I thought it would be nice to keep updated a FAQ for MCE 2005, so the standard questions can be answered.
Some of the stuff I posted below comes from the two faqs below.
Some other comes from other users or from my experience in playing with MCE 2005.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/m...ation/faq.mspx
http://www.thegreenbutton.com/kb/def...&pNodes=7W5L0U


Q. Which components (hardware and software) should I use with MCE 2005?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/m...erlisting.mspx

Q. What remote can be used with MCE 2005?
A. Microsoft Media Center Remote Control Inc Reciever OEM
example link
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=77109

Q. How do I play DVDs from Hard disk?
A. Create a directory called VIDEO_TS (all upper case) in "MOVIE TITLE" directory and put all of the vob, ifo and bup files in it. When choosing the folder for video playback, select the "movie title" folder.

Q. can I use FFDSHOW?
A. Not yet

Q. can I use .ape files?
A. Yes if you force MP10 to search for ALL FILES, and have the codec installed. See this thread

Q. What file format does Media Center record in?
A. Media Center uses a new file format called DVR-MS. DVR-MS is an MPEG-2 file that includes metadata about the recorded program to be stored.

Q. Can the file format used by Media Center be changed? Can I edit recorded TV files?
A. According to this fellows you can. You need to use DVRedit to cut the commercial out and create a new DVR file, and then use DVR2WMV to convert the file to divx format. Both tools are available here.
You can also use:
TMPGEnc 3.0 XPress
Power Director Pro
NeroVision Express 2
DVR-Ripper
to edit and/or convert these files.
There are two commercial programs (Sonic Primetime and Arcsoft's Showbiz ) available to burn DVDs, also converting content to mpeg-2.
I have tried a few, and I like Nero Vision Express a lot. You open the file you want to edit, cut the commercials and burn to dvd using one single interface. High quality conversion and good synch.

Q. What is content protection, and how is it used by Media Center?
A. Content owners and/or broadcasters can set copy-protection flags to indicate that a program is subject to content protection. When Media Center detects that this flag is set, it will protect the content by limiting the ability to copy and distribute the program.

Q. Can protected recorded TV files be watched on another PC?
A. No, protected files can be watched only on the Media Center PC that originally recorded the content.

Q. Can unprotected recorded TV files be watched on another PC?
A. Yes, as long as that PC has the capability of playing DVR-MS files (either through Media Center or an updated Microsoft DirectShow player such as Windows Media Player 10 see Watch Recorded TV on Other Microsoft Windows XP-based PCs).
If you are having problems playing it back try to run this two fixes:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Q. Can protected recorded TV files be played back on the same MediaCenter PC using Windows Media Player 10 or other DirectShow-enabled applications?
A. No, protected files can be watched only through Media Center on the Media Center PC that originally recorded the content.

Q. Can I record DVDs to watch using a dedicated DVD player?
A. Yes. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 includes built-in support for burning video and data DVDs from photos, music, video and TV content on a wide range of media types and formats. DVDs can be burned in one of the following formats:
Data DVD: Designed for storing files on disc such as creating a backup of music or photos.
Video DVD: Designed for converting recorded TV or home movies into video for playback in most home DVD players.
DVD Slideshow: Designed for creating a slide show with pictures and music for playback on consumer DVD players and computers equipped with DVD players.
A third-party developer, Sonic Solutions, has a number of products that offer this functionality. The Sonic MyDVD 4 Media Center Edition, Sonic MyDVD versions 5 and above, and Sonic PrimeTime products support recording of Media Center's recorded TV content onto DVDs that can be watched on standard DVD players.
Only unprotected content can be recorded to DVD in this way; protected content cannot be written to DVDs that can be watched in a dedicated DVD player.
There is also another application called DVR Ripper. This freeware app will convert DVR-MS files into MPA (MPEG Audio) and MPV (MPEG Video) - or a single MPEG file so you can edit and burn your recorded TV. It is not as integrated with MCE (cannot use the remote to operate it). You can download it here.

Q. Sometimes album art is not displayed while playing music in Media Center? How do I fix this?
A. Media Center attempts to display album art for an album by looking for an image file (folder.jpg) in the folder containing that album. If you do not see album art for a particular album, it is because this file is not available. To fix this, install Windows Media Player 9 and let it rearrange your music. If music metadata information is available, then Windows Media Player 9 automatically updates the track information, reorganizes your collection into folders, and adds the appropriate album art for each folder. Alternatively, you can manually add album art by making sure your song files are organized into folders by album and adding an appropriate folder.jpg to that folder. Note that the image file must be 200KB or less to be properly displayed.

Q. I have a bunch of music under My Music, but I want to remove EVERYTHING! How can I go about doing this?
Use Media Player Library and delete everything from the library. My Music will also appear empty once you restart MCE.

Q. How do I zoom when Playing video or DVD files?
There are three zoom settings when playing dvd or avi or other video files which are available if you click the info button while playing back.

Q. I only subscribe to some of the channels on my Sky box, how do I remove the ones I don't want to see on the EPG?
Press the green button, go to settings, TV, Guide, Edit Channel and untick the ones you don't want to see.

Q. Why do the fast-forward and rewind features not work properly for some of my video clips?
A. Depending on the video format of the video clip, Media Center may not be able to fast-forward and rewind through that clip. If you are trying to navigate through a video clip that does not support these features, the skip-forward and skip-back features may still function normally. The ability to fast-forward and rewind is dependent on the video format of the video clip, not the file format of the clip. You may not be able to determine the video format based on the file extension of the video file.

Q: How do I get recorded TV from my 2nd MCE PC to show up on my 1st MCEs recorded TV screen?
A: You can use the "Share Recorded TV" utility that is available on the downloads page on www.thegreenbutton.com.

Q. Which plugins are available for MCE2005?
A. A list is available in the Developers Green Button Forum .

Q. Can you change the audio decoder to something else (e.g. if you do not like how nvidia downmixes 5.1 to stereo)?
A. Yes, but so far to AC3Filter only. Thanks to "Bolk" on thegreenbutton:
First of all make sure you installed the latest RC of AC3filter.
Go to start -> run -> regedit.exe
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\CurrentVersion\\Med ia Center\\Service\\VideoChange PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoder into {A753A1EC-973E-4718-AF8E-A3F554D45C44}
Start MCE, go to settings, DVD, audio.

Q. How can I get the HDTV wonder working in MCE?
A. The best way to guarantee that it works, is to make sure that under device manager you see 5 devices related to the HDTV wonder. The "Rollup Update" should install the drivers, but did not work for everyone.
To get all the drivers see the post by "VBB" Here, that includes a zip file with all the drivers. Once you manually instal those drivers you should see in device manager the below:
ATI DTV Wonder Analog Audio Capture Device
ATI DTV Wonder Analog AV Capture Device
ATI DTV Wonder Analog AV Crossbar Device
ATI DTV Wonder Digital and Analog Tuner Device
ATI DTV Wonder Digital BDA Capture Device

Q. Can I put the HTPC in Suspend Mode? Will it record when it is supposed to?
Indeed you can. MCE does not have to be running in order to record a show. As long as the recording has been scheduled, all you need to do is have Windows up and running. It will come out of suspend, record, and go back to it once the recording is completed.

Q. I have a 16:9 TV connected via S-Video. How do I tell MCE to zoom the DVD so it will fill the screen completely?
A. When the movie is playing, right click and select zoom. Gives you 3 different zoom options.

Q. How do I change hardware acceleration, aspect ration in the NDVD codec, so it will have effect in MCE?
A. When you are playing a movie in MCE (or WMP, or ZP, etc), you will notice that a nvidia decoder properties icon will appear on the bottom right in windows. RIght click and select properties and you can adjust the settings.

Q. Some sections of an english dvd in foreign language should display subtitles, but they don't, how do I activate that?
A. You can fix that by going to (Green Button)->Settings->DVD->DVD Language and setting "Subtitle" to "Title Default" instead of "None".

Q. How do I set my PC to "suspend" mode using the remote, so that the PC will be completely silent (no fans)?
By default, Windows XP restricts a suspend to S1 only *IF* a USB device is plugged into the PC which wants the ability to wake the PC from suspend. Such is the case with the MCE remote receiver hardware. Microsoft enforces the S1 rule because *many* motherboards simply wont work right suspending to S3 and allowing for a USB wake event.
There is a registry hack you can use which will change this behavior, but YMMV on whether your PC will still behave coming out of a suspend. You can always back out the registry change if it doesn't work for you...
Here is the registry changes which must be added:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesusb]
"USBBIOSHACKS"=dword:00000000
"USBBIOSx"=dword:00000000
Once these are added, reboot your PC (also make sure your Bios setting is for S3 suspend) and then try a suspend. Your fans should turn completely OFF.

Q. How do you program the Windows MCE remote to control other equipment. like your TV or amplifier?
A. To program buttons on the remote control using the learning feature
1. Place the remote control for Media Center PC head to head (2 to 3 inches apart) with the remote from which it is learning.
2. On the remote control for Media Center PC, press and hold the DVD MENU and OK buttons at the same time until the remote control lights turn off (2 seconds).
3. On the remote control for Media Center PC, press and release the TV, VOL+, or VOL- button, depending on which command you want it to learn.
4. On the remote control that is teaching the command, press and hold the button that you want the corresponding button on the remote control for Media Center PC to learn.
The remote control for Media Center PC lights blink twice to confirm the selection.
If the remote did not learn the command, the lights blink quickly four times. To try again, repeat steps 1 through 4.
To restore the default remote control settings:
1. Press and hold the DVD MENU button and the LEFT navigation button at the same time until the remote control for Media Center PC lights turn off.
2. Press the OK button.
The remote control for Media Center PC lights blink twice to confirm that the buttons have been reset. The TV button will have no command assigned to it and the VOL+ and VOL- buttons will adjust the Media Center PC volume.

Q. How do I change the codecs used in the dvd playback?
A. Download the codec checker from Microsoft, here.

Q. Is there a thread of feature requests so I can add mine?
Yes, you can find it here

.Q Is there a list of ideal components for a MCE HTPC?
Yes, you can find it here.

Q. Does MCE Live TV support picture-in-picture or picture-next-to-picture for multiple tuners? Know of anything that does it cleanly (unlike that the ATI solution)?
A. MCE does not support picture-in-picture or picture-next-to-picture. However, it does support multiple tuners to allow you record multiple shows at once, or be recording one show while watching another.

Q. Is there a Faq for AC3/DTS playback with MCE2005?
A. Yes, it is here
https://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=496948

Q. DVD Playback skips, what can I do about it?
A. It is likely you are using the coax or optical out from your motherboard. It has been observed on a few motherboard using Soundmax: solution can be
- find a driver for your motherboard that can fix the problem. One is listed in this thread , see if it works for you
- buy a soundcard to bypass the motherboard, and disable on board audio in the Bios

Q. How do I play WMVHD with wmaudio 5.1 analogue channels via SPDIF, if DD is not available?
I am using Ac3filter 1_01a
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/AC3_Filter.htm
I selected SPDIF passthrough, et voila, real time encoding DD of T2 extreme version.
Tested with the Soundmax onboard spdif passthrough and with Maudio Revo.

[b]Q. How do I play .ts or .tp files in MCE2005?[b]
You go to http://dvbportal.de/projects/hdtvpump/ and check the latest version of HDTVPUMP.
I downloaded version 1.0.3 and it works fine on my setup.

Q. How to play .mov files in MCE2005?
If you have QuickTime installed, you will need to unistall it.
Download and install Quicktime Alternative v1.42 /
- Untick install media player classic (you are already using WMP10)
- Associate .mov with windows media player
Edit the registry by adding in KEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\.mov\\
the a new string value "PerceivedType", type REG_SZ; remember to set its value to video.

Q: How do I Install an ATI HDTV Wonder: Step-by-Step WMCE
A: to find the guide click here

Q: How do I achieve Bit-perfect Audio using MCE 2005?
A: Interesting experiments in this thread
https://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post7200938

Some questions I couldn't answer of find an answer...

Q. Can you set MCE to record to a series of Disks, instead of only one?

Q. Can the file format used by Media Center be changed? Can I edit recorded TV files?
Q. Can the files generated by Media Center be converted to another video format?

A. Yes, you can use

DVR-Edit
TMPGEnc 3.0 XPress
Power Director Pro
NeroVision Express 2
DVR-Ripper
DVR-MS 2 WMV

to edit and/or convert these files.

There are two commercial programs (Sonic Primetime and Arcsoft's Showbiz ) available to burn DVDs, also converting content to mpeg-2.

Q. Can I edit recorded TV files?
A. See above

Q. Can you set MCE to record to a series of Disks, instead of only one?
A: Yes you can. MCE will create a "Recorded TV" directory in the root of the drive. It also lets you specify how much disk space to use.

Hi Mark, I have updated the FAQ with your input.. I am still working things out... How do you set MCE to record to more than one disk AT THE TIME? I can only set it either to C or D or whatever, will it automatically switch to a different disk when space is low, as it remembers that once it was set to a different disk?

Q. can I use .ape files?
A. Not yet

a. yes you can... at least playback, but not ripping.... go here:

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/t237141.html

Note: Burning a "Video DVD" uses software by Sonic which is _not_ included if you purchase a single OEM copy. It can be found in the 3-Pack or should be included if you purchase an MCE machine from any System Builder or OEM.

Q. Can you change the audio decoder to something else (e.g. if you do not like how nvidia downmixes 5.1 to stereo)?

A. Yes, but so far to AC3Filter only. Thanks to "Bolk" on thegreenbutton:

First of all make sure you installed the latest RC of AC3filter.
Go to start -> run -> regedit.exe
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\CurrentVersion\\Med ia Center\\Service\\Video
Change PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoder into {A753A1EC-973E-4718-AF8E-A3F554D45C44}

Start MCE, go to settings, DVD, audio. Have fun

*EDIT*: I remembered when I did the above, the registry location isn't exactly right. The value within the {}'s is correct, but the full location was slightly off. I don't remember off the top of my head what it is exactly, but it should be easy to figure out. I just copied and pasted what "Bolk" posted at TGB.



Also,

Q. How can I get the HDTV wonder working in MCE?
A. The best way to guarantee that it works, is to make sure that under device manager you see 5 devices related to the HDTV wonder. The "Rollup Update" should install the drivers, but did not work for everyone. For me it only installed 3/5.

To get all the drivers see the post by "VBB" Here, that includes a zip file with all the drivers. Once you manually instal those drivers you should see in device manager the below:

ATI DTV Wonder Analog Audio Capture Device
ATI DTV Wonder Analog AV Capture Device
ATI DTV Wonder Analog AV Crossbar Device
ATI DTV Wonder Digital and Analog Tuner Device
ATI DTV Wonder Digital BDA Capture Device

This got the HDTV wonder working for me.

A couple questions on file types...

I'm not a current MCE user but am interested in it. I am wondering how many file types can be played without leaving the MCE UI.

Does it only play files that it records?
Will is play standard ts (transport stream) files? If not, is there a way to convert them to something it will play (like dvr-ms)?
Will it play WMV (SD and HD)?
Avi, Divx, Xvid?

Can it connect to streaming servers, like a Windows Media server that may be broadcasting from a live source (like a tuner source that MCE doesn't support)?

I like the idea of a single interface that relies solely on a remote for operation.

rule of thumb is... if media player 10 can play it, MCE can play it.

Thanks Jim!

>>Q. How can I get the HDTV wonder working in MCE?

You can install the device drivers for the ATI DTV Wonder by going to Windows Update and selecting the Driver Update. The drivers are not included in the Media Center ATSC Rollup, but are posted on Windows Update as a separate download.

can you change where mce 2005 saves recordings?

When installed my HDTV Wonder, I did the Rollup and all updates, yet only 3/5 of the devices associated with it had their drivers installed. 2 still had (?) by it in device manager. Perhaps I did something wrong, but from my reading others had the same issue. Once I used the zip file with drivers posted in the other thread, I was all set to go.

If this is going to be a real FAQ (and the AC3Filter answer was dynamite-can't wait to try it out), then we need to be very specific about how you get the drivers for the HDTV Wonder. These drivers are absolutley buried in an old version of the Windows update site-and they aren't called HDTV Wonder Drivers or something that simple-they are in a package called "ATI Multimedia Update". When you say windows update to someone, they think you go and Windows "finds the updates and installs them automatically. This is anything but automatic. You even have to update the drivers manually from Device manager.

/Rant on
Jay, as long as you're following this thread, why can't these drivers be part of the "normal" windows update? are they beta? Why won't anyone create a nice installer?

Let me guess, no one wants to support anything under MCE unless its a system builder. So you hide the drivers from the average Joe who can't do research on the internet?

I'm still trying to figure out why the ehomewonder requires driver reinstalls after every reboot when paired with an HDTV Wonder. Others have the same problem. That would be something good to fix.

Love MCE. Hate the lack of end-consumer support. Don't even tell me to call Dell. They may have sold me my Box, but there is no way they're going to fix some of this stuff.
/rant off

He's right, Jay . The reason why I posted the latest HDTV Wonder drivers was that they were not easily available. The biggest issue for me at this point is the disappearing analog tuner. This seems to be happening with the ATI ehome Wonder and several Hauppauge cards. I have narrowed this down to the receiver service, which starts up automatically and throws an error in the event log. This error says "TV tuner malfunction" and occurs for each instance of an analog TV tuner card. In my case that is the ehome Wonder and the analog part of the HDTV Wonder. This happens on every reboot and can only be resolved by going into the device manager and uninstalling both cards. After a second reboot, the cards are redetected and MCE starts working again. What's strange, though, is that event log still throws a receiver error for the analog part of the HDTV Wonder. That one just never goes away. For the record, I'm using the 9/23/04 drivers for the HDTV Wonder and the 7/15/04 drivers for the ehome Wonder as well as the 1.00.59 NVDVD filters. I have not encountered any problem other than the reboot issue. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon. MCE is awesome .

VBB, I have had the same reports about disappearing tuner from other users who had similar issues with Hauppage cards. That is why I bought NVTV. Working and recording 4 series per day, has been a week now.
I live in Europe, so HDTV is not an issue for me, and it wont be for another two years at least...

Press the Green Button, Settings, TV, Recorder, Recorder Storage
There you can choose which drive to use.

You should have received a notification to reboot after the ATI DTV Wonder drivers were installed and after that both tuners should appear normally in Device Manager. Media Center will continue to report an error in the logs because the NTSC tuner on the DTV Wonder is not used. That error is benign.

As for the report that the drivers were not detected by Windows Update and aren't called DTV Wonder drivers, I can only conclude that you have a slightly different version of the DTV Wonder board and ATI has changed the PnP IDs in their latest driver. The driver that appears on Windows Update is ATI DTV Wonder.

Jay,

Thanks for your quick reply. The problem is not that Windows does not detect the cards. Both TV tuners show up in device manager just fine, but after every reboot, MCE does not recognize the analog card, in my case the ehome Wonder. So in addition to the NTSC tuner of the HDTV Wonder, the NTSC tuner of the ehome Wonder creates an error in the log. That's the tuner that we use for analog cable, so it has to be active. It only becomes active again after you remove the card from device manager and reboot a second time. I've also seen it happen where a simple reboot without uninstalling the card takes care of the problem. The only tuner that stays active permamently and does not create an error is the HDTV Wonder's ATSC tuner. Therefore, the digital channels always work.

Q. Has anyone figured out how to enable the 7 second skip back that was available in MCE2004?

If you were in a Fast-FastForward and then hit play to compensate for your reaction time it the video would jump back ~7 seconds (I think you could configure this in the settings area.)

If its gone, I would love MS to add it back, but its probably gone because someone owns a patent on the technology or something.

Mike

thanks!, I just ordered a remote from newegg. this interface really is setup for a remote not keyboard.
...if only ffdshow worked

I hate to disagree Jay, but there are reports all over the internet of people having to get the HDTV wonder drivers out of the .cab file 10/14 on the searchable "administrator only"version of windows update. In fact, I can't remember a single report of someone "finding" them normally via the automated windows update. Why would ATI change a device ID? maybe thats why there was a rebate at COMPUSA?

Also, you might want to call Dell and tell them to stop shipping these systems with the powerdvd decoders. they don't work. there was a long thread on the MS MCE newsgroup about this-which is also the thread where I found out how you get the HDTV wonder drivers.

I tried out AC3 filter tonight. I like what it does for my analog channels (from the sat box). But I'm still unable to configure a set-up where the Digital Channels received thru the HDTV wonder come thru the analog outputs of my Audigy ZS. The SPDIF conues to work fine-the receiver is reading a dolby digital 2.0 (stereo) signal via the analog out. Dolby Digital works fine using a DVD, but no with the Digital TV channels. Any ideas?

I have an AIW 9800 pro and an HDTV Wonder.

1) How does the PVR act? Any skipping or stuttering?

2) Can you record a show and watch the DVD and switch between them, without losing your place in the DVD?

3) Have you got the ATI AIW to work? My dream is to record on the AIW 9800 Pro and the HDTV Wonder at the same time, while watching a previous recorded show (from either).

4) How about hibernation - does that work? Can you put the machine into hibernation, and will MCE 2005 wake it up a few minutes before it is time to record the show?

Here's one for the FAQ: what are the minimum real-world hardware requirements to run an HD MCE?
i.e. minimum graphics card options & CPU speed specifically

Thanks!
Chris

RogueWarrior, question 1 and 2 are hardware related, and I don't have the HDTV wonder, so I cannot answer.
For question 3, I haven't tested. When MCE is on, my HTPC doesnt automatically go into suspend.... I will test.

I am not an MCE user right now, cannot justify it with an HD-Tivo, but this sounds like you might want to try using a RAID 0 or RAID 1 config.

RAID 0 will span two disk
RAID 1 will stripe the data to two disk. ( Fast with data redundency )

Of course you need multiple drives and a IDE/SATA/SCSI controller that supports RAID, I would not suggest using software raid.

At an Intel conference a MS guy came to tout MCE. When asked if it could record content from a cable STB he said "no, but that someone had hacked it to permit that use." Any idea if that hack is available?

Hibernation: If I "standby" the machine via the power button on the MCE remote, it will come up, record, and go back to sleep.

I don't think the machine will auto standby as long as MCE is running, which I think it should. There are a lot of power mgmt settings I haven't tried though.

No.

RAID 0 - Striping (fast, no data redundancy)
RAID 1 - Mirrored (Same speed as a single drive but data is duplicated on each drive for data redundancy)

I think you are right, I have had my machine on for a week and it has NEVER gone on Standby. Good to know you have good results with the "record after standby" procedure. I will see how it works for me.