I recently made a project out of turning an old Dell I never used anymore into a Media Center PC. Here’s what I started with:
Dell Dimension 4400
I also had recently purchased a couple hard drives for a TiVo upgrade that I didn’t end up doing so I had them handy.
My goal: To build a machine that could easily access My Movies from the click of a remote. Here’s what I did to make this happen…
I explored a lot of software options for this but most of them are taylored more for TiVo-esque functionality (of which I don’t need) and less for DVD playback. I decided to try using Windows XP Media Center Edition after I found the My Movies add-on.
Step by step:
Hardware
Here’s the official Microsoft list of compatible hardware
The biggest concern with using Windows MCE is the video card. It has to support MPEG2 video decoding (which is good because it takes the strain off your processor). I found the cheapest one I could get that had this feature: GeForce FX5200 w/ TV out. The GeForce FX5200 chipset is the decent and most of these cards are cheap so that’s what I would recommend.
Now, with my setup the only other concern I needed to address was an optical drive and disk space. I already had a DVD drive but it was a couple years old and a new dual layer DVD-R drive is only $60, so I got a Samsung TS-H552B DVD-R drive. Most modern sound cards will be sufficient and it helps to have a good amount of RAM. Last but not least is the remote. You could spend 200 bucks on a Harmony remote or just get the $30 OEM remote. Ok, so now that we have the hardware together, on to the fun part…
Software
Here’s the order I used:
- Installed Windows XP MCE – (hint: if it asks for a Service Pack 2 disk just put disk 1 back in)
This is pretty straight forward, the only problems I ran into was formatting a Quantum hard drive, it would do the format and then keep reporting that it’s unable to install to that volume. I believe Quantum drives have a locking feature that is probably what was causing the trouble. After switching to a Maxtor it was fine. Before continuing with anything else I ran Windows update and also installed Microsoft Frameworks 1.1 (required for a ton of MCE stuff).
- Installed DVD decoder
I installed the NVIDIA DVD Decoder because most places I read this was the best. Other options are WinDVD and PowerDVD.
- Installed DVD Profiler
DVD Profiler is DVD cataloging software that will be used in conjunction with the My Movies add-on.
- Installed My Movies
This is where it gets really hip. Install the software, do an XML export of your collection out of DVD Profiler and import it. A couple important things to know:
- Installed DVD ripping apps
DVD Shrink is the main app I’m using to extract my DVD’s. It’s pretty easy to use. Pop a DVD in, click “Open Disk,” after it analyzes it select the compression, if any, you’d like and click backup. It will ask you where you want to save the ISO backup and that’s it. My method is a little different as I don’t really want all the extras and menus and stuff, so before I hit backup I selelct “Re-author” and then drag in the “Main Title” (which is only the main movie file, nothing else), then under “Compression” I uncheck all the extra audio streams as well as the subtitles. The other cool thing you can do here is compress the movie to save space. It will diminish the quality a tiny bit but unless you’re watching it on a 50″ plasma or your name is Paul you won’t even notice.
DVD Decrypter is another DVD ripping app. I use this to rip movies that are multiple sides or disks to add to one ISO. (Guide to making a single dvd out of a double sided disk.)
You’ll also need Nero if you plan on burning DVD’s.
- Installed Game-Ex MAME front-end
This is something I was pleasantly surprised to find. A game emulator front-end for MCE. This is really sweet, a little harder to setup than the others, but well worth it. Zophar.net is where you can find all the emulators around. I’m using FCE Ultra for NES and Snes9x for SNES. Once setup, select GameEx from the Media Center menu, select a system, select a ROM and off you go! For downloading ROMs I recommend http://euroemu.net/.
Final Thoughts
So far I have about 190 DVD’s ripped, every South Park, my whole music library, and more NES, SNES, GBA, and Atari games then I know what to do with.
Update: I was ripping at 5x with my DVD drive for weeks when one day I was ripping at 1x (reeeeally slow). If you remove your Primary and Secondary IDE Controllers from Device Manager and restart, it will reset your controllers to allow DMA which needs to be on for your DVD to be read fast enough.
