Mac Mini running Vista Media Center
After deliberating for a long time, I finally settled on a Mac Mini as my new Home Theater PC (HTPC) to replace the one I custom built 2 years ago that was running XP Media Center.
However, don’t even think for a minute that Mac OS will be running in my house 
I’ve successfully gotten Vista Ultimate running on the Mac Mini through Bootcamp.
The Mac Mini doesn’t have a built-in TV Tuner, but since I’ve decided to cut off my cable this really doesn’t matter. I spend most of my time listening to music and watching the occasional movie. Since I absolutely love the Vista Media Center interface, it was a no-brainer on which OS I was going to run.
If at a later time I was going to get cable again, there are several options for USB TV tuners out there that everyone seems to like.
I’m absolutely thrilled with this setup and am in complete awe of the genius of Apple’s hardware design. It’s amazing they fit everything they did in such a small package. I contemplated the Shuttle X100 and X200 systems, but the x200 didn’t have gigabit ethernet so it was a non-starter. The X100 was a contender, but ultimately I was dissuaded by Omar whom I trust for a lot of input on my tech decisions (and sometimes my taxes ). Here’s a great quote:
Never buy a Shuttle PC. They are buggy, the BIOS releases are buggy, and if you read the notes for the BIOS you’d understand. If you even read the forums for but a brief moment you’d come to the same conclusion.
Here is some other information in an Q&A style that might help others:
Does the Mac Mini run Vista Ultimate?
Yes! It runs without skipping a beat. It runs full Aero Glass to boot. FYI, I’m running it on the 2.0ghz Core Duo2 model.
What TV are you using? How is it connected?
I have it connected to an NEC 50XR5 50″ Plasma through DVI and it’s running at 1360×768 resolution which is almost dead-on its native resolution. Despite it not being an exact 1:1, all the text is crystal clear and crisp with no extra tweaking required.
I attempted to use HDMI (using a DVI to HDMI converter) but Vista doesn’t recognize the native resolution on my plasma, and instead forces me to have a ton of overscan. I could have fiddled with it more, but decided to go the easy route and stick with DVI. A friend of mine recently sent me some information on custom resolutions with the Intel Graphics cards (which the Mac Mini uses) and points out that my resolution woes have something to do with EDID. I know nothing about EDID and don’t really want to right now, so if anyone figures this out and just wants to tell me the solution, I’m all ears!
What is your audio setup?
I have the Mac Mini connected via optical audio to a Pioneer Elite receiver. The Mac Mini has a weird audio output where it has a combined optical digital audio output *and* headphone jack. In order to connect it to my receiver, I had to buy a TOS-link to mini TOS-link adapter. If you’re going to do this, plan ahead and buy it ahead of time since Apple Store charges an insane $30 for the same converter but attached to a 6ft cable. Criminals!
In order to get AC-3 sound to work with my ripped DVDs, I installed the Vista Codec pack which installs a bunch of codecs to allow you to play videos encoded with all the popular encoders (Xvid, Divx, H.264, etc). The critical piece was that the codec pack also includes AC3-Filter which does the work to get AC3 audio from ripped DVDs through the digital optical audio output.
What are you using for a keyboard and mouse?
I’m using a Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000, which is connects by bluetooth. The keyboard and mouse set is absolute fantastic — compact, ergonomic and mouse is rechargeable. The set comes with a bluetooth USB dongle, but since the Mac Mini has bluetooth built-in, I didn’t need it.
In retrospect I would have liked to have gotten the 8000 series keyboard set since it would make the keyboard rechargeable and it would also be backlit.
What is your network setup?
The Mac Mini is nice since it has gigabit ethernet as well as 802.11b/g. However, sine I am storing all my media on a D-Link DNS-323 NAS, I didn’t want to connect via wifi. Instead, I’m using Cat5e cable to connect through Gigabit ethernet.
For some reason Vista isn’t recognizing Gigabit ethernet speeds and only allowing me to connect at 100-BaseTX. I’ve already done enough troubleshooting to know that the cable, switch and wall jack are all functioning correctly. I figure it must be a driver thing. Anyone else have this problem?
How do you right click on a mac laptop running vista? Do things like webcam and the hardware buttons work under vista/
There are 2 solutions that I know of:
1. Use an external mouse
2. You can use Input Remapper.
Touching two fingers to the touchpad while clicking will trigger the context menu (a.k.a. right-click).
So, either it’s a typo or I’m misunderstanding something, but that panel doesn’t actually support a resolution of 1920×1200 right? Even the “true” 1080p HD sets are 1920×1080.
I’m thinking of doing something simlar now that MythTV no longer offers free guide data. The AppleTV seemed far too limited but the Mac Mini may just be perfect. Thanks for the hint on the TOSlink connector. That’s an issue I was definitely going to hit!
Tom: Good catch. I actually made a typo and used that resolution as a placeholder while I was typing. I corrected the post to read 1360×768 which is almost it’s native resolution.
Do you get working the apple remote under vista?
Leobardo: Yup, the apple remote works natively under Vista when you use bootcamp. It installs all the necessary drivers for it to work.
However, the remote’s functionality is pretty limited. You can only navigate prev/next tracks, play+pause and volume up+down. You cannot navigate the media center UI with it.
If anyone wants one of those TOSLink adapters and lives in the Seattle area, I have 3 extras (free to a good home).
I’ve been using a the dual 1.66 with MCE for almost a year now. The only complaint I have would be the fan noise seems to be high. Not sure if the Windows OS is controlling the fan as intended by the Mac OS design. Any thoughts?
Also My hard drive I think is going it makes a tick noise every so often.
-Chuck
Chuck: My fan noise is quite low, and I don’t even hear it. Not sure if that’s been improved in the newer hardware models like the one I have? One option is to install something like Speedfan and see if that can lower the speed of your fan.
However, keep in mind that perhaps your machine is running really hot internally forcing the fan to run at full speed? Lowering it might risk damaging your machine. Installing speedfan, though, you should be able to use it to also monitor internal temperatures to see if this is indeed the case.
Speedfan only sees the 2 cores and the Hard drive. The fan does show up on it’s menus.
-Chuck
Sorry I meant to say fan does not show up
-Chuck
Chuck: How about trying smcFanControl which is a MacOSX tool? This would at least tell you whether or not you can control the fan at all. If so, you shoudl easily be able to find a similar tool for Windows platform.
Can Vista control the volume of the digital audio output, or do you have to control the volume with your 5.1 receiver?
I recall reading that in OSX you cannot use the master volume control to change the digital output volume.
Jason: I’m not actually sure whether it can control it because I just use my receiver for that.
Hi Trevin, thanks for your response. I’m also using a Mac Mini as my Vista Media Center, but haven’t bought a proper 5.1 receiver yet. I’m in the “one-remote-to-do-it-all” camp, so would prefer not to have to use the receiver’s remote. (Harmony remote is also an option, but haven’t had a chance to go down that route yet…)
Anyways, if you ever get a chance to try, please update your blog!
Thanks,
Jason
Jason: I’m in the Harmony remote camp myself and highly recommend it. No universal remote control is perfect, but the Harmony 680 is as close as it gets without all the fancy bells and whistles of their newest/latest models. I’d ditch the Mac Mini remote in a heartbeat and besides, you need a fancy sound system to go along with your new media center, don’t you?
Hi Trevin
I’m hangin on to see if a new Mac Mini gets released in the next few weeks. Hopefully it will have HDCP support over DVI/HDMI and 802.11n wireless. I’m considering using this with a Netgear ReadyNAS+ NAS. Did you have any problems getting your NAS running with Vista Media Centre?
There’s a couple of products I would consider adding and wondered if you’ve considered them:
FusionHDTV DVB-T nano plus
http://www.fusionhdtv.co.kr/ENG/products/DVBTNanoPlus.aspx
QuicketTek aCard 802.11n Adapter 2.4 & 5Ghz Mac & Vista
http://quickertek.com/products/acard_mini.php
Great news that you can use the vista codec pack to get 5.1 to a receiver. I thought I’d have to find an external USB/Firewire Sound Card with AC3/DTS Passthough.
Now…the big question…What Spec Mac Mini did you get? Are you able to replay HD in 1080p though it sucessfully without stuttering/frame drop outs? What sort of CPU load are you getting for various activities? Playing music/Ripped DVD’s with 5.1?
Well i have anoter question about the remote in this case the IR receiver installed by Bootcamp work with any remote for example a HP remote designed for WIN Vista MCE?
Leobardo:
The built-in IR in the Mac Mini only works with the mac mini remote. To use general media center remote, you have plug in the Media Center IR receiver.