is using an MVP easy?

fluffykeith · 2008-03-18, 01:11 PM

Hi

I haven't paid much attention to the MVP whilst getting the main media center PC running.
I played with a client PC and it worked fine however now I see the price of the MVP is quite good, it looks like a neat bit of kit so...

The question is will it just work like having a client PC? is there anything special I have to do?
It sounds from reading the wiki that I can just plug it in and it will load from the PVRX2 and all be working great - to good to be true?

Thanks for any info

cheers

Keith

McBainUK · 2008-03-18, 01:38 PM

I would be interested in the answer to this question, and also details of how much processing is required on the part of the server?

martint123 · 2008-03-18, 01:55 PM

Quote:It sounds from reading the wiki that I can just plug it in and it will load from the PVRX2 and all be working great - to good to be true?

That's all I did.

Two things. Config | MVP | Nr of servers to start - set to nr of MVP's
Possibility of having add a rule to your firewall. Mine just popped up for a "yes" click.

Server power minimal for normal PVR use. The MVP handles mpeg natively - CPU power consumed if watching transcoded files of divx and the like.

Truly was "plug in and go"

ACTCMS · 2008-03-18, 02:07 PM

martint123 Wrote:That's all I did.

Two things. Config | MVP | Nr of servers to start - set to nr of MVP's
Possibility of having add a rule to your firewall. Mine just popped up for a "yes" click.

Server power minimal for normal PVR use. The MVP handles mpeg natively - CPU power consumed if watching transcoded files of divx and the like.

Truly was "plug in and go"

That was pretty much my experience too.

zed · 2008-03-18, 02:07 PM

You need to have a dhcp server on your network so the MVP can get an IP address. Routers usually do dhcp so if you have a router you're probably OK.

JimF · 2008-03-18, 02:41 PM

Yes, it is easy, but there are a few things to know:
(1) Before upgrading GB-PVR to a new version (or the Hauppauge MVP software if that is what you are using), unplug the MVP. That is different than turning it "off" via the remote control, which only places it in standby. Then, plug it back in again after the software is changed. Otherwise, it will just hang.
(2) The MVP only plays MPEG audio, so if you record digitally from a QAM cable source, you will probably have AC3 audio. In that case, you will get no sound from the MVP, though the video will play. The best solution is to transcode the audio, which I can do with my VideoReDo editing software, but there are other ways. If you record analog video, as through a PCI card, you shouldn't have this problem.
(3) The MVP does not play high def video at all, which you have probably figured out if you have been reading about it on this forum.

FuzzyPapaBear · 2008-03-18, 04:00 PM

I'm curious about the "server" load as well. I'm planning on returning the cable company's HD box and eventually getting a HD tuner for my rig. I picked up an MVP for $30 way back when Radio Shack discontinued them as a store stock item but I never used it. I know the MVP can not display HD but I'm hoping to use the MVP for all playback until I can afford a better video card or a popcorn hour device. I read somewhere else on this forum that someone was recording their HD content as regular MPEG2 for use by their MVP but I haven't figured out how it's done yet. I think they were using the ATI Mux but I'm not sure.

fluffykeith · 2008-03-18, 04:07 PM

Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like I could be ordering one very soon Smile

JimF - I also have VideoReDo - do you do the audio converting as a post processing task in a batch file? or is that something done when transferring to the MVP?

cheers

Keith

ACTCMS · 2008-03-18, 04:23 PM

fluffykeith Wrote:Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like I could be ordering one very soon

You might want to check out ebuyer.com - that's where I get most of my stuff - prices are pretty good. - Careful with ebay though... hauppauge stuff usually goes for more than new from ebuyer.

forzaKGB · 2008-03-18, 04:53 PM

JimF Wrote:Yes, it is easy, but there are a few things to know:
(1) Before upgrading GB-PVR to a new version (or the Hauppauge MVP software if that is what you are using), unplug the MVP. That is different than turning it "off" via the remote control, which only places it in standby. Then, plug it back in again after the software is changed. Otherwise, it will just hang.

This I have never done...
And I have been using it for about a year now. I use the MVPMC dongle instead of the GBPVR one as I find it more stable. But others stick with the default and is very happy with that one.

Just plug it in and go, thats what I did before starting to try the MVPMC after it rebooted a bit too often (probably some networking issue that I did not find, but since it works the WAF is high and dont fix what aint broken...).