Info and forum posts by 'WelshTom'

Quick wireless nnetworking question

Hi there,

I have a wireless network set up at home run besides my wired network. iT consists of a wirless router/adsl modem with 4 ports, with pc`s on 2 of the ports. My brother lives in the same house as me and has a pc and an xbox in his room and would like to connect them to the rest of the network. Can`t really be bothered with running a wire so wirless it is. One option is to buy 2 wireless bridges, but thats expensive so I was wondering if I would be able to use a cheap 4 port wireless router? So basically my question is, can I have 2 wireless routers on the same network?

So

(xbox & pc) - router 1 ------ wireless connection ------ router 2 - (pc & pc)

Hope that kinda makes sense!

Thanks

Network Attached Storage Help Please

Hi there,

I`m hoping that someone out there will be able to help me with a question I have. I am considering setting up some network storage but am not sure how to go about it. I need about 500 Gb so the retail drives are out of the question as they cost too much! I have found two ways of doing it and am trying to decide between them . The first is this device

Netgear SC101

It takes 2 drives and can be set up in a RAID configuration. The things I don`t like about this idea is that it only had 100mb/s LAN and I am worried that if both computers I have are trying to access information at the same time it may bottleneck and run really slow. Then I thought about building a cheap server. I found these on eBay

Compaq Deskpro EN Pentium 3 System 1Ghz

I thought I could buy on of them, install a RAID card, a Gigabit network card and use it as a cheap media server. I also found a couple of dual processor units for a little more money!

Anyone got any recommendations on which would be the better idea? Anyone got a better way of doing it?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

RE: Bargain DivX & Card Reader DVD Player £19.99 From Lidl!!

jcb1888, the firmware should download as an iso file, so just use Nero or another burning software to burn it from a disk image/saved project. So no need to create folders, it should burn the disk with the folders in the right place. In the zip file you download is a good guide to the rest of the processes.

The region free disk, you need to create a folder called RMTM0000, inside that put a folder called SCARLET. All caps, prob easier to copy/paste. Then download the file and put it into the SCARLET folder. Burn the RMTM0000 folder to a disk, pop it in and it should come up with the menu. Remember to finalise the disk and to use a CD-R instead of a RW.

Prob best to do the firmware first as you have to do a factory reset after the upgrade so would have to do the multiregion again afterwards. Hope that helps!

RE: Bargain DivX & Card Reader DVD Player £19.99 From Lidl!!

Quick question to those of you that also got one, what color were they? In my local store they only had black ones, same story for my brother, just wondering if anyone managed to get a silver one?

Apart from that, what an awesome player for the money! Just did the region hack, and now have a multi region DVD player with 5.1 decoder, that plays divx, wma, has a memory card reader and a 3 year warranty for less that £20! Bargain!

RE: Tatung Elio 20gb colour mp3 player £100

This thing has a USB on-the-go port for transferring photos direct onto it from say a Digi Cam, how do I find out if my camera is compatible with this port?

RE: dvd record error on my new media centre pc when recording TV programmes)-help

Just thought I`d offer some help

Dakwah, for future reference, there is a great website devoted to MCE over at thegreenbutton. They have a great knowledge base and a brilliant forum community, if they cant sort your problem out no one can! It`s also worth a look at their list of plugins as some can add functionality you wouldn`t think possible!

Blodwin, you say you have a home assembled HTPC, if you are looking for a free MCE alternative have a look at Mediaportal. It`s a great program and is constantly being developed to include new features, has good forum support, and having used both MCE and Mediaportal have decided to use Mediaportal on my HTPC!

Hope that helps

WelshTom

RE: Connecting PC and Amplifier question.....

Depending on your PC and amp it is also possible to connect the PC and amp with a SPDIF connection. That`s what I use between my HTPC and surround sound amp and that way the amp does the decoding instead of the PC.

RE: Laptop - TV connection: Help Please!

When connected to the TV, is the screen on the laptop on and showing the film? Most computers cant run 2 displays of quite demanding graphics like a film or a game so just show it on the default screen. Try connecting the laptop to the TV then turning the laptop screen off and see what happens.

And if your TV can handle it you will get a better picture if you use the D-Sub connection. Hope that helps

RE: A quick question about S-ATA drives

S-ATA drives are easy enough. You get a nice slim cable, connect one end to the mobo and the other to the drive! So only one drive for each port on the mobo. Power connectors depend on the drive, although there is a S-ATA power connector lots of manufacturers still put normal molex power plugs on the also, if the drive your looking at only has the S-ATA power connector, the either get an adaptor from ebuyer, or most modern PSU have at least one of the power connectors on it. Just one thing tho, if the drive has both power connectors ONLY use one at a time or it can kill the drive.

I beleive you can now get CD/DVD drives that use the S-ATA connector, but most still use ordinary IDE cables which plug straight into the mobo as before.

The only real pain about S-ATA drives is that you have to get the drivers for them before windows will install (without the drivers windows won`t recognize the drive). The drivers should come on a floppy with the mobo, then when you go to install windows you boot from the windoows CD, then pop the floppy in and just as windows begins there is a message at the bottom that says something like "Press F5 to install additional drivers". Thats not the actual mesage but you`ll know what I mean whrn you see it! Then just hit the button it says to, windows will carry on then may ask you to specify the drivers you want to use, choose the ones for your OS, and carry on. You know all is well if Windows detects your hard drive, then just carry on as normal.

RE: best way to send msg between 2 networked PC`s

How do you go about enabling net send if it is dissabled under SP2?

RE: Network not assigning an IP address, why?

Spiny Norman you are a genius! Set the network card on my PC upstairs from automatic to 10 Mb/Full duplex and it connected no probs! Though when I bumped it up to 100Mb/Full duplex I get the same problem as above, though I have now noticed that the connection is getting assigned an IP address, its not getting assigned a Network Address, not sure if this makes a difference but thought I`d mention it. Any suggestions on how to get it working at 100Mb as I could to with the extra speed?

BTW Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and support, I really appreciate it :D

RE: Network not assigning an IP address, why?

I ran the Cat5 cable myself, with a wall socket either end, then used patch cables to connect to the PC/Router. I thought it might be a cabling problem, but I did a test with the 2 wall sockets, 2 patch leads and a small length of the Cat5 cable connecting my main PC to the router and it all worked fine. I`m not using crossover cables, just standard Cat5 cable, Cat5 wall plates and ordinary patch leads. Any other suggestions on what might be causing the problem?

RE: Network not assinig an IP address, why?

Sorry, got a bit ahead of myself and posted with just a heading! Have updated my original message to include more details now.

Thanks

WelshTom

Network not assigning an IP address, why?

Hey there,

Recently ran a new network cable from my PC in my bedroom to router which is downstairs connected to my main PC. I plugged everything in, came up connected, but then said that the network did not assign an IP address to it. I played about a bit but couldn`t get it to work, so took my PC from my bedroom downstairs connected it to the router with a patch lead and it worked fine and detected the IP address straight away. Back upstairs and again not assigning an IP address. Any idea`s what might be causing the problem? What can I try to get it to work? I`ve tried new patch leads between the PC/router and the wall sockets but that didn`t help.

Thanks

WelshTom

This item was edited on Sunday, 21st August 2005, 14:57

RE: Mobile phone tariff question!

The only way around porting your number onto the same network with a new contract is to port it to another network, usually a PAYG Sim, wait 30 days then port it back. So say get an O2 Sim, port from Voda to the O2 Sim, wait 30 days then port it back. If you try doing it in less than 30 days you get the same PAC code back and Voda wont accept it.

Sempron 64 Bit Architecture

Hey there,

I`ve been looking for a CPU for a computer I`m building for my sister to take to Uni with her when she goes in September, and had decided on an Athlon 64 2800+ using a socket 754. However I was just looking at ebuyer and came across this, an AMD Sempron 3100+ 64 Bit Architecture which is cheaper than the Athlon 64 I was looking at.

I had a look at the AMD website but there is no mention of a 64 bit Sempron there at all. Has anyone got any idea about this chip? Which do you reckon would be the faster of the two? Is there any real advantage at this time of a 64 bit processor, or would i be better off just buying a 32 bit chip?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks

Welsh Tom

RE: Windows XP Media Centre edition

Hey there,

Just thought I`d give my thoughts on this, a few months back decided to build a HTPC to connect to my projector. I didn`t wasn`t to spend a lot, but having done some reading decided that the PC would have to be quite quick to be able to do all I wanted. Ended up with a Sempron 2600+, 512mb RAM, 160Gb HDD, an ASUS mAtx Mobo a Radeon 9700 Pro and a Hauppauge PVR-150 MCE TV card. The case I decided on was this one, I`ll be honest its quite a nice looking case but not the best. The cooling is quite poor and there isn`t a lot of space in there. For a good choice of cases have a look at www.xcase.co.uk, they even have a section dedicated to HTPC cases, I`m currently saving for either the Coolermaster ATC-620 or the Hiper Media Case.

Then came the decision about software, so I got XP MCE. Bought the remote from ebuyer and I love it, great functionality and really nice to use. Wasn`t as impressed with MCE tho. Was really easy to set up, but didn`t give you much control over things. Very few options and not a lot you could change, great if you just want something to set up and work but not much fun if you want to play about and configure it to exactly how you want them to work. Plus of course there is the format problem, MCE records everything to its own format DVR-MS, which is not very compressed and takes up loads of room, plus then you have to convert it if you want to be able to use it on other computers.

Am now using a free application called MediaPortal, more info here. This is a great application, does everything MCE does only better. It also has built in support for the MCE remote and the Hauppauge remote that comes with some of their TV cards. The application is being developed continually and there is a great support forum should you need it.

Well hope that helps a little bit, and if you want more info there is a great website at www.htpcnews.com which has got a great in depth review of MCE 2005, other PVR software, loads of hardware, and a large forum dedicated to all things HTPC like.

WelshTom

SPDIF mobo headers

HI there

I recently bought an AOpen vKM400 mobo for use in a HTPC that I am building. I want to use an optical cable to connect the pc to an av amp, but the mobo doesnt have a SPDIF port on it. It does however have the pins on the mobo to connect an optional bracket for this purpose, but I cannot find one anywhere. So I had a nose through some parts I had lying around and found a SPDIF bracket from a MSI mobo.

The problem that I have is that the pins on the Aopen mobo are 1.+5v, 2.Key, 3.SPDIF Out. The pins on the MSI mobo are 1.VCC, 2.SPDIF, 3. NC. Is there any way I can modify the bracket to use it on the Aopen mobo. I`m guessing that the SPDIF and SPDIF Out pins are the same, but which pin corresponds to the +5v and the Key? What does VCC ans NC stand for?

Thanks in advance for any help :D

RE: Aurora/Buddy pop-up problem - aarrrgghhh!!!

I tried the microsoft antispyware program on my dads computer the other day because he was having trouble with something like this and it cleared it up. Best of all though, its free! have a look here

Hauppauge Nova-S with Sky+ Dish?

Hi there,

I`m in the middle of building my HTPC and would like to have a freeview tuner inside. Living in a velley in Sounth Wales really doesnt help since I cannot receive a freeview signal. I was reading the other day about freesat(i think thats what it was called) thing where you use a Sky+ dish and box to receive the freeview chanels. Brilliant idea, but I want to receive these channels through a tuner in my HTPC to give me more flexibility.

Then I read about a Hauppauge Nova-S card (here), which receives satelite signals. I read a review and that said that the card was setup originaly to point at Astra 1 at 19.8 degrees east, but that sky+ dishes are aimed at Astra 2A at 29.9 East. Then the reviewer goes on to say that using the card with Sky+ dish would only allow you to receive free to air and unencrypted channels.

Does anyone know which channels are free to air are unencrypted? Would I be write in thinking the freeview ones?

Also later in the review it says

"If you're moving from analogue to digital, then, yes, keep your current dish, and you'll be able to use all of the services. If you've already gone digital, save your money."

Does that mean that using an old sky dish I would be able to receive other channels, or maybe just all of the freeview channel?

Thanks in advance for any help

RE: EBUYER.what an absolute joke in customer service

I`m gona eat my words now, last time i posted i was full of the joys of buying cheap items from ebuyuer and had used this returns service many times without any problems. But as I said in my last post I sent 3 RMA`s back at the same time. 2 were sorted within the week, brilliant service. In the other RMA was a mobo from the mother in laws pc, a keyboard and a microdrive. They received the package on the 18nth on January. They then sent me an email saying the my RMA would be sorted within 5 working days, but also in that email it said 14 working days. After 2 weeks I was getting fed up of the mother in law moaning at me so I sent of a enote asking where my items were. The next day a reply stating that in the email i was sent it said the my RMA would be sorted within 14 working days and it had only been 10, I pointed out that it also said 5 working days, so they said they woul look into changing the wording of the email to stop any future confusion.

So being the patient person I am I continued to wait intill the 14 working days was up, last friday, and surprisingly no word from ebuyer. So I sent another eNote on friday saying time was up and wanting to know what was happening.

Here we are a week later, ebuyer have now had my items for 20 working days, thats 4 weeks, and have done nothing with them by the looks of it. And have still yet to reply to my eNote after a week. I can only agree with others on this forum and tell people to stay away from them at all costs.

BTW does anyone know how long they can legaly keep my items without doing anything with them? I mean they actually belong to me, and my mother in law has been without her pc for 5 weeks. This is really not good enough. I have also posted about this on the ebuyer beta forum, but had no reply from anyone at ebuyer!

So I take back all the nice thing I said about ebuyer in my last post.

RE: Nuisance texts

Try phoning O2 customer services, they should be able to tell you where the txt are coming from, and should be able to tell you the company name, contact details and how to unsubscribe.

RE: Mobile Networks

Yeah, Virgin uses the T-Mobile network and 3 use the O2 network.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 8th February 2005, 15:59

Home theatre projector sugestions please...

Hi there,

I am concidering buying a projector for the house to watch my dvd`s on, but have a few problems. Firstly I know very little about them, and secondly am on a budget of around £600. I have had a look around and should be able to pick up a 1600 lumens projector for that money, will that be ok, or will I have to close all the curatins every time I want to watch TV?

Also, what els do I need to look for? I know that the refresh rate is quite important, as I beleive is the contast ratio? Anything els I need to look for? Can anyone recomend the minimum values of these I should be looking for?

Thanks

Tom

MSN Support Team, Please update your account e-mail...

Just found this e-mail in my junk mail folder on my hotmail account

Dear Customer,

Due to malfunction of our database server some of the vital data related to your account has been lost.

Please, update your account information on our web site in 3 days or your account will be deleted.

James Dawson,
MSN Support Service

So I clicked on the link, go get to this page.

Is it just me or does anyone els wonder why MSN require my card details, including CV2 and PIN!! And thet rather than wanting the address I put in when registering my hotmail account, they want my billing address!!

In fairness though, they must have put some effort into this one, even the links at the top of the page work and go to where they should. And the e-mail looked genuine, apart from ending up in the junk mail folder!

Lets just hope that nobody puts their details in.

RE: Samsung ML 1520 Laser Printer - back at £49.99 (Dixons/PCWorld)

Sorry, Just trying to be helpful! ;)

RE: Samsung ML 1520 Laser Printer - back at £49.99 (Dixons/PCWorld)

For all you lazy people, its here.

RE: External Hard Drive...

How about this one from ebuyer for £8.44. I know a few people dont like ebuyer, but I have used them on many an occasion and never had any problems.

This item was edited on Thursday, 27th January 2005, 21:14

RE: EBUYER.what an absolute joke in customer service

I`ve used ebuyer quite a few times now, and have always found their customer service very good. I have never had a problem with being sent the wrong thing, but have had to RMA a few things. Am currently in the middle of 3 RMA`s for a couple of keyboards and a microdrive. Sent the RMA request last wednesday, got accepted thursday, they received the items monday and I`m expecting the replacment`s tomorrow (have had confirmation that they have been shipped) Not a bad turn around if you ask me! And this is not the first time I have used the RMA system, had similar experiences at least 3 times before with ebuyer.

Also for those interested, ebuyer are currently running a beta of their new enotes system to try to stop these problems.

To anyone thinking of ordering from ebuyer I would say go for it, I have ordered from them many times and returned things to them many times, and have never had a problem with them

RE: Millenium Stadium Concert

The Manics are there, and should be on stage aroud 8. The full line up van be found here. I`m off now to get my train, hope yopu all enjoy, I`m sure I will!