2009-11-27, 23:16
Hello,
Please note. This guide is NOT considered finished until this statement is removed. I will finish it over the weekend as I go through it a few times and streamline it. This guide will take me a few days to write up, so I will revise it frequently.
Apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum. I couldn't seem to post in the 'GUIDES' sub-forum.
Motivation
I am replacing the aging XBoxes I have around the house running XBMC. So I need to set up 3-5 computers with something that will play everything including HD content, DVD Menus, has cover art, and be easy to navigate (otherwise there's no wife-approval). My end goal was to make the installation as simple and portable as possible, so I can COPY the settings over to the other machines and not go through days of tinkering with each one. This is my guide on how I did it.
Equipment 1&2
- Acer Aspire REVO 1600 [THIS]
- MCE Remote [THIS]
- Logitech Harmony remote 550
Equipment 3&4
- old DELL system
- 2gigs RAM
- cheap dual-core CPU
- ATI HD4350 video
- MCE Remote [THIS]
- Logitech Harmony remote 550
Setup
All my media is stored on a 5.25TB file-server (running UnRAID), so everything is networked through Windows file-shares.
Although I have enough Windows 7 licenses to do this, I do not see why the same process cannot be repeated under Vista or XP. XBMC Live was a total disaster on the REVOs, it crashed left-right. I am assuming you have a (clean?) installation of some Windows OS. If it's a 32-bit system, replace all my references to C:\Program Files (x86)\ by C:\Program Files\.
Step 1 - Install XBMC
Action: Install a standard version XBMC. During setup, it will ask whether you want to do a portable installation or not. Select *portable*.
Step 2 - Install MPC
Action: Extract MPC.rar [THIS] into C:\.
Notes:
- You should have about ~20 files in C:\MPC\.
- This is the player I use for HD content.
- This is a customized version of the player. The settings have been changed so the keys correspond to the keys XBMC accepts. This way there is only one keymap to worry about.
Step 3 - Set MPC as external player
Action: Extract playercorefactory.rar [THIS] into C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\userdata\
Notes:
- The external player (MPC) is invoked if the filename contains '720' or '1080'. This was an easy way of marking HD content. Change this to your will.
Step 4 - Remap some XBMC buttons - Optional
Action: Extract keyboard.rar [THIS] into C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\system\keymaps\
Notes:
- I do not like the way the SELECT/RETURN buttons work when you are watching a full-screen movie. I like the original XBox solution where those buttons toggle the zoom-modes. This fixes it.
Step 5 - Set up the Logitech Remote
Action: Create a new account on the website. Then follow the below screenshots.
Notes:
- The Logitech Remote is now configured to send out commands that equate to key-presses on the keyboard.
I WILL POST SCREENSHOTS AS SOON AS I MAKE THEM AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO POST IMAGES
Saving before I loose all my steps. Will continue shortly.
hades
Please note. This guide is NOT considered finished until this statement is removed. I will finish it over the weekend as I go through it a few times and streamline it. This guide will take me a few days to write up, so I will revise it frequently.
Apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum. I couldn't seem to post in the 'GUIDES' sub-forum.
Motivation
I am replacing the aging XBoxes I have around the house running XBMC. So I need to set up 3-5 computers with something that will play everything including HD content, DVD Menus, has cover art, and be easy to navigate (otherwise there's no wife-approval). My end goal was to make the installation as simple and portable as possible, so I can COPY the settings over to the other machines and not go through days of tinkering with each one. This is my guide on how I did it.
Equipment 1&2
- Acer Aspire REVO 1600 [THIS]
- MCE Remote [THIS]
- Logitech Harmony remote 550
Equipment 3&4
- old DELL system
- 2gigs RAM
- cheap dual-core CPU
- ATI HD4350 video
- MCE Remote [THIS]
- Logitech Harmony remote 550
Setup
All my media is stored on a 5.25TB file-server (running UnRAID), so everything is networked through Windows file-shares.
Although I have enough Windows 7 licenses to do this, I do not see why the same process cannot be repeated under Vista or XP. XBMC Live was a total disaster on the REVOs, it crashed left-right. I am assuming you have a (clean?) installation of some Windows OS. If it's a 32-bit system, replace all my references to C:\Program Files (x86)\ by C:\Program Files\.
Step 1 - Install XBMC
Action: Install a standard version XBMC. During setup, it will ask whether you want to do a portable installation or not. Select *portable*.
Step 2 - Install MPC
Action: Extract MPC.rar [THIS] into C:\.
Notes:
- You should have about ~20 files in C:\MPC\.
- This is the player I use for HD content.
- This is a customized version of the player. The settings have been changed so the keys correspond to the keys XBMC accepts. This way there is only one keymap to worry about.
Step 3 - Set MPC as external player
Action: Extract playercorefactory.rar [THIS] into C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\userdata\
Notes:
- The external player (MPC) is invoked if the filename contains '720' or '1080'. This was an easy way of marking HD content. Change this to your will.
Step 4 - Remap some XBMC buttons - Optional
Action: Extract keyboard.rar [THIS] into C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\system\keymaps\
Notes:
- I do not like the way the SELECT/RETURN buttons work when you are watching a full-screen movie. I like the original XBox solution where those buttons toggle the zoom-modes. This fixes it.
Step 5 - Set up the Logitech Remote
Action: Create a new account on the website. Then follow the below screenshots.
Notes:
- The Logitech Remote is now configured to send out commands that equate to key-presses on the keyboard.
I WILL POST SCREENSHOTS AS SOON AS I MAKE THEM AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO POST IMAGES
Saving before I loose all my steps. Will continue shortly.
hades