Silicon Dust DVR service

Ask about SiliconDusts HomeRun tuners here.
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robbro

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Silicon Dust DVR service

#1

Post by robbro » Wed Oct 18, 2017 7:51 pm

Really hoping they get the DRM dvr stuff worked out on their dvr service, but right now I'm just trying to visualize/plan how I will use it when available.

Current setup is a HDHomerun Prime 3 tuner using windows 7 and media center to distribute tv over wired network to 4 tv's throughout the house to 3 xbox 360's and one linksys media extender.

It looks like once (if/when) the silicon dust dvr service has acceptable functionality, I will want to switch over to it. I just cant quiet picture how my network will look afterwards.

So I will get a NAS off their approved list, put the app on there and have it running, plugged into my land right next to my HDHomerun, all that I get. But for viewing, there is no xbox 360 app correct? Looks like it says xbox one and above. Looking at their options it looks like I will have to go with something along the lines of the fire stick at each tv? Sounds like I may need to buff up my wifi, as it is fairly weak in parts of the house, and was never anywhere near up to snuff for streaming to my 360s. Some other android streaming devices look possible, is there anyone that is optimal? Is there any option with ethernet ports so I can continue using my hard wired network?
Looking forward to being able to access my library on my mobile device while at home as well.

ghostman

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#2

Post by ghostman » Wed Oct 18, 2017 8:36 pm

I'm not a SD-DVR expert, but I've been closely following their development.

At the moment, the only devices that can play DRM content (and seem guaranteed to) are the Xbox One and a Windows 10 PC (with UEFI, Windows 10 Creators Edition or later, and a video output that supports HDCP to a compliant monitor). There's talk about other platforms, but that could be a long way off.

The bad news is none of your hardware is supported. I'm not sure about DRM support on the Fire Stick, but I do know many people are complaining about audio and other issues with SD and the Fire Stick (see https://forum.silicondust.com/forum/). Depending on the age of your Windows 7 machine, you might be able to rebuild it as Windows 10, but why break a working media center on something that's still in beta testing.

I bought an Intel NUC and after firmware and driver updates, it plays DRM live TV really well. But the NUC isn't the cheapest box to put together. I'm looking at the Intel Compute Sticks (running Windows 10). Seems like adding a USB ethernet adapter to a compute stick is trivial and you'd be able to use your existing wired network.

The forums over at Silicon Dust are pretty active - you might get more/better answers over there.

robbro

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#3

Post by robbro » Wed Oct 18, 2017 8:59 pm

How would you interact with the compute sticks? I mean with xbox, I use the remote just like I'm used to with normal tv, has all channel and dvr functionality. How does this work with fire sticks and compute sticks and all? I'm a bit out of touch with all this, havent researched or touched it since I set media center up years ago.

cwinfield

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#4

Post by cwinfield » Wed Oct 18, 2017 9:08 pm

a compute stick has windows so either the silicon dust app or WMC, fire stick you download the app.

robbro

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#5

Post by robbro » Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:03 pm

Not to sound dense, but how is the best way to interact with the apps/software? Keyboard/mouse? Are remotes even options? I only ask because 7 people live in my house from very young to very old. Remote functionality that "just works" just as my xbox 360 remotes "just work" like a cable box is a must. If thats not going to be an option, I will just have to stick with Win7/media center until its last breath.

cwinfield

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#6

Post by cwinfield » Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:26 pm

I get what your saying, As far as ease of use by remote. The apps are very similar to streaming apps and are remote friendly similar to using roku, hbo go, spectrum tv, etc on your fire tv or shield . This is menu/guide driven so you cant type the number of the channel but you can set favorites to narrow your selections if desired. compute sticks/nucs are PCs so until you open WMC you need to navigate using a mouse, this also requires a IR sensor and needs to be in a location it can receive the commands. I use a Logitech dinovo min which is a wireless bluetooth mini keyboard mouse combo which I love but is no longer made.

ghostman

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#7

Post by ghostman » Thu Oct 19, 2017 7:47 pm

The NUC comes with a builtin IR receiver and the UEFI lets you switch it to accept Media Center (Xbox) remotes. For any other PC, an inexpensive FLIRC adapter would let you adapt any IR remote button to a keyboard commands on a PC.

When it come down to it, the application you're running (HD Home Run in this case, but Windows Media Center or Plex too) have to support total keyboard navigation. Then you can map keyboard commands to different IR remote keys.

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