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It should be noted that this guide is intended for Windows XP running an ATi card with HDMI out. Other configurations might work with these instructions, but I can not guarantee this.

Requirements:

  1. Windows XP.
  2. Compatible receiver with HDMI input.
  3. ATi Radeon card with hdmi out (usually a DVI+sound to HDMI adapter)
  4. The correct ATi HDMI Audio Driver (not Realtek ones) – Link: http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=xp/hdmiaudio-xp
  5. AC3Filter – Link: http://ac3filter.net/projects/ac3filter
  6. Directshow capable media player, such as MPC-HC and Media Portal which will be used in this tutorial.

My specifications (when writing this tutorial):

  • Ati 4850
  • Windows XP SP3
  • Intel Core Duo E8400
  • Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Main board
  • AC3Filter 1.51a
  • Combined Community Codec Pack (latest version includes MPC-HC)

The tutorial

After installing AC3filter and the correct drivers. Open MPC-HC, go to View > Options and select Output.
Important: Under “DirectShow Audio” make sure the right output is selected (not system default), in my case this is “ATI HD rear output”.

Go to Filter Settings and make sure everything there is unchecked, then continue to Audio Switcher and disable the built in audio switcher.

Continue to external filters, choose Add Filter and select AC3Filter, press OK and make sure it is set to prefer.

You can now close Media Player Classic Home Cinema.

AC3Filter Setup

Locate the AC3Filter config in the start menu under Programs. This will bring up the following dialog.

Set “Output format” to something that matches your speaker configuration and is compatible with your receiver.

Continue to the SPDIF tab, and make sure the settings under SPDIF passthrough match the following screenshot.

Then continue to the System tab and make sure it matches the following screenshot.

Now press OK to save your options.

Making sure it is working

You should now try playing back a video with AC3 or DTS sound to see if you hear anything, if there is sound playing you should check if digital pass-through is working. This can be done by clicking the AC3Filter icon in the system tray when the movie is playing and see if it says “Passthrough” under “Output format”.

Another way to test this is by adjusting the windows volume. If the volume control doesn’t work and the only way to adjust the volume is on the receiver, then everything is working perfectly.

Setting up Mediaportal with AC3Filter

Mediaportal is an open source media center software for windows. It uses Directshow for media processing and can therefore be used together with AC3Filter.

You can get the newest version from http://www.team-mediaportal.com/.

When installed, open Mediaportal Setup and go to Movie Player settings (see screenshot below). Set Audio decoder to AC3Filter and renderer to ATI HD Audio rear ouput.

Continue to the Movie Post Processing section and add AC3Filter by double clicking it in the lower pane, make sure the selection box is marked. Press OK to save and start Mediaportal to test. If the only way to control volume level is by using your reciever, then it should be working.

Please give feedback if everything worked, or if you encounter any problems.

This Tutorial is out of date! See an updated version by clicking HERE, it is much better, trust me! 😉

 

I will keep the old version one here for the many insightful comments.

-blogo

 

For this tutorial I will be using Media Player Classic Home Cinema and Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 decoder.

You will need a hardware accelerated video card. Currently either a Nvidia 8xxx or 9xxx series, or ATI Radeon HD series card will work.

If you have Haali Media Splitter installed, hardware acceleration should also work on videos in the Matroska (.mkv) container.

If you have installed a codec pack, check if VSFilter is installed. If it is installed, open the configuration and under the General tab set it to not load.

Disable VSFilter

Download Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC) and extract it. If you have an older version of Media Player Classic installed I suggest overwriting it. Install PowerDVD 8 or newer, and when finished open MPC-HC.

 

In MPC-HC choose Options from the View menu.

Choose Options

Go to the Playback section and enable “auto-load subtitles” to let MPC-HC handle subtitles.

Load Subtitles

Continue to the Output section under Playback. Select “EVR Custom Pres.”

Select EVR

Change section to “External Filters” and click “Add Filter…”. Select Cyberlink h264/AVC Decoder filter and click OK.

Select Filter

Select the added filter and make sure it is set as preferred.

Prefered Filter

Now, try playing a h264/x264 encoded video to see if CPU usage is lowered. When playing you can right-click the movie, select filter, then choose the Cyberlink filter and see if the DXVA option is enabled.

Update 20. Oct 2008: A more up to date plugin is located at http://www.mroach.com/ (Alternative mirror)

After recieving a Sony Ericsson W580i mobile phone, I made a quick plugin to get it up and running with iSync and the Mac Address Book. The plug-in is in no way perfect but should get the job done. I haven’t tested calendar syncing yet.

  1. Download the following file W580i_iSync_Plugins_v1.zip
  2. Then put the PhonePlugins in the /User/Library folder.
  3. Now add the phone in bluetooth devices and open iSync.

To get the address book working, open /Applications/Address Book.app/Contents/Resources/ Telephony.bundle/Contents/Resources/ABDeviceCommandSets.plist

Locate the following text:


ABDeviceModelStrings

P800

ABDial
ATD%@;

And add the following under it, before

ABAnswerPhone
ATA
ABAnswerWaiting
at+chld=2
ABDeclineWaiting
at+chld=0
ABDeviceModelStrings

W580

ABDial
ATD%@;
ABEnableCallWaiting
at+ccwa=1
ABEnableCallerID
at*eips=1,1
ABEnableCallerName
at*eips=2,1
ABEnableSMSReceive
at+CNMI=2,1
ABHangUpPhone
ATH
ABReleaseAndAnswer
at+chld=1
ABRequestClip
at+clip=1
ABSendSMS
AT+CMGS=%dBWACKRBWACKN

If you have another Sony Ericsson model without Address Book support you can try adding yourphonemodel after the W580 line.