The Popcorn Hour

fcukreg

All...Brand New A-110 & WN-100 WiFi dongle for sale here.

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=114135&cat=8

Impluse purchased from www.Ripcaster.co.uk but keeping my Archos 605wifi instead as its more portable...

Standard Toaster

Been playing with my A-110 the last week or so. One of my better purchases.
Plays everything I've thrown at it so far. Even respects the aspect ratio flag on encoded files. Great when you get home and it's automaticly downloaded your fav episodes via rss feeds and they're ready to watch in comfort.
Tried a fair few 1920 HD files and again no bother to it.

Has anyone play around with the audio side of things?
Is there a decent jukebox type addon for mp3s? (like iTunes...Album art etc)

MediaTank

The_Edge wrote: »

Has anyone play around with the audio side of things?
Is there a decent jukebox type addon for mp3s? (like iTunes...Album art etc)

I haven't, use my Sonos system for audio. But look at networkedmediatank.com for jukebox software.

MT

allybhoy

kyub wrote: »

I got my Popcorn Hour A110 from ripcaster also and have been setting it up today. I've installed a 1TB drive into it and just transferring a tons of vids over to it now. For anyone transferring large files via the wireless dongle I'd advise you to use FTP. For me at least, it's been the most stable and the fastest speed I've gotten.

Also, if you haven't installed the NMT Community Software installer yet, I'd advise you to do so asap as there's some brilliant additional custom software that you can get including a nice download manager for those pesky rapidshare links.

What additional software have you installed? Ive put the movie jukebox on it with Yamj skin but rarely use it, its just for show mostly.

Velcrow

allybhoy wrote: »

What additional software have you installed? Ive put the movie jukebox on it with Yamj skin but rarely use it, its just for show mostly.

Just the Yamj with the RobinsjExcal skin it makes this lovely-quite-small box wife-friendly

http://omertron.com/pch/RobinsjExcal

MediaTank

allybhoy wrote: »

What additional software have you installed? Ive put the movie jukebox on it with Yamj skin but rarely use it, its just for show mostly.

I've installed BusyBox, telnet etc. and a mod that mounts all network shares at startup - very useful when using YAMJ.

Barack Obama

Just stumbled across this thread...

I've got a PCH for well over a year now and it's the best piece of kit that I ever bought. It's hooked into my HD projector and home cinema amp and I use YAMJ.

I highly recommend this to anyone

vectra

MediaTank wrote: »

I've installed BusyBox, telnet etc. and a mod that mounts all network shares at startup - very useful when using YAMJ.

Can I install these in my Egreat ?
cheers

MediaTank

vectra wrote: »

Can I install these in my Egreat ?
cheers

In a word yes.

vectra

MediaTank wrote: »

In a word yes.

And I have one word for you
"Thanks" :cool:

m0nsterie

Hey,
quick question re YAMJ + Popcorn Hour A110: when I move all my media to the internal HDD, can YAMJ work on there disconnected from any PC? I have the wireless dongle so wikll be able to connect to the internet OK for getting IMDB synonses, images etc., but does YAMJ need to be hosted on a PC?

Not sure if I'm clear on how YAMJ works. I'd like for it to just connect to the internet on its own and grab cover art for DVDs, IMDB information etc. Any tips?

Thanks

JohnDigital

Every time you add new content to the box you need to re-run yamj on your PC. It checks for changes to existing content and updates if required, it automatically skips over anything that has not changed. It only takes a few seconds to update new content if that is the only changes that it needs to make.

MediaTank

m0nsterie wrote: »

Hey,
quick question re YAMJ + Popcorn Hour A110: when I move all my media to the internal HDD, can YAMJ work on there disconnected from any PC? I have the wireless dongle so wikll be able to connect to the internet OK for getting IMDB synonses, images etc., but does YAMJ need to be hosted on a PC?

Not sure if I'm clear on how YAMJ works. I'd like for it to just connect to the internet on its own and grab cover art for DVDs, IMDB information etc. Any tips?

Thanks

YAMJ works off static web pages. You run it once on your PC to generate the web pages and then copy the Jukebox folder to your internal HDD. If you put index.mtml in the root of the internal hard drive the YAMJ web pages will load automatically when you access the internal HDD.

As JohnDigital says, if you add new content then you need to rerun it and copy the folder over to the internal HDD again.

MT

JohnDigital

MediaTank wrote: »

As JohnDigital says, if you add new content then you need to rerun it and copy the folder over to the internal HDD again.
MT

Even easier is if you have the Jukebox folder on the hard drive of the PCH all the time, then you dont need to move it at all.

MediaTank

JohnDigital wrote: »

Even easier is if you have the Jukebox folder on the hard drive of the PCH all the time, then you dont need to move it at all.

Yup, it's easier, but I find it's a lot sloower at updating when you do it over the network. I do it on a PC and then jsut copy the changed files across.

m0nsterie

OK - so, copy all movies to PCH internal drive (already done)...then run YAMJ from PC. I'll do this leaving the USB slave connection in place so the PCH drive looks like an external to the PC.

The reason I ask is, I am loading movies onto the drive for someone else, who has internet access but no movies or know-how on how to get them or refresh YAMJ or anything like that.

If I say upload a film in future from a USB drive, then from what you've said I need to reconnect my YAMJ on my PC to the PCH to generate the IMDB pages etc. for the new item. Is there any way to do this without connecting to a PC, by letting the PCH connect to the internet? Or is there an alternative to YAMJ that can do this (but that also has nice features like YAMJ)?

Thanks again

MediaTank

m0nsterie wrote: »

If I say upload a film in future from a USB drive, then from what you've said I need to reconnect my YAMJ on my PC to the PCH to generate the IMDB pages etc. for the new item. Is there any way to do this without connecting to a PC, by letting the PCH connect to the internet? Or is there an alternative to YAMJ that can do this (but that also has nice features like YAMJ)?

There isn't AFAIK. There is a dynamic YAMJ that someone developed but it requires a PC to host the software.

m0nsterie

Hey, anyone know a source for old film trailers?

For any new films on my popcorn hour, I have enabled the 'download from apple' option in YAMJ, so the trailers show up with the film (really cool feature). But most of what I have is not new - so if I could download old trailers from somewhere that'd be great! Not sure about using youtube, might be a bit tedious if I have to convert to another format.

MediaTank

m0nsterie wrote: »

Hey, anyone know a source for old film trailers?

For any new films on my popcorn hour, I have enabled the 'download from apple' option in YAMJ, so the trailers show up with the film (really cool feature). But most of what I have is not new - so if I could download old trailers from somewhere that'd be great! Not sure about using youtube, might be a bit tedious if I have to convert to another format.

Any old film trailer sites I know of e.g. TCM are streaming only. Don't know if you can download it.

The_g-man

You could check movie-list.com, where retro and obscure trailers show up in the members section regularly.

emerald007

I'm having some trouble with the transmission bittorrent client - it has just stopped downling for me. I'm wondering has anybody had any luck installing anyother bit torrent clients onto their popcorn hour?

MediaTank

emerald007 wrote: »

I'm having some trouble with the transmission bittorrent client - it has just stopped downling for me. I'm wondering has anybody had any luck installing anyother bit torrent clients onto their popcorn hour?

Make sure you have the latest version (shipped with the latest NMT apps). Alternatively you could install Clutch which by all accounts is a far better bittortent client.

emerald007

humm - used the NMT Community Installer to drop transmission 1.76 onto my box, the install works since i can access http://pch-a110:9091/transmission/web/ via browser. I tweaked the network setting to ensure an opendns dns ip is used (in an attempt to avoid an issue my broadband has!) but still not getting any peers, my pc can connect to the same t*&%$££. what default port setting are people using for transmission?

sparkthatbled

I was thinking of getting one of these ( A200 model ), but can anyone answer me a few questions first?

What format/type of HDD works best?
If you order from the US does it come with a uk/ireland power adapter or do you need to get one separately? If it's separate, where can one be ordered?
Can you record direct from a HD tv or is it only from like a Sky+ HD box? Does the tv need a usb connection?

allybhoy

sparkthatbled wrote: »

I was thinking of getting one of these ( A200 model ), but can anyone answer me a few questions first?

What format/type of HDD works best?
If you order from the US does it come with a uk/ireland power adapter or do you need to get one separately? If it's separate, where can one be ordered?
Can you record direct from a HD tv or is it only from like a Sky+ HD box? Does the tv need a usb connection?

The format they use is either ext3 or ext2 (linux). Drive wise it depends on your budget but it takes 3.5" SATA disks, or you can physically connect usb drives up to it or playback other media files on your network.

Ive never ordered from the US but instead use this site.
http://www.popcornhour.es/
The reason being shipping takes less time and as far as I know as it comes from the EU you will be less likely to be asked to pay duty although this is just only on personal experience. Ive never seen an A200 but the A-110's come with a PSU which uses a standard 3pin kettle lead, the one that comes shipped is not compatible with our sockets but you can pick up a kettle lead from most hardware\electronics stores for around 2euro.

As for recording from a tv, the A-110 doesnt support this, I havent enough knowledge on the A200 to say whether it does or not.

MediaTank

allybhoy wrote: »

As for recording from a tv, the A-110 doesnt support this, I havent enough knowledge on the A200 to say whether it does or not.

None of the Popcorn Hour models support recording. They are media playback devices only.

youcancallmeal

A quick question for anyone with the A-200. If you have an internal 3.5" drive installed and you also have the wireless dongle add on is there an option in the UI to transfer files from your home PC to the internal hard drive? Or does it have be managed from your home PC?

Also is http://www.popcornhour.es/ still the best place to get it?

MediaTank

youcancallme>al wrote: »

A quick question for anyone with the A-200. If you have an internal 3.5" drive installed and you also have the wireless dongle add on is there an option in the UI to transfer files from your home PC to the internal hard drive? Or does it have be managed from your home PC?

Also is http://www.popcornhour.es/ still the best place to get it?

Home PC I'm afraid. It's easier to connect the unit via the USB slave socket to the PC and much faster too.

Yes, to avoid import duty popcornhour.es is one of the better places to buy from. Amazon.co.uk is worth a look too.

youcancallmeal

MediaTank wrote: »

Home PC I'm afraid. It's easier to connect the unit via the USB slave socket to the PC and much faster too.

Yes, to avoid import duty popcornhour.es is one of the better places to buy from. Amazon.co.uk is worth a look too.

Unfortunately my television is nowhere near my PC so my ideal setup will be to transfer the files from my PC to the hard drive wirelessly as I need them. Managing things through my home PC shouldnt be too bad. Should I expect a long wait if I order an A-200, seems to be a backlog from looking at the NMT forums?

MediaTank

They have the C200 for €249!


Mod comment:
Copied here for info.

Ritz.

OneWayBet

I have been using the A-110 for over a year and it has been the dogs bolXXXs!

Most of my content is directly downloaded on the internal 750GB disk using Transmission 1.92, mostly HD content from thebox.bz (brilliant private tracker site covering pretty much everything that is at least 60% produced in the UK, including all BBC productions etc). There's a lot of incredible nature productions waiting to be tapped and the new stuff is coming so fast I'm continuously downloading with a queue of content to watch.

Now I have also got SopCast working so I can watch PL games live on Shanghai Sports and the like (using Compbiz). So far picture quality is excellent and with Chinese commentary it's almost a relief to take a break from Andy Gray cliches

My A-110 is also a long distance from my PC through concrete walls so I switched from wireless to HomePlug. I can stream from my Buffalo LinkStation Mini but as most content is already on the A-110 I usually just watch local content.

I also have nightly backup scripts doing 2-way rsync backups between the A-110 and the Buffalo LS Mini upstairs.

I hope this helps anyone thinking about the possibilities, for me the Popcorn Hour is a silver bullet home media solution :D. Don't hesitate in buying one. I bought mine direct from popcorn hour, it shipped from China and I had to pay import duties on accepting delivery.

Cheers,
OWB.

keith_d99

Good Writeup OWB!!
Can you give us more details on how you got sopcast working with the PCH?

OneWayBet

keith_d99 wrote: »

Good Writeup OWB!!
Can you give us more details on how you got sopcast working with the PCH?

Easy when you know how:

Create a html page like this, for more channels just copy the line and change 6001 to the desired sopcast channel. Transfer the html file (using ftp, samba, nfs or if you have opened up telnet just create the file using vi).

<html>
<a href="dvbi://broker.sopcast.com:3912/6001" vod>Shanghai Sports</a><br>
</html>


I put the file in a Sopcast directory in the main directory along with my video files.

Now go to Sources / Hard Drive, select Others for the media type, then navigate to the html file and click on the channel link. It should show the buffering screen for about a minute and then show the screen. If it's not working check with Sopcast on your PC to make sure the channel is broadcasting.

Cheers,
OWB.

allybhoy

OneWayBet wrote: »

Easy when you know how:

Create a html page like this, for more channels just copy the line and change 6001 to the desired sopcast channel. Transfer the html file (using ftp, samba, nfs or if you have opened up telnet just create the file using vi).

<html>
<a href="dvbi://broker.sopcast.com:3912/6001" vod>Shanghai Sports</a><br>
</html>


I put the file in a Sopcast directory in the main directory along with my video files.

Now go to Sources / Hard Drive, select Others for the media type, then navigate to the html file and click on the channel link. It should show the buffering screen for about a minute and then show the screen. If it's not working check with Sopcast on your PC to make sure the channel is broadcasting.

Cheers,
OWB.

Is that it? jees that is simple! ill try it now and report back

EDIT:- Ok, that didnt work! I tried channel 6001 and it was offline, so I had a search and found channel 81774 playing the liverpool game perfectly. So edited the HTML file you had to the following:-


<html>
<a href="dvbi://broker.sopcast.com:3912/81774" vod>Shanghai Sports</a><br>
</html>


Saved it, reloaded, but still failed. Am i missing something simple? I havent a clue about HTML scripting btw!

DOUBLE EDIT! Got it working Just took agees to buffer up. Sweet thanks

OneWayBet

Glad you got it working, yes it takes a minute or two to buffer up but that's probably a good thing as I found that there is little or no stop/start problems when watching.

livEwirE

In case any of you missed the good news Youtube is coming to the C-200 series. http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showthread.php?tid=40083

I've got a C-200 and it rocks! Been waiting for this after youtube support was withdrawn a few months back

OneWayBet

Funny, watching YouTube on my TV is something that never really appealed to me!

GalwayGunner

Thinking of getting one of these:

is it worth getting the Wifi dongle with it??

OneWayBet

Depends really on whether or not you require wireless networking!

JohnDigital

And depends on whether you are going to be using it mostly for HD content or SD content. You will tire quickly of trying to transfer a 2GB file over WIFI.

I have mine networked through my router, as both are conveniently under the TV. But I transfer files using USB Slave as it’s much faster for getting content from the PC to the disc on the PCH.

Personally I wouldn’t bother with the WIFI dongle.

keith_d99

JohnDigital wrote: »

And depends on whether you are going to be using it mostly for HD content or SD content. You will tire quickly of trying to transfer a 2GB file over WIFI.

I have mine networked through my router, as both are conveniently under the TV. But I transfer files using USB Slave as it’s much faster for getting content from the PC to the disc on the PCH.

Personally I wouldn’t bother with the WIFI dongle.

Totally in agreement!
Personally though I would go for an apple tv - jailbreak it and put on xbmc
Only around 100 for the apple tv. And I have the popcorn (albeit 1st gen - so I have to remove dts)

MediaTank

JohnDigital wrote: »

And depends on whether you are going to be using it mostly for HD content or SD content. You will tire quickly of trying to transfer a 2GB file over WIFI.

I have mine networked through my router, as both are conveniently under the TV. But I transfer files using USB Slave as it’s much faster for getting content from the PC to the disc on the PCH.

Personally I wouldn’t bother with the WIFI dongle.

Agreed. You only need WiFi or wired ethernet if you plan on straming content to/from other devices on your home network or if you plan on using the web services (YouTube, etc.) thay come with the unit.

OneWayBet

I would say you definitely need internet access on the device to get the most out of it. For example if you want to bittorrent directly onto the device.

Spocker

OneWayBet wrote: »

I would say you definitely need internet access on the device to get the most out of it. For example if you want to bittorrent directly onto the device.

+1 for this - it's a big plus to have internet access, even if it's just to get the firmware updates