5.1 for MVP

zehd · 2006-07-13, 06:58 AM

Sub, I have found a couple of dongles at MVPMC

one's the dongle.bin.mvpmc-0.3.0
and another's dongle.bin.mvpmc-20060611

Those files certainly don't follow the 8.3 file extension rule. Must be a linux thing. Big Grin

Anyway, are these the same things as is delivered with GB-PVR, that were just renamed, dongle.bin?

Second, What's the best way to determine the actual version of a dongle that isn't named with an identifying number like 'yours' for example?

I've creacked open the files, and can't find any identifier...

cosmocat · 2006-07-13, 09:21 AM

Quote:That's cool. did you do anything special...? Dongle, ffdshow, ac3filter...?

No, just XDVD plugin.
Dolby prologic is normally encoded onto the stereo sound track of DVDs. The MVP plays this normal stereo, and if played into a prologic decoder the decoder can pick the surround channels out of the stereo, just like it does for OTA analogue tv broadcasts.
This is not full 5.1 surround but a reasonable approximation. You only get a mono surround rear channel which the amp will spread across both rear speakers. You do get the centre dialogue channel reproduced well and the decoder will reproduce a subwoofer channel by mixing the left and right incomming channels together and putting the mono result through a low pass filter. The left and right front channels are the incomming left and right from the MVP with the reproduced rear and centre channels subtracted.

I use a Yamaha DSP-492E surround processor attached to my stereo system in the lounge, and a cheap (Â£80) Matsui DVD home cinema surround sound system in our bedroom.

***sub*** · 2006-07-13, 05:09 PM

Quote:Sub, I have found a couple of dongles at MVPMC

one's the dongle.bin.mvpmc-0.3.0
and another's dongle.bin.mvpmc-20060611

Those files certainly don't follow the 8.3 file extension rule. Must be a linux thing. Anyway, are these the same things as is delivered with GB-PVR, that were just renamed, dongle.bin?

Yes, they the same type of thing as used by GB-PVR. Their most recent dongles include the ability to connect to GB-PVR, but it does have a few limitations at this early stage (no ff/rw/skip). Just rename them so they end in .bin, then they'll show up in the config app.

Quote:Second, What's the best way to determine the actual version of a dongle that isn't named with an identifying number like 'yours' for example?

There is no way to determine the version other than the person that supplied them telling you.

mvallevand · 2006-07-13, 09:51 PM

sub Wrote:I dont know about the AC3 aspect of it, but one of the mvpmc authors recently added GB-PVR support to their dongle.

mvpmc processes the gbpvr and mythtv video and audio streams exactly the same, if the source is AC3 it will be output AC3. I'm not sure if the ffmpeg transcoding options are set for this or not.

Also if you enable optical output as shown on the mvpmc site, this is used for all audio. It was one of the easiest hardware projects I have ever done and well worth it if you use mvpmc.

Martin.

mvallevand · 2006-07-13, 10:00 PM

sub Wrote:Yes, they the same type of thing as used by GB-PVR. Their most recent dongles include the ability to connect to GB-PVR, but it does have a few limitations at this early stage (no ff/rw/skip). Just rename them so they end in .bin, then they'll show up in the config app.

There is no way to determine the version other than the person that supplied them telling you.

The mvpmc compile date is in the mvpmc "About" window on the main screen.

Also, when Hauppauge introduced the H1 beta, there is a version number stored in the dongle itself, 72 bytes into the dongle.bin. The Hauppauge release notes with their betas refers to this as a firmware number.

Martin

zehd · 2006-07-14, 04:51 AM

sub Wrote:Yes, they the same type of thing as used by GB-PVR. Their most recent dongles include the ability to connect to GB-PVR, but it does have a few limitations at this early stage (no ff/rw/skip). Just rename them so they end in .bin, then they'll show up in the config app.

There is no way to determine the version other than the person that supplied them telling you.

I noticed with the 0.30, it gave me a choice for Myth, replay etc, and emulation, which when the GB-PVR server was up, was gb-pvr. Like you said there wasn't any FF/RW and even the 'back' button wasn't working right...

I'm starting to uderstand the whole thing a bit better. Just out of curiosty, why do you think they release a newer dongle with fewer features?

They very latest beta (in the hundereds I think) from shpvr is working great.

Haven't tried Your gbpvr.bin yet. Is it working well with H2?

***sub*** · 2006-07-14, 06:12 AM

Quote:Just out of curiosty, why do you think they release a newer dongle with fewer features?

Who? I dont understand the question. Each newer mvpmc dongle adds more features than the last. Each newer Hauppauge dongle adds more features than the last. The feature set between these projects is not related. When you use this emulation mode with the mvpmc, you're not using the software written by Hauppauge, but rather an attempt to copy it by mvallevand. His attempt at this hasnt yet added these features. Its not that Hauppauge has released a version with less features.

Quote:Haven't tried Your gbpvr.bin yet. Is it working well with H2?

No, it has not been updated to work with the new model MVPs.

***sub*** · 2006-07-14, 06:13 AM

Quote:Also, when Hauppauge introduced the H1 beta, there is a version number stored in the dongle itself, 72 bytes into the dongle.bin.

Yes, but its not really practical for end users to easily check this.

Quote:The Hauppauge release notes with their betas refers to this as a firmware number.

This is what I meant by 'the supplier of the dongle telling you'.

psycik · 2006-07-14, 06:43 AM

Pity there is no version of the dongle that, rather than using vnc to draw the screens, would connect to the gbpvr database natively to read the recording or video information...now THAT would be cool.

zehd · 2006-07-14, 06:57 AM

sub Wrote:Who? I dont understand the question.

Who? - the mvpmc folks...

What I meant was, after I installed the dongles, both released and beta from mvpmc, that the ff/rw and back weren't working, when the dongle that you provides do work. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong, that's all.

But anyway, not a biggie. I really like what you're doing, and the I *do* have a dongle that works with my H2, rather well now...