[mikeosoft]

Hi gents,


I've been building pc's since I was 10yrs old, but recently, I've been somewhat bored, so i decided to build an HTPC for under $400.


I decided on the following:


Intel i3 2100

MSI H67MA-E35 matx -got these two bundled together from microcenter @ $140

2x2gb microcenter house brand ram - $19.99 rebadged A-data?? i like a gamble

D-vine MCE303 case $104 shipped ($75 + shipping)


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After that, I had the following parts lying around the house:

500gb single platter seagate barracuda 7200.12 (noisy, and I need to change it)

LG DVDburner sata

ancient 200watt atx powersupply with a loud fan and slow hiss from caps/heat (need to replace asap) - uncomfortable with it, i will replace it with a solid powersupply asap.

2 tb sata drive - might save for a small fusion amd based unraid server use

500gig hitachi deskstar from jan 09 (might swap in for the loud 500 gig seagate) but i recall these drives are called "deathstars" for a reason...


anyways, I built the pc in a different case

to get the software side going before i did some research on cases and bought the dvine case.


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Software/OS:


Windows 7 professional 64bit - purchased a student version through my edu

Windows media center for the time being, would like to try xbmc (used to have a hacked xbox1 back in 2003 running xbmc)

Chrome used for Sickbeard/couchpotato/music one


Might try dual booting mythbuntu mythtv in future just for kicks


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Yesterday the D-vine MCE 303 case + cardreader + remote + VFD + IR came in the mail and I immediately got to work:

unboxed and set aside

I can't really relay enough how much of a nice case this is. It has the build quality of a $250 pc case. I don't know much about HTPC cases, but this htpc case does everything i ask and more for an amazing price.

Starting to put the parts in, mobo,card reader...


parts in, just need to run wiring and install ir/vfd

more to come...

 

[mikeosoft]

ok sorry about the wait, i was just cleaning up the wiring and zip-tying the cords for optimal air flow.


The test:

wires all over the place, but everything works ok. The seagate single 500gig spindle drive emits a highpitch sound when scrolling, the stock power supply fan is loud. These are the two areas I will address first.


But for now, I need to focus on cleaning up the wiring and closing this sucker up.

After cleaning up the wiring:

All done:

Ok here's where I am at:


I have the computer setup running well, save for 2 software/hardware related issues:


1. The stock IR software/hardware is non-responsive

It came with IRtrans which i have no idea what i am doing, I tried to read up on the website and forums, but am lost. I can't get the IR to recognize the remote, and while at one point i was able to get a blue flash near the lcd everytime i pressed a button on the remote, this no longer works and when i try to go to IRconfig I get a message: "No IRTRANS device found"


Windows doesn't recognize any peripherals, ir devices, etc, besides a USB device labeled "IRTrans USB"


I'm not quite sure how to go from here. The remote does nothing, i get no response from WMC, which im assuming is normal as i will have to program some commands, but even that is impossible. Does anyone have experience with getting this ir receiver working/recognized in windows?


2. I followed the mce setup guides in the sticky on this website, it was very helpful and thanks a bunch, but after configuring WMC and Media player Classic and all the codecs, side apps like media browser etc, I noticed when I try to play an episode encoded in xvid standard def file the sound is off by 2 or 3 seconds delayed when played through Media Center. If I switch and play it in media player classic there are no problems with syncing. I tried to look this up, but there's so much stuff t search for, I'm not quite sure what the key phrases I should use. I'm assuming it's something with the stock windows media center playback codec, a setting somewhere to force sync or change to a different codec?


Thanks for the awesome resource here on this site and for the awesome builds others made and recommended that helped me pick out and make a stellar htpc. You all rock.