Plex and Firecore Installed

I bit the bullit and bought the $20 Firecore software when it went to the 5th beta version.  If you are looking for the best waf then their media player is for you.  They now have SAMBA working and you can easily get to your files.  It works just like searching for music and movies in your Itunes library and automatically downloads artwork from imdb.  Still, this is a beta and my hd files stuttered and the aspect ratio was off on some sd mkv's.

I decided to also try the Plex beta on the Apple TV 2.  I downloaded the software to my computer to act as the server and installed the client from the Firecore menu.  It easily found all my media and tagged it with artwork.  Unfortunately for me, the Apple TV kept bouncing back to the main menu without ever actually playing anything.  Your mileage may vary.  I don't plan on keeping it around for the main reason being I don't want to have to run a server for it.

The longer I wait for a working media player for non-Apple approved file formats for the Apple TV 2 the more I think about investing in the Boxee Box.  Still, the little $99 box from Jobs is a fun thing to play with.

Jailbroke Again, Plex, Firecore

After more reading in the ios section of the XBMC forums I read about how someone had rejailbroke their ATV2 and got all of their streaming problems solved.  So I began the futile process of doing that.  I used Tiny Umbrella to save my ssh's in case I needed to role back.  I then ended up using the new untethered version of Seasonpass from Firecore that upgraded me to ios 4.3.  Nightly version of XBMC has no Dolby Digital on this version and even in analog mode I had audio problems, which is what the wiki says is the current status of it.  So I went down to 4.2.1 and while standard def content played, 720p was still buffering.

I then began looking around for programs beside XBMC.  Plex on the Apple TV2 looks very promising, but it requires a computer to be running a server for it and I don't want to have to dedicate one when I already have a NAS to store my media.  I have contacted Firecore and gotten back quick replies on their media player.  They are expecting SAMBA support and improved hd playback with an update within the week.  I'm planning on trying it out as soon as that is available.

Linksys WRT54GL DD-WRT Repeater

I have a 2cd WRT54GL that is hooked up via ethernet to the primary router to extend my wireless network.  Recently a storm came through and the long ethernet cable began to fail that ran to it.  Instead of crawling under the house and replacing it I decided to install DD-WRT firmware on the router over the Tomato firmware I had been using so I could turn it into a wireless repeater.

I downloaded the firmware from the website, did a hard reset to the router, and then installed it via the Tomato gui.  The upgrade was simple and the new controls were easy to set up.  I was able to set security and ssid of the repeater independent of the primary router.  Also I was able to see how well it was connected to the primary router and to the computers connected to it.  Awesome and free.