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Author Topic: Help a dinosaur to upgrade please  (Read 1990 times)

maxxsid

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Help a dinosaur to upgrade please
« on: July 03, 2021, 02:11:47 am »

Hello,
I've been using MC for many years. 22?
Still enjoying it very much.
I was actively participating here a while ago. Not anymore...
I used to upgrade/update my hardware/software quite often. Not anymore...
I am almost 10 years behind now.
My last HTPC build was back in 2012!

Currently running Windows 7 and MC23 (later versions require Windows 10).
Still using Promixis Girder and Harmony One remote control over USBUIRT receiver.

This setup works quite nicely but I feel that I need to upgrade since the hardware might just fail eventually and also I want to use the latest versions of MC.

There's plenty of nice mini PC's on the market which should serve well as HTPC (I have my media on a network storage).

My main concern is the remote control. I mean - the thing with buttons which controls TV, HTPC and others.

Right now I have some elaborate scripts in Girder which help me to control MC and HTPC over Harmony One and USBUIRT.

Is this approach archaic? Can I get away without Girder? I never used MC's remote control features.

Do those mini PC's usually have IR receivers? Intel NUC, for example, does have one, but doesn't list it in its specs...

What is the current paradigm?

Thank you in advance.

Max



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rec head

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Re: Help a dinosaur to upgrade please
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2021, 05:57:11 am »

I can't be of much help because all my gear is packed up while I work on the room. But I use W10 on an old computer (maybe not quite as old as yours) with a Harmony remote. I have never needed much from my remote and while it can be a PITA to get working it can work.

Is this for audio only?
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Dawgincontrol

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Re: Help a dinosaur to upgrade please
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2021, 10:13:56 am »

What I would do is upgrade and see what happens until you setup your new system.

As long as you don't delete the old Media Center, it will still be there.  If the upgrade becomes a pita just reload your old version.  May need to restart the computer and then start the old version if something is clunky.

Do a Windows back-up before changing/upgrading anything, so you have a restore point in case something gets changed in the registry.
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maxxsid

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Re: Help a dinosaur to upgrade please
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2021, 01:39:21 am »

Oh.. I know how to install/upgrade.

My main question was how to handle the remote control situation under Windows 10 and latest MC.
The Girder is more or less obsolete now.
I was hoping to replace it with the internal MC's features.
I tried a couple of times before but didn't succeed.
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rec head

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Re: Help a dinosaur to upgrade please
« Reply #4 on: July 04, 2021, 07:16:12 am »

What features and how much customization do you need? For normal media center stuff I have never needed anything besides an IR receiver in the HTPC. The newer Harmony hubs always want to connect by bluetooth but I had problems with that and use IR.
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drmimosa

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Re: Help a dinosaur to upgrade please
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2021, 06:17:20 pm »

Check out EventGhost as an alternative to girder.

I used a usb-uirt with this software to set up a bunch of custom stuff with rc remotes a few years back, and had good success.
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