| Turning a 1st Gen Mac Mini into a Multi Region Media Center
There are a few guides on the web converting converting Mac Mini's into Media Centers, none of them are much use for 1st gen Mac mini owners which don't come with remote controls or Front Row. I don't want a psuedo Media Center I have to control with a mouse and keyboard, I don't want a Media Center that refuses to play certain DVD's, I want a state of the art Apple Designed Media Center with an Apple Remote on an unsupported machine.
I have made a suite of Applescripts available here which enable you to do things which were not before possible (auto play DVD's, eject DVD's, close DVD tray by remote control etc).
Because you may have slightly different requirements and equipment than me, the article has a key to show if the item is relevant to you.
* only needed if you have a 1st gen mac mini (G4 with no remote control and no Front Row)
** only needed if you want to play multi region DVD's
Contents
1 What the Media Center will do
2 Hardware you need
3 Software Part 1
4 Setting up Mac OS
5 Software Part 2
6 Setting up The Apple Remote Control Hardware*
7 Setting up The Apple Remote Control Software
8 Playing Multi region DVD's**
9 Connecting your TV
10 Connecting the Audio
11 Using the Media Center
1) What the Media Center will do:
Output to LCD TV
Play any region DVD's automaticaly upon insertion
Play video files in any modern format
Be remote controlled via Front Row and an Apple Remote
Not need a Keyboard or Mouse attached to the computer
Allow you to eject and close the DVD tray by remote control
Cost as little as possible
2) Hardware you need:
Mac Mini (any model)
LCD / Plasma TV with VGA input (HDMI, RCA or S-Video inputs are also possible and discussed below)
DVI to VGA cable or standard VGA cable and DVI to VGA adaptor (comes with your mac mini)
External DVD drive** (only very specific models work see below)
Apple Remote*
IR Receiver*
3) Software Part 1
This is the important bit and you need to do most of it first, its best to do all of this while the computer is connected to a standard computer monitor as it can be quite frustrating testing things while connected to a TV.
1 Media Center Scripts (download from here and place folder in "Applications")
2 Mac OS 10.4.9 with latest Quicktime and security updates applied.
3 VLC** (Download here and install in Applications folder)
4) Setting up MacOS (NOTE: the last two instructions are for Multi Region playback only)
1 Open System Preferences under the Apple Menu and select accounts. Create a new account called "MediaCenter" and make sure its a standard account not a Administrator account, leave the password section blank. Click the little login options house and tell the computer to Automaticaly log in as "MediaCenter".
2
Switch to the "Finder" and select "Preferences" from the "Finder" menu, Click on the "General" button, De-select all check boxes.
3 Open "System Preferences" under the Apple menu, and click on "Bluetooth" (if you don't see the Bluetooth icon then skip this). Click on the "Settings" tab and turn off "Open Bluetooth Setup Assistant when no input device is present"
4 Copy your movie files to the "Movies" folder in your home folder, If your movies are on external drives, make aliases of the containing folders in "Movies".
5** Open "System Preferences" click "CD's and DVD's" and set the "when you insert video DVD" to run script, then select the "Play DVD" script from the "Media Center Scripts" in your "Applications" Folder.
6** Open "VLC" in your applications folder and choose "Perferences" from the "VLC" menu, click "Interface" in the list on the left, click the "Advanced" check box on the bottom right and click "Be quiet".
5) Software Part 2
Install these final peieces of software
1 Perian (Download here and install after section 4)
2 mira (Download here and install after section 4)
3 Front Row Enabler* (Follow installation instructions here and install after section 4)
4 Vine Server for OSX (Download here and install after section 4)
6) Setting up The Apple Remote Control Hardware*
You need two pieces of hardware, the Apple remote and a compatible IR receiver. The Apple remote can be purchased from any Apple reseller for 29$ US. The IR receiver can be purchased from http://twistedmelon.com/ or alternatively use a PC media Center IR receiver (comes bundled with Windows Media Center Remote controls) the second option is what I did, I managed to get a big discount on the IR receiver as I didn't need the remote control. The IR unit needs to be compatible with mira so check the mira site for more options. Plug it into a free USB port.
7) Setting up The Apple Remote Control Software (everyone needs to do this, even if you have a new MacMini)
Download mira, from http://twistedmelon.com/ and install it.
1 Restart the computer
2
Launch System preferences,
3 Click "mira"
4
Click the"options" tab and follow the instructions to pair your remote with your Mac Mini
5 Click the "Buttons" tab and click on the "Menu" button and select "Launch Menu" if it is not already selected
6 Click the "Launch menu" tab and delete any items from the menu
7 Add the three ico from the "Media Center Scripts" folder in your Applications folder into to the menu, Eject at the top and Front Row below it.
6 Close system Preferences
8) Playing Multi region DVD's **
This is the only tough bit, the DVD players that Apple shipped with Mac mini's cannot play multi region DVD's, its doesn't matter what you do with software you will never get the DVD to switch more than 5 times. If you want to play multiple DVD regions you need to get a new DVD Drive.
You can go down the road of replacing the internal DVD drive in the Mac but this will be very expensive, I suggest purchasing a low cost suitable DVD Drive and installing it in an External USB 2.0 or Firewire enclosure.
The model of DVD drive you buy is important as you need to flash the drive on your Mac to make it region free (RPC-1) Flashable drives are the Pioneer DVR-104, DVR-105, DVR-106D, DVR-107D, DVR-107XL, DVR-108, DVR-108XL, DVR-109, DVR-A09, DVR-K12, DVR-K12D, DVR-K13 and all variations of these models including rebadged/OEM versions by companies like Asus and Memorex.
Follow the instructions here http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?p=123415#123415
NOTE: Flashing your drive may invalidate your warranty or destroy your drive so be careful.
NOTE2: The above list of compatible drives are just drives that are easy to make region free on the Mac, if you plug your drive into a PC you may be able to flash many more types of drive (although still not the internal Mac mini drive) more instructions on the same website.
9) Connecting the TV
The first step is to make sure your Mac mini's screen resolution is recognized by your TV, consult your TV's manual for supported resolutions. Don't just go for the highest possible, if its too high it will strain the video card in the mac mini and make interface elements too small. Its only for playing DVD's and video files so 1024 x 768 is fine, be sure to choose a supported frequency too, mine likes 60 Hz.
Now connect the mac mini to the TV, as the Mac mini outputs DVI you only need to connect it to your TV with a DVI to VGA adaptor. Alternatively you can use a DVI to HDMI (didn't work so well for me) or a normal VGA cable used in conjunction with the DVI to VGA adaptor which is supplied with you Mac mini.
Switch to your Mac on, the the screen resolution is OK then it will boot normally. Adjust the TV screen using the TV remote control until the maximum amount of screen is possible.
10) Connecting the Audio
To be completed.
* only needed if you have a 1st gen mac mini (G4 with no remote control and no Front Row)
** only needed if you want to play multi region DVD's |
