Tutorial: Acer Revo 1600 HTPC with Boxee in HD

Over the weekend, I purchased an Acer Revo 1600 for my fiancé's parents. I figured for $150, the Revo 1600 with the Nvidia ION would make a powerful Boxee HTPC without breaking the bank. Boxee has Netflix, mkv-avi-mp4 movie playback, online streaming video, Pandora, Flickr, and more. This tutorial will be in two parts, one part for XP users, and the other for Vista/Server 2008/7 users.

Windows XP Boxee Guide

First off, if you're using your Revo 1600 with Windows XP, then you will NOT get HD decoding in Boxee. HD videos will stutter badly. You must have Vista/Server 2008/7 to get DXVA2 (Direct X Video Acceleration 2, which we'll go into in the second half of this tutorial) If you feel comfortable with installing Vista or Server 2008 or Windows 7, then I would recommend switching the OS.

Upgrade Drivers
Acer/Nvidia driver for Audio over HDMI (do not use the Nvidia.com driver because it does not work with the Revo, as of 4/27/10)
Geforce/ION LE 197.45 WHQL Graphics Driver
Nvidia ION LE Nforce 15.46 WHQL Chipset Driver 

Sign up and Install Boxee

Install Flash 10.1 Prerelease for HD Flash Playback

Sound over HDMI
Right out of the box, the Revo was almost ready to play with Boxee. The only thing I had to tweak was the sound over HDMI.

1. After installing the drivers, I had to disable the Realtek Sound adapter in Hardware Devices in System Properties. Then sound over HDMI was working and so was Dolby Digital/DTS passthrough. If you don't need sound over HDMI, then don't disable the Realtek Sound adapter. 
2. Lastly, go into Boxee > Settings > System > Audio > Select Nvidia HD Audio

Video over HDMI

By now, video should be outputting beautifully in 1080p or 720p. If you have overscan problems, right click on your desktop. Go into the Nvidia control panel. Click on HDTV. There should be an menu item to adjust overscan. Follow the on screen instructions.

Netflix

1. If you want Netflix, then open up a browser like Google Chrome/Firefox, log into your Boxee account, then click on services. Click on Netflix, and sign in. This will now link Netflix fo your Boxee account.
2. Download and install Microsoft Silverlight
3. Open up Boxee. 
4. Go to My Apps and select Netflix. 
5. Netflix will ask to install a cookie. Click Yes
6. Enjoy using Netflix on Boxee

Windows Vista/Server 2008/7 Boxee Guide

Boxee really shines in Vista/Server 2008/7. Whichever installation you choose, they all will have DXVA2, and DXVA2 is needed to accelerate HD movie playback. Instead of the CPU lagging to do the work, the Nvidia ION will now power through.

I chose Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Standard Edition with the Windows 2008 Workstation Converter.

After installing the OS, we need to upgrade the drivers. Be sure to get the right drivers if you install a 32-bit or 64-bit OS as they are different. Video/audio/chipset drivers are all on Nvidia's website, and they work.

Upgrade Drivers

Windows 7 64-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows 2008 Server 64-bit

Geforce/ION LE 197.45 WHQL Graphics Driver
Nvidia driver for Audio over HDMI 
Nvidia ION LE Nforce 15.51 WHQL Chipset Driver 

Windows 7 32-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows 2008 Server 32-bit
Geforce/ION LE 197.45 WHQL Graphics Driver

Nvidia driver for Audio over HDMI 

Nvidia ION LE Nforce 15.51 WHQL Chipset Driver 

Sign up and Install Boxee

Install Flash 10.1 Prerelease for HD Flash Playback

After upgrading the drivers, the audio worked great in my installation. I did not need to any additional tweaking, nor did I have to disable anything. Sound over HDMI worked beautifully, and I had Dolby Digital/DTS passthrough over HDMI. If you run into problems, try changing the sound settings inside Boxee > Settings > System > Audio > Select Nvidia HD Audio

Video over HDMI

By now, video should be outputting beautifully in 1080p or 720p. If you have overscan problems, right click on your desktop. Go into the Nvidia control panel. Click on HDTV. There should be an menu item to adjust overscan. Follow the on screen instructions.

Netflix

1. If you want Netflix, then open up a browser like Google Chrome/Firefox, log into your Boxee account, then click on services. Click on Netflix, and sign in. This will now link Netflix fo your Boxee account.
2. Download and install Microsoft Silverlight
3. Open up Boxee. 
4. Go to My Apps and select Netflix. 
5. Netflix will ask to install a cookie. Click Yes
6. Enjoy using Netflix on Boxee

Final thoughts
The installation in Windows 2008 R2 x64 went smoothly. After upgrading the drivers, installing Boxee, flash and Microsoft Silverlight, we had a full blown HTPC. Thanks to the Nvidia ION, we enjoyed watching smooth playback of 1080p mkv's, YouTube HD, and Netflix instant movies. CPU utilization was under 20-30% when playing HD movies. (Pressing "i" in Boxee brings up utilization) Overall, great power in such a small box.

Now go enjoy!

How to: Re-Enable Boot Booster on the eeePC

Warning to eee PC owners with Boot Booster!!! If you are going to change your partitions, before you partition, make sure you leave the 8 megabyte Boot Booster partition alone.

If you lost Boot Booster from partitioning, here's how you can get it back.

Thanks to RalphWiggum on the eee PC forums for writing the original How-to. This is an adapted version for re-enabling Boot Booster for the eee PC 1000X on Windows 2008. For other OS flavors, click on the link above.

I got Boot Booster working for Windows 2008 Server. Partition Magic didn't work for me in Window 2008, but there's a simple-to-use partitioner built into 2008.

1. This article here describes how to access it:
http://www.vistarewired.com/2007/02/16/how-to-resize-a-partition-in-windows-vista
2. After following the link in step 1, I shrank my C: drive by 16 megs
3. Created a new partition using Windows 2008, no file system, no drive letter, do not set active
4. Used RalphWiggum's tool, downloadable below, and followed instructions to change the ID

"RalphWiggum wrote:

Ok...this might come in handy but not necessary...get it anyway
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1c3qoe
-apply the format procedure and after completion, right click partition and change its ID to 'EF'"

5. Click apply
6. Reboot, then shutdown, once you boot up again
7. Windows should load almost instantly upon your next bootup. Be quick to push F2 if you ever need to.

.

My love/hate relationship with Windows 2008 UAC

Windows 2008 Server User Account Control. UAC provides unauthorized access, such as spyware and viruses, to the startup, registry, and services. There's a pop up that asks for permission if you want to modify certain system settings or install software.

When converting Windows 2008 Server to a "Workstation environment," at first, I found UAC annoying because I was experiencing UAC for the first time while setting up my PC. Who would want popups every time you make a change to your operating system, right? I do, I want those popups. Here's why:

Benefits of UAC:
1. A more secure working environment
2. Protection against spyware and viruses
3. Not really a benefit, but UAC only gets in the way during the setup process of a new machine

Conclusion:
UAC can be a bit of an annoyance at first, but after correctly setting up my PC, I haven't seen UAC since.

Bonus reading material:
Make Vista Launch UAC Restricted Programs in Startup:
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=616

.

1000X eee PC Owner's Guide to the Galaxy

As a new owner of the 1000X, here are the guides I went through to update and modify my laptop. It should save time for new owners of the 1000H or 1000HA looking to do the same.

Stop that annoying clicking Hard Drive sound by jko:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=46222

Free Microsoft Windows 2008 Server Edition for College Students by uptempo:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=46761

Vista or Windows 2008 install guide by CarlosNR:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=51025

Updated Windows XP and Vista drivers for the 1000H/1000HA by LaiWongBao:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=37175

1000HA Wireless Vista Drivers by tqnguyen:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=53871

Cooler running eee PC 1000X by lasertech:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=382274

Overclock your 1000X modified eeectl by CarlosNR:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=54015

More responsive keyboard mod by coninsan:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=39113

Fix a noisy fan by danristei:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=42655

Restore a 1000H without a DVD drive by spider:
http://wiki.eeeuser.com/restore_1000h

Happy computing

.