RIP-Felix

I just got the full series of Battlestar Galactica on Bluray (cheapest option) and would like to add it to my Kodi collection for my HTPC viewing convenience (I don't like having to getup to put another disc in or navigate the slow and endless menus). Anyway, I downloaded VSO Bluray converter, but it only gives me 7 a day trial, then it limits the conversion to 10 minutes. Each episode is taking 45mins-1hr. I might be able to finish in that period of time, but I don't want to be chained to my computer for the next week. Is anyone aware of a free option that does a good job?

No, the moral of the story is that the Brits should travel to America where they can't get STIs...we have STDs over here!

Rule #35: if someone beet your high score, get rid of the evidence! (Notice he has the imposter cab to replace it with)

Tutorial: ePSXe & Switchdisc - The ePSXeCutor Method

You can pick up an old linksis WRT series router at the goodwill for ~$6. Not sure if dd-wrt for the one you find will have the specific features you want, but I'v done the firmware upgrade with no real issues. I keep one with DD-wrt around for testing or extending my network as needed (I got an Ethernet Through Powerline router that solved my connection issue, so I don't use it anymore, but it's good to have around).

Yeah, but it doesn't say anything about the text after the headline.

Is anyone familiar with xml for the RSS feed at the bottom of the screen in Kodi? I'm hoping there is a simple command I can write in the code for the Rssfeed.xml in the userdata that will alow me to display the text within a headline on the RSS webpage. I know how to insert a URL to a RSS feed and add sets (System --> Appearance --> Skin --> Show RSS News Feeds - Edit). Lets be clear, I'm talking about the RSS ticker, just a scrolling text at the bottom, not RSS media. My issue is with the way Kodi shows the information contained on the feed. It only displays text in headline sections, but not the relevant text contained within that section. For example: Your city Weather: Todays Weather: 57 F Fair, Winds SSW at 20 MPH, etc. Tomorrows Weather: 62F Cloudy, Winds 5 MPH, etc. In the example above it wouldn't display at all because there are only 2 headlines and it needs a minimum of three. this is a problem for my NOAA severe weather alerts RSS which only displays 1 or maybe 2 severe weather alerts if and when there are any. But lets say there are at least 3 headlines. The real problem I've found is that it will only display the headline, not the text after. So in the example above it would display like this: Your City Weather: Today's Weather - Tomorrow's Weather - [Next Headline] Obviously that's not very useful for getting weather. BTW: I'm only using weather as an example, I know that Kodi has weather function built in. I'm using the weather underground API for that, but would like to get specific severe weather alerts via the RSS feed at the bottom, among other feeds. But the headlines only thing is very impossible. More than that I find most of the feeds I point kodi at dont show at all, and I can't figure out why. I thought RSS stood for Really Simple Syndication...lol

Well, I can't say I prepared for how fringe these M.2 gen3x4 devices are ATM. Future, yes. Plug and play, No! So the M.2 ultra port on my motherboard jacks directly into my i7-4790 instead of going through the z97 chipset as does SATA. This has the advantage of bypassing the SATA bandwidth limitations theoretically allowing speeds of 4GB/s. However, it decreases the primary Graphics PCI interface from x16 to x8 and disables SLI! That's a big one! M.2 robs the bandwidth from my CPU's limited 16 PCI Express lanes that would otherwise be used for the video graphics as x16 single or x8 SLI. So the the decision I made to go with this cpu/motherboard combo is looking a little less apealing in hindsight. Had I gone with the 2011v3 6-core i7-5820K I would have got 28 lanes or 40 with the 5930K. These support 3-way SLI at thanks to these PCIe lanes and would allow more sharing with M.2 devices. I expect the PCI express lanes to increase on all new CPUs to reflect this trend. Regardless. I read here that I need to install windows using a GPT UEFI USB Key formatted with FAT32 only. More than that there are specific instructions to force UEFI only in BIOS. Then I have to remove every USB device, SATA device, and put the USB installation key in a USB3.0 back pannel I/O port. Yikes, these M.2 drives are very picky. The drive I got cannot use MBR, and thus it can't be used as a clone of a SSD that was installed using MBR. So, fresh install only. Or so I've read...off to it then... EDIT: It worked! Specifically this worked: Now I just have to bite the bullet and set everything (EVERYTHING) back up again. Luckily my old/template drive is a simple F11 key away from booting. UPDATE: Well, I managed to get most of my installation up again. Took about a week. I'm only going back and forth between drives for a few little things here and there now. Interestingly, the Ultra fast boot option in my UEFI says that it only works in windows 8.1 but it works with 10 also. I can boot from button press to desktop in 9 seconds. 12 seconds with fast boot enabled and about 20 disabled. This is an HTPC, so when I select HTPC on my universal remote windows is just loading Kodi by the time the TV's input is changed over to it. Good upgrade overall, but now I'm limited to 1 VGA card. I'll have to think hard about a GTX 980ti instead of the 970 I bought and returned (good thing It had a defective fan).

Well, I thought I had cloned my drive. So, i decided to upgrade my main installation to win 10 (from 7 home premium). After the upgrade, when I tried to boot into the M.2 ultra with my win 7 clone is when I discovered it wouldn't boot. Anyway, I played with 10 for most the day and got everything working good (I recently installed Kodi to replace Media Center because of this eventuality). Now I'll try a clone of the Win 10 install. If no luck, Ill try a fresh UEFI install from USB as shown in the Video. I need to anyway, I just don't want to have to reinstall all my apps and configure them all over again (there have been a lot since the last fresh install). So I've been putting it off. Actually, my boot times are way off, it takes like 30-45 seconds once the windows logo shows to even get the loading circle thing to spin and then load windows. So, the install is messed up anyway.

True. I'm upgrading from a 180GB Intel 520 SSD that is great. I've been through a few SSD upgrades as significant progress has been made at maximizing the SATA 2 and then 3 interfaces. However, the "bottleneck" was easily removed by my first SSD (Intel X25M 80GB). So I'd have to agree that any SSD, even the cheap small ones will remove the bottleneck, if by "bottleneck" you mean the perceivable slowness of booting and navigating windows. It's more about latency, random access, and 4K reads than anything else (Since most system files are this size or smaller). The higher transfer rates really only come into play when transferring larger files, like movies between drives. However, most software breaks these files into manageable file sizes at 1-2GB each so as not to exceed the sweet spot for transfer rates in most HDDs. Even still, the increased IOPS in the smaller file sizes has greatly increased even the perceivable slowness with this upgrade over my 520. It was great while it lasted... I say was because it crashed soon after booting and refused to boot again. I'm still in the process of tracking down the issue. Essentially, I used acronis to clone my SSD installation. It worked, for a few seconds, then crashed. I tracked that problem to a molex 4pin to 2x SATA power connector that wasn't working correctly, it caused my SSD to disconnect during the clone at 93%. The Master Boot Record must have got all screwed up because it wouldn't boot either installation. Rescue CD restored the MBR to the SSD but the M.2 wouldn't boot again. I'll try a clone once again to see if it will work, but it may be better to do a clean install. I've been needing to start with a fresh install of windows anyway (the remnants of old windows updates has been eating my drive space and the usual drive utilities won't clean it up). My ASRock Z97 Extreme 6 supports M.2 Ultra gen3x4 but there are special installation instructions not provided in the literature. The win install CD can't install the drive, say's I need to enable an option in BIOS, but really I need to install from a USB key. I found this video that is a great help. We'll see if it fixes my issue.

I just picked this up. I'm getting 2.25GB/s Read and 1.3GB/s write (Measured with ATTO disk)!

I'm getting this all warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Hmm... Now that I think about it, maybe its from that weird cat and his bag of tricks I ate earlier (May he Rest In Peace).

I often get like this too. I call it PPD (Post Project Depression). After a big accomplishment, like after building my cab or when I finishing my theme, I lost the motivation to continue ironing out little kinks. Or I just needed a break from the whole scene for awhile and do something else. As for the games themselves, I will confide that the last game I played was during the summer (last summer). I've been busy with work, other projects ranging from installing a new front door and dealing with minor household disasters, to building a rift worthy HTPC and configuring Kodi to finally replace media center so I can upgrade to win 10, and you know...other grown up BS. A warning about Depression: An important message but skip if you don't want to read some dark. This is where retro gaming has come back to fill a need. The games from my childhood fill that emotional and cognitive need for the familiar and fun experience. It's like comfort food, but without the weight gain! I can unwind playing a game I've played a million times, just to relive a classic and throw some water on the flames of my day. Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot 2, TLOZ Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy 7, 8, & 9, NFL Blitz... I don't get the same from new games, and even from the older classics. It calls to my childhood in the 90's. For you it could be anything. It doesn't even need to be games, it could be music, movies, activities. For me its the above games, music like tool & korn, activities like skiing, rock hunting, and fishing. I've lost a lot of this over the years, due to time, life, and mass. Now, I'm determined to lose the mass, roll back the clock, and dammit...I'm gonna .live! I'm gonna relive my childhood favorites, listen to my old music and get into shape so I can relive the activities I love. When I start loosing interest again, I'm gonna take it easy and work on myself again, because I'm worth it, life's worth it, and friends/family are worth it. They deserve the best of me and so do I! And you know what? Sometimes your interest will change and relapse. There is nothing wrong with it. Take a break, and come back to it when the urge hits or do what you need to if your loosing interest in lots of things you used to enjoy, because that can be a sign of a more serious problem than simply periodically loosing interest in something.

If anyone hasne't already you should check out Zelda Classic and PureZC if your a classic zelda fan. There are tons of fan made Zelda adventures leveraging a game engine/map builder. You could try your hand at creating your own if you like. I have been out of the scene for awhile but there are some great old quests, and surely new golden ones. Highly recommended for that new retro experience.

Have you considered upgrading your system? Otherwise, e-bay. I saw a few 4g modules on newegg,but 1 specifficly said AMD board only. There was another in cas5, but it might be hit or miss. Good luck!

Just tried RA. There is quite a learning curve on how to get things set up within RA. I tried to follow the help directions but when I loaded some "content" within a "core" it just crashed. Obviously I'm missing something. Since GameEX can fronted emus, what is the use of RA? I'm probably just experiencing the repulsion to new ways of doing what I already have working, though admittedly that was probably way harder than this is to figure out. I know, I'm a winer. WAH...Wah! Ok so a quick search yielded this: He uses launch box, which looks like a simple frontend. So I take it that RA is a frontend for the setup and configuration of various emulators, which it hosts as cores and runs, but it needs to be launched like an emulator form another front end? Like launch box or gameex? I'm confused. I like the controller setup aspect on a per core basis as that might save me some troubles I been having, but yeah. I'm still suffering from noob fevor with RA.

1 - Chase girls, 2- climb trees, and 3 - play musical instruments. you know... Sex, Drugs, and Rock&Roll! You should see Caprica (Battle Star Galactica backstory Spinoff). It had a device like the RIFT, but more advanced (Full VR). They spun a lot of the story around how it was used for seedy underground factions to conspire. It would make it much easier to keep in touch with old friends and revolutionize/redefine long range relationships - "Your going to a university across the country from mine? OK, no problem. WAIT, what happned? Not another blackout. Man, and it was at the best part too. she was about to [self censored comment]..." Actually I could see this as the future of GameEX online, or an added function. Like a vertual arcade where we can all hang out and setup Hi- Score competitions or what have you. It's coming, I'm so excited... where's that Glee emoji?... Or VR could be like my profile pic, who knows. I wonder if VR will be governed by laws? If you pick a pocket in VR is it illegal for real? What if it's in a real life virtual reality sim with an actual economy and it was linked to real money? What then? Oh, the headlines to follow, "Virtual Crime, Real Time!." lol. It gets scary when we're finally able to create the matrix and flip that headline around, "Real Crime, Virtual Time!." I geeked out there for a moment didn't I? Sorry, I Geek out massive for massive Geek Outs (my sad attempt at a palindrome)...opps, I did it again...where's that slap yourself repeatdly in the forhead emoji?

Well then, that makes me very excited indeed! I just put together a PC build with the Rift in mind (i7-4790, GTX 970, 8GB RAM). I saw there was a wait list and had trouble with my GTX 970 fan, so I RMA'd it figuring that prices will drop a bit when I can actually purchase a RIFT. So I'm holding out running on the integrated Graphics ATM. My X-Arcade Tankstick CP has flipper controls, so I guess I can just get that X-Box controller software shown in the video to trick windows into using keyboard commands as x-Box inputs so I can us it. No need for a pincab if the RIFT can display VP tables I wonder if this will be awhile or if someone has it figured out already. The table you showed in the video showing head tracking would likely be simple to hack for the RIFT. Sick! I'm excited for this future. Bring on the VR headsets of Caprica (Obscure Science Fiction reference, I know)!

Yeah, it's kinda been a job I've put off now for awhile (Years). I don't know if there is a way to link a specific controller adapter to a USB ID Profile that I could just setup once and have load every time it is recognized by the computer, regardless of the port it's inserted in, but that would be ideal. I figured that I could just label my ports and USB cables so I know where to plug them back in. That way when I set everything up (EVERYTHING) the button assignments in the emulators will all match up again. I don't know how the computer issues a new ID, or if it would load a default controller HID device destroying all my hopes and dreams or what, but It should work. Hopefully, if I just leave everything plugged in It will work the same as before. Thus the Idea of making a panel with all the controller ports facing outward, and the USBs connected to a HUB or directly to the labeled USB ports on the I/O panel. This way I can have all the old controllers in a bin and just plug in the one I want before starting that system. Thanks for the suggestion about Pinnacle Gaming Profile, I'll look into it. I feel your pain about *.lay files. My cab is a vertical setup and I had to do a lot of the work myself to get things to display right. From GameEX theme to custom *.lay file for choice games. I use mr do's mame layout generator to create the correct template and add my own artwork as needed. You have to make a picture in Paint.net or photoshop and save it as the bezel.png in the artwork zip file. Then you replace the layout with the one this generates. It's fairly quick, once you make the bezel.png. I did this for my favorite games and it looks awesome. I've attached some pics to give you an idea of what's possible with the vertscreen display so you don't rule it out in favor of the back screen too quickly. You could use my theme in gameex on your vertscreen and launch the game to the back screen, not sure how but I'm sure it can be done. That would look way cool. Honestly, I've never seen my theme on anyone elses cab before. I'll bet it'd be surreal to see our labors of love running together.. That pincab looks awesome BTW, the head tracking to change viewing angle for 3D is pure Genius. They just need to be able to track video of your noggin, maybe using facial recognition software to calculate position and distance from the spacing of your eyes, instead of IR LEDs. That way you don't need a K'nex Hacked hat, or any other peripherals. My camera can recognize faces, how hard is it to track eyes instead. You would just need to create a calibrated user, which would be as simple as standing still for a second or two. Please someone figure this out. If I had the space I would like to make a similarly designed pincab. I like the arcade controls, making it very versatile. Thanks man, you make me drool...your cab I mean...you know what I mean.

Have you thought about what you're going to do for emulators? IMO these are best played with their original controllers. So in my cab I have a bin of old controllers and their respective adapters underneath. It's becoming a rats nest of wires and USB cables which are never recognized with the same input mappings, so I have to reassign controls almost every time I want to play. I was thinking of making a custom panel with controller ports facing outward with all the USB facing inward and connecting to the same port so they can keep their button assignments in the various emulators. I was a little skeptical of having arcade controls on the pincade, but I have to say the results look great. Nice cab!

I just picked up all 10 seasons of SG-1 for about $70 on amazon. You can get each season for less than 10. The box sets cost more than the individual seasons. Alternatively, if you have amazon prime you can stream it since they have a deal with MGM (Netflix lost out). If your a Sify fan and enjoyed Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Babylon 5, Doctor Who, and etc., you will be kicking yourself for missing Stargate. Honestly, I think it's responsible for creating a receptive audience for the History Channels Ancient Aliens. It's crazy how influential Stargate has been on the Genra, perhaps just behind star trek (but way cooler to admit fandom of). I should say, Stargate is by far my favorite Television Sify franchise. I think it rivals Star Wars for me in overall science fiction, but that is apples to oranges. They are great in their own respect and I have a hard time pining myself down to one or the other.

That's how I used to feel. I shall hijack this thread no more. Sorry OP

I'd like to see them come up with something Stargate hasn't already done. A tough task, I know, but I must believe there is still room for imagination in Science fiction. I think they did Amelia Earhart, obviously they did Atlantis, they even did crystal skulls. I like the Oak island idea, actually I thought that could be the premise for the 3rd National Treasure Movie, but what treasure could live up to Nick Cage's ad-lib ("Life changing" or something like that), I don't know. Apparently that's the problem the writers are having too. Anecdote:

I have to agree. Ok, I get the intrigue, however novel, of ancient astronaut theory and aliens on the moon, but in keeping with the old guy next door's logic, HEY YOU KIDS GET OFF MY (Insert "Indiana Jones Franchise")! Bring it back to earth and write a story about archaeology. Oh, what? Not aliens? Excuse me, they were "interdimensional beings." Like that makes it any less absurd!