HP KPEC992M User Manual

User’s Guide/Warranty and Support Guide

HP Media Center Extender

Before contacting HP Total Care, it’s important to have the following information handy.

Please take a moment to write down your product information for future reference.

Product Name: ________________________________________________________

Model Number: _______________________________________________________ System or Product Number: _______________________________________________________

Serial Number: ________________________________________________________

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Media Center Extender User’s Guide

System Requirements

The Media Center Extender has the following system requirements:

Must have an HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

Must have a high speed network connection between the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center and the Media Center Extender device. If you are using a wireless network, the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center must still be connected to the network with an Ethernet cable. The Media Center Extender can be wireless (additional Media Center Extenders must be wired, see the following table). Only approved wireless routers may be used. For more information about approved routers, go to www.microsoft.com/mcx

The HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center must have at least a 2.8GHz processor with 256MB RAM to power one Media Center Extender device. An HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center can support multiple Media Center Extender devices simultaneously based on the below table:

Media Center Extender devices

1 2.8 GHz 256 MB

2 2.8 GHz 512 MB

3–5 3.4 GHz 1 GB

IMPORTANT! When using multiple Media Center Extenders over a wireless network, only one Media Center

Extender may be wireless. All others must be connected to the network with an Ethernet cable. In addition, even with additional wired extenders, network bandwidth limitations may impact system performance, especially when using video files.

HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center CPU speed

HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center Memory

For more information and help

More information about Media Center Extender is available on the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center.

To open Media Center Extender Help

1 Go to the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center. 2 On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Media Center, and then

click Media Center Extender Help.

NOTES

• Use the Contents tab to display the table of contents. You can browse by feature area.

• Use the Search tab to find a specific word. Type the term you want to find, and then press ENTER to

get a list of topics that contain that term.

• Use the Index tab to see a list of commonly used terms. Click the term to see the topics associated with

a specific term.

Media Center Extender Tools

Three tools are available for you to maintain the Media Center Extender and monitor its performance. These tools are installed onto the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center.

Media Center Extender Manager

Use the Media Center Extender Manager to add another Media Center Extender to your HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center, or to update the software for the Media Center Extender.

To use the Media Center Extender Manager, go to the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center and, on the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Media Center, and then click Media Center Extender Manager.

IMPORTANT! You should only update the Media Center Extender if you are absolutely sure you should do so.

If you are having problems with your Media Center Extender and believe you need an update, contact HP for more information.

Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner

The Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner tests how well your wireless 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 HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center.

Media Center Extender Resource Monitor

To quickly see the status of system sources in use by the Media Center Extender, use the Media Center Extender Resource Monitor. This tool shows you the status of four important HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center resources: CPU Use, Disk Usage, Network Usage, and Memory Available.

If an experience you are using on the Media Center Extender such as watching TV suddenly worsens, check the Media Center Extender Resource Monitor to see if the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center is running low on one of these resources. You can use the Turn On Notifications option to have the Media Center Extender Resource Monitor notify you if one of the resources is beginning to reach its maximum level.

To use the Media Center Extender Resource Monitor, go to the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center and, in the notifications area, right-click the Media Center Extender Resource Monitor icon. Then select Show System Resources.

STANDBY button

The STANDBY button located on the front of the Media Center Extender can be pressed to turn the Media Center Extender on or place the Media Center Extender on standby.

Windows Media Center START button

The Windows Media Center START button is a green button located on the front panel of the Media Center Extender. Press the button to display the Media Center Start page on the Media Center Extender. No matter what page you are viewing, you can press the button to return to the Start page.

NOTE: The Media Center START button on the front of the Media Center Extender works the same as the

Media Center Start button on the remote control.

Arrow keys

On the front panel of the Media Center Extender you will find four arrow keys (Up, Down, Left, and Right or four related arrow buttons) that can be used for navigation in the menus. These arrow keys are identical to the arrow keys on the remote control.

There are two additional navigation buttons, BACK and ENTER. The BACK button navigates to the previous page on screen while the ENTER button selects buttons on screen. These buttons are identical to the BACK and OK buttons on the remote control.

Power Light

On the front of the Media Center Extender, the power light shows the current status of the Media Center Extender. The power light will display one of three colors (green, red, and yellow) and the light will either be solid, flashing slowly, or flashing quickly. The table below lists the status of the lights and what they represent.

Power Light Status Extender Status

Solid green Starting up Solid green Normal operation Fast blinking green Extender software is updating Fast blinking yellow Extender is resetting Fast blinking red A system failure has occurred Slow blinking green (on/off) Test mode

A separate red light on the front panel of the Media Center Extender displays when an infrared (IR) command is received from the remote control. The light displays only when a command is accepted.

Rear Panel

The rear panel of the Media Center Extender includes the following ports (connections) and switches:

Port/Switch Use

Ethernet port Connect an Ethernet cable to this port if you are using a wired (Ethernet) home network. Audio ports Red and white ports for right and left audio output cables. Universal Serial Bus

(USB) port Video Selection

switch

Ethernet switch Under normal circumstances, this switch is not used. If you need to use a crossover cable

Not used at this time.

Set this switch to match the type of cable you used to connect the Media Center Extender to your TV or other video component. If you have connected the Media Center Extender to your TV using component video cables, set this switch to Component. If you used an S-video cable or a composite video cable, set this switch to S-video.

to connect the Media Center Extender to the HP Media Center PC or HP Digital Entertainment Center, this switch should be in the OUT position.

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