sam9s HTPC Project! powered by XBMC!!

[ValueBuyer]

I just glanced through few very strange replies in this thread. Anyway, to get the HD codecs working on your system, you got to do EDID override for your monitor, based on your avr edid settings.

Follow this thread to know more: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1227161

All you need to do is upload two moninfo files on that thread. The thread owner tulli will give you one file (you can actually create one yourself, if you want) and you need to update your monitor driver. Read the thread closely for more details.

I had the similar problem but I was able to restore the HD decoding problem on my now sold onkyo 3300. This problem is actually more prevalent with the Onkyos.

Thank you for your information after reading the thread mentioned by you and some related threads to that issue in that site I downloaded moninfo.exe and installed.After following the instruction I created inf file and updated my monitor driver to that and restarted system.When I checked speaker icon in the system tray it shows only stereo under configuration and in properties < supported formats I found "No compressed formats found" actually this is the status of the system before installing HDMI_R261.exe (ATI HDMI audio driver) downloaded from realtek site.When I tried to play dts video in power dvd there is no option to bitstream.But after reinstalling HDMI_R261.exe I could bitstream dts,dolby only from PowerDVD as I told previous posts but no DTS MA.

Finally I have one doubt I connected my monitor(samsung 2033) in two ways
1)Amd 6570 gpu's vga out to monitor for regular use.
2)Amd 6570 gpu's HDMI out to Onkyo 3400 HDMI input
Onkyo 3400 HDMI out to Monitor DVI input using hdmi to dvi cable.

Is it correct method to do this.I actually planned this setup to use my monitor for normal use by vga connection and for viewing movies(connecting pc to onkyo and onkyo to monitor by using hdmi to dvi cable) and Television (connecting HD STB to onkyo and onkyo to monitor by using hdmi to dvi cable).

 

[sam9s]

Thank you for your information after reading the thread mentioned by you and some related threads to that issue in that site I downloaded moninfo.exe and installed.After following the instruction I created inf file and updated my monitor driver to that and restarted system.When I checked speaker icon in the system tray it shows only stereo under configuration and in properties < supported formats I found "No compressed formats found" actually this is the status of the system before installing HDMI_R261.exe (ATI HDMI audio driver) downloaded from realtek site.When I tried to play dts video in power dvd there is no option to bitstream.But after reinstalling HDMI_R261.exe I could bitstream dts,dolby only from PowerDVD as I told previous posts but no DTS MA.

Finally I have one doubt I connected my monitor(samsung 2033) in two ways
1)Amd 6570 gpu's vga out to monitor for regular use.
2)Amd 6570 gpu's HDMI out to Onkyo 3400 HDMI input
Onkyo 3400 HDMI out to Monitor DVI input using hdmi to dvi cable.

Is it correct method to do this.I actually planned this setup to use my monitor for normal use by vga connection and for viewing movies(connecting pc to onkyo and onkyo to monitor by using hdmi to dvi cable) and Television (connecting HD STB to onkyo and onkyo to monitor by using hdmi to dvi cable).

OMG!!! poor chap, you will all get confused with the EDID crap ........ Valuebuyer ....EDID is not that common, specially with AUDIO its ALWAYS the last resort one tries ....... its was too soon to suggest EDID at this juncture ......... usually its all codec, connection, configuration issue. Once everything is tried and we see no other option left we go for EDID. Did you try what I told you to do ........
Also go to your "PlayBack Devices" right click on AMD High Definition audio device and go to properties ....select supported formats TAB and see under encoded formats and tell me if you see, DTS-HD and DolbyTrueHD listed.

 

[venkatcr]

OMG!!! poor chap, you will all get confused with the EDID crap ........ Valuebuyer ....EDID is not that common, specially with AUDIO its ALWAYS the last resort one tries .......

I kind of both agree and disagree with Sam. I agree the EDID is the last resort. It should be tried only when everything else fails, and you need to be very careful of what you do.

Many AVRs, particularly those manufactured before 2010, do not send the correct information about their capabilities. This restricts the HTPC from sending the correct codec to the AVR. For example, in my 875, irrespective of what I did neither PowerDVD nor TMT would ever offer HD Audio bitstreaming. The minute I corrected the EDID, both started bitstreaming HD Audio without a hitch. For over a year I tried everything else including FFDShow, updating the drivers numerous times, etc. Ultimately it was an EDID issue and it got solved in a jiffy.

Cheers

 

[sam9s]

My Onkyo is pre 2010 AVR, sep/oct 2009. And my card ATI 5850 is even older, and have never faced any problem in bit-streaming the HD audio. How ever I have couple of examples where in the 3D TV had issues displaying the frame sequential output from a DENON 1611, coz the HTPC Intel mobo internal GPU was not sending the correct signals ...... so it pretty difficult to judge .........

 

[sivakuru]

I could not understand what you are talking about I have hdmi port in my gpu why should I use DVI-HDMI adapter more than that dvi port won't give audio only video.

If you have HDMI out directly you wouldnt need the adapter. Remember thats why I asked which XFX card you are using.

Anyways, like you I also thought that the DVI port wont give any audio. However the XFX HD 4650 which I recently bought
does not have any HDMI out, but it does have 2 DVI outs and the XFX document says if I use the ATI DVI to HDMI adapter I
should get audio also.

Here is the link to the product and some reviews:

HIS HHDMI4071 DVI to HDMI Adapter - For ATI Radeon 3000,4000,5000 at TigerDirect.com

 

[sivakuru]

@Sivakuru ... I think you are stretching it too much for the good old P4 .... Even RAM I am not sure if its sufficient ......only the GPU seems to be decent enough .......though the min requirement for XBMC is p4, but a dual core is recommended ...... are you using XBMC on a fresh XP install ....????
Try using XBMC Live or OpenELIC ..... and see if that makes a difference. Atleast increase the ram to 2 GB ......

Ok. I got it to use less CPU at idle. First off, I had to disable vsync from XBMC
system menu. This enabled less CPU usage from XBMC during idle. However
during playback, XBMC still took close to 100%. This was because XBMC
does not support DXVA (hardware accelerated decoding) atleast on Windows XP. I guess this meant that XBMC did not off-load work to the GPU (even when the graphic card supported hardware acceleration). I guess Windows 7 users will not have this problem. See the following link:

How To: Enable Hardware Accelerated Decoding via DXVA2 in XBMC for Windows - XBMC

Anyways I found that MPC-HC uses DXVA even on Windows XP and I am using that as my default player by modifying the advancedsettings.xml and playercorefactory.xml as mentioned in the following link:

Guide: Using MPC HC As Your Video Player In XBMC MediaSmartServer.net

Ofcourse this had its own drawbacks. I was using EventGhost to launch my XBMC at startup. However for some reason when this approach was used, XBMC always used its internal player and not MPC-HC. I am now booting up Windows and launching XBMC manually and all is working well. Some day I might switch to Windows 7 and use XBMC without any workarounds to its full potential and glory.

I cant thank sam9s enough for having started this thread. Though I had been reading HTPC related stuff for a long time, never developed a liking or interest to invest time in trying it out. However the very first pictures in this thread got me hooked into it and Thanks a ton to sam9s and everyone for having helped me in getting this up and running.

 

[sam9s]

and the XFX document says if I use the ATI DVI to HDMI adapter I
should get audio also.

Here is the link to the product and some reviews:

HIS HHDMI4071 DVI to HDMI Adapter - For ATI Radeon 3000,4000,5000 at TigerDirect.com

You are mistaken here sivakuru, DVI does not do audio and its impossible for this HDMI to DVI adapter to do audio. I am curios to see that document that says this adapter would do audio as well.

 

[vasishta.sushant]

You are mistaken here sivakuru, DVI does not do audio and its impossible for this HDMI to DVI adapter to do audio. I am curios to see that document that says this adapter would do audio as well.

Sivakaru is correct. The previous generations of ATI cards used to work using these adapters. My 4850 used to work that way.

These things are obsolete now since most of the current gen cards come with HDMI out that support both video and audio streams.

Here are some reviews of this product on newegg:Newegg.com - ATI DVI-HDMI Adapter Model 6141054300G

You'll find a lot of people buying these adapters just to get audio.

Its to be noted that these are not generic DVI-HDMI adpaters and some internal pins are shorted to support audio via DVI.

 

[sivakuru]

sam:

I downloaded the document from xfx support website. It requires us to register and login though. It is a 412 kb document and I can send it to your email if you provide me the details.

It is supposed to send 5.1 (not 7.1) signals if you use the ATI revision B DVI to HDMI adapter.

 

[sam9s]

^^ arrr thats fine, I can google for more information. But I guess there must be few of these adapters released to get AUDIO. New to me to be frank .....

 

[manniraj]

Hi sam,

Any progress regarding your NAS setup. I was also interested and looking at some of the blog sites for DIY nas setup.

Thanks.

 

[sam9s]

^^ Running very very busy these days bro ...... have assembled the hardware though, I just need to in stall and configure the OS. Plus I have also told my ISP to provide me a static public IP for my NAS, which is also taking time as its a long process ...... once all this is done, I should be able to start working on it ......

 

[ValueBuyer]

Value, you need to first setup your audio settings like discribed in the link regionofchaos shared ...

Then load TMT and click on AV center, use HDMI as output mode and under mixing mode choose "Original Primary Audio Only" This last step is important.

When this is done play your MKV. When the file is playing right click anywhere on the screen and choose "Information" from the menu. This would give you details for the A/V. For audio you should see DTS MA Passthrough or Dolby TrueHD Passthrough. Which is what bitstreaming is .....

Some time our posts updated after too much of delay I was facing this kind of problem when I am newbie to this site but why your post also delayed even others posted after you get displayed so I missed your post more than that due to some problem in my internet connection I could not browse more than 24 hours.Anyway I am posting my system's audio setup

I have one doubt I got my HD audio download file from realtek so it shows as Realtek HDMI Output but your setup shows AMD HDMI Output where did you download your HD audio setup file.

I tried to use AV center while playing video so got confused there is no option to change anything everything disabled (in PowerDVD I do like this only) but after reading your post I accessed AV center while the player in ideal state I could change the audio option but default option selected itself is the same what are all you telling but still no improvement.

 

[ValueBuyer]

If you have HDMI out directly you wouldnt need the adapter. Remember thats why I asked which XFX card you are using.

[/url]

I thought you are reading the whole thread but now I realized you are not even reading previous page which is related to current discussion .More than that sam9 replied with my post in quote in the same page post count number 163

 

[sam9s]

Ok new finding, it seems for some bloody reason TMT5 does not bitstream MKV with DTA-MA I am not sure about DDTrueHD. I tried playing couple of MKVs I have with DTS MA to see where value is going wrong, and TMT5 simply displays DTS.

MPC-HC, on the other hand once again was a winner and when I played the same MKVs in MPC-HC, my AVR dsilpayed DTS-MA ......

Value I suggest you use MPC-HC to play your MKV. But I am not sure if you have or can configure MPC-HC to bitstream, as you have to install ffdshow filters and then configure MPC to use them.

Easier way would be to get hold of a BD ISO file. If I am not wrong you have a BD Rom right. Can you arrange a Bluray. Rip the bluray in ISO format using any application or burning software like ashampoo. Then install Slysoft virtual clone drive. Mount your ISO on the drive and use TMT5 to play the ISO. ......If all this is over your head then I have PMed you my number ..... call me and I will help you sort things out ..........

 

[manniraj]

^^ Running very very busy these days bro ...... have assembled the hardware though, I just need to in stall and configure the OS. Plus I have also told my ISP to provide me a static public IP for my NAS, which is also taking time as its a long process ...... once all this is done, I should be able to start working on it ......

Oh good then it is in the process. I was looking into a out of the box item as well something like Newegg.com - Synology DS211J Diskless System DiskStation 2-bay NAS Server for Small Office and Home Use and it is one of the best selling simple NAS. I am thinking of procuring this sometime in Oct/Dec as one of my friend is coming down from US. I am going to use the NAS only for torrent download and for my htpc to load movies/music. What do you think??

 

[visakara]

This thread was an inspiration to me to go for HTPC though I have a A.C.Ryan Palyon HD in my HT.With this thread as basic guide and other threads as followup I ordered the following with my regular computer supplier.

Asus P8H 67mlx Board
Core i3 2100
Nvidia GT440 GPU
Silverstone Sugo series SG02B f00020 Case.
CM460W SMPS PSU
Coarsair 4GB DDR3 RAM
Sony BD5300 BD drive.
Seagate 1 Tb HDD ( It is from my stock)

For this they quoted Rs 37650(Without HDD) and i placed order for the same.Now they say the above silverstone sugo is not available and only Silerstone LC16B MR 220 and LC 20B are available and both the above model costs Rs11500 and if i opt for this case then my total cost will go up by another Rs7000 which i like to avoid.Pls suggest some other case wih the availability foraround Rs 5000 for the above configuration.

 

[srinisundar]

Oh good then it is in the process. I was looking into a out of the box item as well something like Newegg.com - Synology DS211J Diskless System DiskStation 2-bay NAS Server for Small Office and Home Use and it is one of the best selling simple NAS. I am thinking of procuring this sometime in Oct/Dec as one of my friend is coming down from US. I am going to use the NAS only for torrent download and for my htpc to load movies/music. What do you think??

Surely you collection is going to grow and 2TB will not be sufficient.While I am with an local member of HFV in chennai, he pointed out it is better to go for future proof higher capacity rather than going for 2TB. The casing/unit can be built in a cost of 10K which can have bays and capacity to run 30TB.. How about this?

 

[venkatcr]

Ok new finding, it seems for some bloody reason TMT5 does not bitstream MKV with DTA-MA I am not sure about DDTrueHD. I tried playing couple of MKVs I have with DTS MA to see where value is going wrong, and TMT5 simply displays DTS.

I had faced the same issue. Before I installed the EDID override I tried both DTS-MA, and Dolby TruHD through TMT5. DTS MA went through though there were some caveats. When I changed some setting within TMT5, my speakers would screech till I shut down TMT5. I never did get Dolby TrueHD.

PowerDVD never worked and neither did any other software.

Now that I have PowerDVD and TMT5 bitstreaming beautifully, I have to see if other software will work.

Cheers

 

[manniraj]

Surely you collection is going to grow and 2TB will not be sufficient.While I am with an local member of HFV in chennai, he pointed out it is better to go for future proof higher capacity rather than going for 2TB. The casing/unit can be built in a cost of 10K which can have bays and capacity to run 30TB.. How about this?

Hi srini

I believe that the NAS which i referred is for 2-bay with a total capacity of 6tb with the intro of 3tb drives. I have put a benchmark of 6tb as of now for a period of say 2 to 3 yrs but who knows as you said it might grow with the broadband boom in India where people are getting 4mbps speed so i believe the time frame is going to be short for even a 10tb collection. My only consideration of this out-of-box NAS being low power and efficient for my needs (torrent download and serving my htpc). I think DIY NAS may not function with the same low power but might be efficient. If you are running it 24/7 then i think these kind of boxes make sense rather than going for DIY. What do you say?