Before i spend any money......

[sidler]

Has anyone done this and how hard is it to acheive?

I've got a Vista 64Bit Ultimate HTPC and would like to ditch the existing cable box and run all my stuff through the HPTC. Requirements are:

i) Retain 64bit Vista Ultimate as it's a darn site better than 32bit vista
ii) Be able to recieve HD channels through the HTPC via MCE
iii) Download the EPG relevant to VM
iv) Use a softcam

What i've deduced so far reading the forums:

i) I need a DVB-C card and the one that seems to be recommended the most is a FloppyDTV. Does anyone have a direct link as to where to buy? Will it work ok with vista64 and MCE?
ii) What software is required for the above? Vplug and anything else?

Most of all. Whats the major/costly issues i will come across when trying to do this type of setup?

thanks, Sid

[Cafe.Rcaer]

If you want a softcam, you can't use Vista Media Center (VMC). You would need a hardcam with VMC. Read up on driver and codec issues with 64bit before you stick with it for a HTPC. Seriously - look at 32 bit, read the Digital Everywhere fourms, TGB and AVForums.

Why Ultimate? If you want more than 2 TV cards, fair enough...

You can get HD, although, there is only BBC HD on V*M

VMC does have a guide in there natively, although there's curently an analogue card needed to trick VMC into beleiving you have the signal coming in via a STB, then it allows you to download the 14 days guide, rather than use the 3day "in stream" epg that comes from the signal. I've no experience of any other front end.

[Confused Stu]

1 - You can use 64 bit OS just fine, although I personally went with 32 bit as I'm never going to use my HTPC for anything needing more than 4Gb RAM, got my main/gaming PC for that!

2 - Virgin currently only has one HD channel which is BBC HD and your PC should be able to display that so long as your processor and graphics are up to it (nothing too old/smelly)

3 - If you don't install the TV Pack, you will easily get the EPG for 90% of your channels. If you do use the TV Pack, you'll need an analgue or spare DVB-C card to get it set up fully, but you'll be able to get the EPG for every channel as well as the TV Pack's other features. Have a look at the thread "any more news on EPG guide" for full details.

4 - You can use a softcam with programs like DVBDream, ProgDVB, and most others, but if you want to use MCE you're going to need a hardcam - specifically a CAM flashed with joker 0.79 and a funcard flashed with the right files for you. Easy enough to do, but a little more expense (CAM, card, card programmer, CAM programmer if you want one). You cannot use a softcam with MCE at all.

5 - Floppydtv's can be bought direct from digital-everywhere's shop, or I bought mine from kustompcs.co.uk as they were a few pence cheaper after P&P. Check both and go for cheaper!

6 - Vplug seems to be the most popular softcam, so long as you're happy using DVBDream, ProgDVB, etc instead of MCE.

7 - Major costs will be DVB-C card (Technotrend C-1501 is cheapest and works great with softcam programs, I couldn't get it working with MCE, Floppydtv is the best and easiest to set up for any program), if you want to be able to record one channel while watching another you'll need two DVB-C's etc. You won't have PC build costs as you've already done it, so it's just Funcard4's (or 5,6,etc), CAMs (hisat do pre-flashed ones), and card programmer (CAS3+ if you want to be able to flash CAMs too, Infinity USB if you don't).

That should get you started - all the info you need is on this very forum, so happy reading.

EDIT: Every time I post a long reply, CafeRcaer posts a reply while I'm typing! Curse your encyclopedic knowledge and your fast fingers, young man!!

[Cafe.Rcaer]

Originally Posted by Confused Stu

EDIT: Every time I post a long reply, CafeRcaer posts a reply while I'm typing! Curse your encyclopedic knowledge and your fast fingers, young man!!

Both of those will be down to the huge amount of searching I had to do to get the damn thing working!

[sidler]

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like i've got enough there to start off with!
I'll go off and do a bit of research

thanks, Sid

[sidler]

One thing that struck me when looking at the FloppyDTV site is the following comment:
'Windows Media Center doesn't support MPEG4/H.264 channels!!!'.
I can currently play MPEG4/H.264 content on my HTPC so should I disregard this?
The reason i'm sticking with Vista 64 is that i use the PC for video editing AVCHD from my sony hi-def camera. Its a bit overkill, quad core, 4gb RAM and 2TB hard drive all wrapped up in Zalman Case but it's my one-stop solution.
I've read that Blue Zeta cam is the best way to go, can you confirm?
thanks, Sid

[Cafe.Rcaer]

It doesn't natively support H.264, but you can use a hacked .dll (it was originally timebombed) from the beta release in the released version and get it to support H.264.

BUT, cable doesn't use H.264 so you can view BBC HD without the hacked .dll

If you can currently view H.264 content, it's because you have some codec installde that supports it, and my guess is taht you mena you can view these files outside of the Media Center application.

I would say the Blue Zeta CAM (flashed to Joker) is the best way to go, yes. Best to me is easiest. There are other CAMs that will flash to Joker, but the Blue one is probably the easiest to get pre-flashed.

[Confused Stu]

Microsoft have confirmed Vista Media Centre will never be able to support H.264 streamed TV, that will be only in Windows 7. As Virgin don't currently stream any channels in H.264 you can safely ignore this (BBC HD is exactly the same encoding as other channels - just at a higher res). This statement on Digital Everywhere's website doesn't affect videos encoded in MPEG4 - just the TV channels being played through VMC.

From personal experience I can confirm Blue Zeta and Icecrypts both work provided they've got Joker 0.79 flashed on them.

I've got Vista 64 on my gaming PC too - similarish setup to you (3Gb Quad, 4Gb RAM, 4870 graphics onto dual monitor). Although this would've worked perfectly as an HTPC I didn't fancy the electric bills for running it for hours on end when a lower spec (and power) PC would do just as well, plus the wife would've killed me if I put the Antec 900 case in the front room next to the TV!! I originally got Vista64 for my HTPC but I couldn't get it reliable and working with the Media Centre plugins I wanted so I ended up buying Vista32 for it instead and it feels more solid for an HTPC setup IMHO. In a year's time I might well change back to Vista64, but at the moment I'm sticking with 32.

Good luck dude.

EDIT: I know I'm repeating what CafeRacer said, but I spent the time typing it, so I'm leaving it here!!