OT: Technology and Geek Stuff Thread

[DanO]

"Though I have seen monitors get stuck on sleep. Sometimes getting unplugged (from wall and PC) can allow it to work again."
-------------------I tried that. Didn't work. The monitor is a Dell however. I'm tempted to go fish it out of the dumpster. Maybe all it needed was a good nights stay in a dumptser all but it's self with a bunch of garbage. Maybe it's ready to work now.

GO LIONS "11" !

[mason reese]

Good news is that the drive is probably good.

I figured it was, I've had drive problems before and there is usually some kind indicator when the drive is damaged. I put a post on their user board to see if anyone has a solution I can use.

[Coop]

Mason - need a clarification. Is your external drive a USB drive or a NAS?

[Coop]

See thats where you build up a little HTPC in like a Silverstone case to setup at the TV to act as a media server, backup server, and PVR. That takes a bit more work and money though.

HEY !

That's my line..

And here's the case I used:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129054

Looks like a stereo component. Only issue which was kind of bad planning is the exhaust ports are on the side of the case and it fits very snugly into my stereo cabinet with not a whole lot of room. That causes the fan speeds to rev up a bit during warmer months - other than that no complaints. Total cost with wireless keyboard and laser mouse is just about under $1k.

[Topweasel]

Mason - need a clarification. Is your external drive a USB drive or a NAS?

From what I got its one of these. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136746

None of the ones on there have USB connections but I think some of the earlier ones do.

[Topweasel]

"Though I have seen monitors get stuck on sleep. Sometimes getting unplugged (from wall and PC) can allow it to work again."
-------------------I tried that. Didn't work. The monitor is a Dell however. I'm tempted to go fish it out of the dumpster. Maybe all it needed was a good nights stay in a dumptser all but it's self with a bunch of garbage. Maybe it's ready to work now.

GO LIONS "11" !

Meant to note, overnight or longer. Not just unplugging it for 10 seconds waiting and then plugging it in like the old rule.

[mason reese]

Mason - need a clarification. Is your external drive a USB drive or a NAS?

NAS

[Topweasel]

HEY !

That's my line..

And here's the case I used:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129054

Looks like a stereo component. Only issue which was kind of bad planning is the exhaust ports are on the side of the case and it fits very snugly into my stereo cabinet with not a whole lot of room. That causes the fan speeds to rev up a bit during warmer months - other than that no complaints. Total cost with wireless keyboard and laser mouse is just about under $1k.

Yeah but in comparison to a WHS you can set one of those up for $350-400, if you skimp in spots you don't need to worry about. Like Motherboard (don't need a full sized and featured but still be quality). Anything Athlon II X2 or better CPU and like 2 gigs of ram and a $50 case and you are ready to roll.

[Coop]

I hear you. I went with a some higher end components which raised the cost a bit. How good are those boxes at handling hi def content? On a hunch I went with a higher end ATI Radeon card and it ended up being necessary - onboard video card couldn't handle blu ray playback without choking.

[Topweasel]

I hear you. I went with a some higher end components which raised the cost a bit. How good are those boxes at handling hi def content? On a hunch I went with a higher end ATI Radeon card and it ended up being necessary - onboard video card couldn't handle blu ray playback without choking.

Sorry I was refering to a pure WHS setup. For an HTPC it would be pretty lack luster. Have to add Video adapter, ram and cores are useful, and so on. If I was building an HTPC it would probably be like 1.5k so I can make sure I get one of these guys in it .

http://www.cetoncorp.com/index.php

[DanO]

"Meant to note, overnight or longer. Not just unplugging it for 10 seconds waiting and then plugging it in like the old rule."
------------------Didn't do that. Maybe I should retrieve it. It's been unplugged for a few days now.

GO LIONS "11" !

[Topweasel]

"Meant to note, overnight or longer. Not just unplugging it for 10 seconds waiting and then plugging it in like the old rule."
------------------Didn't do that. Maybe I should retrieve it. It's been unplugged for a few days now.

GO LIONS "11" !

Whats the worst thing that can happen? A little dumpster diving for nothing?

[DanO]

:-)

GO LIONS "11" !

[Coop]

Sorry I was refering to a pure WHS setup. For an HTPC it would be pretty lack luster. Have to add Video adapter, ram and cores are useful, and so on. If I was building an HTPC it would probably be like 1.5k so I can make sure I get one of these guys in it .

http://www.cetoncorp.com/index.php

Nice!

My needs were a little simpler - I got this from Amazon:

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr1950.html

Key thing for smooth HD playback of live tv is a hardware based MPEG2 encoder.

[whodean]

HEY !

That's my line..

And here's the case I used:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129054

Looks like a stereo component. Only issue which was kind of bad planning is the exhaust ports are on the side of the case and it fits very snugly into my stereo cabinet with not a whole lot of room. That causes the fan speeds to rev up a bit during warmer months - other than that no complaints. Total cost with wireless keyboard and laser mouse is just about under $1k.

Just run Plex and EyeTV on a Mac Mini.