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Mac Mini 2009 Media Center Remote

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pcb105

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2009
4
0
Hi All,

I am a new user of a Mac Mini. I really like the Mini, but have found high bitrate HD clips (30+ MBits tend to drop frames (on the order of 1 -2 / minute). I am using Plex and playing mkv files or TS files. When I play the same clips under Windows (via Bootcamp) it plays without any dropped frames (with PowerDVD Ultra 9 / Media Center).

So I have 2 questions.... Is there any optimizations I should do on the Mac Mini to make the files play better? And is there any way that I can get the remote IR receiver on the Mac Mini to play with a media center remote (Vista Media Center / Bootcamp). The apple one works, but it only can control volume / play / pause and skip forward / back when you are playing a video. I need to get the navigation up down left right to work when at a Video menu (DVD / BD mode) and navigation when I am selecting what video file to play.

I have loads of HD space so I would perfer not to transcode all of my video as I have seen that take 15-20 hours per movie.

Thanks in advance. I am sorry if I posted in the wrong area. I did many searches and I could not find a thread, but sometimes it could be sitting under my nose.

Signed Windows User who desparately wants to switch to a Mac Mini.
 
robanga

robanga

macrumors 68000
Aug 25, 2007
1,657
1
Oregon
As to the IR receiver issue, I believe you are going to need the IR receiver that came with your Windows Media Center remote. On my media center that is a USB device. I doubt that the IR internal to the mini is going to play nice with a Microsoft remote.
 
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robotartfashion

macrumors 6502
Jan 1, 2009
311
0
Phoenix, AZ
robanga said:
As to the IR receiver issue, I believe you are going to need the IR receiver that came with your Windows Media Center remote. On my media center that is a USB device. I doubt that the IR internal to the mini is going to play nice with a Microsoft remote.
Click to expand...

who knows, i would try googling this, and possibly looking in to things like remote buddy

the problem is with getting your remote to recognize the ir port, are the WMC remotes programable? I use a Harmony 880 with my Macs (and all of my other controllable devices) so you could always look into any of the harmony remotes

so the dongle the above poster is pointing out + remote buddy would probable be your best bet in OSX
 
P

pcb105

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2009
4
0
I am sorry I should have been a little more descriptive. The input file is 24fps and the issues happen about 90-100 dropped frames during a 90 minute movie. They tend to be noticeable. When I test with the information turned on (hitting 'I' in Plex) I notice the frame drops increase by a few frames each time I see a stutter). It does not seem to happen 1 every minute or two. I have noted I never have seen a frame drop when the bit rate is under 20MBits/sec.

Do you know of anyway that I can log the information so I can see what the frame rate is whenever a dropped frame happens (however I can see that this logging could cause more dropped frames, so the test could be flawed).

Thanks a lot for your response.
 
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pcb105

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2009
4
0
I tried the driver mentioned a few posts earlier and I can't seem to get it installed. I guess I will go with the USB IR receiver now. That one should work :)
 
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