Snow Leopard Media Center Guide



Introduction
This has been quite a journey since I started searching for the best htpc solution back in 2006.  While I don't have the time to document the whole journey, let's just say it started with Windows XP Media Center Edition and ended with Snow Leopard OS X.

What you can Achieve
  • Fast machine
  • Reliable server
  • Video/Music Streaming to iPhone and iPad devices
  • TV Streaming to iPhone and iPad devices
  • NFS and SAMBA/CIFS File sharing
  • DLNA music & video streaming
  • XBMC for Music & Video playback
  • Complete control using an Aluminum Apple remote
  • EyeTV for full PVR funcionality
  • Complete silent unattended system backups of all your media
Requirements
  • Elgato DTT Tuner with included EyeTV Software
  • TwistedMelon Mira TR1 infrared receiver
  • Aluminum Apple Remote
  • Apple Mac Computer with Intel Core2Duo or greater CPU + Nvidia 9400M graphics chip or greater + 2GB of ram minimum.
  • Snow Leopard Installed on your Apple Mac Computer
  • ioSpirit's "RemoteBuddy" Software, absolutely GREAT!
  • XBMC - Dharma-RC2 (Free download)
  • PS3 Media Server (Free download)
  • AirVideo Server (Free download)
  • AirVideo installed on your iPhone/iPad devices (reasonable price on app store).
  • 2 x HDD's in your Apple Mac. One is for the OS and PVR recording (recommend 1TB), the other is for all your Media storage (recommend 2TB)
  • External HDD as large as your internal Media HDD to be used for continuous backups.

Setting up Personal Video Recording
  1. Download the latest EyeTV 3 software from the elgato website.
  2. Install it on your Mac and follow the instructions to AutoTune all your channels.
  3. Go into the preferences and choose a folder on your PVR HDD where you'd like to save all your recordings.
  4. Enable iPhone/iPad sharing, you'll need to register an EyeTV account (non-trivial).
  5. Set EyeTV to launch full screen when it opens.  Also set it to start up at login.

    Setting up DLNA & UPnP Streaming Server
    1. Download PS3 Media Server
    2. Point it to your internal Media HDD to share those video and music files
    3. Test you can find the PS3 Media Server by using a DLNA client like an xbox 360 or PS3 etc...

     

    Setting up XBMC (Basic)
    1. Get the latest XBMC and install it.
    2. Ensure that VDPAU is enabled so all your hi-def videos will be decoded by your graphics card.
    3. Skin or tweak the settings to your liking.  You can also get data off the internet about your media files. i.e plot, actors, fanart etc..
    4. Test playback using the "o" key on the keyboard to check the framerate is satisfactory and that VDPAU is active.
      
    Setting up NFS and SAMBA
    1. Go to System Preferences->Sharing and enable File Sharing. Enable Windows SAMBA/CIFS sharing and add yourself as an authorized user.
    2. Test this using Windows or Mac to see you can mount the SAMBA/CIFS share
    3. Next to set up NFS open the Terminal app and add the line below to this file : /etc/exports
    4.  /Volumes/ -ro -network 192.168.0.0 -mask 255.255.255.0
    5. Restart the nfs process by running sudo nfsd restart
    6. Check that the shared directory is being shared by running showmount -e
    7. Test that you can mount the NFS share on your other PC's or devices.
       Setting up Streaming to your iPad/iPhone Devices
    1. Install AirVideo Server on your Mac and edit the preferences to point to the media folders on your Media HDD.
    2. Install AirVideo on your iPad/iPhone devices and check you can connect.
    3. Test you can stream properly. 
    • Note - 720p movies should stream ok but 1080p will be highly dependent on your Apple Computers grunt power.

       Setting up your Remote to Control Everything
      1. Install RemoteBuddy
      2. Connect your Mira TR1 IR receiver
      3. Use your Apple remote to navigate the menus.
      4. Tweak the mappings of functions for each application to your liking. 



      • This Media PC is a powerhouse now, it has all the features mentioned above and will serve you best connected via ethernet cable and connected to your best TV in the house!
      • If you don't have issues about login accounts in your home you can get your mac to login automatically so it'll boot straight into EyeTV when you power on your Mac.
      • Don't forget you can program long presses also! To ensure I get a quick start up time for EyeTV I only close the video window when I switch to another app.  There's plenty of grunt on your PC to have this running in the background.
      • EyeTV exports recordings to iPad and iPhone by default, if you don't have these devices there's not much point in exporting so just disable this feature to conserve grunt power for AirVideo and PS3 Media Server.
      • XBMC was designed to be customizable so go nuts with the themes! AeonFlux is a great theme btw.

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