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Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 102

post #3031 of 7573
11/13/12 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pburgh View Post

Ok, thanks! I imagine the Harmony One will have controls for the Echo?
Yes. Just program it as a WMC remote and it will work just fine. I use a Harmony One to control my WMC PC and my Echo and it works great with both devices.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #3032 of 7573
11/14/12 at 5:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrwalte View Post

I'd agree that SSD does make a huge difference for the HTPC itself and extenders. I went to a SSD from WD Raptor 10k and 7MC became instantaneous. My Xbox's are also near instantaneous without having the 1-2 second lag to respond. The guide pulling up is one of the major improvements.

I am using a Raptor as a boot drive and I have a 2 TB WD green drive for dedicated TV recordings.

What are you guys recommending for an SSD boot drive? I really only need a smaller (64 GB) drive as I only use this PC for Media Center.

What brands? Where to buy? I looked at Crucial, they have a 64 GB with a 3.5 adapter for about $90.00.

Since this is the first time I am walking this line, I would appreciate any feedback prior to purchase!

Thanks - Ray
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post #3033 of 7573
11/14/12 at 6:00am
Sign up for newegg's eBlast alerts or slick deals and wait for a deal. You should be able to get twice the drive space for $90. Also, when these deals pop up they get posted here. I just picked up a 120Gb Samsumg 830 for $80 less than two weeks ago. Over the summer I needed to replace my failing HDD in a jiffy and paid $105 for a 128GB Crucial. If I had time I could have done better but the average of these two is still around $90 so I did okay. You have time. Wait for and then pounce on a deal because they usually sell out quickly. BTW, you don't need a drive adapter. Velcro works well.. or zip-tie it to some holes in the case.
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post #3034 of 7573
11/14/12 at 6:17am
The cheapest 64GB I saw recently is about $30. $90 is definitely over priced. You could get 128GB version for that money and still save a few bucks.
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post #3035 of 7573
11/14/12 at 6:17am
Fry's has 120GB for $60...

http://www.frys.com/product/7382314?site=sa:adpages%20page:P10_WED%20date:111412

Awhile back they had 240GB for $118.
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post #3036 of 7573
11/14/12 at 6:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxbat121 View Post

The cheapest 64GB I saw recently is about $30. $90 is definitely over priced. You could get 128GB version for that money and still save a few bucks.
Do you remember where you saw that 64? I can't find anything close to that.
TIA
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post #3037 of 7573
11/14/12 at 6:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JorgeA View Post

Thanks, that's good to know. I'm cheap, but it would be more costly to tick off the wife wink.gif so I'll start with MoCA.
JorgeA
If you go with MoCA you might think about adding a Point of Entry (POE) filter, too. A POE filter prevents your network from leaking to other homes connected to cable and might also increase throughput on the MoCA adapters. TIVO sells them or eBay, about $9.
Edited by markhall - 11/14/12 at 7:06am
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post #3038 of 7573
11/14/12 at 6:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles R View Post

Fry's has 120GB for $60...
http://www.frys.com/product/7382314?site=sa:adpages%20page:P10_WED%20date:111412
Awhile back they had 240GB for $118.

That's a sweet deal! Don't expect that to last long..
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post #3039 of 7573
11/14/12 at 7:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

Do you remember where you saw that 64? I can't find anything close to that.
TIA

Either NewEgg or my loca Microcenter couple of weeks ago. 64GB is kind of useless for normal PC usage. But the price is insane. I'm more interested in something around 200GB mark. That still hovers over $100. I suspect we will see that dip below $100. The price of SSD is steadily trend downwards. 128GB is now consider to be entry level and used often for loss leader in advertisement.
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post #3040 of 7573
11/14/12 at 7:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by markhall View Post

JorgeA
If you go with MoCA you might think about adding a Point of Entry (POE) filter, too. A POE filter prevents your network from leaking to other homes connected to cable and might also increase throughput on the MoCA adapters. TIVO sells them or eBay, about $9.

I think you will get into trouble with your local cable provider as well if you don't install POE filter. If will affect their equipement as well.
You also need to verify your splitters to make sure they can pass 1.5Ghz signal that MoCA typically uses. Normal cable splitters are 5Mhz to 1GHz. You will need something that can pass signal from 5Mhz to 1.5Ghz.
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post #3041 of 7573
11/14/12 at 7:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

That's a sweet deal! Don't expect that to last long..

I would with Fry's. smile.gif Often they are unbeatable and they match (virtually any) Internet price too. As an example I purchased both of my HDHomeRun's for $55 (each).
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post #3042 of 7573
11/14/12 at 7:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

To a point, the graphics card has nothing to do with the extender, but network, processor and memory do. I am running mine in a VM with 2 i5 virtual cores and 4gb ram, and a dedicated recording harddrive. In playing around with these settings, processor and memory - I found a huge differance in performance. The network/memory config had the most impact on the menu system. My default config works very nicely with the 360/Echo. With MCE in general there will always be some inherant lag with the menu when using extenders, IMO.

Can you expand on this a bit?

I had experimented with my Ceton card in my Esxi server. I have an i5 and had passed through the card to my Win7 VM. It worked OK but at times I would lose connection. I had a lot of trouble using the xbox 360 as an extender with transcoding being an issue.
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post #3043 of 7573
11/14/12 at 7:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxbat121 View Post

I think you will get into trouble with your local cable provider as well if you don't install POE filter. If will affect their equipement as well.
You also need to verify your splitters to make sure they can pass 1.5Ghz signal that MoCA typically uses. Normal cable splitters are 5Mhz to 1GHz. You will need something that can pass signal from 5Mhz to 1.5Ghz.

Note that if you have an amp at your POE, you don't need a filter. Even bi-directional amps are only active from 5-42Mhz (MoCa is above 1Ghz). Finally, all MoCA devices support encryption, but you do have to turn it on.

xnappo
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post #3044 of 7573
11/14/12 at 7:52am
Does MOCA work with a whole-house amp at POE? In other words, can devices dropped off the amp talk to each other or does the amp interfere with MOCA? I have an 8-way amp that Comcast installed long ago and wondered about this.
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post #3045 of 7573
11/14/12 at 8:06am
There are reports that drop AMP does interfere with MoCA. And use a POE filter after the AMP may help.
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post #3046 of 7573
11/14/12 at 8:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by slowbiscuit View Post

Does MOCA work with a whole-house amp at POE? In other words, can devices dropped off the amp talk to each other or does the amp interfere with MOCA? I have an 8-way amp that Comcast installed long ago and wondered about this.

As long as all the adapters are on the post-amp side of things, it will work fine. You cannot have an amp BETWEEN two MoCA devices.

xnappo
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post #3047 of 7573
11/14/12 at 8:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Maybe this needs to be put in the tracker?
Oh, BTW, I have recording and LiveTV buffer off-loaded to a separate 1TB drive on my HTPC that only does these tasks.

I do the same thing, even though I am running in a VM, I still use a dedicated 1TB physical HD for the Live tV buffer and recordings. It is hte only way to go. Running in a VM is slightly faster then running off of an SSD. IMO.
Edited by skybolt - 11/14/12 at 9:25am
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post #3048 of 7573
11/14/12 at 8:53am
The conversation has diverted significantly from Echo to MoCA/SSD. Not fair to folks who have alerts and check in. Request folks to please be courteous and refrain from straying off topic.
Thanks
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post #3049 of 7573
11/14/12 at 8:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FantaXP7 View Post

Can you expand on this a bit?
I had experimented with my Ceton card in my Esxi server. I have an i5 and had passed through the card to my Win7 VM. It worked OK but at times I would lose connection. I had a lot of trouble using the xbox 360 as an extender with transcoding being an issue.

It's simple, I am running 7MC in a 2008 R2 Hyper-V VM, not ESXi. I use an HDHR Prime for my Tv signal. So I don't need any real HW support for this. I could never even watch a video from this VM if I wanted to. It is just a "WMC Server" of sorts, I have dedicated Harddrive and NIC's to 7MC for performance and that it. While transcodeing works as well as it can, it's not something you want to rely on or use everyday. IMO.

I have been running like this since mid spring time. And run this on the same server as SageTv. So things are a real side by side test for me. I have found the xbox 360 to ba an OK extender, my hopes for the Echo are/were to support dvd ts file structure support and HBR BD rips. You couldn't ask for more from a PVR solution. It's the streaming support which is lacking on the 360. But running everything from a VM gave me no real overhead and real quick responseiveness in the menus and the like (Fast for WMC that is), it really is a no brainer after you get past the setup.
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post #3050 of 7573
11/14/12 at 9:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cnewsgrp View Post

The conversation has diverted significantly from Echo to MoCA/SSD. Not fair to folks who have alerts and check in. Request folks to please be courteous and refrain from straying off topic.
Thanks

While yours is a most courteous post, this thread should probably be taken off of email alerts like most of us surely have done at this point. This thread like many other long threads is one step forward two steps back. smile.gif
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post #3051 of 7573
11/14/12 at 9:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Maybe this needs to be put in the tracker?
Oh, BTW, I have recording and LiveTV buffer off-loaded to a separate 1TB drive on my HTPC that only does these tasks.

I do the same thing, even though I am running in a VM, I still use a dedicated 1TB physical HD for the Live tV buffer and recordings. It is hte only way to go. Running in a VM is slightly faster then running off of an SSD. IMO.

i have been meaning to ask but didnt want to clutter the thread. Was setup of the VM difficult and what software are you using? I would love to create a image of my system where i connect the echo and any test devices too but wasnt sure where to start. Do the images require assignment of a specific tuner or are you using a HDhomerun or like which is machine independent?
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post #3052 of 7573
11/14/12 at 9:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

While yours is a most courteous post, this thread should probably be taken off of email alerts like most of us surely have done at this point. This thread like many other long threads is one step forward two steps back. smile.gif
Agree I cancelled preorder and took off the alert.
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post #3053 of 7573
11/14/12 at 9:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxbat121 View Post

There are reports that drop AMP does interfere with MoCA. And use a POE filter after the AMP may help.
@markhall
@foxbat121
@xnappo

Thanks a ton for the useful advice. Sounds like using MoCA isn't as simple as plugging in a few adapters, so I'll have to do more homework before taking the plunge. You've saved me a number of headaches down the road.

@cnewsgrp
Sorry about that, I don't even remember how we veered off into this topic. But I'll stop now. smile.gif
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post #3054 of 7573
11/14/12 at 9:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

It's simple, I am running 7MC in a 2008 R2 Hyper-V VM, not ESXi. I use an HDHR Prime for my Tv signal. So I don't need any real HW support for this. I could never even watch a video from this VM if I wanted to. It is just a "WMC Server" of sorts, I have dedicated Harddrive and NIC's to 7MC for performance and that it. While transcodeing works as well as it can, it's not something you want to rely on or use everyday. IMO.
I have been running like this since mid spring time. And run this on the same server as SageTv. So things are a real side by side test for me. I have found the xbox 360 to ba an OK extender, my hopes for the Echo are/were to support dvd ts file structure support and HBR BD rips. You couldn't ask for more from a PVR solution. It's the streaming support which is lacking on the 360. But running everything from a VM gave me no real overhead and real quick responseiveness in the menus and the like (Fast for WMC that is), it really is a no brainer after you get past the setup.

I guess I am missing the point a bit here. What exactly is the main purpose of the 7MC VM then? For central recording storage and a library that the extenders look at?

Also your HD Homerun Prime....will that possibly be compatible with the Echo? I haven't been following this thread much at all. But I assumed it wouldn't.

I need to take a close look at what the Echo will be able to do, but I for sure hope that, like you, it will handles BD rips.

Thanks
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post #3055 of 7573
11/14/12 at 10:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FantaXP7 View Post

I guess I am missing the point a bit here. What exactly is the main purpose of the 7MC VM then? For central recording storage and a library that the extenders look at?
Also your HD Homerun Prime....will that possibly be compatible with the Echo? I haven't been following this thread much at all. But I assumed it wouldn't.
I need to take a close look at what the Echo will be able to do, but I for sure hope that, like you, it will handles BD rips.
Thanks

I can confirm that the Echo does indeed work with both the HD Homerun and HD Homerun Prime.
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post #3056 of 7573
11/14/12 at 10:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cnewsgrp View Post

The conversation has diverted significantly from Echo to MoCA/SSD. Not fair to folks who have alerts and check in. Request folks to please be courteous and refrain from straying off topic.
Thanks
And what, exactly, has been posted in this thread recently about the Echo that would be called news? It's going OT as all long-running threads sometimes do because nothing new is being posted. Take it off alert if it bothers you that much, it's not like we're having extended OT talk here.
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post #3057 of 7573
11/14/12 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lark3po View Post

I can confirm that the Echo does indeed work with both the HD Homerun and HD Homerun Prime.

Good to know, thanks!
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post #3058 of 7573
11/14/12 at 10:09am
If I have media portal installed and capabple of playing my MKV and BD ISO files from my Windows 7 machine via WMC on that machine, is the echo also capable of playing the same video files? Will it transcode or play native?
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post #3059 of 7573
11/14/12 at 10:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stepmback View Post

If I have media portal installed and capabple of playing my MKV and BD ISO files from my Windows 7 machine via WMC on that machine, is the echo also capable of playing the same video files? Will it transcode or play native?

I don't believe it will be able to utilize anything that mediaportal brings to the table. But could you have meant media browser?

Also I am not sure if anyone knows about the BD ISO yet...would be nice if the total media theatre plugin would work though.

And as far as transcoding, not certain, but I don't think it would need to. Perhaps someone could verify.
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post #3060 of 7573
11/14/12 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mariob33 View Post

i have been meaning to ask but didnt want to clutter the thread. Was setup of the VM difficult and what software are you using? I would love to create a image of my system where i connect the echo and any test devices too but wasnt sure where to start. Do the images require assignment of a specific tuner or are you using a HDhomerun or like which is machine independent?

I agree, this is not the thread to goin depth about VM's in. That is quite a lage disucion. A couple of post's above #3049 pretty much sums up the basics, but in short the VM will need a fresh install to get cableadvisor and playready to work correctly, and yes HDHR Prime, so no HW passthough is needed. Perhaps we should make a thread over at the beta forums for this, it might get interesting? I have one I started awhile back on Missing remote when I was having trouble getting started. But no-one was really able to help. VM's are easy, but an effective 7MC vm is not, only after the fact does it look easy, like so many other things. So with a little help you cold get it up and runnning in no time, a few hours at most.
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