2010-12-27, 04:30
EDIT: I'm updating this post with info on my installation.
-----
ok, I'm going to detail my experience installing Windows 7 on the Shuttle XS35GT. Hopefully this helps others in the future, and if anyone has additional info or tips, please feel free to post.
- Unboxing of the Shuttle XS35GT and installation of components (2.5" HD and 2GB notebook RAM) took about 30 min. If I had to do it again, it would probably take about 10min, due to being familiar with the unit.
- No HDMI cable comes with the unit. I plugged it into the back of my monitor using a HDMI cable and turned it on. No signal. Looks like you have to install the graphics drivers first before being able to use HDMI. So I pulled out an old VGA cable and plugged it in that way.
- The Shuttle will automatically boot from USB if you have a bootable USB plugged in. I installed Windows 7 32-bit from a thumb drive. Check Google for how to put Win7 on USB. Be aware that when Windows Setup automatically restarts for the first time, you'll need to yank the USB drive out, otherwise it will automatically boot into Windows Setup and start the install from scratch.
- The Shuttle comes with a driver disc, which I had to copy to my USB since I'm not installing a disc drive in the Shuttle. The setup program has an automated install feature which is meant to install everything required. Once it was done, I noticed it didn't install the graphics driver. I had to manually install that driver. As I write there has not been any updated drivers for the Shuttle in 6 months. In the case of the graphics driver, this is quite disappointing as the official drivers on the nVidia site do not work with the Shuttle.
- The Wireless LAN driver was installed according to the Device Manager, but there was no wireless icon in the systray. After over half an hour of searching on the net, it turns out the Shuttle install program should've install some crap program called "ControlAP". I had to manually find it on the Shuttle disc and install it.
Once it's installed, all you do is click that icon at the bottom of the screen and wireless is enabled. Then you exit the program for good. Bit ridiculous if you ask me.
- My next hurdle was customizing Windows 7. I downloaded a free program called Giga Tweaker which I used to customize a few things. At the end of the day though, I think all that really mattered was that I disabled Aero and changed some Windows Services to manually start if required, rather than automatically start on boot. I though it'd be neat to hide any Windows spashscreens when booting, but the only one that can be disabled is the coloured logo while the PC boots. You can't disable the flowery screen that says "Welcome".
- The BIOS screen for Shuttle is extremely basic and reminds me of the old 386/486 days. The main thing I did here was disable the second IDE controller. Since I only have one drive, disabling the second drive slot prevents BIOS from searching for the second drive on boot up. Straight away I noticed boot was faster by a second or two.
- The network connection was done using a Windows 7 Homegroup. I tried creating the connection using a Workgroup, but it proved to be a big hassle.
- Next was trying to transfer my media files. Wireless file transfer seems to be a joke (I don't think that's the Shuttle's fault). It was going to take 22 minutes to transfer 1.7GB wirelessly from my PC to the Shuttle. I had to resort to my trusty thumb drive again (Corsair GTR) which is about 10 times faster than the wireless I experienced. I don't yet know how the Shuttle is going to handle network streaming. Thankfully, I intend to keep most files on the Shuttle itself so that it can be used without needing my PC on (or interrupting PC usage).
As for actual internet usage, the Shuttle handles ADSL2 perfectly.
- Upon installing XBMC I found my 720p files were stuttering, and 1080p playback was hopeless. For about two hours I thought my Shuttle was a Shittle as I tried find out what the hell was going on. Finally I remembered the Video Acceleration option in XBMC (Video Settings). That fixed the problem and HD files run smooth now.
- Overall I feel the Shuttle just barely keeps its head above HD waters. If you mess around with the XBMC menu while video is playing, it jolts a little. Also, XBMC menus aren't always the smoothest when browsing. Though I suspect this can be improved with optimized code and a SSD hard disk. Windows 7 performance isn't the greatest either with Aero turned off. Navigating through folders and dragging windows around does seem a little sluggish. Though I'd say part of that problem is Windows 7 itself. XP would likely run like a dream, but you'd have a less user-friendly interface.
- With regards to an SSD drive, you can actually install two 2.5" drives in the unit. The second drive replaces the option for an optical drive. So you could have a small SSD for the OS and a big drive for all your files.
Despite a couple small issues, in the end it's a HTPC that is a fraction of the size of a desktop and fanless to boot. It can easily be thrown in a suitcase for travelling or just for taking it over to a friend's house. In the end it does what it's supposed to, though I think it could run even better on an optimized OS and optimized media player software.
I might put up more posts as I experiment more with the Shuttle.
-----
ok, I'm going to detail my experience installing Windows 7 on the Shuttle XS35GT. Hopefully this helps others in the future, and if anyone has additional info or tips, please feel free to post.
- Unboxing of the Shuttle XS35GT and installation of components (2.5" HD and 2GB notebook RAM) took about 30 min. If I had to do it again, it would probably take about 10min, due to being familiar with the unit.
- No HDMI cable comes with the unit. I plugged it into the back of my monitor using a HDMI cable and turned it on. No signal. Looks like you have to install the graphics drivers first before being able to use HDMI. So I pulled out an old VGA cable and plugged it in that way.
- The Shuttle will automatically boot from USB if you have a bootable USB plugged in. I installed Windows 7 32-bit from a thumb drive. Check Google for how to put Win7 on USB. Be aware that when Windows Setup automatically restarts for the first time, you'll need to yank the USB drive out, otherwise it will automatically boot into Windows Setup and start the install from scratch.
- The Shuttle comes with a driver disc, which I had to copy to my USB since I'm not installing a disc drive in the Shuttle. The setup program has an automated install feature which is meant to install everything required. Once it was done, I noticed it didn't install the graphics driver. I had to manually install that driver. As I write there has not been any updated drivers for the Shuttle in 6 months. In the case of the graphics driver, this is quite disappointing as the official drivers on the nVidia site do not work with the Shuttle.
- The Wireless LAN driver was installed according to the Device Manager, but there was no wireless icon in the systray. After over half an hour of searching on the net, it turns out the Shuttle install program should've install some crap program called "ControlAP". I had to manually find it on the Shuttle disc and install it.
Once it's installed, all you do is click that icon at the bottom of the screen and wireless is enabled. Then you exit the program for good. Bit ridiculous if you ask me.
- My next hurdle was customizing Windows 7. I downloaded a free program called Giga Tweaker which I used to customize a few things. At the end of the day though, I think all that really mattered was that I disabled Aero and changed some Windows Services to manually start if required, rather than automatically start on boot. I though it'd be neat to hide any Windows spashscreens when booting, but the only one that can be disabled is the coloured logo while the PC boots. You can't disable the flowery screen that says "Welcome".
- The BIOS screen for Shuttle is extremely basic and reminds me of the old 386/486 days. The main thing I did here was disable the second IDE controller. Since I only have one drive, disabling the second drive slot prevents BIOS from searching for the second drive on boot up. Straight away I noticed boot was faster by a second or two.
- The network connection was done using a Windows 7 Homegroup. I tried creating the connection using a Workgroup, but it proved to be a big hassle.
- Next was trying to transfer my media files. Wireless file transfer seems to be a joke (I don't think that's the Shuttle's fault). It was going to take 22 minutes to transfer 1.7GB wirelessly from my PC to the Shuttle. I had to resort to my trusty thumb drive again (Corsair GTR) which is about 10 times faster than the wireless I experienced. I don't yet know how the Shuttle is going to handle network streaming. Thankfully, I intend to keep most files on the Shuttle itself so that it can be used without needing my PC on (or interrupting PC usage).
As for actual internet usage, the Shuttle handles ADSL2 perfectly.
- Upon installing XBMC I found my 720p files were stuttering, and 1080p playback was hopeless. For about two hours I thought my Shuttle was a Shittle as I tried find out what the hell was going on. Finally I remembered the Video Acceleration option in XBMC (Video Settings). That fixed the problem and HD files run smooth now.
- Overall I feel the Shuttle just barely keeps its head above HD waters. If you mess around with the XBMC menu while video is playing, it jolts a little. Also, XBMC menus aren't always the smoothest when browsing. Though I suspect this can be improved with optimized code and a SSD hard disk. Windows 7 performance isn't the greatest either with Aero turned off. Navigating through folders and dragging windows around does seem a little sluggish. Though I'd say part of that problem is Windows 7 itself. XP would likely run like a dream, but you'd have a less user-friendly interface.
- With regards to an SSD drive, you can actually install two 2.5" drives in the unit. The second drive replaces the option for an optical drive. So you could have a small SSD for the OS and a big drive for all your files.
Despite a couple small issues, in the end it's a HTPC that is a fraction of the size of a desktop and fanless to boot. It can easily be thrown in a suitcase for travelling or just for taking it over to a friend's house. In the end it does what it's supposed to, though I think it could run even better on an optimized OS and optimized media player software.
I might put up more posts as I experiment more with the Shuttle.
