mikinho

[mikinho]

Next time you notice it hit 4-1-1 + INFO on your remote (or 4-1-1- <Ctrl-D> on a keyboard) to bring up the Live TV debug screens within Windows Media Center.  When up keep hitting right until you see the Live TV frame rate.  See if it fluctuates between 29 and 59.  If so, that could cause it.  ATIAMD handles it very poorly.

[mikinho]

I had to stick to my M.O.

[mikinho]

[quote=TheShanMan]

Also, he can only get a 20gb ssd or a 120gb, and the discounts aren’t that great. I’m thinking I’ll feel confined by the 20gb as an OS drive (win7) even though I’m not planning to load it up with a ton of apps or anything. Agree or disagree?

Once again, the feedback is greatly appreciated!

[/quote]

The 20GB is definitely not enough.  I don’t even like using below 64GB though 40GB is manageable if you clean up the SSD frequently.  The 20GB is meant to be used w/ the Z68 as a caching drive.

[mikinho]

A large percentage of the operations w/ Netflix are handled over SSL. If your time is off by enough the SSL handshake will fail. It is one of the more common Netflix issues. That or their certificates expiring on one of the servers in their webfarm.

[mikinho]

Have you checked to ensure that your time and timezone are correct on your system?

[mikinho]

For HDMI it does not matter, it only affects analog audio.  And honestly…if you use analog audio then there are better discrete sound cards to consider and other motherboards.

[mikinho]

Glad to hear it worked.

[mikinho]

I’m using it in my DH61AG and much prefer the extra RAM versus faster RAM

[mikinho]

I am assuming you are using the concurrent session hack?  If so, the easy route is to use a different user account but I realize this isn’t convenient for everyone so…

What you need to do is:

1- Depending how you launch Media Center currently, prevent it from starting by deleting the corresponding registry key from the branch below.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun]

2- Create a batch file to conditionally launch Media Center.  Something like the below would work.

@ECHO OFF

REM If we are not the Console session exit now
IF NOT "%SESSIONNAME%"=="Console" EXIT /B

REM Launch Media Center via Shell
START %SystemRoot%ehomeehshell.exe /nostartupanimation

3- Optionally create a VBScript script to launched the above with a hidden window (Note: I know I could do it all in VBScript but some people may not want this route)

Option Explicit

Dim shell: Set shell = WScript.CreateObject("WSCript.Shell")
Call shell.Run("LaunchMediaCenterOnConsoleSession.cmd", 0, false)
Set shell = Nothing

Note: Replace LaunchMediaCenterOnConsoleSession.cmd with the name of the batch file you created in step #2.

4- Save both files in a folder of your choice.  I have a folder called bin on my system drive I stick stuff like this into.

5- Add the script (or batch if you choose to not create create a script) to your startup.  You can do that by either adding it to the HKCU Run location mentioned in step #1 or by adding a shortcut in the Start Menu > All Programs > Startup folder.  Whatever you think is easier.

Attached are samples of each file.

[mikinho]

I couldn’t help myself 🙁

[mikinho]

1. Comcast
2. Houston
3. Locals and Expanded Package Copy Freely, Premiums (e.g. HBO) Copy Once
4. SDV Status: No (thank you)
5. Self-Install: Yes

[mikinho]

btw, Take a look at http://www.brickwall.com/ground-current.html.  It discusses some potential data line surges caused by surge protectors.

[mikinho]

And this is assuming your electrical outlets are grounded properly, obviously any floating grounds can introduce all kinds of issues on Ethernet, HDMI, etc.

[mikinho]

Ethernet surge protection is a little bit of a gimmick unless there is PoE components involved. For phone lines it is a must.  What is useful is:

1) Power surge protection on the modem, router, switch and just about any network device.  You obviously already know that and have it covered.  If anyone does want a suggestion, Brick Wall makes some great surge protection equipment.  Pricey but if you want top-notch…that is it.

2) Surge protection on the coaxial line coming into the building.  If you have spikes on the Ethernet it is coming from a spike in the electrical or coax line.  The exception here is with PoE equipment that is potentially exposed outside.

Just make sure to not get a cheap gas discharge tubes only style protector.  I prefer diverter type surge protectors with a robust ground connection attached to the main ground.  But you should also check if your cable provider already has one installed.  Typically on new installs you’ll see a grounding block connected to the conduit near the KWH meter.  I thought it was part of the National Electrical Code regulations.  This should divert any but the most unlucky lighting strikes and if you get one that bad then nothing you can do about it.

Two relatively inexpensive products I’ve installed before in either my own home or friendsfamily are the Citel P8AX09 and TII 212.  They are gas discharge but not “cheap” ones.

[quote]2.) Also is there any disadvantage going thru a patch panel for all my networking cable connections before going into the switch? (I’ll be checking all my connections using the procurve switch “cable diagnostics” and probably get a cable tester too)[/quote]

There is a theoretical loss but I wouldn’t even consider it.  Just make sure to get a reasonable quality Cat6 patch panel.  I think we’ve had this discussion here on Missing Remote before but I’ve seen too many instances where consumers purchase Cat6 or better cable, Gigabit switches but then neglect to get corresponding patch panels or jacks.

[mikinho]

My son has a lower end Yamaha YMC-500BL NeoHD and it works w/o issue w/ the Xbox 360

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