Welcome to Brendon Davis

Modify the number of TV Guide Rows

Autor brendon | 16.06.2010 | Category 7, MediaCenter, TechStuff

In Brisbane, there are about 12 Digital channels worth watching. I run my MCE at 1080p which leaves a lot of wasted space on the default Channel Guide page. Hack7MC has found a useful little tool that allows you to increase the number of rows shown. The how-to is easy to follow and the TV guide looks great once it is done.

RDP to MCE without effecting TV

Autor brendon | 31.03.2010 | Category 7, MediaCenter, TechStuff, VISTA

One limitation of my setup at home is that all television channels go through the Media Center so when I need to do maintenance I have to interrupt my wife’s programs.

While not officially supported by Microsoft, there is an excellent modification that The Missing Remote has published. A simple batch file installs a different DLL for Terminal services that allows the console to remain logged on while up to 2 other users log into a separate RDP session.

Now I can do any management and monitoring or changes necessary without having to submit a “TV-Outage Request”. :-D Very cool.

Interactive MCE Remote

Autor brendon | 19.10.2009 | Category 7, MediaCenter, TechStuff

What do you get if you cross a HTC Touch GSM Eddn. II, Windows Phone 6.5, a Bluetooth Adapter & Windows Mobile Sideshow…

Short answer, an awesome remote for a VISTA Media centre… Of course, I was planning on posting an awesome how-to on configuring the device for Win7 MCE but as it doesn’t work how I’d planned…

Now I know that Windows 7 isn’t officially released until the end of this week but what’s really disheartening is that the Sideshow team have posted that they do not plan to release a 7 Compatible MCE Sideshow gadget.

My aim originally was to have a remote control I could use to the Guide and check my scheduled recordings without having to disturb who was watching TV AND to control the music from the back porch.

Interestingly the pre-installed Windows 7 media player Gadget is able to manipulate the now playing music but only when you start playing music from MCE. The downloadable MCE Gadgets just completely fail to work.

All up the sideshow remote idea isn’t a complete failure. We can control music from around the house but the interface is painful and un-intuitive. I’m certainly going to keep an eye on what happens in this area.

My Media-Center Setup -Updated

Autor brendon | 13.10.2009 | Category MediaCenter, TechStuff

Much has happened since my post in 2007, outlining my current Windows Media center setup. For one, the finance department has approved a larger budget to record and play back more content. Much of my hardware has failed so I have been able to install better hardware over the past few years.

My goals are still the similar:

1. Provide scheduled recording for our favourite TV programs using the new Digital broadcasts.
2. Provide easy access to our pictures, music, videos & movies stored on the Windows Home Server.
3. I had to use existing equipment at home and spend no more than $250 per month control spending for upgrades.

I have moved this page to its very own tab now, so if you’re interested, check out http://brendon.davis.to/mymce.