Mac Mini Media Centre

This week I want to tell you about my latest project - setting up a home media centre using a Mac Mini. Last week I got my new MacBook Pro, so my mini really wasn't needed any longer as my everyday computer. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to finally build a media centre computer.

I have tried several times in the past, but did not ever find a system that worked really well for me, and didn't require a great deal of computer know-how to use, after all my wife would need to be able to use it when I wasn't around. I tried Geexbox a while back. This is a Linux based live distro that works with a lot of different hardware - except the actual hardware I had available to me at the time. I was a student then and really could not afford to just go out and buy the supported parts to get this system up and working properly. I was working from spare parts and computers that I used to regularly scavenge from the side of the road on garbage night.

My last experience with a media centre was a birthday present from my wife. A D-Link DSM-320. This was a neat device that just plugs into your TV and can wirelessly stream music, video and photo's from your PC. The only problem was, this thing was VERY picky. I spent a great deal of time trans-coding video to even get it to work, and most times it would end up out of sync with the audio or the video would stutter. I did have a little more luck once I stopped using the bundled D-Link software and switched to Tversity, but it still wasn't what I was looking for. It was truly a lesson in frustration. I still have it, but I never use it.

Enter my Mac Mini. This little computer is really a perfect solution for a media centre. It's diminutive size and simple design allow it to easily fit into a home theater system. The setup was very easy, but did require a little research. First of all, my nice big TV does not have any digital inputs. I purchased it just before every TV came with digital inputs as standard. I have component, s-video, and composite inputs, and thats all. I also purchased my Mac Mini before Apple switched to the Nvidia video card. So I'm working with somewhat older hardware, but that doesn't mean I still can't enjoy a home media centre.

Getting Started

The first thing I did was erase the Mini and re-install OS X. This would give me a clean slate to start with. The first thing you will notice when you turn on a Mini with no keyboard and mouse is that it immediately starts looking for bluetooth devices. So I turned off bluetooth from the Systems Preferences. This stopped the annoying system hang when it first boots up.

I then needed to find a way to connect my Mini to my TV. I found a cable on the apple website that would plug into my DVI output of my Mini and switch the signal to s-video and composite. Not HD by any means, but definitely still watchable using s-video.

Once I had the adaptor I needed to get an s-video cable and a stereo cable to plug into the headphone jack on my Mini and into the RCA audio inputs on my TV.

My Mini came with Front Row and an apple remote so the software was all ready on the computer. I did have to download a few applications to make life a little easier. Just a quick note about the apple remote - if you hold down the play/pause button for 5 or 6 seconds, it will put your mac to sleep. It immediately wakes up if you press it again. It pauses your video exactly where you are, and resumes from there as well.

Perian. This will allow quick time to play many more video codec formats. So I won't have any issues playing most downloaded video.

Flip4mac. This is a WMV quicktime component that allows it to play WMV file format. So I can play windows formated video.

Now that I can use Front Row on my TV, and my apple remote to control things from the couch, I need to figure out how to get enough content on this computer. My Mini came with an 80 gig internal drive - which is really to small for a media centre. I needed more room. I decided to attach an external USB drive to the mini to allow for holding all kinds of video. I had to create an alias of the external drive in my Movies folder. It's as easy as right-clicking and dragging and dropping to make that happen.

I fired up Front Row and noticed something was not quite right. All my video, including TV shows all display in the Movies section of Front Row, and not the TV Show section. After some investigation I discovered that iTunes must be used to set the video kind to TV show. This was a problem because most of the TV shows I have are AVI, and DivX files. I didn't want to have to transcode and add all these shows to iTunes. At this point I discovered an application called Movie2iTune which will create links in iTunes to all your tv shows that can be sorted and set to TV shows, thus solving the problem. The software is automated, so all I had to do was select all my TV shows, and drag them over the icon for Movie2iTune. It adds them to iTunes automatically! All I had to do then was select them from the Movies section of iTunes, and change the video kind to TV Show.

The next thing I setup was screen sharing on the Mini so that I can remote into it to create files and move things around. I just had to turn it on from the Sharing preferences menu on the Mini. On my other mac I downloaded Chicken of the VNC. However there are times when I'm sitting in front of the TV and don't have my macBook Pro with me. As long as I have my iPod Touch with me, I can still use the Mini as a computer, even though I don't have a mouse and keyboard attached. I found an app for my iPod called Mobile Air Mouse. This app allows my iPod to act as a track pad and a keyboard.

I've been using my Mac Mini as a media centre for a few days now. I've setup file sharing of the Mini's movies folder and can move over any new video files from any computer on my home network. It is working perfectly, and I have made my way through about twenty episodes of Seinfeld so far. I'm still going to look for some way to more automate ripping DVD's. Currently I've been using Handbreak, but I'd love to just have to pop in a DVD and have it rip all by itself.

Related Links

Movie2iTune

Apple DVI to Video Adapter

Geexbox

D-Link DSM-320

Tversity

Perian

Flip4mac

Mobile Air Mouse

My New Toy! - 13" MacBook Pro

This week I want to share with you my experience with my newest toy, although I really do hesitate calling it a toy. It's an AMAZING piece of technology. It's my new MacBook Pro 13 inch, and this little computer is blowing my mind!

I opted for the 2.26GHz base model, but I did splurge on the Ram and Hard drive. I didn't think that it was worth the $300 for the extra 300MHz or so of processor power. I upped the 2 gigs of standard Ram to 4 gigs. I looked at the 8 gig option for about half a second. It was an extra $1100 to get 8 gigs! I'm sorry, but that it just CRAZY! Is anyone really getting the 8 gig option? I heard that they actually grind up pixies to make the 8 gig ram chips. I also opted for the 500 gig hard drive so that I would have no shortage of storage space.

The unibody construction truly is a nice feature. This laptop feels very solid, and the all aluminum body really does seem to help keep it running cooler.

Multi-touch track pads ARE the future. I've been using it for a few days and I already don't know how to live without it. I'm sure we're going to see many other laptops showing up with this neat trick soon.

The display screen is very clear and bright. I was looking for something bigger than a netbook and smaller than my giant 17 inch dell, which was too heavy to lug around on a regular bases. 13 inches seems to be the sweet spot for me, and what I was looking for.

The biggest surprise for me with this particular laptop is the keyboard. It uses the standard apple chick-let keys, but the feel of them is wonderful. They have the perfect tactile feel and require a perfect amount of force when typing. It was something that hadn't even come to mind when looking at any computer before. As soon as I started typing, I could feel that these keys are perfect!

As anyone who knows me knows, I'm huge into the computer eye-candy, and this Mac does not disappoint. It looks stunning, both the computer and the OS. I'm one very pleased apple owner.

With this purchase, I can see that my transformation is now complete. I am a full fledged Mac user and moving up quickly to a Mac fanboy. I'm already looking forward to the next apple keynote like a child waits for christmas morning. My poor wife is caught in the middle and I'm sure is tired of hearing me lusting after the newest apple offering. Sometimes I wonder if she only stays with me for the free tech support. :)

Next week I'm planning to discuss how I set my Mac Mini up as a media centre computer for my TV... stay tuned (Pun totally intended there :)

Antique Radio Jukebox – Part 2

Today I want to share with you some of the work I have been doing on my antique radio cabinet. When I last told you about this project I was thinking that I would try to restore the cabinet its original condition. I was also planning to use it as a jukebox. Complete with an installed computer and some sort of display that would allow me to browse and select music to play.

Since then, I have made a few changes to my original plans, and I want to share with you what I have done so far. I am very pleased with my progress, and with the direction that I have taken with this project.

Instead of building a jukebox into this cabinet, I have instead opted to refinish the cabinet in a more modern stylish design. I am in the process of installing an amplified speaker system. This involves a little soldering to tap into the existing controls on the sound system so that I can use my own volume, bass, and on/off controls.

I am planning to use this cabinet as an iPod dock. I will sit my existing iPod dock on top of the cabinet and plug in headphone and USB power cords. I had thought for a brief time that I would mount the actual iPod dock into the top of this antique cabinet and figure out a way to still have the remote work. In the end I decided that I might not always have an iPod. Ten or twenty years from now, the iPod dock will probably be useless. The way Apple abandons its products, I better not count on them to still be supporting this product for years to come.

As you can see from the pictures, I have really transformed this cabinet into something that looks good with an iPod connected to it. I can just plug in my iPod and turn on the cabinet and I’m good to go. It sure beats trying to wedge a computer with iTunes into the cabinet and figuring out some kind of GUI that would not look too out of place.

I will say that it was an EXTREMELY difficult decision to paint over the detailed wood on this project. I had not purchased this cabinet with the intent to restore it. My plan was to find something to build a jukebox out of. This particular cabinet really didn’t fit my needs for building a jukebox. For $20, it was too good a deal to not purchase. In the end, I feel good about how things turned out so far. Once I finish the internals, I'll update my blog.

I’ll start my search again for something more “jukebox” friendly for that project.

Click here for video of my dock in action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkeSQiHr3dA

Projects from the Past - Building R2D2

Today I want to tell you about a project that I started working on about 6 years ago, but never finished. This is one of those huge projects you start when you’re un-employed and/or single, or in my case, have a very understanding wife.

At the time I stumbled upon the R2 Builders club. This was a yahoo group of R2D2 builders from around the globe. It is an amazing resource for anyone thinking about building this be-loved ‘droid.

As a kid born in the 70’s, I of course LOVED Star Wars. I had the action figures and model space ships. But what I always wanted was a life sized R2D2. It was about 6 years ago that I decided to build one.

Time went on, and I got busy, and R2 turned into one of those projects that just kind of gets put away and never finished. I had made some decent progress at the time, but it really is a huge endeavor to build a ‘droid, as you can probably guess.

The best way to tackle a project of this scale was to break it up into smaller parts. In R2’s case; The dome, the body, the two outer legs, and the third, retractable leg.

The Dome
This was a challenging aspect of this project. I needed to find an 18-inch diameter dome. I thought about all kinds of methods to make one, or re-purpose something else. I thought about paper-mache, but it wouldn’t be strong enough. I though about finding a big enough bowl or flower planter, but had no luck finding anything that would fit my needs. I looked through all kinds of cooking supply stores, second hand stores, and hardware stores, but no luck. It seemed like I was never going to find a dome for this project, and as I looked, I began working on the body and two outer legs.

Finally one day it occurred to me as I was walking down the street - a street light! I’ve seen them with plastic sphere's. I’m sure one would have to be 18-inches. I called a supply store and they told me they did have them, but it was $100. Not an outrages price, but still kind of up there. In the end I did get one and had the pleasure of cutting it into two halves.

At this point the dome is etched and primed. I still haven’t cut out the few panels I wanted to have open to reveal little R2 goodies, like a para-scope and a little radar scanner.

The Body
Of all the materials that I could use to construct the body, I decided on using a wood frame. I choose wood for a few reasons but mostly because it was cheap, and easy to work with.

At this point I have constructed the frame and the leg collars. The frame has been primed but not painted.

The Outer Legs
The legs are a project in them-selves. At the time I only had a jig saw and my cuts were not as perfect as I would have liked, so I used plaster to smooth out the edges. This was not a great choice due to the fragile nature of plaster. And if R2 was going to be moving around it may bump loose or chip. There is also quite a bit of detail in the legs that lead to all kinds of carving and chiseling to get just right. The legs also need to manage bending the feet during a two leg to three leg stance and back. So I needed to leave them hollow to allow for an inner rod to run through the length of the leg from the shoulder to the foot.

Where is this project now?
The reason I’m telling you about my R2D2 project is that I intend to start working on my R2 again! I did keep everything and have dug it all out of storage. I even found my plans. So I will be updating my blog with my status as I move forward.

My goal is to build a full-scale model of R2D2. The dome will spin; have working lights, and at least one opening panel that something will pop out of. (Haven’t decided what yet.) I would like to have some body panels open as well, for access to internal ports. I am also going to try and have it transition from two to three leg mode and back. All this will be controlled from an onboard computer. So basically I’m building a working R2D2.

This project will take me some time, however I am already well on my way, and I will keep you updated on my progress.

Acer Aspire One 751h 1366 x 768 resolution fix for Ubuntu

It took some time, and there were a few false leads, but I was able to finally get the correct resolution in my AAO while using Ubuntu.

These instructions come from http://www.aspireoneuser.com
Thanks to Allanon

Step 1: Update your system

sudo apt-get update

Step 2: Install the Authentication key for the software provider

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys C6598A30

Step 3: Add the following sources to your software repositories

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Note: These can be added to the /etc/apt/source.list file or through Synaptic

Step 4: Update your system with the new software

sudo apt-get update

Step 5: Installing the driver

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-psb
sudo apt-get install dkms
sudo apt-get install psb-kernel-source

Reboot

Note: If you install a new kernel, run the following in the terminal after the update

sudo dkms build -m psb-kernel-source -v 4.41.1
sudo dkms install -m psb-kernel-source -v 4.41.1

To automate this step enter the following in the terminal

sudo gedit /etc/dkms/dkms.conf

Type in the following and save the file

AUTOINSTALL=YES

Also note: Suspend does not appear to be working on my system. The system wakes up, but there is no video on the display... Another problem to fix...

I'll keep you posted.

My new Aspire One Netbook - AO751h

Today I want to talk about my newest toy. I just picked up the new Aspire One netbook last Saturday. I decided that I was tired of squinting at the 8.9-inch screen of my old AAO. This is the 11.6-inch, AO751h model. My first impression is that I really like the looks and size of this model. 11.6-inches is a great compromise. I don't have to squint, and It's still small enough to be ultra-portable. The keys are 100% normal size, which means I don't feel like a giant trying to type in a URL or an email.

Once I turned it on, there was a huge problem right away. It took almost 2 hours for it to startup for the first time. It seems that Acer hadn't installed the drive image! The image had to be loaded onto the secondary partition via the primary restore partition. You'd think Acer would have had the time to do this before sending this thing out the door. I mean it just helps with first impressions. This Netbook comes with Vista Home Basic. Anyone who knows me knows, I HATE Vista! It's slow and clunky and the "Click and wait" feature is unbearable. I thought I would at least boot up this system, just to see how well it worked.

Windows 7

I can say that I did wait until it was finally finished loading before I powered it off (by holding the down power button, as if to give me the great feeling of satisfaction of actually killing the OS - Did I mention that I HATE Vista???) I immediately installed Windows 7, or as I like to call it "The Apology". My experience was not terrific. It seems that the video chip (Intel GMA500) is not capable at this point of supporting the Aero feature of Windows 7 without bringing the system to a crawl. Aero makes Windows 7 looks so nice! And I love the eye candy. So after fiddling with the driver settings for a while I decided that I would instead install another operating system. Windows 7 would have to wait until it had a decent driver.

OSX86

My next OS to try was OS X. Without any investigation, I just popped in my iDeneb 10.5.6 disk into my external drive and fired it up. It didn’t get too far into booting before it froze up. It seems that NONE of the hardware is supported in OS X. So this netbook will not be a Mac clone either.

Windows XP

XP has yet to disappoint me. It has been around so long now that it basically always works. I had XP installed and updated without any issue. All the drivers are available via the Acer website, so it’s a no-brainer install. This netbook comes with 2 gigs of Ram and a 250 gig hard drive. So XP is very happy on this system. The AO751h uses the Z520 processor clocked at 1.33GHz. It’s not a POWER machine by any means. But it performs totally fine for a netbook. I did find out that I can over-clock the processor via a software utility. If/when I play with that feature, I’ll let you know.

Ubuntu

I have just installed Ubuntu 9.04 on my netbook via the Wubi installer. I haven’t had too much time to play with it yet, but I can see that the GMA 500 is not setup correctly. The video looks 1024x768 instead of 1366x768. I’ll have to fix that.

A quick note; everything else looks like it was detected and is working. Both Ethernet and wifi work right out of the box. Also sound works fine too.

I’ll update when I have time to go through everything completely.