Windows-less htpc
#1
Ok, starting from the beginning. I have built a machine dedicated to xbmc. I would have liked to try out xbmcbuntu, however this is simply not feasible for me. I intend to play pc games such as skyrim, wow, etc. Therfore i have decided to use windows 7 as my os. Im trying to remove all traces of windows from this system. I want this to appear as no more than an appliance. The obvious problems were the bios post, and the windows splash screen.

The bios post, ive pretty much given up. Short of writing my own bios, i have determined there is no way to "hide" the post. If anybody has ideas to the contrary i would love to hear them (mobo: ga-m16sme-s2)

As far as the windows splash, i've made some good progress. This is kind of a 2 part issue here. The first part is the splash itself, the second part is loading windows. To modify the splash i used this program. It worked perfectly. Ive worked on this machine using a combination of tvs and computer monitors, all of wich displayed my custom splash. But the one tv i was planning on having this hooked up to doesnt load my custom splash. For whatever reason, it shows a windows vista loading bar and no logo. Im baffled by it. The only thing different about this tv is that its a crt. I use an hdmi cable to connect it, and ive tested the hdmi connection with other tvs (flat screens of some sort) and they display my custom splash. The tv i want to use is a KD-34XBR970 (sony)

The second part is when loading windows. Ive set the background, gotten rid of the welcome text, and set xbmc as the window's shell. now only the mouse remains. I can't permanently disable the mouse, or use a transparent mouse because i plan on being able to use firefox. So i need to get rid of that damned pointer somehow. No clue where to start here
Reply
#2
Here are more ideas.....Customizing Windows for XBMC
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
Reply
#3
hmm, I wouldn't have guessed that you could still play games like skyrim if you got rid of so much of the windows...but im one of those guys that never deletes anything labled windows lol...there is this little thing I learned about when I wanted to delete and re-install WMC...if you run the command "optionalfeatures" you can take away a few optional things...you may already know this but I thought it was cool.

PS...there is a way to hide the bios...sony did it to my laptop...i just get a VIAO splash screen for half a sec with no key indicators for entering the bios and I could prob change the splash screen if I tried...not saying I know how to do it...but its possible

PPS...Just found this how-to site...seems like exactly what you want
Reply
#4
Some MBs let you display a custom image during post. That could sort you out there. As for the mouse, you want to hide it only within XBMC, right? Then simply disable mouse input in the settings.
Reply
#5
Thank you all for the responses.

Tomkun, im not looking to hide the mouse in xbmc. It is permanently disabled already there. Im looking to hide the mouse before xbmc starts. But it cant completely be disabled because i have to use it while in firefox.

Thank you blu-ray for that link. The only problem is he didnt actually get rid of the mouse. He just had a very large xbmc logo that kind of hid it. I have thought of doing it like this, but ideally i would like the mouse to be removed completely from start up, because even if disguised by a large white logo then if u accidentally move it, u can see it.

Digitaltomj, thank you for your link. I have no problem playing my games as windows is still very much intact. All ive done is changed some pictures and told explorer not to start. As far as the bios, I know that most vaio's have that splash and thats because sony wrote the bios for those machine. I assure you if i had the knowledge to script my own custom bios, i surely would. The standard bios, or any updated version for that matter, do not have any option to put in a custom splash screen. Following that link, they had a couple options of removing the mouse wich are all basically the same. They just change the icon, but i still need the mouse. So i cant just simply change it to a transparent image or dots or w/e

I've been asking around at work, and i guess one of the guys had a similar problem with the splash screen. He did not customize it or anything, but on a particular tv it showed the windows vista loading bar (hes using 7). He said that changing the graphics card worked for him. I've tested with the only other gpu i have (gtx 560ti), but no change. I may be able to borrow one or two from work. Still though, i would prefer not to have to change my gpu. Just more money...

When i get home, i will take a video to show exactly what im talking about here.
Reply
#6
ok, ive taken a video to display the issues here. this first video is the machine starting up on my test screen. the second video is on the primary screen that this htpc will be hooked up to. Both screens are 1920x1080 and both are connected through hdmi. the only difference is that the primary is a crt. ive not tested with any other crt's as i have no others. but ive tested on dozens of flat screens all of wich work fine. One theory i had is that the flats are all progressive where as the crt is interlaced. I suppose it may send a different signal for interlaced, but then how would i change that?

video 1
video 2

ive also had an idea for the mouse. i could use the transparent cursor by default and then switch themes when firefox is opened through a batch file. Although i have not looked into too deeply yet, it appears this may exceed the capabilites of a .bat



Update: So i've figured out how to change the cursor through registry. I need to figure out how to refresh the registry without a restart. Ive looked at a couple different methods, but nothing seems to work for certain keys, including [hkey_current_user\control panel\cursors]
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Windows-less htpc0