DVD Server using XBOX Media Center (XBMC), DVD Profiler, and IMDB (Pictures galore) [Text View] - Page 18

dan4081

01-26-09, 03:30 PM

I am using 12/30 and as far as I can tell it is still scraping IMDB. Was this change made post 12/30?

And what is the slow scanning issue?

I believe the IMDB was disabled on about 1/13/09.
Heres some info:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43626&highlight=imdb

The update Library in newer versions was very slow. It has since been fixed, but hadnt been compiled into the newest build (12/30). It should be fixed now, but you WILL lose IMDB scraping.
Here:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38374

It doesnt matter to me as I use Media Companion, which does scrape IMDB, and is faster and has more features than using the xbox to scrape.

BTW, the PMIII-HD skin in this newest build should have some nice new views built in for the music section.

Also, for anyone interested, Jezz posted a how-to for the PMIII-HD skin that lets you add a 'TV Shows' button and a 'Videos' button to the menu. It works great and the TV Show button points to a seperate folder than the movies button, so TV and movies are kept seperate. And the corresponding 'buttons' open those folders only.
Heres the thread:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43742

Stryker412

01-26-09, 06:16 PM

Simple Plug-in Brings Hulu to Your XBMC

http://lifehacker.com/5134070/simple-plug+in-brings-hulu-to-your-xbmc

bswiz

01-26-09, 06:26 PM

Also, for anyone interested, Jezz posted a how-to for the PMIII-HD skin that lets you add a 'TV Shows' button and a 'Videos' button to the menu. It works great and the TV Show button points to a seperate folder than the movies button, so TV and movies are kept seperate. And the corresponding 'buttons' open those folders only.
Heres the thread:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43742

Thanks for the updates, the MediaCompanion program looks like it's worth a try.

As for the TV Shows button on PM3-HD, the link you provided says this: THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE XBOX, THE XBOX VERSION STILL NEEDS TO GET MERGED WITH THE LINUX VERSION BEFORE IT WILL WORK

So this is not for Xbox? Edit: Just read the full thread and there is a comment that says it works fine on Xbox, so I'll have to give it a try.

dan4081

01-26-09, 07:48 PM

Thanks for the updates, the MediaCompanion program looks like it's worth a try.

As for the TV Shows button on PM3-HD, the link you provided says this: THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE XBOX, THE XBOX VERSION STILL NEEDS TO GET MERGED WITH THE LINUX VERSION BEFORE IT WILL WORK

So this is not for Xbox? Edit: Just read the full thread and there is a comment that says it works fine on Xbox, so I'll have to give it a try.

You have to take the 3 files Jezz talked about from the rar file in that link, and replace the corresponding 3 files in the xbox PM3-HD with those 3.

It works really well.

Edit:
I went ahead and put the PM3 I modded on Rapidshare. Just FTP this into your skins folder. (Let me know if it works for you.)

http://rapidshare.com/files/189939451/PM3.HDMOD.rar.html

bswiz

01-27-09, 12:24 PM

Thanks, will try this out tonight.

As for MediaCompanion, does it not work for ISO files? I tried to search the thread on XBMC.org but search didn't seem to be working and I gave up after a few pages. I did find an early message that said it did not work with ISO, but wasn't sure if that was fixed in a later version. I scanned my movie folder, and it only worked for the few movies I had in MPEG or AVI format. Nearly all of my movies are in ISO, so this program won't be much help to me if there isn't ISO support. Bummer, as it looks pretty nice otherwise!

Cocophone

01-27-09, 01:13 PM

My files are only in ISO format and Media Companion works for me. The program also has a forum on its own website.

dan4081

01-27-09, 01:44 PM

99% of my movies are in iso format and it works perfect.

Are your iso files each in their own folder? If so, that could be the issue.
I have all mine in my 'movies' folder, no seperate folder for each iso. (Actually I have a 'movies1' folder on one hard drive, and a 'movies2' on the other.)

Each one of those two folders has a couple hundred iso's in it. Media Companion finds all the iso's no problem.
So inside my movies1 folder, I have: Taken.iso, Collateral.iso, Driven.iso, etc etc. No folders, just iso's.

For tv shows, I have a folder named 'TV Shows'. Inside that folder I have a folder for each show name. Inside that folder I have season 1, season 2, etc etc.
Example: Inside my 'TV Show' folder I have a 'Survivor' folder.
Inside that folder I have other folders:
Survivor-Season 1
Survivor-Season 2
Survivor-Season 3
Inside those season folders I have all the individual episodes
I also have a '24' folder inside the 'TV Shows' folder.
It also has seperate season folders inside.

(Media companion does tvshows also)

kupermanp

01-27-09, 02:57 PM

dan4081

01-27-09, 03:21 PM

kupermanp

01-27-09, 04:09 PM

thanks. I couldn't tell from the tutorial but will this let me boot directly into XBMC as the dash or do I have to use unleash or evolutionX?

K

Scotty6595

01-27-09, 04:42 PM

dan4081

01-27-09, 04:52 PM

Dan, I just tried out Media Companion and it seems like a pretty good program. I have a question that I didn't see answered on their forums that I thought you could help me with. I have a movie that it did not find art for and I am wondering how to force it to look else where or is there a work around that I need to perform like inserting an image file of my own...

Thanks!

Click on 'edit title' (Think thats what the button says-I'm at work so not 100% sure)along the button bar at the top of the program. A window will pop up with all the movies info.
From there there are options in the bottom right corner to re-scrape fanart or dvd artwork. It will give the option to scrape different sites till you find one you like. Then check the force overwrite of thumb box and save.

dan4081

01-27-09, 04:56 PM

thanks. I couldn't tell from the tutorial but will this let me boot directly into XBMC as the dash or do I have to use unleash or evolutionX?

K

This will get you to boot to unleash or evo as dash.

But Sean Smith earlier in this thread posted a how-to with the included file to then make your xbox boot directly to xbmc. I followed his instructions and my xbox now boots directly to xbmc.

When I get home I'll post the link if you can't find his post.

bswiz

01-27-09, 05:26 PM

dan4081

01-27-09, 07:15 PM

Very strange... It definitely was not working for me before. I rescanned the folder a couple times and now it is finding them!

Glad you got it working.........

sean_w_smith

01-27-09, 08:33 PM

hey there. I have several hard modded boxes and am getting ready to softmod a new box. I know how to get things. I was just wondering if there is a particular package that works best for xbmc. When I last looked into it I believe crazy ndure was the best, but it its been a couple of years.

Thanks
K

I use Krazy, used to use SID 4....

switched to krazy due to capability to select 480i over component. SID 4 was hard coded...

other than that both worked fine.

SID4 was replaced by SID5 a while ago.

I have not seen any difference in behavior between the Krazy and SID. done dozens of softmods with each and still have 2 hardmod xboxes. They all work the same....

Sean

kupermanp

01-27-09, 09:02 PM

thanks. does the sid 5 let you choose the 480i the guy I'm doing it for may not have component cables.

darklordjames

01-27-09, 09:19 PM

When installing SID5, you have 4 options. Dual boot in 480p or 480i, and Single boot in 480p or 480i.

dan4081

01-28-09, 05:57 PM

sean_w_smith

01-28-09, 07:23 PM

thanks. does the sid 5 let you choose the 480i the guy I'm doing it for may not have component cables.

This was only an issue for those running component cable. composite and svideo were never an issue.

It sounds like SID5 fixed this issue and gvies you a choice....

This was only a issue on old CRT with limited component capabilities.

Sean

bswiz

01-28-09, 09:53 PM

Did the file work ok?

Yep, working fine, thanks. Not sure I like the new menu but I made backups of the original files in case I want to switch back.

The TV shows selection doesn't work for me. I haven't read the instructions, maybe I need to call my TV folder something particular? The movies worked with no setup.

Also been playing around with Media Companion. It seems to be picking a lot of foreign-language cover art by default... I know I can manually edit that, though.

ssusca

01-29-09, 08:35 AM

Same here.
So much easier for media companion to scrape the movies I have then all my xboxs read the nfo files media companion made.

Forgive my ignorance. I have not tried this yet because I have been rebuilding my server after a failed Vista install. Long Story...

Anyway, I have an older build of XBMC (probably sometime around June 2008) but I want to upgrade to the latest so I can use the hulu plugin. Since it will no longer scrape IMDB, I want to try Media Companion. But how do you get XBMC to read the nfo files to build the Library?

dan4081

01-29-09, 09:10 AM

Forgive my ignorance. I have not tried this yet because I have been rebuilding my server after a failed Vista install. Long Story...

Anyway, I have an older build of XBMC (probably sometime around June 2008) but I want to upgrade to the latest so I can use the hulu plugin. Since it will no longer scrape IMDB, I want to try Media Companion. But how do you get XBMC to read the nfo files to build the Library?

Media companion will automatically create the nfo files in the same folder as your movies. When you update your library with the xbox it will look at those nfo files instead of trying to scrape somewhere else. You dont have to do anything.

dan4081

01-29-09, 09:20 AM

Yep, working fine, thanks. Not sure I like the new menu but I made backups of the original files in case I want to switch back.
What did you make back-ups of? All you had to do was FTP my PM3-HDMOD to your skins folder and you should have your original PM3-HD skin and the PM3-HDMOD skin both in the skins folder. Then you would still have the original if you want to switch back.

The TV shows selection doesn't work for me. I haven't read the instructions, maybe I need to call my TV folder something particular? The movies worked with no setup.

I just call my TV Folder 'TV Shows'. When you go to TV Shows button, add source just like you would with your movies, but choose your TV Shows folder. Then SET CONTENT and make sure it says TV SHOWS. Also set it to scrape TVDB.

Also been playing around with Media Companion. It seems to be picking a lot of foreign-language cover art by default... I know I can manually edit that, though.

Thats strange-I havent seen that problem. May have to check their forums.

.........................

ssusca

01-29-09, 09:42 AM

Media companion will automatically create the nfo files in the same folder as your movies. When you update your library with the xbox it will look at those nfo files instead of trying to scrape somewhere else. You dont have to do anything.

Sweet, Thanks

porkozone

01-29-09, 11:05 AM

I've actually been having trouble getting scan to pick up anything consistently, even .nfo files. I was using the latest stable T3CH release, and every now and then, a new video with an .nfo file wouldn't get picked up by the auto-scan. I updated to a newer release, and it stopped picking up almost everything - even stuff that had been previously listed.

I've since uploaded a second time, and did not replace my database file with the newest install (but did keep the other user settings), and again I get maybe 5-10% of my videos accepted into the library, and most of them have .nfo files with them.

Has anyone else had any issues like this?

The nfo files were not generated from Media Companion, but generated by my own applescript I wrote to build nfo files from metadata room my eyeTV videos. It's good to know that IMDB is no longer working...that explains some of the missing data, but not the ones with my nfo files. It was working really well until the day I got ready to turn over my new "easy to use" video library to the wife...

When using nfo files, is it required to have a "show" nfo file in the root folder of the show, or can you just have individual episode nfo files with the data?

I'm going to try again to just wipe all the user settings, and reinstall it all, and then tweak everything again. It's probably just something screwed up on my end, but I've already reinstalled/upgraded a couple times since Christmas, and not gotten anywhere. So close...

Ja Phule

02-01-09, 04:11 AM

kupermanp

02-03-09, 08:05 PM

I used SID4.
Heres the step by step I use with links to all the files needed.

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/558747

Just a quick update. Everything went smooth (well..fairly) and my friend is stoked:D. Thanks for the link that made it super easy:cool:

K

dan4081

02-04-09, 10:19 AM

Just a quick update. Everything went smooth (well..fairly) and my friend is stoked:D. Thanks for the link that made it super easy:cool:

K

Glad to hear it.
These xbox's with xbmc cant be beat for $50.

JackBauer007

02-07-09, 03:02 PM

Ja Phule

02-07-09, 05:40 PM

This has probably been asked 1000 times, but I'll ask again because 140+ pages is a lot to dig through (lots of great info, though...thanks!)...

Currently, I have 66 movies ripped with this file structure: Movies -->> Name -->> .VOB structure...

I'd like to go through and convert them to ISOs, but that's going to take quite a bit of time...so the question is this: if I started converting my movies to ISO now, would there be conflicts with the current file structure?

Thanks...

Just make sure your ISOs are of DVD-Video file structure, which would have your vobs within a VIDEO_TS folder.

If you are using something like Nero Burning Rom to create your ISO, just make sure you are making a DVD-Video and then it should have an AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folders and you should be able to just drag your vob files into the VIDEO_TS folders.

JackBauer007

02-07-09, 07:14 PM

Just make sure your ISOs are of DVD-Video file structure, which would have your vobs within a VIDEO_TS folder.

If you are using something like Nero Burning Rom to create your ISO, just make sure you are making a DVD-Video and then it should have an AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folders and you should be able to just drag your vob files into the VIDEO_TS folders.Cool..thanks

Here's another dumb question: I went ahead and used Media Companion for all the thumbs/fanart...

I cleared out the Library and deleted the appropriate files in XMBC on the XBOX (Video Thumbnails and Database -- My Videos) and am in the process of re-scanning them in...

However, it's taking FOREVER to get this stuff scanned...I thought it would be quicker if I have the stuff already done and saved via Media Companion? I'm likely doing something wrong here...help

EDIT: I have the folder.jpg and the fanart.jpg inside the VIDEO_TS folder...goes like this Movie --> VIDEO_TS --> fanart.jpg /folder.jpg and .VOBs

zimdba

02-08-09, 12:07 PM

However, it's taking FOREVER to get this stuff scanned...I thought it would be quicker if I have the stuff already done and saved via Media Companion? I'm likely doing something wrong here...help

I *think* it's copying everything from the share/server to it's local DB/Cache. I'm having the same issue on my 3 Xboxen.

That said, I think that it's a great program and I'm really happy with it thus far. However, I still need to work on my TV shows. The first time I attempted, it said I needed a ".nfo", but I haven't really looked into it.

JackBauer007

02-08-09, 04:38 PM

I *think* it's copying everything from the share/server to it's local DB/Cache. I'm having the same issue on my 3 Xboxen.

That said, I think that it's a great program and I'm really happy with it thus far. However, I still need to work on my TV shows. The first time I attempted, it said I needed a ".nfo", but I haven't really looked into it.I think you're right...I had to go through each movie and 'refresh' each of them individually so it could pull up the content...

As for the tv shows: I '.VOB'd' the show 'Entourage' instead of encoding them into another format (in other words, just disc copied the seasons)...is there an easy way for thetvdb.com to scrape these episodes while in this format or am I going to have to use Handbrake (btw, anyone actually have the right settings using Handbrake, anyway? I prefer it to the other programs often mentioned around here)...

Thoughts?

sean_w_smith

02-09-09, 09:25 AM

I think you're right...I had to go through each movie and 'refresh' each of them individually so it could pull up the content...

As for the tv shows: I '.VOB'd' the show 'Entourage' instead of encoding them into another format (in other words, just disc copied the seasons)...is there an easy way for thetvdb.com to scrape these episodes while in this format or am I going to have to use Handbrake (btw, anyone actually have the right settings using Handbrake, anyway? I prefer it to the other programs often mentioned around here)...

Thoughts?

First of all the scraping performance is quite good in XBMC. It got a lot better in the 12/07 release.

All the new options slow things down. Pulling actor thumbs, artist thumbs, band bios and all the internet lookup stuff are where the slow down is. Turn that off and its way faster but you also have way less cool content.

If you are having to scan movies one at a time you are doing something wrong. I dont do TV shows so I wont comment on that but I somehow corrupted my movie library the other day and deleted it and it did manage to scan 165 movies with actors, directors, etc in about an hour with NO intervention from me using IMDB.

Sean

JackBauer007

02-09-09, 09:51 AM

First of all the scraping performance is quite good in XBMC. It got a lot better in the 12/07 release.

All the new options slow things down. Pulling actor thumbs, artist thumbs, band bios and all the internet lookup stuff are where the slow down is. Turn that off and its way faster but you also have way less cool content.

If you are having to scan movies one at a time you are doing something wrong. I dont do TV shows so I wont comment on that but I somehow corrupted my movie library the other day and deleted it and it did manage to scan 165 movies with actors, directors, etc in about an hour with NO intervention from me using IMDB.

SeanI cleaned/deleted my library after using Media Companion to get all the relevant information...I figured by now doing it that way, it would take shorter time to scan the items to the library...

I should also clarify: after doing it the second time and clearing things out, I had to 'refresh' everything (thumbnails, fan art)...I have all the IMDB scans (a January release -- don't remember the day) turned off, too...

If it was the cache, I have no idea how to clean that out...

dan4081

02-09-09, 12:54 PM

Cool..thanks

Here's another dumb question: I went ahead and used Media Companion for all the thumbs/fanart...

I cleared out the Library and deleted the appropriate files in XMBC on the XBOX (Video Thumbnails and Database -- My Videos) and am in the process of re-scanning them in...

However, it's taking FOREVER to get this stuff scanned...I thought it would be quicker if I have the stuff already done and saved via Media Companion? I'm likely doing something wrong here...help

EDIT: I have the folder.jpg and the fanart.jpg inside the VIDEO_TS folder...goes like this Movie --> VIDEO_TS --> fanart.jpg /folder.jpg and .VOBs

Its a known issue with some of the newer builds of xbmc. I'm also using media companion, and it still takes a long time for xbmc to update the library.

The developers are aware of it according to some posts on xbmc.org.

(The newest build 1/25 was supposed to fix the slow scanning, but didnt.)

I'm sure it will be fixed very soon.....

JackBauer007

02-10-09, 03:39 PM

Its a known issue with some of the newer builds of xbmc. I'm also using media companion, and it still takes a long time for xbmc to update the library.

The developers are aware of it according to some posts on xbmc.org.

(The newest build 1/25 was supposed to fix the slow scanning, but didnt.)

I'm sure it will be fixed very soon.....

Yeah, I've noted that now...thanks

gwlbe

02-14-09, 06:50 AM

I finally upgraded to a recent build 12/30/08. In file mode I use to be able to go to a video folder and hit play and they would shuffle all the videos in the folder and sub folders. In my case 2300 music videos, most are xvids, mp4 and mpgs. With this recent build I cannot figure out how to do this. In libary mode I set up playlist and accomplish the same thing, but I would like to be able to do it in file mode.
Any suggestions.

darklordjames

02-14-09, 11:46 AM

So, my quest for an HD-capable XBMC box continues. Last night I ordered up some parts for a living room box.

I already have this beautiful case, from a Celeron 1.1ghz HTPC I used to run, pre-XBMC: Lian-Li PC-9300 aluminum microATX desktop case
http://www.dansdata.com/llpc9300.htm

Motherboard: ASUS M3N78-VM GeForce 8200 HDMI - $73
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131318

Processor: Athlon X2 5050e 2.6ghz 45W - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103298

Ram: Crucial (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 - $23
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148163

Remote: Antec Multi-Station Basic Internal IR receiver and remote - $37
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999191

I'm not putting a disc drive in this machine, I already have the SFX power supply I need, and the hard drive is just a little 160GB I have laying around. For $200 sans case, this should end up serving my needs rather well. The little Antec piece is pretty interesting. It is going to let me set up my Harmony to remotely power on and power off the machine. :)

The current plan is to load up XBMC Live on it, which will then function exactly as an Xbox does when you have XBMC set as the dash. As I have it specified, this cheap little guy should be able to decode just about anything I through at it, except for the highest complexity 1080p video. Given that he is going to be outputting 1080p to my 768p plasma, that is a perfectly acceptable compromise. It looks like gaining that super-high 1080p capability would have doubled the cost of the machine, and I figure double cost would have been better spent on smaller (like a Mac Mini) instead of faster. :)

Now to wait for parts, build it , and test it. If I do really like it and decide that this is the worthy successor to the Xbox, then the hard drive in the box has got to go. Did you guys know that Compact Flash is a native IDE device? Did you also know that pin adapters from CF-to-IDE are like $10? How about that fast 16GB CF cards are about $40 now? That's right, if I like this machine, I'm going to build a tiny $50 solid state drive for it to boot off of, to reduce system noise. :) The machine is going to store no content locally, so even 16GB is likely to be overkill for storage.

Oh, I guess I throw a 1TB drive on to that order as well. Needed more space to stream DVD's from. :)

darklordjames

02-14-09, 11:58 AM

Additional: Has anyone given MythTV a try lately? I always here good things about it, but I've always been an XBMC boy.

srauly

02-14-09, 12:36 PM

darklordjames, that sounds like a fun project. So does XBMC Live not require that another OS be loaded on the box?

I'm unclear about whether this can reliably do 1080p or not, based on your comments. And the cost, once you factor in the case and other components, starts to get up there.

Does this support audio over HDMI?

Right now, I'd like an XBMC box in my living room with HDMI, so that I can run a single cable to my TV. So I occasionally think about getting an AppleTV for that room.

darklordjames

02-14-09, 01:03 PM

XBMC Live has a stripped down version of Ubuntu Linux embedded in it. It is there purely as a boot source, with the goal being that XBMC Live should operate like a set-top box. Boot to XBMC, and nothing else.

As for cost, yeah, my case was like $200. It is rather easy to find a mATX case and acceptable power supply for about $50. I also just found out that XBMC Live can be insalled to a 2GB+ flash drive. Checking Best Buy's site, they 4GB drives seem to go for $13 now. In the end, you would be looking at $260 for a pretty rad machine. :)

As to the 1080p issue? Running these specs, I should be able to decode and play back anything found on "the scene" with perfect results. I'll find out soon enough I guess. If I were to do some Blu-ray rips of my own, I could easily choke this machine with high-bitrate, high-complexity content, but that would be my own silly fault for encoding video outside of my machine's spec. Instead, I could just maintain the same great quality, and sacrifice some space to make the 1080p rip perfectly playable.

HDMI audio? I think so, at least stereo. I know that there are boards out there that will do HDMI audio out, but it wasn't a concern of mine when picking this one. I run HDMI video + optical in my setup. Brand new TV, but my receiver is three years old. It's a Yamaha RX-V2500 though, so it is damn difficult to find something with the newer features I want like HDMI support, without giving up other feature like the graphical GUI that it has. At least for under $1500. :)

Oh, and I was hugely disappointed by the AppleTV. Just for the record! :) I'm still keeping tabs on the progress of XBMC ATV, and there is some interesting work being done in regards to the horrendous remote control functions, but it still has a long way to go.

sbouldin

02-14-09, 07:13 PM

I've searched for the answer to this, but have had problems finding a solution. I downloaded XBMC on my HP laptop yesterday and ripped a movie in VOB format as a test. I go to the videos section in XBMC and find the folder that I saved the Video and Audio folders in. I "stacked" the folder so that when I click on the overall movie folder that it will start the movie. Well, it plays about 8 seconds of it then freezes. I'm I setting this up correctly? I'm a missing something? Should I rip the dvd as an ISO folder instead of VOB? Thanks for the assistance.

TheOtherOne

02-16-09, 03:46 AM

I can't wait for the new Aeon skin to be finished but for now Mediastream is getting the job done.

http://www.moarpics.com/images/0pnqzrosfaras7ufsl7n.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/r3t5va8fcb2hsklj7m5o.jpg)
http://www.moarpics.com/images/uhukvmw11bmda152a1tt.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/p2k2rhoa3f6gs1f5glgx.jpg)http://www.moarpics.com/images/h3h9ljb2dpx57mddnpg1.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/tvfyqj76sb1ivg2dd3ks.jpg)
http://www.moarpics.com/images/0are913mz53uei5ajscw.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/n62vdaxe2u09kahu03wm.jpg)http://www.moarpics.com/images/aajgbf72u7h4nj6jatm.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/456u2imln1hdgi8jbo.jpg)
http://www.moarpics.com/images/1bhw6h5toj2cra3rhj9a.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/tb15xyn1x944yk5cij.jpg)http://www.moarpics.com/images/k85rbwi70qqj7pshn4ui.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/l7kznpokjaexcm4rs0t1.jpg)
http://www.moarpics.com/images/d3cnelfju22bd7x0x1x.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/28uopmm5w3ireqdqtz9f.jpg)http://www.moarpics.com/images/p5d2y3z2xlu0jwgptk0m.jpg (http://www.moarpics.com/images/14n33g5468v55uz8bolt.jpg)

Maolq

02-16-09, 02:41 PM

James, I have been looking at doing this for a while now and had even spec'd some potential hardware. But currently I am a little tired of projects after getting a RAID server up and running, re-ripping all my music as lossless and getting all the meta data for my media cleaned up. I think i need to just enjoy my content for a while before I bite off something new ;) But, a small, quiet, live install xbmc box is my dream, so please keep up updated on how this experience goes.

darklordjames

02-16-09, 10:06 PM

TheOtherOne

02-17-09, 03:46 AM

My parts all shipped this morning, with a delivery date of Thursday. I figure I'll throw it together Friday night and see what happens. :)

Also, in preparation of my build, does anyone know where to get some Blu-ray style sample files? By that I mean unencoded video that is using the same codecs and containers as a Blu-ray disc would use. I guess some 1080p MKV sample files would be nice as well.
I'm not sure about Blu-ray .ts files, but here's some 1080p mkv's that are some of the worst kind you'll run into (high bit rates, lots of panning, etc.):

Jittery.Sample1.1080p.BluRay.DTS.mkv (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9E05T3WM)
Jittery.Sample2.1080p.BluRay.DTS.mkv (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=54ZI9CD0)
Jittery.Sample3.1080p.BluRay.DTS.mkv (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZZDSB9ZP)
killa.sampla.x264.mkv (http://rapidshare.com/files/82525583/killa.sampla.x264.mkv.html)

ChrisFB

02-18-09, 11:53 PM

sean_w_smith

02-26-09, 05:15 PM

Hi Darklord,

any update on your HTPC XBMC build....

I think I have ended up in the same camp as you regarding AppleTV. It works but there are 3 major problems.

1. HDMI sync issues (once you switch inputs to some other input on the receiver/tv/projector it wont sync once you switch back). This is only an issue on XBMC. Boxee works fine in that respect. Boxee although a cool idea is just a bug ridden peice of software at the moment.
2. the remote. The apple remote is awful if your used to a harmony or xbox controller. support for universal remotes via XBMC on ATV does not exist yet. Does exist on XBMC and plex for mac though so maybe eventually that will get fixed.
3. really does not play a wide variety of 720P content. some but not most. mac mini on the other hand seems to play BD rips using dual cores via PLEX quite well.

I have been playing with streaming BD's via PS3 and its hit or miss and even when it works there is no support for lossless audio.

I broke down and bought a PCH-110 which should solve my BD woes. I bought primarily to play BD rips but will be interesting to see if the firmware has improved since 3 years ago when I last had a NMT device in my house. I will post a detailed review once I get it working on my network.

BTW: There is a 2/18/09 t3CH build out with a ton of bug fixes but I have not tried it yet.

Question for those using the new builds. How do you get the IMDB scraper back now that they have removed it. Do you install it as a 3rd party scraper or we destined now to have to use on of the PC based scraper utilities to create .nfo files....

Later,
Sean

darklordjames

02-26-09, 07:37 PM

Stryker412

02-26-09, 08:06 PM

Sean let me know how the PCH is, I've been eyeing one myself. I have been running my BD rips through the PS3 using PS3MS.

dan4081

02-26-09, 08:27 PM

Hi Darklord,

---snipped------BTW: There is a 2/18/09 t3CH build out with a ton of bug fixes but I have not tried it yet.

Question for those using the new builds. How do you get the IMDB scraper back now that they have removed it. Do you install it as a 3rd party scraper or we destined now to have to use on of the PC based scraper utilities to create .nfo files....

Later,
Sean

The imdb scraper should be back in the 2/18 build. (seems xbmc got the ok to use imdb again)

dan4081

02-26-09, 08:36 PM

So I built my machine, guys. I installed XBMC Live on it, but had no sound. I chose too new of an Nforce board. :) Primlimary testing shows that it will decode anything I care to throw at it, but I'm not quite ready to call it solid until I get it working properly of course. Currently, I am putting Ubuntu on it, and am going to throw XBMC on that as an app. Speaking of which... my Ubuntu installer is calling for attention! Further updates to follow.

Keep us updated.
I am seriously thinking of taking my xbox apart and putting it into a media center pc case just so it looks like a component and to quiet it down.(many people on xbox scene have-looks like a fun project)

But.......I may be tempted to just go the full fledged pc running xbmc.

Would especially love some updates on ease of use and ease of control. I just love how the xbox 'just works'. Just plays whatever I throw at it, and does it easily, all with my harmony remote.

felke001

02-28-09, 05:32 PM

Long time XBMC user (on Xbox) but switched to the PCH about 2 months ago for ability to play HD.

My 0.02

Pros--
PCH handles basically any codec. Amazingly, I have yet to find a video file that it couldn't play. It even passes through HD audio (DTS or TrueHD) via HDMI flawlessly.

Cons--
Very poor GUI/user interface. It can be improved substantially by using jukeboxs (like YAMJ) and there is a pretty active user community that has improved the functionality, but in terms of "style points" and general ease of use XBMC still wins by a good margin.

darklordjames

02-28-09, 06:44 PM

bswiz

03-02-09, 09:44 PM

Hi all, things have been running smoothly for me with XBMC but now I've hit a snag. I unplugged all my A/V equipment (including the Xbox) last night because our power flickered a few times due to snow.

Tonight I plugged it all back in to watch a movie on XBMC, and instead of starting up, it went to the MS dash and asked me to set date/time. I couldn't get it to boot into UnleashX. So I redid the softmod and it all went fine, but after the last step, when it restarts itself, it still went to the MS dash and gave the screen that says something like "When you connect to the internet, your Xbox may download updates...". I unplugged the network cable and redid the softmod multiple times, but keep having this same problem.

Any ideas what I can do to get past this and get XBMC working again?

Thanks!

darklordjames

03-02-09, 09:47 PM

Is your original dashboard version 5960? And are you using Softmod Installer Deluxe 3 or newer? The softmod will work poorly on older dash versions, and older soft-mod versions have issues if the time is ever lost track of due to the Xbox being unplugged for more than a couple hours. Current version of both bypass these problems.

bswiz

03-02-09, 10:33 PM

Dash is 5960 and I used SID4. SID4 does some checks to make sure everything meets requirements (5960 dash and some other things, I think?) and those checks pass.

I didn't try setting the time correctly before redoing the softmod. Are you saying that might help?

darklordjames

03-02-09, 10:36 PM

Ah, yes. I had a softmod that choked on me once like this. If the clock isn't set before you softmod, then it throws a fit. At least in my experience. :)

bswiz

03-02-09, 10:37 PM

Ah, yes. I had a softmod that choked on me once like this. If the clock isn't set before you softmod, then it throws a fit. At least in my experience. :)

Son of a gun... I'll give it a try once I can pry my wife away from watching The Bachelor on the main TV!

Update:

That did the trick! HUGE thanks to darklordjames!

srauly

03-04-09, 01:38 PM

If the company behind Popcorn Hour was smart, they would make their device such that XBMC Live could be installed on it.

BTW, for anyone who, like me, has been oblivious to other threads in this forum, I just learned today that some enterprising folks have gotten USB ethernet dongles working with the WD streamer. It is my understanding that the UI on that is still quite poor compared to XBMC and ISO compatibility is less than 100%, but as a small/silent $99 high-def-capable streamer, it's certainly attractive.

Another topic for discussion...I'm finding myself intrigued by the Hauppauge HD DVR. It lets you record content via component (and 5.1 DD over optical), vary the bitrate (up to 13.5, I believe), and save the file in an h.264 format. The idea of copying my Blu-ray discs via this relatively simple method has my interest, but I don't know what the highest bitrate is (at 720p) that the XBox could play them (if it even could at all). Perhaps an AppleTV could do it? It's not perfect, of course, as you wouldn't be able to carry subtitles through (unless you want them burned into the video), and the Hauppauge HD DVR doesn't support DTS, so if the disc doesn't have DD, you'd have to suffer with Dolby Surround Sound.

darklordjames

03-04-09, 06:42 PM

"Perhaps an AppleTV could do it?"

Do not expect the AppleTV to be able to decode anything more complicated than the Xbox will. It's a little faster, but not enough to matter. You're looking at either 720p MPEG2 or 540p MPEG4 in either case as a maximum.

BirboX

03-05-09, 10:53 AM

Not quite sure if this is the right place to post this, but I'm looking for some help.

I soft-modded my original Xbox about a year ago and fell in love with XBMC. Streaming shows for my kids off of my computer is the best thing ever. A few weeks ago, the DVD drive crapped out on me, so I decided to pick up a pre-modded system from someone. Thought having a larger built-in hard drive would help me play through my backlog of games as well as serving as my media streamer.

Well, I got the modded system yesterday and I'm kinda lost with it. It has an Executer chip, but I haven't a clue which one. The system is running Avalaunch, but doesn't have a media center installed on it. I tried to FTP XBMC to the apps folder, but must have done something wrong as it doesn't show up in the Avalaunch apps folder.

If anyone can help point me in the right direction of getting XBMC up and running on this without screwing anything up, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

srauly

03-05-09, 11:50 AM

Do not expect the AppleTV to be able to decode anything more complicated than the Xbox will. It's a little faster, but not enough to matter. You're looking at either 720p MPEG2 or 540p MPEG4 in either case as a maximum.Well, Apple offers movie rentals in 720p in their h.264 format, so it's got to be capable of it at some bitrate. Exactly what that bitrate is, I'm not sure.

srauly

03-05-09, 02:14 PM

One of the main reasons I've thought about buying an AppleTV was just so that I could get HDMI w/audio output. In my living room, I have a plasma mounted above a fireplace and I want to run a minimum number of cables to the TV, so that I can hide the wires as best as possible. Right now I'm running component along with left/right RCA stereo via a very thick cable.

Anyways, it's nice to see that there are some other options now available. I'm sure I've searched for component-to-HDMI converters in the past and came up empty (or found only super-expensive ones), but I did another search today and see that there are now affordable ones out there. This one from Monoprice (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011406&p_id=4631&seq=1&format=2) is only $37.20! Most of the reviews seem positive, but a couple of people were unhappy and stated that the PQ was bad.

Does anyone here have any experience with one of these low-cost component-to-HDMI converters?

darklordjames

03-05-09, 11:17 PM

"Apple offers movie rentals in 720p in their h.264 format, so it's got to be capable of it at some bitrate."

Yes, you can make 5mbps 720p Quicktime h.264's and stream them to the ATV under the original ATV dashboard. Apple of course has access to hardware decode assist from the Geforce 7300 that is embedded in the device. If you are using an ATV with it's original software though, then you are doing it wrong. :) Boxee and XBMC are both available for the ATV, with proper remote control support mere moments away from acceptability on the XBMC side. Both interfaces are vastly superior to Apple's, but you lose the hardware h264 assistance. In software, the ATV is very similar in capability to XBMC for Xbox as far as what it is capable of decoding. The 1ghz quasi-Atom inside it is about as capable as the 733mhz PIII-based Celeron-M in the Xbox.

In short, putting up with the vile ATV interface is not worth 720p video.

Ja Phule

03-06-09, 02:04 AM

BirboX

03-06-09, 12:29 PM

Try looking around the C: or E:\Dashboard for an XBE file like avalaunch.xbe evoxdash.xbe as these might be the startup files that run when you turn on your xbox. If you see one of those files, make note of where it is and get one of the shortcut xbe files that come with XBMC and rename those to the xbe file. I'd recommend having a xbox boot disk that will enable ftp should something not turn out right.

Thanks Ja Phule. Figured out how to run it as an application in Avalaunch. Took some doing though. My first attempt ran, but didn't have any text!

Only problem now is that flipping through the screens doesn't flow as smoothly as it did on my softmod system. Any ideas on how to get rid of the slight studdering?

Ja Phule

03-07-09, 04:30 AM

Thanks Ja Phule. Figured out how to run it as an application in Avalaunch. Took some doing though. My first attempt ran, but didn't have any text!

Only problem now is that flipping through the screens doesn't flow as smoothly as it did on my softmod system. Any ideas on how to get rid of the slight studdering?

Are you using different versions of XBMC on your xboxes? If you are outputting it in HD, make sure you have it set to 720p and not 1080i as it gets choppy at 1080i.

BirboX

03-07-09, 05:41 PM

Are you using different versions of XBMC on your xboxes? If you are outputting it in HD, make sure you have it set to 720p and not 1080i as it gets choppy at 1080i.

Putting it in 720p worked perfectly thanks again.

Now I just need to go through and play around fix all the folders & settings. I had two video folders set up before; one for My Videos stored on my computer and another for videos stored on a external hard drive. For some reason, they all get pooled together in XBMC. Also, 4:3 content has the side black bars on my widescreen TV where it didn't before.

Just small things like that I have to figure out. Thanks again for your help!

sean_w_smith

03-09-09, 06:51 PM

Putting it in 720p worked perfectly thanks again.

Now I just need to go through and play around fix all the folders & settings. I had two video folders set up before; one for My Videos stored on my computer and another for videos stored on a external hard drive. For some reason, they all get pooled together in XBMC. Also, 4:3 content has the side black bars on my widescreen TV where it didn't before.

Just small things like that I have to figure out. Thanks again for your help!

4:3 content should have black bars. If you want to zoom in and crop some of the image to eliminate black bars change the mode to zoom using the on screen display (while the video is playing).

The only reason content gets pooled together in XBMC is

1. you are using library mode...
2. you have both physical paths defined in 1 menu item in sources.xml which makes it a virtual path.

Either way its totally controllable by the user as to how it works...

Sean

BirboX

03-10-09, 11:12 AM

4:3 content should have black bars. If you want to zoom in and crop some of the image to eliminate black bars change the mode to zoom using the on screen display (while the video is playing).

The only reason content gets pooled together in XBMC is

1. you are using library mode...
2. you have both physical paths defined in 1 menu item in sources.xml which makes it a virtual path.

Either way its totally controllable by the user as to how it works...

Sean

Thanks Sean. I think I do have library mode turned on. I'll have to check it out after work tonight. The 4:3 content really has me stumped. My old system always filled the screen, so I didn't know if I was missing a setting.

My main issue now is that for the life of me I cannot get any thumbnails to work. I set the scrapers and scan the folders, but nothing comes up. I'm wondering if it's some sort of network issue. I can access the files on my computer and the weather feature works, but in my network settings, it still says I'm not connected. I was even trying to manually set some backdrops stored locally using the Aeon skin, but never got them to come up.

Also, I'm hoping to get some tips on how to organize my files. I see how awesome Ja Phule's looks at the beginning of the thread, but I'm no where near that. Does everyone set up separate folders for TV Shows & Movies? Do you need to go through and set the thumbnails & backdrops manually or do scrapers set it in for you? And what is everyone's skin of choice? I love the look of Aeon, but PM HD seems to work the best for me.

Sorry for all the questions, but I appreciate the help. I seem to have unlearned everything I thought I knew since soft-modding my original system.

Major Headache

03-10-09, 12:44 PM

My main issue now is that for the life of me I cannot get any thumbnails to work. I set the scrapers and scan the folders, but nothing comes up. I'm wondering if it's some sort of network issue.

XBMC removed IMDB scraper support a few builds ago, due to a lack of permission from IMDB.com. Sorry I can't report which was the last version to have it because it's at home and the T3CH site isn't cooperating right now. For me this was actually a boon because after years of rescraping 5 xboxes after each build, I finally got into MediaCompanion (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33961). It does scrape IMDB and numerous other sites and stores the necessary data in your movie folder. XBMC see the files and updates your library accordingly.

Cocophone

03-10-09, 12:56 PM

If the xbmc is playing a DVD iso which it says is 24fps will most 120Hz LCD tv properly display that video without using 3:2 pulldown?

I'm planning on buying a 120Hz LCD because I've been told 24fps goes evenly into 120Hz.

BirboX

03-10-09, 02:23 PM

XBMC removed IMDB scraper support a few builds ago, due to a lack of permission from IMDB.com. Sorry I can't report which was the last version to have it because it's at home and the T3CH site isn't cooperating right now. For me this was actually a boon because after years of rescraping 5 xboxes after each build, I finally got into MediaCompanion (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33961). It does scrape IMDB and numerous other sites and stores the necessary data in your movie folder. XBMC see the files and updates your library accordingly.

Thanks Major. I'll definitely check out Media Companion. But even my music thumbnails are non-existent. That wouldn't be because of the IMDB issue, would it?

topperdude

03-10-09, 02:59 PM

XBMC removed IMDB scraper support a few builds ago, due to a lack of permission from IMDB.com. Sorry I can't report which was the last version to have it because it's at home and the T3CH site isn't cooperating right now. For me this was actually a boon because after years of rescraping 5 xboxes after each build, I finally got into MediaCompanion (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33961). It does scrape IMDB and numerous other sites and stores the necessary data in your movie folder. XBMC see the files and updates your library accordingly.

Per this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=15924293&postcount=4340) looks like IMDB scraper should be working again. Or is that not true?

-Topper

Major Headache

03-10-09, 04:19 PM

Yep, I guess it has, that's good news. I'm still gonna suggest trying out Media Companion, but I'll also suggest another glitch I've experienced. I noticed awhile ago that even when IMDB is selected by default, I had to actually find it and click it for it to work. That may have just been me, or may have been a specific build, but like a superstitious native, I've done that ever since. YMMV.

Major Headache

03-10-09, 04:50 PM

Thanks Major. I'll definitely check out Media Companion. But even my music thumbnails are non-existent. That wouldn't be because of the IMDB issue, would it?

Didn't see this post at first...

No, it does sound like a different issue. While I've never experienced it, it does ring a bell, like every now and then you'll see a post and eventually it gets sorted by messing around with the network settings. Sorry I'm not more helpful.

As for how to organize files, I can't say this is THE DEFINITIVE way, but I'll tell you what I do. You definitely want to use different scrapers for TV and movies. I prefer thetvdb.com for TV and IMDB for movies. I keep them in separate folders. Within the TV folder I keep each show in it's own folder, and then I further sort them by season. Since I didn't used to use Library mode, I would download the season thumb from thetvdb and name it folder.jpg in each season. That would show up in XBMC, but use the scraper to get the Show thumbs and banners. If you use library mode, this isn't necessary.

I used to keep all my movies in one folder, but now that I also run an HTPC with XBMC capable of displaying HD material, I found that I have redundant movies. An SD version and an HD version. So now I have 3 folders - Movies for the majority of content I will play on both versions, HD for HD and "xbox only" for the lo-fi versions. Then I combine the paths as appropriate on each device. This eliminates the HTPC showing two versions when I would only want the HD, and the xbox showing HD content it can't play. And the nice thing about media companion is I could move all the ancillary files when I decided to sort them out.

sean_w_smith

03-10-09, 08:09 PM

Cocophone

03-10-09, 08:34 PM

What Hz would XBMC output if its running on a pc?

sean_w_smith

03-10-09, 08:39 PM

What Hz would XBMC output if its running on a pc?

no idea...

I would guess that is highly dependent on video hardware and what XBMC supports. I seriously doubt there is any support for 24fps in XBMC (or any other streamer for that fact) (speculation)

EDIT: Some googling shows that XBMC does support 24fps output on PC. some people have it working. no idea what HW and OS

Sean

sean_w_smith

03-10-09, 09:01 PM

Thanks Major. I'll definitely check out Media Companion. But even my music thumbnails are non-existent. That wouldn't be because of the IMDB issue, would it?

OK first of all if the weather and RSS feeds are working then your network connection is fine even if the status page says network disconnected.

with respect to music.

1. are you depending on the scaper for artwork?
2. do you have artwork embedded in the music files?
3. do you have folder.jpg in the directories

what skin? what view? and are using file mode or library mode?

This should help clarify things and allow me to offer suggestions...

Sean

BirboX

03-11-09, 10:59 AM

OK first of all if the weather and RSS feeds are working then your network connection is fine even if the status page says network disconnected.

with respect to music.

1. are you depending on the scaper for artwork?
2. do you have artwork embedded in the music files?
3. do you have folder.jpg in the directories

what skin? what view? and are using file mode or library mode?

This should help clarify things and allow me to offer suggestions...

Sean

1. Yes, I'm depending on the scraper for art.
2. Don't think all of my music has the art embedded
3. No folder.jpg

I'm using the PM HD skin in file mode. I was trying to set up the Aeon skin, but none of the backdrops were coming through. I re-installed it, but now get a message saying that skin isn't supported and needs to be a version 2.0.

Thanks again.

sean_w_smith

03-11-09, 12:02 PM

Well your first problem is that in file mode I beleive only the embedded cover art and folder.jpg will be displayed. If you want to use scraper provided cover art then you need to be in library mode.

So you have taken these music files and did an add to library?

If not do so,

if so, deleted the library, repeat the process and investigate the xbmc.log

it will usually indentify where the problem lies....

Sean

BirboX

03-11-09, 12:24 PM

JHoback

03-13-09, 09:44 PM

I have a May 2008 T3CH build and I was wondering 3 things:

1) what have the updates been since then?
2) what's the easiest way to upgrade?
3) what are the most stable or best builds available?

I'm a moderate user and just want the darn thing to work. I don't need to be bleeding edge.

Thanks!

darklordjames

03-13-09, 09:56 PM

"I'm a moderate user and just want the darn thing to work."

Is it working right now? If so, then just stay where you are. :)

JHoback

03-14-09, 12:42 AM

well, that's what i was thinking, why mess with it. have there been any big improvements?

Ja Phule

03-14-09, 01:55 AM

well, that's what i was thinking, why mess with it. have there been any big improvements?

Lots of improvements to the user interface, lots of innovative and nice looking skins that are out that take advantage of xbmc's user interface. Take a look at Aeon and Mediastream for example.

Mediastream gallery
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36836

Aeon Stark (coming soon)
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45038

sean_w_smith

03-14-09, 10:18 AM

In fairness all these new skins are for non xbox hardware with more ram in my experience even in their lightweight modes cause way to many crashes with XBMC due to running out of memory.... I tried to make media stream work but it does not with my large movie and music collections.... (again this effects ram usage).... Those skins work great on my mac mini....

Sean

darklordjames

03-14-09, 11:16 AM

The only proper skin for XBMC for Xbox is Project Mayhem III. If you aren't using that, then you are doing it wrong. :) Using anything else reduces functionality of the box as you are pushing it way too hard, as Mr. Smith said.

XBMC for Xbox from a year ago is more or less the exact same thing as it is today, with minor tweaks here and there that the majority of us don't care about. If your Xbox is doing what you want it to right now, and you "just want it to work", then resist your upgrad-itis and just stay where you are.

JHoback

03-14-09, 12:59 PM

thanks jp, sws, & dlj for your advice!

dan4081

03-16-09, 08:23 PM

If anyone is looking for a good build for xbox 18593 seems to work very smooth. So far I havent found any issues with it. (kind of high memory usage-but hasnt caused me any problems yet)

Build is here: http://www.sshcs.com/xbmc/

BTW, that site has daily new builds compiled for all the xbox platforms. Much more up to date than T3CH.

sean_w_smith

03-25-09, 09:46 AM

Thanks I will try an updated build on the mac mini and ATV.

now that they have ATV Loader 3.0 out hopefully it will fix my HDMI issues...

Still playing with the Popcorn hour...

only two positive things I can say about it...

1. its silent
2. it streams BD rips with lossless audio over HDMI

Sean

topperdude

03-25-09, 11:32 AM

Still playing with the Popcorn hour...

only two positive things I can say about it...

1. its silent
2. it streams BD rips with lossless audio over HDMI

Sean

Agreed. I have been doing the same for past few months and above two are basically the only good things I can say for it yet. Maybe one more thing going for it (compared to other devices such as WD TV or even SageTV's HD media extender) is it uses a newer version of the Sigma chip which adds support for the HD audio formats, tho' Sage might be implementing sending the decoded HD audio over HDMI to the receiver at some point.

The Popcorn Hour hardware itself can be pretty flaky from my own experience as well as feedback on the various forums (quite common to read posts about RMAs). Am guessing Popcorn hour folks may have rushed the product to the market to get the "edge" while the other manufacturers (WD, SageTV) may have been testing their products more thoroughly but were based on the older chipsets.

Anyways, was hoping to eventually also use mine as a client for GBPVR but looks like mine may need to be RMA'd as well - the network connector recently died :mad:. Would hate changing directions now and moving away from GBPVR after all the time invested in setting up the server, but may end up going with Sage's solution for TV/PVR, BD capabilities and good old XBMC on Xbox for non-HD duties. With their current beta, I understand Sage is also able to playback BD rips (from BDMV structure) or stream the main movie from the disc loaded on the BD drive on the server (with little help from Anydvd HD) and Sage is reportedly working on Hulu integration for a future release (although am not holding my breath on that one with the recent fiasco between Hulu and Boxee).

Just my $0.02.
-Topper

sean_w_smith

03-25-09, 11:41 AM

Agreed. I have been doing the same for past few months and above two are basically the only good things I can say for it yet. Maybe one more thing going for it (compared to other devices such as WD TV or even SageTV's HD media extender) is it uses a newer version of the Sigma chip which adds support for the HD audio formats, tho' Sage might be implementing sending the decoded HD audio over HDMI to the receiver at some point.

The Popcorn Hour hardware itself can be pretty flaky from my own experience as well as feedback on the various forums (quite common to read posts about RMAs). Am guessing Popcorn hour folks may have rushed the product to the market to get the "edge" while the other manufacturers (WD, SageTV) may have been testing their products more thoroughly but were based on the older chipsets.

Anyways, was hoping to eventually also use mine as a client for GBPVR but looks like mine may need to be RMA'd as well - the network connector recently died :mad:. Would hate changing directions now and moving away from GBPVR after all the time invested in setting up the server, but may end up going with Sage's solution for TV/PVR, BD capabilities and good old XBMC on Xbox for non-HD duties. With their current beta, I understand Sage is also able to playback BD rips (from BDMV structure) or stream the main movie from the disc loaded on the BD drive on the server (with little help from Anydvd HD) and Sage is reportedly working on Hulu integration for a future release (although am not holding my breath on that one with the recent fiasco between Hulu and Boxee).

Just my $0.02.
-Topper

Sweet I need to read up on Sage... If it can steam my BD rips with lossless audio then that is another good path...

Honestly I think what we will see in the next 9 months will be exciting..

Nvidia has this new ION Platform coming out which should be the perfect low cost platform for XMBC with HDMI and everything. Developers are commited already to supporting it and once they add support for lossless audio passthrough over HDMI we may have the ultimate media center finally...

low cost platform
high performance
all the latest HD bells and whistles
and it runs XBMC....

I really hope this becomes reality but we will have to wait and see....

Sean

topperdude

03-25-09, 01:06 PM

Sweet I need to read up on Sage... If it can steam my BD rips with lossless audio then that is another good path...

Some links to get ya started:
Comparison of PCH v Sage's HD extender (can be used with Sage server or standalone like PCH) (http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38420)
Official announcement of current blu-ray support (http://forums.freytechnologies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39920)

Note - lossless HD audio is not yet implemented but seems to be on their list of to-do's

Honestly I think what we will see in the next 9 months will be exciting..
Yup.

Nvidia has this new ION Platform coming out which should be the perfect low cost platform for XMBC with HDMI and everything. Developers are commited already to supporting it and once they add support for lossless audio passthrough over HDMI we may have the ultimate media center finally...

low cost platform
high performance
all the latest HD bells and whistles
and it runs XBMC....

I really hope this becomes reality but we will have to wait and see....

Sean

Have seen some demo's of their reference platform online - looks really promising. A full-fledged HTPC in a box the size of a PCH - here's hoping/wishing :D

-Topper

sean_w_smith

03-25-09, 01:32 PM

For those who dont know what we are talking about here a few links..

http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/03/nvidia-ion-platform-review-roundup/

http://www.nvidia.com/object/sff_ion.html

Sean

dan4081

04-01-09, 01:31 PM

So I'm having difficulty getting Ubuntu Linux + XMC working. Well, not getting it to work, just getting it to work easily. My unfamiliarity with Linux means that there is way too much research I have to do to get XBMC up and running. On to trying out XBMC for Vista on this machine! Dammit, I will find a version of HD XBMC that I like. :)

EDIT: Oooh! A new version of XBMC Live was released yesterday, containing the newest Nvidia drivers! Chances are good this will make sound work, and therefore solve all the world's problems. Off to do some testing...

How did you make out with this?

Are you happy with the 'Live' version?
Any pros or cons?

I'm thinking of going the XBMC Linux route because of the video acceleration offered now.
You can use a low powered CPU because the video card will take over the bulk of the video decoding.

darklordjames

04-01-09, 06:38 PM

dan4081

04-01-09, 07:41 PM

"I'm thinking of going the XBMC Linux route because of the video acceleration offered now.
You can use a low powered CPU because the video card will take over the bulk of the video decoding."

Last I heard (a month ago or so), everything related to video processing is software based. Unless things changed in the last couple of weeks, the only hardware acceleration going on in XBMC of any flavor is of the interface.

In other words, you still need two cores of 2Ghz+ in order to handle 720p video.

In other news, Vista+XBMC physically worked for me, but it takes too long to boot. I'm thinking about trying out OSX+XBMC on this machine next. Yes, I am apparently going to try every possible XBMC platform on this machine before deciding on which on to go with. :)

You have prompted me to go check on new versions of XBMC Live, though. Thank you!

Hardware acceleration is here now for XBMC.
The Linux version of XBMC is now using NVIDIA's VDPAU to offload the video work to the video card.
Posters are using 1.8GHz single core Celerons or Semprons for 1080 video.
(There is even talk that the ION will be enough CPU.)
Also, some of the posters have mentioned they have stripped down the Linux services and have sub 10 second boot time.
I have priced it out and a $250 1080 capable XBMC with HDMI and optical out is entirely possible. I was thinking of going with the 35w Celeron 430. My only hesitation is I know nothing about Linux and am a little worried.

Heres a good link to check out:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48014

By the way, word is XBMC live will soon be VDPAU capable also.

jjchambers

04-01-09, 10:02 PM

I have priced it out and a $250 1080 capable XBMC with HDMI and optical out is entirely possible. I was thinking of going with the 35w Celeron 430. My only hesitation is I know nothing about Linux and am a little worried.

Yes, it is. I just picked up a Intel DG45FC (mini-itx w/ hdmi out and optical audio out) for $120, case w/ power supply for $40, Celeron 430, for $40, some cheap ram and a USB stick and you're good to go. You can be under $200 if you've already got some stuff laying around.

I would love to get 1080p out of my celeron, but I need to get hdmi working on the linux install first, then I'll load up XBMC and see how it goes. Any tips anyone? I know it probably has something to do w/ my xorg.conf but I haven't figured it out yet. Then I'll load up xbmc on my linux and see what it can do.

J

dan4081

04-01-09, 10:16 PM

[QUOTE=jjchambers;16175992]Yes, it is. I just picked up a Intel DG45FC (mini-itx w/ hdmi out and optical audio out) for $120, case w/ power supply for $40, Celeron 430, for $40, some cheap ram and a USB stick and you're good to go. You can be under $200 if you've already got some stuff laying around.

I would love to get 1080p out of my celeron, but I need to get hdmi working on the linux install first, then I'll load up XBMC and see how it goes. Any tips anyone? I know it probably has something to do w/ my xorg.conf but I haven't figured it out yet. Then I'll load up xbmc on my linux and see what it can do.

J[/QUOTE

I would ask here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1120658

dan4081

04-02-09, 06:45 PM

Yes, it is. I just picked up a Intel DG45FC (mini-itx w/ hdmi out and optical audio out) for $120, case w/ power supply for $40, Celeron 430, for $40, some cheap ram and a USB stick and you're good to go. You can be under $200 if you've already got some stuff laying around.

I would love to get 1080p out of my celeron, but I need to get hdmi working on the linux install first, then I'll load up XBMC and see how it goes. Any tips anyone? I know it probably has something to do w/ my xorg.conf but I haven't figured it out yet. Then I'll load up xbmc on my linux and see what it can do.

J

BTW, please keep us updated on your progress.

1day

04-02-09, 10:42 PM

Quick question I can't seem to find in XBMC on-line manual. In video configuration I unchecked the library view mode. The manual states, "If unchecked all references to Library Mode are removed from the GUI (Default on). " I want to put it back on and now that it's off of the GUI I don't know how to get it back. I want to scan and have my movie tags but I know I need to have library mode to do. I figure it has to be simple and that's why I can't do it! I can't seem to find where to even set everything back to default mode. Any help would be appreciated, thanks. Mark

dan4081

04-02-09, 11:56 PM

1day

04-03-09, 08:34 AM

That's the problem, that line is removed once unchecked. The top line that says enable library is missing. Now the top line is "Hide plot for unwatched items". So once that line is unchecked it is no longer in the GUI once you reboot. Do I have to do an uninstall and then reinstall? I'm not that sharp as far as going into the xml settings but I guess if I have to I could do it.

1day

04-04-09, 10:54 PM

I deleted my userdata and xbmc and reinstalled. I have the library view now on my video section but under video settings the "enable library" is still not there. Anyways I have the library view now. However when I scan my library no info is found. I scanned under library file. The scan library function doesn't come up in the context menu when I'm in library view mode. Is there a network issue? My movies and music show up and play fine. I installed xbmc last spring for my son to just play games on this. He's moved onto the 360 so i thought I would take this over. My movies and music are on my computer and I have the box down stairs connected with cat 6 cable.

Like I said everything plays fine but just can't scan. I "set content" with IMBD and it goes through the procedure and thats it with no info when done. If I can get this straightened out, I'd like to rip the rest of my movies and my cd's in flac. Excuse me for being long winded, but any help would be great, thanks! Mark

My movies are on an external hdd. It's set up as G:\dvd. Then I have seperate folders titled with the movie. Ex. Hellboy(2004).avi. I thought I read somewhere to name the folders like so for better results from IMBD,true?

sean_w_smith

04-06-09, 10:15 AM

sounds like you are doing everything right. Maybe you have a build where the scrapers are broken. is music scraping working?

Sean

dan4081

04-06-09, 11:36 AM

1day

04-06-09, 05:40 PM

dan4081

04-06-09, 08:00 PM

Well thanks for the help so far. I installed the latest stable build, 8-10, (Atlantis?), I believe. I scanned the movies and most of it worked. It downloaded plots and actors, etc., however I'm not getting it to pull down thumbs for the movie titles, it does for the actors however.

My movies are in video ts format. I used dvdfab for some and dvd43 that works with dvd decrypter. Is there something with the rips or file naming that's causing it to not pull down thumbs for the titles? I've used IMBD and the Movie xml scrapers from this build. I also think there's a Movie Zone which I haven't tried. I'm in the process now of scraping my music and it appears to be working. I'll find out once it's done scanning. Everything plays to by the way. Any other suggestions/recommendations? A better method for naming folders/subfolders-examples? Thanks, Mark.

Your issue is what I posted above.
"Try the same thing you have done so far, but choose 'the moviedb' instead of 'imdb' and see if that works."

For a couple of months the 'imdb' scraper was disabled as the developers were making sure the imdb people were ok with scraping off their site. It sounds like the atlantis version you are using has the imdb sraper disabled.

There are a few things you can do.
1) Pick a different scraper than 'imdb'. or
2) download the newest build off T3CH. It has the imdb scraper re-enabled.
or 3) (my favorite) Use media companion to do your scraping.

1day

04-10-09, 02:34 PM

sean_w_smith

04-10-09, 02:52 PM

Thanks for your help Dan And SWS. I just updated to the latest build and everything worked fine. I should of done that in the first place.

Another question: The Aeon and MediaStream Skins, are they to much for the xbox? Cause hang-ups, etc., or is there a way around this. I thought they were to intensive for the xbox, but you here of some people using them and others saying , "no way". I asked in another thread and would just like to get your opinions also since alot of you have been in this thread for a long time. Thanks for any info. Mark

Yes they are a bit much for the xbox... There is a lite mode mediastream and some instructions on trimming memory usage. I found that it was constantly hanging because of too much memory usage. I use PM3 HD and it suits me fine...

I do run media stream on the AppleTV and MacMini

check out the XBMC Forum for more details... bring your firesuit before asking for help though....

Sean

Cocophone

04-10-09, 03:33 PM

I use the Mediastream skin on my xbox without problems. However, I usually turn it on and then only watch one or two movies and then turn it off. If that is all you do then I think it will work for you too.

dan4081

04-10-09, 07:35 PM

Thanks for your help Dan And SWS. I just updated to the latest build and everything worked fine. I should of done that in the first place.

Another question: The Aeon and MediaStream Skins, are they to much for the xbox? Cause hang-ups, etc., or is there a way around this. I thought they were to intensive for the xbox, but you here of some people using them and others saying , "no way". I asked in another thread and would just like to get your opinions also since alot of you have been in this thread for a long time. Thanks for any info. Mark

Heres a modified Mediastream that works very well on the xbox. Theres also a couple modifed Aeon skins to choose from:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=cfea38343389383d4012e8015643d9c832a7eaa10b605538

Heres a modified PM3-HD that adds a seperate button for TV Shows on the main screen. (This is my favorite skin)
http://rapidshare.com/files/218679235/PM3.HDMod2.rar.html

sean_w_smith

04-10-09, 11:14 PM

Sweet Dan... thanks for the links.....

Sean

Stryker412

04-11-09, 08:58 AM

How do you add menus for skins? I see some skins have menus for TV Shows and Games.

dan4081

04-11-09, 01:33 PM

How do you add menus for skins? I see some skins have menus for TV Shows and Games.

You can do it by following this How-to:
http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=HOW-TO:_Edit_the_Main_Menu_(Home_Screen)#Changing_the_My_Picture s_button_to_My_Games

Or:

You might want to look at this modified PM3HD skin.
Looks like it has sub menus added with buttons for TVShows and Games.

http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45213

Heres the submenu with games button:
http://img5.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot000yjw.png

Heres the submenu with TvShows button:
http://img6.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot001jen.png

Stryker412

04-11-09, 06:25 PM

Heres a modified Mediastream that works very well on the xbox. Theres also a couple modifed Aeon skins to choose from:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=cfea38343389383d4012e8015643d9c832a7eaa10b605538

Heres a modified PM3-HD that adds a seperate button for TV Shows on the main screen. (This is my favorite skin)
http://rapidshare.com/files/218679235/PM3.HDMod2.rar.html

What mod is this, is it the same you posted for me? Or is this skin for the non-xbox version of XBMC?

dan4081

04-11-09, 07:27 PM

What mod is this, is it the same you posted for me? Or is this skin for the non-xbox version of XBMC?

That was the same one.

But this one is a different mod with sub menus that add buttons for Games and TvShows:

http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45213

Stryker412

04-11-09, 07:55 PM

I'm having an issue after loading the newest version of t3ch. I can browse to my shared drive on my PC to add it, but after I hit done I get an error saying the Computer Name is invalid.

dan4081

04-11-09, 08:02 PM

I'm having an issue after loading the newest version of t3ch. I can browse to my shared drive on my PC to add it, but after I hit done I get an error saying the Computer Name is invalid.

I havent heard of anyone else having that problem. Possibly your install got corrupted?

Try this site for a newer build:
http://www.sshcs.com/xbmc/

Thats the site I use because he compiles new builds almost daily with the newest fixes.

(make sure you use the xbox version)

sean_w_smith

04-11-09, 08:48 PM

I havent heard of anyone else having that problem. Possibly your install got corrupted?

Try this site for a newer build:
http://www.sshcs.com/xbmc/

Thats the site I use because he compiles new builds almost daily with the newest fixes.

(make sure you use the xbox version)

There is no guarantee any of t3ch builds or the daily builds are going to work. IMO there are often problems. The easy fix is to go back to the version you were using before... other alternative is to file a bug report with the developers....

nothing suprising...

lI found at least 4 bugs with last nights SVN build this morning during testing...

Sean

dan4081

04-11-09, 11:30 PM

There is no guarantee any of t3ch builds or the daily builds are going to work. IMO there are often problems. The easy fix is to go back to the version you were using before... other alternative is to file a bug report with the developers....

nothing suprising...

lI found at least 4 bugs with last nights SVN build this morning during testing...

Sean

Actually, thats very good advice and what I should have suggested.

While their is some activity here, I'd like some help with an issue of my own.

When I am in library mode for music I like to use the thumbnail view.
All of my albums have good artwork, and it all shows perfect. If I sort by 'album' all my albums are in alphabetical order by name of album.

My issue is if I choose to sort the music by 'artist'. It works somewhat as all the albums are sorted by artist. All the Alicia Keys albums are first, Beatles next, etc etc.
But for some reason I cant get the artist name to show up under each album thumbnail. And I am sure at one point I did have the Artist name showing.

Also in cover view mode I dont see the artist name in front of the album name.

Is this something I am doing or am I imagining that I used to have artist name showing?

(Ill also inquire at xbmc.org)

sean_w_smith

04-11-09, 11:54 PM

never seen the behavior you are desiring in any of the skins.... or at least not in the skins I use..... maybe some skin does...

what skin do you use?

I use PM3/Pm3HD/PDM/ and media stream...

Sean

dan4081

04-12-09, 09:28 AM

never seen the behavior you are desiring in any of the skins.... or at least not in the skins I use..... maybe some skin does...

what skin do you use?

I use PM3/Pm3HD/PDM/ and media stream...

Sean

I use PM3HD.

Heres a screenshot of what I would like, but cant achieve.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a273/Jezz_X/screenshot017-1.png

sean_w_smith

04-12-09, 10:31 AM

I use PM3HD.

Heres a screenshot of what I would like, but cant achieve.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a273/Jezz_X/screenshot017-1.png

that can't be too hard. you just need to figure out which XML file to hack. sorry I am no help here...

Sean

sean_w_smith

04-13-09, 09:59 PM

updated the ATV to launcher 3.0 and latest XBMC and Boxee....

HDMI switching bug is gone....

boxee keeps getting better...

its scanning away right now...

Sean

ChrisFB

04-13-09, 10:46 PM

darklordjames

04-13-09, 11:32 PM

For SMB shares, I only have problems if the machine in question is saturated at the moment. For example, my media hard drives are in my girl's machine, but I rip/encode video from my machine. So when I have massive network traffic running between the machines due to a transcode (for example), then the Xbox will have problems seeing the media drives.

In my experience though, SMB sharing is just kind of crappy under Linux. ;)

sean_w_smith

04-14-09, 09:06 AM

Two questions if I may:

1) I've had this issue on/off for a long time accross multiple builds and Xboxes. Sometimes I'll have a SMB share (Win XP machine) that is shared to all users under simple file sharing and the Xbox asks for a Username/Password. Nothing will take and a reboot of the Xbox or share/unshare will often resolve the issue but sometimes not. All other PCs can see the share. Annoying as everything is openly shared. Anyone else deal with this? It's pretty bad right now with multiple shares not functioning.

2) Is there a recommended stable Xbox build right now? I'm looking for all core competencies up and running. Plugins and non-stock skins such don't matter to me but Music, video, picture performance certainly do. Obviously issue #1 is making me want to wipe the Xbox and reinstall.

Thanks in advance!

1. its a windows issue. I have seen issues like this with various windows boxed and it tooks hours to finally fix them. sometimes it seems windows forgets that you tell it simple file sharing versus normal. I hate it everytime I am at a friends and have to debug an issue like this. THe mac is even worse... ever since I switched to NAS's for my networks I have NEVER seen an issue like this... one solution we found on some machines that just would not simple file share was to set permissions and hard code em in the sources.xml file. This has been working for 2 years+ on at least 2 of my friends installs I did where we had similar issues...

2. I like 12/7/08

I just tried the latest SVN and it when its done scanning music there is nothing there....

sean_w_smith

05-01-09, 01:10 PM

BowerR64

05-01-09, 04:49 PM

Wow this thing is 148 pages deep?:eek:

I want to build this thing for my nephew and sister but what all do i need to get started?

I know the xbox, but then what other goodies do i need to buy?

Im in a wheelchair so i have plenty of tinker time thats one of the reasons this intrests me. Blowing dust off an old unused xbox so practice some mad science sounds fun!

sean_w_smith

05-01-09, 06:21 PM

THere are a bunch of useful links on page1 of this thread... Check them out and post back once you have had a chance to browse them.....

Sean

dan4081

05-02-09, 12:03 AM

I'm still going back and forth on building a low power pc just for XBMC.

The Linux version with hardware acceleration is soo tempting.

A quiet, low power pc that can do 1080 comfortably for about $200 bucks total.

(its just the Linux that scares me-never played with it before)

darklordjames

05-02-09, 12:13 AM

zimdba

05-02-09, 09:18 AM

dan4081

05-02-09, 07:12 PM

dan - Wait a bit longer. Nvidia ION machines should be hitting the market soon, and one with IR support will probably show up from someone. Given a single, extremely capable platform to aim for, XBMC Live/Linux should finally find some focus. Right now, it is still very flaky, enough so that I have currently abandoned my XBMC PC and gone back to XBMC Xbox.

I was hoping you would chime in. I was wondering how you liked your build.

You are right-the ION looks like it will be the ideal machine for xbmc-especially now with the GPU acceleration.

Thanks for the tip..........

sean_w_smith

05-02-09, 11:58 PM

Is anyone here using a SATA to IDE adapter to put bigger HD's in their Xboxes? There are only 2 that I found on newegg and reviews are tepid at best.

The other alternative is to go with a 500GB drive - which is the cheapest, largest IDE drive I could find - on buy.com.

Thanks.

Never tried a SATA adapter. Done about 8 750G Softmods though. works fine. u pay a premium for the older EIDE drives though.

Sean

1day

05-03-09, 01:55 AM

I just bought one of these for my computer. I put in a new 1 tb wd black hdd and it worked like a charm. Recognized it when booted. I installed as a slave first and it worked. I then used it as the boot drive and reinstalled xp and it's been great since.

I think you'll have issues larger then 750. Somewhere in this thread it will tell you to split the size difference between f and g partitions.

http://www.cooldrives.com/sahadradtoid.html

zimdba

05-05-09, 01:49 PM

ChrisFB

05-10-09, 09:07 AM

Bump... Sad this thread was down on page 5.....

no one got anything new to comment on XBMC.........

I tried the beta 1 but it was crap....

I guess everyone is too busy playing with their WDTV's......

1/2 the threads on page 1 are WDTV related...

Sean

Well, it looks like some new versions are coming. Babylon 9.04 was released the other day: http://xbmc.org/

I'm excited to try it and I pray it's stable and works unlike the Atlantis that had issues on Xbox (admittedly they were corrected soon after but that was supposed to be a major release).

I'm holding on for the Ion. I'm super busy with work/family and point of entry for 1080p continues to get cheaper so I'm fine holding out a bit.

darklordjames

05-10-09, 10:53 AM

XBMC Live 9.04? Rad! I'll pop that in my machine and see if it does any better of a job of "just working" for me. :)

JHoback

05-13-09, 12:31 PM

dan4081

05-13-09, 05:14 PM

After my son was playing Halo3, I re-started the Xbox and pushed the lower power button to go into XBMC. I get the xbox swoosh logo and sound and then it disappears as it tries to go to mayhem, but then the screen just goes blank.

what do you think is corrupted? should i just re-copy a certain file back to the xbox folder containing the start-up?

thanks!

Same thing happened here.
If you have a copy of splinter cell or what ever game you used to soft mod you should be able to put that in and get back to booting to xbmc.
If I remember right I used the game, clicked start-then Linux-then went through the softmod steps again.
No need to do the whole action replay/game save. They should still be there.

sean_w_smith

05-14-09, 01:29 AM

I'll repeat this again... Just because XBMC does not boot has nothing to do with the softmod. reinstalling the softmod is more likely to mess things up then fix anything.

can you access the machine via FTP?

if not boot off AID or Frosty's disc which everyone should have and re-install XBMC and you will be fine. the chance of actually messing up the softmod is slim to none...

I have seen this bad advise given repeatedly here and its bad advise... not trying to pick on anyone but dont want to see people uncessarily REALLY screwing up there boxes...

Sean

sean_w_smith

05-14-09, 01:31 AM

Furthermore Halo 3 is an xbox 360 title and does not run on original Xbox and 360 does not run XBMC.... So I will assume you meant Halo2....

is the machine softmod or hardmod?

if softmod do you know which one?

does a backed up game disc or something like frosty's still boot. if so there is nothing wrong with the softmod and its only XBMC that needs repaiting.

Sean

JHoback

05-14-09, 12:07 PM

yes, you are correct it is Halo2. games still play fine. it has the softmod. not sure what you mean by which version. hacked a game contoller, used mech assault. it is a t3ch may08 build.

haven't tried frosty's. but will download. i will try to ftp.

how should i repair it?

JHoback

05-14-09, 01:02 PM

sean_w_smith

05-14-09, 02:45 PM

i used the sid installer.

also, i cannot get into the xbox network settings, the screen goes blank. i can get into all the others.

i have another xbmc that auto-detects and sets up ftp with the xbmc with the problem.

I'm confused....

Why are you trying to get into the network settings....

just try to FTP into the Xbox and fix it..... I am confused as you said all you got was black screen when you boot. how can you get black screen but you also get the MS dash.... again conflicting info here....

I have no idea what the 2nd sentence means....

download auto installer deluxe and/or frostys recovery disc. burn it and boot it.

then just FTP and re-install XBMC.....

if frosty's or AID does not boot then your softmod is hosed and needs to be repaired.

Sean

JHoback

05-14-09, 03:38 PM

i was trying to get into network settings so i could see the ip of the broken xbmc

for clarification, here goes:
1) if i push the large button on xbox, it boots to play a game and works fine

2) if i push the small button, it does the boot splash screen and sound, but then goes blank (when it should display the T3CH logo and then into Mayhem)

3) i have 2 xbox's with xbmc

4) i get an auto detection from the working xbmc asking if i would like to connect to the broken xbmc

5) i'm having trouble ftp'ing into both xbmc's with my vista64

can i copy files from my working xbmc to my non-working xbmc? if so which ones & how?

when you say "reinstall xbmc", from which point?

when i go into memory settings of the non working xbmc, it shows SID. should i select it and go from there?

thanks for hanging in there with me!

ps: if you are an NC State fan, Deshawn Painter just signed with them. was down to MD and State - i wanted MD to get'em :(

sean_w_smith

05-14-09, 03:54 PM

1. I have no idea what you mean boots to play a game. you can always play games on the xbox regardless of what button you press to turn it on.... if you mean that it boots into the stock MS dash versus XBMC as a dash then thats ok and thats an advanced feature of the softmod.

2. ok

3 and 4. ok I get it....

5. turn off firewall on vista 64 and try filezilla to the working xbox. unless you can get this going you are not going to have much luck fixing them. I take it you did not install these in the first place?

Do NOT mess with anything under game saves unless you want to mess up your xbox. that is the softmod. the softmod is working and has nothing to do with XBMC....

I would delete the existing XBMC install and re-install from scratch as I have no idea what files are corrupt...

XBMC is typically installed in e:\apps\xbmc but I cannot guarantee that.

Instructions for installing XBMC are here.....

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

I get the feeling you did not install these.... If so ask the person who did to help you and save yourself the frustration. If not I am more than willing to keep trying to help....

yes I am an NCSU Fan.....

sean_w_smith

05-14-09, 03:58 PM

you certainly also could try to copy the XBMC install from the working xbox to the other xbox using filemanager. I generally dont recommend this as it tends be very unreliable.

you get the wonderfully helpful "one or more files failed to copy message" on any decent size transfer....

Sean

arnesr

05-15-09, 09:31 AM

Assuming you manage to get FTP working, the first thing I would do is back up your eeprom.bin file to your pc. Most softmods do the backup, but where it's saved will vary. You want to FTP this file to your PC or better yet to a CD-R, so that if you need to you can rebuild your hard drive from scratch using XBOXHDM. Now might also be a good time to upgrade your harddrive if you wish.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=244043

sean_w_smith

05-15-09, 01:01 PM

dan4081

05-16-09, 09:12 PM

Thats a great point and the first thing I do when I do a softmod.

Then I get a sharpy and give the xbox a hostname and then burn an XboxHDM disk and give it the same name.... Then I file em away and hope I never need em...

sometimes the HD's do die.....

So has anyone else tried the new official release? I am travelling and have not had a chance to try it yet

Sean

I am using the new 9.04 and so far have to say its the most solid build I've tried in a long time.
Matter of fact, I havent found a single issue that has affected my use yet.

Btw, usually after a new T3CH release there is a lot of moaning and groaning about things that dont work. I've seen next to none with this release.

Well done Team XBMC.........

ChrisFB

05-16-09, 10:16 PM

So has anyone else tried the new official release? I am travelling and have not had a chance to try it yet

I just loaded it today. Rock solid. I remember waiting for the Atlantis build as we hadn't had a point release in forever - and when it came Xbox build, of all builds for XBMC, wasn't right. This one is like a rock. Totally thrilled so far.

By the way, this upgrade fixed my file sharing issue. Every share works perfectly now (I was getting the username/password request on wide open simple file sharing - intermittent too where you'd go in once and it would be fine and then not again until reboot or never).

This build made me like my XBox more than I have in a long time. I just haven't had a rock solid build and even the decent Dec build had some network kinks and freezes on me.

JHoback

05-17-09, 02:17 AM

thanks all for your support & suggestions. re-install & back in business with may2008 build. haven't had the guts to update to a more recent one.

sean_w_smith

05-17-09, 11:30 AM

Great to hear and it sounds like 9.04 is the great.... will load today on GF Xbox....

Sean

sean_w_smith

05-18-09, 02:47 PM

So I spent sometime playing with the latest release build and it appears to be a good one.

I upgraded my girlfriends xbox from 12/07 to this with no issues. The database seems compatible and its very stable.... played around with the SVN installer and add on updator and both are very cool... So far so good. Need to try it on a few more of my boxes when I make it back to the east coast later this week.....

Sean

sean_w_smith

05-19-09, 01:35 PM

ChrisFB

05-19-09, 09:29 PM

I wanted to follow this up and say WOW.... I am really impressed with this build. Its just so stable.... far more so than the 12/07 build I have been using. seems to sip memory. I was updating music libraries while watching movies and its been working flawlessly and I have been pushing it pretty hard....

can't wait to try this on the other boxes....

nice to the see the dev team give the ole xbox some love!

Sean

I'm on the same page. I've had a modded box with XBMC (or originally XBMP) running and streaming since early 2003. At this stage, although I appreciate it, it is no longer a novelty. I rolled in from work last night after midnight and instead of heading upstairs I was lured into flipping it on and watching some videos and a piece of a movie just to mess with it and put it to use.

Of course I lost about 2 hours of potential sleep and am back here cranking again but it's nice to be excited about old stuff . That said, this pleasant surprise has wet my appetite a bit for a 1080p linux build at some point.

Stryker412

05-19-09, 10:41 PM

Sorry to thread jack, but this affects my XBMC too. Can any of you weigh in on this thread for me?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1148361

sean_w_smith

05-20-09, 01:13 AM

Stryker412

05-20-09, 08:11 AM

seems like lots of issues with windows 7 sharing and not many solutions....

There is a reason its called bleeding edge....

I can understand wanting to play with it but why on earth would you put it on your fileserver....

Sean

Actually it's quite an impressive OS so far. However, I tried testing it from my wife's XP laptop and have the same issues so it does not appear to be an OS related problem (or at least OS specific).

ChrisFB

05-21-09, 10:26 PM

I was running into some issues with XBMC accessing Win XP server a bit ago and sometimes over the years. Mine got overly severe this time around but disappeared after the upgrade to the latest XBMC (a windows XP machine could always access though).

Anyway, I'd try a few odd workarounds like unsharing and then resharing. Creating a new folder and sharing it just copy the old contents over. Turn on/off simple file sharing. Try to create a username/password and use that under a non-simple file sharing setup.

Not really sure what to tell you other than when you are doing everything right sometimes you just need to do it a little different for no real reason. One of the reasons I chose not to work in the IT/computer industry - good hobby but I don't need that kind of weirdness and conflicts in my business.

Stryker412

05-21-09, 10:36 PM

I found the issue. Some of the files (a lot of them) do not have my profile listed in the security tab. If I manually add it, then the file works fine. Is there anyway to do this on all the files at once? Right now I have to do it one at a time and there's just too many files to do that on.

dan4081

05-22-09, 02:15 PM

I was over at xbmc.org and noticed a couple of interesting things.
First, heres xbmc running on a new Atom system:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=51519

And second and most interesting to me is that XBMC LIVE now supports GPU acceleration through VDPAU.
Even an older pentium 3 or 4 with a nvidia 8/9 series video card should be able to handle 1080 content with minimal CPU usage.
Very cool stuff!!!!

darklordjames

05-22-09, 04:27 PM

Yeah, I keep meaning to load up the new XBMC Live on my Nforce 8200/ X2 5000+ box. It played 1080p MKVs with minimal frame drops when I tested XBMC out on it last time, but now it should play them perfectly. I probably will just end up scrapping the whole thing when someone makes a tiny $200 ION machine + XBM Live, that I can velcro to the back of my plasma. :)

dan4081

05-22-09, 07:17 PM

Yeah, I keep meaning to load up the new XBMC Live on my Nforce 8200/ X2 5000+ box. It played 1080p MKVs with minimal frame drops when I testes XBMC out on it last time, but now it should play them perfectly. I probably will just end up scrapping the whole thing when someone makes a tiny $200 ION machine + XBM Live, that I can velcro to the back of my plasma. :)

Let us know how it works out.
It looks like XBMC for PC is inching closer and closer to being a viable replacement for the xbox xbmc.

Maybe not quite yet, but close......

darklordjames

05-22-09, 07:33 PM

Heh. I just noticed my misspelling of "tested". Spell check didn't catch it because it just figured I was talking about my balls! :)

Yeah, I'm going to try to load up Live 9.04 today. I anticipate that getting sound out of the box is still going to be an ordeal.

PrestonD

05-22-09, 09:54 PM

ArtVandalay7

05-22-09, 10:15 PM

dan4081

05-22-09, 11:52 PM

Thanks to all the folks, I got the media center client working on softmodded xbox running xbmc and it is slick! I installed Media Companion and built and scraped database based on my videos, from the server pc where I have my files stored from Media Companion it looks great.

But I am having trouble as the old thumbnail art doesnt seem to get updated. All the old stuff is still there even though I deleted it (.nfo, .tbn, .jpg) off my media server (shared WD drive) where the video files are stored but the XBOX doesnt show the new data.

To delete the old stuff you need to FTP into the xbox, then go to E/Apps/XBMC/Userdata/Thumbnails/Video and delete the contents of the video folder. This will erase all the video Thumbnails, etc from the xbox.

I tried clicking the Title button but I dont see an Update Library selection from the menu like as mentioned in previous posts and on xbmc.org tutorial. Its like in this latest build its not there or being such a noob I guess I cant find it. I have Update Library on Startup in Configuration Settings and I scan for new content from the Title menu but to no avail...

When you are in your movies section of the xbox, make sure library mode is hi-lighted on the left side of your movie panal. When library mode is hilighted and you click the title button you will see update library. That should scan in all the MC content as long as you 'set content' as I explained in the other thread.

Any suggestions on having my Media Companion info be shown on the XBOX Xbmc?

Hang in there....you are almost there!!

PrestonD

05-23-09, 12:06 AM

<Edit> Thanks Dan...I didnt see the highly visible red comments in your reply above!

Worked it out and figured how to refresh and update the library....
- Go into Videos > Library
- Click on each movie and then the Title button
- Scroll down to Movie Info and select
- Then there is Refresh in the movie menu
- That does it!

darklordjames

05-23-09, 04:47 PM

sean_w_smith

05-25-09, 07:51 PM

Atlantis continues to rock...

upgraded 3 more xboxes at my primary residene today and it the upgrade was smooth. All the databases migrated well (it is slow the first time you select music or videos as it rebuilds the database).... but the plugins and updater from SVN all rock hard... This is easiest the best XBMC build in 2+ years... Its stable and works really well..... I am so stoked to see a REAL QUALITY STAZBLE release where everything works. and the whole plugin architecture and built in SVN updaters seem to work very well....

Sean

ChrisFB

05-26-09, 11:40 PM

Well, I just installed XBMC Live 9.04 on my Nforce 8200/ X2 5050e box. VDPAU is freakin' rad. Playing some random 720p MKV, my CPU use was at 1% for video and 5% to decode the AAC audio in the stream. It looks like just about all the video was handled by my pretty weak onboard video card. :)

On the other hand, my audio output and networking are broken. Those problems are fixable, but it will require digging through horribly unorganized threads over on the XBMC forum, which just sounds tedious. In short, XBMC Live makes another great step forward, but is still pretty useless.

A friend of mine has this completely nailed down. I have no experience here but he's not having any network type issues at all and has had a constantly upgraded XBMC Linux install for 9+ months now. Streams everything from an XP server with 5+ TB. He never indicated that he had issues.

It may not be the Live version. He's got a full Linux install but networking should be this hard? Seems odd.

ChrisFB

05-26-09, 11:45 PM

Ok, I never thought I'd get this far on my own so I'm finally posting a question...I have been struggling to get lossless music integrated into my home theater for...forever. I had an old xbox sitting in the garage and after a lot of reading, successfully softmodded it and also have xbmc successfully installed (not as the default dashboard, but I'll figure that out later...). I have a lot of my music already digitized onto a 500GB hard drive, all tagged and with album art as well. I have a Yammie receiver but no HDMI capability (the receiver is my next upgrade). I have a wireless network and my 2.4 ghz wireless router is upstairs from the home theater in an office. Currently, I have the music on the hard drive playing through an old Dell laptop via Foobar and plugged into the receiver via component cables. I would love to get input as to the best and most economical way to incorporate my newly modded xbox into a lossless streaming audio server! BTW, I have my CDs ripped into lossless wavpack format--guessing I'll need to convert to the more universal FLAC format regardless? Thanks for any help!!!

Art, my thoughts are these:

1) You can use an optical cable to take sound from the Xbox to the receiver - we all use this setup. I have the Monster HD pack and optical but the MSFT one will work just as well.

2) You will likely need a wireless ethernet bridge to get the Xbox on your wireless network (xbox has a network plug so you need either a cabled connection or a bridge)

3) You can host/share your files on a PC and the Xbox will navigate/read them over the network.

4) The format you already have should be fine (I think). I use FLAC for my lossless needs and it serves me well but if you'd already ripped your files you might want to save the time and not change over if it works on XBMC. And just about everything works on XBMC.

Easy stuff for the most part.

ArtVandalay7

05-27-09, 06:13 PM

Art, my thoughts are these:

1) You can use an optical cable to take sound from the Xbox to the receiver - we all use this setup. I have the Monster HD pack and optical but the MSFT one will work just as well.

2) You will likely need a wireless ethernet bridge to get the Xbox on your wireless network (xbox has a network plug so you need either a cabled connection or a bridge)

3) You can host/share your files on a PC and the Xbox will navigate/read them over the network.

4) The format you already have should be fine (I think). I use FLAC for my lossless needs and it serves me well but if you'd already ripped your files you might want to save the time and not change over if it works on XBMC. And just about everything works on XBMC.

Easy stuff for the most part.

Hey Chris--Thanks for the input. Several questions/potential problems...
1. I was looking at the Xbox HD AV pack...that's what you were referring to, right?
2. I didn't think I would be able to play wavpack files through this method, it is possible? I think Foobar can covert Wavpack to FLAC so I can do it if necessary (and I belive FLAC files take up less space if I'm not mistaken)
3. Is there any way to host files and stream to XBMC without always having a computer on plugged into the wireless router? My spare laptop has a ground loop problem and not sure if the feedback will stream along with the music while the computer is plugged in!
4. Another problem: my Yamaha receiver doesn't accept video signals. Components in my setup are about 20 feet from the tv mounted over the fireplace. The optical digital would work fine for sound and is a short run from XBox to receiver, but checking a forum sponsor...a 20 foot component video cable costs almost $100!...
5. I did do some research and reading on wireless ethernet bridges. Still confused as to which one I need for streaming to the xbox...wireless-g, b, n, etc....
Thanks!

sean_w_smith

05-27-09, 06:37 PM

Hey Chris--Thanks for the input. Several questions/potential problems...
1. I was looking at the Xbox HD AV pack...that's what you were referring to, right?
2. I didn't think I would be able to play wavpack files through this method, it is possible? I think Foobar can covert Wavpack to FLAC so I can do it if necessary (and I belive FLAC files take up less space if I'm not mistaken)
3. Is there any way to host files and stream to XBMC without always having a computer on plugged into the wireless router? My spare laptop has a ground loop problem and not sure if the feedback will stream along with the music while the computer is plugged in!
4. Another problem: my Yamaha receiver doesn't accept video signals. Components in my setup are about 20 feet from the tv mounted over the fireplace. The optical digital would work fine for sound and is a short run from XBox to receiver, but checking a forum sponsor...a 20 foot component video cable costs almost $100!...
5. I did do some research and reading on wireless ethernet bridges. Still confused as to which one I need for streaming to the xbox...wireless-g, b, n, etc....
Thanks!

1. or this from amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-100X-Fiber-Optic-Cable/dp/B00005TN7V/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1243463381&sr=1-9
and
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Component-Video-Cable/dp/B00005TN7U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1243463381&sr=1-1

The psyclone cable a lot of used cost less but I cant find it anymore. Glad I have about 10 of em on hand :)

2. XMBC supports WAVPACK. whats the issue! check the codecs page....
that said wavpack is used and supported by practically no one. FLAC or ALAC would be a better choice but the xbox will play em.....

3. Where do you expect the music to come from? from thin air... something has serve the music files to the xbox or you put a bigger drive in it? ground loop from a laptop should not exist unless the laptop is plugged into the stereo....

4. and your point is what?
you can remote control XBMC via the web and via iphone....
and you can get a 35Ft component cable from monoprice for $9.29

5. what type of wireless network do you have at your house?

b,g,n?

b is 11mps
g is 54mbps
n is 100+

everything is backward compatible with the slower technologies....

lets make this simple. What is the exact model# of your wireless router...

Sean

sean_w_smith

05-27-09, 06:49 PM

There are a whole bunch of wireless bridges here....

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wireless+bridge&x=0&y=0

Another option would be powerline adapters....

Sean

ChrisFB

05-27-09, 10:47 PM

1. or this from amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-100X-Fiber-Optic-Cable/dp/B00005TN7V/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1243463381&sr=1-9
and
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Component-Video-Cable/dp/B00005TN7U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1243463381&sr=1-1

The psyclone cable a lot of used cost less but I cant find it anymore. Glad I have about 10 of em on hand :)

2. XMBC supports WAVPACK. whats the issue! check the codecs page....
that said wavpack is used and supported by practically no one. FLAC or ALAC would be a better choice but the xbox will play em.....

3. Where do you expect the music to come from? from thin air... something has serve the music files to the xbox or you put a bigger drive in it? ground loop from a laptop should not exist unless the laptop is plugged into the stereo....

4. and your point is what?
you can remote control XBMC via the web and via iphone....
and you can get a 35Ft component cable from monoprice for $9.29

5. what type of wireless network do you have at your house?

b,g,n?

b is 11mps
g is 54mbps
n is 100+

everything is backward compatible with the slower technologies....

lets make this simple. What is the exact model# of your wireless router...

Sean

In addition to what Sean said here's some more info:

For a long cable run you'll want a breakout box style Xbox adapter kind of like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Definition-HDTV-HD-TV-AV-Pack-For-Microsoft-Xbox_W0QQitemZ120426575153QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Acc essories?hash=item1c09fbb531&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0 |293%3A1|294%3A50

It has optical and you can put your own component cables in there. The Monster unit Sean showed has a fixed cable length and you'd need some kind of extension to mount your own monoprice cables. The original XBox HD adapter was a similar style breakout box. The one I have above is not so I can't vouch for it but poking around on Ebay should get you what you need. Note that MSFT later produced an All-in-one unit similar to the Monster offering. You need the original with the breakout box if the solution I'm referencing is important to you as no all-in-one unit will have 35' of cables.

Very few of us route video through a receiver if possible as you can't tweak each video input for the specific source device. That said it's becoming a PITA with the new video codecs over HDMI and a single cable. Not sure what others are doing but I've yet to make that jump yet although my receiver was worrying me not long ago.

There is the possibility of storing files locally on a large HD in the XBox but you are limited to 42 characters in naming. There are batch transfer programs that will shorten names automatically. Outside of that you need something to stream from so yes, you'll need a computer on or a network attached server type system on. There's no way around that.

Maybe that helps.

ArtVandalay7

05-28-09, 05:35 PM

1. or this from amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-100X-Fiber-Optic-Cable/dp/B00005TN7V/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1243463381&sr=1-9
and
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Component-Video-Cable/dp/B00005TN7U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1243463381&sr=1-1

The psyclone cable a lot of used cost less but I cant find it anymore. Glad I have about 10 of em on hand :)

2. XMBC supports WAVPACK. whats the issue! check the codecs page....
that said wavpack is used and supported by practically no one. FLAC or ALAC would be a better choice but the xbox will play em.....

3. Where do you expect the music to come from? from thin air... something has serve the music files to the xbox or you put a bigger drive in it? ground loop from a laptop should not exist unless the laptop is plugged into the stereo....

4. and your point is what?
you can remote control XBMC via the web and via iphone....
and you can get a 35Ft component cable from monoprice for $9.29

5. what type of wireless network do you have at your house?

b,g,n?

b is 11mps
g is 54mbps
n is 100+

everything is backward compatible with the slower technologies....

lets make this simple. What is the exact model# of your wireless router...

Sean

1. Sounds like the HD AV pack I was looking at together with the monoprice cable is the way to go since I have a minimum 20 foot run with my current setup.
2. Ok, hadn't looked at the codecs page yet, but for the future I'm probably going to take the time to convert to FLAC just in case for universality issues...
3. No, not thin air; however, thought there might be ethernet-ready hard drives (or modifications to the usb output?) so that the music can be plugged directly into the network and routed to xbmc without having a laptop on at all times...
4. My point was I didn't want to spend a benny on one component cord...but I'll check out Monoprice, thanks. No iphone but I can probably control it through a Blackberry as well?...
5. My wireless network is g (Linksys router) but there are quite a few different g- models in addition to n, etc. Main question was is 54mbs enough to support the application effectively?
thanks!

thanks!

ArtVandalay7

05-28-09, 05:52 PM

In addition to what Sean said here's some more info:

For a long cable run you'll want a breakout box style Xbox adapter kind of like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Definition-HDTV-HD-TV-AV-Pack-For-Microsoft-Xbox_W0QQitemZ120426575153QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Acc essories?hash=item1c09fbb531&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0 |293%3A1|294%3A50

It has optical and you can put your own component cables in there. The Monster unit Sean showed has a fixed cable length and you'd need some kind of extension to mount your own monoprice cables. The original XBox HD adapter was a similar style breakout box. The one I have above is not so I can't vouch for it but poking around on Ebay should get you what you need. Note that MSFT later produced an All-in-one unit similar to the Monster offering. You need the original with the breakout box if the solution I'm referencing is important to you as no all-in-one unit will have 35' of cables.

Very few of us route video through a receiver if possible as you can't tweak each video input for the specific source device. That said it's becoming a PITA with the new video codecs over HDMI and a single cable. Not sure what others are doing but I've yet to make that jump yet although my receiver was worrying me not long ago.

There is the possibility of storing files locally on a large HD in the XBox but you are limited to 42 characters in naming. There are batch transfer programs that will shorten names automatically. Outside of that you need something to stream from so yes, you'll need a computer on or a network attached server type system on. There's no way around that.

Maybe that helps.

That does help, thanks! I already got an Xbox HD AV pack so I'll pick up a monoprice cable so that should work for the long cable run I need. I agree about the video input control but it would certainly shorten my cable requirements...as it stands everything has to go to the tv so this is my third 20-30 foot cable...kind of a pain when you have about 16 6 foot HDMIs lying around the garage ;). As for the laptop, I have an old Dell Inspiron that I mentioned before playing Foobar directly through a video aux jack on the receiver, so it will just remain on (at least until the power supply gives out :rolleyes:)

sean_w_smith

05-28-09, 07:28 PM

3. is called a NAS and there are hundreds on the market to choose from depending on your goals and budget....

and g wireless has more than enough bandwidth to stream audio

Sean

sean_w_smith

05-28-09, 08:28 PM

ArtVandalay7

05-29-09, 01:10 PM

3. is called a NAS and there are hundreds on the market to choose from depending on your goals and budget....

and g wireless has more than enough bandwidth to stream audio

Sean

Hey Sean-
Will I run into a problem with video (for example, streaming movies from the hard drive) with g?

darklordjames

05-29-09, 03:09 PM

sean_w_smith

05-29-09, 04:11 PM

G will easily handle any level of video that the Xbox has enough horsepower to decode. As with any wireless system though, if the connection quality is low due to distance or interference, then that could cause issues.

which in my experience in most of the installs I have done for people is a problem. I would say only 30% of the wireless G installs I have done can stream video... It all depends on distance, how many walls you want to go through and the materials used in construction.....

Sean

ArtVandalay7

05-29-09, 05:32 PM

which in my experience in most of the installs I have done for people is a problem. I would say only 30% of the wireless G installs I have done can stream video... It all depends on distance, how many walls you want to go through and the materials used in construction.....

Sean

The router is up a level and is some distance from where the xbox will be so I think I'm going to buy the n bridge now and update the router later (from g to n). Another question--is there any significant difference between a dual band wireless n gaming bridge and a dual band wireless n ethernet bridge?

sean_w_smith

05-29-09, 08:44 PM

Art,

nope.....

Sean

sean_w_smith

05-29-09, 08:46 PM

Well its official! XBMC is running with GPU Accelleration on an ION reference platform and playing 1080P killa sample....

http://xbmc.org/jmarshall/2009/05/23/xbmc-running-on-nvidia-ion-reference-box/#comments

Once they get lossless audio flowing over the built in HDMI 1.3 there wont be much reason for the NMT's any more......

Sean

Slack

05-31-09, 05:30 AM

Sean,

Is there any talk of adding tuners / recording to XBMC?

darklordjames

05-31-09, 06:57 AM

Not that I've heard of. MediaPortal is a splinter of XBMC that has some pretty rad tuner support last I saw. Really though, XBMC is far more geared toward locally stored media, while splinters like Boxee are focusing on on-demand online media. I wouldn't imaging that XBMC would ever gain tuner support really, as that really is rapidly becoming an obnoxiously outdated form of acquiring video.

Seriously dude. Tuners? :)

sean_w_smith

05-31-09, 07:48 PM

ChrisFB

05-31-09, 09:10 PM

9.04.1 was posted today for platforms other than Xbox. Hopefully T3ch will upgrade their build to 9.04.1 soon and we can try it out....

probably just some minor tweaks. I still stand by my statement this is the most stable version of XBMC I have seen in several years for the xbox...

Sean

Well I have to say, Babylon 9.04 is so stable I'm going back to my old ways of not messing with my Xbox. I never likely beta tweaking much or dealing with flawed builds - eventually I had to do it for obvious reasons but I'm sticking with Babylon until I get an Ion based setup or something goes horribly wrong/is vastly improved in some way.

Stryker412

05-31-09, 10:01 PM

Is XBMC for PC an OS or does it run similar to how Windows Media Center runs?

ctcousineau

05-31-09, 10:17 PM

Is XBMC for PC an OS or does it run similar to how Windows Media Center runs?

It runs as an application, so it's similar to Media Center. check out xbmc.org (http://xbmc.org/) for details & downloads.

darklordjames

06-01-09, 12:52 AM

"It runs as an application, so it's similar to Media Center"

He asked about XBMC for PC, not XBMC for Windows.

The correct answer is "Depends on which version you opt for.". XBMC for Windows operates under Windows as a frontend, much like Media Center. XBMC for Linux functions much the same way, as a frontend under Linux. XBMC Live has the goal of being an operating system, for that set-top-box feel. XBMC for OSX is again like Media Center. XBMC for AppleTV is again much like a set-top-box.

Slack

06-01-09, 12:01 PM

Seriously dude. Tuners? :)

Yes we all know Hulu, Usenet and IP TV are really 'rad' (to use your parlance). But there is such a thing as time critical TV. You know nightly local news, NFL games etc... things that I want to watch in full HD shortly after the broadcast has started or ended.

So yes. Seriously tuners.

I tried Mediaportal (years ago now) and SageTV kicked it to the curb on CPU usage alone. So I am stuck in a dichotomous household. The kids and myself definitely prefer the look and feel of the polished GUIs available in XBMC. But I still need SageTV for the aforementioned. If I could get TV into XBMC I'd run everything via the XBMC front end. And yes I could just share the recording directories and point XBMC to them. But I want the hooks into the SageTV program guide and scheduler for the mythical one box to rule them all.

And several folks over in SageTV forums are working to make that a reality.
By creating an XBMC scipt (http://code.google.com/p/sagetvxbmcscript/)that will interface with a sage server and it's remote API's / web server.

If this panned out I could conceive of ion based boxes replacing my HD200s

eq_shadimar

06-01-09, 12:23 PM

sean_w_smith

06-01-09, 02:11 PM

I have the latest version of XBMC running on Windows XP Pro. I selected the digital output (coax not HDMI) in the settings for Video etc. The digital sound works for all click sound effects, music (MP3, FLAC), and for all videos except for DVD ISO's. When I try and play a DVD ISO I get an error that the device could not be initialized and there is no sound. If I switch the setting in XBMC to Analog I get sound (even over the digital output!). The problem with this is that the notebook speakers are still on and it is only stereo sound.

Any ideas on what to look for? I tried searching the XBMC forums but all the information there was either really old or related to HDMI audio.

Laters,
Jeff

Ahh the challenges of windows audio... no ideas other than make sure the output device you want is the default sound device in windows... I seriously doubt xbmc manages that.... that said windows is the least supported and least used of the PC Xbox derivatives and I have never tried it on the mac mini.... the osx version works too well... :)

Sean

sean_w_smith

06-01-09, 02:11 PM

This isn't on a thinkpad is it?
I know on my thinkpad the driver is broken such that when using the coax digital out on the thinkpad doc there is no way to turn off the laptop speakers. This is a driver bug and correct in Vista but Lenovo never issued a proper driver to allow this to work on XP.

Sean

eq_shadimar

06-01-09, 02:44 PM

dan4081

06-01-09, 03:51 PM

Thanks for the replies guys, I can live with it for the time being. It is only temporary anyway. I am waiting to see how the XBMC/ION stuff shakes out vs. getting another PCH later this summer.

Laters,
Jeff

Have you seen some guys ported the PM3 skin to PCH?
Thought it was pretty interesting.

http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=52043

sean_w_smith

06-01-09, 06:38 PM

yes I am wondering why it seems so fast in the video.... YAMJ is really slow on my PCH loading pages... I am wondering if the video were shot showing the interface speed on a PCH and not on the PCH itself..... (NOTICE: he never actually selected and played any media... )

I'll have to give it whirl once I get moved to california....

Sean

sean_w_smith

06-01-09, 08:58 PM

Yes we all know Hulu, Usenet and IP TV are really 'rad' (to use your parlance). But there is such a thing as time critical TV. You know nightly local news, NFL games etc... things that I want to watch in full HD shortly after the broadcast has started or ended.

So yes. Seriously tuners.

I tried Mediaportal (years ago now) and SageTV kicked it to the curb on CPU usage alone. So I am stuck in a dichotomous household. The kids and myself definitely prefer the look and feel of the polished GUIs available in XBMC. But I still need SageTV for the aforementioned. If I could get TV into XBMC I'd run everything via the XBMC front end. And yes I could just share the recording directories and point XBMC to them. But I want the hooks into the SageTV program guide and scheduler for the mythical one box to rule them all.

And several folks over in SageTV forums are working to make that a reality.
By creating an XBMC scipt (http://code.google.com/p/sagetvxbmcscript/)that will interface with a sage server and it's remote API's / web server.

If this panned out I could conceive of ion based boxes replacing my HD200s

I'm with you on real TV. I have now a bunch of DirecTV DVR's and 3 of em with 1TB E-satas so I I think thats one of the reasons I never cared about HD other than BD rips since I have that covered. I have always wished for Multiroom viewing and thats finally in beta so Life is good on the TV Front. I always prefered my Dish and DirecTV to my time warner in NC. In utah there is no cable company. There is no OTA. Its satellite or nothing... luckily that suites me just fine. but its clear there is growing gap between us older pay for HDTV content customers and the current geneation of Gen Y'ers who dont have landline line phones. dont want cable or satellite and just BT or usenet everything. I understand it but its not me, the PQ and audio quality alone makes all that totally not interesting other than a few foreign tv shows that I have no alternative way of wathching....... Had SageTV or MCE supported dish or directv I would might have gone that route a long time ago but my all my direct tivos set the standard a long time ago. Its a shame tivo because of finanical troubles was never able to take their great revolution in the TV to the next level.... Maybe moxi will who knows....

The other weird thing with PC DVR's has always been cost... at $99 for DTC HD DVR and $5 a month for all DVR boxes it would take quite a while to make up the cost for an HTPC that would do this.... I have not tried to price out one lately but when I did a few years ago its was $700 investment to build something like that and it still wont work with anything but cable and OTA.

Sean

Slack

06-02-09, 09:47 AM

My path to SageTV was a desire to check out HD. Coming from an SD world of ReplayTVs my expectations were set pretty high for interface, commercial skip, room-to-room streaming, and internet show sharing. On the media side the bar was set way to high by XBMC.

Now that I have switched my Sage setup to server client - I have found a worthy replacement to the ReplayTVs (recently sold). I use usenet (not so much torrents since getting a notice from my ISP) But this gen X-er still likes watching local news and sporting event close to the air time.

FWIW SageTV with the HD-PVR will support any satellite or cable STB. And do real-time recording in H.264. I have not investigated it as I kinda like being OTA only. Canceled time warner soon after I sold my 3 ReplayTVs. And don't really want to pay a monthly, and sign a contract, and deal with the installers to get my fix of non-OTA HD. During the height of the season I had trouble keeping up with what my two tuners were grabbing anyway. More content would be foolish.

sean_w_smith

06-02-09, 10:27 AM

Hey Slack,

thanks for the info. I wonder if you would comment on the following...

There are a number of issues with the SageTV type of approach to handling DTV that I experienced a long time ago when I had both replay TV's and Tivo controlling external set top boxes....

1. how do you control it. ir blasters were unreliable. RS-232 was better... but if the power went off is the SageTV smart enough to turn everything back on and get everything aligned again. Even tivo over RS232 sometimes did not do this right. IR blasters forget about it....

2. There is an inherent reduction in video quality since the satellite stream has been decoded and then converted to analog. and then the analog had to be re-encoded back to digital. In the SD world I never found that acceptable after seeing the PQ and recording capacity you got with a DirecTivo where those steps weren't necessary. That is what you are doing with OTA today....

I'm curious have you tried using component analog inputs? do you find the video quality as good as the original?

I know #2 is being picky but PQ and SQ have always been important to me. #1 was a real issue and I missed way too many programs in the old days due to issues there... I know with OTA or cablecard you dont have this issue....

Sean

Slack

06-02-09, 10:08 PM

1. how do you control it. ir blasters were unreliable. RS-232 was better... but if the power went off is the SageTV smart enough to turn everything back on and get everything aligned again. Even tivo over RS232 sometimes did not do this right. IR blasters forget about it....
From least to most reliable
HD-PVR's own IR Blaster
Sage controlled blaster (USB_UIRT for instance)
Sage controlled serial port
Sage controlled firewire
That is my rough recollection when superficially looking into the thing before deciding I had enough TV coming through the antenna. As for power outages conventional wisdom would be a UPS for short duration outages. I could see where the USB_UIRT could be used to send the power-on or power toggle whenever the OS started. Regardless the people to ask are the ones using the HD-PVR over on the SageTV forums.

2. There is an inherent reduction in video quality since the satellite stream has been decoded and then converted to analog. and then the analog had to be re-encoded back to digital. In the SD world I never found that acceptable after seeing the PQ and recording capacity you got with a DirecTivo where those steps weren't necessary. That is what you are doing with OTA today....
In my opinion no. I downloaded a couple of clips people had posted to see if my Sage box had the CPU to decode an render the HD-PVR encoded clips. It did not. Later I tried the same clips with the HD-200 and it was butter smooth. As far as quality I was viewing this on an HD CRT (craptastic brand, good enough picture for the bedroom). The clips were a few minutes of NFL action one 1080i another 720p. And I really did not spot anything that screamed to me 'artifact'. It looked as good (to me) as anything I view from a transport stream capture via my OTA tuners.

I'm curious have you tried using component analog inputs? do you find the video quality as good as the original?
HD-200 in main room is HDMI out through a HDMI-DVI dongle to DVI blade in a panny plasma. (Audio is toslink optical to DD / DTS amp - passthrough works just like it does in XBMC [now this post in on-topic :)]) Obviously this picture is the best I can get with my hardware.
HD-200 in bedroom is component out to HD-CRT. (Here the audio is stereo out) I have no complains. GUI is crisp. Video looks just as it does on the panny. Obviously this is purely subjective. And just so you know I was used to a soft picture from the ReplayTVs so that might effect my judgement(s).

I know #2 is being picky but PQ and SQ have always been important to me. #1 was a real issue and I missed way too many programs in the old days due to issues there... I know with OTA or cablecard you dont have this issue....
I am picky too but not anal. I calibrated the panny myself using the Avia disk. So no <trade association> certification etc..I do what I can do within my means. My amp has a self tune feature in which you place mic in the primary listening spot it balances surround gains, and tells you to dial down/up a powered sub etc... This might be crap or total marketing bs, but it was important enough to me to at least know I did right the first time.
Before I changed my SageTV box to server only I must have spent a week fighting this one micro stutter. It only happened on CBS spotting events when the camera panned quickly. Think kick off or pass from center court to the paint. No one else could see it. Found bios setting for the pipe width or some such terminology related to the on board video. Damn was I relieved. It was driving me nuts.

So...for OTA recording, room-room-pc streming, web interface, multiple line-up handling, top notch conflict resolution: SageTV brings it. Plugins are plentiful. The community is active. For HD-PVR integration...it's a first gen device and has a fair amount of problems on the boards, however like most things, the boards are full of people with problems. When someone steps over the line - a raft of 'works fantastic here' posts appear. Ideally we could go get cable cards - slap em in any old pc and tell sage to run with the ball. For now if you want DRM free HD recording it's OTA or HD-PVR (or usenet).