Specifications

Apple.com

• 1.66GHz or 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo processor
• Apple Remote with Front Row
• Up to 2GB memory
• Intel GMA 950 graphics processor
• DVI connector, VGA adaptor
• Slot-loading optical drive
• Up to 160GB hard drive
• Built-in gigabit Ethernet
• Analog and digital audio
• Expansion via USB and FireWire
• iLife ’06, Mac OS X Tiger
• Windows XP can be installed using Apple BootCamp

Back Panel

Related links

• Apple Hardware - all the way!
• MMM - Mac Mini MediaPortal

Testimonials

I have chosen MacMini as my HTPC for few good reasons:

• small factor
• relatively not expensive
• noise free
• So far it matches my expectations 100%. I use it in following configuration:
• MiniMac 1.86, 2 GB RAM, 80 GB Internal HDD
• 37" LCD Hitachi
• Hauppage HVR-900 USB (using DB-T part of it)
• 1.5 TB external USB storage (www.drobo.com)
• MCE Remote
• Wireless keyboard (Genius luxemate 810 MediaCruiser)
• Windows XP SP2
• Latest SVN of MediaPortal

Configuration

This section contains several tips & tricks for installing and configuring MediaPortal on the Mac Mini.

Mac Mini IR receiver & Logitech Remote

There are probably multiple ways to get the Mac Mini IR receiver working with MediaPortal. For example, the IR Server Suite seems to have support for the Mac Mini remote control. One of the main drawbacks of the standard Mac Mini Remote is that it has only very few buttons.

However, if you own a Logitech Harmony remote control, you can create a configuration that allows you to use much more buttons with the standard Mac Mini IR receiver. The remainder of this section describes this configuration in more detail. This is based on MediaPortal 1.3.0beta running on Windows 7 with the standard Apple Boot Camp drivers.

1. Configure your Logitech Harmony remote using the following details:
   • Manufacturer: Plex
   • Model: Plex Player
2. Change the driver used for the Mac Mini IR receiver
   1. Open the Windows Device Manager
   2. Expand the section 'Human Interface Devices'
   3. Right-click 'Apple IR Receiver'
   4. Select 'Update Driver Software'
   5. Select 'Browse my computer for driver software'
   6. Select 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'
   7. The list should show two compatible drivers; the Apple IR Receiver driver and a generic USB Input Device driver
   8. Choose the generic 'USB Input Device' driver, and save the changes
3. Use Google to find the EventGhost software, install it and open the configuration.
   1. I first deleted all existing items from the Configuration Tree (you may need to click around; because of dependencies between items, they must be removed in a specific order).
   2. Add the Apple IR receiver to EventGhost:
      1. Configuration -> Add Plugin -> Generic HID:
         1. Select 'IR Receiver - Apple, Inc' from the list of devices in the Generic HID configuration Window
         2. Disable 'Trigger enduring events for buttons'
         3. Enable 'Use raw Data as event name'
         4. Save the configuration
      2. Check whether the plugin works correctly by pressing some buttons on your Logitech Harmony Remote. In the left hand side of the EventGhost window you should see events occur for every button pressed (apart from some buttons that are not mapped with the Plex Player configuration)
   3. Add the MediaPortal plugin to EventGhost, and map the buttons. Please see the attached configuration file for reference.
      1. Configuration -> Add Plugin -> MediaPortal
      2. After adding this plugin, you should see a MediaPortal tree with button names
      3. For each button on your Harmony remote, do the following:
         1. Press the button (pointing at your Apple IR receiver)
         2. Note that each button generates different event id's; one for the initial button press, followed by multiple events when holding the button pressed.
         3. Drag the event displayed in the EventGhost log (left side of window) to the corresponding button name in the MediaPortal tree
      4. Save the configuration
   4. In MediaPortal, install the Message Plugin (or the extended version: EventGhostPlus, like I did)

After performing these steps, you should be able to control MediaPortal using your Logitech Harmony remote and the built-in Mac Mini IR receiver, with the ability to use almost all buttons on your remote control.