[Build] New HTPC Upgrade/Build - Pics included (not 56k friendly) - Page 6

Updated the first post. If you've seen it before, it's completely revamped. I just have a couple more things I'll be adding.

It's not the sturdiest case in the world, but I got it at a great price. My brother bought the same case.

Just thought I'd give an update on my HTPC setup. I'm still using XBMC and Beyond TV and I'm very happy with the setup.

I have combined my HTPC and server to save on the electric bill. I was in the military and didn't have to pay the electric bill before. Now I'm cutting cost where I can. I stuffed 3 hard drives from the server (5 all together) into the small case. I did have to unplug the internal DVD drive because I need the IDE cable for 2 of the hard drives. That's OK since I still have the external Xbox 360 HD-DVD player hooked up.

I'm using clear QAM instead of the antenna for my HD tuner and Beyond TV. You have to manually program the channels to get the guide to work with it. I made an excel spreadsheet to help me in the future.

I was having problems where when I started XBMC and then started Beyond TV on top of it, everything was going fine. When I would exit out of Beyond TV, I would lose sound on the XBMC. I would then have to restart XBMC to regain sound.

I have now wrote a script with AutoIT that will start Beyond TV when I exit out of XBMC. Then when I exit out of Beyond TV it starts XBMC. Problem solved.

I also changed it so that the AutoIT exe file starts XBMC instead of putting XBMC.exe shortcut in the start menu.

And the last thing I had to do is change my remote control so that when I press the start Beyond TV key, it just shuts down XBMC, which with the AutoIT script, starts Beyond TV.

Sorry if I have any grammar errors, I'm really tired right now. I'll update the first post with this information later. No need to update the pics, it still looks the same.
Edited by dhrandy - 4/16/09 at 2:44pm

Update


HTPC is still going strong. I am using a different skin for my Beyond TV. The House one got old after a while.

I"ll be getting a new house within the month, so all my setup will have to be moved. It'll be fun having to sort all the wires again. I'll post some new pics when I get moved in. I'm just moving to the next city over.

I like the features and layout of XBMC better. I used it back when it first came out on Xbox 1 and liked it ever since. It was a better choice and easier to setup to play ISO movies. I've tried MC several time and haven't cared for it much.

Just added another 320GB SATA hard drive for DVR recording. I'm up to 5 hard drives in this case. I also finally setup clear QAM for where I'm currently living. Now I can record HD. I have changed from Mediastream on XBMC to Confluence. I'm still very happy with my build.

I still debating on adding a blu-ray player or just buy a on-shelf unit.

Emergency CPU fan replacement just a little while ago. Had it changed in about 10 minutes. The CPU temp got up to 174C. Everything is normal again.