I just bought a projector to connect up with my BS5500 and now one part remains of my dream media centre. Bascially what I want is an equivalent to Apple TV but with far more memory. I also don't have the budget to go down the standard Mac route. What I wanted to do is make a PC, fitted with as many and as huge a set of hard drives as I can find, then somehow get OSX loaded onto it. My thought is to have it hidden and set up with the projector + hifi and have my Macbook able to download stuff from the net and wirelessly transfer it.

I wouldn't go down the OS X on a PC router, it breaks every time there's an update (which is quite often), and you don't get to take advantage of things like Quartz Extreme and CoreVideo which are built into OS X.

Get a MacMini, it'll be far more than enough to do what you want, and they're very cheap. You can buy very big-storage external hard drives for next-to-nothing right now as well.

Hi,

I could not agree more with Alex! I have bought a Mac mini  (quite new as a bargain on ebay). I use two external USB hard drives, one for 120 GB of MP3s, the other holds all my digital photos (close to 25,000). It is also connected to my LAN, so access to internet and data exchange with my windows PC and laptop is quite easy.

The Mac is connected via DVI with my BV7-32. It is hidden behind the TV but the remote still works fine. I am very satisfied with that setup  

Hi,

Hi Pedro,

interesting to read you are using a NAS solution. I tried the same with 500 GB NAS Server but finally decided to use local USB drives connecte to the Mac Mini for two reasons:

1. My network performance was so poor that I could not play video files from the network or have the Itunes Music Folder on the network drive

2. I did not find a way to "auto-mount" the network drive during startup of the Mac mini (I have only few experience with Mac OS). I don't want to mount the drive manually every time I boot the system 

 Do you have some hints for both problems.?

Greetings to Portugal

Francis

 

Hi Francis,

I know what you're facing, so you need to upgrade your router in order to boost the capacity of streaming; Apple Airport Extreme or another alike that can handle the Draft 802.11n wireless protocol (i do know that is a draft but it's the way to solve the question) and then the D-link Mini adaptor to enable the Mac Mini to communicate with the 802.11n protocol.

Router:
Apple AirPort Extreme
http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/

and

D-Link DWA-140
Mini adaptador USB Wireless 802.11N
http://www.dlink.co.uk/?go=gNTyP9CgrdFOIC4AStFCF834mptYKO9ZTdvhLPG3yV3oV4B3hqltbNlwaaRp7jUkFj2onGQTo48EANr31KroKEsQte/f

To Auto-Mount:
- Mount it manually once (in Finder, press ⌘-K to connect to the mini, choose the external, and mount it), then go to System Preferences...->Accounts->Login Items, then drag the mounted disk's icon to that panel. From then on, it'll automount.

Hope that helps.


 

Hi Pedro,

thanks for your immediate reply.

At least the mounting I can try out tonight when I'm at home.

Regarding the network, the solution has not neccessarily to be wireless, a cable based solution could be an option as well. Once the auto-mount works, I will have to re-consider installing a ethernet cable during next renewal of my house.

 

Francis

 

Francis,

If you use the ethernet cable, you don't need to upgrade your devices since it runs at 100mb (if your router supports 100mb; you'd better check it out).

In the meantime auto-mount the drive and see if it works for you.
 

pedrompinto:

Francis,

If you use the ethernet cable, you don't need to upgrade your devices since it runs at 100mb (if your router supports 100mb; you'd better check it out).

In the meantime auto-mount the drive and see if it works for you.
 

Yes, en Ethernet cable is preferable, for a stable and high-speed transmission of data. I'm using one from my NAS to the Mac.

Do you assign static IP-numbers to the devices, Pedro?
 

The router uses DHCP i say, gives dymanic ip address, but i rather use a static ip address; it's more stable and you don't have to solve problems if the router gives another ip after the ttl (time to live) ends.

Another thing that i use is the mac address filter, why ? Just because it makes your network more secure, i.e. only the specific hardware has access to the sources in the network.

Last but not the least is to secure properly your network; if you go wireless you'd better encode your network (do see your router features).

That's the concept, if a doubt come up, just drop a line. 

Very nice. Sounds like you have a good and stable setup. I see this as the way of the future - it's really nice. (If only ripping all one's CDs to lossless on the NAS didn't take forever!)

 

 

Sometimes i just rip several cds to the mac mini local folder and the move the files to the NAS; in the meantime i go for a walk, when i get back i just enjoy it.

I know, it's not perfect but, for me, it's not a big deal; this configuration just suits my needs, since i only use the NAS to store my cds and access them everywhere.

There are several solutions in the market, but most of the times people aim to have the "perfect" solution and in the end only use some features, that's rubbish, at least for me; from my point of view, the perfect solution is the one that suits my needs, no less, no more. :D ehehh

"Less is more" like Mr. Mies Van Rohe once said. 

He actually said: "Less is more, but I start with a lot." He-he.

We have near identical setups. I'm not using a Mini, but apart from that we've both seen the light.

If you have a WLAN enabled mobile phone or PDA, then I'd recommend you get Salling Clicker. I'm controlling playback remotely, through my wireless, from anywhere inside and outside the house. You have full control of iTunes, DVD-player, VLC, QuickTime, etc.
 

Pedro,

I still have two questions

1. How did you make the sound connection from Mac to BV, are you using the digital output / inputs? If yes what device are you using to translate the signal from optical to electric?

2. What are you using as remote control for your setup. Are you using Beo4? If yes with which translater, I know three options, (irtrans, linktronic, and BM link with Beoport) but find it difficult to decide which would be the best without having seen them all in real life.

Francis

Francis,

For the sound connection of the Mac Mini to the BV7-40 i used a rca analog cable, so far it works quite ok (i know that there are some solutions to connect it using the digital output of the mac mini, but are you a audiophile ?).

I'm using the Mac Mini remote control because i haven't decided yet which solution i'll use; i'll wait for the Beo5 and see if it really controls the Mac Mini.
 

Pedro,

so we are pretty much in the same situation with audio connection and remote control. Currently I find the analogue audio quite ok for music. However I just started to play movies via front row and will soon have an eye tv which supports multichannel sound.  I wonder how to to get 5.1 dolby digital sound from the Mac to the BV.

Is it really likely that the Beo5 will support Macs? I did not find any information on this issue yet; would be the optimal solution of course.

Francis

Francis,

I don't have a detailed information about the features of the Beo5 but having in mind that it can be programmed it surely be able to control other devices, i hope.

 

>>but having in mind that it can be programmed it surely be able to control other devices, i hope.<<

 

I don't think it can do that directly. You will need to go via a B&O video product and use a PUC. I.e. the Beo5 will not directly control a mini mac. The user manual is available for download on this site.

JK

pedrompinto:

Francis,

For the sound connection of the Mac Mini to the BV7-40 i used a rca analog cable, so far it works quite ok (i know that there are some solutions to connect it using the digital output of the mac mini, but are you a audiophile ?).

Well, you can get surround sound out of your Mini through the optical minijak TosLink OUT -- which I would think would be preferable. Both for playing DVDs, or stored video files with multi-channel encoding. Very simple to set up - just use the AUDIO MIDI SETUP application to designate speakers to channels.

Pretty good, actually. 

===

You'll need to convert the TosLink Optical to a coax S/PDIF.

There are also soundcards that can be connected to a Mac, and which will give you several porting options: Toslink Optical, Coax digital, AES/EBU, etc. 

pedrompinto:

Francis,

I don't have a detailed information about the features of the Beo5 but having in mind that it can be programmed it surely be able to control other devices, i hope.

 

I would put a questionmark here, in particular since B&O is not only using unique codes but also a infrared freqency range different from most other manufacturers.

I have downloaded the user manual here, but when it becomes interesting it always refers to the "customized" document handed out to the buyer reflecting the buyer's individual setup.

Let's wait and see.

Mac Mini has just been upgraded to a core duo 2 processor, so I'd go that route.  Combine it with the new sexy wireless keyboard, very cool

hi Soundproof,

Can you elaborate on how you connected the mac mini's toslink to a B&O system? Except for the extremely expensive Beosystem 3, all B&O systems I looked at (Beoport, Beocenter 2, Beosound 4) only seem to support an audio aux in (analog and not surround sound).

What is this audio midi setup application you talk about? Is this a mac application?

This has been bugging me for months.

 Thanks
 

Hi, you need a TOSlink to SDIF converter, than connect the optical cable from the mini to the converter, than the chinch cable from the converter to the digital input of the B&O stuff. This works for me for both BV3 and Besosystem 3.

Kawo 

dhooghe:

hi Soundproof,

Can you elaborate on how you connected the mac mini's toslink to a B&O system? Except for the extremely expensive Beosystem 3, all B&O systems I looked at (Beoport, Beocenter 2, Beosound 4) only seem to support an audio aux in (analog and not surround sound).

What is this audio midi setup application you talk about? Is this a mac application?

This has been bugging me for months.

 Thanks
 

Soundproof is referring to any B&O system with a digital audio input, which would be the BeoSystem 3, BeoVision 7s, BeoVision9, BeoCentre 6-26 and BeoLab 5.

Audio MIDI Setup is an application in the 'Utilities' folder, found inside 'Applications' on a Mac.

I have been thinking about a macbased mediacenter aswell. Imagine a big  "whatever TB" server connected to your tv and music system either wirelessly or otherwise. To control everything a 10 inch touchscreen on your wall with same interface as ipod touch, wirelessly connected to the server. This would be SO cool with 2 way communication with ipod touch and iphone. All you see is a nice touchscreen with a very cool interface. Now THAT i would definetly buy without a doubt.... anyone else???  Sure hope the BS5 has some of this features.....(even though it will probably not support video)