iMON VFD plugin request

[csy]

I have a Silverstone LC11M case that comes with the iMON VFD/IR-remote module. It would be really cool if someone could develop or adapt a gbpvr plugin which would display what is currently playing on gbpvr, onto the iMON VFD display? In particular, I'm really keen to see the FM radio station name and number displayed so that I don't have to turn-on the TV to see or change stations.

There is an existing LCD/VFD plugin for gbpvr however it won't talk to the iMON driver.
http://www.bladerhq.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Plugin/LCD

Anyone able and willing to help?

[dazzyb2k3]

The plugin on the Wiki won't work as JaLCD does not support USB devices. However, I recently got my IMON VFD (also LC11M Case) working with GBPVR via LCD Smartie and help from Gomer. Check out this thread:

http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=7067

It's not perfect as you need a hack to get the Imon VFD working with Smartie in the first place and there are still issues with the channel info not updating in Live preview mode (Sub is aware of this and should be fixed in later versions of GBPVR) but it's better than nothing and i'm quite happy with the result.

First check out the thread above and here are links for smartie and the vfd plugin.

http://lcdsmartie.sourceforge.net/
http://www.axcis.com.au/shop/index.php?m...ducts_id=5

Install Smartie and then the Smartie Imon driver and then Gomers GBPVR Plugin (don't forget to put the IMON in plugin mode!)

Good Luck!!

[Remco]

A little off-topic, but since both posters have a LC11M...

I'm also thinking about buying a LC11M; but i'm not sure about the stuff to put in. Could you tell me what mainboard, CPU and TV-card you put in? Are you happy with that? (is it stable, how much noise etc.)
Thanks

Remco

[csy]

Thanks dazzyb2k3, I'll give it a go.

Remco - I'm very pleased with the LC11M case and it is very quite. If you are close to the case, you can hear the air moving through the case, but if you are say 2M away, you can't hear anything.
My electronics:
PCChips M825 microATX mainboard (cheap and nasty)
AMD 2000+ CPU
512MB DDR DRAM
ASUS (ATI) 9550TD video card (composite/s-video TV-out)
TUL/Powercolor (ATI) Threater 550 Pro TV card
Creative Audigy2 ZS soundcard
BTC 16xDVD dual-layer writer
Seagate 40GB IDE harddrive
Total measured power load is 100W, so comfortably within the 240W PSU
The Seagate hardrive is exceptionally quite, you cannot hear it working at all!
CPU load: 5-60% (20% avg) with LiveTV timeshift mode, 20-80% (50% avg) DVD playback (originally had AMD 1300MHz but couldn't handle DVD playback)
The 512MB RAM seems sufficient as there is always 100-150MB physical available, but 1GB would be optimal.
Don't like the iMON remote, the arrow buttons are double function and you never know which function mode their in and the enter key is small and not ergonomicly easy to use (luckily the 550 card comes with good remote).
I had an installation issue where the PCI riser was not fully seated into the mainboard socket and caused the PCI cards to intermittantly stop working. I fixed this by slotting the riser board mounting holes, and fed this back to Silverstone as a quality control issue.
The whole system is exceptionally stable.
The ATI 550 chip runs very hot, and I intend on retro-fitting a heatsink onto it, and the PSU fan is low volume, so that side of the case runs fairly warm due to the ATI 550 chip, but satisfactory.
You need a very quite CPU fan, 21dBA or lower because there is a grill under the case where the CPU fan noise is heard very clearly.

[dazzyb2k3]

Hi Remco,

The LC11/M is a superb case. Looks the business (I have the silver colour) and it was the only case at the time that was not too big but could blend into the living room as well as take an ATX board, 2 X full size PCI and AGP (all due to the very ingenious design). Not the cheapest case but it screams quality.

My config is as follows:

Dedicated HTPC PC

Gigabyte 8GEM800-Intel845GE MB (again - cheap and nasty)
P4 2.4 GHZ
768MB DDR 333
250GB Western Digital IDE
NEC 16X Dual Layer DVDRW
Nvidia FX5200 (passive cooled)
2 X GDI Black Gold DVB-T
Zalman Flower Cooler
MCE 2005 Receiver with Philips Pronto Ru950 Touchscreen Remote

OS:XP SP2 with updates

As csy said, my only issue was with the imon remote which I didn't like either and my Pronto had trouble leaning the commands from it anyway so I butchered my MCE receiver and fitted this inside the case which works flawlessly. Don't let this put you off though - most people find the Imon remotes more than sufficient.

I would definately recommend getting a zalman cooler. These things are very efficient (i can keep it on the very lowest setting without heat build up) and it's whisper quiet. In a normal living room environment I cannot hear my PC at all. You have to remove the case fans to get it to fit (makes the system even quieter!) but the Zalman is so good it doesn't make any difference to the temp. But even without this the LC11 is a very quiet performer.

Overall it's a fantastic and very robust system. Coupled with GBPVR (very important!) it is rock solid. It's used as a full time PVR 24/7 with only a very occasional reboot - definately reccomended!!

[csy]

Dazzyb2k3/Sub

I installed the Smartie plugin dll file into gbpvr root directory and didn't work, so created a subdirectory called "plugins" containing the dll file and it works

However, gbpvr now shows an error message in Video library:
"Error: File or assembly name CommonGBPVRUtilities or one of its dependencies was not found"
If I remove the plugins directory, then video Library works again.

Have I incorrectly installed the plugin or how do I fix this error?

[dazzyb2k3]

Hi csy,

Can't really comment on this as I use MyVideos instead of the library. Am assuming you've installed smartie with the Imon hack and verified that this works independantly of GBPVR?

[Remco]

Hi dazzyb2k3 and csy

Thank you for your enthousiastic response. Now i'm sure i have to get one of those

...
it was the only case at the time that was not too big but could blend into the living room as well as take an ATX board
...

Does a full-size ATX mainboard fit into the LC11M? According to Silverstone it only takes micro-ATX.

Remco

[csy]

The iMON side of things is working well and displays gbpvr information.

Sub:
any ideas how to fix the error message when trying to watch a video:
"Error: File or assembly name CommonGBPVRUtilities or one of its dependencies was not found"
If I remove the plugins subdirectory (which I manually added for the iMON plugin), then the error goes away.

[dazzyb2k3]

Remco,

Yes it's micro ATX. You can get some great micro ATX boards at good prices these days. There appears to be enough space to even fit a mini ATX but it might require a few mods so i wouldn't risk it unless you're feeling brave

Keep us posted on your project!