Using an HP Media Center Extender X5400

Using an HP Media Center Extender X5400
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In this document:
System requirements
Available tools
Frequently asked questions
Troubleshooting
Network performance troubleshooting
How to use
This document pertains to the HP Media Center Extender X5400 with PCs using Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
Use HP Media Center Extender to extend the Media Center experience to watch TV, listen to music, view family photos and family video in any room of the house. Just connect the HP Media Center Extender (via wired or wireless networks) to a Media Center PC with a TV to begin enjoying the experience.
NOTE: A Media Center Extender is not a Windows XP desktop PC. It only extends most of the content that can be accessed through the Media Center interface of another system with Media Center 2005 installed. It is not a standalone PC that can run other Windows XP software, like HP Tunes, HP Image Zone, Music CDs, DVD movies, Real Rhapsody, Microsoft Office, and all other non-integrated software.

System requirements
HP recommends 802.11a or wired Ethernet 802.3. These technologies deliver the best multimedia experience. There are very few products or equipment in the home that operate in the 802.11a frequency band, therefore limiting the interference to your home network. The telephones that are in the 5.8 GHz band do not interfere with your 802.11a network. HP recommends using 802.11a for your home media network in the Media Center experience, leaving 802.11b-g available for your home data network. Your home data network would consist of email, web browsing, and network backup.
Microsoft approved routers
Only approved wireless 802.11 b/g/a routers should be used. Look for this logo on your router packaging.

What are the requirements for the Media Center Extender?
Refer to the following information when using Multiple Media Center Extenders.

Media Center Extender System Requirements
Number of Media Center Extenders
CPU Speed (in GHz)
Amount of Memory (in MB)
Maximum number of recommended wireless connections
1
2.8 GHz
256MB
1 (see Note)
2
2.8 GHz
512MB
1 (see Note)
3 to 5
3.4 GHz
1GB
1 (see Note)

NOTE: For the best experience when using multiple extenders, HP recommends limiting your configuration to 1 wireless connection, with the remaining extenders using wired ethernet connections.

Available tools
Three tools are available for you to maintain the Media Center Extender and monitor its performance. These tools are installed onto the Media Center PC.
How do I get the most out of my Media Center Extender?
Three tools are available for you to maintain the Media Center Extender and monitor its performance. These tools are installed onto the Media Center PC:

Media Center Extender Manager – Add another Media Center Extender or update the software.
Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner – Tests how well your network performs, helps to improve performance, and tests how well it supports the Media Center Extender.
Media Center Extender Resource Monitor – quickly view the status of system resources.
Media Center Extender Manager
Use the Media Center Extender Manager to add another Media Center Extender to your Media Center PC or update the software for the Media Center Extender. To start the Media Center Extender Manager:

On the Media Center PC click Start on the taskbar.
Select All Programs.
Select Accessories.
Select Media Center, and then click Media Center Extender Manager.
Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner
The Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner tests how well your network supports the Media Center Extender. If you have problems receiving video information such as Live TV or Recorded TV on the Media Center Extender, use the Network Performance Tuner to determine the strength of the network signal and capacity. In addition, the Network Performance Tuner provides information about how to improve network performance between the Media Center Extender and the Media Center PC. To use the Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner:

On the Media Center PC click Start on the taskbar.
Select All Programs.
Select Accessories.
Select Media Center, and then click Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner.
For information on using the Network Performance Tuner refer to How to Use .
Media Center Extender Resource Monitor
You can view the status of system resources and turn on notifications to let you know if the resources are beginning to reach maximum level.

To quickly see the status of system sources in use by the Media Center Extender, use the Extender Resource Monitor. This tool shows you the status of four important PC resources: percentage of CPU utilization, disk usage, network usage, and memory available. If you are using the Media Center Extender and an experience suddenly changes, such as listening to music, check the Extender Resource Monitor to see if the PC is running out of resources.
You can use the Turn On Notifications option to have the Extender Resource Monitor notify you if one of the resources is beginning to reach its maximum level.
To use the Extender Resource Monitor:

From the system tray right-click the Extender Resource Monitor icon.
Then click Show System Resources.
You see the Extender Resource Monitor status.
How to check the version of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition on your computer
To view the version of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition on your computer, click Open Media Center, Settings, General, scroll down, and click About Media Center. An About Media Center window appears with version information listed.

Frequently asked questions
What are some possible problems with wireless networks?
Depending on your wireless network configuration, your experience may be different. Keep these basic rules of thumb in mind:

You must use a Microsoft-approved router. Approved routers have the Microsoft logo on the packaging.
The quality of your experience depends on reception. Factors that may impact reception include:
The distance between equipment on your network.
The number of walls within the networking area.
Reflections from metal obstructions (including mirrors and refrigerators) should be minimized.
The quality of your experience depends on your bandwidth. Adjust your bandwidth to enhance your experience. Refer to Network Performance Tuner.
Any firewalls that are being used must be set to allow network access to the MC Extender.
What are some of the ways to increase performance of the wireless path?
To increase the performance of your wireless components, minimize the number of obstructions that the wireless signal must travel through. This can be as simple as moving items in line of your wireless component. Imagine a straight line between your two wireless components; every object that exists on this line between them can strain the wireless performance. For example, if you've hidden your wireless access point or router behind a potted plant, that's going to affect signal strength and therefore performance. If your Media Center Extender antenna is placed in the back of a crowded A/V rack, and the access point it communicates with is located somewhere else in the house, the signal has to go through the other A/V components, which can drastically affect performance. Metal obstructions (including mirrors and refrigerators) are particularly important to remove from the path if possible. Use the Automatic Test or the Bandwidth Monitor options to see the effects of changes.
How can changing the location or orientation of my wireless equipment affect performance?
Even without changing the number of items in the wireless path, small changes to wireless networking equipment can improve the performance. Try moving your equipment to higher or lower elevations if possible, or try rotating equipment 45 or 90 degrees from its current position. For example, if your wireless access point or router is on the first floor of your house and your Media Center Extender is on the second floor, try putting the wireless access point or router up on a shelf. Use the Automatic Test or the Bandwidth Monitor options to see the effects of changes.
How does modifying antenna positioning affect performance?
The small antennas used in wireless networking devices are extremely sensitive to relatively minor changes in orientation and position. A good analogy is rabbit ears antennas, which were once widely used for TV reception: moving them an inch in any direction could change TV reception significantly. There might be one small spot where TV reception is fairly good. The same is true for wireless networking antennas. Sometimes performance works best when the antennas at both components of the wireless network are pointing vertically straight up. In other cases positioning the antennas on all devices at a 45-degree angle yields the best results. Performance usually decreases if the antennas are positioned vertically on one device (for example, your home networking access point/router) and horizontally on the other device (such as the Media Center Extender). Try different antenna positions while the bandwidth monitor (Network Performance Tuner) is running to see how it affects your network performance.

NOTE: Some wireless networking components have fixed internal antennas instead of external antennas. In these cases it may look as if the device doesn’t have an antenna at all. For devices with internal antennas you can rotate the device to change the antenna reception.
What are some possible problems with fully wired networks?
If you have a completely wired Ethernet network connecting from your Media Center PC to your Media Center Extender, double-check that all networking components support 100 Mbps. Older 10-Mbps Ethernet networking hubs are not supported and cause network bandwidth problems.
Questions about HP Tunes and HP Image Zone
HP iTunes and HP Image Zone will not work with the Media Center Extender. The Extender may display the HP iTunes and HP Image Zone screens but no functionality is available. These programs are intended to be used only from the Media Center PC.
Cannot connect during setup due to Norton Personal Firewall
Use the following steps to add MC Extender to the trusted zone of your home network, and then connect your MC Extender:

Click Start, All Programs, Norton AntiVirus , and LiveUpdate - Norton AntiVirus.
Follow the onscreen instructions to run the LiveUpdate until you receive a message that says "All the Symantec products and components installed on your computer are currently up-to-date."
Click Start, All Programs, Norton Personal Firewall , and Norton Personal Firewall again.
Click the Personal Firewall link in the System Status window.
Click the Configure button in the lower-right corner.
Click the Networking tab.
Make sure the Trusted tab is active and click the Add button.
Enter the MC Extenders IP address, and click OK.
NOTE: To find out your IP address, click Start, All Programs, Accessories, and Command Prompt. Then enter ipconfig.
Run the Media Center Extender Setup wizard. You may see one or more Security Alerts from Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall. Follow the recommended actions on each alert to configure Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall for the Windows Media Center Extender software.
The Media Center Extender Setup wizard may detect Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall and may display a suggestion to open ports to permit communications between the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 computer and the Windows Media Center Extender, as shown in the following image:

If you have already run LiveUpdate until no new updates are available, then you may skip the steps outlined in this pane of the Media Center Extender Setup. Running LiveUpdate will automatically create custom rules for Windows Media Center Extender.
Connect the Windows Media Center Extender device by shutting down the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 computer and the extender device. In some cases, it is necessary to turn off the power on the extender device using the on/off switch.
Turn on the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 computer and click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Media Center, and Media Center Extender Manager.
Turn on the Windows Media Center Extender device. Select Add a New Extender from the File menu, as shown in the following image:

Enter the setup key displayed on the Media Center Extender device into the Media Center Extender Setup wizard.
Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the rest of the Media Center Extender Setup wizard.

Troubleshooting
What elements can cause wireless network interference?
HP recommends 802.11a or wired Ethernet 100BaseT. The interference is limited on 802.11a as only a few devices operate in the frequency band of 5.8 GHz. 5.8GHz phones are in a different band. 802.11g wireless networks share their airspace with a number of other equipment and technologies that can influence overall performance. The following might affect your wireless network if they are in your house or nearby:

Microwave oven use
2.4-GHz cordless phones
2.4-GHz baby monitors
2.4-GHz analog wireless video senders
Neighboring wireless networks
Solving these types of interference problems can be challenging. If a significant interruption occurs for a short period of time, someone may be using a microwave oven nearby. Consider replacing your 2.4-GHz cordless phones or baby monitors with 900-MHz models if that's feasible. Refer to Changing Wireless Networking Channels for information on how to assign your wireless network to a different channel that may incur less interference from nearby equipment. Again you can avoid many of these by using 802.11a.
What about changing Wireless Networking channels?
Within a wireless networking standard such as 802.11g, individual channels exist that allow for multiple wireless devices to use different portions of the available bandwidth, (for example, 802.11g uses channels 1 though 11). Many wireless access points and routers are pre-configured to use a specific channel. If your neighbor has a wireless network, it is possible that you are both using the same channel. This can cause both of your wireless networks to slow down because they have to deal with traffic that doesn’t belong to them. Changing to a different channel may improve your performance. For 802.11g, even though there are 11 available channels, there are actually only 3 that do not overlap. You don’t need to test all the channels, checking channels 1, 6, and 11 should be sufficient to see whether you can improve performance with this technique. To change your wireless networking channel you need to use the Web page administration utility of your access point or router. See your wireless access point or router user's guide for more details on advanced configuration of your wireless network. Again to avoid this issue, 802.11a has many more channels that minimize interference.
About Network Topology Changes
One of the difficult modifications to make to your home network can have the most significant impact on overall performance, network topology changes. For example, you may have a Media Center PC in your living room, and a productivity PC in an office or den, and you want to put a Media Center Extender in your master bedroom. If your DSL Internet access is coming into your house at your office or den, then you may want to have both the Media Center PC and the Media Center Extender connected wireless. This type of configuration is not supported because video must travel over wireless twice and may result in seemingly unsolvable network performance problems. Consider modifications to your home network such as changing the point of entry of Internet into your house. If you have a phone jack near the Media Center PC in the living room, perhaps the DSL modem and your router can move there and the office PC can connect wireless. This configuration change allows the Media Center PC to connect to the router with wired Ethernet and places significantly less stress on the network for TV playback. Another option to consider is moving your wireless access point or router to a different room in the house that reduces the overall wireless distances or obstructions. Perhaps its reasonably easy to run a longer Ethernet wire between your Media Center PC and the access point but still get it into another room.
Recording TV shows at lower quality levels
If you are unable to solve your network performance problems, one option to consider is setting Media Center to record TV shows at a lower quality level. Each of Media Centers' recording levels uses less storage, but also requires less network bandwidth to watch on your Media Center Extender. Try successively lower quality levels until you get more reliable recorded TV playback on your Media Center Extender. Recording shows at lower quality levels will not affect the playback of Live TV on your Media Center Extender. Live TV is always sent from the Media Center PC to the Extender at the best quality level.
Cannot connect during setup due to Norton Personal Firewall
When the Media Center Extender software on the PC attempts to access the network address of the extender, Norton Personal firewall (NPF) blocks the access. To fix this, the MC Extender needs to be added as trusted software in Norton Personal firewall's rules. To allow access, minimize the Media Center setup screen when it attempts to connect. Do so willallow you to view and respond to the NPF window that appears (next to the time).

Network performance troubleshooting
What if I run into problems using the Network Performance Tuner
If you run into problems using the Network Performance Tuner check to make sure the following items have been addressed:

Your Media Center Extender has been successfully set up on your Media Center PC.
The Media Center Extender is turned on and showing the Media Center Start menu.
No media playback is occurring on the Media Center Extender (Live TV, Recorded TV, Music, My Videos, or Radio).
No one else in your house is using the Media Center Extender while the Network Performance Tuner is in use.
Your home network is not in use with significant network traffic from other PCs or equipment.
If all else fails, disconnect the Media Center Extender from its power source restart your Media Center PC and then reconnect the Media Center Extender to its power source.
What do I do if I see a Media Center error code?
Error code number, message, and action:

1 The Media Center Extender is defective and must be returned for repair.
Contact the HP to determine how to return the Media Center Extender.
2 The Media Center Extender software is either damaged or missing and must be restored.
Contact HP for information about restoring your Media Center Extender software.
3 The Media Center Extender software update is incorrect or the Media Center PC is not ready to upgrade.
Contact HP for more information about updating the Media Center Extender software.
4 There is a problem with the Ethernet connection or the Ethernet cable is defective.
Make sure the Ethernet cable is properly installed or replace the Ethernet cable with another one.

How to use
Accessing the Network Performance Tuner
When a Media Center Extender is initially set up with your Media Center PC, the Network Performance Tuner is launched in Automatic Test mode after setup is complete. This ensures that the current network configuration is capable of delivering a quality TV video experience. The Network Performance Tuner is also accessible at any time from the Start menu. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then click Media Center.

Getting started
Use the Network Performance Tuner to ensure that your Media Center Extender is set up successfully, and when turned on, shows the Media Center from the Start main menu. To accurately understand the performance of your network make sure no media playback is occurring on the Media Center Extender while the Network Performance Tuner is in use (Live TV, Recorded TV, Music, My Videos, or Radio). For best results, before use, turn off your Media Center Extender then turn it back on again to clean up all Media Center Extender resources.

The Network Performance Tuner
The Network Performance Tuner is an advanced utility that measures the overall bandwidth between a Media Center PC and a Media Center Extender in the same way as the Automatic Test. The difference is that the Network Performance Tuner runs indefinitely continually showing the results of the testing on a graph displayed on the screen. The purpose of this utility monitor is that it allows you to make changes to your network configuration, such as changing the location of your access point or modifying the position of antennas, while seeing the results of those changes real time. When using the Network Performance Tuner the objective is to make adjustments to your network configuration until you can keep the green graph line consistently above the solid yellow line in the middle of the screen. The higher above the yellow line you can get your network performance the less likely you are to have problems watching TV on your Media Center Extender. See the Troubleshooting sections that follow for more detailed suggestions for how to improve your network performance.

Testing your network with the Automatic Network Performance Test
The Automatic Test within the Network Performance Tuner measures the available network bandwidth between your Media Center PC and your Media Center Extender for a short period of time. The test checks to see if video transmitted over your home network would have any quality problems that would be noticeable when watching live or recorded TV. When the test completes it shows if there are any potential problems or if the network performance looks acceptable for TV usage.

NOTE: Successful completion of the Automatic Test is not a guarantee against future performance problems. The Automatic Test is only run for a short time and wireless networks are susceptible to occasional interference from a variety of sources including 2.4-GHz cordless phones, microwave ovens, nearby wireless networks, and other seemingly random influences.

Basic file sharing
The Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional operating systems support basic file sharing. To use simple file sharing with Windows XP Professional, the PC must be part of a workgroup. It cannot be joined to a domain. It is recommended that all PCs on a home network use basic file sharing. When a folder is shared on the network, the contents can be viewed by anyone who has access to the network. Basic file sharing enables allows:

Sharing of a file or folder
Naming the share
Network users to change files in the folder
To share a folder:

Click Start, choose All Programs, Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
Locate the folder you want to share.
Right-click the folder, and then click Sharing and Security.
Do one of the following:
If the Share this folder on a network check box is available, select the check box.
If the Share this folder on a network check box is not available, then the PC is not connected to the network. If you would like to set up a home network, click the Network Setup Wizard link and follow the instructions to connect the PC to the home network and to turn on basic file sharing. Once file sharing is enabled, follow this procedure again.
When basic file sharing is enabled, the following folders cannot be shared on the network:

Documents and Settings (including My Documents)
Program Files
Windows system folders
Other user profiles

Advanced file sharing
PCs that are running Windows XP Professional have advanced file sharing capabilities. Basic file sharing is disabled and customers can configure more options with advanced file sharing. Using advanced file sharing is more complicated than basic file sharing and is not recommended for home networks. Advanced file sharing requires customers to configure permissions in addition to sharing the folder. The options are:

Share a file or folder
Name the share
Provide a comment or description of the share
Set permissions on the share, including a list of users or groups and their level of access
Configure offline folder settings
Modify the settings of an existing shared folder or create a new share. With advanced file sharing, all folders on the PC can be shared.
There is a special set of folders, such as the Windows folder, that discourages sharing. If one of these folders is shared, a warning appears recommending that the folder not be shared. Advanced file sharing requires users and groups to be added to the permission list for the shared folder. After adding users and groups, security settings must be configured to permit access to the contents of a shared folder. Security includes the level of access users have to a folder. For example, users can be restricted to viewing the content of a folder only, or they can have permission to modify the contents of the folder.
Folder permissions include:

Full control
Modify
Read and execute
Listing folder contents
Read
Write
When using advanced file sharing, anonymous logon privileges must be added to users and groups for permissions and security. This allows Media Center Extender to access the content in the shared folders.

How to view content on Media Center Extender
To find music, videos, and pictures that are stored on the Media Center PC or other PCs on the network, use the following procedures.
To add pictures:

On the Extender, from the Media Center desktop, click Start, and then click My Pictures.
Click the More Info button.
Select Add pictures, and then click Next.
Do one or both of the following:
To add pictures that are on the Media Center PC, select Add folders on this computer.
To add pictures that are on another computer on the network, select Add shared folders from another computer.
Select the folder or folders that contain the pictures, select Next, and then select Finish.
To Add music:

NOTE: To find music with the Extender, from the Media Center desktop, click Start on the taskbar, and then click My Music. The Media Center Extender does not support AAC music files.

On the Extender, from the Media Center desktop, click Start on the taskbar, and then click My Music.
Do one of the following:
If this is the first time music is being added, click Yes.
If music has been added previously, press More Info on the remote control, and click Add Music.
Click Add folders, and then click Next.
Do one or both of the following:
To add music that is on the Media Center PC, click Add folders on this computer.
To add music that is on another computer on the network, click Add shared folders from another computer.
Select the folder or folders that contain the music, click Next, and then click Finish.
To add videos:


On the Extender, from the Media Center desktop, click Start, and then click My Videos.
Click Add Videos.
Select Add folders, and then select Next.
Do one or both of the following:
To add videos that are on the Media Center PC click Add folders on this computer.
To add videos that are on another computer on the network click Add shared folders from another computer.
Select the folder or folders that contain the music, select Next, and then click Finish.