I’ve had the Philips SRU-8010 Universal Remote for quite some time now, but never really got it working quite well with my Windows Media Center Edition USB Infrared receiver (or cheap knockoff). I got the receiver working very well on my Gentoo Linux HTPC with LIRC’s mceusb2 driver but wasn’t able to get my remote to play perfectly with the whole setup. I was able to overcome the issue with a roundabout strategy and am pleased to report that I now have my whole media center, including my HTPC, TV, and sound receiver working together via universal remote. Read on for the details.
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Tag Archive for 'Hardware'
Jan '09
28
Philips SRU-8010 Not-So-Universal Remote
Sep '07
13
HD Video Playback in Linux
It seems that any developer I ask tells me that it’s currently not possible to play back 1080p H.264 video in Linux. In this post, I respond loud and clear to anyone who has said that: They Are Wrong. But there has to be a catch, right? Of course there is; there’s always a catch. Yes, I can play back some 1080p H.264 video flawlessly in Linux. Yes, I have watched entire movies in this fashion. Yes, there are some clips that I just can’t play back with my setup. Read on for the details of said setup, how I do it, and what the limitations are.
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Oct '05
28
More Upgrades for Charlie’s Server
I found a great deal on RAM for Charlie’s Server, so I went ahead and bought two 512MB sticks. This should fill out all four RAM slots for Charlie’s Server to exactly half capacity (2GB). I expect them to be delivered within another week.
I also found a great deal on SATA hard drives, so I bought two 10K RPM Raptor drives for Charlie’s server. They should provide a nice, fast, redundant replacement for the current nearly-decade-old 6GB drive that currently provides root.
I’m done spending for the next month or two.
Sep '05
24
Long Live Charlie’s Server
Charlie’s Server is reborn. The previously mentioned replacement hardware came in a few days back, and the new server is up and running. To be honest, the speed (or lack thereof) of the new Athlon 64 hardware didn’t stun me. All in all, though, I think I made an excellent purchase, particularly in terms of bang for buck. It’s stable as anything, and more than fast enough for my needs.
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Sep '05
14
Replacement Hardware on the Way
As previously mentioned, replacement hardware for Charlie’s Server was pending order. Now, all of the necessary replacement parts have been placed on order and are being shipped to Lina’s residence in South Windsor, Connecticut. It can be expected that Charlie’s Server will return by the last week of September.
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Sep '05
11
Charlie’s Server is Dead
Charlie’s Server finally bit the dust. In the midst of some hardware upgrades (namely, adding more hard drives for the FTP), the server’s motherboard apparently decided that it’s high time to quit. In the interim, the essential Charlie’s Server services (including this blog) have been moved to a temporary server.
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Apr '05
15
Apple Goofed, Again
As per the description in a previous blog entry, I sent in my PowerBook for repairs last week. I got the machine back Wednesday last week to find not one but three new things about my dear computer.
- Apple replaced the hard drive. Somewhat of a let-down, but I did have a backup of most everything I needed, so it’s not a huge loss. A blessing in disguise, actually: I’ve been meaning to reformat the machine and have a nice fresh clean start, I just hadn’t gotten around to it, and was kind-of waiting for Mac OS X Tiger to be released.
- Apple managed to rip off one of the feet of my PowerBook, as per the pictures above. The first picture is what a normal ‘foot’ on a PowerBook looks like: a dark grey circular rubber pad mounted on a light gray circular piece of plastic. The second picture is what a missing ‘foot’ looks like: no dark grey circular rubber pad mounted atop a light gray circular piece of otherwise-very-empty-looking-not-to-mention-abrasive plastic.
- Apple also managed to put some very light abrasions dead smack in the middle of my PowerBook’s LCD. To the untrained eye, they’re pretty invisible, but I can see them fairly clearly, especially when doing graphic design on a pixel-by-pixel level. The abrasions cover about a square inch of the screen and are shallow enough not to be noticeable to touch.
Apr '05
15
Oh My Gosh It’s So Tiny!
I got the RadTech-branded version of the BT500 mouse in the mail yesterday. Having waited about two weeks for the thing just to be shipped out — RadTech was out of stock of the silver one I ordered — I was pretty anxious. An illustrated review follows.
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Feb '05
9
Compy! You’re Back!
I definitely missed it while it was sent away, but it’s back now. Safe at last. The road back to me was fraught with peril, and false charges too. In short, Apple tried to charge me $30 because they supposedly found nothing wrong with the machine (even though they happened to fix what was wrong). Go figure.
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Feb '05
7
Lappy Go Bye-Byes
As expected, I sent out my PowerBook for repairs today. The service guys told me that they expect it back within three, maybe four days. No loaners available (not that I’d really use one anyhow). Meanwhile I’m starting to get used to KDE, Thunderbird and Enigmail on a friend’s linux-x86 box — every few minutes I joyfully remember why I loved linux, and every few seconds I painfully remember why I jumped on board with Apple’s Mac OS X. It’s going to be a long week.
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