I always watch television programmes by taping them via VCR and watching them later at my leisure. It’s just the way I am.
But now that this region has switched to digital-only, I’m not sure what to do. Can I videotape digital TV from the digital “set-top box” via the AV inputs on the VCR?
If your set top box has composite outputs then yes.
It has: ANT IN, LOOP OUT, S-VIDEO, DIGITAL AUDIO, then a group of six: CVBS, L, R, Y, Cb, Cr, then RS-232.
Bubblecar said:
It has: ANT IN, LOOP OUT, S-VIDEO, DIGITAL AUDIO, then a group of six: CVBS, L, R, Y, Cb, Cr, then RS-232.
In the group of six there will a yellow Composite and there should also be a red and white audio out.
Do you have a brand name and model for your STB. Then I can google it and give you clearer instructions.
Stealth said:
Bubblecar said:
It has: ANT IN, LOOP OUT, S-VIDEO, DIGITAL AUDIO, then a group of six: CVBS, L, R, Y, Cb, Cr, then RS-232.
In the group of six there will a yellow Composite and there should also be a red and white audio out.
Would the analogue audio out be the L and R sockets?
yPM 2Ring said:
Stealth said:
Bubblecar said:
It has: ANT IN, LOOP OUT, S-VIDEO, DIGITAL AUDIO, then a group of six: CVBS, L, R, Y, Cb, Cr, then RS-232.
In the group of six there will a yellow Composite and there should also be a red and white audio out.
Would the analogue audio out be the L and R sockets?
Bubblecar,
What inputs does your VCR have?
TCL, Model: DST-8313
PM 2Ring said:
Bubblecar,
What inputs does your VCR have?
Shedloads. You’ll have to wait while I extricate it from the TV cabinet. Everything’s very inaccessible, as per tradition :/
Bubblecar said:
PM 2Ring said:
Bubblecar,
What inputs does your VCR have?
Shedloads. You’ll have to wait while I extricate it from the TV cabinet. Everything’s very inaccessible, as per tradition :/
No worries. It probably doesn’t have digital inputs, but it might be able to take higher quality analogue video input than the CVBS: the S-video or the Y, Cb, Cr.
Here’s the User Manual for the VCR/DVD Combo (V540), which illustrates all sockets etc:
http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/200404/20040413163655906_00413A_DVD-V540-XSA-ENG-W.pdf
PM 2Ring said:
What inputs does your VCR have?
Bubblecar said:
Here’s the User Manual for the VCR/DVD Combo (V540), which illustrates all sockets etc:
http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/200404/20040413163655906_00413A_DVD-V540-XSA-ENG-W.pdf
So what’s the route for the STB to VCR to TV? I’ve got the CVBS from the UTB to the VCR and from the VCR to the TV. Do I need to use the Loop Out at all? At the moment nothing is showing on the TV screen.
It’s showing now – I had the power off.
It’s working! OMG I’M WATCHING DIGITAL TV!
Bubblecar said:
It’s working! OMG I’M WATCHING DIGITAL TV!
Now I’ll see if I can tape it….
Yep :)
Well, I must say expecting a lot more anguish. Thanks for your assistance, people.
Now I’m going to see how many channels I can actually pick up….
Well, I must say expecting a lot more anguish = I was :)
I’ve had a settop box for quite a while now, running through a VCR to an analogue (CRT) TV, and I tape the signals from the settop box without any problem. My settop box also records to a USB memory device, but I find that playback of the recorded material to be rather inconvenient, and therefore prefer to record with the VCR. With the analogue switch-off very soon in my area, I’m looking towards replacing everything with a fully digital setup. However, I’m concerned that the harddrive recorders will have the same playback inconveniences as my settop box recorder. Any advice?
KJW said:
I’ve had a settop box for quite a while now, running through a VCR to an analogue (CRT) TV, and I tape the signals from the settop box without any problem. My settop box also records to a USB memory device, but I find that playback of the recorded material to be rather inconvenient, and therefore prefer to record with the VCR. With the analogue switch-off very soon in my area, I’m looking towards replacing everything with a fully digital setup. However, I’m concerned that the harddrive recorders will have the same playback inconveniences as my settop box recorder. Any advice?
In what way do you mean inconvenient?
party_pants said:
KJW said:
I’ve had a settop box for quite a while now, running through a VCR to an analogue (CRT) TV, and I tape the signals from the settop box without any problem. My settop box also records to a USB memory device, but I find that playback of the recorded material to be rather inconvenient, and therefore prefer to record with the VCR. With the analogue switch-off very soon in my area, I’m looking towards replacing everything with a fully digital setup. However, I’m concerned that the harddrive recorders will have the same playback inconveniences as my settop box recorder. Any advice?
In what way do you mean inconvenient?
For one thing, the fast-forward says 20x but it’s much slower than that, and the fast-rewind also says 20x, but almost doesn’t rewind at all. Another thing is that if I stop the playback (not just pause), it doesn’t remember where I left off (something that videotape does), so I have to fast-forward all the way back to where I left off. There is no function to pick somewhere in the middle of a recording to start playback (no equivalent of the very fast non-display fast-forward or fast-rewind that is standard on VCRs).
KJW said:
party_pants said:
KJW said:
I’ve had a settop box for quite a while now, running through a VCR to an analogue (CRT) TV, and I tape the signals from the settop box without any problem. My settop box also records to a USB memory device, but I find that playback of the recorded material to be rather inconvenient, and therefore prefer to record with the VCR. With the analogue switch-off very soon in my area, I’m looking towards replacing everything with a fully digital setup. However, I’m concerned that the harddrive recorders will have the same playback inconveniences as my settop box recorder. Any advice?
In what way do you mean inconvenient?
For one thing, the fast-forward says 20x but it’s much slower than that, and the fast-rewind also says 20x, but almost doesn’t rewind at all. Another thing is that if I stop the playback (not just pause), it doesn’t remember where I left off (something that videotape does), so I have to fast-forward all the way back to where I left off. There is no function to pick somewhere in the middle of a recording to start playback (no equivalent of the very fast non-display fast-forward or fast-rewind that is standard on VCRs).
AH – I don’t know. Each make and model of machine seems to operate slightly differently.
I can only advise that before you buy one you ask the saleperson to demonstrate the record and playback feature in the shop so you can find one to your satisfaction.
party_pants said:
AH – I don’t know. Each make and model of machine seems to operate slightly differently.I can only advise that before you buy one you ask the saleperson to demonstrate the record and playback feature in the shop so you can find one to your satisfaction.
That’s good advice, but I’m interested in what capabilities harddrive recorders usually have with regards to the capabilities I am looking for (or rather, come to expect coming from using a VCR).
KJW said:
party_pants said:
AH – I don’t know. Each make and model of machine seems to operate slightly differently.I can only advise that before you buy one you ask the saleperson to demonstrate the record and playback feature in the shop so you can find one to your satisfaction.
That’s good advice, but I’m interested in what capabilities harddrive recorders usually have with regards to the capabilities I am looking for (or rather, come to expect coming from using a VCR).
I don’t know. Never used one. I tend to resort to finding stuff online and either watching or recording it to my computer.. Then i use Realplayer or Mediaplayer to watch it – both of which have a simple progress bar at the bottom of the screen where you can slide the pointer to whatever part of the film you want to skip to.
Maybe someone else has an actual harddrive recorder.
One other thing: It is not uncommon for me to record something with the settop box, play it back on my PC only to find the audio is missing with an indication of missing codecs (though the settop box plays them complete with audio).
KJW said:
One other thing: It is not uncommon for me to record something with the settop box, play it back on my PC only to find the audio is missing with an indication of missing codecs (though the settop box plays them complete with audio).
Admittedly, that was on my old PC running XP and an old (not-updated) version of Media Player (a version which I actually miss). I haven’t tried playing these files on my current PC, though many of the files did play properly on the old system (just that many didn’t play properly).
Bubblecar said:
It’s working! OMG I’M WATCHING DIGITAL TV!
LOL
KJW said:
Try VLC. It’s not perfect, but it tends not to suffer from codec problems. And it can be controlled via the command line or its telnet interface, if you are so inclined.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
PM 2Ring said:
KJW said:
Admittedly, that was on my old PC running XP and an old (not-updated) version of Media Player (a version which I actually miss). I haven’t tried playing these files on my current PC, though many of the files did play properly on the old system (just that many didn’t play properly).
Try VLC. It’s not perfect, but it tends not to suffer from codec problems. And it can be controlled via the command line or its telnet interface, if you are so inclined.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Thanks. :-)
KJW said:
KJW said:
One other thing: It is not uncommon for me to record something with the settop box, play it back on my PC only to find the audio is missing with an indication of missing codecs (though the settop box plays them complete with audio).
Admittedly, that was on my old PC running XP and an old (not-updated) version of Media Player (a version which I actually miss). I haven’t tried playing these files on my current PC, though many of the files did play properly on the old system (just that many didn’t play properly).
KJW, have a look at MythTV, http://www.mythtv.org/. It’s an open source DVR, with its own video editor for removing ads.
As a replacement for Media Player, try Media Player Classic, http://mpc-hc.org/. Also open-source, it’s a replacement for MP, and is a lot better than Microsoft’s latest MP.
Most set top boxes with hard drives seem to have annoying faults, I think the drives are cheap, my Topfield one died after a 18 months
My digital tv can record to a hard drive or usb, so I bought a decent western digital 2tb hard drive for it and it works flawlessly and it can fit a huge amount of shows, I must have 200 at least and it’s only used 20 percent
Wocky said:
KJW, have a look at MythTV, http://www.mythtv.org/. It’s an open source DVR, with its own video editor for removing ads.
At present, I’m not interested in recording TV on my PC. What I want is a standalone hardware recorder which can at least mimic the functionality of a VCR. One would think that in the age of digital television, manufacturers would be able to provide at least the same functionality as the humble VCR.
KJW said:
Wocky said:
KJW, have a look at MythTV, http://www.mythtv.org/. It’s an open source DVR, with its own video editor for removing ads.
At present, I’m not interested in recording TV on my PC. What I want is a standalone hardware recorder which can at least mimic the functionality of a VCR. One would think that in the age of digital television, manufacturers would be able to provide at least the same functionality as the humble VCR.
There is…and has been for quite some time.
I’m using a MythTV backend with XBMC and a HDHomeRun network tuner…
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:
Wocky said:
KJW, have a look at MythTV, http://www.mythtv.org/. It’s an open source DVR, with its own video editor for removing ads.
At present, I’m not interested in recording TV on my PC. What I want is a standalone hardware recorder which can at least mimic the functionality of a VCR. One would think that in the age of digital television, manufacturers would be able to provide at least the same functionality as the humble VCR.
There is…and has been for quite some time.
I built my own HTPC, using OPENelec as the operating system. Just got to sort out the remote and it’s 100% good.
I built my aforementioned system on Ubuntu and prior to the HDHomeRun I was using a tuner card in the machine that came with a remote. Even though I am not using the tuner card anymore the remote still works fine for most things – not every button works but all the important ones do…
furious said:
- I built my own HTPC, using OPENelec as the operating system. Just got to sort out the remote and it’s 100% good.
I built my aforementioned system on Ubuntu and prior to the HDHomeRun I was using a tuner card in the machine that came with a remote. Even though I am not using the tuner card anymore the remote still works fine for most things – not every button works but all the important ones do…
I had a lot of trouble finding a tuner card that would work with OPENelec, I ended up using an small external box made by Sony for the Playstation and it works fine.
I had a lot of trouble getting mine up and going with Ubuntu and gave up on it… eventually Ubuntu caught up and I got it to work without much effort at all…
Spiny Norman said:
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:At present, I’m not interested in recording TV on my PC. What I want is a standalone hardware recorder which can at least mimic the functionality of a VCR. One would think that in the age of digital television, manufacturers would be able to provide at least the same functionality as the humble VCR.
There is…and has been for quite some time.
I built my own HTPC, using OPENelec as the operating system. Just got to sort out the remote and it’s 100% good.
Ain’t no one got time for ‘dat.
poikilotherm said:
Spiny Norman said:I built my own HTPC, using OPENelec as the operating system. Just got to sort out the remote and it’s 100% good.
Ain’t no one got time for ‘dat.
I have to sort out the remote fairly soon as Logitech are giving up support for their Harmony remote brand. It’ll be a major pain in the rear.
Spiny Norman said:
poikilotherm said:
Spiny Norman said:I built my own HTPC, using OPENelec as the operating system. Just got to sort out the remote and it’s 100% good.
Ain’t no one got time for ‘dat.
I have to sort out the remote fairly soon as Logitech are giving up support for their Harmony remote brand. It’ll be a major pain in the rear.
I’ve found it easier and cheaper to use a WD TV Live and my PC – download what I want to watch with usenet/torrence, and can get sbs/iview with the iview get type programs that are kicking around.
poikilotherm said:
I’ve found it easier and cheaper to use a WD TV Live and my PC – download what I want to watch with usenet/torrence, and can get sbs/iview with the iview get type programs that are kicking around.
I’m with poik, but I see why Bill has the setup he does.
poikilotherm said:
I’ve found it easier and cheaper to use a WD TV Live and my PC – download what I want to watch with usenet/torrence, and can get sbs/iview with the iview get type programs that are kicking around.
I do that as well, but the HTPC does the streaming from my PC. I’ve got over 3 tb of movies, documentaries, tv series, etc.
XBMC also has an iView add on, as well as some other australian “catch-up” tv…
Hang on a minute…are you me?
furious said:
- and can get sbs/iview with the iview get type programs that are kicking around
XBMC also has an iView add on, as well as some other australian “catch-up” tv…
Hmm, I should look into that. We have XBMC on Apple TV.
furious said:
- I do that as well, but the HTPC does the streaming from my PC. I’ve got over 3 tb of movies, documentaries, tv series, etc.
Hang on a minute…are you me?
On occasions, yes.
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:
At present, I’m not interested in recording TV on my PC. What I want is a standalone hardware recorder which can at least mimic the functionality of a VCR. One would think that in the age of digital television, manufacturers would be able to provide at least the same functionality as the humble VCR.
There is…and has been for quite some time.
Is it commonplace for harddrive recorders to have the same functionality as VCRs, or is it something I have to shop around for? I’ve never had, or seen in operation, a harddrive recorder, so I don’t know what they can do (apart from recording multiple channels). The differences between a harddrive and tape, as well as my experience with my settop box, has led me to my questions.
KJW said:
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:
At present, I’m not interested in recording TV on my PC. What I want is a standalone hardware recorder which can at least mimic the functionality of a VCR. One would think that in the age of digital television, manufacturers would be able to provide at least the same functionality as the humble VCR.
There is…and has been for quite some time.
Is it commonplace for harddrive recorders to have the same functionality as VCRs, or is it something I have to shop around for? I’ve never had, or seen in operation, a harddrive recorder, so I don’t know what they can do (apart from recording multiple channels). The differences between a harddrive and tape, as well as my experience with my settop box, has led me to my questions.
Well, you can get hybrids that record directly to DVD or HDD, or both or just HDD. Twin tuners, single tuners, triple if you have $$$. Recording to DVD is good as ads are easily skipped.
I suppose what I’m asking is what sort of user-interface does a harddrive recorder have?
KJW said:
Is it commonplace for harddrive recorders to have the same functionality as VCRs, or is it something I have to shop around for? I’ve never had, or seen in operation, a harddrive recorder, so I don’t know what they can do (apart from recording multiple channels). The differences between a harddrive and tape, as well as my experience with my settop box, has led me to my questions.
They’re (almost always) heaps better in every way.
You can record like an old VCR but the better ones when connected to the internet will have access to the tv guide and so you can set them up to record any show you like and they’ll often compensate for a late/early show so you don’t miss anything.
They’ll also have the ability to do ‘live tv’ which means you can hit a button on the remote and jump back five or ten seconds (or so) from what you are watching.
The recordings all sit on the hard drive and you can pick the ones you want to watch in a list very easily. It’s also often possible to save the recordings to your PC to watch later any time you like.
KJW said:
I suppose what I’m asking is what sort of user-interface does a harddrive recorder have?
How long is a piece of string?
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:
I suppose what I’m asking is what sort of user-interface does a harddrive recorder have?
How long is a piece of string?
Usually some variation of linux with a gui afaik. Varies between brands and models.
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:
I suppose what I’m asking is what sort of user-interface does a harddrive recorder have?
How long is a piece of string?
7 metres.
I just measured it. I have not included any error bars in this observation.
KJW said:
I suppose what I’m asking is what sort of user-interface does a harddrive recorder have?
I’ve been using Logitech Harmony universal remotes for years. They replace all your other remotes. A bit of a bugger to program though.
Spiny Norman said:
KJW said:Is it commonplace for harddrive recorders to have the same functionality as VCRs, or is it something I have to shop around for? I’ve never had, or seen in operation, a harddrive recorder, so I don’t know what they can do (apart from recording multiple channels). The differences between a harddrive and tape, as well as my experience with my settop box, has led me to my questions.They’re (almost always) heaps better in every way.
You can record like an old VCR but the better ones when connected to the internet will have access to the tv guide and so you can set them up to record any show you like and they’ll often compensate for a late/early show so you don’t miss anything.
They’ll also have the ability to do ‘live tv’ which means you can hit a button on the remote and jump back five or ten seconds (or so) from what you are watching.
The recordings all sit on the hard drive and you can pick the ones you want to watch in a list very easily. It’s also often possible to save the recordings to your PC to watch later any time you like.
My question concerns the ease of playback with regards to starting to play from the middle of a recording.
KJW said:
Spiny Norman said:
KJW said:Is it commonplace for harddrive recorders to have the same functionality as VCRs, or is it something I have to shop around for? I’ve never had, or seen in operation, a harddrive recorder, so I don’t know what they can do (apart from recording multiple channels). The differences between a harddrive and tape, as well as my experience with my settop box, has led me to my questions.They’re (almost always) heaps better in every way.
You can record like an old VCR but the better ones when connected to the internet will have access to the tv guide and so you can set them up to record any show you like and they’ll often compensate for a late/early show so you don’t miss anything.
They’ll also have the ability to do ‘live tv’ which means you can hit a button on the remote and jump back five or ten seconds (or so) from what you are watching.
The recordings all sit on the hard drive and you can pick the ones you want to watch in a list very easily. It’s also often possible to save the recordings to your PC to watch later any time you like.
My question concerns the ease of playback with regards to starting to play from the middle of a recording.
Your questions take a long time in appearing.
Easy. As long as your fingers aren’t so fat as to mash the key pad. Hell, it can even remember where you stopped the recording last time and start for there.
KJW said:
My question concerns the ease of playback with regards to starting to play from the middle of a recording.
Very easy.
Just click on the recording and it’ll either start from the beginning or if you’ve watched a bit of it before they’ll often pick up where you left off.
If you want to start part-way through then you just fast-forwards through it. The buttons on my remote give me +/- ten second or +/- 10% jumps through the file.
Spiny Norman said:
KJW said:
I suppose what I’m asking is what sort of user-interface does a harddrive recorder have?
I’ve been using Logitech Harmony universal remotes for years. They replace all your other remotes. A bit of a bugger to program though.
But what about the on-screen display? Can I quickly search through a recording and start playing in the middle?
KJW said:
Spiny Norman said:
KJW said:
I suppose what I’m asking is what sort of user-interface does a harddrive recorder have?
I’ve been using Logitech Harmony universal remotes for years. They replace all your other remotes. A bit of a bugger to program though.
But what about the on-screen display? Can I quickly search through a recording and start playing in the middle?
Yes.
KJW said:
Spiny Norman said:
KJW said:
I suppose what I’m asking is what sort of user-interface does a harddrive recorder have?
I’ve been using Logitech Harmony universal remotes for years. They replace all your other remotes. A bit of a bugger to program though.
But what about the on-screen display? Can I quickly search through a recording and start playing in the middle?
Yep.
See my previous answer.
Spiny Norman said:
KJW said:My question concerns the ease of playback with regards to starting to play from the middle of a recording.Very easy.
Just click on the recording and it’ll either start from the beginning or if you’ve watched a bit of it before they’ll often pick up where you left off.
If you want to start part-way through then you just fast-forwards through it. The buttons on my remote give me +/- ten second or +/- 10% jumps through the file.
Would the interface be similar to a media player where I can simply choose the middle of the file and start playback from there without even fast-forwarding to that spot?
I’m glad you can restart from where you left off… another issue I mentioned earlier. :-)
KJW said:
Spiny Norman said:
KJW said:My question concerns the ease of playback with regards to starting to play from the middle of a recording.Very easy.
Just click on the recording and it’ll either start from the beginning or if you’ve watched a bit of it before they’ll often pick up where you left off.
If you want to start part-way through then you just fast-forwards through it. The buttons on my remote give me +/- ten second or +/- 10% jumps through the file.
Would the interface be similar to a media player where I can simply choose the middle of the file and start playback from there without even fast-forwarding to that spot?
I’m glad you can restart from where you left off… another issue I mentioned earlier. :-)
Not in the ones I have. A HTPC yes, but not the standard bought recorders.
KJW said:
Would the interface be similar to a media player where I can simply choose the middle of the file and start playback from there without even fast-forwarding to that spot?
Not as far as I know, but they do all vary a bit. I haven’t seen that on the ones I’ve mucked around with. It’s pretty quick to FF to the bit you want anyway.
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:
Would the interface be similar to a media player where I can simply choose the middle of the file and start playback from there without even fast-forwarding to that spot?I’m glad you can restart from where you left off… another issue I mentioned earlier. :-)
Not in the ones I have. A HTPC yes, but not the standard bought recorders.
Which of my sentences are you referring to with the standard bought recorders?
poikilotherm said:
I’m glad you can restart from where you left off… another issue I mentioned earlier. :-)
Not in the ones I have. A HTPC yes, but not the standard bought recorders.
The Beyonwiz DPS1 I used to have (but when it died I didn’t replace it as the firmware was pretty flaky though everything else worked really well) did it.
A good machine let down by the company and the poor firmware updates.
Spiny Norman said:
It’s pretty quick to FF to the bit you want anyway.
Ok. On my settop box, 20x isn’t anywhere near 20x, so I’m somewhat jaded about having to use fast-forward. But I suppose a genuine 20x would be ok.
KJW said:
Spiny Norman said:
It’s pretty quick to FF to the bit you want anyway.
Ok. On my settop box, 20x isn’t anywhere near 20x, so I’m somewhat jaded about having to use fast-forward. But I suppose a genuine 20x would be ok.
They all seem to vary. I couldn’t find one that did just what I wanted so I built my own.
OPENelec is a cut-down version of XBMC (XBox Media Centre) and is very customisable.
The Raspberry Pi XBMC OS works pretty good straight out of the box too – I think there may even be an OPENelec version of it…
Oh! So we’re not talking about standard recorders purchased from places like Harvey Norman (for example)?
You can do that too…
furious said:
- So we’re not talking about standard recorders purchased from places like Harvey Norman (for example)?
You can do that too…
But then it gets back to the issues I mentioned earlier with regards to ease of playback.
Go to your local purveyor of electronic goods and say something like:
“I’m looking for a PVR with ease of Playback, what have you got in the way of that?”
KJW said:
Oh! So we’re not talking about standard recorders purchased from places like Harvey Norman (for example)?
I’m talking about both – The regular ones you can buy and because I thought you (or maybe someone else that might read this thread) would find a home-built version of interest.
furious said:
- But then it gets back to the issues I mentioned earlier with regards to ease of playback.
Go to your local purveyor of electronic goods and say something like:
“I’m looking for a PVR with ease of Playback, what have you got in the way of that?”
Yes, I will do that, but this discussion has provided me with an option I didn’t consider: to purchase a bare-bones PC dedicated to the purpose.
Don’t forget the Raspberry Pi option…
furious said:
- to purchase a bare-bones PC dedicated to the purpose
Don’t forget the Raspberry Pi option…
Not a bad idea in fact.
FWIW ….
http://forum.xbmc.org/
http://openelec.tv/forum/index
furious said:
- to purchase a bare-bones PC dedicated to the purpose
Don’t forget the Raspberry Pi option…
I’m not familiar with that, so I would (if I choose to go down the homemade pathway) choose something I am familiar with (a PC).
KJW said:
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:
Would the interface be similar to a media player where I can simply choose the middle of the file and start playback from there without even fast-forwarding to that spot?I’m glad you can restart from where you left off… another issue I mentioned earlier. :-)
Not in the ones I have. A HTPC yes, but not the standard bought recorders.
Which of my sentences are you referring to with the standard bought recorders?
There is only one question in there right?
poikilotherm said:
There is only one question in there right?
There were two issues: the ability to pick somewhere in the middle of a recording to start playback; and the ability of the device to remember where one left off.
KJW said:
I’m not familiar with that, so I would (if I choose to go down the homemade pathway) choose something I am familiar with (a PC).
FWIW there’s a Windows-based XBMC. I’ve used it and it works just fine. The main reason I went to OPENelec was for better stability and it also boots-up in under seven seconds, as I have a small SSD as the main drive. I normally just leave it running though.
KJW said:
poikilotherm said:
There is only one question in there right?
There were two issues: the ability to pick somewhere in the middle of a recording to start playback; and the ability of the device to remember where one left off.
Thought the latter was made fairly clear in previous posts?
poikilotherm said:
KJW said:
poikilotherm said:
There is only one question in there right?
There were two issues: the ability to pick somewhere in the middle of a recording to start playback; and the ability of the device to remember where one left off.
Thought the latter was made fairly clear in previous posts?
For home-built machines there’s quite a few videos you can watch on Youtube that show you how they work. A bit of research will tell you pretty much everything you need to know.
When I was waiting on some replacement hardware for my htpc I set up the Raspberry Pi using RaspBMC and to say it was a walk in the park was an understatement. Very easy indeed. The only problem was mpeg2 playback as Raspberry Pi doesn’t support it out of the box but a couple of bucks worth of licence fee fixes that straight away and it is oh so easy to add the licence key to the system…
I almost regretted buying the replacement parts for the htpc because the Raspberry Pi nearly supplanted it…
KJW said:
I’m not familiar with that, so I would (if I choose to go down the homemade pathway) choose something I am familiar with (a PC).
A long time ago, I converted a Commodore Amiga 500 (which I had previously purchased very cheaply) to a dedicated MIDI data filter. I built the extraneous hardware as well as wrote the software. Unlike the Amiga 1000, with the 500, all I had to do was switch the computer on with the disk already in the drive, and the software would boot up and function without the need for further interaction or a monitor to be attached.
I think I’m a little bit past the stage in my life where I am developing homemade solutions for things that ought to be readily available commercially.
No offence, but I hope that never happens to me…
furious said:
- I think I’m a little bit past the stage in my life where I am developing homemade solutions for things that ought to be readily available commercially.
No offence, but I hope that never happens to me…
Concur.
It’s so satisfying when you defy the retailers.
I could have paid $9.00 plus at Smith’s Dick for a 2-way radio antenna mount.
Fashioned one from a $1.00 roof guttering attachment from the hardware. Looks nearly identical, does exactly the same job.
furious said:
- I think I’m a little bit past the stage in my life where I am developing homemade solutions for things that ought to be readily available commercially.
No offence, but I hope that never happens to me…
Well, I’m not just sitting around in a rocking-chair complaining about the young people of today :-p Without the need to develop things that can be bought, I can focus on developing things that can’t be bought.
KJW said:
KJW said:
I’m not familiar with that, so I would (if I choose to go down the homemade pathway) choose something I am familiar with (a PC).
A long time ago, I converted a Commodore Amiga 500 (which I had previously purchased very cheaply) to a dedicated MIDI data filter. I built the extraneous hardware as well as wrote the software. Unlike the Amiga 1000, with the 500, all I had to do was switch the computer on with the disk already in the drive, and the software would boot up and function without the need for further interaction or a monitor to be attached.
I think I’m a little bit past the stage in my life where I am developing homemade solutions for things that ought to be readily available commercially.
Making your own PVR from a PC’s a lot simpler than your Amiga project, though.
You just need a very basic PC, add the desired hardware, and install the OS from a CD / DVD. There are several linux distros that are dedicated to this task, so it’s just a matter of downloading the .iso and burning it to a CD or DVD disk. Installing Linux is generally a lot faster and smoother than installing Windows, and I’d expect that installing a special-purpose distro like this would be even faster.
But I haven’t actually done it myself. OTOH, plenty of people who aren’t Linux geeks happily use such distros for their home-made PVR systems.
PM 2Ring said:
There are several linux distros that are dedicated to this task
Hmmm. It seems like there’s a real need for this task if people are devoting much time to it.