Building dedicated home theater system

[starman345]

I haven't had a seagate for a while but I recall the last WD I installed had a little program with it that I had to run, then everything went well. I only change drives every 2-3 years so I forget the procedure or the technology changes just enough to make it seem like a new adventure. Hope its smooth sailing for you....

 

[Lone Cloud]

Well it appears I somehow got XP to install. Then I put in my ATI graphics card and got a blank screen.

What I did was set everything to "fail safe defaults, except the "boot from disk" order in the BIOS, which I set for CD first in sequence. I don''t know why XP was able to partition the hard drive this time, but it did.

Then installed graphics card hardware and was hoping to get a "found new hardware" box , but instead I got a blank screen. Took card out and the XP screen came back on . The power supply is 380 watts which the guys at Frys assure me is enough for what I want to do, although some of the info in the manuals says otherwise. Tonight I'll try installing the graphics card software first, then the card again and see what happens. I have at least two other cards to install in it, and maybe three - tt 3200, sound and maybe wireless .

If it turns out to be the power supply, this time I'm not going to bring back the entire setup. I'm just going to pop for a higher rated power supply.

Well this build is going slower than expected, but it it moving forward.

 

[gillham]

Well it appears I somehow got XP to install. Then I put in my ATI graphics card and got a blank screen.

You're plugged into the ATI or the onboard? Check the BIOS for a "init display first" setting that PCI or AGP generally. If it is PCI it should init the addin board first so you should not see anything on the builtin once you have the addin installed. You might have a "dual display mode" option as well that if enabled would let the addin and builtin work at the same time. I think that is what it is for anyway, I haven't tried that on my board that has the option.

Make sure you connected a molex "hard drive power cable" to the video card, most (all?) newer cards require that for enough power to operate.

 

[Lone Cloud]

Thanks gillham!

That was it. the card now produces the display via a dvi (hdmi enabled) port. By the way, no molex connector on this card.

Both the card I installed and the on board graphics are ATI and both are "crossfire" enabled, meaning they work together if the settings are right.

I have installed the TT3200 also and have installed DVBviewer as well, but not Transedit or the others quite yet.

Thanks again.

 

[Lone Cloud]

Getting close.

Got the graphics card installed and then went to the BIOS and enabled the "crossfire" function of the motherboard graphics, which is also ATI (3200).
For those settings it is required that the display be set for the motherboard and not the card graphics. That is OK, since the motherboard has all the same ports and then some (HDMI for instance) . Now we'll see if it all works together as advertised.

I will have to see if I need to hook up separate audio to my HT receiver or if it will work through HDMI. If I have to go separate, I think I'll try the optical connector.

Also installed Transedit and the transponders.

The only problem I seem to be having is the system seems to shut down after it sits there for awhile without inputs. I end up having to do a hard shutdown to get it back up. I'm guessing that can be set in the BIOS

I am wondering about one thing - even though the Sonicview module I have in that unit is a "hack board" it does enable true FTA Mpeg 4. I was going to hook up this HTPC build through the Sonicview "loop out" port, but that port is in use by the aforementioned module.

Anyone have thoughts about how I might keep my Sonicview HD receiver in use and hooking up to my new HTPC, without disabling the module?

Thanks again guys. Your input has been invaluable for a geek in training like me.

 

[Lone Cloud]

You know, I'm really beginning to envy people who can just badabing bada boom set up a system like the one I'm doing. For me it'salmost painfully slow and plodding.

I have hooked my TT3200 via the Sonicview "loop out" and have tried scanning with Transedit. Nothing found after three or so tries. Tonight I'll try to bypass the loop out altogether .

I am really interested in how to get the freeware codecs for now for S-2, 4.2.2, h264 and whatever else I need. If someone could name them for me and indicate the websites where I can find them, I would be eternally grateful.

I think I'm now in the getting near done phase.

I have to admit, I'll be happy when I can actually install it in my rack and stash the boxes I have littered everywhere

I hope it's not too much more to get the stuff I've been wanting. I do have a bit of pride in my accomplishment thus far. With my ten thumbs and backward mindset, I could have shorted out the neighborhood, or dropped the thing on my foot.