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Is this the correct forum to ask:   

How's 810 doing?  Near Beta?  Having trouble figuring out from the CVS site how close to leaving Alpha that 810 is right now.  Maybe I missed something?

Another pre-build question:

If an MCE solution is built 1) with a core and MDs or a 2) core/Hybrid and MDs, is there anything about the selection of a UI on the core that affects the MDs?  Meaning, if the core went simpler (UI1, UI2), can the MDs go to UI2 Overlay or Alpha Blended?  Having trouble figuring this out from the wiki. 

Intuitively my guess is that "to each device it's own" is the answer, but I cannot back that guess up with references.

Again, your kind input is appreciated!

I'm not fishing for flames or trolls here, I really want to ask what seems to be a valid question...  If the mainboard/motherboard for my core machine is known to work with kubuntu, why is there so much information on the MCE wiki about specific mainboards?

From what I can gather, a lot of the mainboard issues arise around key areas:

- compatibility, capability, or issues with integrated video or lan components
- sata/pata and AHCI BIOS setting

My approach would be to

• use a mainboard compatible with kubuntu
• ensure it's onboard lan was known to work from kubuntu
• add kubuntu supported 2nd nic
• deal with internal sata/ahci/bios disk config per MCE wiki
• disable onboard video
• install video capture and video output cards to my needs per MCE wiki
• install audio output cards to my needs per MCE wiki

At the risk of appearing dense, what point am I missing in this area... thanks in advance!
D

If I follow the networking for MCE/core correctly, the preferred network configuration is to use the Core as the router/firewall behind my DSL (core's external network) and to have core provide DHCP and network QoS to the internal network. 

I can certainly abide by that for wired devices such as MDs and NASs for MCE.  However, I also have a wireless router that provides DHCP to laptops that browse through a SafeSquid proxy machine (content filtering for the kiddies).

I envision a few network designs.

1) Hang core's external network connection behind the wireless' hub with a static assignment in 192.168.0.0 range outside of DHCP range for other clients.  Allow core to provide wired clients with DHCP as suggested by MCE docs in 192.168.80.0 or other range.

2) Hang core's external network connection behind the DSL modem, put wireless router as a static IP on the core's internal wired network, and manage the laptop's DHCP range within the same range as core, but separate from the range core offers...  Thus core would offer 192.168.80.0->50 (I can configure that right?) and have wireless offer 192.168.80.100->150.

I know you gurus beat this network issue down all the time, I'm trying to understand where I risk making MCE install harder versus making it harder to have content proxy in the network... 

The second scenario, if recommended, begs the question, what's been tried concerning a content proxy on the core?
Thanks!

gurus, I'm not far from building my first core and at least two MDs.  I'm keeping my eye on the v8 MCE, but no news posted in almost 2 months.  I could wait if 8's getting close, otherwise I'll go to 710.  Some strategery from you would be most welcome, I don't want to build this thing twice in a short period of time.

Another semi-basic question, but it's not obvious from the FAQ.

If I build a core with 2 analog cable sources, 1 satellite source, I have a DVD in the core's drive and a media (dvd video) library attached to the core, then (in my way of thinking) the core has 5 possible video output streams that MDs in the house could draw from.  Can those be streaming concurrently?

Or, asked another way, if my representation of 5 possible streams from the core (above) is appropriate AND if I have 5 MDs in the house, can all 5 streams be running concurrently - one each to a different MD?   If not, what limitations must be considered.

Thanks so much for your answers and wisdom!
Dave.

Hi all!  starting the process to spec out and build an MCE, really looking forward to it!  I'll prob b asking quite a few questions for a while, appreciate all input (and patience)!

Q1) I saw a thread in the forum from mid-2007 regarding the implementation of Parental Controls; what's the status of Parental controls over what can be viewed (or even listed) in MCE?  Does the answer vary by media source?  (cable vs local media vs disk media vs. mounted media) 

Q2) related to parental controls, I have a NAS with a good bit of video media that I'd like to expose to MCE once it's built.  that NAS has two Windoze shares: 1) that's kid-friendly content, and 2) that isn't terribly kid friendly.  Currently under my linux desktop I just mount and unmount the shares to suit my needs.... what tools/strategies are available in MCE to deal with that? 

I kind of hope that the answer to #2 is related to #1 since that would allow me to leave the mounts active all the time and would let MCE manage viewing privs.... also dunno how upset MCE would be from a "library" or "index" perspective if a mount/share was enabled/disabled frequently... maybe that's my question #3?

Thanks again!
Dave.