TechLifeWeb

One of the best plug-ins for Windows Media Center is Netflix Streaming.  While on the surface is should be straight forward to get this plug-in working there are a few things you can do on your HTPC and your network environment to ensure that things work smoothly.

1. Use an alternate DNS provider. Ok so this one definitely isn’t intuitive.  If you are having trouble even getting the Netflix (or Internet TV) to show up and let you install, you should try changing your DNS (Domain Name Server). You can do this at the PC or Router level. I use OpenDNS (208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220) but others have had issues with those servers and Media Center Netflix. You could also try Google’s DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). Again, some have reported similar issues there too. Another option is to go to http://dnsserverlist.org/ and there will be a list of DNS servers to try out for your location.

2. Set up Netflix in Internet Explorer:

• Start Internet Explorer
• Go to http://www.netflix.com/
• Type- “http://WWW.Netflix.com/clearcookies” into the address bar and hit enter
• In IE, go to Tools – Internet Options
• Select the “Security” tab
• Select the “Trusted” zone
• Select the “Sites” button
• Remove all references to “Netflix” sites in all boxes
• Uncheck the “Require Server Verification…” box
• In the “Add” field- type- *.netflix.com then select the “Add” button
• Click Close
• Click OK
• Try Netflix in IE
• Once you have streamed a movie for a little bit, close IE
• Now launch Media Center and try Netflix

I had my Media Center set up for months and didn’t have an issue. Then recently, after Windows 7  SP1 (Service Pack 1) and an update to Silverlight I had problem where Netflix was working until I tried to watch a movie. Closing media center and simply going to http://WWW.Netflix.com/clearcookies in Internet Explorer then, still in IE, logging on to Netflix fixed my error.

Hopefully this will help others trying to troubleshoot Netflix in Media Center.

Update 03MAR11: There is an issue with IE9 and Netflix (I wouldn’t put IE9 on my HTPC but in case someone did) MS has a fix here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2512239

The HD-PVR is a device that connects between a set-top box (such a your cable tuner box) and your computer (HTPC). It uses component video and S/PDIF optical audio connectors.

Earlier this year, Hauppauge released drivers for Windows 7 Media Center that let you use the device as one of your tuners within media center. In the community these are often referred to as the ‘native drivers’ since they come from Hauppauge rather than DVBLink which provides another solution for this to work.

People have had various experiences getting these drivers working. For some people they are great and others have a bad experience. My opinion is that this has to do with the other things running on your HTPC including background processes and codec packs.

While we all can hope that this should “just work”, there are many variables involved which combine to make it hard. Here is how I have it working with success. Much of this has been learned by my own experiences and the helpful people over on The Green Button. Hopefully it will help others get up and running.

First, my system specs:

• Atom ION
• 2GB RAM
• Gigabit Ethernet
• Windows 7 32-bit
• Hauppauge 2250 Dual Tuner Card
• HD Homerun Dual Tuner
• HD-PVR using native drivers
• My set-top box is a Scientific Atlanta 4250HDC

Getting started: Set up your set-top box correctly

The first thing you need to do is lock your set-top box to output only one resolution. By default, my SA 4250HDC had several resolutions checked. I changed this to ONLY 720P. The HD-PVR doesn’t seem to like the resolutions to change when you change channels

Next, be sure your set-top box is set to output Dolby Digital audio.

I can’t tell you how to do this on all boxes but here is basically how it is done on the SA 4250 (hopefully this will be close for some of you with other boxes)

• Press the Settings button on your remote
• Under Quick Settings, select Devices – Audio:Digital Output
• Ensure Dolby Digital is selected
• Still in settings, scroll right to Display
• Go into Output Resolution and be sure to check only 1. On my box the dots on the left of the resolutions indicate which ones that will be used. I use 720P as progressive is best in my opinion. What ever you decide, choose either 720P or 1080i. Lock it in as only 1 so the box isn’t trying to switch depending on source.

Make sure Windows 7 is up to date

Run windows update (might as well)

There is a Windows 7 hotfix that is not part of windows update yet. The notes on it do not indicate that it would help in this case but in my opinion it is a must for Media Center. I really do think it helps with channel changing. You can get it here: New functionality and performance improvements for the Windows 7 graphics platform (http://bit.ly/fRjCsw)

Set up and install the HD-PVR

Tip: If you have Windows Media Center set to start automatically with Windows, you might want to change that option to off. The installation process may take a couple reboots so this will help speed things up and minimize problems. For reference, this setting is in Media Center under Tasks – Settings – General – Startup and Windows Behavior.

Download the installation package and installation instructions from the Media Center tab of HD-PVR Support (http://bit.ly/ag73Cn)

Note: You do not need all the Arcsoft software provided with your HD-PVR for this to work.

Run the component cables and optical audio from you set-top to the HD-PVR input jacks.

Follow the instructions to install the HD-PVR down to the part about installing and setting up the IR utility.

Now, before you go on, take the time to make sure your HD-PVR is completely isolated from your other USB devices. 1Geek1Tool provides great instructions on How to isolate your HD-PVR (http://bit.ly/f4NdiH).

Once you have finished that process and your HD-PVR is on its own physical USB controller continue with the HD-PVR setup instructions to set up the IR software and the the MCE Installer.

The HD-PVR is considered a Digital Cable tuner when using the native drivers so you can easily install it along side your ATSC and QAM tuners.

After the tuners are set up in Media Center, disable background scanning to help improve performance:

• Open up REGEDIT and go to
• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Service\BackgroundScanner]
• Create a new DWORD value, and name it PeriodicScanEnabled  and set the ValueData to 0
• Close Regedit, and reboot the box.

Note: Don’t forget to enable the switch to start Media Center with windows if you disabled it in the tip above.

Helpful Utilities

GuideTool is a handy tool for quickly editing your channel list (useful whether you use the HD-PVR or not). You can find it here: http://bit.ly/hBaw60.

Some people experience what is often called the Dual Tuner or Double Vision bug. This is where though you have only one HD-PVR showing up as 2 digital tuners. Fortunately, Mikinho of Missing Remote and The Green Button has written a piece of software that makes it easy to do a quick reset so only 1 tuner shows up. You can get it on Missing Remote here: http://bit.ly/hlN1Hj (note: you have to log in to see the attachment.)

Channel changing notes

The above instructions get you up and running with the HD-PVR’s built in IR port. Some people have issues with the built in IR blaster being causing long times changing channels. Here are some notes I’ve gathered:

• If you use the native HD-PVR IR port, try lowering the Inter-Digit delay in the IR blaster setup (see page 1 of the Missing Remote article (http://bit.ly/hlN1Hj) for info)
• ccarlesco notes that changing the digit padding if your set-top doesn’t require you to press enter has helped him change channels faster (on the non HD-PVR IR blaster): here http://bit.ly/i7GWRc
• I use the IR Server Suite to change channels. I’ve posted my notes on the installation: here http://bit.ly/hF1fUz.
• david3663′s blog entry to help people setup the beta with HD-PVR blaster MCE blaster or serial changing: here http://bit.ly/iclgkc
  • Valkyrie-MT adds some info for david3663: here http://bit.ly/f6BfuW
  • Another note from Valkyrie-MT that shows how to test IR is working from the command line: here http://bit.ly/dEVaDU
  • Valkyrie-MT points to the new registry locations after the July 21 updated drivers. here http://bit.ly/gCTqs8 This is what to use now if you are trying to use the MCE Blaster.
  • Another note from Valkyrie-MT that is useful if you are upgrading from a previous install and using the MCE blaster hack. here http://bit.ly/dHZIQb
  • Important: If you have another Hauppauge tuner, check out my notes on disabling its ehome tranceiver on TheGreenButton here http://bit.ly/fAzqPi
• Notes on USB to Serial for channel changing:here http://bit.ly/gQXEEM
• Instructions on setting up DirectTV and USB/Serial channel changing: here http://bit.ly/dFDlcm
• Green Button member EmerilLIVE has some details on setting up DirectTV with network channel changing. Read the details over on The Green Button: here http://bit.ly/hHfXHv
• Getting Firewire to work to change channels. Instructions here http://bit.ly/dP9ooW (skip down to step 5) via electrotype here http://bit.ly/huIDHX.  This is only for 32bit windows.
  • loribee adds some notes about getting firewire working under Windows 7 32-bit: here http://bit.ly/h8faRY
• uspino has developed a utility to enable channel changing on the Tivo. Check out this post over on TheGreenButton here http://bit.ly/gM1cdD
  • I have uploaded uspino’s zip file to my DropBox http://bit.ly/g1gzr5

How to increase the video bitrate and turn off the blue ‘bling’ LEDs

There isn’t a nice user interface method of change things like bitrate or that bright blue “bling” light. To do that you need a utility like GraphStudio. This isn’t hard, it just takes a few steps.

• Download GraphStudio http://bit.ly/goE0aa
• Ensure your HD-PVR isn’t recording a show then shut down Media Center
• Run GraphStudio
• Click Graph – Insert Filter
• In the filter chooser dropdown, scroll down and click on WDM Streaming Encoder Devices
• Select the Hauppauge HD-PVR Encoder in the left pane then click the Property Page button.
• Click the Hauppauge H264 Encoder tab
• Here you can change the Bitrate from its default 8 to 13.5 Mbps. You can also check the “Disable bling LEDs” box
• Be sure to click the Apply button after any changes
• That’s it! Simply close GraphStudio, start Media Center back up and enjoy some TV.
• Note, there are also some settings for Luma and Chroma. I didn’t change these. If anyone has changed them in a way they think increases picture quality, I’d like to hear about the results.

Other Notes

• The HD-PVR can take a lot of processing power. I suggest not running background processes such as Show Analyzer if possible. If you are having trouble and you must run these processes, at least try turning them off for a bit as a trouble shooting method.
• Valkyrie-MT’s notes on getting this to work with Dish Network: here http://bit.ly/fJHL5F
• Valkyrie-MT’s info on changing the audio to RCA if you absolutely have to: here http://bit.ly/fRzaK7
• Media Center keeps all its tuners, channels, recording, EPG and other information in a single database file. If for some reason you want to take things back to a clean state, you can follow How to reset your Media Center database http://bit.ly/e0fC3V

Main Web Sites and Threads

• Hauppauge HD-PVR Support http://bit.ly/ag73Cn
• Thread on The Green Button Thread: Hauppauge HD-PVR Native Support for Windows 7 Media Center http://bit.ly/e21j0J
• Mikinho’s review on Missing Remote: Preview: HD PVR for Windows Media Center Update: HD PVR for Windows Media Center http://bit.ly/hlN1Hj

The thread on The Green Button is the best place to go to get your questions answered. If you have other tips or helpful utilities I have missed, let me know in the comments below.

*** change log ***
12JAN11: Optimized the page for printing.
12JAN11: Fixed links to Missing remote that moved when they redesigned the site. Also added a link to some details on DirectTV channel changing over the network.
27DEC10: Added a link to my IR Server Suite note.

15DEC10: Added a link to uspino’s notes about Tivo channel changing. Also added a link to my notes on disabling other Hauppauge tuners.

15OCT10: Added section about increasing bitrate and disabling bling lights
14OCT10: Added a link to Mikinho’s Double Vision Quick Fix in the Helpful Utilities section

Sites that I found interesting for October 29th 2009 through November 2nd 2009:

• Recovering from Twitter Phishing – Nice little how-to. via @chelpixie on Twitter.
• Enough, Microsoft. No One Is Endorsing Piracy. Obviously. – Hey, Microsoft. Duh.
• DIY Windows Home Server Build – JukeBox MkII – Nice article from Automated Home. via @isdixon on Twitter

Sites that I found interesting for September 17th 2009 through September 21st 2009:

• AT&T to Let You Patch the Dead Zone in Your House for $20 per Month – The telco has started offering the 3G MicroCell, a wireless network extender the company claims acts like a mini cellular tower in your home. With it, users can expect enhanced coverage for both voice and data for up to 5,000 square feet, with support for up to four users at any given time
• Batch Converting a Directory Tree of Videos Recursively with Handbrake for Streaming to an Xbox360 – This script takes every *.avi file in the current (.) folder, and all folders underneath it (-R), and for each of this files, creates a new filename with the word "-convert" inside. It then calls the HandBrake command line (yours may be in "C:\Program Files" so you might need to change that. It uses the Xbox360 preset.
• Media Center Studio – Media Center Studio is a free application for Windows Vista and Windows 7 that enables you to customise Windows Media Center. It is the successor of MC Menu Mender, bringing it up to date for Windows 7 and adding support for theme application and editing.

Sites that I found interesting for August 30th 2009 through September 2nd 2009:

• Petabytes on a budget: How to build cheap cloud storage – How to store hundreds of petabytes of customer data in a reliable, scalable way—and keep costs low.
• Freeware Files: Turn your PC to Self-Cleaning Mode, and More! – Handy list of free tools for the PC. A couple I hadn't seen before.
• RVU Alliance Aims to Take Over Your Home – What if the next time you called DirecTV, the service tech didn’t bring a set top box but a server and several thin clients? And what if this server would allow you to watch live premium HD content as well as recorded TV, videos and movies from your PCs and possibly content from the internet?

Sites that I found interesting for August 26th 2009 through August 29th 2009:

• IBM 'X-Rays' A Molecule – IBM scientists claim to be the first to image the inner structure of a molecule, opening up new possibilities in building smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient computing components.
• The Evolution of Retweeting – Twitter has announced that a user-generated communication technique called retweeting–reposting someone else's message, similar to quoting–will be formally incorporated into Twitter. Some experts say Twitter's approach will hinder the conversational aspect of retweeting; others predict that it will create a new way of communicating.
• Fewer Unencrypted QAM & Analog Cable Channels Coming Soon – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled to allow cable companies to use cheap, one-way digital set top boxes with encryption on them via a three-year granting of a waiver to the FCC rule that had prohibited the use of set-top boxes with integrated security functionality. Sounds harmless enough, but its really a bad thing for many consumers – especially HTPC users.

Sites that I found interesting for August 24th 2009 through August 25th 2009:

• How To: Run an ‘Honesty Trace’ to Counter Roadside Bombs – Changing up routes is standard in military operations, but creating “honesty traces” (a term borrowed from the British in Northern Ireland, who did the same thing with tracing paper) can help troops avoid falling into unexpected — and potentially deadly — patterns. via @MitchWagner on Twitter.
• Supercook: recipe search by ingredients you have at home – Supercook is a new recipe search engine that finds recipes you can make with only the ingredients you have at home. To begin, simply start adding ingredients you have in the green box on the top left. The more ingredients you add, the better the results will be. via @nicmcc on Twitter.
• Avoid the top 10 mistakes most commonly made building and HTPC – The gang at MissingRemote.com have compiled a list of the top 10 mistakes people most commonly make during their build process of an HTPC. I can't stress that this applies for novice users as well as experts, as its usually the obvious things that are forgotten that cause the most hassle!

There has been a lot of talk lately among Windows Media Center enthusiasts and other Home Theater PC users about getting your computer to go to sleep. The advantage here would be to save a few bucks on your power bill at the end of the month rather than powering beast 24/7. Also, it could help your home be a little ‘greener’. Both causes worth while, no?

Andy VT has but together a nice how-to for getting your computer on its way to cyber slumberland.

He says:

My main HTPC uses around 130 watts at idle, 7 watts in standby (S3), and 4 in hibernate (S4) so the case for having it take a nap whenever it can is quite clear.  There was a time when getting S3 standby working properly was a black art involving careful motherboard and device selection, registry hacks, and some pixie dust.  When Vista came out and even low-end motherboards included full standby support all of that changed; setting up your PC to properly take a nap, and wake up when you need it, is something anyone with a few minutes can do.

Have a look at his whole post for screen shots and configuration.

via: babgvant

Sites that I found interesting for July 16th 2009 through July 24th 2009:

• Guide: How to Enable Concurrent Sessions in Windows 7 RTM – Missing Remote shows us how to enable concurrent sessions in Windows 7 Ultimate. Concurrent Sessions allows you to Remote Desktop into a system that someone else is on, under a different user account, and access the system without kicking the user off.
• Engadget’s guide to building a HTPC for under $1,000 – This is an interesting build. Worth reading if you are thinking about building an HTPC. I wouldn't use a video card with a fan on it though. Try to keep fans to a minimum.
• New element named 'copernicium' – Discovered 13 years ago, and officially added to the periodic table just weeks ago, element 112 finally has a name.

Sites that I found interesting for June 14th 2009

• Guide to Building a HD HTPC – Good place to start for choosing Home Theater PC Parts – Page 85 – AVS Forum
• Dell: Twitter Helped Boost Sales for $3 Million –
• Enable Concurrent User Sessions in Windows 7 – If you have Media Center powering your television, this will let you connect to another session on the PC to do maintenance.