Try this:

http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/forum/showthread.php?p=167081#post167081

You need the two programs in that post to make it work, but that is not the actual exe file.. You can that here.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q7TISTBM

I installed it and it plays music pretty good and will play iso files, but they all seem to have a green tint to them.. I will keep working on it.. Not really a big need until I decide to upgrade to blu ray..

Ok bigbw,

You peeked my interest and I have Win-32 XBMC running on my machine... Thanks for the heads up on needed files! I cannot replicate your problem with the green tint during video playback but I am getting a LOOOONG pause when I start up an ISO. (maybe a cache setting) and I get a tad of stutter about every 10 seconds... I may need to update my video driver for my 6800GT..

So what is everyone using for Installers?

The last softmods I did used Krayzie's 2.8. I understand that there may be a 3.0 or 3.1 version, but is it worth hunting down?

Slayers? Softmod Installer Deluxe 2.0? I also found this last night: "MANZZON.COM Xbox Installer 2008-01-13.rar"

All I really want to do is the dual-boot thing someone mentioned where you use the DVD-Eject to boot into UnleashX and the smaller power button to go straight into XBMC.

Is there anyway to get the windows XBMC to run full screen?
Is ther some trick to getting DHCP to work? I would have thought it would just grab the ip address of the machine it's running on.

Ok bigbw,

You peeked my interest and I have Win-32 XBMC running on my machine... Thanks for the heads up on needed files! I cannot replicate your problem with the green tint during video playback but I am getting a LOOOONG pause when I start up an ISO. (maybe a cache setting) and I get a tad of stutter about every 10 seconds... I may need to update my video driver for my 6800GT..

Scotty, what are you talking about with Bigdw? XBMC for the computer???????

Not to speak out of turn, but yes, XBMC is available for Linux, Windows, and OSX too. It's still early in development, but it works!

Your not speaking outa turn. I didn't no such thing existed for Computer Operating systems.

Does it allow you to play your IFO/VOB files just like you do through xbox (xbmc)?

The windows version is pretty new, so I have heard video barely works. Linux is coming along nicely, and that works, at least most of the time. There are a few problems reported, like this thread:

http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30955

haven't really investigated OSX myself, but I hear the mac mini might be the killer hardware eventually.

Is there anyway to get the windows XBMC to run full screen?
Is ther some trick to getting DHCP to work? I would have thought it would just grab the ip address of the machine it's running on.

edit the runmefirst.bat file to look like this.. Note the -fs added to the line that starts the program..

subst q: ..\..
subst p: q:\userdata
subst t: q:\userdata
subst z: q:\cache
XBMC_PC.exe -fs
subst q: /d
subst p: /d
subst t: /d
subst z: /d

So what is everyone using for Installers?

The last softmods I did used Krayzie's 2.8. I understand that there may be a 3.0 or 3.1 version, but is it worth hunting down?

Slayers? Softmod Installer Deluxe 2.0? I also found this last night: "MANZZON.COM Xbox Installer 2008-01-13.rar"

All I really want to do is the dual-boot thing someone mentioned where you use the DVD-Eject to boot into UnleashX and the smaller power button to go straight into XBMC.

Zimba,

I use Krazies latest installer and it allows for the dual boot option... It can be found on xbins or any of the torrent sites... It is my favorite installer and gives you many options for how you set up your softmod it comes with easy instructions...

Hope this helps...

Scotty

Ok bigbw,

You peeked my interest and I have Win-32 XBMC running on my machine... Thanks for the heads up on needed files! I cannot replicate your problem with the green tint during video playback but I am getting a LOOOONG pause when I start up an ISO. (maybe a cache setting) and I get a tad of stutter about every 10 seconds... I may need to update my video driver for my 6800GT..

I am not getting any stutter, but I did rip a movie into vob format and I still get the green tint.. I get a pause when I start either one, but not that long.. I was going to try and play the dvd directly from the drive, but could not find a way to do it.

The windows version is pretty new, so I have heard video barely works. Linux is coming along nicely, and that works, at least most of the time. There are a few problems reported, like this thread:

http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30955

haven't really investigated OSX myself, but I hear the mac mini might be the killer hardware eventually.

Yup it works and is pretty easy to set up actually... Definitely a work in progress. I have video running but it gets a stutter about once every ten seconds. This may be caused by my video card though and not the software. I updated my 6800GT drivers yesterday and it definitely improved the playback but it still had a slight stutter. (then my video card went tits up on me...lol) I think it disagrees with the new nvidia driver. Oh well, I will follow the progress and report back as advancements and improvements are made....

I am not getting any stutter, but I did rip a movie into vob format and I still get the green tint.. I get a pause when I start either one, but not that long.. I was going to try and play the dvd directly from the drive, but could not find a way to do it.

bigbw,

I think you can go to the XBMC Linux Wiki and there are keyboard shortcuts available that will show you how to access controls that you would normally access via a remote or controller. I read that the Linux and Win32 versions use the same keyboard controls...

As to the green tint you are observing, I wonder if you could go into the video settings and twiddle with the settings... (I know you have probably done this but I thought I would throw it out there...)

So does the windows version actually play normal SD video well or am I waisting my time right now? Does the windows version use it's own built in player? I'm just looking for something to run on the kid's PCs to play our VOB library. Right now on has an old copy of xlobby and the other Medio. Having to many issues with them. Would like to replace it with xbmc. All they really use it for is videos.

Str1der,

I believe it uses mplayer for video playback but don't quote me on that. I have read in their forums that people are using it with no problems at all...

I do believe most problems that are occuring with video playback are driver issues with video cards...

Give it a go and see how your sons computer handles it... No big loss if it doesn't work but if it does your son will have one cool media center!

By the way, it takes all of 15 minutes to set up so it is not a large time investment at all...

Scotty
I do have the keyboard shortcuts printed out.. I have not had much of a chance to play with it yet, just a few minor things to get rid of the green. I figure I have a while until I upgrade to blu-ray. Right now xbmc on xbox does everything i need.

I think it is using dvdplayer for video..

Zimba,

I use Krazies latest installer and it allows for the dual boot option... It can be found on xbins or any of the torrent sites... It is my favorite installer and gives you many options for how you set up your softmod it comes with easy instructions...

Hope this helps...

Scotty

Agreed. I think this is the best installer I have used... Prior to that I used Softmod Installer Deluxe which is currently up to version 5.0 so avoid old stuff like 2.0

Sean

Hey guys quick question. What program are you guys using on your computer to watch IFO/VOB files. I have ifo/vob's stored on my usb external harddrive, that i stream from my xbox over my network. But what do I use to watch them on my computer? I can't get nero to work. And I tried Daemon tools, nero, and MagicDisc, to mount them, but that didn't work either.

Another question. Anyone using X2VGA with their xbox?

this may be too late, but media player classic works great too, i think it uses mplayer, and is packed with codecs, just make sure you check them all on install

Hope someone here might be able to help me with my network problem.

I'm running XBMC through UnleashX and can't seem to get me Xbox connected to the internet. It finds my local network PC just fine but won't run any of the weather, movie trailer scripts or internet radio stations. My Xbox finds an IP address but I can't seem to change the DNS values in UnleashX. There are DNS values in place through XBMC.

I have my Xbox hooked up through a Slingbox to get the connection. One Slingbox connected to the Xbox, the other downstairs connected to my router.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

bigbw,

I think you can go to the XBMC Linux Wiki and there are keyboard shortcuts available that will show you how to access controls that you would normally access via a remote or controller. I read that the Linux and Win32 versions use the same keyboard controls...

As to the green tint you are observing, I wonder if you could go into the video settings and twiddle with the settings... (I know you have probably done this but I thought I would throw it out there...)

There is a good thread over at xbmc.org forums re the windows port.. I was not the only person with the green tint problem and somebody figured out it was a problem with ATI video cards, you need the ATI open GL dll file, i did this last night and was able to play movies with no problems.. Next step for me is to load this on my file server pc and connect that to my TV and see how it looks there..

There is a good thread over at xbmc.org forums re the windows port.. I was not the only person with the green tint problem and somebody figured out it was a problem with ATI video cards, you need the ATI open GL dll file, i did this last night and was able to play movies with no problems.. Next step for me is to load this on my file server pc and connect that to my TV and see how it looks there..

Bigbw,

Yea, I have been following that thread over there and noticed someone had figured out that it was an ATI.dll file that was missing...

I figured out why my video was stuttering... My Nvidia 6800 completely crapped out on my yesterday... The good news is I replaced it with a 9600GT and man what a difference a couple of years make in video cards...lol

Video playback is now flawless!

Very cool...

Now I have figure out how to connect a remote to my pc..

I'm pretty intrigued by this XBMC on a PC...

Now if we could just find a really small form factor PC we'd be set right?

Nevermind...

http://minipc.aopen.com/Global/spec.htm

Agreed. I think this is the best installer I have used... Prior to that I used Softmod Installer Deluxe which is currently up to version 5.0 so avoid old stuff like 2.0

Sean

Thanks. I think I was getting my mod methods mixed up: Exploit vs. Hotswap.

Is Ndure 1.1.1 the latest version of the Krayzie installer?

Thanks. I think I was getting my mod methods mixed up: Exploit vs. Hotswap.

Is Ndure 1.1.1 the latest version of the Krayzie installer?

3.0 is what I use... Xbins should have the latest and greatest...

Now I have figure out how to connect a remote to my pc..

Stock XBOX joypad remote works fine when converted to USB. You can also hookup the MCE USB remote and it works out of the box with LIRC on Ubuntu. That is what is on my machine using a Harmony remote. <shrug> Think the MCE thing cost me like 4$25 or so tops.

Mebby - the Aopen PCs are fairly weak but the devs are using them and have made tweaks to accommodate them. A Mac mini 2Ghz running Linux woudl work really well now that dual core decoding is working. there's also several Shuttle XPC that can accept 775 dual core that would be perfect.

Stock XBOX joypad remote works fine when converted to USB. You can also hookup the MCE USB remote and it works out of the box with LIRC on Ubuntu. That is what is on my machine using a Harmony remote. <shrug> Think the MCE thing cost me like 425 or so tops.

Mebby - the Aopen PCs are fairly weak but the devs are using them and have made tweaks to accommodate them. A Mac mini 2Ghz running Linux woudl work really well now that dual core decoding is working. there's also several Shuttle XPC that can accept 775 dual core that would be perfect.

$425, isn't that kind of high for a remote.. I can get one at new egg for under $40.. Good to know that it works..

$425, isn't that kind of high for a remote.. I can get one at new egg for under $40.. Good to know that it works..

Looks like he missed the shift key while going for the $ and typed 425 instead of $25

Looks like he missed the shift key while going for the $ and typed 425 instead of $25

Correct, a typist I am not - that is $25. A search for MCE remotes will turn them up fairly cheaply. I can even use my old XBOX remote with the MCE receiver if I wanted:D My Harmony 360 wasn't cheap but it controls my entire AV system instead of the basket of remotes we had before...

I'm trying to use the Win32 SDL XBMC on my pc. The GUI seems to work fine but none of the videos play. Oddly enough, the Win32 DX9 version does play video but it's in black and white.

I just modded my third xbox in about 30 minutes.

Lessons Learned:

Some weasel at Gamestop put the Splinter Cell Platinum Hits in the normal green Splinter Cell case. Thankfully it worked anyway with Krayzie NDURE 1.1
Nothing's really changed in the 2 years since I did my first softmod.
Install Krayzie Extras to facilitate dual-boots. The "Tri-Boot" option will automatically close the DVD-tray if you use it to power up your xbox.
Use the UIX shortcut in the XMBC _tools folder on your PC to make XBMC your default dash.
E:\Dashboard\altdash\Default.xbe (case sensitive) is the path to the alternative dash.


So I'm really happy with the dual-boot. Increased WAF and I get to boot into the dashboard if I need to. I think I'll apply it to my other two Xboxes . .

Curious, anyone have issues with Subtitles while playing DVDs - specifically NOT getting them? For some reason subs default to ON and while I can turn them off on some movies this doesn't work for all of them. This is on XBOX XBMC - is driving me nutz! :(

I'm trying to use the Win32 SDL XBMC on my pc. The GUI seems to work fine but none of the videos play. Oddly enough, the Win32 DX9 version does play video but it's in black and white.

Playback works great here on both the DirectX and SDL version. A lot of things (SMB, Screensavers, Visualizations) still don't work and it obviously has a long way to go but not a bad start.

I'm using a Nvidia 8600GT video card. I was reading where some people with ATI video cards were having issues. I just followed these instructions to get the SDL OpenGL version running on my computer (Vista Business 64-bit):

Step 1. Download the latest T3CH build from http://t3ch.yi.se/

Step 2. Download sdldotnet-6.0.0-runtime-setup.exe from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=52340

Step 3. Download glew-1.5.0-win32.zip from https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=67586

Step 4. Download the latest compiled XBMC_PC.exe from http://www.megaupload.com/?d=767JR27Z

Step 5. Uncompress the T3CH build to the directory of your choice. To keep this example simple I’ll use E:\T3CH

Step 6. Run the sdldotnet-6.0.0-runtime-setup.exe

Step 7. Uncompress the glew-1.5.0-win32.zip file and copy the glew32.dll from the glew\bin directory to your newly extracted E:\T3CH\XBMC directory

Step 8. Uncompress the XBMC-w32glfix.rar that you obtained in step 4 and copy the file XBMC_PC.exe into E:\T3CH\XBMC directory

Step 9. Copy the run_me_first.bat file from E:\T3CH\win32 directory into E:\T3CH\XBMC directory

Step 10. Edit the run_me_first.bat file that you just copied so the line that reads “XBMC_PC.exe” reads “XBMC_PC.exe –fs”, save the changes and exit from the editor.

Now, run the run_me_first.bat file that is in the XBMC directory


I wish they would focus on making the DirectX version the main one instead of just a skinning tool. It seems to run better on my computer. The GUI uses virtually no system resources (about 3% usage, compared to 30% on the OpenGL version). Both run smoothly but the DirectX just uses a lot less resources to do it.

The DirectX one isn't portable, the SDL one is the same as what's used in Linux and OSX - in fact the Windows one is a port of the Linux SDL version and not the XBOX version. Were it not for the work being done on Linux for SDL the OSX and Windows ones wouldn't exist apparently. DirectX is Windows only and the devs are shooting for portability.

I still can't get my XBOX to find my rips, I have them on an EXT HDD and I'm running Vista. I can't even get WMP to find the rips it will play them but not add them to the library. Any help? My files are set up like so J:Movies\(Title)\Video TS\ Movie file.VOB

For those using XBMC for Xbox for DVD playback, what deinterlacer settings are you using? From what I can glean from the XBMC forums, and what I have seen, Shader V2 with Bob (really bob+weave under V2) is great for video, while None is great for film. Auto is supposed to automaticly select between the two, but I haven't played with it enough recently to see if it actually auto-selects well enough. Also, when playing back film under 720p with Shader V2, it was dropping some frames on me.

What are your experiences with the deinterlacing?

I'm trying to use the Win32 SDL XBMC on my pc. The GUI seems to work fine but none of the videos play. Oddly enough, the Win32 DX9 version does play video but it's in black and white.

I had to copy a dll file into the main xmbc dir to get videos to play for me.. can't recall which one it was, but i was getting an error message saying it could not find it..

For those using XBMC for Xbox for DVD playback, what deinterlacer settings are you using? From what I can glean from the XBMC forums, and what I have seen, Shader V2 with Bob (really bob+weave under V2) is great for video, while None is great for film. Auto is supposed to automaticly select between the two, but I haven't played with it enough recently to see if it actually auto-selects well enough. Also, when playing back film under 720p with Shader V2, it was dropping some frames on me.

What are your experiences with the deinterlacing?Piggybacking on this question...I get constant audio choppiness when I have it set to Auto (and, I think, any mode other than Off). I'm streaming my movies (VOB files) from an external hard drive hooked up to a computer on my wired network, and my XBox is hooked up to a TV using component video cables but analog left/right audio. I've done some Google searching but haven't seen much from others experiencing this problem. Anyone know what I could be doing wrong?

Piggybacking on this question...I get constant audio choppiness when I have it set to Auto (and, I think, any mode other than Off). I'm streaming my movies (VOB files) from an external hard drive hooked up to a computer on my wired network, and my XBox is hooked up to a TV using component video cables but analog left/right audio. I've done some Google searching but haven't seen much from others experiencing this problem. Anyone know what I could be doing wrong?

What OS do you run? I can't get my VOBs from my external drive and it's driving me insane..

What OS do you run? I can't get my VOBs from my external drive and it's driving me insane..

Sorry, I'm running XBMC on a softmodded XBox and the external HD is hooked up to a PC running Vista Premium.

Also, I should mention (in case it's applicable to my stuttering audio issue) that I've got XBMC configured to allow for 480P, 720P, and 1080i support, and so I believe that it's outputting at 1080i (if memory serves, my Panasonic plasma is 1366x768).

"Piggybacking on this question...I get constant audio choppiness when I have it set to Auto (and, I think, any mode other than Off)."

I wouldn't be surprised if you are running out of memory running at 1080i. I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head, but there is a significant memory requirement jump from 720p to 1080i for the skin and framebuffers. Try running the interface in 720p using Project Mayhem III as your skin (the most memory efficient of the good ones). Try outputting video at 720p. Really, there is no good reason to have 1080i even enabled on your Xbox unless you are outputting to a 1080i CRT. Why deinterlace something just to go and interlace it again? :) Also make sure you are using High Quality Pixel Shader V2 in the Video Settings as deinterlacing is supposed to be handled the best under that option.

If you still get audio/video drops, then leave the interface at 720p, but have the video render at 480p. The video quality difference will be little to none since your Panasonic will do a decent job of stretching the image, but deinterlacing CPU time will drop. That's one of the cool features of XBMC. Independant resolutions for different functions. :)

Oh, and we are talking about NTSC, right? PAL deinterlacing is appearantly really hard to do. "None" seems to be the only option worth anything for PAL, but then you have to live with the feathering artifacts.

Sorry, I'm running XBMC on a softmodded XBox and the external HD is hooked up to a PC running Vista Premium.

Also, I should mention (in case it's applicable to my stuttering audio issue) that I've got XBMC configured to allow for 480P, 720P, and 1080i support, and so I believe that it's outputting at 1080i (if memory serves, my Panasonic plasma is 1366x768).

How are you getting it share I'm also am running on a softmod and Vista. I can not get it to find my VOBs on the drive. Help me!!!

http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=Vista
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/?title=UPnP

Here is where I would start. :)

darklordjames, today I saw a post on the xbmc.org forums from someone else complaining about the choppy audio and someone there suggested that the 1080i setting was probably the problem. I've switched to 720p and the problem is fixed. FWIW, I'm using the xTV skin. I'm pretty sure I'm already set at High Quality Pixel Shader V2. Even though the audio choppiness has gone away, for one of the sample DVD VOB files I streamed (Meet the Robinsons), the Deinterlace Auto setting didn't look as good to me as turning it Off, but I'll need to do more experimentation.

My new struggles are with figuring out whether or not to use the Library mode and, if I do use it, getting it set up correctly (it doesn't seem to remember to use Library mode as the default). I've also found that it didn't choose the right movie for me automatically from IMDB, requiring some manual intervention. That's a bit of a pain within the XBMC UI, but I'd like to think that there's an easier way for me to fix those issues via my computer. I guess I just need to learn more about what I can accomplsh behind the scenes (via xml files, etc.).

The library mode looks powerful (ability to view by actor, director, search, etc.) but I'm also wondering if it might be breaking up my movies into *too many* genres.

Overall, though, a wonderful app and probably the best set-top box VOB streamer available, possibly at any cost, but certainly for the approximately $80 I paid for this XBox. I certainly see myself buying one or two (or more) more for other rooms in the house.

Right now I've got it set up in my bedroom (hooked up to the 50" plasma that used to be in my family room). My family room has a 720p Panasonic LCD front-projector. It's got component in and the HDMI is somewhat buggy, but I'd prefer to use HDMI simply for installation reasons (my A/V components are in the front of the room by the screen and I've got a single long-run HDMI cable already running to the projector). If anyone has any recommendations for the best/cheapest A/V receiver for converting my 720p component signal to HDMI please let me know.

"the Deinterlace Auto setting didn't look as good to me as turning it Off, but I'll need to do more experimentation."

One thing that I did find out is that if you bring up the on-screen info that shows you what framerate you are running at, number of dropped frames, CPU usage, etc, it can help you figure out what deinterlacing is going on. If the on-screen info tells you that it is running at 24fps (or less than 30fps), then the deinterlacer has detected film and has turned itself off. This is the same as "none". If the framerate is shown as being above 30fps, then it has detected video and turned on "bob", which is really a bob+weave combo. Bob+weave under V2 is appearantly as good as XBMC's video deinterlacing is ever likely to get as anything more complicated would require better access to the GPU, or more CPU power. This is the way it's supposed to work at least. :)

So on your sample VOB, check the framerate. It'll tell you if you are imagining things, or if the VOB is being detected as video for some reason. :)

And yeah, this thing really is an awesome streamer. I have one in the living room and one in the bedroom. I don't bother with the Library mode myself, as I find it easier to just sort through directories.

How are you getting it share I'm also am running on a softmod and Vista. I can not get it to find my VOBs on the drive. Help me!!!

Is it finding other file types, but not the VOBs? Or do you only have VOBs and thus it sees nothing?

I still can't get my XBOX to find my rips, I have them on an EXT HDD and I'm running Vista. I can't even get WMP to find the rips it will play them but not add them to the library. Any help? My files are set up like so J:Movies\(Title)\Video TS\ Movie file.VOB

Is XBMC seeing your external drive at all? Is it any different if you moved one of your movies off your external onto your regular hard drive?

Is it finding other file types, but not the VOBs? Or do you only have VOBs and thus it sees nothing?

Yes, it is finding other types but not the VOBs


Is XBMC seeing your external drive at all? Is it any different if you moved one of your movies off your external onto your regular hard drive?

Correct it's not seeing the external drive. I have two drives in my PC and it sees them and the videos on them avi, wmv etc; however, I placed a rip on my main C: drive and still nothing.

Good news I starting running a XBMSP and now the XBOX can see my Ext HDD. But I still can't seem to get the Icons to work using DVDProfiler2XBMC
and my file structure seems off. I guess now it's just cleaning it all up, but I at least now have it streaming.

Also I wanted to use the Xephyr skin but it wont allow me to use it. I get a error saying it needs to be a 2.0 or higher? Any way thanks for the help

Yes, it is finding other types but not the VOBs




Correct it's not seeing the external drive. I have two drives in my PC and it sees them and the videos on them avi, wmv etc; however, I placed a rip on my main C: drive and still nothing.

Good news I starting running a XBMSP and now the XBOX can see my Ext HDD. But I still can't seem to get the Icons to work using DVDProfiler2XBMC
and my file structure seems off. I guess now it's just cleaning it all up, but I at least now have it streaming.

Also I wanted to use the Xephyr skin but it wont allow me to use it. I get a error saying it needs to be a 2.0 or higher? Any way thanks for the help

Verify that you external drive is being shared. Sometimes when I reboot my pc, the sharing I set up on my external drive is lost and I have to re-share it. When you placed the rip on your C:, it should see it. If you can see your video folder (assuming you have it set as MovieName\VIDEO_TS) you should be able to navigate over the movie folder, press the white button and choose play and it should play.

Anyone on here have a modded xbox for a decent price?

Anyone on here have a modded xbox for a decent price?

I've been watching my local Craigslist for xbox, but most of them are selling them with lots of games. I'll I need is the xbox, but then I would be stuck with trying to resell the games. I'm going to keep an eye out for an xbox at my local game store.

I've been watching my local Craigslist for xbox, but most of them are selling them with lots of games. I'll I need is the xbox, but then I would be stuck with trying to resell the games. I'm going to keep an eye out for an xbox at my local game store.

I have bought no less than 6 of em in the last few months from my local game stop stores for $60

Sean

Yeah, I picked mine up from a local GameStop/EBGames for $60. Added on a 1-year extended warranty for $10, a remote control (the remote sucks, but you need the IR receiver) for $10, and HD A/V pack (component cables and optical audio output) for $5. The XBox's and remote controls are in plentiful supply at the GameStops near me, but the HD A/V pack is hard to find.

I fully expect to be picking up some more (probably one for my daughter's room and one for the family room).

One thing I recommend for everyone is to replace the internal drive with a nice 120gb from either Seagate or Samsung. The Seagate 7200.9's that I have in mine are far, far quiter than the stock 8GB Seagate/WD drives. Also, in the XBMC options, you can drop the fan speed to 10% from the default 20%, further quiting the device. Taking the entire Xbox apart and removing the internal aluminum shell also helps with cooling, but also reduces turbulance noise. These are of course things that you should only do if you are comfortable with the idea, and have read up on how to perform the operations, but that little box really can become downright quite. Currently my Xboxs are quieter than my 360 and PS2 when they are at their dashboards (and my 360 is pretty quiet without a disc), and only a little louder than my Wii. The only things I could do to further reduce noise would be to swap in a laptop drive instead of a desktop, open up the sides for a little more airflow, and replace the fan. Most of that requires modding the case though, and I have yet to pick up a dremel. :)

I had read online that the 1.6 revision XBoxes featured a heatsink in place of one of the fans (the GPU fan?) as compared to the older revisions. So when I went to buy my XBox, I asked to see several of them so as to try to track down one of the newer serial numbers. There's no direct labeling of the revision number, so it's still not guaranteed, and I've yet to bother cracking my case open, so I can't say for sure that I got a 1.6, but I'm pretty pleased with how quiet it is.

http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Repairs/determine_version_of_xbox.htm

The only one that had 2 fans was the 1.0. The 1.1-1.6 boxes has the GPU covered by a fat heatsink instead. The chances of finding a 1.0 with a working DVD drive at this point would be pretty low I think.

http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Xbox_Versions_HOWTO

Versions based off serial number! It looks like if the Xbox is newer than Nov 2002, then it is at least a v1.1. As long as you have a 1.1 or newer, I would say you are good to go.

http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Repairs/xbox_dvd_version_comparison.htm

Also, the v1.0 Xboxs only used Thompson drives. If you have a different drive, then you have a 1.1 or newer. The Samsung was the prefered drive, though I personally had issues with the Samsung reading DVD+R in my 3rd Xbox.

I had read online that the 1.6 revision XBoxes featured a heatsink in place of one of the fans (the GPU fan?) as compared to the older revisions. So when I went to buy my XBox, I asked to see several of them so as to try to track down one of the newer serial numbers. There's no direct labeling of the revision number, so it's still not guaranteed, and I've yet to bother cracking my case open, so I can't say for sure that I got a 1.6, but I'm pretty pleased with how quiet it is.

I think XBMC will also tell you what version of your xbox is in the System info screen.

It gets a little confused on v1.6b Xboxs, but yeah, there is a version counter in XBMC. :)

I think XBMC will also tell you what version of your xbox is in the System info screen.Ah, thanks for the tip. It reports me as having 1.6 (though if it doesn't report detect 1.6b specifically, I suppose I could have that).

Question: I've ripped one of my DVD's which has a DTS audio track and ripped just the DTS audio track. My XBox plugged into my plasma (via component and analog left/right) seems to play it just fine, so it looks like the XBox is decoding the DTS for me. If I were to connect an optical digital cable from my HD A/V pack to my DTS-capable receiver, I believe that the XBox will passthru the DTS stream and let my receiver decode it. Correct so far?

So if all of that is correct, I'm thinking that there's no reason for me to bother ripping a Dolby Digital or Dolby Surround Sound track when ripping DVDs that have DTS and, in those cases, should always just rip the [arguably] better DTS track and that track only. Anything I'm missing here?

Another question: I've got a Logitech Harmony 360 remote. If I tell the Logitech web setup that I have an XBox w/DVD I think I miss some of the buttons (like PowerToggle), but if I choose XBox Media Center Extender (I think that's the name of it), I get PowerToggle and direct mappings for Music, Videos, etc., but it doesn't have the "Title" button, which is pretty important. Is there one device in Logitech's DB that will have *all* the buttons I need or do I need to pick one of the two I mentioned and manually learn the missing buttons?

Question: I've ripped one of my DVD's which has a DTS audio track and ripped just the DTS audio track. My XBox plugged into my plasma (via component and analog left/right) seems to play it just fine, so it looks like the XBox is decoding the DTS for me. If I were to connect an optical digital cable from my HD A/V pack to my DTS-capable receiver, I believe that the XBox will passthru the DTS stream and let my receiver decode it. Correct so far?

So if all of that is correct, I'm thinking that there's no reason for me to bother ripping a Dolby Digital or Dolby Surround Sound track when ripping DVDs that have DTS and, in those cases, should always just rip the [arguably] better DTS track and that track only. Anything I'm missing here?


YES, what you describe is what I do. If there is DTS I deselect the other soundtracks in DVD Shrink to save space. The xbox internally decodes DTS and will passthrough DTS over toslink just fine. Make sure to set the appropriate check boxes in XBMC after installing the toslink cable.

Sean

Another question: I've got a Logitech Harmony 360 remote. If I tell the Logitech web setup that I have an XBox w/DVD I think I miss some of the buttons (like PowerToggle), but if I choose XBox Media Center Extender (I think that's the name of it), I get PowerToggle and direct mappings for Music, Videos, etc., but it doesn't have the "Title" button, which is pretty important. Is there one device in Logitech's DB that will have *all* the buttons I need or do I need to pick one of the two I mentioned and manually learn the missing buttons?

I didn't even know about the XBMC trick but I always end up teaching my harmony remotes the commands through original Xbox remote control.

Thanks for the tip. I will try that...

Sean

"I choose XBox Media Center Extender (I think that's the name of it), I get PowerToggle and direct mappings for Music, Videos, etc.,"

The Xbox MCE one is for the special MCE disc that came out for the Xbox as a commercial product at one point. This guy here:
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Xbox-Media-Center-Extender/dp/B00066FHM4

It had a different remote than the DVD playback kit did. I'm pretty sure that there is a special remote mapping option in XBMC to support it, but I don't know how it works. :)

Also, the Xbox does not have remote Powertoggle unless it has been modified with something like this guy:
http://xir.us/

Personally, I run the regular Xbox DVD remote profile on my Harmony, and it has worked out great for me for the last 3 years. :)

Speaking of XIR's my budddy did a couple of them and I finally broke down and ordered some v1 and v2's. Has anyone had success using the macro features on the Harmony remotes to support the three key press sequence required my the V2 XIR...

Sean

I haven't actually used the XIR myself, though I have been thinking about getting them for my Xboxs. Keep us updated on how they work out for you. :)

Anyone here using X2VGA with their xbox?

FWIW, the "PowerToggle" action that the "XBox Media Center Extender" Logitech profile gives you will work with a regular/softmodded XBox to turn it OFF; it just won't turn it ON. I'd rather have both, but I don't know that I want to hack it with a hardware mod, and, IMO, turning it OFF remotely is more important than turning it ON, because I'm going to be more awake and willing to get off my duff when I'm turning ON my XBox and TV than when I'm in bed and half-asleep and want to turn everything off so I can go to sleep.

Well damn! I'm going to have to add PowerToggle to my Xbox profile then. Right now I have a macro set up to hit "menu, menu, left, enter, enter" to turn it off, which also works. PowerToggle is more elegant though. :)

I apologize if this has already been covered somewhere in this thread (I did a quick search but couldn't find it discussed)...one thing I discovered from reading the xbmc.org forums and experimenting with is that an ISO file will play back instantaneously (as compared to the 20 second delay of playing a folder with VOB files). I'll likely be converting my VOB files to a single ISO for this reason. I don't want the DVD menus, and I don't want to waste storage space on extra audio tracks I don't need, so I'm using DVDFab HD Decrypter to rip the main movie, and then using ImgTool to convert those VOB files to a single ISO. If anyone knows of a way to rip the main movie straight to a single ISO within DVDFab (or an alternative product that will do this), please let me know.

I apologize if this has already been covered somewhere in this thread (I did a quick search but couldn't find it discussed)...one thing I discovered from reading the xbmc.org forums and experimenting with is that an ISO file will play back instantaneously (as compared to the 20 second delay of playing a folder with VOB files). I'll likely be converting my VOB files to a single ISO for this reason. I don't want the DVD menus, and I don't want to waste storage space on extra audio tracks I don't need, so I'm using DVDFab HD Decrypter to rip the main movie, and then using ImgTool to convert those VOB files to a single ISO. If anyone knows of a way to rip the main movie straight to a single ISO within DVDFab (or an alternative product that will do this), please let me know.

So I did some quick testing on my NAS and the difference is not 20 seconds but there is a difference. ISO's start playing on my network in 1-2 seconds where VOB folders took 6-12 seconds. I also rip most everything for ISO's but keep some vob folders around for test purposes like this.

on to your question. DVD Shrink will allow you to re-author and create an ISO in 1 step. Its a great tool. It does not handle some of the copy protections DVD Fab does but it works well enough that its still my primary choice. It also has the best interface of any of the DVD rippers and re-authorer's out there. Good peice of software to have in ones arsenal.

Sean

I apologize if this has already been covered somewhere in this thread (I did a quick search but couldn't find it discussed)...one thing I discovered from reading the xbmc.org forums and experimenting with is that an ISO file will play back instantaneously (as compared to the 20 second delay of playing a folder with VOB files). I'll likely be converting my VOB files to a single ISO for this reason. I don't want the DVD menus, and I don't want to waste storage space on extra audio tracks I don't need, so I'm using DVDFab HD Decrypter to rip the main movie, and then using ImgTool to convert those VOB files to a single ISO. If anyone knows of a way to rip the main movie straight to a single ISO within DVDFab (or an alternative product that will do this), please let me know.

I use DVDFab HD Decrypter 4 (the free version) to rip the main movie to an ISO. Works great. Here's the link http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm

If you go to the main page of the their website, look for the link at the bottom of the page labeled "Free Stuff"

You click on "Main Movie" on the left then select which title you want.

To the right of Target Directory is an icon that looks like a piece of paper with a DVD disc on top of that. Click on that icon and select a directory and name for the ISO

DVDFab does so this. To the right of the second line (where you enter the destination file) are two icons: a folder and a folder with a disc. Click the folder with disc and that tells it you want to do an ISO file.

http://t3ch.yi.se/

You might want to update update your XBMC builds, guys. I just updated to the 2008-02-24 and VOB loading seems to be a lot faster. Better than that, there is an "auto-skip to menu" feature that has been added in the last 3 months. It does what it sounds like and skips all the previews and warnings and jumps directly to the disc's main menu.

Works out awesome for someone like me, who doesn't know if I want to rip the special features or not before I watch the movie. I Netflix movies these days, ripping my 2 discs whenever they come in, watching them over the next couple days, and then deleting them. Sometimes I like the movie and want to know more, sometimes I don't care. As such I always rip the full disc.

Really, I just thought the Menu Skip was really rad! :)

Hey guys, whats a good Xbox360 modding forum?

No clue. :) I tend to just google up the subject with "guide" tacked on and see what pops up. Llama's is always a good place to start, too.

http://www.llamma.com/xbox/

with the new build, does all your text show up in the menus?

http://t3ch.yi.se/

You might want to update update your XBMC builds, guys. I just updated to the 2008-02-24 and VOB loading seems to be a lot faster. Better than that, there is an "auto-skip to menu" feature that has been added in the last 3 months. It does what it sounds like and skips all the previews and warnings and jumps directly to the disc's main menu.

Works out awesome for someone like me, who doesn't know if I want to rip the special features or not before I watch the movie. I Netflix movies these days, ripping my 2 discs whenever they come in, watching them over the next couple days, and then deleting them. Sometimes I like the movie and want to know more, sometimes I don't care. As such I always rip the full disc.

Really, I just thought the Menu Skip was really rad! :)

I should have posted that I already was using that build. The auto skip to menu has been in there for quite a while... longer than 3 months...

It pays to upgrade once in a while.... 2/24/ T3ch has problems with TV show scraping. The 2/167 Pimped build does not...

Sean

Guys, thanks for the tip on DVDFab. I had bought a license for that app, so I look forward to using that to rip my main movies straight to ISO.

Sean, I know why your VOB files were starting up faster than mine. I just converted my 1TB external HD from FAT32 to NTFS today. After wasting about an hour or two trying to figure out why my share wouldn't work anymore (I had to add the Everyone group to it) I tested startup times again. Only tried one VOB folder, but playback started in about 8 seconds (consistent with the times you quoted). ISO's still seem instantaneous to me. In any case, for anyone else out there using FAT32 and VOB files, you may want to consider converting your drive to NTFS.

Actually, before anyone goes off and converts their FAT32 drives to NTFS, you may want to wait for me to sort out my issues. Since converting my drive, I'm now having a bunch of problems. Example:

I start up a video and it starts playing fine. But within a few seconds it freezes. XBMC is still responsive and I'm able to stop the movie. At that point, I see the circular sphere spinning (aka hourglass) and I'm eventually greeted with an error message stating "Invalid computer name."

Any ideas?

Actually, before anyone goes off and converts their FAT32 drives to NTFS, you may want to wait for me to sort out my issues. Since converting my drive, I'm now having a bunch of problems. Example:

I start up a video and it starts playing fine. But within a few seconds it freezes. XBMC is still responsive and I'm able to stop the movie. At that point, I see the circular sphere spinning (aka hourglass) and I'm eventually greeted with an error message stating "Invalid computer name."

Any ideas?


run chkdsk /f and reboot...

NTFS has no issues. most of us use it since its supports large files > 4GB like bug ISO's.....

Sean

Actually, before anyone goes off and converts their FAT32 drives to NTFS, you may want to wait for me to sort out my issues. Since converting my drive, I'm now having a bunch of problems. Example:

I start up a video and it starts playing fine. But within a few seconds it freezes. XBMC is still responsive and I'm able to stop the movie. At that point, I see the circular sphere spinning (aka hourglass) and I'm eventually greeted with an error message stating "Invalid computer name."

Any ideas?

Are you sharing this drive?

Maybe you need to redo the network share.

Hey has anyone here made the xbox to VGA cable, Click here. (http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/vga-cable.php)

Were do you get the power from? External Power supply?

If I can ask the obvious question, "Why?". Why add VGA to the Xbox 1? According to the link of yours, it only works on v1.0 Xboxs, and I know that any non-transcoded VGA connection for the Xbox breaks a very large number of games. Last time I looked into it, you are still locked to the standard 480/720/1080 resolutions as well. Really, VGA on the Xbox 1 is far more effort than it is worth, especially given the overscan compensation that is already built into XBMC. :)

Edit:
http://www.360mods.net/News/article/sid=32.html

Further information. The VGA support is a little wonky, requiring sync-on-green appearantly. If you can find one, the X2VGA was a very good quality piece. giving you all the advantage of VGA on the display side, without the hassle on the Xbox side.

Sean/Coco, thanks for trying to help. Sean, I did the chkdsk but, as I suspected, that didn't fix it. I think I may be on to the problem, but I'm not quite sure how to fix it. I left out one variable that I had changed yesterday because I didn't think it was the cause, but now I'm thinking that it is. As I mentioned, the computer with the external HD is connected to my router via ethernet cable. Well, that computer *also* has on-board 802.11g. I thought I had that disabled via Device Manager, but it was actually active. When I noticed that (prior to converting my drive to NTFS), I disabled it. Well, just for fun, I tried re-enabling the 802.11g and it looks like my movies are streaming OK now. It seems odd to me that my computer is getting two IP addresses (one for the 802.11g and one for the ethernet), rather than just grabbing one (for the faster ethernet).

I'm still dumbfounded as to why my XBMC XBox won't work right when I've got the 802.11g disabled. It's clearly establishing the initial connection when it starts the movie, but then it's losing the connection. I've come across some other threads in the xbmc.org forums from others having the same symptoms, and some have indicated that you can fix it by changing the drive mapping in the sources.xml to reference the IP address of the server, but I would think that that would then require me to set that computer up to use a static IP within my home network. I have to think that there's some IP address cached within XBMC which, if I could reset, could fix my problems.

Sean/Coco, thanks for trying to help. Sean, I did the chkdsk but, as I suspected, that didn't fix it. I think I may be on to the problem, but I'm not quite sure how to fix it. I left out one variable that I had changed yesterday because I didn't think it was the cause, but now I'm thinking that it is. As I mentioned, the computer with the external HD is connected to my router via ethernet cable. Well, that computer *also* has on-board 802.11g. I thought I had that disabled via Device Manager, but it was actually active. When I noticed that (prior to converting my drive to NTFS), I disabled it. Well, just for fun, I tried re-enabling the 802.11g and it looks like my movies are streaming OK now. It seems odd to me that my computer is getting two IP addresses (one for the 802.11g and one for the ethernet), rather than just grabbing one (for the faster ethernet).

I'm still dumbfounded as to why my XBMC XBox won't work right when I've got the 802.11g disabled. It's clearly establishing the initial connection when it starts the movie, but then it's losing the connection. I've come across some other threads in the xbmc.org forums from others having the same symptoms, and some have indicated that you can fix it by changing the drive mapping in the sources.xml to reference the IP address of the server, but I would think that that would then require me to set that computer up to use a static IP within my home network. I have to think that there's some IP address cached within XBMC which, if I could reset, could fix my problems.


All the problems you are describing are on your PC and have nothing to do with XBMC and your xbox. The PC acquiring two IP addresses is normal and correct behavior. Be happy it works unless you want to become an expert in PC networking... :)

I would like to thank and curse Ja Phule his thread made me decide to mod my old xbox. Now I am stuck. I am unable to connect to my PC by smb. I have been able to ftp and my modded xbox is able to connect to the internet. I have read multiple tutorials and multiple threads. I have tried multiple ways, but no success. I want to start fresh and am looking for some one to guide me (spoon feed me).

I have a soft modded xbox ver 1.0 done with Krazie’s NDURE 1.1, with xbmc set as default dash (xbmc build 2-24-08), it is connected through router to windows xp with sp2 comp.

I would like to access files on my pc and eventually an external hd. Looking for a mentor to help.

I would like to thank and curse Ja Phule his thread made me decide to mod my old xbox. Now I am stuck. I am unable to connect to my PC by smb. I have been able to ftp and my modded xbox is able to connect to the internet. I have read multiple tutorials and multiple threads. I have tried multiple ways, but no success. I want to start fresh and am looking for some one to guide me (spoon feed me).

I have a soft modded xbox ver 1.0 done with Krazie’s NDURE 1.1, with xbmc set as default dash (xbmc build 2-24-08), it is connected through router to windows xp with sp2 comp.

I would like to access files on my pc and eventually an external hd. Looking for a mentor to help.


your xbox is fine and working. your problem is a PC file sharing issue. I would start by reading some tutorials on windows file sharing. (assuming your running windows).

What OS?

can you talk to the Server from another computer?

What errors are you receiving?

Did you try turning off the firewall on windows?

we need some details if you want help.

Sean

Sources.xml is the key. It is stored at \XBMC\UserData\sources.xml

http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=How_to_Edit_Bookmarks

Here's the Video section of mine, to give you an idea:

<!-- My Videos shares !-->
<video>
<default>Videos</default>
<bookmark>
<name>Videos</name>
<path>smb://LORDJAMES/Public/Videos/</path>
<path>smb://AMANDA-PC/Public/Videos/</path>
</bookmark>
<bookmark>
<name>Xbox DVD Drive</name>
<path>D:\</path>
</bookmark>
</video>

As you can see, the Videos tag is mapped to the SMB share of a computer called LORDJAMES and goes to the shared folder /public/videos. There is also a second computer, which XBMC dynamicly merges the two folders together.

Copy and paste my section above into your own sources.xml, and edit your computer names. Let us know the results.

I guess you need to turn on SMB sharing too. :) Right click the folder you want to share in XP and select Sharing. In Vista you need to go to Network and Sharing in Control Panel and turn on sharing, then the Public folder is the easiest way to share.

darklordjames:
I did not copy and paste what you provided, but from your information and the link, this is what I tried.
<pictures>
<default>pictures</default>
<source>
<name>My Pictures</name>
<path>smb://WOLFE/My Pictures/</path>
</source>
</pictures>
My pictures appears in the xbmc pictures area and when I click it it says cannot connect to remote server, and when i add source and browse I see smb://"ip address"/My Pictures/ when I click that I get invalid computer name.

I enabled sharing on that folder, I tried it with my zone alarm fire wall off and I tried changing my computer name in the path to the ip address. All ended with the same response.

Hopefully a quick one, does anybody know if there is a way to disable the viewed movie check mark in library mode that PMIII does? I find it quite annoying..

<pictures>
<default>Wolfe Pictures</default>
<bookmark>
<name>Wolfe Pictures</name>
<path>smb://WOLFE/(share name)/My Pictures/</path>
</bookmark>
</pictures>


Try this.

Default is where you start out in when you select My Pictures in the root of XBMC.

Your SMB path needs the name of the share put into it. So replace "(share name)" with that. In the end, the path should look very similar to that of what you get when you look at a share through Windows Explorer.

You also need the BOOKMARK tags for each item that you want to link to. At least, that is how it has always worked for me. SOURCE may work too, but I've never tried it. :)

FWIW, the "bookmark" tag is being deprecated in favor of "source" per this thread (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27023).

Quick update regarding my woes: Disabling the on-board 802.11g on my Vista box causes the stream to freeze (followed by an "Invalid computer name" error) within a few minutes of watching the video. Enabling 802.11g and disabling the on-board ethernet causes it to freeze at a point a couple of minutes later. Leaving both enabled results in the video playing without problems. I think it's actually using the 802.11g to stream the video from the desktop to the router (2 feet away), which I don't like. Meh.

darklordjames:
I did not copy and paste what you provided, but from your information and the link, this is what I tried.
<pictures>
<default>pictures</default>
<source>
<name>My Pictures</name>
<path>smb://WOLFE/My Pictures/</path>
</source>
</pictures>
My pictures appears in the xbmc pictures area and when I click it it says cannot connect to remote server, and when i add source and browse I see smb://"ip address"/My Pictures/ when I click that I get invalid computer name.

I enabled sharing on that folder, I tried it with my zone alarm fire wall off and I tried changing my computer name in the path to the ip address. All ended with the same response.

Asssuming your using windows the problem is that you dont have guest sharing enabled. but since you dont answer the questions I posed I guess I can't really help you...

For those who dont understand MS Networking and dont want the hassle an easy way around this is to use CCX Gui which bypass MS Networking authentication issues and proves easier for noobies who dont know much about networking.

http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Windows_ccx_gui_(xbms)#How_to_configure_CCXGui_on_you r_Windows_computer

Sean

FWIW, the "bookmark" tag is being deprecated in favor of "source" per this thread (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27023).

Quick update regarding my woes: Disabling the on-board 802.11g on my Vista box causes the stream to freeze (followed by an "Invalid computer name" error) within a few minutes of watching the video. Enabling 802.11g and disabling the on-board ethernet causes it to freeze at a point a couple of minutes later. Leaving both enabled results in the video playing without problems. I think it's actually using the 802.11g to stream the video from the desktop to the router (2 feet away), which I don't like. Meh.

gotta love vista... IF vista were working right this should not be an issue. If you bring up task manager network section you can see the amount of data being passed across each interface in bytes if you add the columns bytes sent per interval, bytes received per interval.... This can be useful for debugging this... If it starts playing with wired networking and then stops to me that indicates a problem with your wired network. check and swap cables, switches hubs, etc... The only reason the primary connection should fail over to wireless is if problems occur on the wired side. Are you running 10,100,1000 and is everything full duplex?

Sean

Sean, my ethernet settings were set to Auto Negotiate. I switched this over to 100 Full Duplex before running my test, so that didn't help. I noticed that my router's firmware was pretty old, so I may try updating that today. Prior to that, I'll try swapping in a different ethernet cable.

Sean, my ethernet settings were set to Auto Negotiate. I switched this over to 100 Full Duplex before running my test, so that didn't help. I noticed that my router's firmware was pretty old, so I may try updating that today. Prior to that, I'll try swapping in a different ethernet cable.

good... try swapping cables and stuff.... When there is more than one interface present windows uses a cost based algorithm that computes the cost of one interface versus another. The ethernet interface should have the lowest cost and always be used. If it switches over to wifi thats because something has impeded the ethernet and made the cost higher. This should never happen under normal circumstances. I actually have never seen this happen or a bug like you describe in 15 years of using windows. Something is definetely weird...

Sean

"FWIW, the "bookmark" tag is being deprecated in favor of "source" per this thread (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27023)."

Good to know! Appearantly "bookmark" is being left in as well, but "source" is preferred. I've been using the same basic sources.xml info since before there was an individual sources.xml and there was just one big XML file for all settings. :)

"FWIW, the "bookmark" tag is being deprecated in favor of "source" per this thread (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27023)."

Good to know! Appearantly "bookmark" is being left in as well, but "source" is preferred. I've been using the same basic sources.xml info since before there was an individual sources.xml and there was just one big XML file for all settings. :)

Samehere....

unlrelated question on bookmarks. A while back before there was the ADD Sources GUI there was the bookmark feature where you could add tabs on the left in PM3 screens like where the views selector is and such. Did that go away in favor of the add sources GUI.... It seemed to be another way to do the same thing except the items were added in the very left pane of the GUI versus the traditional data pane....

Sean

darklordjames:
I am feeling dumber by the minute, I just can't get this. I keep getting the same two error. When I click on pictures from XBMC dash I get invalid computer name, when I go back to the root I see Wolfe Pictures click it and get cannot connect to remote server. By share you meant the share name of the folder I want to access. And does that folder need to be in the shared documents area of my computer?

sean:
I think you are right it is a windows problem. I am running windows xp home edition. I have tried disabling the firewall (both windows and zone alarm), I do not have any other computers on the network to test. Right now I have the xp comp, the modded xbox and a xbox 360 connected to a router. I have tried ccxgui, but I would like to work through smb. Where do you suggest I start? And can you dumb it down for me.

darklordjames:
I am feeling dumber by the minute. I still can't get this. I get the same to errors. When I click pictures at the xbmc dash I get invalid computer name, and then when I back out to the root I see Wolfe Pictures, when I click that I get cannot connect to server. By share you meant the share name for the folder I want to connect to? Also do my folders that I set to share on the network need to be in the shared folders section of my computer.

sean:
I think you are right, it is a windows problem. I am running windows xp home ed. sp2, I have no other pcs on the network, I have tried to connect with firewalls turned off(both windows and zone alarm), I have my PC, modded xbox and xbox360 connected to a router. Where should I start? If you can dumb it down for me.

"unlrelated question on bookmarks."

I wouldn't know. :) I've never added a source any other way that just hand-editing the XML.

"When I click pictures at the xbmc dash I get invalid computer name, and then when I back out to the root I see Wolfe Pictures, when I click that I get cannot connect to server. By share you meant the share name for the folder I want to connect to? Also do my folders that I set to share on the network need to be in the shared folders section of my computer."

The path seems to be messed up. Everything else seems to work properly now. :) Let's see if you are sharing the folder properly.

Open Windows Explorer. Click Network. The computers on your network should show up. Click your computer (named WOLFE, right? double check). Any root folders that are shared will show up here. That folder's name is the name of your share "(share name)" in the above XML snippet.

So in my case, my computer is LORDJAMES, from which I share my PUBLIC folder, and inside of that is my MUSIC folder, which holds my music files. So my music SMB share would be:
<path>smb://LORDJAMES/Public/Music/</path>

If you share the folder directly by right-clicking MY PICTURES in My Documents and selecting SHARING and following the on-screen instructions, then that folder will show up in NETWORK/WOLFE directly. So your SMB share in that case would be:
<path>smb://WOLFE/(share name)/</path>
...where (SHARE NAME) is what you named the share, not the name of the folder that you are sharing.

If that makes sense. :)

darklordjames:
I am feeling dumber by the minute. I still can't get this. I get the same to errors. When I click pictures at the xbmc dash I get invalid computer name, and then when I back out to the root I see Wolfe Pictures, when I click that I get cannot connect to server. By share you meant the share name for the folder I want to connect to? Also do my folders that I set to share on the network need to be in the shared folders section of my computer.

sean:
I think you are right, it is a windows problem. I am running windows xp home ed. sp2, I have no other pcs on the network, I have tried to connect with firewalls turned off(both windows and zone alarm), I have my PC, modded xbox and xbox360 connected to a router. Where should I start? If you can dumb it down for me.

That helps. if you were using XP pro it works differently.

There are two sharing modes in XP home simple and regular. Try these instructions for simple filesharing. Usually this is the easiest way to setup non authenticated file sharing. Otherwise we have to deal with account permissions etc...

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/filesharing.htm

Sean

darklordjames:
I use windows explorer and click on my network places and localnetwork: D-Link Router and The Internet: My web sites on MSN. If I go to network connections I have broadband and all are disconnected, Internet gateway:connected/internet connection, and I have Lan or High speed internet: Local area connections and 1394 connection and both say connected. I do not see my computer name anywhere.

sean:
I used your link and followed the steps when I open pictures from the xbmc dash I get error 1073741772 share not available, i click back then wolfe pictures is there I click that and network server not available. Also tried with firewall shut down

thank you both for continuing to help.

So I did some quick testing on my NAS and the difference is not 20 seconds but there is a difference. ISO's start playing on my network in 1-2 seconds where VOB folders took 6-12 seconds. I also rip most everything for ISO's but keep some vob folders around for test purposes like this.

I'm seeing VIDEO_TS/VOB playback times of about 2 seconds and ISO times of about 1 second. This is with a wired 100mb network; the server is running Ubuntu Linux 7.10 and Samba with the files sitting on a 5x750gb software RAID-5 array. 'Auto resume from last position' is disabled.

With the 'auto resume from last position' option enabled then playback from ISOs is even faster -- at least for ISOs that have been viewed (fully or partially) previously -- no more than 1/2 second before playback begins. But playback from VIDEO_TS folders seems to be a bit slower when this option is enabled (extra 1-2 seconds).

Speaking of XIR's my budddy did a couple of them and I finally broke down and ordered some v1 and v2's. Has anyone had success using the macro features on the Harmony remotes to support the three key press sequence required my the V2 XIR...

Sean

Excuse my limited usefullness here, but I got mine to work. I added commands to turn on the Xbox (using Display) and turn it off (send 0, wait, send 0, wait, send 0) with my Harmony 890. I'm not near that PC to remember how I added the commands, as I am still a noob at negotiating the Harmony menus. My Pronto was easier for me....
I am using the Xecuter version of the Xir, which is the same parts and uses basically the same software.

darklordjames:
I use windows explorer and click on my network places and localnetwork: D-Link Router and The Internet: My web sites on MSN. If I go to network connections I have broadband and all are disconnected, Internet gateway:connected/internet connection, and I have Lan or High speed internet: Local area connections and 1394 connection and both say connected. I do not see my computer name anywhere.

sean:
I used your link and followed the steps when I open pictures from the xbmc dash I get error 1073741772 share not available, i click back then wolfe pictures is there I click that and network server not available. Also tried with firewall shut down

thank you both for continuing to help.

I recommend using XBSMP to eliminate and bypass all these issues since you are not familar with MS Networking and cotinue to have problems. I posted the link above. Install CCXGUI and you will be up and running in 10 minutes. This approach works well for non PC networking experts as it bypasses all that. It will work the same as the SMB....

Sean

darklordjames and sean:
I got it. I made sure the PC and XBOX were in the same workgroup And then on the PC clicked add a network place, then it showed up correctly.

Thanks again for your help. I am sure I will be back with more questions.

Update: I think I'm working now, though I can't really say for sure what was wrong or how it got fixed. I still think there was some sort of cache-related issue. I can update you all on some of the settings I changed later, but right now I'm looking for some thoughts/opinions from others on file mode vs library mode.

Which do you use for your movies? File mode or library mode? On the one hand, I like the fact the library mode automagically categorizes the movies, allows for searching, etc. OTOH, I think it over-categorizes the movies. For my currently ripped movies, I've got 16 different genres. I'd like to collapse that list down to about six different "high level" genres.

Just updated to pimped version from 2/18 and my PMIII skin is messed up... its missing text in nearly all of the buttons and other settings... anyone know what could be causing this? Other skins seem fine.

Also, can the Harmony 880 power off a softmodded xbmc(w/ remote dongle)? Have read differing opinions but haven't had any luck.

Thanks for your help

"Which do you use for your movies?"

As with most sorting systems, I find them to be far more complicated than just alphabetical files. File mode for me!

"Also, can the Harmony 880 power off a softmodded xbmc(w/ remote dongle)?"

Appearantly, the Media Center Exender For Xbox profile has a power off function that works in XBMC. I haven't tested it personally, yet.

Just updated to pimped version from 2/18 and my PMIII skin is messed up... its missing text in nearly all of the buttons and other settings... anyone know what could be causing this? Other skins seem fine.

Also, can the Harmony 880 power off a softmodded xbmc(w/ remote dongle)? Have read differing opinions but haven't had any luck.

Thanks for your help

1. Something is corrupt.... Follow these instructions and it will work.... Also make sure you are uploading a complete software image and overwrite everything.

from the XBMC Online Manual:

Fixing Failed Installations

At times, major changes to the XBMC software will cause issues with upgrading. You may experience problems such as a complete failure to load, loss of sound/audio, or lack of controller function. Use the following procedures to remedy this problem:
Older Installations (Older than 5 June, 2006)

In older builds compiled prior to 5 June, 2006, simply delete the following folders:

* E:\TDATA\0face008\
* E:\UDATA\0face008\

Also, ensure that you are using a clean install of XBMC, one that uses no information or files from a previous build, such as the UserData folder and its contents.
Newer Installations (Builds Newer than 5 June, 2006)

In the event that XBMC fails to load properly after an upgrade, simply delete the \UserData folder from your XBOX and replace it with the one included with your build.
Note: Deleting the \UserData folder will remove all of your existing settings, thumbnails, IMDb information, keymapping, etc!

2. Yes

Sean

Thanks Sean, I will have to try that. Was upgrading from a December build and did try to overwrite everything, in fact I moved my userdata folder to a backup during the install and PMIII was still missing pieces. I will try to reinstall it again and hope it makes a difference.
Just got a NAS and am trying to get everything organized... and trying to also find some WOL stuff to run on the XBMC.

Thanks for your help
Matt

Thanks Sean, I will have to try that. Was upgrading from a December build and did try to overwrite everything, in fact I moved my userdata folder to a backup during the install and PMIII was still missing pieces. I will try to reinstall it again and hope it makes a difference.
Just got a NAS and am trying to get everything organized... and trying to also find some WOL stuff to run on the XBMC.

Thanks for your help
Matt

Fixed it by deleting the PMIII directory and re-ftping it. Glad I didn't have to remove userdata.

Anyone using a Wake ON LAN script from XBMC to NAS or PC?

Any other opinions on file mode vs library mode for movies? I'm leaning towards using file mode where I'd create a handful of directories/genres and categorize my movies myself.

Any other opinions on file mode vs library mode for movies? I'm leaning towards using file mode where I'd create a handful of directories/genres and categorize my movies myself.

I like the views that are available in the library mode and use that mode the most. For your case, you may be better off using file mode to do your custom genres. Another alternative (though more time consuming) would be to create an .nfo file for your movies where you can specify the genre directly and it will be applied in library mode.

Why even split by genre? It sounds like you are just making more work for yourself. :)

While we're talking about organization, is there any way to have custom lists in library mode? For example you can sort by name, genre, date, etc, but I'm currently working on getting all the academy award winner dvds and it'd be nice if you could have more sorts like: Academy Award Winners, Criterion, etc. Possible?

When I'm done ripping my collection I'll have a lot of movies there (and growing), so I think that a single list would be too much for those times when we're in the mood to watch "something" but don't a particular movie in mind (but do have a general genre like Comedy or Action).

Ja Phule, I've been monitoring a thread at the xbmc.org forums where a guy has written an app that creates the .nfo files, and I've been thinking about doing exactly what you're talking about and modifying the genres to limit them.

transic, I believe that modifying the .nfo XML data is probably your best bet. Take a look at this thread:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31511

Regarding the questions posed earlier about being able to turn off a softmodded XBox with a Harmony remote...that's what I'm doing. I've added two devices to my Harmony 360 remote to handle the XBox: 1) XBox Media Center Extender, and 2) XBox (under the Game Systems with DVD player). By adding these two, I think I've got all the buttons covered. The Media Center Extender profile gives me the PowerToggle option (which turns off the device but can't turn it on) and most every other button I need except for Title which the XBox profile gives me.

I dont know how to add metadata to the database. but you easily can create a playlist of award winners as a means to group them together. That will work in both file and library view.

Sean

When I'm done ripping my collection I'll have a lot of movies there (and growing), so I think that a single list would be too much for those times when we're in the mood to watch "something" but don't a particular movie in mind (but do have a general genre like Comedy or Action).

Ja Phule, I've been monitoring a thread at the xbmc.org forums where a guy has written an app that creates the .nfo files, and I've been thinking about doing exactly what you're talking about and modifying the genres to limit them.

That's interesting, I'm glad to hear that someone is working on a .nfo app for xbmc. I was thinking as I was typing that post that an app like that would be great.

transic, I believe that modifying the .nfo XML data is probably your best bet. Take a look at this thread:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31511.

I dont know how to add metadata to the database. but you easily can create a playlist of award winners as a means to group them together. That will work in both file and library view.

Sean

Thanks guys! I'll check out the playlist options and .nfo stuff when my new PJ bulb comes in..

BTW: Both t3ch and pimped have new builds in the last few days...

2008-03-16 12146 fixed: default scraper settings failed to load if you entered settings but hit cancel
2008-03-16 12128 fixed: wrong id was being used for "Language Override" causing language preference regards banners to be ignored.
2008-03-16 12122 Updated : Danish Language file
2008-03-15 12118 fixed: plugin/scraper settings, defaults set label2 for type "action"
2008-03-15 12109 added: new plugin/scraper setting type "action", it allows you to execute a builtin from settings. "option" may be set to "close" to close the settings dialog when you click the setting. e.g. <setting type="action" label="30090" option="close" default="RunPlugin(plugin://video/Apple Movie Trailers Plugin/?update=newest)
2008-03-14 12092 fixed: play using did not work in library mode
2008-03-14 12089 changed: movieposterdb default to false in scraper settings (not the quickest of sites)
2008-03-14 12084 fixed: filmgrain setting defaulted to 1
2008-03-14 12083 changed: moved scraper settings to a separate cpp file (backport from linux branch 12059)
2008-03-14 12081 fixed: dvdmenu button was visible on videoosd when its not needed
2008-03-13 12079 fixed/changed: backported from linux branch (12057, 12058, 12060, 12062, 12065, 12066)
2008-03-13 12078 Added : Year Value to the end of the Album name in Full screen music info Changed : Localized a string in Codec info in Full screen music info
2008-03-13 12075 Fixed : Filemanager ( Xbox ) When C,E,F,G drives is used, free space labels not fit in some languages. SF Patch [ 1913299 ]
2008-03-13 12054 fixed: large tag chunks would crash the flac tag loader (backport from linux branch 12053)
2008-03-12 12049 fixed: various video library search issues ([ 1876756 ], [ 1880289 ]) (backport from linux)
2008-03-12 12045 fixed: libcmyth would log error when closing files due to parsing "ok" as an integer changed: don't allow libcmyth to open files with 0 size. backend doesn't fail open on non existing files, just give a filesize of 0
2008-03-12 12043 fixed: and yet again i forget that our filesystem returns unsigned longs not longs..
2008-03-12 12041 updated: Portuguese (Brazil) translation, thanks mrbeetle.
2008-03-12 12040 merged: r12038, 12039 from linux branch.
2008-03-12 12037 fixed: make separator in local season thumbs optional (backport from linux branch)
2008-03-11 12031 Fixed: If no plotsummary exists use plotoutline rather than returning "Not Available"
2008-03-10 11975 fixed: don't enable edit title in context menu for season items (backport from linux branch)
2008-03-09 11974 merged: r11971, r11972 from linux branch to trunk
2008-03-09 11970 fixed: audiostream from dvd's got overridden by subtitle streams. (not possible to select audio streams from osd)
2008-03-09 11968 fixed: crash loading (a somewhat corrupt) playlist (backport from linuxbranch rev. 11967)
2008-03-09 11964 fixed: high cpu usage during mythtv livetv playback due to socket select resetting timeout values
2008-03-08 11954 changed: better method of listing available channels (should now also show current program) changed: mythtv client now allows starting livetv on same channel that currently recording. then it usually works to return a recording to livetv status from the record button.
2008-03-08 11950 fixed: setrecording on and off accessed filesystem from wrong thread, explained why it didn't work on xbox fixed: dvdplayer could deadlock on exit if it didn't start playing properly fixed: access violoation when dvdplayer was exiting if application asked for recording state
2008-03-08 11941 updated: filmaffinity movie scraper (thx HectorziN for patch)
2008-03-08 11940 added: excalibur adult movie scraper (submitted by anonymous)
2008-03-08 11939 updated: jaded video adult movie scraper (thx The_Dot for patch)
2008-03-08 11938 updated: filmweb.pl movie scraper (thx smuto for patch)
2008-03-08 11925 Added : Sourceforge patch [ 1900373 ] add missing glyphs to FrancophilSans, add 1250 Latin2: Eastern Europe (complete). thanks smuto
2008-03-08 11924 Fixed : Video and Music Overlays covered the Flatten Library Button in video library window Added : Total time as well as current time to video and music overlays
2008-03-07 11923 added: mythtv - livetv output on fullscreen video information : channel logo, channel number + name, description, duration. uses videoplayer.content(livetv) condition
2008-03-07 11922 changed: videoplayer.content now returns livetv for livetv sendings
2008-03-07 11921 fixed: inconsistent line endings
2008-03-07 11920 fixed: mythclient would throw an exception if it failed to load dll.
2008-03-07 11919 updated: Swedish language file by blittan (based on english 11916)
2008-03-07 11918 merged r11906, r11912 from linux branch (livetv icons from mythtv backend)
2008-03-07 11917 updated: Finnish, Dutch, and (maybe) Chinese language files.
2008-03-07 11916 changed: changed "Flatten tvshow if only a single season" to "Flatten TV Show if only a single season" for consistency
2008-03-07 11915 added: option to Flatten tvshow if only a single season in video settings > library - defaults true
2008-03-06 11902 fixed: occasional crash on startup in rss feed. (backport from linux branch, thanks vulkanr)
2008-03-06 11899 fixed: directors/writers previous caching of html was incorrect
2008-03-06 11898 fixed: directors/writers results from imdb
2008-03-05 11897 fixed: google video urls would not play with dvdplayer
2008-03-05 11896 fixed: movieposterdb did not like old url template on output, this fix avoids redirection which ended in unusual results for posters.
2008-03-05 11895 changed: English language file, added id#661 "Choose Export Folder" and changed export video library browse dialog to use this id. (Thanks to YouKnowWho)
2008-03-05 11890 replace backwards so that $$1 will not mess $$10 and so on.
2008-03-05 11889 updated: imdb/imdbtv scrapers to make use of extra buffers we have to play with (thx d4rk and gbd)
2008-03-05 11887 increase number of scraper buffers to 20
2008-03-05 11884 fixed: Video library flattening incorrectly operated on recently added items.
2008-03-04 11883 fixed: minor thumb handling bug in httpapi GetCurrentlyPlaying
2008-03-04 11882 updated: Greek and Portugeuse (Brazil) translations, thanks ydatografida and mrbeetle
2008-03-03 11880 fixed: dont fail if url got no title assigned - set it to not available instead (backported from linux branch)
2008-03-03 11877 changed: reorder retreival of current program info in CMythFile
2008-03-03 11876 fixed: cmyth_livetv_keep_recording was not defined under EXPORTS
2008-03-03 11870 added: support for toggling recording state agains mythtv backend, (same as pressing 'r' on official mythfrontend), needs skinsupport (player.canrecord, player.recording, player.record) [backport from linux : r11866], this includes fix (IsRecording didn't update properly when toggles : r11869)
2008-03-02 11865 fixed: overzealous logging when attempting to wipe a file list cache that does not exist
2008-03-02 11860 fixed: tidied up some HttpApi code. Added GetLogLevel and SetLogLevel commands.
2008-03-02 11858 changed: add subtitle for dvdplayer should display ifo files as it support vobsubs now
2008-03-02 11857 sync norwegian strings with linuxport. thanks cptspiff.
2008-03-02 11854 modified: minor changes to both IMDb scrapers
2008-03-02 11852 added: override primary language setting for banners - large proportion of banners are english so returned poor results for other languages
2008-03-01 11851 updated: Swedish language file by blittan (based on english 11819)
2008-03-01 11850 updated: english language file contained two entries of one string (20191)
2008-03-01 11849 merged: mythtv updates from linux branch merged: buffering fix from linux branch
2008-03-01 11846 fixed: IMDb tv scraper added: recent changes from IMDb movie scraper (scalable posters/photos, performance tweaks, full cast default="false" + general clean up)
2008-03-01 11845 fixed: TV.com scraper
2008-03-01 11844 removed silly debug logging
2008-03-01 11843 merged: seek changes for dvdplayer from linuxport
2008-03-01 11841 modified: TheTVDB.com scraper - series icons ordered as follows "graphical, text, blank" for consistency as they are not sorted into any order in source xml and ended up looking quite nasty when blank banners appeared randomly. Also, language selection in settings is now taken into consideration regards series/season banners. added: option to disable "Wide Season Icons" the navigation "Series (Wide), Season (Portrait), Episode (Landscape)" feels more natural.
2008-02-29 11840 fixed: tvdb site change (translation > SeriesName) caused problems with GetSeries
2008-02-29 11839 fixed: debug log would report 'Error: Invalid URL' if actors did not have photos - added expression to clean _SY$INFO[imdbscale]_ instead of reporting an error if a valid url (http://actorphoto_SY###_.jpg) cannot be obtained from iMDB.
2008-02-29 11836 updated: Finnish, Protuguese (Brazil), Danish, and Norwegian translations. Thanks mikko70, mrbeetle, buchwaldsource, and k-pax.
2008-02-28 11834 fixed: Python's ListItem_SetProperty() method would not accept unicode text.
2008-02-27 11825 fixed: removed unnecessary PCRE flag
2008-02-26 11819 merged: r11782 from linux branch into trunk (tune in to lastfm similar artists from within the music info dialog (if lastfm is enabled))
2008-02-25 11805 fixed: myth client wouldn't display channel name in info screen.
2008-02-25 11802 changed: allow global debug level setting to control level of libcmyth debug logs. if set at >= 3 you enabled full libcmyth debugging, which includes function trace.
2008-02-25 11801 changed: use prev/next action to switch channel with mythtv client
2008-02-25 11800 cosmetic: compile warnings removed
2008-02-25 11799 merged: r11797, r11798 from linux branch into trunk (mythtv session)
2008-02-25 11795 fixed: change to pcre broke old zip url handling (no presets in milkdrop)
2008-02-25 11794 updated: Portugues translations, thanks mrbeetle
2008-02-25 11793 modified: few tweaks to imdb scraper to use cached data rather than constantly hit imdb - results is a nice increase in speed on lookups
2008-02-25 11792 fixed: flag the outputted xml as utf-8 encoded for details in series/episodes added: user ratings
2008-02-25 11790 fixed: imdb lookups sometimes contained chars that were not utf-8 compatible (removed PCRE_UTF8 as a temporary solution)
2008-02-25 11788 added: [ 1899017 ] built in function for controlling container sort (Container.SetSortMethod) thanks to agathorn.
2008-02-24 11787 added: imdb scraper now has scale setting choose how large you want your downloaded thumbs to be on defined on height - default 192 which is the current xbox thumbsize cache size, linux user may wish to push this to 512 or above
2008-02-24 11786 added: tvdb zip support (now we download the entire series and decompress the file to a temp location) z:\scrapers\<seriesid>.xml example - instead of downloading a 206k xml file containing all series info its now a 39k zip saving lots of bandwidth
2008-02-24 11785 fixed: posters + actor thumbs on imdb (patch courtesy of upsite) fixed: movieposterdb posters (removed ordering of posters eg US,ANY,NONE) to many minor changes break it
2008-02-24 11784 fixed: Video library flatten didn't work for tvshows.
2008-02-24 11783 fixed: Enable PCRE in release and win32 builds.
2008-02-24 11780 changed: Python's ListItem_SetInfo() can now set exif info. (not finished) (Thanks to cpt... err I mean just jmarshall, yeah)
2008-02-24 11779 updated: Swedish language file by blittan (based on english 11774)
2008-02-23 11778 fixed: Panel onclick selection wasn't working correctly.
2008-02-23 11777 fixed: Static lists didn't scroll after last commit.
2008-02-23 11775 fixed: Wraplists with less items than item "slots" would animate weirdly.
2008-02-23 11774 Added : Option to Flatten Library Directory structure, Clicking Movies, TV, etc takes you directly to the Title list (Displays all Movies/Shows) instead of sub category select with Genre/Actor/Year etc. Option Button is located on the side of the video library window. Skinners need to add a button of id="17" to the MyVideoNav.xml for this to work in their skin
2008-02-22 11772 changed: BUILD_WIN32 to BUILD_WIN32\Xmbc_PC fixed: run_me.bat for BUILD_WIN32 is now more system friendly added: BUILD_WIN32 \temp folder creation for XBMC_PC.EXE
2008-02-22 11771 added: XBMC Logo in batch file added: build menu for XBOX and WIN32 added: compile and create XBMC_PC WIN32 working build like XBE ( new folder BUILD_WIN32 ) also rar support added: ability to make "quick builds" for XBOX and WIN32 builds added: run_me.bat creator, which will create subst start xbmc_pc.exe, on xbmc_pc.exe exit clean up again
2008-02-22 11770 changed: Don't wrap in containers if <onleft> et al is set with a builtin action. We now only wrap if no <onleft> is present, or if <onleft> is the control's id.
2008-02-22 11769 fixed: Pythons ListItem_SetInfo() would error setting certain infolabels for type "Pictures" (Thanks JMarshall)
2008-02-21 11766 Changed: some cleanup in libPlatinum project files
2008-02-20 11763 fixed: %lld for 64bit ints is invalid in msvc.
2008-02-20 11762 merged: libcmyth changes from linux branch
2008-02-20 11760 added: zip support for scraping - new thetvdb scraper to follow shortly (thx gbd)
2008-02-20 11759 added: support for PCRE based regex matching (thx d4rk for initial work and gbd for lib).
2008-02-20 11747 Fixed: UPnP Renderer now receives moderated events properly
2008-02-20 11745 Changed: now uses port 81 for UPnP File server. Xbox 360 seems happy. Fixed: Platinum scons Build, Added MediaConnect target Fixed: Better handling of divx mimetype for Xbox 360 (divx must be avi)
2008-02-18 11735 fixed: SetDefaults() for plugin/scraper settings would fail if no "default" attribute existed. (Thanks sgtdiff)
2008-02-18 11733 fixed: forgotten file
2008-02-18 11730 cosmetics spotted while merging to linux
2008-02-18 11725 merged: dvdplayer changes required for mythtv (from linux branch) merged: cosmetic and warning changes to dvdplayer (from linux branch) merged: mythtv filesystem client using libcmyth client (from linux branch)
2008-02-18 11724 fixed: dosmaperr is only needed when compiling using msvc due to it being defined in libcmt not msvcrt
2008-02-18 11722 added: libmysqlclient.lib and headers, if anything else needs it, it probably should be moved out of the libcmyth dir. added: project to build libcmyth as a dll for xbox/windows builds
2008-02-18 11721 cosmetic: yet some more msvc warning fixes
2008-02-18 11720 changed: some more msvc fixes for libcmyth
2008-02-18 11718 changed: plugin-scraper settings, add a new type "labelenum". saves the actual value not the spinner position, similar to "fileenum" (Thanks to c-quel, but not cptspiff as he had absolutely nothing to do with it, honestly)
2008-02-18 11717 changed: some more fixed for msvc compile of libcmyth
2008-02-18 11716 merged: source for libcmyth into trunk (forgotten file)
2008-02-18 11715 changed: libcmyth is now compilable with msvc (project files comes later)
2008-02-18 11714 merged: source for libcmyth into trunk
2008-02-18 11707 added: Option to enable debug logging from the GUI (system settings).
2008-02-18 11705 changed: GUI and advanced settings outside of their allowable range now change to the max or min, rather than the default.

Sean

Thanks for the heads-up Sean. A couple of things:

1) I noticed mention of being able to increase thumb sizes. Does anyone know if it's possible to increase the resolution when using an XBox or is the default size as good as the XBox can allow? One complaint I have is that I wish the coverart was higher-res.

2) This would be my first upgrade (as a noob, I got the latest and greatest when I softmodded my XBox not long ago). What's the recommended approach for upgrading from a recent version (in my case, the *most* recent version)? Should I just copy over the new files? What files should I *not* overwrite (i.e., which files contain my preference settings, etc.). I believe I have an option for upgrading somewhere within XBMC (a script related to the Krayzie mod I used perhaps?). Is that safe to use?

Thanks for the heads-up Sean. A couple of things:

1) I noticed mention of being able to increase thumb sizes. Does anyone know if it's possible to increase the resolution when using an XBox or is the default size as good as the XBox can allow? One complaint I have is that I wish the coverart was higher-res.



This is covered in the XBMC manual. increasing thumbsize will slow down the GUi though... Its up to you if thats acceptable. try it.


2) This would be my first upgrade (as a noob, I got the latest and greatest when I softmodded my XBox not long ago). What's the recommended approach for upgrading from a recent version (in my case, the *most* recent version)? Should I just copy over the new files? What files should I *not* overwrite (i.e., which files contain my preference settings, etc.). I believe I have an option for upgrading somewhere within XBMC (a script related to the Krayzie mod I used perhaps?). Is that safe to use?
[/quote]

Krazies and XBMC have nothing to do with each other. This topic as well is covered in the users guide...

Sean

Thanks for the tips on the POWERTOGGLE... can now turn if off.

Now that I have my NAS up and running, I have been ripping my dvd's on to it. I've noticed a couple of things w/ the xbmc movie playback(Pimped version 2/18)

1. I am using .iso's.... thought that is what most people here were using/recommending.. any disadvantage to them?

2. Am having issues with format of the movies during playback.
Some movies appear as wide screen when the dvd menu screen is showing, but the movie playback appears as 4:3(non wide screen). I have tried ripping the movie a couple different ways but it sill does it. Also some of them are showing up w/ subtitles on. I can fix both by changing the setting for each movie, but am wondering if there is a way to avoid having to do this for each movie.
Also this isn't happening on all my movies either.... any ideas?

3. All the movies seem to always stutter a few times right when I start watching them.... I'm guessing this could be an issue w/ memory and cache'ing on the xbox... I went pretty powerful on the NAS, so I don't think that is the issue. its not a huge issue but am wondering if anyone has seen this or adjusted their xbmc settings different than the default?

This topic is extremely helpful! So thanks in advance for the assistance!
jc

Thanks for the tips on the POWERTOGGLE... can now turn if off.

Now that I have my NAS up and running, I have been ripping my dvd's on to it. I've noticed a couple of things w/ the xbmc movie playback(Pimped version 2/18)

1. I am using .iso's.... thought that is what most people here were using/recommending.. any disadvantage to them?

2. Am having issues with format of the movies during playback.
Some movies appear as wide screen when the dvd menu screen is showing, but the movie playback appears as 4:3(non wide screen). I have tried ripping the movie a couple different ways but it sill does it. Also some of them are showing up w/ subtitles on. I can fix both by changing the setting for each movie, but am wondering if there is a way to avoid having to do this for each movie.
Also this isn't happening on all my movies either.... any ideas?

3. All the movies seem to always stutter a few times right when I start watching them.... I'm guessing this could be an issue w/ memory and cache'ing on the xbox... I went pretty powerful on the NAS, so I don't think that is the issue. its not a huge issue but am wondering if anyone has seen this or adjusted their xbmc settings different than the default?

This topic is extremely helpful! So thanks in advance for the assistance!
jc


1. nope not in my opinion.

2. subtitles default to be on. Just turn them off and then save the settings. scroll down if you dont see the save settings as default option but its not on the first page. as to format.

Did you set the display type to widescreen in the settings menu.
What is the display format in the OSD menu. Normal, Zoom, etc...

you just having a setting wrong. has nothing to do with ripping it unless its something weird we haven't seen.

3. I would guess its the NAS or your network. have 0 issues here with that with any of my 3 nas's though. you can always increase/decrease the cache size in the settings menu. Its not XBMC doing this... are you using wired fast ethernet and a switch? you dont have bit torrent running on your nas do you? What kind of NAS?

Sean

1. nope not in my opinion.

2. subtitles default to be on. Just turn them off and then save the settings. scroll down if you dont see the save settings as default option but its not on the first page. as to format.

Did you set the display type to widescreen in the settings menu.
What is the display format in the OSD menu. Normal, Zoom, etc...

you just having a setting wrong. has nothing to do with ripping it unless its something weird we haven't seen.

3. I would guess its the NAS or your network. have 0 issues here with that with any of my 3 nas's though. you can always increase/decrease the cache size in the settings menu. Its not XBMC doing this... are you using wired fast ethernet and a switch? you dont have bit torrent running on your nas do you? What kind of NAS?

Sean
Sean
2. The display is set to normal. I rechecked the disks and my pc is doing the same thing w/ the dvd, so it's the dvd itself. My dvd player connected to the tv must be set to stretch, since I didn't notice it there.
For the subtitles, I will look again at the options and look to adjust them.
3. I bought the THECUS n5200Pro, which is one of the more powerful consumer NAS out there... I have it connected to a gig switch and my xbox connected to a 100mb router.. and nothing else really running on the NAS. I've only noticed the stuters at the very begining of the movie. It usually pauses a couple times then is fine.

As always thanks Sean!

Sean
2. The display is set to normal. I rechecked the disks and my pc is doing the same thing w/ the dvd, so it's the dvd itself. My dvd player connected to the tv must be set to stretch, since I didn't notice it there.
For the subtitles, I will look again at the options and look to adjust them.
3. I bought the THECUS n5200Pro, which is one of the more powerful consumer NAS out there... I have it connected to a gig switch and my xbox connected to a 100mb router.. and nothing else really running on the NAS. I've only noticed the stuters at the very begining of the movie. It usually pauses a couple times then is fine.

As always thanks Sean!

normal is the proper mode.

again make the sure the display type is set correctly to. That is a different setting as well in the settings menu and not the OSD.

dunno I have a N5200 as well (which I regret ever buying). I dont have issues like that but I am at my other house where I have the infrant and the dell servers. I will be back with the N5200 and terastation soon and will check with the recent builds. Again try playing with the cache settings...

good luck,
Sean

normal is the proper mode.

again make the sure the display type is set correctly to. That is a different setting as well in the settings menu and not the OSD.

dunno I have a N5200 as well (which I regret ever buying). I dont have issues like that but I am at my other house where I have the infrant and the dell servers. I will be back with the N5200 and terastation soon and will check with the recent builds. Again try playing with the cache settings...

good luck,
Sean

Sean,
I found the audio options and have disabled the sub titles.
For video I have it set for widescreen in the settings menu. Is there a better setting?

I don't think I have an option to disable subtitles, was this a recent addition? I would LOVE to turn off subtitles - forever! Grr!

I use a somewhat slow NAS to stream high bitrate video to XBMC Linux and normal SD DVD to my XBOX, I have bumped up cache all over in the settings menu on the XBOX. I do have a Gig infrastructure but my NAS only peaks above 100meg. I don't see any stuttering on either system, bumping the cache up ought to help a good bit.

I don't think I have an option to disable subtitles, was this a recent addition? I would LOVE to turn off subtitles - forever! Grr!

I use a somewhat slow NAS to stream high bitrate video to XBMC Linux and normal SD DVD to my XBOX, I have bumped up cache all over in the settings menu on the XBOX. I do have a Gig infrastructure but my NAS only peaks above 100meg. I don't see any stuttering on either system, bumping the cache up ought to help a good bit.

Hi There....

The subtitles setting has been in there forever and the setting to save defaults....

Here's a pic of the screen in the OSD (start while video is playing) notice the option on the bottom...

http://xbmc.org/wiki/images/a/a4/AudioSubtitleSettings.png

Sean

Anyone been trying out High Quality Pixel shader v2 versus the original?

Later,
Sean

BTW: A poor disguise bump....

Anyone been trying out High Quality Pixel shader v2 versus the original?

Later,
Sean

BTW: A poor disguise bump....

LOL,

I checked the thread earlier and saw that it was waaaaay down at the bottom of the page and thought of doing the same...:D

And no to your question... but I plan to the next time we have movie night...

Anyone been trying out High Quality Pixel shader v2 versus the original?

Later,
Sean

BTW: A poor disguise bump....

You know....I actually noticed that it was there a week ago when I was playing with the Win32 version. I switched to it on my xbox after seeing it was available but I'm not sure what the difference is supposed to be.

Pixel Shader V2 combined with the "auto" or "bob" deinterlacing at 480p/720p is the absolute best deinterlacing for video sources like TV shows that you are likely to ever see in XBMC on Xbox. It's a combination of bob+weave that works out really well. As of the mid-February builds there seems to be an issue where "auto" tries to deinterlace film as well, which makes film look bad. As long as you change film to "none" when you watch a movie, then HQ PS V2 is the best available.

I need to update to the current release and see if they fixed "auto".

I was at a friens house who had Apple TV and it was set up to randomly show all the CD cover images within his collection, it looked real good and I was wondering if the XBMC can do a similar thing.
Has anyone else seen this? It is really cool
Thanks all who help in this forum.

Pixel Shader V2 combined with the "auto" or "bob" deinterlacing at 480p/720p is the absolute best deinterlacing for video sources like TV shows that you are likely to ever see in XBMC on Xbox. It's a combination of bob+weave that works out really well. As of the mid-February builds there seems to be an issue where "auto" tries to deinterlace film as well, which makes film look bad. As long as you change film to "none" when you watch a movie, then HQ PS V2 is the best available.

I need to update to the current release and see if they fixed "auto".

Its still broken....

1080i with Auto on the latest builds does not work and comes to a crawl and drops frames like crazy....

I will also say I can't see a difference between pixel shader v1 and v2....

Sean

I was at a friens house who had Apple TV and it was set up to randomly show all the CD cover images within his collection, it looked real good and I was wondering if the XBMC can do a similar thing.
Has anyone else seen this? It is really cool
Thanks all who help in this forum.

It depends... If you have all your music ripped with cover art in a folder.jpg then pick slideshow as screensaver and point it to your music dir.... It wont tile but it will random slide show cover art when the screensaver is running.

If you dont have folder.jpg's then the answer would be no.

Another interesting option is that the Vortex screen saver uses the currently playing cover art as part of its visualization on many of the presets.

Sean

I've spent the last 2 weeks reading thru the last 55 pages of this post and turning my xbox into xbmc. My dashboard was UnleashX V0.38, but I just got my xbox to boot straight to XBMC (almost latest pimped build). I love this thing and will be getting a second one shortly.

I was trying to backup some games I have thru the UnleashX dash (System/Misc/CopyGameDisc). Burnout Revenge backed up fine, but when I try Ralli Sport 2 it gave me "An error occured while copying 'D', Error Code: 112. The game plays fine when I run it from the disc. Anyone know what this is.... I'm still using the original hd, did I run out of room already? Is there a way I can FTP the game over?

I should have my 3.5TB unraid server up and running next weekend so I want to have this box ready to go so I can start ripping all my DVD's to the server. Then I'll put a bigger HD in just so I can back up my games to it and not have to worry about the discs.

Something I just though of, has anyone gotten XBMC to work with a touch screen panel or the touch screen usb overlays for monitors?

Thanks!

J

I've spent the last 2 weeks reading thru the last 55 pages of this post and turning my xbox into xbmc. My dashboard was UnleashX V0.38, but I just got my xbox to boot straight to XBMC (almost latest pimped build). I love this thing and will be getting a second one shortly.

I was trying to backup some games I have thru the UnleashX dash (System/Misc/CopyGameDisc). Burnout Revenge backed up fine, but when I try Ralli Sport 2 it gave me "An error occured while copying 'D', Error Code: 112. The game plays fine when I run it from the disc. Anyone know what this is.... I'm still using the original hd, did I run out of room already? Is there a way I can FTP the game over?

I should have my 3.5TB unraid server up and running next weekend so I want to have this box ready to go so I can start ripping all my DVD's to the server. Then I'll put a bigger HD in just so I can back up my games to it and not have to worry about the discs.

Something I just though of, has anyone gotten XBMC to work with a touch screen panel or the touch screen usb overlays for monitors?

Thanks!

J

Couple things....

1. Just because it plays doesn't mean the disc is not scratched... Clean the disc thoroughly.
more here...

http://www.xbox-hq.com/html/xbox-tutorials-96.html


2. I recommend ripping games with DVD2Xbox. Its patches media checks and other assorted protections some games have that prohibit them from being on the HD. DVD2xbox is also handy as it rips to local HD or SMB Share...


3. Use Craxtion4 on your PC to create ISO's and burn backups

posts on xbox scene indicates this game can be ripped using dvd2xbox...

Welcome

Sean

I've spent the last 2 weeks reading thru the last 55 pages of this post and turning my xbox into xbmc. My dashboard was UnleashX V0.38, but I just got my xbox to boot straight to XBMC (almost latest pimped build). I love this thing and will be getting a second one shortly.

I was trying to backup some games I have thru the UnleashX dash (System/Misc/CopyGameDisc). Burnout Revenge backed up fine, but when I try Ralli Sport 2 it gave me "An error occured while copying 'D', Error Code: 112. The game plays fine when I run it from the disc. Anyone know what this is.... I'm still using the original hd, did I run out of room already? Is there a way I can FTP the game over?

I should have my 3.5TB unraid server up and running next weekend so I want to have this box ready to go so I can start ripping all my DVD's to the server. Then I'll put a bigger HD in just so I can back up my games to it and not have to worry about the discs.

Something I just though of, has anyone gotten XBMC to work with a touch screen panel or the touch screen usb overlays for monitors?

Thanks!

J

I have a hunch that the partition you are copying the game to is full... Go into file menu and see how much space you have left on each partition...

Welcome to the scene!

Hi everyone. I have been using xbmc for about one year and love it. I am thinking about adding a second xbox into the mix but can't seem to find my action replay device to get the proper game save on the memory card to perform the softmod. Is there a way to put the gamesave onto xbmc and copy it to a memory card from there?

Thanks!

The gamesave should decompress to a folder structure that matches up to what you will find on your E:. You could FTP over, or copy the save to a disc, and then copy it to a card from inside whatever dashboard you like.

Hi everyone. I have been using xbmc for about one year and love it. I am thinking about adding a second xbox into the mix but can't seem to find my action replay device to get the proper game save on the memory card to perform the softmod. Is there a way to put the gamesave onto xbmc and copy it to a memory card from there?

Thanks!

Sure plug the memory card into the modded xbox...

Use xbox gamesave manager to FTP the same to your Xbox in the proper location (this is a PC Software App)

hard to find these days since allxboxsaves.com went down but its here...
http://konsolenprofis.de/downloads/download2.php?id=703

I know the site is german but I verified this is the SW you want

use MS Dash to copy the gamesave to the memory card...

Sean

Thanks fella's. That seems pretty straightforward, I'll give it a shot.

Nick

Sorry for the double post but I saw the other post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=968184) before I came across this one and I now realize this may be the correct place to post this since my questions are more related to the XBMC than the Xbox360. Appreciate any feedback.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glad I came across this thread!

As many others here, I have also been looking for a media server for my home theater. Things I would like it to do include:
Movie playback - either from DVDs ripped to a PC, or by loading a DVD into the mediaserver's DVD drive or playing back downloaded content in the various formats (avi, mpeg, wmv and so on). It would be nice if there was some way to get the media server to playback HDDVD as well. For instance, I have one HDDVD player and few movies. Since this player is hooked up/dedicated to one TV, it would be great if I could purchase a standalone HDDVD drive (e.g. XBox360 HDDVD drive) and have the media server connect to the computer and playback the movie (with or without ripping it to the HDD first).
Music playback - either from PC or streaming over internet or by loading a CD into the drive
Stream Internet video
Control everything with a remote control (preferably one of my Harmony remotes)
Zero gaming

Before I read this thread, I was planning to get an Xbox360 as well as the add-on HDDVD drive, primarily for its media center extender capability. I had pretty much ruled out third party MCE devices (such as Dlink DSM-520).

However, per several posts on this thread, it looks like XBMC on an XBox might be better route to go. My questions are:
1. I imagine the XBMC box would need to be connected to the TV and to other devices on the home network using the ethernet port - is this correct?
2. For XBMC, does the Xbox need to be modded at the hardware level or are there software mods that also work? If hardware mod, is there a particular mod chip that works better than others for the purpose listed above?
3. Is it possible to stream internet video through XBMC and watch it on the TV?
4. Is it possible somehow playback HDDVDs through XBMC - either by hooking up the HDDVD drive to XBMC's USB port or by streaming content to XBMC from the HDDVD hooked up to a PC?

Thanks for any thoughts/input,
-Topper

If any sort of HD playback is your goal take a look at XBMC on Linux. The old XBOX has only a 733mhz P3 onboard and simply cannot handle the processing needed to play back HD content. You can get a weak 720P maybe and it will play SD DVD all day long but once you throw a high bitrate MKV at it the thing falls over - been there done that. LinuXBMC (http://xbmc.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=52&order=desc) is still under construction but it's damned nice and moving along FAST. It's also available on Windows and OSX but those are both poprts of the Linux code:D

If any sort of HD playback is your goal take a look at XBMC on Linux. The old XBOX has only a 733mhz P3 onboard and simply cannot handle the processing needed to play back HD content. You can get a weak 720P maybe and it will play SD DVD all day long but once you throw a high bitrate MKV at it the thing falls over - been there done that. LinuXBMC (http://xbmc.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=52&order=desc) is still under construction but it's damned nice and moving along FAST. It's also available on Windows and OSX but those are both poprts of the Linux code:D

Also please beware there are no media streamers or software that allow HD DVD playback or blueray playback over the network. YET!

if you want to play HD DVD's or Blueray you need a consumer player or a PC. Those are your only choices...

Sean

However, per several posts on this thread, it looks like XBMC on an XBox might be better route to go. My questions are:
1. I imagine the XBMC box would need to be connected to the TV and to other devices on the home network using the ethernet port - is this correct?
2. For XBMC, does the Xbox need to be modded at the hardware level or are there software mods that also work? If hardware mod, is there a particular mod chip that works better than others for the purpose listed above?
3. Is it possible to stream internet video through XBMC and watch it on the TV?
4. Is it possible somehow playback HDDVDs through XBMC - either by hooking up the HDDVD drive to XBMC's USB port or by streaming content to XBMC from the HDDVD hooked up to a PC?

Thanks for any thoughts/input,
-Topper

1. It doesn't need to be connected to a TV or your home network but its far more useful when it is....
2. there are hardware and software mods. These days softmods have acheived tremendous popularity. once you know what your doing you can softmod an xbox for free in 10 minutes...
3. Sure... Do you have something specific in mind?
4. no see my other post. There is no device in the world that streams BD or HDDVD at this time.

Sean

Hrm, not possible to stream HD-DVD or BD in a native form with menus etc. but I'm having quite the party ripping them to a NAS and playing them via a share using XBMC on Linux. No menus like with SD DVD but that's okay. HD-DVD are WAY easier BTW and BD are a royal PITA. This is a time consuming endeavor and you will need a great deal of storage. Figured at LEAST 10Gig per HD video unless you really crush them. SD DVD I do not compress, they take from 5-8Gig apiece thereabouts. You can squish them down too but I've not bothered. <shrug>

Hrm, not possible to stream HD-DVD or BD in a native form with menus etc. but I'm having quite the party ripping them to a NAS and playing them via a share using XBMC on Linux. No menus like with SD DVD but that's okay. HD-DVD are WAY easier BTW and BD are a royal PITA. This is a time consuming endeavor and you will need a great deal of storage. Figured at LEAST 10Gig per HD video unless you really crush them. SD DVD I do not compress, they take from 5-8Gig apiece thereabouts. You can squish them down too but I've not bothered. <shrug>

I would love to see some info on whats required. Rip with AnyDVD and then what?

Sean

Thanks for the responses, BLKMGK and sean!

If any sort of HD playback is your goal take a look at XBMC on Linux. The old XBOX has only a 733mhz P3 onboard and simply cannot handle the processing needed to play back HD content. You can get a weak 720P maybe and it will play SD DVD all day long but once you throw a high bitrate MKV at it the thing falls over - been there done that. LinuXBMC (http://xbmc.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=52&order=desc) is still under construction but it's damned nice and moving along FAST. It's also available on Windows and OSX but those are both poprts of the Linux code:D
Are the system requirements for the Windows port of XBMC any different than the one for LinuXBMC? I have very little experience with Linux and dont want to start playing around with it now if the Windows XBMC can do the same thing.

However, seeing how XBMC is now being ported to different/non-Xbox platforms, I have some older PCs sitting around (ranging from a P2-300, P3-800, Athlon XP-2100 (@1.7GHZ)) that it would great to use them to some use. For example, setup the P2-300 to run as a file server with FreeNAS or maybe for simply streaming video over the internet using XBMC ( or both ;) ) ?....Maybe use the P3-800 to run a Windows port of XBMC to do everything I listed in my previous post except playback HD content?...And maybe use the Athlon PC to playback HD content (mkv,h.264, ripped HDDVDs)? Not sure if I will be able to do any of these, but just brainstorming, I guess :D
Reading further as I type this post, looks like current problem/limitation with running XBMC on a Windows computer seems to be lack of support for remote controls as discussed here (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31779)? I have an MCE remote and I can use my harmony remote to emulate the MCE remote and send the commands to the MCE IR receiver in applications such as GBPVR, etc. However, doesnt look like XBMC for windows has support for this remote yet, other than maybe messing around with Girder and MCE remote as mentioned in the linked thread.

Also, I wonder if there is a minimum version of Windows (Windows 2000, XP, etc) that is needed for running the windows port of XBMC?

Also please beware there are no media streamers or software that allow HD DVD playback or blueray playback over the network. YET!

if you want to play HD DVD's or Blueray you need a consumer player or a PC. Those are your only choices...

Sean

1. It doesn't need to be connected to a TV or your home network but its far more useful when it is....
2. there are hardware and software mods. These days softmods have acheived tremendous popularity. once you know what your doing you can softmod an xbox for free in 10 minutes...
3. Sure... Do you have something specific in mind?
4. no see my other post. There is no device in the world that streams BD or HDDVD at this time.

Sean

2. That sounds great! Even tho I plan to eagerly follow the progress of the XBMC for Windows port, for my immediate needs, I may still look into doing this. The ROI makes it particluarly tempting as I can get a used XBox for around 60 bucks, perfrom a quick softmod and install XBMC and be up and running in a day or two. Moreover, sounds like I should be able to do everything in my original list with this solution except playing back HD content.
BTW, any idea if the softmods on the Xbox can be "undone" to restore the XBox to its original "un-modded" state in case it does not work out for any reason?
3. The Internet videos I am interested in streaming are usually http, rstp or mms streams. Looks like these instructions (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=HOW-TO:_Play_Internet_Streams) should help me play the streams?

Hrm, not possible to stream HD-DVD or BD in a native form with menus etc. but I'm having quite the party ripping them to a NAS and playing them via a share using XBMC on Linux. No menus like with SD DVD but that's okay. HD-DVD are WAY easier BTW and BD are a royal PITA. This is a time consuming endeavor and you will need a great deal of storage. Figured at LEAST 10Gig per HD video unless you really crush them. SD DVD I do not compress, they take from 5-8Gig apiece thereabouts. You can squish them down too but I've not bothered. <shrug>

I would love to see some info on whats required. Rip with AnyDVD and then what?

Sean

Am also eager to see how this could be done :D

Thanks for the responses, BLKMGK and sean!


Are the system requirements for the Windows port of XBMC any different than the one for LinuXBMC? I have very little experience with Linux and dont want to start playing around with it now if the Windows XBMC can do the same thing.

However, seeing how XBMC is now being ported to different/non-Xbox platforms, I have some older PCs sitting around (ranging from a P2-300, P3-800, Athlon XP-2100 (@1.7GHZ)) that it would great to use them to some use. For example, setup the P2-300 to run as a file server with FreeNAS or maybe for simply streaming video over the internet using XBMC ( or both ;) ) ?....Maybe use the P3-800 to run a Windows port of XBMC to do everything I listed in my previous post except playback HD content?...And maybe use the Athlon PC to playback HD content (mkv,h.264, ripped HDDVDs)? Not sure if I will be able to do any of these, but just brainstorming, I guess :D
Reading further as I type this post, looks like current problem/limitation with running XBMC on a Windows computer seems to be lack of support for remote controls as discussed here (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31779)? I have an MCE remote and I can use my harmony remote to emulate the MCE remote and send the commands to the MCE IR receiver in applications such as GBPVR, etc. However, doesnt look like XBMC for windows has support for this remote yet, other than maybe messing around with Girder and MCE remote as mentioned in the linked thread.

Also, I wonder if there is a minimum version of Windows (Windows 2000, XP, etc) that is needed for running the windows port of XBMC?





2. That sounds great! Even tho I plan to eagerly follow the progress of the XBMC for Windows port, for my immediate needs, I may still look into doing this. The ROI makes it particluarly tempting as I can get a used XBox for around 60 bucks, perfrom a quick softmod and install XBMC and be up and running in a day or two. Moreover, sounds like I should be able to do everything in my original list with this solution except playing back HD content.
BTW, any idea if the softmods on the Xbox can be "undone" to restore the XBox to its original "un-modded" state in case it does not work out for any reason?
3. The Internet videos I am interested in streaming are usually http, rstp or mms streams. Looks like these instructions (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=HOW-TO:_Play_Internet_Streams) should help me play the streams?





Am also eager to see how this could be done :D

Yes softmod is easily uninstallable.... you just need the right game and an action replay... Sounds like your fairly technical. The first one will consume an afternoon of reading and worrying but its so simple once you have done it. I have now softmodded in excess of 30 boxes with 0 issues. There are no functional differences between hard and soft mods. With the cost of xboxes down to $60 bucks at gamestop I have added 3 more at the winter house for a total of 12 xboxes between the 2 houses.... Its a very nice solution minus the HD. The HD thing will materialize...

Sean

I just ordered one today from Gamestop online. The local stores didn't have any and ebay has lots of xboxes, but they are usually sold bundled with 20 or so games that I don't need.

I would love to see some info on whats required. Rip with AnyDVD and then what?

Sean

BlackMagic....

any more you would like to share on this.... very interested...

Sean

Reading up on this further, it sounds like total cost could be almost twice what I had originally figured (i.e. ~$125 or so) - which breaks down to:

Xbox ($60+tax),
Action replay kit (seen this for ~$35 on ebay, not sure where else to get them from or if they are available for cheaper),
DVD kit (~$10)
Appropriate game such as Splinter Cell or certain versions of 007:AUF or Mech Assault (~$5-$10 used )


Does this sound correct? Am I missing any hardware required for this?

Thanks,
-Topper

Reading up on this further, it sounds like total cost could be almost twice what I had originally figured (i.e. ~$125 or so) - which breaks down to:

Action replay kit (seen this for ~$35 on ebay, not sure where else to get them from or if they are available for cheaper),



you might be able to save on this if you want to make your own cable. I spliced a usb cable (female end) to a xbox controller cable and used my own usb thumb drive and down loaded the action replay software and game save. Total cost $0

I found the instructions on this forum post
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/578329

you might be able to save on this if you want to make your own cable. I spliced a usb cable (female end) to a xbox controller cable and used my own usb thumb drive and down loaded the action replay software and game save. Total cost $0

I found the instructions on this forum post
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/578329

Cocophone - thanks for the link.

I did quickly peek through that website and will look into it further from home. Looks like the author has also made available a file with action replay software and pre-patched gamesaves. Does that mean I wouldnt need to purchase the games listed in my previous post as well. If so, that's even better as that will save me the cost of the used game as well as the hassle of trying to find a pre-patched version of these games.

Thanks for any input,
-Topper

Sorry guys, I didn't get an email notification until today that the thread had responses.... Probably the best place where I've explained what I'm doing is here -> http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=135361 there are other threads on Doom9 that are helpful including this one -> http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=129001 HD-DVD are EASY to work with, BluRay a PITA so far - grr! Those threads will hopefully get you pointed in the right direction. I'll be doing some more BD in a week or two so we'll see how it goes. I'm doing HD-DVD pretty regularly now that prices have dropped some.

XBMC for Windows I've not touched. Honestly I'm no pro at Linux but can get around, I've found XBMC EASY to setup on Linux and Ubuntu a joy to work with - mostly.

Reading up on this further, it sounds like total cost could be almost twice what I had originally figured (i.e. ~$125 or so) - which breaks down to:

Xbox ($60+tax),
Action replay kit (seen this for ~$35 on ebay, not sure where else to get them from or if they are available for cheaper),
DVD kit (~$10)
Appropriate game such as Splinter Cell or certain versions of 007:AUF or Mech Assault (~$5-$10 used )


Does this sound correct? Am I missing any hardware required for this?

Thanks,
-Topper

Probably a component cable video cable if you want to hook to HDTV...

http://www.amazon.com/Psyclone-Component-Video-Analog-Audio/dp/B0009X1OPS******sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1207258017&sr=8-1

Still about the cheapest media player going and all the others you buy because you will love the first one so much will be cheaper. :)

Sean

Cocophone - thanks for the link.

I did quickly peek through that website and will look into it further from home. Looks like the author has also made available a file with action replay software and pre-patched gamesaves. Does that mean I wouldnt need to purchase the games listed in my previous post as well. If so, that's even better as that will save me the cost of the used game as well as the hassle of trying to find a pre-patched version of these games.

Thanks for any input,
-Topper

regardless of how you get the game save on the HD of your new xbox you always need one of the original discs for the 3 games to install and run the softmod.

Sean

Sorry guys, I didn't get an email notification until today that the thread had responses.... Probably the best place where I've explained what I'm doing is here -> http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=135361 there are other threads on Doom9 that are helpful including this one -> http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=129001 HD-DVD are EASY to work with, BluRay a PITA so far - grr! Those threads will hopefully get you pointed in the right direction. I'll be doing some more BD in a week or two so we'll see how it goes. I'm doing HD-DVD pretty regularly now that prices have dropped some.

XBMC for Windows I've not touched. Honestly I'm no pro at Linux but can get around, I've found XBMC EASY to setup on Linux and Ubuntu a joy to work with - mostly.

OK so XBMC does not play any of this stuff natively. you have to transcode it. Its cool that you can do that and make it work but I thought you were implying that you could play rips natively without having to further manipulate them which sounded fishy.

So when you rip these HD DVD's that have Dolby TrueHD. XBMC will play back a 5.1 or 7.1 linear PCM file?

How long does all the transcoding process take on your super fast machine AFTER you have the ripped targets from AnyDVD on your HD....

Sean

regardless of how you get the game save on the HD of your new xbox you always need one of the original discs for the 3 games to install and run the softmod.

Sean

Sean - thanks for clearing that up!

BTW, the amazon link in your previous post might be broken? Although not listed in my earlier post, I was planning to get component cables as well. However, looking at the URL in your link, that one seems to provide only regular analog audio out from the XBox. Any idea where I could get the adapter with component cables + toslink cable - would be great to stream video through component video and audio in surround sound to my receiver. :D

Thanks again,
-Topper

Sean - thanks for clearing that up!

BTW, the amazon link in your previous post might be broken? Although not listed in my earlier post, I was planning to get component cables as well. However, looking at the URL in your link, that one seems to provide only regular analog audio out from the XBox. Any idea where I could get the adapter with component cables + toslink cable - would be great to stream video through component video and audio in surround sound to my receiver. :D

Thanks again,
-Topper

Its got a standard toslink connector on their too. Its just not well described.... you can then use any standard ole toslink cable. I have a ton of the monster's as well but they use a properietary dongle so you have to buy their toslink cable. Ja Phule and other pointed out the psyclone as an alternative to the Monster or MS and I tried two of them and no complaints.

There are other cheapo cables out there but myself and many others here have had audio and video performance problems with those cheaper brands...

Sean

Cocophone - thanks for the link.

I did quickly peek through that website and will look into it further from home. Looks like the author has also made available a file with action replay software and pre-patched gamesaves. Does that mean I wouldnt need to purchase the games listed in my previous post as well. If so, that's even better as that will save me the cost of the used game as well as the hassle of trying to find a pre-patched version of these games.

Thanks for any input,
-Topper

I also had to buy a Splinter Cell Game. It cost me $4.99 at local "Game Crazy" If you softmod more than one xbox, say 5 xboxes you could allocated the cost across multiple xboxes and get the cost down to about $1 an xbox!

I followed the softmod instructions at this website
http://lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/transform-your-classic-xbox-into-a-killer-media-center-299809.php

If so, that's even better as that will save me the cost of the used game as well as the hassle of trying to find a pre-patched version of these games.

-Topper

If cost is really an issue, than consider the hotswap method, which is $0 if using an already owned CDRW, or maybe $0.50 for a blank CDR. No special games, action replay kit or memory/usb modules needed. Many won't use that method fearing it'll ruin their hardware or whatever. On the flip side, many have also done successfully. Heck, I even lost ac powder during my hotswap mod without suffering any damage to my pc or xbox.

Either method will get you a softmodded xbox. I am not saying the hotswap method is better. Just pointing out there is an alternate lower cost (but perceived as more risky by some) method if cost is a concern. All depends on your comfort level. The cost saving is really minimal too, $5 - $10 (maybe $30-$40 if buying a memory module/action replay as well).

I myself went with the hotswap method not for cost savings, but just got fedup chasing down the game disk etc. The cost savings went towards an xir to turn on the xbox.

In your cost estimate post, you may possibly want to include $30 for the xir or similar thing, since you included the cost for the dvd remote. My 2 cents - main point of having a media server is so one can park one's lazy butt on the couch, point the remote at server to turn it on, play the media(s), then point the remote to turn it off when done. If one has to walk over to the xbox to turn it on, one might just as well walk to the dvd player and plop a disk in and forget about the media server altogether.

If cost is really an issue, than consider the hotswap method, which is $0 if using an already owned CDRW, or maybe $0.50 for a blank CDR. No special games, action replay kit or memory/usb modules needed. Many won't use that method fearing it'll ruin their hardware or whatever. On the flip side, many have also done successfully. Heck, I even lost ac powder during my hotswap mod without suffering any damage to my pc or xbox.

Either method will get you a softmodded xbox. I am not saying the hotswap method is better. Just pointing out there is an alternate lower cost (but perceived as more risky by some) method if cost is a concern. All depends on your comfort level. The cost saving is really minimal too, $5 - $10 (maybe $30-$40 if buying a memory module/action replay as well).

I myself went with the hotswap method not for cost savings, but just got fedup chasing down the game disk etc. The cost savings went towards an xir to turn on the xbox.


Thanks for the tip. Is this (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=496263) the correct way to do the softmod? I also found this on instructables (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-softmod-your-xbox...for-FREE/) which looks like a copy/port of the steps listed in the first link to instructables format.


In your cost estimate post, you may possibly want to include $30 for the xir or similar thing, since you included the cost for the dvd remote. My 2 cents - main point of having a media server is so one can park one's lazy butt on the couch, point the remote at server to turn it on, play the media(s), then point the remote to turn it off when done. If one has to walk over to the xbox to turn it on, one might just as well walk to the dvd player and plop a disk in and forget about the media server altogether.

Per information on its website, looks like Is XIR's (http://xir.us/) primary and only function is to turn the XBox on/off? Is this true? What button on the MS DVD kit is used to turn the Xbox on/off after XIR is soldered onto the Xbox and what does this button do if there's no XIR?

Thanks,
-Topper

How does a hacked xbox with xmbc compare to a 360 using XP or Vista MCE. I have a modded xbox and had xbmc running great and I really liked it. Then I tried to install it as my dashboard which did not go well and now it wont boot and I cant access with FTP. I was considering buying a second 360 to go with my MCE computer. What do you guys think? Can the 360 stream VOBs from my network pc?

How does a hacked xbox with xmbc compare to a 360 using XP or Vista MCE. I have a modded xbox and had xbmc running great and I really liked it. Then I tried to install it as my dashboard which did not go well and now it wont boot and I cant access with FTP. I was considering buying a second 360 to go with my MCE computer. What do you guys think? Can the 360 stream VOBs from my network pc?

Maybe this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=968184) might help answer some of your questions re streaming to Xbox360.

BTW, regarding your modded xbox that isnt working - I was reading one of the instructions to do the hotswap method and I think I read that the hotswap method could also be used to fix an xbox that you are unable to access? Maybe one of the more experienced people here can chime on whether this is true or not. Check out the links in my previous post to see if it helps you.

Just curious - any idea why your modded xbox stopped working - i mean is it just an end of life or was it after loading some software or something?

-Topper

How does a hacked xbox with xmbc compare to a 360 using XP or Vista MCE. I have a modded xbox and had xbmc running great and I really liked it. Then I tried to install it as my dashboard which did not go well and now it wont boot and I cant access with FTP. I was considering buying a second 360 to go with my MCE computer. What do you guys think? Can the 360 stream VOBs from my network pc?

I goofed on installing it as a dashboard (red blinking light of doom) and managed to bring it back to life by sticking the Splinter Cell game back in, booting it and running the linux save game again, your results may vary..

How does a hacked xbox with xmbc compare to a 360 using XP or Vista MCE. I have a modded xbox and had xbmc running great and I really liked it. Then I tried to install it as my dashboard which did not go well and now it wont boot and I cant access with FTP. I was considering buying a second 360 to go with my MCE computer. What do you guys think? Can the 360 stream VOBs from my network pc?

Just download Auto Installer Deluxe or Slayers Recovery disk and boot off that. Then you have FTP access and you can fix what you messed up....

Sean

A borked softmod install should still boot games fine. In which case, transic's method should work. :)

Maybe this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=968184) might help answer some of your questions re streaming to Xbox360.

BTW, regarding your modded xbox that isnt working - I was reading one of the instructions to do the hotswap method and I think I read that the hotswap method could also be used to fix an xbox that you are unable to access? Maybe one of the more experienced people here can chime on whether this is true or not. Check out the links in my previous post to see if it helps you.

Just curious - any idea why your modded xbox stopped working - i mean is it just an end of life or was it after loading some software or something?

-Topper

No need to hot swap. he probably just messed up switching the dashboard in which case booting a recovery disc like AID will launch FTP and allow the user to fix it....

MCE can play DVD's with enough hacking... To me the 360 although improved is a big step down from XBMC....

Sean

Sean

Yeah, I'll watch an MPG4 on my 360 if it is already on, and the video in question is on my harddrive, but I lose the aggregation of my girl's HDDs and DVD viewing. Ugh. When starting up a player, XBMC wins out over my 360 every time. :)

Just download Auto Installer Deluxe or Slayers Recovery disk and boot off that. Then you have FTP access and you can fix what you messed up....

Sean

Yeah I downloaded auto installer deluxe 4.2 just now. Do I just rip it to a cd and turn the machine on with disc in and try my ftp program to access it?

Yeah I downloaded auto installer deluxe 4.2 just now. Do I just rip it to a cd and turn the machine on with disc in and try my ftp program to access it?

basically yes. I find DVD's are more compatible with my xbox's than CD's

Sean

Well I ripped AID iso to dvd but the xbox wont boot the disc and I can't access with FTP even with disc in drive. Wonder if I have a bad disc drive and didnt know since I have not used it in forever. Can I pull the HDD out and put it in an external USB enclosure and transfer the working xbe file from my pc?

UPDATE: Disc drive want load games either so must be dead. Guess that leaves me with buying a used xbox and starting from scratch. I think I will try to pull the HDD and use it as an external usb drive to try to transfer the xbe file.

I take it back the disc drive is working fine with games. But it still wont boot with the auto installer disc. Andl I realized you cant just put the HDD in a USB external enclosure. Guess it is a formatting issue. I have no idea how to get this thing up and running. Anybody with Xbox experience care to help?

So it works fine with games? Then just do the same softmod process again, then! Load up Mechassault, load the SID save, and softmod that thing up. It will rebuild the C: to the proper softmod status, and then from there you can try making XBMC your dashboard again.

Well I got Slayer AID boot. I think maybe the problem with auto installer deluxe is I used DVD+R, dont have any -R discs. The slayer disc is small enough to fit on CD. Now I just have to figure out how to fix the xbe file using slayers auto installer.

Well I got Slayer AID boot. I think maybe the problem with auto installer deluxe is I used DVD+R, dont have any -R discs. The slayer disc is small enough to fit on CD. Now I just have to figure out how to fix the xbe file using slayers auto installer.

Glad you got the boot disc working. Burned media compat with xboxes is generally poor. Glad you were able to get it going...

They are 2 parts to this problem.

1. knowing what file your BIOS/SOFTMOD boots by default.

my softmod boot e:\dashboard\default.xbe

you need to know this first.

2. Follow the instructions on the XBMC Wiki and install the shortcut and configuration file in according to the instructions.

If you can place unleashX or evox back in place and it boots you know you have #1 right.

Then its just a matter of executing #2.

http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=As_a_Dashboard

I use the XBE shortvut maker 2.0, others like the one that comes with the T3CH XBMC distribution. Both are known to work well....

One tip. Always test you can launch XBMC from EvoX, etc and it works before switching it to be the default dash.

Sean

The media was the problem the whole time. Burned AID to some DVD-R media and installed xbmc as dashboard without a hitch. The AID one click dashboard install of XBMC worked great. Look forward to exploring the app!

Per information on its website, looks like Is XIR's (http://xir.us/) primary and only function is to turn the XBox on/off? Is this true? What button on the MS DVD kit is used to turn the Xbox on/off after XIR is soldered onto the Xbox and what does this button do if there's no XIR?

"Enter" on the MS remote will turn the xbox on and "0" will turn the xbox off. You can also get a usb programming cable that lets you specify which buttons will turn the xbox on and off.

What are you guys using to control xbmc? I have a Harmony 659 which I could integrate. I am gathering it will do everything except turn on/off. For that I have to purchase the xir remote kit? Also, are you guys using windows smb or the xbmps app? I got the xbmps working great. Does it make a difference which I use?

I use regular SMB for my sharing, it works fine. If you have it working through xbmps, then stick with it. :) Also, I control my XBMC through my Harmony as well. There is Microsoft Xbox profile in the Harmony database, as well as a Media Center Extender For Xbox profile. I prefer the latter for XBMC as it includes a direct map to power off in XBMC. The only thing I can't do remotely is turn it ON. :(

Any reason you haven't tried the xir device to allow remote on?

Any reason you haven't tried the xir device to allow remote on?

I finally ordered some but it never bother me. If XBSMP is working then be happy. SMB is a little more responsive and I prefer it but XBSMP is a good solution for those who aren't too familar with MS Networking. Life would be easier around here if more would try it but most n00b's seemed scared of it for some reason.

Question: Do you know where AID installed XBMC. you will need to know this to upgrade it.

Check the compiled on date in the system info screen. Once you get familar with the app you might want to upgrade as the AID version is probably old.

Also you might want to try a wireless xbox controller. Many of us prefer it to IR for navigation. (its much faster with the analog triggers for scrollsing). Also there are some functions like add song to playlist (y on the controller) that has no equivalent mapping on the IR remote by default...

Welcome.... glad you got it all working...

BTW: in my opinion none of the default Harmony maps were correct. I always ended up having to teach it a few codes from my original remote on the xbox... make sure all the buttons map correctly between the original and the harmony. I beleive the display button was one that didn't map correctly....

Sean

The power on function does not bother me but I know the wife will never use it if she has to use the manual power on button. I guess I will try the XIR adapter. Thats also why I went to the trouble to install it as a dashboard. AID installed xbmc on my C driver.

XBSMP is working great so I will not mess with SMB. I am AMAZED at xbmc! It really is a great program. Trailer feature is great. It really is incredible how similiar it is functionally to the much more expensive solutions like Kalediescape. Looking forward to going through those 400 DVDs sitting on a shelf! The video quality is good, though right now it is only on my 62 DLP upstairs. Anyone use an external video processor to improve PQ? I plan on adding a second unit for the theater. I will feed that through a onkyo 705. Maybe I should upgrade to the 875 with the Reon processor.

Also, I agree the Harmony maps were not good. I manually added a bunch with the xbox remote. I have a wireless remote but again that is low on the WAF.

The power on function does not bother me but I know the wife will never use it if she has to use the manual power on button. I guess I will try the XIR adapter. Thats also why I went to the trouble to install it as a dashboard. AID installed xbmc on my C driver.

XBSMP is working great so I will not mess with SMB. I am AMAZED at xbmc! It really is a great program. Trailer feature is great. It really is incredible how similiar it is functionally to the much more expensive solutions like Kalediescape. Looking forward to going through those 400 DVDs sitting on a shelf! The video quality is good, though right now it is only on my 62 DLP upstairs. Anyone use an external video processor to improve PQ? I plan on adding a second unit for the theater. I will feed that through a onkyo 705. Maybe I should upgrade to the 875 with the Reon processor.

Also, I agree the Harmony maps were not good. I manually added a bunch with the xbox remote. I have a wireless remote but again that is low on the WAF.


That's not good that its on the C drive... Ideally nothing is on C but the default dash. Generally you want XBMC in E:\apps. Can you still run the MS DASH at all?

you might try 480i versus 1080i etc to see if you like the video better that way. Make sure to calibrate and set flicker filter to be 1 for video. you can turn it off on the GUI. Run the GUI at the native resolution of your TV. Its nice you have different resolutions for GUI versus video etc....

IR definteley for WAF but If you play with the wireless controller. I bet you will like it....

Sean

Why is it an issue on the C: drive? Also, I could be wrong it may be on E:but I know when I used AID it formated my C: drive. I originally had it installed as an app on E drive but the directions on xbmc.org for making it the dashboard do not work. I think you can run ms dash through the app section of xmbc, thats how I access my games. I will have to try.

Thanks for the tip. Is this (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=496263) the correct way to do the softmod? I also found this on instructables (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-softmod-your-xbox...for-FREE/) which looks like a copy/port of the steps listed in the first link to instructables format.
-Topper

Both links are correct; the instructables just added photos to show the process. For me, the simplest way to determine correct time to yank off the xbox's ide cable is the instant "microsoft" appears under the xbox logo when the xbox is booting up. In other words, attach a tv or composite capable monitor to the xbox. Make sure the ide cable from your pc is long enough to reach the xbox before attempting this.


Per information on its website, looks like Is XIR's (http://xir.us/) primary and only function is to turn the XBox on/off? Is this true? What button on the MS DVD kit is used to turn the Xbox on/off after XIR is soldered onto the Xbox and what does this button do if there's no XIR?
-Topper

That is correct. On the xbox remote, "display" turns on the xbox (equivalent to pushing the power button for a dual boot softmod). Another button, forget which, is equivalent to pushing eject ie turn xbox on in non-hacked dash. Triple zero ie 000 turns off xbox. This is xir default. Ver 2 of xir allows for reprogramming these buttons, including to use of non-xbox/RCA IR codes.

Why is it an issue on the C: drive? Also, I could be wrong it may be on E:but I know when I used AID it formated my C: drive. I originally had it installed as an app on E drive but the directions on xbmc.org for making it the dashboard do not work. I think you can run ms dash through the app section of xmbc, thats how I access my games. I will have to try.

A couple of issues with the c drive...

1. its a small partition and with a large enough collection of media you could fill it up and that would be bad... (database, thumbnails, etc)

2. it contains the MS Dash and just like windows we dont go installing our apps into root of c: or c:\windows... makes for confusion...

3. If you have a softmod. The C may not be real (virtual drive) or you might mess up the softmod.

Generally the accepted best practice to avoid any of these issues is DONT TOUCH C:

Curious do you have a softmod or a hardmod...

What part of the instructions on the wiki are you having problems with. I have tried them all on numerous boxes and they work just fine for me...

Sean

I checked and xbmc is installed on my E: drive. I guess it formatted my C: to install new files. So that should not be a problem. My xbox is hardmod with an xecuter chip.

I had trouble with the wiki directions for making xbmc my dashboard. I had evolution x as dashboard prior. So I installed xbmc as an app which worked fine. Then I basically followed the wiki step 1 for making it the dash. I downloaded their xbe file, replaced it with the old xbe and added the cfg file. Rebooted and it would not load evox or xbmc. That is why I had to use AID since at that point I could not use FTP to access the drives.

I checked and xbmc is installed on my E: drive. I guess it formatted my C: to install new files. So that should not be a problem. My xbox is hardmod with an xecuter chip.

I had trouble with the wiki directions for making xbmc my dashboard. I had evolution x as dashboard prior. So I installed xbmc as an app which worked fine. Then I basically followed the wiki step 1 for making it the dash. I downloaded their xbe file, replaced it with the old xbe and added the cfg file. Rebooted and it would not load evox or xbmc. That is why I had to use AID since at that point I could not use FTP to access the drives.

I expected the hardmod because if you had formatted C on the softmod you would now own a brick.

so in order to follow the instructions on the wiki you need to know what file your BIOS boots? so which does it boot? ior put it another way. which file did you replace with the shortcut...

now go look via FTP and see how big that file is....

hopefully xbmc is e:\apps\xbmc or something like that...

Sean

My mod chip should boot from evoxdash.xbe first which is what I replaced. Not sure why it didn't work. I did notice the .xbe I downloaded from the wiki was much smaller than my original evoxdash.xbe file. Anyways, the AID 4.2 had a one click dashboard installer and all is working great now. Also, AID installed the 3/9/08 build date. Any reason to upgrade to bleeding edge?

My mod chip should boot from evoxdash.xbe first which is what I replaced. Not sure why it didn't work. I did notice the .xbe I downloaded from the wiki was much smaller than my original evoxdash.xbe file. Anyways, the AID 4.2 had a one click dashboard installer and all is working great now. Also, AID installed the 3/9/08 build date. Any reason to upgrade to bleeding edge?

Dunno what version of xBMC that includes though. Sooner or later you will want to upgrade and it will be easier to get this resolved when you remember what you did... XBMC gets better on a weekly basis... upgrading is a personal choice... The release notes often outline new features and changes. Hard to say whats new when I dont know what version AID installed...

what path for evoxdash.xbe

Sean

According to system info its version xbmc pre-2.1 (compiled Mar 9, 2008). MPlayer XMBC-SVN-r10070=4.1.2 (Dec 26, 2007).

The path was E:\Apps\XBMC\default.xbe (which I renamed evoxdash.xbe to replace the existing file) Which is where xbmc was and is currently installed.

Also, I just noticed some of my DVDs stored on the network are choppy during playback. Not all of them but a few. CPU usage is well under 50% and the network connetion is wired. Any thoughts?

According to system info its version xbmc pre-2.1 (compiled Mar 9, 2008). MPlayer XMBC-SVN-r10070=4.1.2 (Dec 26, 2007).

The path was E:\Apps\XBMC\default.xbe (which I renamed evoxdash.xbe to replace the existing file) Which is where xbmc was and is currently installed.

Also, I just noticed some of my DVDs stored on the network are choppy during playback. Not all of them but a few. CPU usage is well under 50% and the network connetion is wired. Any thoughts?

So now I am really confused...

you are saying your BIOS boots e:\apps\xbmc\evoxdash.xbe

that makes no sense...


check and see if the de-interlace setting is auto. If so set it to none. This is in the OSD once the video is playing.... This is a bug in modern builds that did not use to be there...

Sean

Well I am almost certainly confusing you! As far as I understand, the bios are on C: and apps including xbmc on E: The .xbe file located on C:. In my case my bios looks for evoxdash.xbe first which would ordinarily load the EvoX dashboard, unless you replace it with the xmbc xbe file which, while is still named evoxdash.xbe since thats what the bios looks for, actually loads xbmc. Is that correct as you understand it or am I way of base?

Also, the deinterlacing trick worked. Its great having your help! Again, I am amazed at this thing and bet more people would use it if they realized how great it is.

Well I am almost certainly confusing you! As far as I understand, the bios are on C: and apps including xbmc on E: The .xbe file located on C:. In my case my bios looks for evoxdash.xbe first which would ordinarily load the EvoX dashboard, unless you replace it with the xmbc xbe file which, while is still named evoxdash.xbe since thats what the bios looks for, actually loads xbmc. Is that correct as you understand it or am I way of base?

Also, the deinterlacing trick worked. Its great having your help! Again, I am amazed at this thing and bet more people would use it if they realized how great it is.

your off base... oh well....

Sean

Please educated me! I guess I know just enough to get this thing working which keeps me happy.

Thats gonna prove difficult but I just noticed something, you in the Triad. I live in Raleigh so if you want an advanced tutorial whenever you get to that point send me a PM and you can come by place some weekend and we can figure that out. Upgrade software, add skins, emulators, etc.... if you bring your box I can figure out how its setup in about 5 minutes...

BTW: Nice Theater...

Sean

Wow, just read my post and must say the your response is quite appropriate given the grammatical error! Hard to educated someone! Oh well, maybe I don't have the xbox hacking down pat but good enough to mod it and get xbmc running which should be somewhat comforting to other xbox modding newbies. Thanks for the offer, if I am ever in area I will let you know. And thanks for the compliment though the picture quality could use some work and I need to take some updated shots.

Another new bleeding edge release... Most all the changes seem to be related to all the new scrapers and the scraper API and how it interacts with the skin...

looks interesting if your into the TV show scapers but not much else... Of course I will try it out on the one my 2 test boxes...

I can say i do like the new movie preview feature and the TV show scrapers do seem to be getting better....



2008-04-06 12544 fixed: few more tweaks to scraper
2008-04-06 12542 updated: Finnish translation, thanks Mikko70
2008-04-06 12540 fixed: removed review/discography/biography/track information
resizing depending on scrollbar condition as it was troublesome
2008-04-06 12539 modified: allmusic scraper just a few changes to remove some
unpleasant expressions
2008-04-06 12535 Changed : PM3 - Library Mode button is only disabled when no
content is present and use Library library is turned on instead of being invisible
2008-04-06 12533 Changed : Added Pause at end of scrolling text in Music and Video
Overlay to make it look less like its having a spasm with text just too long to fit
2008-04-05 12531 changed: added missing sort methods to plugin's AddSortMethod()
2008-04-05 12526 Backported the MusicScraper fix
2008-04-05 12505 fixed: compilation error and misc. warnings
2008-04-05 12496 merged rev 12480 from linuxport
2008-04-05 12495 fixed: feed scraper utf-8 strings on searches
2008-04-05 12494 added: advanced setting to hide empty series in the video library.
useful for people who delete episodes as they watch them
2008-04-05 12493 merged rev 12491 from linux branch
2008-04-05 12492 added: music videos now scrape filenames based on full paths
(allows artist/title.avi layouts)
2008-04-05 12490 updated: Swedish language file by blittan (based on english
12479)
2008-04-05 12483 added: ability to use tags with containers. Condition
should only be changeable when the container updates for it to work smoothly.
2008-04-04 12479 merged: musicscrapers branch this adds scraper support for artists
and albums in the music library. export/import library, nfo files, update on startup.
pretty much everything is up to par with the video library features. note that some
of these things are untested (in particular the nfo file support)
2008-04-04 12471 fixed: One of the regexps for stacking was wrong (it stacked
sequels).
2008-04-03 12469 added: Container.HasPrevious/HasNext now work for grouplists.
2008-04-03 12462 added: support for tvshow .nfo files, showfolder/tvshow.nfo (note:
fixed file name). they can either be full info xml or contain a url. if they contain
xml, they may contain a valid to allow online updates. if not, only
episodes with nfo files will be added. added: episode nfo files, filename.nfo. they
can hold full info for the episode. note that the filenames still needs to go through
the usual enumeration process. note: this is still somewhat untested. i asked for
help, but i guess i have to force it ;)
2008-04-03 12461 added: support for local trailer files. moviename-trailer.avi
2008-04-03 12460 fixed: always search on tvshow folder name on refresh
2008-04-03 12459 added: KinoPoisk.ru russian movie scraper (thanks to a mysterious
contributor)
2008-04-03 12458 merge revs 12455-12477 from linuxport branch
2008-04-03 12454 removed: Unnecessary duplicate code.
2008-04-03 12453 removed: Unnecessary duplicate code.
2008-04-03 12452 Added : PM3 Proper way to have No Info Scanned Label to library
windows
2008-04-03 12451 fixed: Song rating would be applied to the listitem (not the file)
even if song info dialog was cancelled.
2008-04-03 12450 Changed : PM3: Rating star images in lists and song info dialog
from Listitem.rating to new Listitem.StarRating
2008-04-03 12449 fixed: Reset the persistent infomanager cache when we commit
transactions in the music database (which indicates things have likely changed).
2008-04-03 12447 Changed : PM3 Removed the DialogAlbumInfo.xml and
DialogVideoInfo.xml files from the 16x9 dir since they were identical to the 4x3 ones
anyway except a few commits in either that didn't make it to the other (No point
maintaining 2 identical files) Added : PM3 a reflection image to the TVShow Wide icon
in DialogVideoInfo.xml to make it look nice
2008-04-03 12446 fixed: Diffuse texture didn't orientate correctly (eg in
reflections)
2008-04-02 12445 fixed: Reset the persistent infomanager cache when we commit
transactions in the video database (which indicates things have likely changed).
2008-04-02 12435 merged: backported warning fixes from linuxport
2008-04-02 12431 added: listitem.starrating infoimage. Returns "rating0.png" ->
"rating5.png" for both video and music files, thanks to Agathorn. This infoimage is
preferred to listitem.rating for images.
2008-04-01 12428 fixed: some cleaning of buffers and some movies do not have both
directors/writers and slack expressions expected both. end result was cast members
(actors) were being output to database instead.
2008-04-01 12427 added: Local fanart support, thanks to Agathorn.
2008-04-01 12425 updated: Greek and Dutch translations, thanks Ydatografida and
MsG
2008-04-01 12418 Added : PM3 Basic support for Fanart in Video Library for TV
Enable it in "Skin Settings\Custom" (Its off by default). Button to choose fanart is
in Video Info Dialog for the TV show. You will need to refresh your TV Show Info (not
the episodes just the show) to be able to choose and have fanart.
2008-04-01 12417 fixed: Only set the fanart property if it exists.
2008-04-01 12416 Changed/Fixed : PM3 Custom Backgrounds now cover the whole area of
the content panel instead of having 15% of the image off the viewable area (Lower and
left). They are now scaled in size as well so they always maintain the correct aspect
ratio in 4x3 and 16x9 side effect is some bits get cropped depending on image
dimensions
2008-04-01 12414 fixed: fallback strings didn't allow strings.xml usage.
2008-03-30 12383 fixed: static dns entries, broke internet address lookups.
2008-03-29 12375 added: ability to set xbox dns suffix. you might have to do this
if your dns server doesn't respond to queries to local hostnames unless they have
domain suffix appended. xdk doesn't get this from dhcp as it is supposed too, so you
even if you are running with dhcp you might have to set this. added: ability to set
static dns host entries from advancedsettings.xml. "
name="HOSTNAME">IPADDRESS"
2008-03-29 12371 modified: more performance tweaks to imdb movie scraper - rather
than hitting the site 3 times for similar info we cache one html page local for 'cast
> directors > writers' resulting in quite a significant speed up.
2008-03-29 12370 updated: Portuguese (Brazil) and Finnish translations, thanks
mrbeetle and mikko70
2008-03-29 12368 fixed: Season items didn't have ListItem.TVShowTitle set. fixed:
Seasons view wasn't filtered correctly for year.
2008-03-29 12367 fixed: ListItem.Season and ListItem.Episode return empty if the
item has no season and episode detail (thanks Agathorn).
2008-03-28 12364 added: Control.Move(id,offset) built in function thanks to
Agathorn. Useful for causing movement in containers from another control.
2008-03-28 12354 fixed: forgot to update milkdrop.vis properly in one spot
2008-03-28 12351 fixed: tuxbox urls cannot have a slash at end so we shouldn't
assert
2008-03-28 12350 fixed: 100l - don't do context menu changes while half asleep
2008-03-28 12347 changed: removed support for chunked transfers in the video
library title nodes. nobody should have > 5k items anywhere, and if they do the
library certainly won't perform reasonable anyways. reduces code duplication a bit
2008-03-28 12346 changed: removed some unnecessary hacks from video database code
2008-03-28 12345 changed: removed an unused function from video database class
2008-03-28 12344 fixed: enable 'stop scanning' everywhere in video context menu if
scanner is running
2008-03-28 12343 fixed: disable manual lookups while video scanner is running to
avoid sql collisions
2008-03-28 12342 fixed: removed some unneeded video db hacks
2008-03-28 12341 fixed: [ 1924489 ] Search for movies doesn't take you to the
movie.
2008-03-27 12340 fixed: [ 1924489 ] Search for musicvideos doesn't take you to the
music video.
2008-03-27 12339 changed: updated visualisations and removed support for old
rar/zip url format
2008-03-27 12337 Changed : Tweaked skin changes from disable library option
commit
2008-03-27 12336 fixed: 100l - those transactions weren't there for a reason
2008-03-27 12335 added: more verbose info while fetching tvshows
2008-03-27 12334 fixed: properly invalidate path hashes when removing entries from
the video library
2008-03-27 12333 fixed: some quirks related to the change to the video info scanner
dialog
2008-03-27 12330 fixed: reduced code duplication in video database class
2008-03-27 12328 added: option to disable libraries + info labels
library.hascontent(videos), library.hascontent(music), library.hascontent(tvshows),
library.hascontent(movies), library.hascontent(musicvideos). thanks to kraqh3d
2008-03-27 12327 fixed: imdb actor thumbs
2008-03-27 12326 modified: during download the videoinfoscanner dialog now displays
title rather than path, looks a lot more appealing to end user
2008-03-27 12325 fixed: dont set path hashes for current directory if scanner is
cancelled
2008-03-27 12324 updated: Swedish language file by blittan (based on english
12300)
2008-03-27 12323 fixed: Crash in numeric dialog when inputting IP address or
time/date.
2008-03-27 12322 changed: faster video database cleaning. to get 100 proper
behaviour you need to start over (2)
2008-03-27 12321 fixed: close the video information dialog before playing the
trailer. (backport from linux branch)
2008-03-27 12318 changed: faster video database cleaning. to get 100 proper
behaviour you need to start over
2008-03-27 12317 updated: excalibur scraper (thanks to the_dot)
2008-03-26 12316 changed: back ported string initialization for window.cpp (thanks
cpt kirk or is it cpt solo) changed: removed some duplicate code for radiobutton
2008-03-26 12313 fixed: Freeing a font file that wasn't created successfully would
cause an exception on skin unload.
2008-03-26 12312 fixed: Exception scanning in shows/movies/music vids with very
large lists of studios, directors or genres.
2008-03-26 12311 changed: only parse thumb urls when needed. should speed up large
movie collections a bit
2008-03-26 12308 changed: enabled transactions during video scans. nice speed up
but note that this means cancelling in the middle of scanning a directory will void
all lookups performed
2008-03-26 12306 added: if file operations is enabled, ask if user want to kill
files as well when removing items from video library.
2008-03-26 12305 fixed: tvdb scraper could error on some shows where seriesid and
episode id's overlapped (star gate deep space nine)
2008-03-26 12302 fixed: curl client would segfault if a seek against a ftp server
failed.
2008-03-26 12301 fixed: listitem properties weren't serialized to disk.
2008-03-26 12300 added: Fanart for TV shows from thetvdb.com, thanks to Agathorn.
2008-03-26 12293 fixed: win32 build was broken
2008-03-26 12292 added: radiobutton control to python (thanks jmarshall)
2008-03-25 12285 changed: add a compress count field to the databases. is used to
only actually run vacuum on the db every (for now) 20th time the function is called.
only activated for the video db currently
2008-03-25 12284 fixed: update library button should be noncontexual
2008-03-24 12275 fixed: cmyth client would select first recording tuner, even if
that didn't support the given channel.
2008-03-24 12274 fixed: myth subtitle often contain a truncated part of
description, thus when we combine the two to generate plot, parts sometimes got
duplicated.
2008-03-24 12272 fixed: ShutDown while WebServer busy could cause lock up
2008-03-24 12268 fixed: COOK audio uses windows channel order for output added:
.rma is realplayer audio files.
2008-03-24 12267 changed: assume cook has same channel order as ogg which seem to
be right.
2008-03-24 12266 changed: moved audio probing to after lavf probing. audio probing
had a tendency to detect flv files as audio since they contained mp3 headers. fixes
flv http streams that didn't contain a filename.
2008-03-23 12264 merged: microsub/dvdplayer fps fix/analyse time for tv from linux
branch


Sean

So has anyone done an A/B comparison of the picture quality between the DVD drive in the XBOX (I am running XBMC component out) vs a standalone up-converting player (I have a Sony DVP-NS77H)?

I'm trying to decide if I should keep my DVD player hooked up in the rack or take it out of my system altogether and just use XBOX and receiver. I also will be adding a projector (HC1500) so if I don't have to use the DVD player that's one less cable I don't have to run from PJ to receiver.

Current TV is 42" 720p Phillips LCD, screen for PJ will only end up being about 85". I have no BluRay or HD discs so that isn't an issue right now.

Thanks,

J

Using XBMC on my 42" 1024x768 plasma, having the Xbox upscale to 720p, film-based DVDs look about the same as my Sony 480p DVD player (DVP-NC875) did. This is with XBMC set to "none" for deinterlacing. Deinterlacing film is really easy to do, as is stretching it to whatever your display's native resolution is. TV based material is another matter though. With XBMC's HQ Pixel Shader V2 and deinterlacing set to "auto", I really am impressed by the quality of what it spits out in most cases. I believe the Sony did have a bit of an edge for TV show deinterlacing though. It wasn't enough of a difference for me to keep a separate DVD player in either of my setups, nor was it enough of a difference for me to have to put up with discs. :)

I retired the DVD player in my bedroom in favor of XBMC over a year ago. The living room one was retired a couple months ago, after seeing almost no use for a good 6 months. It really is nice to be able to access all of your media across the network, and with the same interface for everything. I find that my girl has far less issues with our setup now that I have reduced all media playback to XBMC.

Additional note: The build of XBMC that I am currently running is having an issue dynamicly switching between TV and film deinterlacing. I have to manually select NONE when watching films for it to act right. That may just be an issue with my particular build, my particular Xbox, or it may just be an XBMC issue in general. Unfortunatly, most of the XBMC devs are running their Xboxs on regular PAL TVs, so there tends to be little testing in the HD world.

thanks for the quick reply. I plan on streaming most everything, but there will be some occasions that I will need somewhere to put a disc.

Anyone else done comparisons of Xbox vs DVD player?

Thanks!

J

Just so we are clear, playing a physical DVD in XBMC is of no quality difference than streaming it. Probably a silly thing to point out, but I just wanted to make doubly sure that you knew that. :)

So has anyone done an A/B comparison of the picture quality between the DVD drive in the XBOX (I am running XBMC component out) vs a standalone up-converting player (I have a Sony DVP-NS77H)?

I'm trying to decide if I should keep my DVD player hooked up in the rack or take it out of my system altogether and just use XBOX and receiver. I also will be adding a projector (HC1500) so if I don't have to use the DVD player that's one less cable I don't have to run from PJ to receiver.

Current TV is 42" 720p Phillips LCD, screen for PJ will only end up being about 85". I have no BluRay or HD discs so that isn't an issue right now.

Thanks,

J

I have several Oppos and PS3s and both look better than the xbox by a slight margin. But honestly I never use them for that purpose. I use the xbox instead... do the comparo for yourslef and see if it makes a big enough difference to be worried about. BTW: as DarkLord said there is no difference with the xbox between streaming and playing a physical disc.

Sean

Current TV is 42" 720p Phillips LCD, screen for PJ will only end up being about 85". I have no BluRay or HD discs so that isn't an issue right now.
J

42" is too small to see any difference. Heck, std def, or vcd def looks ok on anything less 50/60". A lot also depends on what upconverting capability your DVD player has, as well as the upconverting capability of the TV, especially the pj for the 85" screen.

I can see XBMC's software upconverting sucks on a 106" screen, compared to my old LG's Farouja based upconverting. Sending the xbox signal out at 480i and letting the pj do the upconversion was better, but still not as good as the Farouja. And, if your dvd player has Reon HQV, then there's no contest. On my 42" tv, I certainly can't see any difference.


Ultimately, compare for yourself on your own equipments and your eyes and decide for yourself.

"42" is too small to see any difference. Heck, std def, or vcd def looks ok on anything less 50/60"."

It's a good thing you have a horrible understanding as to how human vision works. Otherwise you might find it to be very difficult to make blanket statements like that with a straight face. :) Hell, the two very basic concepts that you are showing terrible ignorance of with those definitive statements of yours are the basic relationships between size and distance, and the preference of vertical information over horizontal within the human vision subsystem.

But hey, when has science ever mattered in a home theater discussion? :)

"42" is too small to see any difference. Heck, std def, or vcd def looks ok on anything less 50/60"."

It's a good thing you have a horrible understanding as to how human vision works. Otherwise you might find it to be very difficult to make blanket statements like that with a straight face. :) Hell, the two very basic concepts that you are showing terrible ignorance of with those definitive statements of yours are the basic relationships between size and distance, and the preference of vertical information over horizontal within the human vision subsystem.

But hey, when has science ever mattered in a home theater discussion? :)


And yet, you brilliantly display your ignorance in regards to etiquette by coming on here and flaming another member for his opinion, without providing links or further information regarding your stance/opinion.

Nothing is more offensive than a rude individual calling someone else ignorant, stupid, etc. If you've got nothing constructive to add to this thread, then please, do not post here or anywhere else on this forum.

Just my two cents.

P.S. If I have misconstrued your comments, then I sincerely apologize. I have just tired of the "tone" of these forums lately. Everyone seems to be content to bash each other, rather than help.

Just so we are clear, playing a physical DVD in XBMC is of no quality difference than streaming it. Probably a silly thing to point out, but I just wanted to make doubly sure that you knew that. :)

This is exactly what I was looking for. XBMC looks great on my 42" when I stream so that is good to know. I get the PJ tomorrow so I will definitely do a comparison when it gets here but just thought I'd ask around first. Anyone know how the up-converting is on the Mitsubishi HC1500?

Thanks for the advice!

J

It's a good thing you have a horrible understanding as to how human vision works.

Well, I'm sure you have a better understanding, but I am also quite sure you are not surrounded everyday by large screen LCD and Plasma prototypes in your office long before any consumers get to see them. Nor have to make decisions whether pq of such, including custom 20 foot diagonal RP, are good enough to enter manufacturing. :)

"Well, I'm sure you have a better understanding, but I am also quite sure you are not surrounded everyday by large screen LCD and Plasma prototypes in your office long before any consumers get to see them. Nor have to make decisions whether pq of such, including custom 20 foot diagonal RP, are good enough to enter manufacturing."

Maybe I'm a crazy person, but I fail to see how that has any relevance whatsoever to your blanket statement that 42" is too small to see a difference between 240p and 480p upscaled to 720p. :) Following the faulty logic of your earlier statement, there is no reason for the monitor I am sitting in front of, typing this on, to have a resolution greater than 320x240, as it is only 19". It's smaller than 50", so VCD resolution should be perfectly acceptable, right? That is what you said earlier, isn't it? (I admit that that was a smart-ass question, as we both know that that is exactly what you said.)

What A/V cable is recommended if I want to hookup my XBox to my TV and to the digital audio of my receiver.

TV is Standard Def with one SVideo and 3 Composite
I have a manual switch box to connect serveral other video sources to SVideo
My Receiver has Optical and COAX digital inputs
I'm using the COAX already.
I will probably buy a HI-Def TV early 2009

What A/V cable is recommended if I want to hookup my XBox to my TV and to the digital audio of my receiver.

TV is Standard Def with one SVideo and 3 Composite
I have a manual switch box to connect serveral other video sources to SVideo
My Receiver has Optical and COAX digital inputs
I'm using the COAX already.
I will probably buy a HI-Def TV early 2009

YOu need a composite adapter or svideo adapter with a toslink....

MS used to make em. you might find one at the local game store... Otherwise you need something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-300X-SVideo-V-Cable/dp/B00005TN7T******sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1208013686&sr=8-4

note if you get the monster you need to buy the lightwave 100x toslink cable to get the special dongle. THe MS one does not need a special toslink.

Maybe others here are more familar with other options that may be cheaper...

Sean

Microsoft's Xbox Advanced AV Pack was a breakout box with s-video, composite, analog audio, and Toslink connectors on it. It would cover all your bases right now. :)

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/a/advancedavpack/

A quick scan show plenty available on Amazon new and used.

42" is too small to see any difference. Heck, std def, or vcd def looks ok on anything less 50/60". A lot also depends on what upconverting capability your DVD player has, as well as the upconverting capability of the TV, especially the pj for the 85" screen.

I can see XBMC's software upconverting sucks on a 106" screen, compared to my old LG's Farouja based upconverting. Sending the xbox signal out at 480i and letting the pj do the upconversion was better, but still not as good as the Farouja. And, if your dvd player has Reon HQV, then there's no contest. On my 42" tv, I certainly can't see any difference.


Ultimately, compare for yourself on your own equipments and your eyes and decide for yourself.

Wow! Do you work at Best Buy? 42" too small to see a difference? Thats great news. I bet the place I work would be happy to know they no longer need to spend 20k on high resolution LCD monitors. Just some cheapo low res consumer monitors will work great since according to you there is difference anyways. Perhaps its time to visit an optometrist! And by the way its Faroudja with a D.

Can the Xbox High Definition AV Pack be used with a SD TV or do I need to buy the Xbox Advanced AV Pack now and the High Def Pack when I upgrade my TV next year?

Can the Xbox High Definition AV Pack be used with a SD TV or do I need to buy the Xbox Advanced AV Pack now and the High Def Pack when I upgrade my TV next year?

Only if your TV has component inputs which is doubtful if it is standard definition

I'm connecting an xbox to the TV in the bedroom and its loud.

Has anybody had any luck replacing the fan or something to quite the xbox down?

I have versions 1.0 and 1.1 xboxes

Have you enabled the fan control option in the XBMC settings? That'll significantly lessen fan noise; to get any further reduction in noise you'll need to replace the fan(s).

You can also open up the Xbox and rip out the aluminum box that the shell encompasses. This requires taking the entire box apart, but it does reduce turbulence and resonance noise, as well as make the box far easier to work on when need be.

But yeah, XBMC has a fan speed setting that makes it so that you can drop the speed to a constant 10% instead of the normal 20%.

I'm connecting an xbox to the TV in the bedroom and its loud.

Has anybody had any luck replacing the fan or something to quite the xbox down?

I have versions 1.0 and 1.1 xboxes

The 1.0 xboxes are typically louder than v1.1+ xboxes because they are the only Xbox with a GPU Fan and a case fan.... On a 1.0 if you want it quiet remove the fan on the Nvidia GPU and replace it with a decent size heat sink. Additionally replacing the case 60mm fan will make it very quiet. You want to replace the 60mm case fan with a low noise 80mm case fan. I've had good luck with the Nexus DC Brushless Axial Flow Flan, Part# SP802512L-03. Set the fan speed at 100% and its quiet and still cool....

see this for details on doing the mod. you really need a dremel to do this easily....

http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Xbox%2080mm%20Fan%20Mod.htm

Sean

You can also open up the Xbox and rip out the aluminum box that the shell encompasses. This requires taking the entire box apart, but it does reduce turbulence and resonance noise, as well as make the box far easier to work on when need be.

But yeah, XBMC has a fan speed setting that makes it so that you can drop the speed to a constant 10% instead of the normal 20%.

Do you think the constant 10% is quieter than "Auto Temperature Control" using a Target Temperature Setting?

Do you think the constant 10% is quieter than "Auto Temperature Control" using a Target Temperature Setting?

Thats not the best approach if you want your xbox to be reliable....Setting auto temp control or a stock xbox just playing music at my house is like 2%. Playing games I have seen it get 30+%. Using the stock mode constant fan speed is not your best bet. Plus it only gives 10% granularity. Only auto temp can even run the fan at 2% if possible.

Sean

"Thats not the best approach if you want your xbox to be reliable"

The cooling system in the Xbox was overkill. The v1.0 you can rip out the GPU fan, leave the default heatsink, and be good to go. It will get hot, but not hot enough to break anything.

Regarding the granularity, I don't like auto. :) Human hearing is a funny thing. Changing noises draw more attention to themselves than a constant noise. In effect, the human auditory system will filter out the constant 10% fan noise all by itself. Any variance in fan noise will break that filtering system. So anytime the fan changes from 10% to 20% to 0% in the auto mode is the same effect as attaching a giant flashing light to the Xbox that goes off any time there is a speed change.

The science behind human hearing dictates that a louder, constant noise is less distracting than a quieter, variable noise. One could easily hypothesize that the reasoning for this is similar to why human vision is more sensitive to green than any other color. In the past it would have helped us notice when foliage was moving to better protect us from predators and invading tribes. :)

"Thats not the best approach if you want your xbox to be reliable"

The cooling system in the Xbox was overkill. The v1.0 you can rip out the GPU fan, leave the default heatsink, and be good to go. It will get hot, but not hot enough to break anything.

Regarding the granularity, I don't like auto. :) Human hearing is a funny thing. Changing noises draw more attention to themselves than a constant noise. In effect, the human auditory system will filter out the constant 10% fan noise all by itself. Any variance in fan noise will break that filtering system. So anytime the fan changes from 10% to 20% to 0% in the auto mode is the same effect as attaching a giant flashing light to the Xbox that goes off any time there is a speed change.

The science behind human hearing dictates that a louder, constant noise is less distracting than a quieter, variable noise. One could easily hypothesize that the reasoning for this is similar to why human vision is more sensitive to green than any other color. In the past it would have helped us notice when foliage was moving to better protect us from predators and invading tribes. :)

We agree for the most part.... Certainly constant noise less noticable and it may be a good solution for some. For me I found them too loud which I why I modded...

Another thing to consider before you set it some constant is understand the environment. In a well ventilated room what is adequate say 10% will not be adequate in a rack or enclosed cabinet. So users need to be aware of that and see what the temps are. General commercial ASIC's only like up to 120. Typically CPU and GPUs are specced to 150. If your xbox starts hanging more often after lowering the fan speed this will be a good indicator that its too hot...

One additional thing to note is that auto fan control does finer granularity control than the manual option in the GUI allows... Example 1% versus 100% adustments...

Cheers,
Sean

Hi all,

Finally got my hands on an Xbox a friend was no longer using. My goals are relatively simple (I think):

Stream MP3s
Stream recorded SDTV
Stream ripped movies (ISO or otherwise)

Other features (Youtube, weather, etc) are bonuses. All of my media is stored on my main PC. I have an 802.11G wireless bridge for the Xbox. Is 802.11G typically fast enough to stream DVDs & recorded MPEG2 video?

I'm still trying to locate the tools needed for the softmod. The Action Replay devices on Ebay are typically full price, something I was hoping to avoid. I believe this device could be used also, correct? It's a bit cheaper at $17 with shipping.

http://secure.llamma.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=64_27&products_id=78

Then I just need one of the games which I will buy used if I can't find a friend with a copy.

Other random questions that come to mind:
1) If I plan to use XBMC as the dashboard, it doesn't matter whether you iinitially use Evolution or UnleashX since they will be replaced anyway, correct?
2) Once XBMC is set as default dash, you can still play games by just having the disc in the drive when you power on?
3) Does XBMC have a screen to set up wireless / IP config info? Or do I need to do that before the mod or what?
4) For a XBMC newbie, any recommended version to install? I have seen the choices on the T3CH website - stable vs SVN.

I'm sure I'll have more! If anyone reading this is around the Richmond VA area, drop me a PM! Maybe I can buy you a beer if you're willing to give me a hand.

Once you soft mod the first xbox the second one will only take about 15 minutes.

I have XBMC as my dashboard, but you still need to exit out of XBMC to another dashboard when you want to upgrade XBMC. Unleashx and Evolution have their own FTP servers so you can FTP over a new version of XBMC when its time for an upgrade.

I think if XBOX will see the 802.11G wireless bridge as an regular ethernet connection.

I first installed the Stable version, but upgraded to the T3CH version within 2 weeks. Just start with T3CH version. I use the Backrow Skin from forums at xbox-scene.com

If you decide to upgrade your skin on a regular basis then look into installing "tortoise SVN" Then you can download the newest version of the skin by right clicking the folder on your PC.

Have fun.

I am researching this an an option for my media center needs. Good info here, but there is a glut that I am having a hard time wading through. Currently, I am using my PS3 as my media server in my home theater. All I am doing is streaming VOB files from my DVD collection that I have ripped onto a network hard drive. There are two other televisions on which I would like to share the media. This XBMC looks to be the ticket as it is much less expensive than adding two more PS3's to the mix. All I want to do is stream the video files. Anything else would be a bonus. Where do I start? Xbox's can be picked up relatively cheap, but is hard modding better than soft modding? I wouldn't necessarily need a bigger hard drive, but if it can be done relatively pain free, why not? Is there any place I can purchase a couple of these machines pre-modded? Feel free to pm me with info if posting it violates some rules. Thanks and keep up the great work!

1) If I plan to use XBMC as the dashboard, it doesn't matter whether you iinitially use Evolution or UnleashX since they will be replaced anyway, correct?
2) Once XBMC is set as default dash, you can still play games by just having the disc in the drive when you power on?
3) Does XBMC have a screen to set up wireless / IP config info? Or do I need to do that before the mod or what?
4) For a XBMC newbie, any recommended version to install? I have seen the choices on the T3CH website - stable vs SVN.



1. Yes which dash you install is not imporant as it will be replaced. Evox is smaller and takes slightly less time...
2. Yes or launch it from XBMC or you can have games on the HD if you have space and launch them from the HD. XBMC is a superset of all the functionality of dashes. you are not losing anything by using it as a dash.
3. XBMC has a setup screen for IP. There is no xbox support for wireless. That needs to be handled by an external device (wireless bridge).
4. start with stable just so you get used to it and then upgrade...

Sean

I am researching this an an option for my media center needs. Good info here, but there is a glut that I am having a hard time wading through. Currently, I am using my PS3 as my media server in my home theater. All I am doing is streaming VOB files from my DVD collection that I have ripped onto a network hard drive. There are two other televisions on which I would like to share the media. This XBMC looks to be the ticket as it is much less expensive than adding two more PS3's to the mix. All I want to do is stream the video files. Anything else would be a bonus. Where do I start? Xbox's can be picked up relatively cheap, but is hard modding better than soft modding? I wouldn't necessarily need a bigger hard drive, but if it can be done relatively pain free, why not? Is there any place I can purchase a couple of these machines pre-modded? Feel free to pm me with info if posting it violates some rules. Thanks and keep up the great work!


Where to start...

links in post #1.....

softmod are equal in functionality to hard mods......

Bigger HD's are only useful for loading games or non networked boxes. Otherwise you can easily steam videos etc from your PC and/or NAS. you just cant streaam xbox games....

generally adding a bigger disc takes more time. but if you do the hotswap method it really doesnt. I am not a fan of that approach but its an option.

modded xboxes... try local craigslist. classfieds on xboxscene, sell.com

Sean

Where to start...

links in post #1.....

softmod are equal in functionality to hard mods......

Bigger HD's are only useful for loading games or non networked boxes. Otherwise you can easily steam videos etc from your PC and/or NAS. you just cant streaam xbox games....

generally adding a bigger disc takes more time. but if you do the hotswap method it really doesnt. I am not a fan of that approach but its an option.

modded xboxes... try local craigslist. classfieds on xboxscene, sell.com

Sean

Thanks, I'll check into those. I'm not worried about streaming xbox games (although I admit, my wife would enjoy some of the old school Nintendo games.) Thanks again for the tips, and where is Huntsville? I've been in Salt Lake for a little over a year.

Can anybody tell me the fastest safe way to set xbmc as my default dash. I softmoded my xbox using the Krayzie exploit and I don't need set set up dual boot, just xbmc as default.

Thanks, I'll check into those. I'm not worried about streaming xbox games (although I admit, my wife would enjoy some of the old school Nintendo games.) Thanks again for the tips, and where is Huntsville? I've been in Salt Lake for a little over a year.

Huntsville is 20 miles east of Ogden. In between Snowbasin and Powdermountain on the Pineview resevoir. I'll gladly mod a box for free for you next time I am in town.... which might be a month or two....

Sean

Can anybody tell me the fastest safe way to set xbmc as my default dash. I softmoded my xbox using the Krayzie exploit and I don't need set set up dual boot, just xbmc as default.

Read this...

http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=As_a_Dashboard


Krazies boots: e:\dashboard\default.xbe

so replace that file withthe shortcut described in the link above... Its quite straightforward... you might want to have AID or a Frostys recovery disc handy and bootable in case you screw it up so you can fix it. Always make sure you can run XBMC from the Evox, etc menu before switching it to be the default dash....

Cheers,
Sean

Huntsville is 20 miles east of Ogden. In between Snowbasin and Powdermountain on the Pineview resevoir. I'll gladly mod a box for free for you next time I am in town.... which might be a month or two....

Sean

Hmmm, when's the next time you will be in Raleigh (per your user info)? :)

If I want to add a bigger hard drive, does that get done after you first mod the Xbox with the factory HDD?

Hmmm, when's the next time you will be in Raleigh (per your user info)? :)

If I want to add a bigger hard drive, does that get done after you first mod the Xbox with the factory HDD?

I'm Raleigh now... Headed to Cambrige UK tuesday. Back in Raleigh Saturday AM....

on the HD it depends how you do it. The way I do it. The answer is yes. The hoswap method which I dont do the answer is no.... Larger HD's are not that hard but it takes an extra 45 minutes compared to 10 minutes for a base softmod...

Sean

There is a 4/20 T3CH build out with a lot more scaper and skin fixes.... I have been using Pimped 3/30 and find that to be stable...

Sean

Got the xir device today. Works great though it took forever to ship from Canadia! No hurry up there aye! Also add 1tb to my pc and 3gb of ram just for good measure. Time to start loading some movies. Sure wish I could get one of the automated rippers but that would be a little expensive.

Since there seems to be no end user support for XBMC/Linux on a HTPC as yet, I thought I'd take a baby step and start recording HDTV programs using a HDhomerun external tuner box and TBD software and watching the material on my XBMC-on-Xbox after downconversion.

The Xbox is presently connected to a 480p 42" Panasonic Plasma TV and the signal is transmitted as 1080i because even SD DVDs look better this way than when transmitted as 480p!

I know that hidef material cannot be natively decoded by the Xbox and needs to be downconverted before being streamed. Any advice on whether to transcode the material offline/batch or on-the-fly during streaming would be greatly appreciated. As will recommendations for target resolution and codec.

Thanks.

Got the xir device today. Works great though it took forever to ship from Canadia! No hurry up there aye! Also add 1tb to my pc and 3gb of ram just for good measure. Time to start loading some movies. Sure wish I could get one of the automated rippers but that would be a little expensive.

How difficult was it to hookup the xir?

Took about 5 minutes. I purchased the XIR easy kit which does not require soldering and is basically plug and play. Seems to be pretty decent quality. Now I just got to reprogram my Harmony.

Huntsville is 20 miles east of Ogden. In between Snowbasin and Powdermountain on the Pineview resevoir. I'll gladly mod a box for free for you next time I am in town.... which might be a month or two....

Sean

Thanks, man I might just take you up on it. Of course, I have to find a donor xbox or two first, but I'd appreciate any help I can get. This would save a good bit of money over going with two more PS3's....