket firmware also if someone developed a dhcp server that would listen on a non-standard port. (dhcpd on linux probably is capable of this, i'm just talking windows here...)
Ahh... good to know why. Thanks for the details.

I did find a good solution though, my main router (linky wrt54g) is based on linux, and you can customize your iptables rules. I just set that to block dhcp access to the mediamvp's mac address, and then set up turbo dhcp to only hand out to the media's mac. the network is perfectly happy with two dhcp's in this config, with all machines going to the linux and the mvp going to the turbodhcp server. Very interesting. I understand there are some people that have hacked the WGT634u from Netgear but I've not read up much on it and don't know if the same things can be done as you describe but with google at my fingertips, I'll try to find out. Thanks for the idea!

Marc

Originally posted by Scyber

One thing was that I couldn't get the automatic replay detection option to work. I kept gettting a "network is unreachable" error. I had to specify each Replay's IP address. Not a huge issue, but it is a little annoying. [/B]

Did you setup the gateways parameter for dhcpturbo?
standard option #3 "gateways"

I know it shouldn't be needed but the one of the system calls the ReplayTV discover code makes will fail with a "network unreachable" error if the gateway isn't configured.
Also, you can use ethereal to snoop the dhcp responce and verify that it is what you expect.

Originally posted by Marcus
All of my recordings are in medium and standard. I have yet to attempt a HIGH stream fearing bandwidth issues. (I normally don't record in HIGH anyway)
I haven't had any problems with keeping the buffers full for high res shows.
I also record most of my shows in medium/standard quality.
I do have 5 recordings I use for testing high res though.
They seem to play fine except for one part in one show that hangs .
I'm guessing this is due to the non-standard mpeg stream.
Seems alot of video editing SW also has problems with RTV highres mpegs but do fine with medium/standard.
FYI: You can monitor how full the demuxer is using the OSD.
While playing a show press <MENU>. Select "On Screen Display" then select "Demux Info"
The blank button between mute & full brings up the OSD.

Anyone have the RS catalog number for the MVP? My local RS was fairly clueless.

Thanks,
MP

25-3215 According to radioshack.com.

Madpoet... where in CT are you located?

The RS on Route 1 in Norwalk had a couple of these when I was there last week.

Originally posted by oldyellow
the real desire is to have the ability to boot mvpmc without the aid of applications that run on your desktop.

I have been following this discussion and I agree with this statement. In fact, I would like to not even need to turn my computer ON in the first place! But that's just crazy, right?

If I understand it properly, I need...

1. A DHCP server
2. A TFTP server with the capacity to hold a ~2 MB dongle.bin
3. An NTP server

Am I just dreaming, or does this exist already in Linksys form? Like a WRT54GS, a wireless router, with the OpenWRT software, we already have the first two. Anyone out there already work with that stuff? I'll be glad to help out...

Jim

Originally posted by jimmyswimmy
If I understand it properly, I need...

1. A DHCP server
2. A TFTP server with the capacity to hold a ~2 MB dongle.bin
3. An NTP server

Am I just dreaming, or does this exist already in Linksys form? Like a WRT54GS, a wireless router, with the OpenWRT software, we already have the first two. Anyone out there already work with that stuff? I'll be glad to help out...

You should be able to use any NTP server on the internet (RFC 868 protocol support is needed). Since this discussion I now use the Replay's Time Server (ntp-production.replaytv.net) to sync the time on my DVArchive server with Replay. I don't know if this supports RFC 868 or not, but it should be easy enough to find out.

Originally posted by jimmyswimmy
Like a WRT54GS, a wireless router, with the OpenWRT software, we already have the first twoOriginally posted by oldyellow
You should be able to use any NTP server on the internet (RFC 868 protocol support is needed)I tried using Replay's server (ntp-production.replaytv.net / 192.43.244.18) and it did not work. However, I did successfully synced my mvpmc time to time.nist.gov (192.43.244.18). So, if you can get dhcp/tftp from an always on router, and have internet access, you should be good to go. But, after looking at the OpenWRT site, I am wondering if OpenWRT already has a tftp server, or is this a package that has to be added? I did not see any specific information on this. The following is taken from the OpenWRT site.
Specifically, the core provides:

* network initalization (ethernet and wireless)
* firewalling
* dhcp client / server
* caching dns server (with hooks to dhcp to lookup dhcp client hostnames)
* telnet server and busybox environment

That's it. Everything else (ssh, http administration, etc) can be done in the form of a package on the jffs2 filesystem; openwrt's goal is to provide a minimal base which can be expanded through the use of software packages.

Hello all,

I was thinking about trying this out, but I did have a couple of questions.

1) Can you stream video files that are on other computers in the house, or does it need to come from the computer that is acting like the "server" Another words if computer 2 is the server, can I stream from computer 1

2) Can you have the listing of shows limited to a particular drive &/or folder on the computer

3) Is there a way to make it so that certain options are not available (like delete) If I can make this work, this more then likely I would give this to my nephew & even though he hasn't done it yet, I could see him accidently deleting a show

Thanks

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
I haven't had any problems with keeping the buffers full for high res shows.
I also record most of my shows in medium/standard quality.
I do have 5 recordings I use for testing high res though.
They seem to play fine except for one part in one show that hangs .
I'm guessing this is due to the non-standard mpeg stream.
Seems alot of video editing SW also has problems with RTV highres mpegs but do fine with medium/standard.
FYI: You can monitor how full the demuxer is using the OSD.
While playing a show press <MENU>. Select "On Screen Display" then select "Demux Info"
The blank button between mute & full brings up the OSD.
Yeppers, I found the directions for those discussed in the mail list. I played around with them and removed them from the OSD leaving the progress bar, title, description, and running time when the OSD is called. BTW: Jumping to a specified minute sure makes up for not having the last saved view point when resuming video.

One thing I need to do is learn how to set up an NFS server under windows or figure out another way to connect to my shared folders with the config file. I've been reading and researching for the file sharing solution but my tiny mind does not seem to grasp the concept of mounting windows directories and file shares hosted on NT2K machines using the mini linux running on the MVP.

I've seen an example of how to mount a windows XP media share but I've not spied any NT2k examples.

Anyhow, just being able to use my replay 5040s and dvarchive is fantastic enough for the time being.

Heck, I think I'm going to make another round at a couple of Radio Shack stores to find one more unit.

Originaly posted by choli0090
I was thinking about trying this out, but I did have a couple of questions.
From your questions, I am not sure if you are asking about the "stock" MediaMVP or the mvpmc enhancement (which this thread is mostly about). I will attempt to answer both.

1) Can you stream video files that are on other computers in the house, or does it need to come from the computer that is acting like the "server" Another words if computer 2 is the server, can I stream from computer 1
The "stock" MediaMVP can only stream files that are on the server. But, with the mvpmc, there is no "server". It can stream files directly from a ReplayTV or MythTV box (although, I guess that would make them the server), once it is booted up. This only needs to be done if power is lost, or the system hangs. It can see and stream from multiple boxes. All references to a "server" in this thread refer to the services necessary to boot the device.

2) Can you have the listing of shows limited to a particular drive &/or folder on the computer
The "stock" MediaMVP shows a listing media files on the server. It can see multiple folders for any supported media type. As stated above, it cannot see other computers (unless the other computer has a drive mounted on the server as a shared drive). The mvpmc can shows a listing of all shows on any Replay or Myth box on your network.

3) Is there a way to make it so that certain options are not available (like delete) If I can make this work, this more then likely I would give this to my nephew & even though he hasn't done it yet, I could see him accidently deleting a show
The "stock" MediaMVP cannot delete files. However there is a way to make it so that it can. I don't know if it is easy remove options (like delete) from the mvmpc. It definitely can delete Replay files.

Originally posted by Marcus
<snip> BTW: Jumping to a specified minute sure makes up for not having the last saved view point when resuming video.
Saving the last view point is on my list of things to do after comercial skip.
Hopefully in about 6 weeks.


One thing I need to do is learn how to set up an NFS server under windows or figure out another way to connect to my shared folders with the config file. I've been reading and researching for the file sharing solution but my tiny mind does not seem to grasp the concept of mounting windows directories and file shares hosted on NT2K machines using the mini linux running on the MVP.
I've seen an example of how to mount a windows XP media share but I've not spied any NT2k examples.

I checked in some updates this past weekend that get the CIFS streaming
performance up to par for Windows servers. (Verified w/ WXP-Pro)
You will need to get a mvpmc binary from the DailyBuilds download page.
Also, updated the Windows-HOWTO with a "Configuring a CIFS server"
section.
CIFS shares are supported by NT2K but I don't have a 2K box so haven't been able to test it.
I think the issue for 2K is how to setup windows & mvp to make the share authentication happy.
Found this link on enabling the W2K guest account:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q258938

If you can't mount the share with the guest account then maybe create
a special windows userid.
Pass the info with mount.cifs as follows:
-o user=<userid>,password=<userpasswd>,domain=<workgroup>,rsize=34000

Let me know your results. If you find a recipe that works I'll update the howto.
If not, I'll try to get a userid verified share mounted from WXP. (should be the same for W2K).

They use something called ipkg, I think, to package little things. One is called tftp-hpa, at http://nthill.free.fr/openwrt/tracker/packages/show.php?id=1315 and I think that might do it. Suffice it to say that I haven't tried at all.

Actually at first I was thinking of the native TFTP server in the router... duh, the one which accepts the binary firmware upload... not a brilliant idea!

Well, this may have seemed like a better idea in the beginning. I'll probably try it out anyway (and turn my router into a brick) after I run wire to my basement.

Originally posted by jimmyswimmy
One is called tftp-hpa, at http://nthill.free.fr/openwrt/track...how.php?id=1315 and I think that might do it

I didn't see that tftp package when I browsed the site of available packages. I don't see why I wouldn't work. As long as the router has the capacity to hold dongle.bin.mvpmc and dongle.bin.mvpmc.config, it should work.

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
Saving the last view point is on my list of things to do after comercial skip.
Hopefully in about 6 weeks.That's great. The commercial skip will be fantastic.I checked in some updates this past weekend that get the CIFS streaming
performance up to par for Windows servers. (Verified w/ WXP-Pro)
I tried with 0.1.4, and all but DVD VOB's played just fine. You will need to get a mvpmc binary from the DailyBuilds download page.
Also, updated the Windows-HOWTO with a "Configuring a CIFS server"
section.
I tried to use a daily build but the MVPMC just was caught in a "Looking for DHCP Server loop. Perhaps I did not read enough to ensure that further processing (compiling or decompressing) of the build was required. I'll study it again this weekend.
CIFS shares are supported by NT2K but I don't have a 2K box so haven't been able to test it. It works just fine.
I think the issue for 2K is how to setup windows & mvp to make the share authentication happy.
Found this link on enabling the W2K guest account:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q258938
If you can't mount the share with the guest account then maybe create
a special windows userid.
Pass the info with mount.cifs as follows:
-o user=<userid>,password=<userpasswd>,domain=<workgroup>,rsize=34000
What I did under Win2K:
Created an account called MVPMC1 with password. MVPMC2 for my other unit.
Shared a specific folder and added the accounts that could access it manualy and removed the "everyone" setting. Limiting folder access enables a crude form of censoring.
Used MKDIR to create my "NTBOX" directory on the MVPMC.
Mounted the cifs share in this format.

mkdir.cifs //NTMACHINE/MEDIA /NTBOX/ -o user=MVPMC1,password=MVPMC1,rsize=34000,ip=192.168.0.3

in this example, NTMACHINE is the name of my networked win2k computer, MEDIA is the folder I created and shared in windows, NTBOX is the name I gave the directory on the MVPMC to which the mounted nt folders are connected, and "ip" is the address of the windows machine sharing the files. I did not pass the workgroup name. It was not necessary in my case. I typed these commands via telnet into the MVP box root to make sure it worked. I suppose I'll write them into the config file this weekend.
Let me know your results. If you find a recipe that works I'll update the howto.
If not, I'll try to get a userid verified share mounted from WXP. (should be the same for W2K).

Yes, it did work! I listened to some MP3s and watched some mpegs. After listening to music, I lost audio on the mpegs but the replay mpegs played fine.
Autodetecting the replays seemed to take longer after I mounted the cifs shares.

I tried making M3U playlist files for streaming shoutcast but when selected, they did not start to stream. I guess I was trying for too much without a good understanding of how things work.

Another note: I could not open sub folders on a shared DVD rom in the drive. I was hoping to pop a DVD in the PC and play back on the MVPMC but no luck. While sharing the DVD drive worked, for some reason, attempting to open the sub folder "TS-VIDEO" on RONIN to reach the VOB files failed.

I was only using 0.1.4 and the MVPMC buffer emptied faster than it could be filled with the file fetch. If I understand you correctly, the newer builds address this. I'll try again to see what I did wrong trying to load and run the latest daily build.

Thanks to this little project, I'm learning more about Unix; well at least the part about mounting drives and connecting to network shares.

Marc

Originally posted by Marcus
I tried to use a daily build but the MVPMC just was caught in a "Looking for DHCP Server loop. Perhaps I did not read enough to ensure that further processing (compiling or decompressing) of the build was required. I'll study it again this weekend.

I just verified last nights build is OK.
The file is bzip (.bz2) compressed so needs to be uncompressed before
placing in your tftp dir.

What I did under Win2K:
Created an account called MVPMC1 with password. MVPMC2 for my other unit.
Shared a specific folder and added the accounts that could access it manualy and removed the "everyone" setting. Limiting folder access enables a crude form of censoring.
Used MKDIR to create my "NTBOX" directory on the MVPMC.
Mounted the cifs share in this format.
mkdir.cifs //NTMACHINE/MEDIA /NTBOX/ -o user=MVPMC1,password=MVPMC1,rsize=34000,ip=192.168.0.3


Thanks, I'll add this info to the howto next time I update it.



I was only using 0.1.4 and the MVPMC buffer emptied faster than it could be filled with the file fetch. If I understand you correctly, the newer builds address this. I'll try again to see what I did wrong trying to load and run the latest daily build.

Yep, along with the windows registry change you should be able to stream
atleast 7Mbps.

You may want to search the mvpmc mailing list or post to the list for
the M3U & and audio sync issues.
I've seen post about similar issues but haven't really followed things.

Originally posted by Marcus
I tried to use a daily build but the MVPMC just was caught in a "Looking for DHCP Server loop. Perhaps I did not read enough to ensure that further processing (compiling or decompressing) of the build was required. I'll study it again this weekend.

And indeed, the file was compressed with bz2. I'll decompress the file and try again. Trying to execute the compressed file sort of reminds me of when President Ford tried to eat a tamale with the corn shuck still on it!

Marc

What a excellent project…. Thanks to all involved!
If I understand correctly, to run mvpmc you need the dongle.bin.mvpmc file and the dongle.bin.mvpmc.config file. Once the MediaMVP is booted and functioning, the PC is no longer needed- except if the MediaMVP becomes unstable or loses power or if you desire file access to AV content on the PC itself.
I ‘d like to try booting mvpmc from my WinXP-Pro environment but am only interested in streaming files from my two ReplayTV 5040’s. I am not interested in streaming from DVArchive or any video files anyplace else other then files on the 5040’s hard drives.
With this in mind, do I still need to set up/mount the WinXP filesharing, video folders, and so on? Or, can I comment out this portion of the cfg script.
Thanks in advance.. ReplayRob

Originally posted by replayrob
I am not interested in streaming from DVArchive or any video files anyplace else other then files on the 5040’s hard drives.
With this in mind, do I still need to set up/mount the WinXP filesharing, video folders, and so on? Or, can I comment out this portion of the cfg script.
Thanks in advance.. ReplayRob

Correct. You do not need to set up/mount the WinXP filesharing, video folders, and so on. You can comment out that portion of the cfg script. Realize that even with the filesharing comment out, you still get streaming from DVArchive (if DVArchive is running on your network). Even though you aren't planning on using the filesharing capabilities, isn't it nice to know that you can?

Originally posted by oldyellow
Correct. You do not need to set up/mount the WinXP filesharing, video folders, and so on. You can comment out that portion of the cfg script.
Thanks oldyellow....

Originally posted by oldyellow
Realize that even with the filesharing comment out, you still get streaming from DVArchive (if DVArchive is running on your network). Even though you aren't planning on using the filesharing capabilities, isn't it nice to know that you can?
Yes, I may that particular feature from time to time.
It's an exciting project overall. I'm trying to set the MediaMVP up in the kitchen where we have a 15" LCD TV. There's no room there for an additional ReplayTV but my wife has on several occasions expressed a desire to be able to watch (and control) content from her ReplayTV in that room. If the mvpmc works out.... it would really be great!!

Update...
Got my setup running thanks to the "Windows How To" by John Honeycut.
Thanks John....
Went through all the steps, all the tests- everything worked as described-except for the problem described below.
Used "Putty" to telnet the "rdate" and "mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover" " commands. The MediaMVP discovered both my Replay 5040's and showed all their content. I could play all the recoreded shows, navigate and so on... perfect.

One problem though....
I see both my dongle.bin.mvpmc file and my dongle.bin.mvpmc.config file being uploaded to the MediaMPV but, it seems to be ignoring my config script file. Like it doesn't exist. My timezone is not being set to ET, doesn't see my time server at 192.168.0.103 and the mvpmc command line is not being executed. When I manually telnet the commands to the MediaMVP... it works perfectly. Other thing I noticed- when I copy the suggested test simple config script from the "how to" guide to the C:\Program Files\TFTP Turbo\tftp_root folder- the TZ is still set to CT. So it's ignoring the sample script too.
I'm using (both in the tftp_root folder):
dongle.bin.mvpmc
dongle.bin.mvpmc.config
They both successfully upload.

Here's my config script:
TZ=EST+5EDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2; export TZ
rdate -s 192.168.0.103
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover"



Here's what I get with the # env command in Putty:

Welcome to MediaMVP!
mvp1 login: root
BusyBox v1.00 (2005.03.05-20:52+0000) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
# date
Wed Dec 31 18:01:04 CST 1969
# env
USER=root
HOME=/
LOGNAME=root
TERM=vt102
PATH=/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin
SHELL=/bin/sh
PWD=/
TZ=CST+6CDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2


Any ideas as to why the config script(s) are being ignored?
I'm using a nightly build File: dongle.bin.mvpmc-20050324-1333-UTC
Thanks........

Update....
Through trial-N-error, I found that if I change my config script

from:
TZ=EST+5EDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2; export TZ
rdate -s 192.168.0.103
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover"

to:
rdate -s 192.168.0.103
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover"

Now everything works perfectly. Seems the dongle bin didn't like the TZ line in the config file. Now mvpmc autostarts... and I can completely shut down my Windoze box. It streams hi-bitrate recordings from either of my two 5040's without any computer server!
Kickass project guys!!! Thanks......:D :D :D

The TZ line should work fine. One thing you do have to look out for if you are working on a windows box. You should make sure that you save the file in Unix text format and not the windows text format. Unix and Windows have different characters for line breaks.

How often does it crash (or whatever) and need a reboot?

I explained the thing to my parents and they might get one (me setting it up, of course--I'll have to re-read this entire thread).

Too bad I don't have a use for one. =)

Originally posted by aeblank
How often does it crash (or whatever) and need a reboot?

I explained the thing to my parents and they might get one (me setting it up, of course--I'll have to re-read this entire thread).
In the month or so, I've been using it, the only time I have "had" to reboot it when I was trying to get the CIFS fileshare to work. I successfully mounted the windows share, but whenever I tried to navigate through directories containing image files, the system would hang and force me to pull the plug, forcing a it boot when plugged in again. I was using an older daily build (2/13 I think) and the newer build may have fixed that problem. I have seen the system hit a glitch when quick skipping and restart the mvpmc application (the same as if you turned if off and on again). Of course this is not a reboot, so no server interaction was necessary.

No need to re-read the entire thread. The Windows-Howto (http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/windows/mvpmc_windoze_howto.html) on the mvpmc site tells you everything you need to know.

Originally posted by Scyber
The TZ line should work fine. One thing you do have to look out for if you are working on a windows box. You should make sure that you save the file in Unix text format and not the windows text format. Unix and Windows have different characters for line breaks.

Yeah, I tried all four different formats that notepad has- ANSI, Unicode, Unicode Big Endian and UTF-8 and all the formats Wordpad had too. Other then RTF, which I didn't even try... all the formats worked without the TZ line. Any format with the TZ line failed to boot the mvpmc program.

Originally posted by Scyber
The TZ line should work fine. One thing you do have to look out for if you are working on a windows box. You should make sure that you save the file in Unix text format and not the windows text format. Unix and Windows have different characters for line breaks.
Yep...
Also, the line: TZ=EST+5EDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2; export TZ
only sets the TZ variable for the shell process that is running the config
script.
i.e. If you telnet to the mvp (starts a new shell) and do an 'env'
you will see the default CST TZ value.
To have the TZ variable automatically set for telnet shells you need add a line like the
following to you config script:

echo "TZ=EST+5EDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2; export TZ" > /etc/shell.config

John...

Originally posted by replayrob
Yeah, I tried all four different formats that notepad has- ANSI, Unicode, Unicode Big Endian and UTF-8 and all the formats Wordpad had too. Other then RTF, which I didn't even try... all the formats worked without the TZ line. Any format with the TZ line failed to boot the mvpmc program.
OK. This is strange.
I'll experiment with it this weekend and see if I can reproduce it.
Did you try completely erasing the TZ line in you editor and manually typing
it back in?
Since the other lines work the only idea I currently have is that there is some form of control characters in the line that is messing it up.
Also please try adding a
echo "TZ=EST+5EDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2; export TZ" > /etc/shell.config
line. Then telnet to the mvp & do an 'env' to see if it shows up.
John...

Originally posted by oldyellow
I have seen the system hit a glitch when quick skipping and restart the mvpmc application (the same as if you turned if off and on again). Of course this is not a reboot, so no server interaction was necessary.

oldyellow,
Can you provide some more info on the quick skip problem?
If the mvp application restarted without the entire box rebooting it means
my code trapped.
Were you just quickskipping forward? Hitting the buttons 2 or more times
in quick succession? Near the beginning or end of the mpg?
Thanks...

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
OK. This is strange.
I'll experiment with it this weekend and see if I can reproduce it.
Did you try completely erasing the TZ line in you editor and manually typing
it back in?
Since the other lines work the only idea I currently have is that there is some form of control characters in the line that is messing it up.

I have tried hand typing the whole config file by hand, no copy-N-paste. Funny thing is that any time I have a TZ reference line anywhere in the config file, the whole file fails to execute. Even if I put a # in front of the TZ line(s) the file still fails to run. Since the config file doesn't run the dongle.mvpmc load fails to boot up. If I telnet in the ENV command, it returns the CST zone cause it didn't load the config file.

I've also noticed that when I include my Replay's static IP addresses into the config file, rather than use the -R "ip=discover" command- the discover process fails to find either of the Replay's. The -R "ip=discover" command works fine though. Just mentioning the IP thing to be complete.
I really do appreciate your help John, and everyone else!!

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
oldyellow,
Can you provide some more info on the quick skip problem?
If the mvp application restarted without the entire box rebooting it means
my code trapped.
Were you just quickskipping forward? Hitting the buttons 2 or more times
in quick succession? Near the beginning or end of the mpg?
Thanks...
It has happened two or three times, and on every occasion, I was hitting the quick skip button in quick succession. It happened toward the beginning and end. I believe that on most occasions I was viewing a 2-hour (or so) medium quality mpeg.

Originally posted by replayrob
I have tried hand typing the whole config file by hand, no copy-N-paste. Funny thing is that any time I have a TZ reference line anywhere in the config file, the whole file fails to execute. Even if I put a # in front of the TZ line(s) the file still fails to run. Since the config file doesn't run the dongle.mvpmc load fails to boot up. If I telnet in the ENV command, it returns the CST zone cause it didn't load the config file.

Rob,
The TZ problem is due to the DOS <cr><lf> instead of just a <lf> at the end of the lines.
This can be worked around by putting a semi-colon at the end of each line.
Here's and example config script I created with wordpad that I've verified
on the mvp:

TZ=EST+5EDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2;export TZ;
rdate -s $SERVER;
echo "TZ=EST+5EDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2; export TZ" > /etc/shell.config;
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover" &

NOTE: The mvpmc line should be ended with an & (ampersand) instead of semi-colon.
The & causes mvpmc to run in the background.

Originally posted by replayrob I've also noticed that when I include my Replay's static IP addresses into the config file, rather than use the -R "ip=discover" command- the discover process fails to find either of the Replay's. The -R "ip=discover" command works fine though. Just mentioning the IP thing to be complete.


I verified that the following static IP line works for my replays.

mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=172.31.1.10/172.31.1.11" &

The command would fail due to the <cr><lf> if the & wasn't included though.
I'm guessing the problem you had must have something to do with the line's
formatting as static IP's just bypass doing the discovery so if static IP's didn't
work I wouldn't expect discovery to work either.

Originally posted by oldyellow
It has happened two or three times, and on every occasion, I was hitting the quick skip button in quick succession. It happened toward the beginning and end. I believe that on most occasions I was viewing a 2-hour (or so) medium quality mpeg.

I couldn't reproduce it due to a change in the latest mvpmc code that causes
the mpg timestamp to go to 00:00:00 for a couple seconds after doing a skip.
So if you hit successive skips within a second of each other it jumps to
the start of the mpg.
I need to fix this and at the same time make quick multiple skip presses
get queued and behave better.
I'll make sure to hammer on it when I do the changes.

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
Rob,
The TZ problem is due to the DOS <cr><lf> instead of just a <lf> at the end of the lines.
This can be worked around by putting a semi-colon at the end of each line.
NOTE: The mvpmc line should be ended with an & (ampersand) instead of semi-colon. The & causes mvpmc to run in the background.

I verified that the following static IP line works for my replays.
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=172.31.1.10/172.31.1.11" &
The command would fail due to the <cr><lf> if the & wasn't included though.

Thanks John…..
I’ve verified your findings, you are correct.
Now my TZ setting works… when I telnet to the MediaMPV, it shows ET!!
I can also manually list my Replay ip’s and they show up instantly on the mvpmc ReplayTV menu. Definitely faster than the “discover” method.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Outstanding work. I can now watch content from my Replay’s on our kitchen TV with full control. It’s like getting an additional ReplayTV (with lifetime activation) for $79!! We just watched last nights recording of Battlestar Galactica and Supernanny… both played perfectly over the network (both were HQ bitrate recordings). Skipped through the commercials without a hitch.
I’m really happy with the setup. Thanks again John…..

PS… if you accept donations towards your project to help offset equipment/software costs, etc.. I’d be more than happy to kick in a few $$ if you’d take it.

John (or anyone else): Can the DHCP server or the Time Server that are suggested to be used for the MediaMVP be replaced by the native ones to Windows 2000 Server instead? I'd like to use what is already running on my server but I'm not sure if the DHCP server or time server in win 2k server is able to do what is required for the MediaMVP. I just picked up a MediaMVP, but I haven't set it up yet. I've also got another problem of not knowing how to exclude the MediaMVP from my current DHCP server (Windows2000 server) based on MAC address. Any help would GREATLY be appreciated. I can't wait to set this up!

Howdy gang.

I have the windows shares working perfectly now.

Watching a DVD file saved on the HD works with plenty of buffer now but as stated by John, audio sync is not in hand yet. Nevertheless, nice.

But on to the problem at hand:

I'm not sure if this is a Replay problem or a MVPMC problem.

My Replays are called R P 1 and R P 2, respectively.
Accessing R P 1 with MVPMC works flawlessly. Occasionally while deleting a program from MVPMC, the Hauppage box will reload MVPMC. Not a severe situation. BUT! From time to time, accessing the file list on R P 2 will cause the MVPMC program to restart. It will not start working until I power reset the replay unit.

The replay units can talk to each other fine, it's just that MVPMC will shutdown and restart every time I attempt to access my second replay.

Auto-detecting replays works fine.
The exact point at which the MVPMC software restarts is after R P 2 is selected an the screen with the sideways word "REPLAYTV" appears on the left just as I'm expecting the file list to populate with the show listings.

This is not a complete reboot of the MVP box. It's just the MVPMC program restarting.

As I said, rebooting the replay helps for a while but the problem does come back eventually.

I never had these problems before I started experimenting with mount.cifs and the daily builds. Returning to the old configuration and the 0.1.4 software does not help.

Any suggestions?

For those using Windows2000 (It supposedly works on all 2k or newer OSes), I have found out that there is a TFTP server which is part of the RIS (remote installation service) package so you may not need to use additional programs. The individual at this site has extracted only the TFTP service from the RIS package (link below). I haven't tried it out yet as I'm still trying to figure out how to 'skip' the MediaMVP DHCP request since I'm using Windows2000 server as my DHCP server. Anyone??



http://www.simonsen.bz/w2k_standalone_tftp_dameon.htm

Originally posted by Marcus

My Replays are called R P 1 and R P 2, respectively.
Accessing R P 1 with MVPMC works flawlessly. Occasionally while deleting a program from MVPMC, the Hauppage box will reload MVPMC. Not a severe situation. BUT! From time to time, accessing the file list on R P 2 will cause the MVPMC program to restart. It will not start working until I power reset the replay unit.

The replay units can talk to each other fine, it's just that MVPMC will shutdown and restart every time I attempt to access my second replayAuto-detecting replays works fine.
The exact point at which the MVPMC software restarts is after R P 2 is selected an the screen with the sideways word "REPLAYTV" appears on the left just as I'm expecting the file list to populate with the show listings.

This is not a complete reboot of the MVP box. It's just the MVPMC program restarting.
As I said, rebooting the replay helps for a while but the problem does come back eventually.
I never had these problems before I started experimenting with mount.cifs and the daily builds. Returning to the old configuration and the 0.1.4 software does not help.
Any suggestions?

Marcus,
The mvpmc application rebooting is most likely an indication that the code is trapping.
It would be great if you could capture the core dump for me.
Instructions are on my mvpmc replayTV web page:
http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/replaytv/replaytv.html under "Debugging Problems".
Please email me the core file along with which version of mvpmc you are running and what action you were doing at the time the problem occured.
Also, note any messages that get printed to the telnet window you start mvpmc in.
My email address is at the top of the replaytv web page.
Thanks,
John...

Originally posted by f2000Keith
I haven't tried it out yet as I'm still trying to figure out how to 'skip' the MediaMVP DHCP request since I'm using Windows2000 server as my DHCP server. Anyone??
Is there any particular reason why you won't allow your router to perform the DHCP tasks? It's very easy to turn it off at that point.

Originally posted by f2000Keith
For those using Windows2000 (It supposedly works on all 2k or newer OSes), I have found out that there is a TFTP server which is part of the RIS (remote installation service) package so you may not need to use additional programs. The individual at this site has extracted only the TFTP service from the RIS package (link below). I haven't tried it out yet as I'm still trying to figure out how to 'skip' the MediaMVP DHCP request since I'm using Windows2000 server as my DHCP server. Anyone??
http://www.simonsen.bz/w2k_standalone_tftp_dameon.htm
google seems to indicate that the w2k dhcp server is pretty limited
in what it can do. I didn't see where you could set the dhcp options required
to properly boot the mvp. Also didn't see where you can exclude a device's
mac address.
I'm pretty sure DHCP Turbo can be started as a service.
One solution is to disable the w2k DHCP server run DHCP Turbo for everything.

I can set up an exclusion so that a device with a specific MAC address will always get a specified IP address from the Windows DHCP server. Is this is what is required for the MVPMC John? I didn't think it was, but maybe I misread the How-To. I'm going to try and mess with it to see if I can get it to work. If I get fed up, I'll go with the freeware DHCP server.

I'm getting closer!!! So far I have been able to use the Microsoft TFTP server (from my previous post) and the DHCP server that is part of Windows 2000 Server. I'm using the free time server listed in the HOW TO. I get the MediaMVP to boot, get the reserved IP address, and download the software. The only problem I currently have is when I got to the 'ReplayTV' option from the menu, it acts like it's searching and then I get the following error in a grey box outlined in red:

Warning!

Press any key to continue


In the backround of the error window, I can see that it has detected my ReplayTV, it's IP address, and the model type of my Replay. I also have DVArchive running, but it doesn't see that. When I press any key, the window goes away and the MediaMVP and I can back out to display my ReplayTV, but it doesn't show any shows. Any help MediaMVP gurus? Below is what the telnet shows as I'm doing the above. The last line shows that there is a time discrepancy of more than 40 secons, but I've got the time server installed. How can I synch it with my Replay?


Welcome to MediaMVP!

mediamvp login: root


BusyBox v1.00 (2005.03.05-20:52+0000) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

# mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover"
child pid 39
fnt_createfont: /etc/helvB18.pcf,0 not found
def char 0 (0)
size 8960 byte1 0,34 byte2 0,255
glyph_count = 756 (2f4)
pcf_createfont: using font /etc/helvB18.pcf
fnt_createfont: /etc/helvB18.pcf,0 not found
def char 0 (0)
size 8960 byte1 0,34 byte2 0,255
glyph_count = 756 (2f4)
pcf_createfont: using font /etc/helvB18.pcf
rtv: ipaddress: 192.168.0.20 hostname: mediamvp
replaytv init string: ip=discover
------------> KEY=ip VAL=discover
NTSC mode, 720x480
createfont: (height == 0) found builtin font System (0)
createfont: (height == 0) found builtin font System (0)
screen is 720 x 480
audio write thread started (pid 41)
mpeg read thread started (pid 42)
video write thread started (pid 43)
screensaver enable
Created hole in heap of size 1048576 bytes
screensaver enable
rtv:ERROR: hc_read_pieces: HTTP status error code: HTTP/1.1 404 Object Not Foundrtv:ERROR: rtv_get_device_info: hc_read_pieces call failed: rc=-74
rtv:ERROR: hc_read_pieces: HTTP status error code: HTTP/1.1 404 Object Not Foundrtv:ERROR: rtv_get_device_info: hc_read_pieces call failed: rc=-74
ReplayTV device list: num_devices=1
idx= 0 ip=192.168.0.5 model=5040 name=Replay Tv
rtv:ERROR: hfs_do_simple: end of httpfs status line not found
rtv:ERROR: rtv_get_volinfo: hfs_do_simple returned -71
ERROR: ReplayTV /Video dir access failed. MVP & ReplayTV clocks must not differ by more than 40 seconds.

Originally posted by f2000Keith
The only problem I currently have is when I got to the 'ReplayTV' option from the menu, it acts like it's searching and then I get the following error in a grey box outlined in red:

Warning!

Press any key to continue

Your time set on the MediaMVP is out of sync with the times on your Replay(s). To check to see if this is really the problem do the following.

1) Telnet into the MediaMVP
2) Type "date" check see what the date is currently set to.
3) Set the date to you time server by typing the followng command (be sure to substitue the ip address of your time server)

rdate -s 192.168.0.103

4) Check the date again by typing "date" to make sure it was set.
5) If the date is now correct, try accessing the Replay(s) through the MediaMVP to see if the problem is fixed.

If this fixed the problem, then your startup script is not executing the rdate command properly (assuming you have the command in your script). A possible cause of this could be the CR-LF at the end of text files created in windows (where linux/unix expects just a LF). See previous posts in this thread to address this problem.

A good thing to do is to make sure that the Windows machines that you use to run DVA and boot the mvpmc are time-synchronized with the Replay servers (ntp-production.replaytv.net).

Theoritically, you need to make sure your timezone is set appropriately, but I see that you live in Illinois, and the default is Central, so that is probably not causing you any problems.

Originally posted by oldyellow
Theoritically, you need to make sure your timezone is set appropriately, but I see that you live in Illinois, and the default is Central, so that is probably not causing you any problems.


I found that you don’t really need the Time Zone line in your config script as ling as your server time and your replay’s time sync.
I think that setting the Time Zone only tells the mvpmc to adjust the daylight/standard times without user intervention.
If the Replay’s time is 14:50 hrs, and your MediaMVP's time is 14:50 hrs… you’re good to go (until the spring/fall time change). Doesn’t matter if the server is EST, CST, etc…and the MediaMVP is a different Time Zone just as long as the two are in sync. My setup ran fine with the MediaMVP on CST and my server on EST- cause the two times synced correctly. Without the Time Zone line in the config script, the MediaMVP would be out of timesync with the Replay when the Replay adjusts it’s clock in the spring/fall.
So, you only need the TZ line twice a year...:D :D


BTW: My setup (Windows based mvpmc) has been running 100% stable since 3/26/05. Love it!!!

I double checked what you listed OldYellow except for synching my server with ntp-production.replay.net and everything else looks fine. I'm using the config file from the How To that has already been updated to include the semi-colons to prevent the format issue. I also started up the MediaMVP without the config file doing anything so that I could enter everything in by hand while in the telnet session. The date comes back as the same date and time as the server I'm using and I'm still getting the warning error. What command can you use to check and or synch with a remote time server?

Originally posted by replayrob
I found that you don’t really need the Time Zone line in your config script as ling as your server time and your replay’s time sync.
If the Replay’s time is 14:50 hrs, and your MediaMVP's time is 14:50 hrs… you’re good to go (until the spring/fall time change). Doesn’t matter if the server is EST, CST, etc…and the MediaMVP is a different Time Zone just as long as the two are in sync. My setup ran fine with the MediaMVP on CST and my server on EST- cause the two times synced correctly. Without the Time Zone line in the config script, the MediaMVP would be out of timesync with the Replay when the Replay adjusts it’s clock in the spring/fall.
So, you only need the TZ line twice a year...:D :D

Hummm...
The replays time stamps are in GMT.
I live in EST.
If I remove the set TZ stuff from my config then the MVP's timezone will default to CST.
When I look at replay show descriptions all the show times are off by minus
1 hour. i.e a show I record at 10:00PM shows 9:00PM.
Another experiment is to not start mvpmc from the config file.
telnet to the mvp.
>unset TZ
This completely blows away the TZ variable.
Now start mvpmc.
All the replay show times will be off by +5 hours.
i.e. a show recorded at 10:00PM shows 3:00AM the next day.
This is because 10:00PM EST is 3:00AM GMT the next day.

So...
I'm totally confused as to how you can see the correct show times.
The replay guide show times have no relation to the current time set on the
mvp. What happens is I pull the GMT timestamp for a show from the guide.
Then I run the timestamp through a formatting function that uses the
TZ variable to determine how many hours to shift the timestamp for your
timezone.
The only thing I can think of is that your replay's think they are in CST.
I'm guessing the replay figures out it's timezone from the zipcode entered at setup.

Originally posted by f2000Keith
I double checked what you listed OldYellow except for synching my server with ntp-production.replay.net and everything else looks fine. I'm using the config file from the How To that has already been updated to include the semi-colons to prevent the format issue. I also started up the MediaMVP without the config file doing anything so that I could enter everything in by hand while in the telnet session. The date comes back as the same date and time as the server I'm using and I'm still getting the warning error. What command can you use to check and or synch with a remote time server?

My 1st guess is that the box you are running your time server on is
off by more than 40 seconds.
A simple program to manually sync your box to a time server is sp timesync.
http://www.spdialer.com/download.html
Please try this to sync your server. Then telnet to the mvp and use rdate
to sync the mvp to your server.

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
Hummm...
I'm totally confused as to how you can see the correct show times.

I guess my post was a bit unclear. I didn't mean to imply that the show times were correct. I just wanted to point out that even if the Time Zones were mismatched (between the replay and the MediaMVP) the MPV still connected and streamed with the Replay's as long as both were synced to the same time.

Originally posted by replayrob
I guess my post was a bit unclear. I didn't mean to imply that the show times were correct. I just wanted to point out that even if the Time Zones were mismatched (between the replay and the MediaMVP) the MPV still connected and streamed with the Replay's as long as both were synced to the same time.
Oh... Yes. That makes sense. :-)

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
My 1st guess is that the box you are running your time server on is
off by more than 40 seconds.
A simple program to manually sync your box to a time server is sp timesync.
http://www.spdialer.com/download.html
Please try this to sync your server. Then telnet to the mvp and use rdate
to sync the mvp to your server.

That was it. I dug some more and messed with the NET TIME command and was able to synch my server with the ReplayTV NTP server. I am now able to see everything on my ReplayTV, but for some reason it's still not picking up my DVArchive box.

Here's the error I get from DVArchive when I try to connect from the MediaMVP:

03/29 23:08:13 Notice: DVArchive V3.1 starting
03/29 23:08:15 Notice: UPNP:: Received UPnP packet from previously unknown DVR @ 192.168.0.5 -- looking up DVR info
03/29 23:08:16 Notice: UPNP:: DVArchive has recognized new DVR ReplayTV named Replay Tv at 192.168.0.5:80
03/29 23:08:16 Notice: Scheduler Now Running
03/29 23:08:16 DVR Replay Tv Photo space usage update: Total Capacity 953.62MB, Remaining 952.94MB
03/29 23:08:23 Notice: Timestamp offset for Replay Tv set to 4 seconds.
03/29 23:08:24 DVR Replay Tv space usage update: Total Capacity 147.63GB, Remaining 117.06GB
03/29 23:12:02 Notice: UPNP:: Received UPnP packet from previously unknown DVR @ 192.168.0.20 -- looking up DVR info
03/29 23:12:02 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection reset
03/29 23:12:13 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:12:24 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:12:35 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:12:46 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:12:57 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:13:07 Notice: UPNP:: DVArchive received new DVR broadcast for 192.168.0.20 but wasn't able to initialize/configure it - ignored
03/29 23:18:32 Notice: UPNP:: Received UPnP packet from previously unknown DVR @ 192.168.0.20 -- looking up DVR info
03/29 23:18:32 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection reset
03/29 23:18:43 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:18:54 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:19:05 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:19:16 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:19:26 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:19:36 Notice: UPNP:: DVArchive received new DVR broadcast for 192.168.0.20 but wasn't able to initialize/configure it - ignored
03/29 23:19:58 Notice: UPNP:: Received UPnP packet from previously unknown DVR @ 192.168.0.20 -- looking up DVR info
03/29 23:19:58 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection reset
03/29 23:20:09 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:20:20 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:20:31 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:20:42 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:20:53 ERROR: Unable to fetch details for DVR 192.168.0.20:80 -- Connection refused: connect
03/29 23:21:03 Notice: UPNP:: DVArchive received new DVR broadcast for 192.168.0.20 but wasn't able to initialize/configure it - ignored


I've tried multiple PCs with DVArchive and they're all not being picked up by the mediamvp. I also changed the config file to the actual ip of the ReplayTV and the DVArchive server. When I boot up the MVP, under the device listing it shows the ReplayTV which it can connect to and now it shows my DVA server (named: server) like this Server: (unavailable).

Originally posted by f2000Keith
I've tried multiple PCs with DVArchive and they're all not being picked up by the mediamvp. I also changed the config file to the actual ip of the ReplayTV and the DVArchive server. When I boot up the MVP, under the device listing it shows the ReplayTV which it can connect to and now it shows my DVA server (named: server) like this Server: (unavailable).

Per the Windows-HOWTO DVArchive's IP address can't be statically configured . Thus the 'unavailable'.

I assume your replays have no problem discovering dvarchive?

Does mvpmc correctly discover your replays (No static IP) ?

Are you using Turbo DHCP as your DHCP server?

If not then try using it as that is what I have verified with.
Make sure all the DHCP options specified in the Windows HOWTO are properly configured.
Use ethereal to verify the DHCP Discover & DHCP Offer look correct and include the required options.
Heres a dump for my setup:
MVP Name: mediam_mvp1
MVP IP: 172.31.1.12
Next server(TFTP server) 172.31.1.5
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Router: 172.31.1.1
Broadcast addr: 172.31.1.255
-------------
Frame 2 (342 bytes on wire, 342 bytes captured)
Ethernet II, Src: 00:04:61:44:34:5c, Dst: 00:0d:fe:00:92:00
Internet Protocol, Src Addr: 172.31.1.5 (172.31.1.5), Dst Addr: 172.31.1.12 (172.31.1.12)
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootps (67), Dst Port: bootpc (68)
Bootstrap Protocol
Message type: Boot Reply (2)
Hardware type: Ethernet
Hardware address length: 6
Hops: 0
Transaction ID: 0xe2f4e458
Seconds elapsed: 0
Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast)
Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Your (client) IP address: 172.31.1.12 (172.31.1.12)
Next server IP address: 172.31.1.5 (172.31.1.5)
Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Client MAC address: 00:0d:fe:00:92:00 (172.31.1.12)
Server host name: epox-8k9a
Boot file name: dongle.bin.mvpmc
Magic cookie: (OK)
Option 53: DHCP Message Type = DHCP Offer
Option 1: Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
Option 51: IP Address Lease Time = infinity
Option 59: Rebinding Time Value = infinity
Option 58: Renewal Time Value = infinity
Option 12: Host Name = "media_mvp1"
Option 3: Router = 172.31.1.1
Option 28: Broadcast Address = 172.31.1.255
Option 54: Server Identifier = 172.31.1.5
End Option
Padding
-------------

I suspect your subnet or broadcast address are incorrect.

wow.

I'm just giddy about this ReplayTV/mvpmc thing. Thanks very much to John Honeycutt, Jon Gettler and others for their development efforts; to numerous souls in the community for their assistance in working through the initial hurdles (e.g. oldyellow, aeblank); and to those who will march it forward. My user community (siblings, parents, friends) thank you, as well. (Well, they will once I'm ready to roll it out to their households.)

The Windows HOW-TO worked nearly flawlessly in getting me going; I was up and running mvpmc and streaming off my ReplayTVs within an hour. Thanks for putting it together.

Notes.... As has been discussed previously, the config file needs to be in UNIX text format; otherwise, the config script will fail miserably.
Mounting a CIFS filesystem from XP Home SP1 worked AOK.
I've been unable to view JPEGs, as yet. (But am not too concerned since my primary goal is to just have a stable ReplayTV thin client.)
The config script generates "Illegal Execution" warnings if you try piping ("|") shell commands. (Because of no terminal?) Further, it'll generate core files if you've enabled coredumps (via ulimit, as described). Fortunately, it still processes the commands.
The video display (TV) is spastic between the MMVP firmware bootup and the mvpmc startup screen.
Using the skip ahead/replay/jump buttons when streaming ReplayTV video causes momentary loss of video.
I've had some mvpmc restarts and lockups when streaming RTV video. (Crossing off one feature needed to give mvpmc a true ReplayTV feel.) :)

Additions... I was able to prevent my router DHCP service -- on a Linksys running the Sveasoft Alchemy firmware -- from responding to the MediaMVP DHCP request by running the following iptables configuration command from the Sveasoft command-line (after telnetting in).# iptables -I INPUT 1 -m mac --mac-source 00:0D:FE:12:34:56 -p udp --dport 67 -j DROP... where the MAC address in the command is that of the MediaMVP (obviously). Of course, you need to do a "Save Firewall" after adding this new rule, else it'll be snuffed after the next router reboot. Thanks Sveasoft forums!

I found adding the following line at the start of the configuration file handy for capturing the screen output (STDOUT/STDERR) of its processing. exec 1> mvpmc_config.log 2>&1(Or was this unnecessary due to the output already being directed elsewhere? Or is this dangerous, in that it may fill-up the filesystem?)

Should the paranoiac among us desire to do so, they can password-protect the mvpmc login by overwriting the existing password file, by adding the following line to their config file....echo "root:crypted_password:0:0:root:/:/bin/sh" > /etc/passwd;.... where 'crypted_password' can be generated using the 'crypt' command -- or via websites like the following:

Crypt Password Generator
http://jpirr.nic.ad.jp/crypt_gen_web.html

If looking to save files to a network share from the MVP, you can mount a filesystem as hidden (from the mvpmc "Filesystem" browser) by prefixing a dot, ".", to the final directory name. For example... mkdir -p /Mounts/.Debug
mount.cifs //192.168.1.1/DEBUG /Mounts/.Debug/ -o rw,password=guest(Well, actually, just prefix whatever directories you want hidden w/ a dot, knowing that all lower directories will then also be hidden from the mvpmc "Filesystem" browser.

Got carried away seeing what I could get away with in the config file, in an attempt to move towards a modular approach to configuring mvpmc instances. See the attached zip file for the resulting overkill config.


Well, that's enough for the first pass. Thanks again...

Regs,
Karl K.

Thanks for the post Karl.
I inserted a few comments.

Originally posted by krkaufman

As has been discussed previously, the config file needs to be in UNIX text format; otherwise, the config script will fail miserably.

You should be able to put a semi-colon at the end of each line
to get around the windows <cr><lf> incompatability.
I unsuccessfully searched for a free & easy to configure windows editor that
will save text files in unix format. If anybody knows of one please send me
the link and I will add it to the windows FAQ.

The config script generates "Illegal Execution" warnings if you try piping ("|") shell commands. (Because of no terminal?) Further, it'll generate core files if you've enabled coredumps (via ulimit, as described). Fortunately, it still processes the commands.
The video display (TV) is spastic between the MMVP firmware bootup and the mvpmc startup screen.
Using the skip ahead/replay/jump buttons when streaming ReplayTV video causes momentary loss of video.

The shell piping functionality is a busybox thing.
The spastic display is a video no-sync condition that occurs between when linux resets the mvp video hardware and when mvpmc starts up.
Probably not a difficult thing to fix. Just not high on the priority list for Jon
or myself.
As for the replaytv skip/jump loss of video.
This bugs me too. Actually the video artifacts that occur during the delay
bug me more than the delay.
The majority of the delay is the networking time to suck down 96K of
data for the new video segment to feed to the hardware.
I tried doing this with 32K chunks a few months back but it sometimes caused
hangs for highres shows when the hardware would process all the data before the next 32K chunk was ready.
Not sure how to fix this.


I've had some mvpmc restarts and lockups when streaming RTV video.

The restarts are most likely due to mvpmc coring.
Jon's putting out a new release in the next few days that contains
a number of replaytv bug fixes. Hopefully this will resolve your issues.
If it doesn't then email me with a description of the problem.
If I can't reproduce it then I'll send instructions on how to collect
data to help debug the problem.


I found adding the following line at the start of the configuration file handy for capturing the screen output (STDOUT/STDERR) of its processing. exec 1> mvpmc_config.log 2>&1(Or was this unnecessary due to the output already being directed elsewhere? Or is this dangerous, in that it may fill-up the filesystem?)


If you start mvpmc from the config script the output is basically
/dev/nulled.
Guess you could redirect stdout/stderr to a cifs/nfs mounted file.
This would create a potential for filling up the filesystem though.

For a long term fix I'd like to start sending mvpmc output to syslog
if it is started from the config script. (Need to talk to Jon about this)
You can start syslog from your config file as follows:
>klogd
>syslogd <syslog server IP addr>:514

The dhcp/tftp turbo web site has a free windows syslog server available
for download.
With the current state of the code, only the mvp kernel logs go to syslog.

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
I unsuccessfully searched for a free & easy to configure windows editor that
will save text files in unix format. If anybody knows of one please send me
the link and I will add it to the windows FAQ.


http://www.textpad.com/

Its technically not free, but it has an "unlimited" trial/evaluation period.

Originally posted by John Honeycutt
I unsuccessfully searched for a free & easy to configure windows editor that will save text files in unix format. There are a number of free text editors here (http://www.nonags.com/nonags/texted32.html) that say they read/write in Unix format.

I've also used Zeus (www.zeusedit.com). Supports unix formats. Shareware version available.

I've updated the mvpmc windows-howto with links to windows editors
that support saving files in unix mode.
Scyber, I8er, MrFussy, thanks for the links.

Originally posted by Scyber
http://www.textpad.com/I just tried out Textpad, and it works great. Thanks.

Textpad allows you to select the text file format (PC, UNIX or MAC) when you save the file via the "Save As..." method; otherwise, it just saves the file in its original format.


It's moot now, but one could also run a DOS (CR/LF) file through the DOS2UNIX command to strip-out the carriage returns. Here's some references for those interested...

MS KB article...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;268901

GPL'd offering for Win...
http://www.bastet.com/software/software.html

Another dos2unix binary for Win...
http://www.icdatamaster.com/convert.html#TEXT%20/%20HTML%20/%20PS

Discussion...
http://kb.indiana.edu/data/acux.html

Re: Java Server for MediaMVP

Hey, has anyone worked with the 'jmvpserver' code project mentioned over on SHSPVR forums? I'm thinking it may provide a jumpstart to anyone looking to roll their own server code for mvpmc.
SHSPVR thread discussing the 'jmvpserver' project (http://www.shspvr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5266&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=33)
SourceForge CVS Repository for the 'jmvpserver' project (http://sourceforge.net/projects/jmvpserver)Sadly, there doesn't appear to have been any activity on the project since November 2004.


Other MediaMVP projects of interest listed over on SourceForge.... MediaMVP media server (http://sourceforge.net/projects/vdr-mediamvp/) ; See also http://www.rst38.org.uk/mediamvp/
MediaMVP Libraries and Applications (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mediamvplibs/)
MVP Windows Media Center (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mvpwmc/) (you guys!)

MediaMVP BTV3 Interface (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mvpbtv/)
MVP Windows Media Center (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mvpmc/)

Originally posted by replayrob
One problem though....
I see both my dongle.bin.mvpmc file and my dongle.bin.mvpmc.config file being uploaded to the MediaMPV but, it seems to be ignoring my config script file. Like it doesn't exist. My timezone is not being set to ET, doesn't see my time server at 192.168.0.103 and the mvpmc command line is not being executed. When I manually telnet the commands to the MediaMVP... it works perfectly. Other thing I noticed- when I copy the suggested test simple config script from the "how to" guide to the C:\Program Files\TFTP Turbo\tftp_root folder- the TZ is still set to CT. So it's ignoring the sample script too.
I'm using (both in the tftp_root folder):
dongle.bin.mvpmc
dongle.bin.mvpmc.config
They both successfully upload.

Here's my config script:
TZ=EST+5EDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2; export TZ
rdate -s 192.168.0.103
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB18.pcf -R "ip=discover"


Hi all, I'm having same issue as Rob does. I've downloaded TextPad and I even re-wrote the scipt from scratch and saved it as UNIX/ANSI.
still tftp does not read the config file. I've tried everything in the last 4 hours.
I can copy and paste the command from the script to the telent window and MediaMVP will work like a champ.
Please help.
Sam

Originally posted by safisam
I've downloaded TextPad and I even re-wrote the scipt from scratch and saved it as UNIX/ANSI. still tftp does not read the config file. ...

I can copy and paste the command from the script to the telent window and MediaMVP will work like a champ.Are you seeing any activity in the TFTP Turbo "Activity" pane during the startup process? You *should* see both files being uploaded. (As pictured in the image over at the mvpmc Windows HOW-TO instructions (http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/windows/mvpmc_windoze_howto.html#s8).)

http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/windows/tftpturbo-downloads.gif

It would be strange for the dongle file to be loaded, but not the config.

You can verify the location of your TFTP Turbo 'tftp_root' directory via the dialog in step 7.3 of the HOW-TO.

Also, you may want to attach your config file for review.

> I'm having same issue as Rob does.

Rob's not having any problems anymore. He suffered from the DOS/UNIX text file difference, but was up and running later that day. (If saving the file as UNIX ANSI doesn't help you, make sure that each command line in the config script ends with a semi-colon.)

Please report back when you can, Sam. Thanks!

Originally posted by honeycut
I've updated the mvpmc windows-howto with links to windows editors
that support saving files in unix mode.
Scyber, I8er, MrFussy, thanks for the links.


Just want to thank you for all your efforts.

Originally posted by krkaufman
Are you seeing any activity in the TFTP Turbo "Activity" pane during the startup process? You *should* see both files being uploaded.
Hi Karl,
Yes there's activities in the TFTP Turbo screen but only the dongle.bin.mpvmc is being uploaded as I mentioned earlier.

Also, you may want to attach your config file for review.I'm using the file you sent me as is with the exception of the ip address. Mine is 192.168.0.103. but I'll send it once I get home.

(If saving the file as UNIX ANSI doesn't help you, make sure that each command line in the config script ends with a semi-colon.)

I tried that already, no success. again, I'll put my config file on this forum later today.

General Questions:
Once I get my mvpmc to work properly, I would like to know:
[list=1]* Can mvpmc paly more than one mp3 audio? like the MediaMVP you can shuffle, play all....?
* In regard to pictures, can you slide picuters?
* How can I change back & forth between mvpmc and MediaMVP installation for example to listen to radio?[/list=1]

Thanks.

Originally posted by safisam
Yes there's activities in the TFTP Turbo screen but only the dongle.bin.mpvmc is being uploaded as I mentioned earlier.
Yes, I know that you mentioned only the one is being uploaded, but you're not giving any explicit details as to what you're observing. There's no way of knowing whether your "only the one is being uploaded" statement is based on what you see after telnetting into the MediaMVP or what you're seeing in the TFTP Turbo activity pane. It's very difficult to assist without knowing exactly what you're looking at.

For example, "there's activities in the TFTP Turbo screen": Ok, *what* activity? Are you seeing both files in the activity screen or just the dongle? (I ask this, because it's possible that some other problem may be causing the config TFTP to fail; however unlikely.)

If you *are* seeing the dongle.bin show up in the TFTP Turbo screen but *not* the config, then I can only think of 3 possibilities to check...

- Is the config file correctly named to match the dongle?

Double-check that the config filename is IDENTICAL to the dongle filename, but with the ".config" extension. For example:

"dongle.bin.config" goes with "dongle.bin"
"dongle_mvpmc.config" goes with "dongle_mvpmc"

- Are you sure that your dongle file is an mvpmc dongle file?

Just to be sure, re-download the 0.1.4 mvpmc dongle (or another version)

- Was your dongle corrupted at some point?

Ditto on the re-download.

(Though if you can telnet in, which I believe you said you can, your dongle appears to both be fine and an mvpmc dongle; leaving just the file naming possibility, to my pea brain.)

Originally posted by safisam
Hi Karl,
Yes there's activities in the TFTP Turbo screen but only the dongle.bin.mpvmc is being uploaded as I mentioned earlier.


Here's another possibility.
The MVP boot rom does a dchp discover then tftp's the dongle.bin.
Then linux starts to boot.
As linux boots it does a 2nd dhcp discover. (This is because the bootrom
doesn't pass the networking info to linux.)
After linux boots it executes the following command from /etc/rcS to get the config file:

tftp -g -l /etc/dongle.config -r ${DONGLE}.config ${SERVER}

Decoded this is tftp:
-g : get file
-r: remote file name ${DONGLE}.config (dongle.bin.mvpmc.config)
-l: local file name: name for the tftp'd file on the mvp filesystem(dongle.config)
${SERVER} ip address to tftp the file from.

It's possible that your DHCP Turbo configuration is partially messed up.
In this case I would assume $SERVER is wrong since if $DONGLE was wrong
I don't think the boot rom would have been able to tftp the dongle.
Note: SERVER correlates to the DHCP Turbo "next server" option.
Here's how to check things:
-telnet to the mvp
list the /etc dir: #ls
You should see a udhcpc.config file. This is the dhcp info.
cat the file: #cat /etc/udhcpc.config

Verify that your DONGLE and SERVER are set correctly.
Example from my box:
# cat /etc/udhcpc.config
DONGLE=dongle.bin.mvpmc
SERVER=172.31.1.1

You can also try to manually tftp the config file and see what happens.
eg: #tftp -g -l /etc/test.config -r dongle.bin.mvpmc.config <server ip address>

I re-downloaded dongle.bin.mvpmc-0.1.4 and install it in C:\Program Files\TFTP Turbo\tftp_root and renamed it to dongle.bin.mvpmc

I'm attaching my config file and couple of images.

members.sparedollar.com/safisam/tftp-image1.jpg
members.sparedollar.com/safisam/tftp-image2.jpg

Sorry could not post images because I'm new. but here the link to the images.
Sam

Originally posted by safisam

I'm attaching my config file and couple of images.
members.sparedollar.com/safisam/tftp-image1.jpg
members.sparedollar.com/safisam/tftp-image2.jpg

Sam, look at the SERVER variable in tftp-image2.jpg
It is set to 19.168.0.103.
Looks like it needs to be 192.168.0.103
You need to fix your DHCP Turbo "next server" option.
John...

John, Karl, I want to thank you so much for your help. I feel bad that I didn't discover this small error myself. The error was the IP address missing a number. Well it's working like a champ.
again, thanks for the help.
Sam

Originally posted by safisam
General Questions:
Now that my mvpmc is working properly, I would like to know:
[list=1]* Can mvpmc paly more than one mp3 audio? like the MediaMVP you can shuffle, play all....?
* How can I change back & forth between mvpmc and MediaMVP installation for example to listen to radio?[/list=1]

Thanks.
Can someone give an answer to the above? Thanks

Originally posted by honeycut
Sam, look at the SERVER variable in tftp-image2.jpg
It is set to 19.168.0.103.
Looks like it needs to be 192.168.0.103
You need to fix your DHCP Turbo "next server" option.Good EYE, John..!!

Just notified via email....

mvpmc 0.1.5 has been released on the project web site.

http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net

Originally posted by safisam
* Can mvpmc play more than one mp3 audio? like the MediaMVP you can shuffle, play all....?
* In regard to pictures, can you slide pictures?To the best of my knowledge, not yet.


* How can I change back & forth between mvpmc and MediaMVP installation for example to listen to radio?Very carefully. :) (lame, I know)

Actually, switching back-and-forth appears to be as simple as removing/adding the "boot file" definition for the MediaMVP in the DHCP server (and then saving the change, and rebooting the MediaMVP).

Assuming you're running under Windows and have mvpmc up and running according to JohnH's excellent Windows HOW-TO... and you also have the Hauppauge software installed and running on your PC....

mvpmc to Hauppauge Delete the 'boot file' (-1) option from the MediaMVP's "Named Policy" in DHCP Turbo
Save DHCP Turbo configuration change
Reboot MediaMVPHauppauge back to mvpmc Add 'boot file' (-1) option back into the DHCP Turbo Named Policy for the MediaMVP, specifying the mvpmc dongle binary.
Save DHCP Turbo configuration change
Reboot MediaMVP

hmm, that's actually not bad, as a tryout I stoped the DHCP, TFTP and time server and then reboot. Then to switch back, I restarted the server back up and reboot.

Well I see there's continuous improvment to the software, so I'm sure sooner or later will have the other options.

I'm having a new issue (and that due to lack of knowledge in Linux) I have C and D drive (2 seperate file systems) I was able to mount a dir in C using the mount.cifs. for D I didn't know how to do it, so I created a short cut of d:\dir on C and tried to mount that. I'm getting empty dir, although one dir worked but the other 3 didn't. (I'm sure this time it's not a typo, as I read it many times. but here it's anyway:

mkdir /Media;
mkdir /Media/MyPictures;
mount.cifs //192.168.0.103/Kodak_Images /Media/MyPictures/ -o password=guest,rsize=34000;

mkdir /MyMusic;
mkdir /MyMusic/Music;
mount.cifs //192.168.0.103/Music /MyMusic/Music/ -o password=guest,rsize=34000;

mkdir /Media/Movies;
mount.cifs //192.168.0.103/Movies /Media/Movies/ -o password=guest,rsize=34000;

mkdir /Media/Movies2;
mount.cifs //192.168.0.103/Movies2 /Media/Movies2/ -o password=guest,rsize=34000;

mkdir /MyMusic/Music_Video;
mount.cifs //192.168.0.103/Music_Video /MyMusic/Music_Video/ -o password=guest,rsize=34000;

mkdir /Media/Ovideo;
mount.cifs //192.168.0.103/Ovideo /Media/Ovideo/ -o password=guest,rsize=34000;

mkdir /MyMusic/My_Music;
mount.cifs //192.168.0.103/My_Music /MyMusic/My_Music/ -o password=guest,rsize=34000;

mkdir /Media/Comedy;
mount.cifs //192.168.0.103/Comedy /Media/Comedy/ -o password=guest,rsize=34000;

comedy, Music, MyPictures and Movies works fine, but not the others. For example Comedy is a shortcut of D:\Sharing\Comedy
while Movies2 is a shortcut in C for "D:\kazza downloads\Movies"
I can provide more detail if needed.
Sam

Originally posted by safisam
hmm, that's actually not bad, as a tryout I stoped the DHCP, TFTP and time server and then reboot. Then to switch back, I restarted the server back up and reboot.That'll work, too. (I went the "boot file" route, thinking it would work in environments with multiple MediaMVPs -- where shutting down the DHCP/TFTP/Time services would be global; and I wasn't sure how the MediaMVP would get its IP address with my router blocking its DHCP requests and DHCP Turbo shutdown.)

FYI... To make your switchover easier, you could write a couple batch scripts to shutdown/startup all 3 services. For example....StopEm.bat:
net stop "Absolute Time Server"
net stop "DHCP Turbo"
net stop "TFTP Turbo"

StartEm.bat:
net start "Absolute Time Server"
net start "DHCP Turbo"
net start "TFTP Turbo"
Originally posted by safisam
comedy, Music, MyPictures and Movies works fine, but not the others. For example Comedy is a shortcut of D:\Sharing\Comedy
while Movies2 is a shortcut in C for "D:\kazza downloads\Movies"I'm not sure what you mean by "shortcuts" in this situation; the source of the CIFS mounts should be formatted as follows://IP_Address/Share_NameThat is, they need to be network-shared folders.

To determine your available share names, run "NET SHARE" in a command window on your XP system and verify the names against your config file. Also, even if the share names are listed, it's possible that they're restricted from "guest" users.

Karl, thanks so much for the help. Everything is working fine now (sharing and the bat script)
I appreciate your help and John and all those who provided some advise.
Sam

Originally posted by krkaufman
Just notified via email....

mvpmc 0.1.5 has been released on the project web site.

http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net
Any major reason to upgrade from mvpmc 0.1.4?
My 0.1.4 has been 100% stable since bootup (about a month ago).
Thanks...Replayrob

For replaytv, Not much reason. There are several bug fixes related
to problems people reported with accessing the guide. Was causing
mvpmc restarts and problems deleting shows. So if your seeing
these problems you probably want to upgrade.
CIFS share performance is greatly improved if you mount windows shares.
Hopefully, manual comercial skip, and couple other bells will be available in the next release.
John...

Originally posted by honeycut
For replaytv, Not much reason. There are several bug fixes related
to problems people reported with accessing the guide. Was causing
mvpmc restarts and problems deleting shows. So if your seeing
these problems you probably want to upgrade.
CIFS share performance is greatly improved if you mount windows shares.
Hopefully, manual commercial skip, and couple other bells will be available in the next release.
John...
Ok, thanks John... I'll stick with 0.1.4 since it's been perfect for me.
CA would be an awesome feature.
Right now I just hit the quick skip a few times. It's a little inconvenient when you're eating finger food (BBQ ribs, corn, crabs, etc..) and have to pick up the remote to QS through he commercials. CA ould be the "cherry on top" of MediaMVP!!

Wait, you mean that you can use this thing for non-ReplayTV stuff?

-----------------------------
mvpmc 1.6 released
-----------------------------
Jon just released it last night.
Here's the announced list of updates:
- turn off video output when power button on the remote is used
- lots of myth live tv improvments
- added colortest program to the settings menu
- ability to change themes through a new themes menu
- made replaytv widgets themeable
- added replaytv evt processing and manual commercial skip
- enhanced replaytv jump/seek OSD

Things of interest for ReplayTV
- Manual commercial skip
- +28 sec skip pauses on commercial breaks.
- Enhanced OnScreenDisplay (OSD)
- A number of ndx file processing robustness changes.
- Several DVArchive guide processing bug fixes & workarounds.

Let me know if you have any issues.

BTW: The commercial skip code is based off the VLC project replaytv code and
the RTV5K tools evtdump.c code.

The mvpmc replaytv webpage has been updated with info on commercial skip
and the new OSD.
http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/replaytv/replaytv.html

Themes
------
Also, please checkout the theme stuff.
Right now it allows selecting several different color/font schemes specified by xml files.
You can also specify your own theme file from the mvpmc command line with the
'-t' option.

mvpmc -t <path to theme file> where the <patch to theme file> is a local dir or nfs/cifs mounted dir.
See the windows HowTo for info on mounting a CIF share.
If you don't want to mount a cifs/nfs dir you can place a theme file in your
tftp directory then update your mvpmc .config file to tftp it to a mvp local dir.

Example for rtv.xml tftp'd to mvp local /tmp/themes dir.
> tftp -g -l /tmp/themes/rtv.xml -r rtv.xml ${SERVER}
> mvpmc -R disc -t /tmp/themes/rtv.xml

Following is a link to the current default.xml which is a good place to start.
http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/mvpmc/mvpmc/themes/default.xml?rev=1.9&view=auto

Just search for 'rtv_' for the replaytv related entries.

Colortest
---------
The theme stuff is pretty worthless without a tool to compare foreground/background colors.
Following is a link detailing how to use the new colortest utility.
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=7310883&forum_id=39055

If someone wants to do a ReplayTV like theme I'll be happy to add it to the mvpmc distribution.

John...

Hi John....
When upgrading from 1.4 to 1.6, do I need to modify my existing config script??
Thanks.... ReplayRob

Hi John....
When upgrading from 1.4 to 1.6, do I need to modify my existing config script??
Thanks.... ReplayRob
You need to change the name of your .config file to match the name of the new dongle. dongle.bin.mvpmc-0.1.5.config to dongle.bin.mvpmc-0.1.6.config or whatever you name the new dongle file.
You no longer need to use the mvpmc "-f /etc/helvB18.pcf" option as the
18pt font is taken care of by the theme files.
Thats about it.
John...

Thanks John, maybe I'll upgrade this weekend. :D :D

If someone wants to do a ReplayTV like theme I'll be happy to add it to the mvpmc distribution.

John, see attached for my first swag at making the mvpmc ReplayTV interface look a bit more RTV-ish. I'll send along add'l feedback once I've taken 0.1.6 around the block a few more times.

Thanks hugely for your effort, John.

John, here's another pass at a ReplayTV theme for mvpmc. I've stepped outside the ReplayTV section with this one (default_rtv.xml), intending it for Replay-only mvpmc's, and am also attaching a set of files I'm using to override the default mvpmc image files. See the zip for a rough install/config Readme.

I've done about all I can see w/ the mvpmc themes to simulate ReplayTV look-and-feel without modifying the code.

Thanks again...

Regards,
Karl K.

John, here's another pass at a ReplayTV theme for mvpmc. I've stepped outside the ReplayTV section with this one (default_rtv.xml), intending it for Replay-only mvpmc's, and am also attaching a set of files I'm using to override the default mvpmc image files. See the zip for a rough install/config Readme.

Hey Karl,
Cool stuff!, Thanks.
I really like your circle-r image. Plan to replace the current image with yours if that's
OK. Also, asked Jon to take a look at the cleanup you did to the main menu images.
We're all for adding a replaytv specific theme to the mvpmc filesystem. I'll start with yours and probably do some minor tweaking.
We're still not sure what we want to do about additional images.
Maybe do something like make alternate images themeable from the xml file.
Small ones may be OK to put in the filesystem. Due to a limited ramdisk we may
want to add a xml tftp option so larger images can automagically be tftp'd on boot.
John...

Anyone got some screenshots of the theme? My mediamvp is packed up right now for a move, but I am curious want it looks like.

Anyone got some screenshots of the theme?
See http://home.comcast.net/~krkweb/mvpmc/rtv_theme.htm

And good luck w/ the move.

I was too excited about this mvpmc project that I decided to buy a MediaMVP 2 days ago for $59 at Circuitcity.com and forgo the 10% additional discount that is supposed to start today. Anyways, the box works right out of the box. I have 2 questions that I' ve sent to Hauppauge's Tech Support but still haven't gotten any answer. I am hoping that this forum can help me with these:

1) The color of the MPG played back on my TV is a little too orangy. When displaying the jpg, this gets worse. I use RCA cable for Video Out/In. I'm going to try an S cable tonight to see if that makes a difference. Or, is this a defect unit?
I also used the show_ui.bat file to get the UI displayed on my desktop to play back to mpg and jpgs, and the colors are just normal and fine.

2) The WMA files (without the Microsoft license keys) are played back (on TV) okay. So are MP3. However, when playing back WMA files that require MS license keys I get a popup saying :
"Failed to load Windows Media file. Perhaps, you need to install MW Player 9"

These particular WMA files play fine with Windows Media player 10 on my Windows XP SP2 desktop, where the MediaMVP server is also running.

Thanks in advance.

Try shoutcast with the newer version of the Hauppage SW! It's a hoot.

I've noticed that my colors out of the MVP seem a tad "darker" rather than orangy or red. Some others have noted that some versions of the MVP have had problems. You can read about it at http://www.shspvr.com/smf/

There you can search and find some info regarding color issues.

In my case, the darker color can be mediated with increasing a brightness setting in the MVPMC software. For that, you will need to load the MVPMC files into your MVP and forgo some of the features of the native software. The included sw might have this ability, but I don't know as I hardly ever use it.

In case you are wondering, I have two MVP's that fall in the model range with the supposed color problem but am quite fortunate to not have the symptoms.

BTW: Love that price you got at Circuit!

Enjoy!

Just got one from Circuit City for $50 after rebates.

I am a bit miffed that I can't flash the MVP with mvpmc software cos I don't leave a PC running all the time, is that going to be a problem?

I plan to load the PC up with DHCP, TFTP, the time server and whatever Haupage software I need. Then boot the mediaMVP and get the latest mvpmc into it, then leave the mediaMVP running 24/7 on small UPC and hope for no long power outs (naive as live in California). I will not leave the PC running since the reason I want this setup is for bedroom replayTV client mostly, and of course my replays are always on.

Does the mediaMVP need the PC after booting its software?

If I use the power button on remote to turn off the mediaMVP does it retain the software load, or does it reload software from server when you power up again?

I thought about going the hacked Xbox route but those are too noisy for a bedroom.

I'd appreciate some advice as I don't really want to get it out of the box if my config is a non-starter.

TIA

I bought a mediaMVP about a month ago... I found it to be pretty buggy even with all the software I could find to download and tweaking everything. It was usable, as long as you knew not to FF or pause or whatever else at the wrong time. I was constantly fighting sync issues if I did anything besides watch a video from start to finish.

Last night I got a good deal on a used XBOX and softmodded it myself (free if you use the hotswap technique) After using Xbox media center for one night, I'm wishing I had done it a LONG time ago. Everything is stable, and the video quality far surpasses the mediaMVP.

I'll be selling my MediaMVP.

P.S.
I still don't own an Xbox controller (just have the remote control). I'm not sure if I'll even get one.

yes XBMC is superb software for sure, I use it for MP3, pictures, video, DVD playback, replayTV client, internet radio, internet video, internet TV, weather, game console emulation, oh and it plays really cool games too - off the hard drive.

One advantage of using the Xbox xcontroller instead of DVD remote is the trigger buttons let you do really fast scroll up and down which is great for fast navigation of media lists. wireless Xbox controllers can be had on ebay for $10-15.

I still want to use mediaMVP as replayTV client in bedroom, but if it's going to be pain and buggy, I may just return it.

Opinions?

I'll cast my vote.

Think of returning it as a $55 off coupon off an xbox!

Don't lowball the worth of your time and toil. The price difference is negligible. XBox is robustly developed. You obviously want to see shows in your bedroom. suck it up; offset the expense by eating rice for a few days.

not a question of cash, it's all about fan noise.

If you can make an Xbox silent and even better go into low power standby when dormant I am in for one in every room

I was too excited about this mvpmc project that I decided to buy a MediaMVP 2 days ago for $59 at Circuitcity.com and forgo the 10% additional discount that is supposed to start today.

I just looked around CC web site and could not see anything about 10% off on the MediaMVP. The weekly ad has a 10% off on TVs and home audio if you buy more than $200-$300.

Can someone confirm?

Thanks,

BLNT

not a question of cash, it's all about fan noise.

If you can make an Xbox silent and even better go into low power standby when dormant I am in for one in every room

I'm no expert, I've had mine going less than a day. But my new dashboard has a "shutdown" option. Once it shuts down - it's silent. The fan would only be on when your TV shows are on... so you already have noise from your speakers. Unless, of course, you use captions.

I haven't figured out if there is a way to turn the xbox ON with the remote yet though. It boots alot faster than I expected though.

Does the mediaMVP need the PC after booting its software? Not if you only want to use the ReplayTV streaming capability. (i.e. Don't plan on playing music or video off of a shared folder.)

If I use the power button on remote to turn off the mediaMVP does it retain the software load, or does it reload software from server when you power up again? Yes, the MediaMVP will retain the mvpmc code in that scenario. The mvpmc code is only downloaded after un/replugging the power cable (total power loss) or through the 'Reboot' option on the mvpmc main menu.

blnt,
I found the 10% coupon link under "Great Found Deals" forum. The forum is now (as of 7/1) a paid service. I wish I could remeber the code for you.
I just returned to box back to CC.

Actually I found the link at http://laffan.lunarpages.com/~w888002/cc10coupon.pdf

dkd

Your link did not work but I founs the coupon elsewhere: DJA3QLGADC till 07/04/2005

Thanks anyway

blnt

I don't leave a PC running all the time, is that going to be a problem?
Nope! Once the dongle.bin has been uploaded to the MediaMPV, you don't need any PC to support it. I've had my MediaMPV running off it's initial boot up for a few months now... and I even changed my router, never had to reboot the MediaMPV- not even once!





Does the mediaMVP need the PC after booting its software? No.






If I use the power button on remote to turn off the mediaMVP does it retain the software load
The power button on the remote only turns off the A/V output on the MediaMPV. The only time you need to reload the dongle.bin is if the unit has glitched (very, very rare) or the AC power has been removed.

... I even changed my router, never had to reboot the MediaMPV- not even once! Out of curiosity, if changing the router had changed your local network setup (e.g. changed network addressing from 192.168.1.* to 10.0.0.*), then a full reload of the MediaMVP *would* have been necessary?

The power button on the remote only turns off the A/V output on the MediaMPV. The only time you need to reload the dongle.bin is if the unit has glitched (very, very rare) or the AC power has been removed. And not all lockups require a full reboot. Often a simple restart of 'mvpmc' -- via power off/on thru the remote control -- is sufficient to start streaming again.

Out of curiosity, if changing the router had changed your local network setup (e.g. changed network addressing from 192.168.1.* to 10.0.0.*), then a full reload of the MediaMVP *would* have been necessary?

I pre-configured my router with only my local PC connected it. Once I had it set to my network specs, I rebooted it then plugged it into my switch. My MedisMPV is connected to my 8 port switch.... it never even noticed me changing out the router :D :D

I bought a mediaMVP about a month ago... I found it to be pretty buggy even with all the software I could find to download and tweaking everything. It was usable, as long as you knew not to FF or pause or whatever else at the wrong time. I was constantly fighting sync issues if I did anything besides watch a video from start to finish.

I assume you are refering to mvpmc functionality other than replaytv.
I have not encountered any of the above issues for rtv streaming and haven't received any reports of rtv streaming issues.
I have seen posts on the mvpmc mailing list about some of the issues you menition when playing non-replaytv mpgs from nfs mounts.

As for mvpmc vs xbox xbmc.
I agree xbmc is a more flexable, more powerful, and more robust all around media client.
mvpmc appears to be a stronger replaytv thin client than xbmc.
I don't own an xbox but have looked at the xbmc replaytv code.
There doesn't appear to be any idx file or evt file processing so no
reliable jumping to times or commercial skip.
mvpmc has replaytv equivalent functionality for jumping to a time, +28 / -7 second seek along with manual commercial skip.
mvpmc also has the ability to delete a replaytv show where xbmc does not.
These are all very important features to me.
I haven't seen any mvpmc video quality issues for rtv mpegs although I guess that could be considered subjective and dependent on the tv used for viewing.

If you want a single box to act as a media client with a minimum of headaches
then I agree mvpmc currently isn't the best choice.
I think mvpmc is the most full featured replaytv thin client out there.
Of course I am quite biased ;-)
VLC is the only other app that has a feature mvpmc doesn't. (auto commercial skip).

I hadn't even gotten around to playing with the mediamvp as a thin client for my replaytvs. It was far too buggy getting it play back my videos that were stored on my PC, which was my primary reason to buy it. So, I can't comment on using it as a thin client.

However, I can comment on using the xbox media center as a replaytv thin client. It has a +1 minute and -1 minute, as well as a 7 sec back button. The minute forward is a little hard to get used to when you're used to +28 seconds of a replaytv. But the video output quality is certainly better than the mediamvp was.

Well I guess I jinxed myself by posting about never having to reboot my MediaMVP.
Seems sometime last night our power went out for a few minutes (the microwave and oven clocks were flashing 12:00 this A.M.) which caused the MediaMVP to reboot. Of course this is no fault of the excellent software… blame it on our power company. I’ve been up since 3/26/05 without a reboot, pretty impressive.
Guess I now have a reason to try ver. 0.1.6 :D :D

I'm very low-tech with my knowledge of programming, linux and hardware.

Modifying the MVP to load MVPMC and use it for a Replay Client was very easy and using the system has been completely trouble free. In fact, it was far easier than modding my XBOX. Please, no arguments. It was easier for ME.

As I may have stated before, I have 2 Replay's and 2 MVP's running the MVPMC system.

Breakdown:
It's point and click.
I can skip commercials with one button. (CA Advance requires one button push)
I can easily jump to any point in the program by entering the minutes and pushing one button.
It starts playback where I left off on the Replay.
I can remotely delete shows after viewing.
Use a small remote. Not a corded controller, a $$ wireless controller or even a 30 dollar optional remote.
It's noise free (HW uses no fan or other moving parts).
Has great picture quality.
Plays files from my PC, folder or DVArchive.
Automatically detects my ReplayTV’s and DV Archive.
It does its exact job cheaply and efficiently.
It's small and fits anywhere.
My wife can understand and use it.
For its cost I can have two to three thin clients compared to one XBox.

True it can't play DVD's locally or other nice tricks that a modded Xbox is capeable of but the needs I have are specific.

I need to play videos from my replay's at remote locations serviced by the lan. I need it to be silent. I need the client to be very small, unobtrusive, unnoticed. I need it to be cheap.
One option was a distributed video system.
Cheapest was using a Frequency agile modulator. I happen to have two Channel Plus AV3's. Cost=Free
Negatives: Loose the ability to watch different things simultaneously. Need for a IR repater to control remote equipment. On hand equipment was IR repeater box. Size of the box was nearly the same as the MVP.
2nd Option using Xbox. Cheap, because I already have an Xbox. Cost=Free for first unit and $$ for remote control options.
Negatives: It's large; especially for the kitchen table top tv or the 27" perched atop a drawer cabinet in the bedroom. Fan & HD noise during operation. Control options are either corded at no cost or remote or wireless at extra cost. Costly if I wanted more than one.

Or use an MVP running MVPMC. For all the reasons listed above. Cost=$75 bucks per client. (Now, even cheaper)
Negatives: Can not play internet radio, Divix or photos of any size without reloading native software running on an active server.
Bonus: When traveling, MP3's & divix movies on laptop (if wifi available Shoutcast) + MVP + crossover network cable = Entertainment system w/ IR remote control that can hook up to any television w/ avinputs. All this and it fits within the laptop carry bag.

Now to the conclusion of the obvious ramblings I have posted. MVPMC works for me. I can’t speak for others. I however can heartily recommend MVPMC to people who wish for a small compact and cheap “set it and forget it” solution for remotely viewing recorded content recorded on replaytv boxes.

So, please dont hash whether a modded xbox is superior or inferior. We would then have to include the HTPC arguments and the whole point of using an ultra thin client are lost.

Essentially, the true test of value for MVPMC lies with the user.

I hadn't even gotten around to playing with the mediamvp as a thin client for my replaytvs. It was far too buggy getting it play back my videos that were stored on my PC, which was my primary reason to buy it. So, I can't comment on using it as a thin client. .

I however wish you did try MVPMC it because it truly is trouble free.

As to your problems, the native SW for the MVP worked equally well on my old P3 800 and our newer laptop. Since this unit is a native MPEG2 player, your problems may have been with transcoding AVI files and DIVIX to an MPEG2 stream. Here the fault lies not in the MVP but the ability of your system to transcode on the fly.

I was easily able to listen to shoutcast, view AVIs, MP3's, Divx encoded files (my laptop is fast enough to transcode and serve Divx), or any dvarchive mpeg2.

Marc

I assume you are refering to mvpmc functionality other than replaytv.
I have not encountered any of the above issues for rtv streaming and haven't received any reports of rtv streaming issues.
Nor have I had any problems.

mvpmc also has the ability to delete a replaytv show where xbmc does not.
I did not know that. Seems like the xbox media center could do that.
I think mvpmc is the most full featured replaytv thin client out there.
Of course I am quite biased ;-)
Don't forget the Roku unit. It can stream Replay and HD MPEG2 files. Although I'm less biased and have to agree with John with the following cavaet: MVPMC is the most full featured ROBUST thin client which uses very INEXPENSIVE hardware.
Marc

As to your problems, the native SW for the MVP worked equally well on my old P3 800 and our newer laptop. Since this unit is a native MPEG2 player, your problems may have been with transcoding AVI files and DIVIX to an MPEG2 stream. Here the fault lies not in the MVP but the ability of your system to transcode on the fly.

I was easily able to listen to shoutcast, view AVIs, MP3's, Divx encoded files (my laptop is fast enough to transcode and serve Divx), or any dvarchive mpeg2.



So, your setup with the MVP allows you to FF, rewind and pause divx/xvid files without any issues? I'm certain that I could have tried a few more things with my codecs and settings. But my 2Ghz AthlonXP should have been powerful enough.

So, your setup with the MVP allows you to FF, rewind and pause divx/xvid files without any issues? I'm certain that I could have tried a few more things with my codecs and settings. But my 2Ghz AthlonXP should have been powerful enough.
Yes, your 2 gig rig should be more than capable. But rather than play with all those things, load and try the MVPMC client software and try using them with your replays. Give it a shot before chucking the MVP.

Native MVP Software:
Considering the fact that the files are being transcoded on the fly, I'd say it worked well. I was able to jump forward and back and have some ff and rw. Certainly, no odd crashes which trashed the MVP. Since there is no local buffer to speak of, rewinding and other effects are limited. Playback features (such as FF, RW, FRW, slowmo) of certain codecs on a PC also have limitations without a MVP in the equation.

MVPMC software (and keep in mind this is my "setup" since the whole point of my excersice was to have a ReplayTV thin client):
I essentially only use MPEG2s recorded with Replaytv wether stored on the replay itself or . I can FF, skip forward 28 seconds and skip back a few seconds just like a replay. I can also jump to specified minute at will.

For normal client use, whether it be via a ReplayTV or MVPMC, I skip forward or back and use ff on a limited basis. Yep, I'd have to say that I mostly skip back rather than rw. I'm used to the ReplayTV way of doing things.

Don't forget that using a ReplayTV as a client for another ReplayTV has it's quirks as well.

Overall and within the context of this discussion (MVP for a ReplayTV thin client) I must say that I have very little to complain about.

If you still are not convinced enough to try the MVPMC SW, please sell it to someone here who would like to try it out if you can't return it.

Just give it a try, that's all I ask since you already own it.

Marc

I essentially only use MPEG2s recorded with Replaytv wether stored on the replay itself or . I can FF, skip forward 28 seconds and skip back a few seconds just like a replay. I can also jump to specified minute at will.

A couple notes about the mvp & mvpmc.
-For replaytv the REW button just does a 1 sec back skip.
rewinding is not a trivial exercise for a mpg stream.
Not sure what Jon does with REW for fileshares, etc...
-FF does 2X FF (MVP HW has a native 2X FF mode). When the button is pressed
again to exit FF mode we currently flush the stream so there is about a
1/2 second video gap between when FF ends and normal play resumes.
i.e you lose about 1/2 second of video.
This gap is the stream data that is buffered up but not yet read by the HW.
The hickup is due to that fact that we haven't yet figured out how to query
the HW and determine exactly where in the video/audio stream the HW is at
for any instant in time.
This is also the main reason the audio/video can get out of sync for some nfs/cifs
fileshare streams.
Hopefully this issue is fixable. We need to poke around the HW and find registers
that report the current stream position of the audio/video decoders.

John...

Originally posted by Marcus
I however can heartily recommend MVPMC to people who wish for a small compact and cheap “set it and forget it” solution for remotely viewing recorded content recorded on replaytv boxes.

I've been away from this forum a while (I've been enjoying my mvpmc;)). I would have to strongly argree with Marcus' posts about the value of the mvpmc. I went several months without having to reboot my mvpmc, and used it almost daily in my bedroom. The only reason I had to reboot at at that time was due to a power outage during a storm. I'd say it if very suited to the task of being a robust, quiet, thin client for viewing ReplayTV content.

I dunno if any Rat Shack employees look at this thread.

Seems it's been 79 bucks for some time now. How long does Radio Shack wait before dropping the price on a clearance item even further? Is there a point where it just quits dropping?

I'd like to pick up one for the guest bedroom (if I don't go out and get XBox for that) and one for each of my relatives that has a single 5040.

But I'm too cheap to shell out 79 bucks.

Seems it's been 79 bucks for some time now. How long does Radio Shack wait before dropping the price on a clearance item even further? Is there a point where it just quits dropping?
I've been waiting for them to drop it too.... I worked for the Shack in the late 80's/early 90's and every summer they used to have the "Tent Sale" with a table outside the store with drastically discounted merch priced to move. In years past, I've scored some major bargains at the Tent Sales. I've had my eye on a MediaMVP at my local shack and asked the manager when the Tent Sale will be this year. She told me they stopped doing the Tent Sale a few years ago.... I guess the only way to get a super duper discount at the Shack now is to wait till the item drops of the inventory deck and the manager can sell it for $1 if they please. :( :(

I guess the only way to get a super duper discount at the Shack now is to wait till the item drops of the inventory deck and the manager can sell it for $1 if they please. :( :(

I would love to snap up a couple more for next to nothing! I guess I'll keep haunting the local rat shacks with MVPs still on the shelves.

Marc

I just checked into this thread after not following it for a while - has anyone tried using a NSLU2 to run the necessary services for the MediaMVP? I don't have a linux server at my home, and I prefer using the NSLU2 for power consumption & space reasons. It seems like if I configure it correctly, I could use the NSLU2 as the server for the mediamvp. I also have a WRT54g Linksys router running Sveasoft, which could help with some of the necessary services, I suppose.

I'm digging the new Replay theme... :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: Would be cool to see the main menu icons prettied up too. Excellent job guys!

I'm digging the new Replay theme... :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: Would be cool to see the main menu icons prettied up too. Excellent job guys!

I'd like to be able to do more w/ the theme's, but you're pretty much limited to color tweaking.

Would like to...
- Sync "info" display style/location w/ Replay (i.e. show name/text info display always displayed at the top of the screen)
- Remove the 'replaytv' side graphic, and use the extra space for add'l info display (like breaking the show/episode info into separate blocks, as with the Replay Guide)
- Start mvpmc in the ReplayTV module.

This'll definitely do for now. Gotta thank John, Jon and whoever else is involved. (Now we just need a better way of getting the custom dongle loaded.)

p.s. The other icons *were* cleaned-up a bit, in that the 255/255/255 RGB pixels were all tweaked to 254/254/254 -- to work around the oddity that pure white is displayed as transparent/black by mvpmc.

Until I drop the temp Tripod and properly mount my dbs reciever's dish, I can not view all the sats (and therefore, channels) to which I subscribe.
Most importantly: SciFi and USA (the 4400).

As an experiment, I obtained a recordings, via internet, of the Stargates, Galactica and last sunday's 4400 episode. They came as Xvid AVIs. I then converted them to MPEGs and placed them on a shared drive. I watched them later using MVPMC.

Sweet. It actually took less time than requesting via Poopli larger files recorded on a replay. This includes the time for conversion! The picture quality with these 380 to 530 MB files (before conversion) was on par with medium recordings when viewed via the MVPMC. Further conversion and clean up might make them work on replays with dvarchive.

More experimental fun later!

...They came as Xvid AVIs. I then converted them to MPEGs and placed them on a shared drive. I watched them later using MVPMC!


What software did you use to to convert the Xvid AVIs?

TIM

What software did you use to to convert the Xvid AVIs?

TIM
I used a GUI for several CLI programs. It's called DIKO. I'm sure I could streamline the process to reduce the time even further but I just use the defaults.

It's very simple, I just tell it the name of the AVI file and click on the "NEXT" button a couple of times. Default output is a progressive 720X480 30 FPS MPEG2. It works on the MVP just fine.

The download from http://www.vmesquita.com/en/diko.htm includes all the programs you need and sets them up with the install.

I did not use the "Gold" pay version.

Marc

Came to this thread late - I have an MVP and a modded XBox. Haven't had time to read the whole thread - but has anyone touched on the most important advantage that the MVP seems, to me, to have over the XBox?

Namely the MVP replays MPEG2 interlaced 480/60i and 576/50i video in proper interlaced form - with fluid motion in 60i or 50i.

The XBMC solution doesn't - or mine doesn't and I have been tweaking it for well over a year. XBMC seems to de-interlace 60i or 50i video to 30p or 25p internally (NOT 50p or 60p) and then re-interlace to 60i or 50i for display. You won't see much of an issue with film material - but stuff originated on video cameras is noticably less fluid on XBMC as a result - and has a "de-interlaced to frame rate" look.

For me XBMC is a great project - with fantastic support for many video codecs, excellent 50Hz, 60Hz and 24p compatibility (it will optionally replay 24p at 25p with speed up for us 50Hz viewers, instead of 3:2 pulldown to 60Hz, but will also intelligently flip between 576/50i and 480/60i replay on other material.) - but the lack of decent handling of 50i and 60i (compared to the XBox native handling of DVD replay for example) is a disappointment. Apparently this is a result of the use of mplayer. (Even if you ignore calibration - proper interlaced replay hasn't really worked since the occasional success in early builds of XBMP apparently)

For off-air MPEG2 video replay (in my case from a DVB-T capture card) - the MVP has a major quality edge.

Neither are yet quite perfect though - a cheap PC with an XCard beats both of them as a total solution. (But costs more than either, is bulkier and probably noiser)

My new MVP (Rev D1) has low brightness on both the S-Video and composite outputs.

I'm measuring the voltage levels of the video output signal using a professional video waveform monitor/oscilloscope. The level should be 140 IRE units peak to peak (including sync). What I'm seeing is around 90 IRE instead. (Roughly 36% too low)

I can't be sure but I believe this is a hardware problem because the level is low from the moment the box is powered on (even before it has downloaded software from the server).

I'm starting to think this may be a common problem with some revisions of mvp's (mine is D1) and that most people simply adjust their monitors to compensate. Of course it's also possible that my particular box is defective.

Is this a known issue with the MVP? Would another hardware revision be better? Can these levels be adjusted via software?

Anyone else with access to an oscilloscope who could check the level on their mvp?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I am thinking of picking up a MediaMVP and running MediaMVP Media Center to stream OGG files from my linux server to my stereo. Does anyone care to comment on how well this feature works?

I have setup my mediamvp and using mvpmc 0.1.7 but am having probem accessing both 5040 replaytv units on the same LAN, because mvpmc reports the time difference between the mediamvp and the replaytv units is more than 40 seconds. If I run DVArchive on the same PC that is DHCP server time server etc for the mediamvp, then mvpmc can see the DVArchive files and play them happily from the PC. DVArchive also reports setting a large time offset to the 2 replayTV's - see the log extract below. I have forced a network connect (5040's connected via ethernet, I have DSL service) on both 5040's but didn't make a difference to the time offset issue.

09/06 21:16:11 Notice: Timestamp offset for Living Room set to -227 seconds.
09/06 21:16:11 DVR Living Room space usage update: Total Capacity 184.89GB, Remaining 46.39GB
09/06 21:16:20 Notice: Timestamp offset for Family Room set to -225 seconds.
09/06 21:16:21 DVR Family Room space usage update: Total Capacity 36.87GB, Remaining 1.36GB

Is there a way out of this problem? It took me ages to run the network cable to the bedroom where the mediaMVP is situated. I'd be really pissed if it was a waste of time. I tested the setup some weeks ago and had no issue using the 5040's from mvpmc. I can't have it working intermittently when replay time and mediaMVP drift apart, although seems more fundamental issue since they are far apart right after a time sync.

Maybe there's something up with replayTV mothership?

Any chance the coders for mvpmc are working on adding some time offset code aka DVArchive, that approach has neveer failed for me (DVArchive I mean)?

please ignore my post and don't flame :)

duh, just had a brainwave and set the PC clock using a network time service (I had Absolute time server running and thought that it was network time client aslo, but of course its just a server)

Now everything is happy, shoud be a while before the mediamvp drifts by 40 seconds.

Originally posted by dcolemanca
Now everything is happy, shoud be a while before the mediamvp drifts by 40 seconds.
You can set your PC to automatically update it's time on a certain interval. That way it will never drift.

The following excerpt from freepctech.com shows how to change that interval.
To change the interval that Windows updates the time using the internet time servers via regedit, navigate to:
1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services \W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient
2. Select "SpecialPollInterval"
3. Change decimal value from 604800 to a different value in seconds. i.e.: 172800 (2 Days) or 86400 (1 Day) and so on.

We don't recommend changing this unless you are on a broadband connection.

It looks like Radio Shack just dropped their prices again. The rumor (FW) is the price has been dropped to $39.99. I will be attempting to pick on up in the morning, as there appear to be plenty left in my area.

Radio Shack Stock Checker (http://education.radioshack.com/RSCom/ProductAvailability/index.asp)

I will post back in the morning to verify.

How many of these things can you put on one network?

Got one $39.99 !

According to the box you can put 6 on a network.

According to the box you can put 6 on a network.
Hmmm.... Does the "6" limit apply to only the vendor-supplied firmware & application?

If going w/ the custom mvpmc firmware, to get ReplayTV integration, I don't know why you wouldn't be able to put many more on your network. Will have to go research over in the mvpmc development forum (http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=39055) to learn more.

(I'd think 6 should be enough, though!)

I bought one of these today..

I paid up front, but it's being delivered from another RadioShack 30 miles away so I got to pick it up wednesday.

While I was there, i asked if that same store could deliver to an east cost store (I'm west coast).

He said RadioShack has a Flat Shipping Rate with their delievery service, so coastal deliveries are no different than local deliveries (edit: deliverys have to be from store to store, not store to home)

So if anyone has some in stock in their city, they can just announce it and someone else can go to their local radioshack and have them make a call..


Forgive me if they tell you any different.

Just giving early info.. I don't think there are many left in stock.

I confess. I bought the MediaMVP so I could play MP3s, internet radio, and potentially to view archived little 320x240 PPC shows (it will scale 320x240 divx up to 640x400). It will be located in the same room as a ReplayTV. Being able to use it as a ReplayTV and Myth thin-client is floor drenching gravy on top.

I don't get the thing till wed (knock on wood), but have already spent a few hours reading up on the thing.

I got some so called 'dumb' questions for anyone whose man enough to answer them. hehe

DQ1:
The latest haupauge software will stream internet radio, and transcode divx (divx-->high quality mpeg1-->TV). If I run honeycut's software do I forfit those features?

DQ2:
Does MediaMVP handle big folders of mp3s? What's the limit? If not known what's the biggest you've seen?

DQ3:
I've noticed the newest MediaMVP's come with a new, much more elaborate remote control then older stock. My working assumption is mine will come with the older, simpler remote. What's the first thing I should know here?

DQ4:
Any issues streaming from laptop to a sveasoft alchemy(first free release) flashed linksys router?

Help! Can someone please tell me what hardwired router with stock firmware, or what hardwired router with 3rd-party firmware [and what version of that firmware] -- or what other hardware dhcp server -- will support dhcp blocking of specific nics? The 'version 1' of smc's 7004vbr apparently supported it [as well as a lot of other customizations], but they have dropped all of that from their current version 3 [why, I have no idea].

[And John Honeycut, thanks so much for not only the software, but also for your fantastic instructions to get going!!!!]

I got some so called 'dumb' questions for anyone whose man enough to answer them. hehe

No, I'm afraid I have the "dumb" questions title wrapped up for myself. Your questions will unfortunately fall under the "interesting" or "routine".

DQ1:
The latest haupauge software will stream internet radio, and transcode divx (divx-->high quality mpeg1-->TV). If I run honeycut's software do I forfit those features?

That is a correct assumption. Individuals are toying with ideas to stream internet radio but it is not on the immediate horizon. Perhaps they can find some way to use the MVPMC software to play a spooling MP3 file stored on a HD that is writing an internet radio station's stream (Ala BoomBox internet radio player / recorder.)

DQ2:
Does MediaMVP handle big folders of mp3s? What's the limit? If not known what's the biggest you've seen?

It's not the best tool out there for MP3 playback. You might want to sort your music by folders if you wish to use MVPMC. I never use the native software, so I can't attest to it's ability to handle large MP3 libraries such as the adept roku audio players or others on the market dedicated to MP3's. I will have to defalut to another user's experience for this one.

DQ3:
I've noticed the newest MediaMVP's come with a new, much more elaborate remote control then older stock. My working assumption is mine will come with the older, simpler remote. What's the first thing I should know here?

If you ordered from Radio Shack, most likely it will be the old remote. I have two MVP's and both came with the simple remote.

DQ4:
Any issues streaming from laptop to a sveasoft alchemy(first free release) flashed linksys router?
Heavens, I have no earthly idea. Heck, that sounds like an advanced question! You lied to me! ;)

Marc

New version of MediaMVP!

MediaMVP 0.1.8 came out yesterday (sept 13)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mvpmc


I haven't even tried it yet.

Here's the changes
Changes: changes from 0.1.7 to 0.1.8: - support for myth protocol 18 - libcmyth memory leak fixes - libwidget memory leak fixes - minor mythtv livetv fixes - upgrade to microwindows 0.91 - upgrade to zlib 1.2.3

............................................................ ......

I just got hauppauge's software up and running (ver 1.5beta). I like it.

I had trouble at first. Even though I turned off my firewall and reset my router (so it had no security), I couldn't get the mediamvp to boot from a wireless laptop. That is until I disabled wireless, and connected a network cable directly to the router. MediaMVP loaded up the software and functioned just fine. Then I switched back to wireless and the MediaMVP continued to work. So as far as I can tell I have to run a network cable to load the software and then I'm set.

If anyone knows why I couldn't load the software wirelessly, lemme know.

............................................................ ...............................

So.. who all bought these things over the last few weeks?

It looks like Radio Shack just dropped their prices again. The rumor (FW) is the price has been dropped to $39.99. I will be attempting to pick on up in the morning, as there appear to be plenty left in my area.

Radio Shack Stock Checker (http://education.radioshack.com/RSCom/ProductAvailability/index.asp)

I will post back in the morning to verify.

Does that stock checker work??

Does that stock checker work??

From what I can tell, they have removed the catalog number from their list of valid numbers.

Do any of those updated features do anything for Replays? Looks like it is all MythTV features. Does anyone know what MicroWindows enables you to do in our Replay configuration? Looks like a neat function.

I have a MediaMVP and love it, nice work guys. :)

One question that I haven't been able to find a thread on is how to sort or display shows by Replay category. Is this possible?

When I get my list of shows from the Replay, it's just one long list.

Does the MediaMVP Media Center project support this?

Thanks.

-rob