[Tight_wad]

I thought I would take the time to post my TViX 6500 movie system, just in case someone was trying to set up something similar.

Hardware:

3)Tvix 6500 firmware 1.3.95 No hard drives
1)Netgear ethernet switch 10/100/1000
1)Qnap 509 pro Nas with 5) 1Tb Seagate Hard drives on Raid 5
1)Vista Computer 4gb with 1) 500 gb hard drive and 1) 1tb harddrive
3)Western Digital 2tb External harddrives Usb connect
1)Apc ups Battery backup system big enough for 45 minutes of power for eveything in my theater room.
plus other Theater hardware and game consoles
Ethernet Cables all Cat 5e
Video cable Hdmi for theater and flat screen
Svideo for rear projection
Denon 3808 Receiver for theater
Sanyo z2000 main theater Projector
Zenith 55 inch 4:3 Rear Projection Tv
Samsong 32 inch Lcd Flat panel Tv


How I use my Network:

My dvd movies are in Video_ts.ifo .vob format, all are Standard def not Blue Ray.

All of my movies are stored on the Nas and all 3 of the WD usb Hard drives. My Nas is maped in my computer as a drive, keeps things nice and constant.
The usb drives have been assigned drive letters, so that if I shut the system down, they keep their same drive letter, regardless of order they wake.


I Have only one NFS Network share on my Tvix Boxes, Point to the 1 tb hard drive of the Computer. On my computers 1tb hard drive, I have 3) files: (1) Main index (2) New Movies (3) Genre.
(There are sub files under those three files). There are no movies in any of these files, instead there are short cuts created as "Symbolic Links" for every movie. "Symbolic links" are created with a program called
"link shell extension".

This allows me to have my movies stored any where on my Usb drives or Nas, and have the Tvix see them as just one Network. And it makes it so the Tvix thinks that there is a movie folder located, anywhere that I create the "Symbolic link".

I use folder.jpg for the movie icons and I have (2) Tvix.jpgs for each movie. The first one that comes up when you select a movie icon is the movie Synopsis, rate, cover and so on, similar to what one creates with the Gui Builder. And the 2nd is in a file called "Cast Members" and if you want to see the cast Names and there role names, you can select it. My Tvix is set to "smart" so that the Video_ts.ifo will start automaticly (to get around the movie starting before one would have the time to see the TViX.jpg, I have my movie in an extra subfile called "play the movie". Selecting "play the movie" in the movie file will start the movie.
The TViX.jpgs and the folder.jpg are created through DVD Profiler, saved with Zan printer to file, and Batch cropped with Corel Paint Shop Pro. Took some time to setup, but it allows me to create anything I want for the movies.

My Computer is a Dell Studio Slim. Nothing really special about it. I have 2 ethernet network cards in it, 1) set to gb for the main network to my switch, and the other 100 mb that I use for my internet connection network. I don't keep my computer hookup to the internet, just when I need it, I enable it. My Usb Hard drives are connected to my computer. They respond to my computer for wake up much faster than being hooked to the Nas.

Well that's my system that I use. I do want to thank everyone on the Mpc Club and Avs forum for all their help. It is amazing the amount of information that you can find and put together, from these forums.

Thanks again

[jk21]

You must be rich, and you must have many friends that you need a backup power 45 min just in case the power went of.

[Tight_wad]

Originally Posted by jk21 You must be rich, and you must have many friends that you need a backup power 45 min just in case the power went of.

Not Rich (notice my forum name), and I don't have very many friends. I spend to much time on forums or playing with my media stuff.

But I did get a great deal on a Battery backup unit.

[jk21]

Oh okay was just bit confused on why u needed the battery backup, here in the UK i dont think I ever had my house power go done but i live in the city. All good mate.

[Tight_wad]

Here in Indiana Usa, we loose power all the time. But loosing power isn't so bad, it's when it surges on and off before it goes out that really hurts. With my equipment costs, and time invested in setting up all of my movies, It is more than worth what I spent.

And the wife coming thru a dark house, with a flash light in hand, as I am still with power in my theater room, that is priceless!

[a5ian300zx]

nice setup, any pics

[akis2001]

You have 2 tvix.jpg files, how do you switch from one to the other?

[Tight_wad]

Originally Posted by akis2001 You have 2 tvix.jpg files, how do you switch from one to the other?

When you select the movie folder icon, and it goes to the first TViX.jpg, then I have 3 choices under there like this:

[upfolder]
[Play the Movie] (this has the Video_ts file and start the movie if selected)
[zCast Members] (this has a TViX.jpg, if you want to see who is in the movie)

I don't use icon mode inside the movie files, so it is just a list. Also, the little "z" infront of the name is not a typo, I do this to have it be the last selection, that way when you enter the movie, "Play the Movie" is first and already highlighted.

You could probably have as many as you want, using sub files like this.
And you could probably have different Wallpapers for Tvix models like 4100 and 5100.

Thanks for asking.