Linksys DMA2100/2200 Installation Tips and Tricks

[philzgr8]

I'm not sure what's on the disk but I can say mine did sort of work without it but I had all sorts of problems setting up watched folders etc before I installed it. Once installed everything was fine. Note that under SP1 it doesn't need you to run WindowsUpdate. From memory the USB port is for attaching external storage devices.

I'll be interested to know if anyone else gets the ehome interface freezing that I get after using the extender for a while.

[merovingian]

I have my DMA-2100 set up and didn't let the install disk anywhere near my VMC. I would have thought that the delay wouldn't be transcoding but more likely caching of the video stream.

Interesting. The attitude I took was WTF does this thing come with an install disk? It should just drop into my network and work, since my X360 has been fine as an extender. So I tried to set it up without the CD. But I got the connection error problems predicted by the manual, so had to yield to the CD after all.

Anyway, a short summary of my first 24 hours with the DMA2100 in service:

- setup was quick and painless, once I used the CD
- my son has flogged it with Cars, Monsters and Roary The Racing Car, without issue.
- I flogged it with 6 hours of music last night, without issue.
- it's silent. Such a relief after the X360.
- as with the X360, I had to copy the CurrentDatabase_360.wmdb file from my profile to the Mcx2 profile to get my music Auto Playlists to work.
- Using the FourCC changer, I got Divx files to play on the DMA2100. The downside is that they've lost their thumbnails, and they no longer play on the VMC HTPC (which I guess is why they've lost the thumbnails).
- WoL is not working for me, and this is the only major issue I have. WoL worked for X360. I am all out of ideas about what I can try to get it working. So I am manually having to turn the HTPC on. The VMC has an idle timeout of 1 hour, and no sign of the funny lock-ups that Philzgr8 reported.
- When testing each Divx file after the FourCC change, I suffered a few freezes. Some that featured a flash of a dialog box telling me that Media Center had stopped working and needed to be restarted. After one freeze, I could only recover the DMA2100 by disconnecting and reconnecting the power cable.

[sfm]

That was my reasoning for not using the installation disk. Having said that I may use it and see if I can see any difference.

I found a problem with a H.264 encoded movie last night, the DMA-2100 played it fine without any issues, however it was very slow in skipping forward, it would take 20 seconds to skip 30 seconds forward. As with Xvid there was no fast forward so it was nearly impossible to start the movie half way through.

[rmaisano]

Question for everyone. Xvid and Divx avi's work fine, but an avi from my canon camera doesn't work. Anyone else seen that problem?

[logifuse]

Question for everyone. Xvid and Divx avi's work fine, but an avi from my canon camera doesn't work. Anyone else seen that problem?

The AVI from your video camera is in DV format - the extenders have limited codec support, so it probably doesn't have a codec for it.

Justin

[saxnix]

This may sound strange, but can you set the IR to accept a different freq (???) so that if you have VMC and extender in the same room, you can operate them independently?

[La Laja]

I hope someone will be so kind to answer a few really stupid questions about the basic operation of a DMA2100 (I don't have one yet, but considering)

1. What happens on the PC side when the DMA runs the MCE on the TV screen? Do you need to have a window with MCE open on the PC?

2. On the leaflet of the DMA I have there is no mention of a remote control!? So it doesn't have one? Does it rely on the remote control on the PC side? If that is the case, does that mean that not only does it need to have a MCE window running on the PC side but this window also needs to have the focus (at least my remote control needs that to control MCE)

thanks, Jan, Canary Islands

[dgaust]

1. No, you don't need the MCE interface open on the host PC.

2. AFAIK, it comes with a remote. Everything is controlled via the unit itself, so nothing actually affects the PC.

[saintalan]

My DMA2200 RC does not control the PC. I dont have an RC for the PC but pretty sure it wont operate the DMA.

So you should be able to control them both in the same room.

Alan

[saxnix]

The video M$ did about a digital home, had the presenter walking from room to room (on the stage) with the one remote, and it was controlling, a VMC, and 3 different extenders???

[logifuse]

My DMA2200 RC does not control the PC. I dont have an RC for the PC but pretty sure it wont operate the DMA.

So you should be able to control them both in the same room.

Alan

The remote for the PC (the MCE remote) WILL control the extender, so having them in the same room is a problem.

I haven't found a setting in the DMA-2100 to disable the MCE remote (so that it only accepts its own remote - like you can do with the Xbox 360), but I haven't had a full go at it yet.

Justin

[saxnix]

Thanks Justin. It is good to know that if it can't be done that I could alway put the 360 in the lounge and a 2100 in the bedroom. I just would be nice to had it HDMI connected as the rest of my system will handle it. Why doesn't Vista support simultaneous multiple audio out the same way XP did??????