Events

Xtreamer Media Streamer Silent Cooling Coming Soon

Tech

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 26, 2009

8

A few weeks ago we reviewed the Xtreamer Media Streamer, and one of the things we noted was the noise.

Got this today from the UK Xtreamer guys:

However, some reviewers and consumers have reported that the device can make a noise in operation.

The small fan fitted to the device is there to cool the main controller / processor as it is busy, especially during playback of HD video.

Xtreamer themselves do provide a fan speed control feature, which can slow the fan down, and there is a new fan version expected soon, to further reduce the background noise.

However, theXtreamer.com (UK Partner / distributor of the Xtreamer) in co-operation with Tranquil (designer of fan less cooling systems) are shortly to release a new ‘side cooler’ for the Xtreamer.

This simple to fit (after sales) item will render the Xtreamer silent. Factory test results confirm that the cooler is perfect to keep the chips cool, whilst only getting warm to the touch.

No final word on shipping date yet, or the unit cost, but it’s hoped that the coolers will be ready to pre-order soon.

Here is a picture of the custom alloy cooler fitted to the little Xtreamer.

Sounds to me like a winner – I will try and get my hands on one asap and review!

New Version of MSS Fan Control Add-In for Windows Home Server Released

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 24, 2009

0

Friend and fellow MVP Alex Kuretz has just released an update to his MSS Fan Control add-in for Windows Home Server taking it up to 1.0.0.8.

MSS Fan Control is an Add-In for the Microsoft Windows Home Server Operating System. It is designed to work exclusively with the HP MediaSmart Server EX47x models, and will not work with any other WHS systems.

MSS Fan Control allows the user to easily control the speed of the upper and lower exhaust fans of the MediaSmart Server. It also allows the user to configure the speed and temperature thresholds that determine how the fan speed should increase as the CPU temperature rises.

For a complete run down of MSS Fan Control, including the download link, click here.

New HP EX490 and EX495 MediaSmart Windows Home Servers Now Available

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 24, 2009

0

Just a quick post to let everyone know that the new HP EX490 and EX495 MediaSmart Windows Home Servers are now in stock on Amazon.com so go order yours now!

We will be reviewing them in the next week or so, so stay tuned.

Fixing Connector Issues in Windows Home Server on a Friday night

Windows Home Server

Timothy Daleo

-

Sep 21, 2009

3

Last week I started a Server Recovery on my HP EX470 but had the infamous 34% hang AND backup database issues. I have since completed the Server Recovery but am now having issues with the Windows Home Server Connector.

Background

The SYS drive on the EX470 died last week after only 10 months of service. HP sent me a replacement drive under warranty and I spent last Friday night replacing the drive and doing a Server Recovery. The Server Recovery hung at 34% and I just left it. I assume that all of the updates have taken place and I ran a repair on the database. I had a busy week and could not get back to the location before now so I am back this weekend to bring the HP EX470 back online.

You can read the previous article at:

https://moviesgamesandtech.com/2009/09/14/replacing-the-sys-drive-in-windows-home-server-on-a-friday-night/

Equipment Needed:

Patience
2 Beers (optional as always)

Router Issue and Firewall Changes

Most of you have routers that support UPnP. My parents unfortunately do not. I would upgrade them in a minute but AT&T Crap-verse will not support their connection once you install your own equipment. I could also do a router behind the router but the 2Wire interface seems harmless (and has been working without issue for the last year) so we will leave it as is.

When I first set up the EX470 last year I had no need to add the 55000 port to the Firewall list. Everything worked great out of the box and I added the few ports to 2Wire I needed at that time and moved on.

Since the Server Recovery I had been frustrated that I could not get to the WHS Connector Setup page. I thought the Server Recovery had some errors but after a week of not looking at it (and referencing the Reno camera port forwarding issues) I realized I needed to enable the port 55000.

You should truly appreciate a UPnP router! This is not one of them…

…so I add the 55000 port.

I open IE, enter the address and it works!

WHS Connector Uninstall

Once the Server Recovery had completed, it almost immediately start upgrading itself. Once the update process begins the WHS Connector disk becomes almost useless since the connector is matched to the WHS version. You can still try and use the WHS Connector disk but I have had nothing but trouble using the disk.

In my opinion you are better off reinstalling the WHS Connector.

Mental note: You may have had better experiences than me but I will always suggest removing the connector completely. Remember a few weeks ago I had a current WHS connector on a laptop trying to connect to a stock LX195 and had issues the other way! The newer connector on the laptop had errors with the older WHS.

Adiós mi amor. Things are not working like we thought. We are breaking up again. Well I am anyway. We are done. Take your crap and leave. The first 10 months were challenging but you are broken.

Yes, go away. There is nothing I can do. History is history and we cannot change it.

Time to get a beer and remember the good times…

Another chapter closed…

We are all done. Time to start over. A new beginning…zero downtime.

WHS Connector Installation

Now that the old (newer) WHS Connector has been removed I enter the address of the WHS and the WHS Connector Setup page. Good to see the WHS is starting to work again.

Click on Download Now.

Things did not work out last time. While will this time be any different? I am not sure about this.

Oh, this time will be different? Then show me you me you love me. Come on…

90%? I want 100%. Now show me this is not just a temporary thing.

Seeing is believing but I am still a weary. Lets take it slow.

Give me a hint…

Yes, wake me up in the middle of the night…

Move all of your stuff back in…

…but don’t bring all of it. I thought we compromised on the format.

Oh, we have a happy house again. Things really are different this time around. It is like you were never gone.

21 minutes later and I am green. Super Green.

Lets open the WHS Console and start making things the way they used to be!

Crap. Now what? Another issue?

I am really getting tired of all of these issues. I am especially tired of the ones that keep coming back. We will Restart just once before I toss your ass back out! Make good on your promises…I even have documentation from you.

Settings. Restart. Things had better work this time. What is this, like the third time?

Opened another beer while I was waiting. Good ole beer never let me down.

WHS Console is back up. Please work…

Finally…Viva WHS. Seriously.

Conclusion

I learned a lot from this Server Recovery. A few of my top lessons learned.

Always check your router settings immediately after the Server Recovery.
Forget trying to make any of your existing WHS Connectors work. Just remove the existing WHS Connector from each PC and start over with the download from the 55000.
Keep your BDBB files ready, copies of Add-In msi files and screen shots on a USB drive to make the Server Recovery easy.
Have patience with the 34% hang and the WHS updates.
Have your User and PC names listed in a different safe location to make it easier to enter again when you have to recreate the accounts.

I love my WHS systems and I enjoy the WHS community but I wonder how the average consumer would solve some of the issues we see. My heart goes out to Josh and Carl at HP Tech Support. Continue to fight the good fight my friends. We all want to see WHS become a household name.

See you next Friday night,

Timothy Daleo

HP EX490 MediaSmart Windows Home Server Coming to the UK

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 21, 2009

0

Following the news last week about the impending release of two new HP MediaSmart Windows Home Servers, Amazon.co.uk are showing the EX490 for pre-order.

This is a good sign as it finally means we are getting them over here.

A more formal announcement from HP about the MediaSmart range in Europe is expecting over the next few weeks.

Until then, you can pre-order the EX490 today.

Happy Birthday To Us

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 17, 2009

2

This week, well yesterday to be precise, was our 2nd birthday. Yes, that’s right, Using Windows Home Server has been around now for 2 whole years.

I started Using Windows Home Server after I had finished writing the The Windows Home Server Users Guide book for Apress and since then it has gone from strength to strength and we have even given away loads of cool things.

Stay tuned for more giveaways, reviews, features and much much more!

HP Launches New MediaSmart Servers

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 15, 2009

1

Today HP launched two new HP MediaSmart Windows Home Servers.

Unfortunately we don’t have them for review yet, but we hope to have them very soon!

But for now, here is the press release from HP today:

HP Launches New Home Server with Enhanced Features for PCs and Macs

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 15, 2009 – HP today launched the HP MediaSmart EX490 and EX495 Home Servers, new models offering increased capacity, high-performance processors, more control, new user interface and additional Mac support – all at a lower price.

Based on the Microsoft Windows® Home Server platform, the updated HP MediaSmart Servers have a refined user interface and a web-based home page that makes accessing and using the server easier than ever. Additionally, the new models offer a new video converter with custom settings and profiles that will automatically convert video libraries, including unprotected DVDs.⁽¹⁾

The explosion of digital content is attracting a new kind of buyer to the home server space,” said Jason Zajac, vice president and general manager, Worldwide Attach Group, HP. “This buyer wants all the power and capacity that past buyers wanted, but also wants it to be easy to use. The new MediaSmart ED490 and EX495 give them both.”

The MediaSmart Server features a new media collector, which allows users to collect media by computer, media type or file location. The server automatically collects and organizes media files across Macs and PCs and streams it across a home network and the Internet.⁽²⁾

The HP EX490 and EX495 offer additional features for Mac users, including administration, media collection and a new disc recovery utility providing bare metal recovery on a Mac using Time Machine.⁽³⁾

“The new release of HP MediaSmart Server software and hardware continues HP’s leadership in building compelling functionality on top of the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform,” said Russ Madlener, director, Solutions Marketing, Microsoft. “HP is delivering a true cross-platform product by adding the ability to administer the server from a Mac using Microsoft’s new Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2.”

The new video converter automatically converts videos, including unprotected DVDs, into a format that can be played at the home or remotely.⁽⁴⁾ Users are able to control how their videos are converted by selecting the device the video will be played on or choosing specific video settings using the advanced controls features.

In addition, owners of an iPod touch and iPhone can download a free HP MediaSmart Server iStream application from the Apple App Store, enabling them to stay connected to their digital media stored on the server. Users can easily access their pictures, listen to their music collections and watch their favorite videos – all streamed directly to their mobile device from their HP MediaSmart Server.

MediaSmart Server EX490 and EX495 features include:

· New HP Media Collector

· New HP Video Converter

· Improved user interface with new web-based home page

· Mac administration, media collections and a new Mac disc recovery feature

· HP Media Streamer

· Server for iTunes

· PC Hard Drive Backup

· Server Backup

· Smart Power Management

· Processors:

· EX495: Intel® Pentium® Dual Core

· EX490: Intel Celeron®; Two gigabytes (GB) of DRAM

· Expandability: additional drives can be added for up to 7 terabytes (TB) internal storage and 17 TB of storage using internal and external drives.(6)

Pricing and availability

Manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the HP MediaSmart Server EX490 with 1 TB of hard disk storage is $549 while the HP MediaSmart Server EX495 with 1.5 TB is $699.⁽⁴⁾

The HP MediaSmart Server can be preordered beginning today. The servers will be introduced in select European countries beginning next month.

More information is available at www.hp.com/go/mediasmartserver.

Replacing the SYS Drive in Windows Home Server on a Friday night

Timothy Daleo

-

Sep 14, 2009

31

The SYS drive on the EX470 died on Wednesday morning after only 10 months of service. HP has sent me a replacement drive under warranty and I will be spending this Friday night replacing the drive and doing a Server Recovery. This sucks.

Background

My parents called and said that the “little house” was Red. Are you sure? I should have received the text alert. I should have known before they saw it. WTF? I will just remote in and fix it. Probably some new update or maybe the backup database is flipped up. No biggie.

Where the hell is the server? Crap.

Now what? I am going to get in the truck and head over there. Fortunately I am off this Wednesday so I have a few hours extra. Maybe their router glitched and killed remote access. That might explain the little red house?

Dead SYS Drive

So I am here. Now what? WHS Console does not work. Crap². I see that the Health light is flashing blue. That can’t be good. Power down with the push of a button!

Server powering back up. Lights, camera, act…flashing blue light again. Crap³

Since the HP MSS does not have any way to see what is going on (video monitor) I am dead in the water. I still have a few months left on the warranty so I will give HP a call.

1-800-474-6836
“Tech Support”
“Its something else”
“HP MediaSmart Server”
No, I don’t to be transferred to the business area.
Hang up.
1-800-474-6836
“Tech Support”
“Its something else”
“Media Vault”
Finally get a person

Ok, so I get Josh at HP. Cool dude. He walks me through a bunch of steps to see if we can figure out what is going on. He tells me that it seems to be the system drive and that I need a new one. He also suggests that if I have a way of checking the drive on a Vista machine before they send a new one out I should try it. Of course I agree but is that standard HP Tech Support? I could just imagine my parents (or the average consumer) trying to check it. I tell him I have an enclosure at home and will try it. By now It is 2:00 PST Wednesday and he is off work at 3:30 PST. He says he will call me before the end of his shift to verify the disk status. I head home.

No call.

It is now 6:00 PST Wednesday and I am really cranky. In addition to this failed drive I am also fighting with the TZO service for the Reno camera, uploading my previous weeks late article, having problems remotely configuring the WHS ports for the Reno server and MY stupid irrigation module on MY WHS apparently forgot who it was for a week because the sprinklers had not been going on and what little grass I had during this drought was almost totally dead! Breath. All three servers are now being wankers. Why me?

I crack open my first beverage and call HP.

1-800-474-6836
“Tech Support”
“Its something else”
“Media Vault”
Finally get a person

Ok, so now I got Carl on the phone. hey Carl, this is Tim and my case number is 090909somethingsomethingyadayada

Carl is cool too. Carl says he will send a new drive out tomorrow and it will be here Friday. Just in time for this article. Great. Oh you need my credit card to hold $125 until I send the old one back? Um ok.

I will wait till Friday.

Equipment Needed:

New Hard Drive
Original HP Installation Disks
Patience
Four Beers (optional as always)

I am really not looking forward to this. Lets set this pig on fire. Ugh.

Drive Installation

I get a call that the drive has just arrived on location so I grab the wife and head to the truck. As I get to the truck I decide I should probably bring her along so I go back inside and grab her again and we leave. Fortunately for me she likes the grabbing.

Here is the original drive. RIP ST3500620AS. RIP my friend.

Here is the drive from HP. They have a hold on my credit card until I return the bad disk.

No screws. I usually lose the screws. I am sure that is not news to yous. Hey why don’t I just go eat some hay, make things out of clay, and lay by the bay?

The new drive is ready to go home. Just like me actually.

Finger and thumb pushing the new drive back to its home. Why you don’t you just go to your home? That is your home! Are you too good for your home?

Server Recovery

Now that the drive has been replaced I am ready to restart the system.

I start the system and press the Server/Recovery button with a paperclip once when the health indicator flashes blue and red. I had done this plenty of times yesterday so it I was ready for it. I put the Server Recovery CD in the hardwired laptop and it starts up automatically.

Of course I accept.

Next…

This is where it could not find the drive when the SYS hard drive was dead.

Server found. Nice. I am happier now.

Josh said Server Recovery the other day. Who am I to argue?

Ok, erase away. Well, it is a new drive so install away!

This part really did take 60 minutes!

Click on next!

We are finished? Sweet.

I clicked on Finish and am waiting.

Ok, I am still in the same application so NEXT!

I agreed already, just make fixie.

New connector? I had problems last week. Uh oh.

Going ok…

Looks the same…

Server Recovery Screen

Did I miss something here?

Guess the Server Recovery is a little different.

Two check marks are good.

Naming it the same as before.

Same password as before.

Ok, I agree.

Ok, I agree again.

Just make fixie.

Updates always scare me…

Here we go…

34%. 34%. 34%. Flippers. Now here is the crappy part. It has been sitting at 34% for over an hour. It says not to turn off your home server during the process but it says nothing about clicking on the red X and going home.

See you later my friend. I have dinner plans tonight.

So it is now really Friday night. After dinner we decided (uh, I begged) to stop by and check on the server.

I start the WHS Connector over again and get the right screen.

I now go through the set up process again and start entering data.

I had the Add-Ins all ready from last weeks installation.

Mental note: Since you cannot backup the SYS drive you may want to keep screen shots of your settings such as Remote Notification and Disk Management Add-Ins. It went fast since I had the data right there.

I add the Users and complete what I can. The data is also there. I am happier but I still have some serious issues.

As for the other two WHS I got the sprinklers working and the camera connected via TZO (it was always working with mControl btw) and all the ports and remote notifications are working. The LX 195 has been working fine since we had to reconfigure the remote access after the last major WHS update!

Mental note: Many times you can fix the remote access by just turning it off and then turning it back on. This works UNLESS you are ONLY accessing via remote in which case you can get disconnected!

Problems

I am going to do this article a littler different this week and stop here. I really need to fix some issues before I finish the Recovery. My issues are:

Router is not available for remote access (HTTPS) but you can access PhotoShare via HTTP. I assume this is a router issue (Uverse ATT no UPnP) but my router settings never changed.
The connector on the main laptop gets weird sometimes. I assume this is a Power Pack issue like I had last week.
The connectors no longer work on the other two laptops. I assume I will have to reinstall them? I also cannot access port 55000 from the subnet to start a clean connector install.
The backup database said it needed repair but I had not done any backups since the Recovery.

Solutions

I am going to start working on fixing this during the week. Since I have no Remote Access I must do this at my parents after work each night until it is fixed. Feel free to post any comments or ideas since it will take me a few days to get back on location.

This sucks but Viva WHS anyway.

See you next Friday night,

Timothy Daleo

Xtreamer 50% off or even FREE

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 14, 2009

0

Just got this in from the guys at Tranquil:

SPECIAL OFFER – Order a SQA-5H-1000 or SQA-5H-2000 before end of September 2009 and get an Amazing Xtreamer Media Player, perfect for playing all of your Home Media from your SQA-5H Home Server on the big screen (even in HD) for 50% of the normal price – yes only £43.00! Even at £86 (+VAT) the Xtreamer is a bargain!

Please note only one player per Home Server can be ordered. Even includes a FREE 802.11N Wi-Fi option (normally £20.00)

Now, if 50% sounds a great offer, what about FREE – yes, if you order a SQA-5H-3000 model – you can claim a Xtreamer FREE of charge.

To learn more about the Xtreamer Media Player click here

Review of the Xtreamer Media Server and Streamer

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 13, 2009

71

A few weeks ago we reported the impending UK release of the Xtreamer device – which is a small device used for playing back digital content and also streaming digital content and earlier in the week we got our hands on one and showed you the unboxing.

Well we have been playing with it for a few days now and figured it was time to post a review, but this time we are going to do something different. Rather than try and describe the interface or how it works, we figured that along with the normal specifications and pictures that we would actually show you what it looked like in a couple of videos. So let us know if you like the video idea and we will do more of them.

THE XTREAMER

So let’s just remind ourselves what the Xtreamer is and what it does.

The Xtreamer player will play and stream HD (MKV H.264) movies or user-generated videos, listen to high-quality digital music and show high-resolution slideshows of your family photos on your TV.

Simply put, this tiny box, approximately the size of a small book, or a 3.5″ Hard Disk, will play back almost all Media Files, up to 1080 HD !

Play back of Network stored files, ie from a Windows Home Server or NAS
Playback of local Hard Disk files (the unit can hold a 2.5″ Hard Disk)
Playback of local files from USB sticks
Serving of local files to other players (it’s a server too)
Internet file experience (ie Youtube, weather, themed sites, ie cooking)
Simple to connect to HDMI or SCART TV
Wired or wireless operation (WiFi network and active antenna required)
Simple operation

BOX CONTENTS

In the small box comes the Xtreamer unit itself, a power supply and UK adaptor (yeah, not impressed here but I will come on to that in a minute), a quick guide, some cables, a stand for the Xtreamer and a remote. If you have ordered it earlier enough you will also get the WiFi USB adaptor for free, otherwise you will need to buy that seperately.

SPECIFICATIONS

This is taken directly from the manual:

USING THE XTREAMER AND THE VIDEO

Connecting up the Xtreamer to my HD TV was a breeze, just a couple of moments to plug in a few cables. One of the things I really liked was the inclusion of an HDMI port for both digital video and audio through a single cable. No more additional cables for audio thank you very much. There are lots of different connections available to suit everyone’s needs.

Powering the Xtreamer on takes a few seconds, and the main menu will appear. Its a very simple affair with just 4 menu options, so it’s not going to take long to find what you want.

Setting up the wireless network only took a few moments as well.

Setting up the Xtreamer on my HD TV was a little different – on one HD TV I plugged it in and it was perfect, crystal clear images and no problems at all, on another HD TV (which I have to admit isn’t “full” HD) the picture was a little blurry and the menu items were not that clear. No problems though as a few seconds changing the picture settings cured this.

There is also a setting for the fan speed – it is set to MEDIUM by default and to be honest, this is pretty noisy, you would certainly notice it! Changing it down to LOW to be honest didn’t warrant any real difference to my ears (there probably is, but when it’s hard to tell does it make a difference)? Setting it to OFF made it quiet, however is it really a good idea to have it switched off, even without the hard drive plugged in? Also, personally I wasn’t very impressed with the fan being on the underside of the unit, but that’s just me!

You can watch content from a USB device, an internal hard drive if you have fitted one, from your network or even over the Internet. Results do vary but that is based on your individual home setups, including whether you are wired or wireless and what your wireless kit is. You can even stream content directly from your Windows Home Server, which is nice 🙂

Rather than trying to explain any more, lets take a look at the videos. There are two due to the length of them. Are you sitting comfortably?

FINAL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Frankly for £99 this is a steal and I cannot recommend it enough. Ok, its not whisper quiet (but it is certainly quieter than an Xbox 360) and the menu is a big fiddly and frankly a little unimpressive but so what? The simple fact of the matter is that it works, and it works well. Most of the time! I found a rather annoying thing that kept happening to me with the menus. Sometimes if I was doing multiple presses of say the down button, and then I pressed the up button, it would sometimes continuing going down. It was almost as though it got locked into an action and the only way to ensure changing the action was to wait a second or two before doing something different.

Watching digital content from either a connected hard drive or USB device was simple and had no problems at all. So if you want to carry your content around rather than streaming it you can, and its just a few seconds to plug it in.

Wired streaming was no problem either and worked great.

Wireless was a little hit and miss, however I should point out in all fairness that I don’t think this was the fault of the Xtreamer and more to do with my wireless setup at home, not to mention the location of the Xtreamer at the time. Sometimes it worked perfectly and other times not so much, so you really should give it the benefit of the doubt on this one. Again, for £99 what have you got to lose!

The Xtreamer ships with a 1.02 bios which should be upgradable to 1.03 in the next week or so according to the Xtreamer forums.

My biggest problem, if you can call it that, with the Xtreamer is the power supply. It’s not a UK power supply so it needs an adaptor plug (which fortunately is provided) but when connected it makes the whole plug huge! This may cause some problems for people with a limited number of power sockets because the plug is at an angle with means anything to left or right (depending on how you plugged it in) is blocked.

Anyway, that aside, this device is fantastic. It is small, cheap, and portable – you could take it with you and connect it anywhere. And as I keep saying, for £99 you cannot go wrong, it is a steal.

Go get yours now! To order one, click here. And for anyone who is interested, the Xtreamer is sold in the UK by Tranquil who have a very good reputation!