Newbie Questions Please Can You Help?

[andyfenna]

Hi, I'm about to build a system(s) for GBPVR and I would like if possible somebody to answer some of my questions before I purchase hardware etc.

At the moment I have the following:

1 Athlon XP Barton 3200+
1GB DDR Dual Channel
2x 160GB SATA Disks
2x Haupaugge Nova-T (Newest Version) with remotes
1x MCE 2004 Remote

I wish to set this up as a server following the description in this WIKI

I also have the following to be set up as clients:

2x Alton XP 2100+
2x 512MB DDR
2x 40GB IDE Disks

I Currently have a 100Mb LAN at home and all PCs are linked.

My questions are:
1) I have two Haupaugge Nota-T remotes with recievers, these connect via 3mm Male Jacks to each Nova-T. I want these to control GBPVR from the clients. Is this possible? And what would I require to buy?

2)Would I need to set up a domain within my network?

3) I also have a 2004 MCE remote with Reciever and Blaster, Can I use this from a client?

Hope somebody could help me out as I have read the article on Toms Hardware and I am impressed with this project.

Thanks in advance

Andy

[ricklous]

1) I have two Haupaugge Nota-T remotes with recievers, these connect via 3mm Male Jacks to each Nova-T. I want these to control GBPVR from the clients. Is this possible? And what would I require to buy?

No. You'd need a remote plugged into the client rather than the server.

3) I also have a 2004 MCE remote with Reciever and Blaster, Can I use this from a client?

Im not sure how complete the support is as i dont have a 2004 version, but in theory yes, as its a usb remote control so can be plugged into the client.

[andyfenna]

No. You'd need a remote plugged into the client rather than the server.

Thanks for you help, is there a device that can be plugged into the client to connect the remotes to the tuner cards on the server?

[ricklous]

I dont quite follow your meaning....:o

Sorry if this is teaching you to suck eggs, but to clarify, the remotes control GBPVR, and GBPVR instructs the tuners according to what channels youve told GBPVR you want to watch. so the remote itself doesnt directly control the tuner card, the tuner card is just a carrier to get the signal into the PC. to control the clients with a remote control, you need to have a remote plugged into the client and GBPVR configured to use that remote. Seeing as your clients wont have any tuners (because they will be in the server) you'll need a usb remote control plugged into each client. If you could trade in your present nova ts and swap them for nova ts that come with the MCE remote, then youd be fine as you could use the USB remotes on the clients.

On the clients, obviously depending what you want to do, have you considered the MediaMVP? a lot cheaper and quieter than a completly seperate PC.

[andyfenna]

Things are seeming a lot clearer now thanks alot, I probably need to buy another MCE remote from ebay

One little question can you tell me how long it would take for a channel to be changed using the client/server aproach?

[ricklous]

no idea....dont use this setup myself. I would recomend researching the forum and read up on the comments of people who have experimented with a similar setup, to see if they have managed to stream livetv over the network without hiccups and so on.

On the MCE remote, try and get the 2005 version if you can. opens more options to you than the 2004 version. See the wiki for the differences.

[sub]

There is no built in support for using GB-PVR in this sort of client/server setup. There are some hacks that can sort of make it work, but I suspect you'll be disappointed with the performance if you're hoping to use live tv this way. It should be ok for watching files recorded earlier.

[A_Brass]

Things are seeming a lot clearer now thanks alot, I probably need to buy another MCE remote from ebay

One little question can you tell me how long it would take for a channel to be changed using the client/server aproach?

It takes slightly longer with the client/server approch and you will not be able to use Live tv mode, the client will need to find the new file created when you change the channel. You need to be timeshifted all the time. This slows the channel change slightliy. Its still watchable, but it's no MVP.