Help !!!! I Love My SnapStream But...

[whiteriver]

My System: FIC Ice Cube 2.4 Mhz P4, 1GB 533 DDR
AIW 8500 128 Mb w/ HD Connector, WinTV PVR 250
Sony KY36 XBR800 HD TV
Sony SAT HD200 & Sony SAT B55 Receivers
Windows 2000 Pro & Snapstream 3.1

I put together my system to have the best possible picture quality along with TIVO functionality.It works great, But one thing I can not get my system to do is to power down (no system fan) wakeup record and shut off. You see the rear system fan on the ICE CUBE is noisey enough to keep me up at night if I have it on. I've tried everything: I put it into hibernate, suspend etc. I schedule a shut down through the schedule program (that works fine) but I just can't get that rear fan to power down during hibernate or suspend mode. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Signed, Sleepless in L. A.

[whiteriver]

Here is more detail about my system and some pictures

I also have an Aiwa 400 watt Digital, Prologic 5.1 with 4 Bose sattelite cubes & subwoofer and a Klipsch KV2 center speaker.

Interlink Electronic RF Keyboard & mouse

ATI Remote

I stream content from my Ice-Box to my server via a hard wired home network so I can burn DVD's using my Pioneer AO6 burner that is on my server. If anyone has any questions or comments about my system let me know.

Thanks.

[whiteriver]

One more picture

Isn't she beautiful sitting there.... looking so shinning and silvery.
Like a beautiful woman...... nice to look at but keeps you up at night hehe.

[RobertH]

since you are using an AIW card for capture the system cannot go into any sort of standby mode because of driver issues with the AIW/Combo video/tuner cards

[whiteriver]

Sorry, I use a WinTV 250 for input from the Sony SAT B55 receiver.

[RobertH]

other users have noted that snapstream disables power management if it detects an aiw i dont know if this is true or not, also if you have always timeshifting enabled then the tuner will always be in use and will prevent the system from going to sleep. also the pvr drivers are quite picky and i dont know if they allow for any of the sleep states, you may want to look into replacing the fan on the system with a panaflow quiet or a fluidic bering fan

[whiteriver]

Well, I was hoping for a software solution 'cause this Ice Cube XPC (see pictures) is as tight as meat in a "hot dog" barely got the WinTV 250 pvr to fit next to the AIW 8500 video card. I'm pretty sure trying to modifying the rear cooling fan would be near impossible.

Thanks anyways.

[Rich A]

I've got one of those X-boxes but mine is the Shuttle unit with the NVidia chip set. Does yours have that heat pipe technology thing? Mine does and it's so quiet (and runs pretty cool too) that I wouldn't know it was on, save for the bright blue power light.

If you do have that heat pipe array, I'd take a good look at the fan. It should be pretty doggone quiet.

I don't have any video card in mine, and am using the on board video which is a dual head setup and also has TV-out. I also have another large mid tower computer with an ATI All In Wonder vdieo card. That video card's fan is the noisiest one in the whole thing by the way.

[whiteriver]

Nope, my FIC ICE-CUBE has a big old rotary fan in the back. The thing reminds me of an old dutch water wheel and is loud as heck. I was looking at the Shuttle XPC when I was putting my system together but I got so enamoured with the looks of the ICE CUBE (it is stunning to look at) my better judgement got over ruled by the looks of the thing. I figured how loud could it be. It turned out to be VERY loud. It sounds a lot like a 747 taking off at LAX. What's so funny is I had to put black tape over the side panels (both side panels are clear acrylic) because a very bright blue light is emitted from the cpu fan that made my darken bedroom glow like an alien space ship at night. Thus making it look a lot like the Shuttle XPC case.
If I had to do over again, even though the Shuttle product is unjustifible more expensive, I would probable not get the ICE-CUBE but replace it with the Shuttle XPC or something a lot more quiet.

[Yang]

I got an XPC and just recently bought a Vantec Stealthfan to replace the system fan in it.. Made it much more quiet, even though it has the heatpipe.. they're pretty cheap too..

[bobbysue]

I have the same unit, and my fan is not as loud as you describe. Yes the squirrel cage fan does make some RPMs, but the real trouble is the lack of sufficient airflow in the box. I have since added a duct in front on the side where your video card goes to pull in some much needed cooler air. I bought the plastic duct on line and added the silent high flow dual bearing fan that runs off of 110ac. This has dropped my temps inside the case by 14 degrees. I do have to agree in the end, if you are light sleeper, it will wake you up.

[Rich A]

I have two of those Shuttle boxes (both the same models with the heatpipe thing) They are sitting side by side .. one doing the SnapStream PVR and home automation is on 24/7. The other is only tuned on and off as needed. The 24/7 one is quiet as a church mouse. The occassionally used one (although quieter than any other computers) I have, is noticably noiser than the other one Same year, make and model. So I guess "fans" can be noisy when they shouldn't be. Or in other words, you can get a defective one. Well I don't know if "defective" is the proper terminology. It's just curious that two identical units have entirely different sound levels.

[whiteriver]

Originally posted by Yang
I got an XPC and just recently bought a Vantec Stealthfan to replace the system fan in it.. Made it much more quiet, even though it has the heatpipe.. they're pretty cheap too..

Thanks i'll check it out....

[whiteriver]

Originally posted by Rich A
I have two of those Shuttle boxes (both the same models with the heatpipe thing) They are sitting side by side .. one doing the SnapStream PVR and home automation is on 24/7. The other is only tuned on and off as needed. The 24/7 one is quiet as a church mouse. The occassionally used one (although quieter than any other computers) I have, is noticably noiser than the other one Same year, make and model. So I guess "fans" can be noisy when they shouldn't be. Or in other words, you can get a defective one. Well I don't know if "defective" is the proper terminology. It's just curious that two identical units have entirely different sound levels.

Still it got to be much quieter than my Ice Cube..... I'm on the verge of chucking it and go buy the latest 865g chipset Shuttle.... grrr I don't mind spending money for what I want but I hate just wasting money.

[whiteriver]

Originally posted by bobbysue
I have the same unit, and my fan is not as loud as you describe. Yes the squirrel cage fan does make some RPMs, but the real trouble is the lack of sufficient airflow in the box. I have since added a duct in front on the side where your video card goes to pull in some much needed cooler air. I bought the plastic duct on line and added the silent high flow dual bearing fan that runs off of 110ac. This has dropped my temps inside the case by 14 degrees. I do have to agree in the end, if you are light sleeper, it will wake you up.

Ya my hyperbole is a slight exaggeration of the noise but it does keep me up at night. I was just hoping someway Windows could power down that system fan in suspend/standby mode. I use a combination of a kewl program called Show Stopper and Windows Scheduler to put the Ice Cube into suspend mode and power off but that fan still grinds away until shut down.