DVD Server using XBOX Media Center (XBMC), DVD Profiler, and IMDB (Pictures galore) [Text View] - Page 19

PrestonD

06-04-09, 08:06 PM

I would love to hear from you folks on how your network and systems are setup...what type of server, do you use a NAS, what type of switches and routers, etc.

I have a Dell P4 2.8Ghz (thats in Giga HamsterZ :) )running as my "server" with 500gig usb hard drive attached, I stream to 2 bedrooms and an office with xbox's modded with xbmc and also stream to the living room home theater with an modded xbox and PS3 and TivoHD and Sony WEGA 46" HDTV.

On the server I run PS3 Media Server, Streambaby and Tversity, the XBOXs seem to have no problem mapping to the attached hard drive. No problem streaming standard def stuff at all....the hi def stuff kinda stutters a tad on the PS3 with Tversity and PS3 Media Server but not at all with Streambaby application to the TivoHD. I havent tried any hidef content to the xbox's as it is documented to not be feasible.

I pretty much rip my standard def dvd collection to the hard drive, no problems with the modded xbox's with xbmc running the standard def stuff very well.

Seems like the stuttering problem may be in with the switches and router...they are not gig but are 100/10 mbps switches...so if I understand correctly they can only handle 10 mbps max per switch port? The cabling is cat5e thats in the house that should handle it

I may upgrade the switches to gigabit switches. Also may reconfigure my network layout...right now I have the hard drive in the office connected to server and then the server is connected to switch (which it shares with several pc's). I then connect the switch to a Linksys G router where I then route an ethernet cable to the living room where the home theater setup is and where I have another switch (shares connections with tivohd, ps3, Hava and modded xbox). Seems like I can skip the ethernet connection going to the router from the living room and connect that directly to the office switch...I dunno if bypassing the router built in switch (essentially cutting out 1 switch in the process) yields any improvement

I also been considering getting one of the D-link NAS 321/323 units so I dont have to keep the pc up and running. I guess its a bit more energy efficient with the NAS. If anyone has any experiences with any NAS equipment they can recommend it is appreciated. I want to make sure that above anything that I can stream to the xbmc xbox's from the NAS units

One day I would like to see a htpc in the office with multiple tuners capturing programming material that can stream either live or recorded content to each new media client device (I am assuming ION based pc's that everyone is talking about) that will be in each viewing location (bedrooms, living room and office)

So let me know what you guys are doing...I am interested in reasonable network speed and efficiency and of course at reasonable cost...any input is appreciated

EDIT: I didnt see the above updates on the NAS (thats how long it took me to log this posting)

dan4081

06-04-09, 08:37 PM

Sean, thanks for the well thought out post.

Preston, I had the Dlink NAS 321 before I came across a great deal on the HP Mediasmart server I'm using now.
I used the dlink 321 to host all my media for the xbox running xbmc and it worked just fine. Not as easy or elegant as the MediaSmart but worked well. Add to that it is was very quiet and could be found for under a hundred dollars, and its hard to beat.
(I am not sure how the dlink would work as far as streaming to the PS3 as I dont own a PS3.)

Eventually I will build a low power low cost XBMC pc to replace my xbox's.

unmesh

06-04-09, 08:44 PM

PrestonD,

I use two DNS units, each of them running homebrew firmware to allow for additional functionality. The most important one is to back one of them periodically to the other with Apple Time Machine like functionality. Another is to run NFS instead of CIFS to increase the effective transfer rate to support highdef bitrates.

I serve music and video to a XBOX running XBMC (currently busted), an AppleTV running XBMC, a WD TV box running ext3-boot firmware and an Apple Airport Express with AirTunes, all over a wired Fast Ethernet network.

The DNS units are inexpensive (low 3 digits without drives), quiet, low power consuming and spin down the hard drives when they are not being used. If they had Wake-on-LAN, they'd be perfect!

PrestonD

06-05-09, 01:15 PM

Slack

06-05-09, 02:42 PM

sean_w_smith

06-05-09, 08:04 PM

What do you guys think about upgrading the switches to gigabit switches instead of the ones I currently have? Is it my understanding that they are limited to 10mbps per port on the switch with a max of 100mbps? Doesnt hidef require more bandwidth than that?

Also what about cutting out the router switch in the streaming to the living room? Would that improve performance?

Unmesh -
Ooooohhhh hacking...I love hacking. I will have to check to see what options are available for the DNS units. I wasnt aware that they were hackable. If you have any suggestions on this it is appreciated, otherwise I will google for it.

Dan -
I think the xbox/xbmc will see a upnp device? is that right? Maybe PS3 can see that too...will have to test

Hi Preston,

I really dont think any of the issue you are seeing is in the your switches.... Even the cheapo 5 port switches can cary there rated bandwidth usually....Its extrememly unlikely that your stuttering is caused by switches....

Its orders of magnitude more likely to be

1. your PC's throughput

2. a configuration issue with your PC

when you are streaming HD content what type of CPU and network load are you seeing on the Server....

I've seen plenty of windows builds that get hosed over time and even though they have 100 M cards they can barely stream 10M because the network stack was so hosed... (reinstall was the only way I ever solved some of those)....

transcoding HD requires both CPU and IO performance.....

GiG-E is great and I love the ability to move files to and from PC's with great speed but even my Popcorn hour which plays any BD rip I throw at it only uses 100M ethernet.

I would start by putting a fresh and minimal install on the SERVER... verify it can acheive good speed with FTP Testing and then only install the minimum SW you need one at a time... The fact you have so many server daemons running on the old single core P4 is most likely your culprit.....

Sean

sean_w_smith

06-05-09, 08:10 PM

Again even the most basic 4 port linksys switch damn close to what we call in the network chip business "line rate".

The switch can pass 100Mbps full duplex to all 4 LAN ports...... Effectively marketing bandwidth over 800M (4 x 100 x TX X RX).....

cheapo netgear 5 port Gig switch can switch near 10G a second.....

Again its highly unlikely your issue is a switch....

a bad cable could have a 100M switch port running 10M half duplex but its very unlikely unless you never tested your wiring to make sure its good.

Having two fast PC's/NAS is always nice you so can test the calbing between any 2 points on your House wiring but the problem is most likely gonna be your server and its performance....

Sean

PrestonD

06-05-09, 08:56 PM

Great input...appreciate all the feedback.

I had a suspicion it was the P4 server and thanks for confirming that...

I never tested the wiring but was extremely careful on my terminations when installing, however I can stream Netflix HD down to my TivoHD ok (which is not going through the PC server) so I think now that you mention it is just my ol' server

Yeah the old P4 is at 100% CPU utilization usually streaming the HD stuff. Since most of what I have and stream is standard def. If I get bluray disks from Netflix I just play that on the PS3 in the Living Room as for right now that is only hdtv that I have.

Everything else just streams beautifully to the XBOXs

I just love the xbmc interface. Will be working on custom skinning too so will have the PrestonD home theater opening sequences or something to that effect to torture my family and guests. I am so glad I went with the xbox xbmc option that is absolutely fabulous. Dan4081 was very helpful in getting me on the road to modding and I do appreciate all his kind assistance.

I am considering the Dlink NAS DNS-321 (I dont need the bitorrent download and the print server right now). Does anyone know if the Dlink NAS DNS-321 can serve HDTV video (OTA mpg data) when used as upnp device on the network?

ArtVandalay7

06-06-09, 03:53 PM

Hey all...I have my xbmc up and running with the t3ch latest build and internet connectivity via being plugged directly into my linksys g router (for now). A few problems though...

1. XBMC is constantly freezing up requiring a hard reboot. This has happened playing audio, video, and even Tetris...I tried increasing the cache size for video and audio but no help...

2. Tetris has a transparent look and blends in with whatever background is showing which doesn't look the same as screenshots I've seen...

3. Any streaming video I've tried to advance with the right thumbstick or 4+X does not work--i.e. unable to navigate at all through video content.

Any help, as always, is greatly appreciated!

sean_w_smith

06-07-09, 01:09 PM

latest is not a version.... please indicate which version..... I highly recommend 9.04 or 9.04.01

should not lock up. I know nothing about tetris....

what does the logfile say?

Sean

PrestonD

06-11-09, 05:12 PM

I looked through the 150 pages or so of this thread and I guess I am easily confused. I need some help on recovery disk, I want to implement Sean's boot directly to XBMC but am gunshy about the process without a recovery disk:

1. Can someone give me the steps on how to make recovery disc for xbox

2. Is each recovery disk specific to the xbox itself (serial number lets say) even though the software I installed (dashboard and XBMC) will be the same in all the xbox's?

3. If the xbox's boot into xbmc, would the dashboard still be accessible if I exit out of xbmc?

I got 4 xbox's that are going to be or if not already modded with xbmc so when I go live I want the production versions to be bootable into xbmc and I would rather not brick anything.

sean_w_smith

06-11-09, 06:00 PM

There are two types of rescuse discs...

1. frosty's for fixing an xbox that wont boot because you hosed something other than the softmod. this disc is generic and can be used on any xbox. (first resort)

2. xboxhdm recovery disc which you need to put the eeprom.bin file on and label both the disc and the xbox because that file is married to the motherboard in the xbox. thats for fixing dead HD's or hosed softmods.... (last resort)

you can download frosty's xbox recovery disc here.....

http://rapidshare.com/files/32933081/Frostys_XBOX_Rescue_Disc_v1_0.rar

you can download xboxhdm here....

http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/~xbox/xbox-scene/software/linux/xboxhdm_v1.9.zip

that will let you boot it and have FTP server running so you can fix what u f^%& up....

as long as you dont delete the softmod. (if you delete the softmod, you'd better have the eeprom.bin backed up) and build xboxhdm boot disc.

I recommend doing that as part of the softmod. That enables you to install a larger disc or recover if the HD dies....

What else? switching the dash to XBMC is really easy as long as you know what files your modchip/softnmod boots.....

running the dashboard is possible on most softmods and all hardmods... which mod method did you use?

Sean

dan4081

06-11-09, 06:09 PM

Sean, I figured I would save you some typing.
Heres the instructions you wrote for me along with the file needed to have the Xbox boot right to XBMC.
They worked perfect and were very easy:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14353256&highlight=forgot#post14353256

sean_w_smith

06-11-09, 06:12 PM

thanks Dan....

Sean

PrestonD

06-12-09, 06:52 PM

sean_w_smith

06-12-09, 07:10 PM

Thanks for all the info, as always you guys are great and so helpful. I got the recovery disk and other software downloaded and am ready to implement.

Have one final question...now if I implement the boot to xbmc, does that mean I wont be able to play an xbox game if I insert game disk into the game drive? I just might want to try that Halo game everyone was nattering about back in the day!

sure.... pop the game into the drive and xbmx will launch the game and allow you to play it. you give up nothing using XBMC as a dashboard....

Sean

dan4081

06-12-09, 08:55 PM

Thanks for all the info, as always you guys are great and so helpful. I got the recovery disk and other software downloaded and am ready to implement.

Have one final question...now if I implement the boot to xbmc, does that mean I wont be able to play an xbox game if I insert game disk into the game drive? I just might want to try that Halo game everyone was nattering about back in the day!

If you used the How-to that I sent to you there was an option for dual boot. If you used that the top 'power' button on the xbox will boot to the original xbox screen and let you play games.

The bottom 'power' button, (after following Seans easy instructions) will make the xbox boot directly to XBMC. So depending on which power button you press will make it power to each dash.

ArtVandalay7

06-15-09, 01:45 AM

Hi everyone..as always, the forum has been very helpful and my softmodded xbox is finally up and running! After a night of reading/failed attempts, thought I might try to get some help mapping my network drive if possible. I am running xbmc 9.04.1. I have an old Dell Inspiron laptop plugged directly into my linksys g router upstairs and my xbox downstairs connected to a n wireless ethernet bridge. Earlier tonight I had the xbox seeing my computer after I had shared the folders I wanted to access (e.g. a music folder) on the laptop but always got "Invalid computer name" error when I tried to access the computer/drive on the xbox. Now trying to add a source it's not seeing the computer upstairs anymore. I read several networking guides including the xbmc online manual but can't seem to figure this out...thanks for any help!

sean_w_smith

06-15-09, 11:07 AM

Try typing the hostname in xbmc instead of browsing.

unfortunately windows networking is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for home networks....

Sean

ArtVandalay7

06-15-09, 06:47 PM

Hi Sean--tried modifiying the xml file, also typing in the hostname directly. Nothing works. I am able to map my external hard drive to my other laptop on the network with no problem. Last night I was at least able to see both laptops when using the browsing function on xbmc--now neither shows up...Any ideas as to what changed and how I get the drive/folder to show up in xbmc? Frustrating!!!

sean_w_smith

06-15-09, 06:51 PM

lets start with what OS you are running... None of this has anything to do with the xbox. Its all about configuring the PC's the right way.

Sean

ArtVandalay7

06-15-09, 07:07 PM

Hey Sean-Windows XP on the computer/hard drive plugged directly into the router, windows vista on my wireless laptop. I thought the pcs were probably configured correctly since I can stream laptop to laptop but not laptop to xbox...

sean_w_smith

06-15-09, 07:35 PM

nope its not even close to being that simple.......

so which machine is your primary OS?

are you using simple filesharing or normal file sharing?

what kind of firewall SW are you running on your PC's....

Sean

ArtVandalay7

06-15-09, 08:03 PM

unmesh

06-15-09, 08:24 PM

I am considering the Dlink NAS DNS-321 (I dont need the bitorrent download and the print server right now). Does anyone know if the Dlink NAS DNS-321 can serve HDTV video (OTA mpg data) when used as upnp device on the network?

Sorry for the delay in replying to the DNS-321 questions.

The homebrew information can be found at http://wiki.dns323.info/

Since the Xbox can't decode HiDef streams, the only performance information I have is from the WDTV box as the client (with ext3-boot firmware and a 100Mbps Ethernet USB dongle). I was able to measure 18Mbps transfer rate using a gigabyte file transfer using CIFS and 47Mbps after turning on the NFS server on the DNS-321. Needless to say, I was able to stream 1080p x.264 files to the client with no stuttering!

One of these days, I will get a GE USB dongle and see if the throughput can go higher.

PrestonD

06-17-09, 11:41 AM

unmesh

06-17-09, 12:42 PM

Thanks Unmesh for the info....

I am torn between the Dlink DNS units and the Buffalo NAS's as eCost.com has great deals for the 500GB and 1Tb models. The pricing on the Buffalo is hard to get by, but I understand they are a little slow.

Looks like the Dlink can handle the higher transfer rates of perhaps the low end of hdtv (maybe 720p?). Since pretty much what I will be streaming will be sdtv using the XBOX/XBMC I can live with those rates. Was trying to see if I could stream hdtv to the PS3 and sdtv to the networked XBOXs from the NAS units, but think I will just stick with the sdtv stuff for simplicity.

Does anyone have any experience with the Buffalo NASs? Are they reliable? Can they at least stream sdtv video to XBMC Xbox's?

The Dlink can deliver 1080p content bitrates.

A glance at the NAS charts on http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/ shows that the Buffalo units should be easily able to stream SD content. The inexpensive units on ecost are recertified and warrantied for only 90 days which is somewhat risky for rotating media though the prices are not much higher than that for the bare drives themselves.

Ja Phule

06-20-09, 08:38 PM

primary OS is Windows XP Home Version 2002...Simple file sharing...i.e. I navigated to the folders I want to access on XBMC via XP, right click sharing and security, tick "share this folder on the network" and assign a share name (same as the folder). Windows firewall is on but exceptions include file and printer sharing. I get "invalid computer name" when I try to click on the computer in question and when trying to click on the other laptop I get a dialog box asking me to "lock preferences" for that computer and asking for a username and password?? Also tried different default username and passwords in xbmc media center smb client configuration and it won't let me erase those fields back to blank...

I've had some issues recently trying to get XBMC to view my shared folders in Windows 7.

So it seems you are working with 2 operating systems, Windows XP and Windows Vista. Both of which will need to be configured correctly if you want XBMC to access them. For your XP machine, I'd turn off firewall temporarily to see if that might be causing a problem with XBMC accessing your machine. For your Vista machine, you need to make sure you allow Guest user read access to your shares.

I had issues browsing directly to my machines from XBMC. It would be easier if you hardcode your machine path in your sources.xml file. If you have a folder share called "Videos" and your pc name is "PC1" then your source path should be:

smb://PC1/Videos/

Hope that helps.

PrestonD

06-23-09, 05:17 PM

This XBMC modded XBOX works great...

1. The auto boot into xbmc from the following instructions (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14353256&highlight=forgot#post14353256) were easy to implement...almost seamless boot sequence.

2. The Media Companion is great tool for organizing the ripped DVDs in my library. I also run a small script that takes the .tbn file and copies that to .jpg file so PS3 Media Server can also have dvd cover shots to use.

I am working on getting the rest of the ethernet laid out in the attic, it may have to wait a while cause its about a 100 degrees down in Florida. Also a couple of the runs where the coax cable for the tv's in 2 of the rooms are on an outside wall (I find it easier to share a sill penetration with coax cable and share wallplate with a mixed rg6 coax connector and rj45 connector. Better fit and finish. But the installations on the outside wall complicates installation of ethernet hard wired cable runs because its concrete block, ferring strip and then drywall with insulation all loaded in there, fish tape even gets hung up in there. Since I am running all this stuff myself, its up and down the attic ladder. Ugghhh. The rollout into "production" of my xbmc delivery system for the spare bedroom and master bedroom may be delayed until the first cold front of winter. For now I have the xbmc xbox's in office and family room where the home theater is located so can get my xbmc media fix

Thanks to everyone for their help and assistance....
.

sean_w_smith

06-23-09, 05:30 PM

sounds great.... glad everything is working for you....

Sean

PrestonD

06-23-09, 11:53 PM

Hi Sean,

I am curious about your various home theater setups, I understand you have several houses setup.... whats your setups like? Sounds like you use NAS (what type and which is your favorite?), but do you also run any media servers and what clients do you use (I am assuming xbmc on xbox but are you running any other client)? Also is your network hard wired or strictly wireless? Do you have gigabit ethernet? Are you streaming any HD to none-xbox xbmc clients? Sorry for all the probing questions, but you are very knowledgeable and I appreciate your input and I think it would help myself and others

If anyone else wants to pipe in thats cool too (Dan and Japhule, etc)

Preston

sean_w_smith

06-24-09, 02:07 PM

I have too many setups to dive into great detail....

the setups between both houses are similar...

both houses are completely wired for gig-e. gig-e is not necessary but it certainly makes copying iso files around a lot quicker....

NAS's I currently own. ReadyNas, Thecus N5200, Buffalo Terastation, and an unRaid box..... they have have their strengths... it just depends what your goals are.... I used a old laptop with some USB drives hanging off it for a NAS for a long time....

I do have wireless networks in both places and use some wireless bridges or devices in some remote areas.... I can stream DVD's over 802.11G in my setups which are fairly optimized. wireless always adds some level of uncertainty and I dont recommend except where absolutely necessary.

In terms of clients at the moment: 11 xboxes, 2 PS3's, 5 airport expresses, 1 AppleTV, 2 mac minis, a 2 zone squeezebox duet setup and a popcorn a-110 (for streaming blueray rips).

ask more questions and I would glad to answer but I cant just randonly go into specifics....

Sean

PrestonD

06-26-09, 08:53 AM

For all you folks that use Media Companion, IMDB must have reformatted thieir web pages as now Media Companion wont scrape the data for movies.
When you do a media search, it hangs on the first movie

Its a common issue for screen scraping programs, some time back I wrote one in ASP to convert into WAP for a surf report for my cell phone and always had to go in and tweak it.

I guess the other media programs will also suffer the same consequences

sean_w_smith

06-26-09, 01:43 PM

NOTE XMBC now uses TMDB.com also for movies and I have been having good luck with that one so maybe that will work for some folks until the IMDB scrapers are updated...

Sean

felke001

06-26-09, 01:51 PM

sean_w_smith

06-26-09, 02:28 PM

Like you, I am using XBMC (xbox version) for everything except for streaming HD for which I have the PCH.

I am seriously considering one of the new Ion nettops (like the ASPIRE REV0) running XBMC Live as a all in one solution but am waiting for the dust to settle a little bit before taking the plunge, since it looks like there are a lot of devices in the pipeline.

Big ? that I haven't seen answered is whether the single core systems like the ASPIRE will have enough power for the more challenging XBMC skins (like Aeon).

Like you I am waiting for the dust to settle and some commitment from the devs on passing through lossless audio. If I can't watch BD Rips with DTS-MA and TrueHD the PCH will not get retired.....

I think by xmas this should be reality but its too early to invest there.... If I was not in the middle of moving from Raleigh to Los Altos I might have some time to play with it but time is at a premium these days.... I am excited for the future.... CPU does not seems to be an issue for AEON only ram. So any of the PC platforms should have no issue with AEON etc....

Sean

PrestonD

06-27-09, 01:06 AM

NOTE XMBC now uses TMDB.com also for movies and I have been having good luck with that one so maybe that will work for some folks until the IMDB scrapers are updated...

Sean

After I posted I did notice that XBMC updated the new movies correctly that I had added to my server. I thought it only read the files from the server but found database files on one of the directories in the xbox, I didnt know that the movie info was stored locally, learning something everyday about these xbmc xbox's

PrestonD

06-27-09, 11:37 AM

Am trying out Ember instead of Media Companion....seems to be working great. Nice interface...

dan4081

06-27-09, 06:15 PM

Am trying out Ember instead of Media Companion....seems to be working great. Nice interface...

There is also a new version of Media Companion out.

Let me know your thoughts on Ember versus MC when you use it some more!

PrestonD

06-29-09, 11:00 PM

There is also a new version of Media Companion out.

Let me know your thoughts on Ember versus MC when you use it some more!

Hi Dan,

That Media Companion release must have been released yesterday or so, when it quit working I checked and then started looking for other options and found Ember.

Ember does have a more refined user interface. I do like it better so far than MC, but the update from media sources is a little bit slower. You can force an update to xbmc (you set the webserver option and ensure you get the ip of the xbox, then you click on update xbox with button on the toolbar on the right). If you have more than one xbox you can select a specific xbox or update them all. It may be possible to make this work so for example limiting the kids xbox to childrens shows and not content that will give them nightmares and grandpa's xbox can be set for Band Of Brothers, although I havent fully explored this yet,

The amount and type of info is flexible that you select...so for example you dont want fanart you can skip that option and speed up the media search. There is also capability for playing trailers, but that is another option I havent played with

Media Companion is fast in its searching, but Ember is not that much slower. Learning curve for either product is pretty fast, but Ember has no help files but the onscreen prompts are pretty helpful.

Ember requires net3.5 to be installed. I think Ember is somewhat limited or has issues with tv shows but that might be the older version as I havent tried tv shows. You can arrange folders such that it appears that series or episodes can work.

I do like Ember...I will have to try MC again with the new version as the only reason why I went looking is that MC went down with the changes to IMDB.

I would check it out....

sean_w_smith

07-01-09, 10:57 AM

Wow matt did a great job on the new 1.5 XBMC remote for iPhone. check out the video here...

http://remote.collect3.com.au/

Sean

PrestonD

07-01-09, 10:30 PM

Wow matt did a great job on the new 1.5 XBMC remote for iPhone. check out the video here...

http://remote.collect3.com.au/

Sean

Would that app work with an iTouch? Seems like the iTouch is the same platform without the phone circuitry and all in it..

dan4081

07-02-09, 09:49 AM

Would that app work with an iTouch? Seems like the iTouch is the same platform without the phone circuitry and all in it..

It works well with my Touch 2g.

BTW, thanks for the review of Ember. I'll give it a try this weekend.

PrestonD

07-03-09, 12:32 AM

Hi Dan,

I think you will like Ember, I use it exclusively now. If I can figure it out anybody can...after a couple of days the interface is like second nature. I have about 60 ripped dvds that scanned nicely and have the info displayed.

When you first fire up Ember you go to Edit > Settings and select the directory/folders for Ember to use. Then you click on Update Media (you can scan via a variety of options) and it scans your movies. You will then see in the left pane that if any movies didn't get picked up or have issue highlighted in bold green, you right click on that and select Rescrape IMDB and it rescrapes the movie and you can pick what elements of the data to be used and displayed or manually edit the .nfo entry.

One thing I noticed is that my xbox manages to get different ip address everytime it comes on, so I must go under Edit > Settings and ensure I am pointing to the correct xbox ip address.

My system uses a 1Tb Iomega Home Media NAS which is upnp but I have the xbox's mapped to the folders on the iomega NAS. I will eventually have 4 xbox's distributed throughout the house. I try to use wired ethernet but the master bedroom and guest bedroom have issues in running hard wired ethernet, so I setup those with bridged client routers (linksys wrt54g2 with dd-wrt (I am proud of myself in being able to burn the custom firmware as this model router just cannot use straight dd-wrt...its special I guess) firmware and straight out of box netgear WG602 wap running infrastucture client)

I also have a Hava tied into a cable dvr box and I was recording the quasi hidef content but xbox cant handle that bitstream. I would like to try and stream the live content to xbmc similar to what they are doing with HdHomerun...but that is work that hasnt even started...

<Note: I edited this to elaborate on some of the info above>

WakJob

07-04-09, 01:08 AM

my xbox manages to get different ip address everytime it comes on

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Static_DHCP

PrestonD

07-05-09, 09:27 AM

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Static_DHCP
Thanks for the link, but the primary router is WRT54G that is not flashed with dd-wrt....both the flashed wrt54g2 and the netgear wg602 connect to it fine in bridged mode and since I need vpn for work I am gunshy about flashing the primary router. I thought about the static ip route but have guests occassionally so dont want to have to excuse myself in their company to go into the office and assign ip addresses. Its not a big problem tracking down the xbox ip address when burning ember nfo to the xboxes. Thanks again for the link though....

PrestonD

07-12-09, 10:42 PM

One thing I discovered is that with the xbox xbmc is that SMB must be used thru windows networking in order to display the movie icons. If I just use UpnP i can see the normal standard icon in the library and the movie does play fine, but to get the movie dvd cover art to display in the library I have to use SMB. Maybe its a setting somewhere but I couldnt find it....spent hours trying to determine that, but could only display the cover art via SMB

On a side note, I do like the Iomega Home Media NAS, it streams higher bitrates that choke my Dell Optiplex 2.4 Ghz P4 when I playback via the PS3...xbox cant handle these streams either but it streams std def video great to the xbox....and only 8 watts standby with 15 watts streaming thats pretty eco snazzy.

zimdba

07-16-09, 11:42 AM

Wow matt did a great job on the new 1.5 XBMC remote for iPhone. check out the video here...

http://remote.collect3.com.au/

Sean

Do you prefer this over the other remotes available? Does it control multiple xboxes?

I can't begin to tell you how much I hate the iTunes store right now and don't really feel like trying out all of them. . .

sean_w_smith

07-16-09, 01:43 PM

I find it kind of novel. I still prefer the good ole xbox game controller and whatever display device is connected to my xbox as my favorite.

but yes it does work and it does control multiple xboxes.... As far as I know that is the only iPhone app to control XBMC but I could be wrong.

Sean

comfox

07-16-09, 02:08 PM

So I have to admit I didn't read all 152 pages here but I think this is a good place for me to start and sorry if I am asking something that is posted already.

My wife has tasked me with converting our 700+ DVD library to digital so she can scroll though them quicker and easier. I figured that they could be a solution and since I have a modded Xbox that I haven't used in years and I think XBMC could work.

Is there a tutorial or someplace that could start me in the right direction? I have the Xbox, modded, with a 2006 version of XBMC on it but that is all I have. I was thinking of the D-Link DNS-323 with a couple TB of space. Is this the optimal setup? I can handle all the Xbox stuff and the XBMC stuff but what should I use to convert my DVD's to the HDD library? I would definitely want all the covers/art/info to be shown in XBMC.

Any help would be great.

Thanks!

sean_w_smith

07-16-09, 02:17 PM

you need to upgrad XBMC first of all... :) The latest release for xbox is the best and the most stable in years....

you need some form of storage to put all the DVD's on......

download DVDFabHD Decrypter for free for ripping. I recommnd ripping into ISO

u decide wheter to rip the whole disk or the main movie.

name the movies according to what IMDB or TMDB has listed not the DVD.

XBMC will handle the rest...

gotta run....

Sean

candre23

07-16-09, 02:29 PM

Is there a tutorial or someplace that could start me in the right direction? I have the Xbox, modded, with a 2006 version of XBMC on it but that is all I have.

Updating to the latest version of XBMC is easy. There is a soup-to-nuts tutorial here (http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-xbox/article/how-to-go-from-xbox-to-xbox-media-center-in-30-minutes.html), but as your xbox is already modded, you can skip to step 7. You'll have to poke around the "usual locations" to find the latest build of XBMC. I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to link to it here ;) XBMC has database scraping built in for acquiring cover art and info, but there are more advanced programs like Media Companion (http://www.billyad2000.co.uk) that you can use for really customizing your experience.

As for ripping and serving your DVDs, you have to make some decisions on your own. 700 DVDs at ~8GB each will require over 5.5TB to store as-is. You can save a ton of space if you convert them to xvid (about <2GB per movie instead of 8GB) but this will take longer and you will lose menus and extras. If you convert to xvid, you will be fine with a 2TB setup. Any NAS will do. If you want to keep the discs intact, I suggest a proper server running either Windows Home Server or unRAID.

Personally, I rip with DVD Decrypter (http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk) and encode with Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr). Both programs are free and easy to use. There are any number of tutorials on the web is you google them.

comfox

07-16-09, 02:54 PM

Thanks for the info. I have Windows Home Server but not overly sure what that will allow me too accomplish.

Sean said something about naming the ISO properly. How would I know what the name should be?

candre23

07-16-09, 03:12 PM

sean_w_smith

07-16-09, 05:21 PM

note that DVD decryptor has problems with lots of modern DVD's with newer copy protection schemes and you need either AnyDVD or DVDFabDecryptor to deal with them....

also on the naming sometimes you get default names like

christmas vacation extended edition

you want to just name it

chrismas vacation.

Adding the year defintely helps alot. There are plenty of useful links in the 1st post of this thread....

Sean

candre23

07-16-09, 05:40 PM

note that DVD decryptor has problems with lots of modern DVD's with newer copy protection schemes and you need either AnyDVD or DVDFabDecryptor to deal with them....

I've ripped hundreds of DVDs (old and new) with DVD Decrypter and have never had a problem.

bwaldron

07-16-09, 06:04 PM

I've ripped hundreds of DVDs (old and new) with DVD Decrypter and have never had a problem.

Same here. Perhaps I am just lucky in terms of my DVD selection.

sean_w_smith

07-16-09, 06:58 PM

I have had dozens that wont work unfortunately.

arccos is the most popular system the decryptor will not rip but there are 3 of 4 more types of protection that appeared after development ceased as well..... basically any recent sony title....

According to Sony they have protected 2500+ titles with this.....

http://www.sonydadc.com/opencms/opencms/sites/eu/en/Products/Copy_Control_Solutions/ARccOS.html

Dark Knight was one of the more recent popular titles that wont rip.

There are plenty more... Just depends on what movies your as backing up....

DVDFab solves this limitation...

Sean

PrestonD

07-16-09, 09:38 PM

You know what I did to get around some of the copy protection...Dark Knight for example...

I have an XBMC modded Xbox in my office perched on top of a Panasonic DVD recorder...I put the ornery spiteful copy protected DVD in the xbox...play that and record to the Panasonic DVD recorder. Then I take that recorded DVD and DVD Shrink that to my NAS server hard drive. Yes its 2 digital copies but the picture remains to be pretty good actually even when displayed on my Sony 46" HDTV....using this technique with Dark Knight I couldnt tell the difference between the original and the copy that is streamed

My techniques I use for rippin' is as follows:

1. I use DVD43 which is free...this allows the copyrighted DVD to be opened up
2. Then I use DVD Shrink (also free) and analyze and then make backup of the main title file.

Now the above techniques are not 100% ...I am sure the techniques that the others posted above have a lot higher success rate...but its pretty close to 95-98% success.

Also if your just doing movies on the server take a look at Ember I am having good luck and success with that in compiling the nfo files for my library

Resources here are fantastic to help you...they have been tremendous help...I am so happy with my soft modded xbox's

dan4081

07-16-09, 09:43 PM

You know what I did to get around some of the copy protection...Dark Knight for example...

I have an XBMC modded Xbox in my office perched on top of a Panasonic DVD recorder...I put the ornery spiteful copy protected DVD in the xbox...play that and record to the Panasonic DVD recorder. Then I take that recorded DVD and DVD Shrink that to my NAS server hard drive. Yes its 2 digital copies but the picture remains to be pretty good actually even when displayed on my Sony 46" HDTV....using this technique with Dark Knight I couldnt tell the difference between the original and the copy that is streamed

My techniques I use for rippin' is as follows:

1. I use DVD43 which is free...this allows the copyrighted DVD to be opened up2. Then I use DVD Shrink (also free) and analyze and then make backup of the main title file.

Now the above techniques are not 100% ...I am sure the techniques that the others posted above have a lot higher success rate...but its pretty close to 95-98% success.

Also if your just doing movies on the server take a look at Ember I am having good luck and success with that in compiling the nfo files for my library

Resources here are fantastic to help you...they have been tremendous help...I am so happy with my soft modded xbox's

Why the 2 steps? No need to use DVD43 and THEN dvdshrink. DVDshrink works just fine alone, except for on a few Disney dvd's and a couple of others.
Id say 99.9% of all my dvd's have been done with dvdshrink alone.

PrestonD

07-16-09, 09:58 PM

HI Dan,
Well I thought I had to use it...didnt use DVD Shrink alone without it, it worked so I thought I had to use it. And its not real user intervention...you load the dvd, the little green icon goes from yellow to yellow with little red horns and when unencrypted it goes to green in about 10 seconds...then proceed with dvd shrink.

....yeah Disney is more problematic for me. Also the movie the Holiday was a stinker (not the movie the ripping)...LOL

PrestonD

07-16-09, 10:05 PM

I can handle all the Xbox stuff and the XBMC stuff but what should I use to convert my DVD's to the HDD library? I would definitely want all the covers/art/info to be shown in XBMC.

1. First rip by using any of the methods mentioned above...
2. Once you have your library then use either Media Companion OR Ember to perform scraping of the information from the various sources (IMDB, etc)
Note: I couldnt get latest versions of Media Companion to work for me ...I started with it but there was some change to IMDB and the newer versions posted on the forum just wont work (for me at least)
3. Then depending on the tool used to build your library update and refresh the xbox and your library should show the DVDs with the cover or poster art...its definitely slick.

DEFINITELY update to newer version...a few pages back Dan listed some of the links on newer releases and all...

comfox

07-17-09, 09:58 AM

1. First rip by using any of the methods mentioned above...
2. Once you have your library then use either Media Companion OR Ember to perform scraping of the information from the various sources (IMDB, etc)
Note: I couldnt get latest versions of Media Companion to work for me ...I started with it but there was some change to IMDB and the newer versions posted on the forum just wont work (for me at least)
3. Then depending on the tool used to build your library update and refresh the xbox and your library should show the DVDs with the cover or poster art...its definitely slick.

DEFINITELY update to newer version...a few pages back Dan listed some of the links on newer releases and all...

Thanks for the info. Where do I find Ember? I was able to get Media Companion to work but I am interested to what Ember is like.

candre23

07-17-09, 01:19 PM

Official Ember thread (http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50348) on XBMC.org

As it says, it's still in alpha, so don't expect it to be perfect. It is pretty though.

sean_w_smith

07-17-09, 01:36 PM

candre23

07-17-09, 02:35 PM

DVDFab will do this for free in 1 step and LOSE NO IMAGE Quality....
No, DVDfab will do it for a minimum of 50 euros. It is not free software.

sean_w_smith

07-17-09, 03:49 PM

your mistaken they have a free edition thats always free and has been for years.....

http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm

Sean

PrestonD

07-21-09, 10:28 PM

Hey I posted a new thread under Digital Media Servers and Content Streamers for streaming HAVA (like slingbox device) to XBMC via VLC. You can pick up these HAVA devices for pretty cheap (~$50). I can now stream live video from my cable box via Hava to pc running VLC which streams that to my XBMC'd XBOX.

Have a look and have fun!

Chris Young

07-25-09, 12:45 PM

Hi All,

I'm having a problem getting the show "Fringe" to add into XBMC library. I can play the shows out of library mode no problem but XBMC says 0 for watched and unwatched when in library mode yet has the art work and description of the show along with other shows in the list. Tried using Movie info as a scraper and that didn't work either. Looked on thetvdb.com and found the show there with artwork. In fact same artwork which XBMC is pulling from. Tried to manually add the show to the library but that didn't work either.

Any thoughts?

Thank you,
Chris

tristanstewart

07-28-09, 02:14 PM

ive been running xbmc on my xbox for a few years now (currently the june t3ch build), but just recently noticed the upnp server option. i decided to try out streaming to the ps3/360, but have noticed that the music doesnt come up in alphabetical order. (i only check by album and artist)

is there a fix for this or is it just an issue in xbmc?

http://pictures.teamus.us/P1040072.JPG

thanks.

Henway

08-08-09, 05:29 PM

It's been a while since I've been using XBMX and I FORGOT how to move files within structures on the xbox. I tried to do it via FTP and it's PAINFULLY slow. I went through all the programs on the xbox and couldn't find the program I used to use. Couldn't find anything in Avalaunch either. What did I forget?

tristanstewart

08-08-09, 07:09 PM

you mean like the file manager? is that what youre talking about?

Henway

08-08-09, 08:34 PM

yes (sheepishly). I feel like a moron. But I can't find the File Manager. I looked into the Wiki and still can't find it.

Henway

08-09-09, 04:36 AM

found it. Sorry, but I had lots of difficulty finding it.

krkaufman

08-13-09, 09:44 AM

Name the ISO using the movie's proper name, not the abbreviated DVD title name. For instance, if the movie is "The Last of the Mohicans", you'd name it "The Last of the Mohicans (1992).iso" even though the DVD title might be something like "LAST_MOH" or something similar. I've found having the year in parentheses after the title really helps with scraping movie info.

For movies, I'm a fan of using an NFO file pointing to the movie's IMDB page, per the XBMC wiki: Video nfo files containing an URL (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Import_-_Export_Library#Video_nfo_files_containing_an_URL)

Continuing your example, the URL NFO file for the above movie would simply contain:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104691/

For files (ISO, MPG, AVI, etc), name the NFO file the same as the movie file; for DVD folders, I rename the NFO 'video_ts.nfo' and drop it into the VIDEO_TS folder.

See the wiki page for more info on NFOs.

dan4081

08-19-09, 10:17 AM

Just wanted to post this again for anyone who may have missed it.

The script at the link below is a script that allows you to easily install many scripts, plug-ins, skins, etc. Its a beautiful looking script and is updated pretty often. It really makes it easy to find AND install scripts and plug-ins as it lists tons of them with descriptions.

If you havent tried it yet I really suggest you give it a spin. The link can be found in the first post here:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42612&highlight=passion

sean_w_smith

08-19-09, 12:27 PM

Thanks Dan.....

anything more special than the SVN Installer script that is shipping with the last release....

Sean

PrestonD

08-21-09, 11:20 PM

I looked through this script and couldnt make a determination, is it specifically for non XBOX (PC, Linux) installations of XBMC or will this work on XBOX XBMC installs?

dan4081

08-22-09, 10:37 AM

I looked through this script and couldnt make a determination, is it specifically for non XBOX (PC, Linux) installations of XBMC or will this work on XBOX XBMC installs?

Works perfect on xbox xbmc. Thats what I am using it on.

Just install it under your scripts-it runs from there.

Stryker412

08-22-09, 04:23 PM

PrestonD

08-24-09, 05:41 PM

I have a question hopefully you all can help me with. I created an mkv of a DVD with chapters. The chapters work fine on the PC via MPC but using XBMC they don't. If I hit skip or next on the remote it just goes back to the list of movies. How do I get chapter support to work?

Maybe you can try XBMC Live on PC and then see if issue is reproducible there. If so then its XBMC code. I assume MPC is Media Portal?

Stryker412

08-24-09, 06:11 PM

Maybe you can try XBMC Live on PC and then see if issue is reproducible there. If so then its XBMC code. I assume MPC is Media Portal?

Actually MPC is Media Player Classic on PC.

dan4081

08-24-09, 06:15 PM

Actually MPC is Media Player Classic on PC.

I tried searching for an answer for you and came up empty.
Your best bet is to post your question here:
xbmc.org

Bet you'll get answers there quickly.

krkaufman

08-24-09, 06:50 PM

The script at the link below is a script that allows you to easily install many scripts, plug-ins, skins, etc. Its a beautiful looking script and is updated pretty often. It really makes it easy to find AND install scripts and plug-ins as it lists tons of them with descriptions.

Thanks for the tip.

The unreliability of scripts and plugins can be pretty frustrating to a regular (non-advanced) user of XBMC, and I haven't found the variety of upgrade/installer scripts to be of much help. Two quick "downsides" to this particular script (i.e. Installer Passion-XBMC), *in my view*, are that it requires central management of downloadable packages, possibly delaying a much-needed fix (see the PBS Video plugin), and that it doesn't, from what I can tell, offer a simple view to check for updates of currently-installed packages.

Sadly, none of the installers offer sufficient features or reliability to shift me away from manual installation and upgrades.

p.s. Why the "the script", "a script" mystery? The script referenced is the "XBMC Passion" installer (aka "Installer Passion-XBMC").

sean_w_smith

08-24-09, 06:58 PM

Thanks for the tip.

The unreliability of scripts and plugins can be pretty frustrating to a regular (non-advanced) user of XBMC, and I haven't found the variety of upgrade/installer scripts to be of much help. Two quick "downsides" to this particular script (i.e. Installer Passion-XBMC), *in my view*, are that it requires central management of downloadable packages, possibly delaying a much-needed fix (see the PBS Video plugin), and that it doesn't, from what I can tell, offer a simple view to check for updates of currently-installed packages.

Sadly, none of the installers offer sufficient features or reliability to shift me away from manual installation and upgrades.

p.s. Why the "the script", "a script" mystery? The script referenced is the "XBMC Passion" installer (aka "Installer Passion-XBMC").

I have been having good luck with the SVN installer... It pulls the latest code and I have been having good luck loading a variety of plugins withit... come to think of it I have not needed to manually load a script since the April release...

I agree the stability of scripts have long been an issue for xbmc users. They have never been as stable or well supported as the main application but that appears to be changing for the good....

Cheers,
Sean

dan4081

08-24-09, 10:16 PM

Thanks for the tip.

The unreliability of scripts and plugins can be pretty frustrating to a regular (non-advanced) user of XBMC, and I haven't found the variety of upgrade/installer scripts to be of much help. Two quick "downsides" to this particular script (i.e. Installer Passion-XBMC), *in my view*, are that it requires central management of downloadable packages, possibly delaying a much-needed fix (see the PBS Video plugin), and that it doesn't, from what I can tell, offer a simple view to check for updates of currently-installed packages.

Sadly, none of the installers offer sufficient features or reliability to shift me away from manual installation and upgrades.

p.s. Why the "the script", "a script" mystery? The script referenced is the "XBMC Passion" installer (aka "Installer Passion-XBMC").

No mystery. I didnt even realize I didnt post the name until you pointed it out.

JDHuskey

08-25-09, 08:44 AM

What does XBMC do with blu-ray rips? Can it launch an external player like PDVD or TMT?

sean_w_smith

08-25-09, 12:03 PM

XBMC will play the actual movies .ts files. It does not deal with BD Iso's java etc.... XBMC can be configured to launch external players....

Sean

PrestonD

08-26-09, 04:59 PM

The "Installer Passion-XBMC" script works fine....its great, thans for turning me on to this.

All the plugins for video work for me except....HULU. After I installed I see that its only for the pc based XBMC and not XBOX based XBMC installs.

If HULU would work it would be worth money to me...has anybody got Hulu or Hulu plugin to work with XBOX XBMC?

sean_w_smith

08-26-09, 06:48 PM

PrestonD

08-26-09, 11:05 PM

Hulu changes stuff all the time to thwart these things and I believe currently is broken. Its listed on the official working scripts thread as broken.....

Link to working XBMC plugins thread:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=53154&highlight=plugins+working

Sean

Thanks for the link Sean.

I guess I am not all that smart, if I owned website where I make money off people hitting that site thru cllcks or ad revenue, I think I would want to get as many folks hitting that site, regardless of how they access that content. Why does Hulu lock folks out using XBMC or Boxee but those same souls can access via pc? Doesnt make sense to me....

sean_w_smith

08-27-09, 01:20 PM

because they dont want you viewing content on your TV just your PC. Hollywood does not get it.....

Sean

Stryker412

08-27-09, 01:27 PM

XBMC will play the actual movies .ts files. It does not deal with BD Iso's java etc.... XBMC can be configured to launch external players....

Sean

Can the XBOX handle 720p MKVs?

sean_w_smith

08-27-09, 01:58 PM

depends on how its encoded but most likely not.... not enough mips....

Sean

Stryker412

08-27-09, 02:06 PM

depends on how its encoded but most likely not.... not enough mips....

Sean

That's what I thought, but just wondering. I'll have to try it out tonight.

sean_w_smith

08-27-09, 02:09 PM

That's what I thought, but just wondering. I'll have to try it out tonight.

try context menu play with DVD PLayer versus play with mplayer. sometimes DVD player does a better job than mplayer.

Sean

Stryker412

08-27-09, 02:48 PM

What's the process for that Sean? Is that the white button?

sean_w_smith

08-27-09, 05:32 PM

either the white or black. dont remember.... there is a play using menu option

PrestonD

08-28-09, 12:16 AM

because they dont want you viewing content on your TV just your PC. Hollywood does not get it.....

Sean
Well now that I think about it... I am less likely to click a link whilst watching tv or xbmc....in fact I cant click anything while in xbmc

Hope they get the hulu thing fixed. For now I just stream stuff from cable box via hava player but have to have a pc on running vlc in the office tostream from. If I could get VLC running on the xbox that would be perfect

krkaufman

08-31-09, 04:28 AM

Why does Hulu lock folks out using XBMC or Boxee but those same souls can access via pc? Doesnt make sense to me....

It has to do with much of their revenue currently coming from cable providers. If they made it easy for the consumer to watch their couch-centric programming via the Internet, then consumers could cancel their cable/satellite TV subscriptions in favor of high-speed Internet and that revenue stream would collapse. (cash for content production has to come from somewhere)

I think I'd be satisfied if they simply provided unlimited access to those with cable/satellite contracts, allowing the consumer to do away with DVRs. (I view DVRs as a temporary technology phase, necessary until the cloud can effectively provide on-demand content.)

krkaufman

08-31-09, 05:05 AM

If HULU would work it would be worth money to me...has anybody got Hulu or Hulu plugin to work with XBOX XBMC?

We've been using PlayOn (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36218&highlight=playon) to provide access to Hulu content, via Xbox/XBMC, for some time. I don't have access to it where I am currently, but it worked last time I tried it, a few weeks back.

Note that PlayOn is a commercial ($40) UPnP media server that would need to run on a Windows PC (XP or better), with enough horsepower to handle transcoding of content between the source and the Xbox. They offer a 14-day free trial, if it's something you wish to explore.

krkaufman

09-02-09, 02:29 PM

FYI... from the XBMC blog (http://xbmc.org/theuni/2009/08/31/follow-up-breakage/), in case you like to keep-up with SVN code updates ...
It was mentioned a few days ago that things might get bumpy for a while (http://xbmc.org/team-xbmc/2009/08/27/impending-merge-likely-temporary-breakage/) and a few of you asked to be notified when all the fun was starting. Well, consider yourselves notified.

As of svn rev #22529 the branch has been merged into main. Please be patient as we get things back in line. And again, we ask that you hold off on bug reports and nightly builds until the codebase has stabilized. We know it’s broken.

sean_w_smith

09-02-09, 02:49 PM

been staying with 09.04.1

gotta love the new website they put up....

very nice...

Sean

sean_w_smith

09-02-09, 03:54 PM

So I posted this on the ION thread but since Its XBMC related I will cross post here.... Slack, Black Magic and others I am open to any advise you guys might have....

So based on supposedly how easy it was I bought some peices to build an ION based HTPC to run XBMC. I really had little doubt that it would actually work out of the box and some folks here and on the XBMC foryums were trying to imply it and unfortunately it does not. I think this will be interesting to see how much reading and hacking it does take to make all this work....

I have hacked now well over 100 Xboxes and been running XBMC since it was XBMP and long before the thread was every started here. I know XBMC very well... I have XBMC also running on AppleTV and 2 mac mini's.... also on a couple of windows PC's.

I also know PC's and computer HW and SW very well as I make my living designing chips and writing software for them. I have built tons of PC's and various other electronic projects over the last 25 years..... I use unix everyday and write software on it but am not an expert in linux administration and setup.

That said I will approach this comparing what I did so far to the XBMC on XBOX and the Popcorn A-110.

So the challenge... Can a ION based PC running XBMC live compete with a PCH A-110 in a number of facets.....

1. cost. yep comparable in cost, both were about $250 sans hard drive. the PCH is a ready to go solution. The PC took maybe 30 minutes total to put it together. I am patient, take my time. setup grounding straps etc...

I really like the Zotac ION board... simple and clean.... The case was excellent. no sharp edges and very quiet.... newegg got all this stuff out in normal record time... no complaints on the HW build part.....

2. setup.... making the XBMC Live USB key is easy. download XBMC live. burn ISO to CD. boot CD with 2G or larger USB attached.... follow the menu prompts and create the USB Patch stick. This took around 20 minutes on the 8GIG USB drive I was using. Most of that time was formatting the 4G storage area so that XMBC live could save its settings....

once that is done. plug in the USB drive and linux boots.... The ION Motherboard does not even have a boot priority menu that I had to tell to boot the USB key. you just plug it in and turn it on and its boots it.... Way nicer than my gigabyte motherboard I used in the unraid server which somehow binds to the individual USB key and wont let you just swap keys and have it boot......

XBMC boots up in less than a minute. comparable to the A-110 and a lot slower than the good ole xbox.

so far so good..... There where things start to fall apart....

3. Usage

On the PCH A-110, you go through a few settings menus. to tell it how to output audio. It auto selected 1080p no problem. I can adjust the video no problem between 1080i, 1080P/60 and 1080P 24. One plus which is also a minus of the PCH A-110 is that there are not many settings so its easy to setup but it lacks a lot of cool features of XBMC.

Unfortunately this is where I expected things to not work with XBMC Live and they dont.....

good news:

network works and acquires IP and it talking to the net.

bad news:

video is 1080P at 50Hz.... There is no option for 1080P 60Hz..... played a little around with this but clearly there are some issues I need to deal with here.... I found some posts on the forums on this but its kinda weird that it wont select the single most popular mode on a modern HDTV over HDMI. I have 5 other HDMI devices all of which auto detect and display 1080P correctly on my panny plasma running though my Oknyo 876 receiver/video processor.

audio. no sound at all.... none, nada...... I am using strictly an HDMI cable..... no surprise here.

ok lets try and play a movie....

try to add a network share... ohh, can't recognize my network although TCP/IP is working...

reboot... somehow network starts working....

try to play a BD rip. no luck....

try to play a DVD Iso no luck.......

reboot try again. still no luck. Clicked on a DVD and came back 5 moinutes later and its playing with no sound of course. Turns out that it seems like each time you play a new ISO it takes 1-2 minutes to start it. after that it starts instantly.... there is something weird going here and on the MAC with respect to this. It seems that on ION and on the MAC creating the cache entry takes a really long time where on windows and xbox it does not.... need to post some more logs for the devs to look at...... my friend peter discovered this last week on his mac mini.....

did a quick search to see how to get HDMI audio to work. There are no select boxes for these settings you need to actually type in some device names "hdmi". poor usability IMO. after that change and a reboot I still have no sound navigating around but I play a AAC file. "Failed to initialize audio driver", or something like that. try the next song, I get sound. try the first track again, no sound. Try this on three other albums. same problems, all these play on my other XBMC rigs....

same thing playing videos.... sometimes I get no sound, or the sound failed to initialize message and sometimes I get sound....

when I did get sound the output was always 48Khz and not the 44.1 or 96Khz of the originals......

XBMC on Xbox has this limitation. The ion does not but unfortunately it still is not behaving correctly. XBMC does this correctly on the ATV and mac mini.
no comment on the PCH as its too crude to use as an audio player.

Tried some other videos.... some played fine, many FLV's and some others which play fine on the good old xbox were not playing on the ION (VDPAU is enabled).

Although the MCE remote and USB IR/EYE seem to work there are some issues. once you get to screen where you need to use the virtual keyboard the cursor and select keys stopped working. Luckily this remote emulates a mouse and a completed the step using the mouse but it was awkward and confusing. no where near as simple as XBMC on the other 3 platforms....

so after a few hours of tweaking, the video is broken, the audio is broken, the remote needs work.....

after 2 hours with PCH I had YAMJ up and running and was watching movies... The PCH may have a slow crappy interface but it does play DVD's, BD Rips, and anything else I have thrown at it and outputs real lossless audio over at HDMI. $250 makes it bargain for someone how wants something simple that acutally work....

The ION as I figured is work in progress. I will post updates and probably start a new thread detailing how I get the ION XBMC up to snuff. I dont think the ION is a bad platform (yet?). I am rather excited... I am also rather concerned about how much of a time sink this may turn into.... Those of you with ION based systems feel free to share some info and save me some digging. I have a couple of tutorials to dig thourgh the next couple days....

So the conclusion. Is XBMC live ready for prime time and non geek users to adopt as an alternative to NMT's and other appliances? not a change, at least from a setup time and complexity perspective.

but I do want more than that and am aware of the costs and pains... just dont be fooled into thinking its just super plug and play.... unfortunately its not.... Other than the lack of HD support. I still think its hard to beat the good ole xbox for ease of setup and use....

so all you folks that have this working please tell me what I am doing wrong....

BTW: I get no CPU or GPU temp running XBMC live on the motac? are others getting this?

Sean

dan4081

09-17-09, 11:20 AM

Anymore updates Sean? Any luck with the Live?

Also, did you start another thread about this like you mentioned? If so, where is it so I can follow along.

Just some FYI, I havent tried the xbmc live but had come to the same conclusions as you after reading and reading some more over at xbmc.org. It seems 'Live' has too many issues at this time. I'm sure it will get sorted out eventually.

XBMC for Linux seems much more polished and 'ready for prime time' even though 'Live' seems to be based on XBMC for Linux. (From what I have read)
Have you considered ditching the 'Live' and just going with XBMC for Linux?

sean_w_smith

09-17-09, 12:20 PM

I have been too busy building 6 xboxes for some folks I meet at a Bay area HT meet to play with XBMC too much on the ION. XMBC for linux is exactly the same as XBMC Live except its more complicated and requires even more tweaking. when I find some time I will hack some more... I'm sure eventually someone will get a live image that just works with ION buts its pretty poor at the moment.... HDMI audio is all over the floor. does not seem to be a solution that the driver works consistently, passes DTS an DD AND manages to play music correctly..... The interface is still at least 5X slower than the Xbox in my opinion so it wont win awards for speed but if they can get a good ION image out and eventually get TrueHD and DTS-MA supported by either bit stream and decoding you will have a winner.... meanwhile I enjoyed Wolverine on the PCH last night in all its DTS MA Glory at 1080P/24 without a hitch. I certainly cant recommend the PCH as a Music or Pictures player but for BD and DVD it does a great job. The PQ on DVD is better than the xbox which is also a plus. The interface albeit slow and static HTML page driven is effective... I have been using the AEON Movie wall skin which is pretty sexy..... Its not fast and animated like on the xbox but YAMJ and AEON get the job done. Its certainly WAY WAY easier to get setup and actually watch movies instead of messing around with linux trying to make the stupid stuff work. I will post and hack more when I have a chance but my honey do list is also a mile long and that definetely effects my hacking time....

Another nice thing about YAMJ is that it uses XBMC NFO files so you can use any of the XBMC Media managers like MIP, MediaCompanion and Ember to manage your library and it applies to both XBMC and PCH/YAMJ.

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showthread.php?tid=25534

Here's some pics of the YAMJ AEON Skin.....

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f336/room312/speeddial/090823/1-wall-popup-promo.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f336/room312/speeddial/090821/1-detail.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f336/room312/speeddial/090825/tv-detail.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f336/room312/speeddial/090901/2-tv.jpg

on a side note I upgraded my unraid to a pro license and added a cache drive and some more 1.5TB drives.... unraid is rocking.... using NFS to talk to the PCH for better speed and stability streaming BD's. I was not having issues with SMB but the PCH uses much less CPU and can transfer data faster with NFS.....

Sean

dan4081

09-17-09, 01:09 PM

Thanks for the updates Sean.

You answered all my questions and even a few I didnt ask but was wondering about. Seems like everytime I am getting close to pulling the trigger and setting up a pc for XBMC a post like yours brings me back to earth.

I am running three xboxs now networked off my WHS. While they still work very well I am always looking for something a little quieter, a little faster and that can play HD content. (Ever since I passed the 700 mark on dvd rips it seems the xbox takes longer accesssing my movie library.)

I was really getting the itch to try the new Popcorn C200 but am worried about the speed of the interface. From your post it seems the older Popcorn isnt very fast, so not sure if the new one will be much better. I also assumed before reading your post that the XBMC on Linux would be MUCH faster than the xbox because of the many years newer hardware. That really surprised (and disappointed) me the most.

If the C200 does turn out to be fast enough I would give it a try after looking at the pictures in your post. The YAMJ and skin posted looks very nice.
Maybe I would keep the xboxs for music and picture viewing.

Thanks for the reality check!!

Edit:Now I just came across this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1180056
and it seems like his XBMC Linux is running very smooth!
More confusion...grrrrrrr........

srauly

09-17-09, 01:33 PM

Sean, thanks for sharing your experiences with potential XBMC replacements here (and coming at it from the perspective of someone who appreciates XBMC). I've got a few classic XBoxes running XBMC and have had the itch for a while to upgrade to some streamers that can handle Blu-ray rips, but I had been anxiously awaiting low-cost streamers that offered a decent UI.

I guess I wasn't aware that the popcorn hour UI could be skinned like XBMC, so that's great to hear. I'm busily scouring the internet now to learn more about that. Are you aware of a classic AppleTV skin or a skin that offers a list view (long list of movie titles on one side of the screen with just a single large coverart image displayed)? I personally prefer that view vs the tiled "wall" view that seems to be popular these days.

Which model Popcorn Hour do you have? They sell refurbished A-100's for $100, which is a great price. Do you know which models can handle Blu-ray rips and decoding DTS audio to 2-channel?

Egreat also makes a model (34A) which can be had for about $150. Are you knowledgeable about the pros/cons of the various NMT's?

Lastly, with XBMC I can have several hard drives with my movies spread across them (not RAID) and XBMC can, if I desire, merge them all together into a single list view. Can the NMTs with YAMJ do that?

sean_w_smith

09-17-09, 01:48 PM

Dan,

Obviosly there is not much you can about CPU power in the xbox.

noise can be remedied in about 45 minutes and $4 if you have a dremel tool.... highly recommnd one. did one without and it takes much longer and more difficult....

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

I use a quiet zalman 80MM fan and the unit is now perfectly quiet.

you can also improve the Disk performance which may help you large database by addinga faster 7200 RPM disk.

for me the only real latency I have is waiting 10-15 seconds for the disks to spin up on the server(s) once they have powered down. I have about 400 movies in my DB and ~35,000 songs at the moment....

PM3 HD has a view like you describe built in. try it out if your not using it. recommend running it at 720P versus 1080i.

on the PCH GUI. the PCH GUI is a web browser. its just rendering web pages. So this program called YAMJ you run on your PC builds a movie library of web pages that your navigate.

Its very usable but its not dynamic, and animated and lightning fast like XBMC on the Xbox is...

you can easily judge for yourself how fast it is by watching some videos on youtube....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNo1FdOu1-I

The A-100 should do what you like. The A-110 adds the ability to bitstream DTS-MA and TrueHD over HDMI thats about it.

All the NMT's are very similar. They all use firmware from Sysabas who makes the PCH. most of the new firmware features (like DTS downmix) seem to show up in the PCH first and then later to the other players... I doubt there is much difference between the players. I know some folks even run PCH firmware on the egreats and others....

the NMT can't deal with that natively but uses some server side software I beleive to deal with that. My movie NAS the unraid has this feature built in the to the server. There are several ways to successfully deal with this issue. YAMJ may actually deal with it but I am not sure....

HTPC's have the most potential to be everything to everyone but unfortunately they still also require the most tinkering, tweaking and effort to get setup correctly. THere is no right or wrong answer just depends on your goals, budget, available free time and technical know how....

Sean

candre23

09-17-09, 01:59 PM

XMBC for linux is exactly the same as XBMC Live except its more complicated and requires even more tweaking.I've seen your multiple posts about how scary-difficult it is to get XBMC working, and I'm starting to think your Asrock ION box is defective. I've set up XBMC on both Windows and Linux machines, and in every case I was up and running within minutes. A lot of XBMC.org forum members are running XBMC on the Asrock, and nobody else is having as many problems as you seem to be having. I suggest you look at these two (http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54705) threads (http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=52460) for tips on tweaking XBMC under Linux. If you still just can't get things working, then you should probably RMA the computer because everything you're trying to do does work for other users.

dan4081

09-17-09, 02:22 PM

Dan,

Obviosly there is not much you can about CPU power in the xbox.

noise can be remedied in about 45 minutes and $4 if you have a dremel tool.... highly recommnd one. did one without and it takes much longer and more difficult....

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

That looks pretty easy!

I use a quiet zalman 80MM fan and the unit is now perfectly quiet.

you can also improve the Disk performance which may help you large database by addinga faster 7200 RPM disk.

for me the only real latency I have is waiting 10-15 seconds for the disks to spin up on the server(s) once they have powered down. I have about 400 movies in my DB and ~35,000 songs at the moment....

Like I said mine didnt show the slow down until I hit about 700 movies. The only time it is slow is if I click 'Movies' from the main menu and it takes about 30-45 secs. for the list of movies (library mode) to show. Also takes that long after a movie ends for the list to show again.

PM3 HD has a view like you describe built in. try it out if your not using it. recommend running it at 720P versus 1080i.

I use a modified PM3-HD skin running at 720p. It has been modded to have a 'TV Show' button in addition to 'Movies' and 'Videos' buttons on the main screen.

on the PCH GUI. the PCH GUI is a web browser. its just rendering web pages. So this program called YAMJ you run on your PC builds a movie library of web pages that your navigate.

Got it. So I can point it to my xbmc libraries on my NAS I assume?

Its very usable but its not dynamic, and animated and lightning fast like XBMC on the Xbox is...

The 'not lightning fast' is what scares me.......

you can easily judge for yourself how fast it is by watching some videos on youtube....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNo1FdOu1-I

Thanks, I'll watch it.

The A-100 should do what you like. The A-110 adds the ability to bitstream DTS-MA and TrueHD over HDMI thats about it.

snipped.........

Sean

Thanks again

BTW, did you have a look at this thread?: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1180056

sean_w_smith

09-17-09, 03:39 PM

I know others have gotten it to work. I am not having the same luck following these guides for XBMC Live. I will try a full or light ubuntu next. I wish someone would just release an updated live image....

NOTE: There still is one deal breaker for me in getting rid of the PCH. XBMC does not handle TrueHD and DTS-MA. That was the only reason I bought it in the first place and until that requirement is met I will not get rid of the PCH.

Sean

srauly

09-17-09, 03:42 PM

By "handle" do you mean decode or that it won't even pass thru the bitstream over HDMI to let a TrueHD-capable receiver decode it?

dan4081

09-17-09, 04:04 PM

By "handle" do you mean decode or that it won't even pass thru the bitstream over HDMI to let a TrueHD-capable receiver decode it?

According to this:http://xbmc.org/trac/milestone/9.04 True-HD is now supported since 9.04.

sean_w_smith

09-17-09, 06:28 PM

sean_w_smith

09-17-09, 06:29 PM

By "handle" do you mean decode or that it won't even pass thru the bitstream over HDMI to let a TrueHD-capable receiver decode it?

I would take either. I'm not picky about who decompresses the lossless audio.... all of my processors can handle both....The player decoding it actually free's up DSP's in my processor to do some additional post processing but I really dont use those post processing modes....

Sean

Stryker412

09-17-09, 10:57 PM

Has t3ch stopped making updates? They haven't had one since 6/27.

sean_w_smith

09-17-09, 11:02 PM

for the moment and for the xbox they have... there have been a lot of unstable builds since then....

you can always pull a nightly build but those are in shambles at the moment...

read the XBMC site for more info....

Builds Here:

http://www.sshcs.com/xbmc/

I found the last t3ch build less stable than 9.04.1 so I still use 9.04.1 on all but 1 of my 11 xboxes....

Sean

dan4081

09-18-09, 09:39 AM

doesn't work for me.... I saw that a while ago too but no one over at the XBMC community has confirmed it works either. evidently mplayer decodes it but I do not see 5.1 or 7.1 LPCM on my receiver.....

Sean

The only confirmation I have seen that TrueHD is working correctly has been with people using XBMC for Windows. I couldnt find anyone with Linux or Live that has it working.

Still, it seems to me that XBMC for the PC is getting VERY close......close enough that I am going to skip getting a Popcorn or other Streamer for a little bit and see where xbmc goes next.

dan4081

09-18-09, 09:42 AM

for the moment and for the xbox they have... there have been a lot of unstable builds since then....
...snipped....

I found the last t3ch build less stable than 9.04.1 so I still use 9.04.1 on all but 1 of my 11 xboxes....

Sean

Agreed.

I dont think there are 'any' compelling reasons to change from 9.04.1 to anything else if you are running on an xbox.

9.04.1 was an excellent build.

srauly

09-18-09, 06:51 PM

We've been using PlayOn (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36218&highlight=playon) to provide access to Hulu content, via Xbox/XBMC, for some time. I don't have access to it where I am currently, but it worked last time I tried it, a few weeks back.

Note that PlayOn is a commercial ($40) UPnP media server that would need to run on a Windows PC (XP or better), with enough horsepower to handle transcoding of content between the source and the Xbox. They offer a 14-day free trial, if it's something you wish to explore.
Anyone here using PlayOn with good results? There's a coupon code (PAX1999) which expires today and brings the price down to $20. I've already got a couple of high-def TiVo's which I could use for Netflix streaming (though I canceled my Netflix subscription a while ago since I wasn't impressed with the "Play immediately" shows/movies they had available at the time), so I think I'd mainly want this for Hulu. Are there other things you can do with this that would make a purchase worthwhile?

I currently have my desktop on 24/7 anyway, since I have my external 1TB drive connected to that. But eventually I'd rather get a NAS of some sort (or something like a PogoPlug) so as to not have my desktop on all the time. So I'm not sure if I'd want a computer on all the time just to allow for streaming Hulu. Still I'm always game for something new to play with.

dan4081

09-18-09, 08:18 PM

sean_w_smith

09-18-09, 08:18 PM

try it and decide for yourself...

they run sales all the time...

personally I have had very poor luck with it....

EDIT: when it does work it seems to work better on the PS3. The xbox is always failing with "too many consecutive playback errors", what ever that means.....

Sean

sean_w_smith

09-21-09, 10:12 PM

Anyone know where to get cheap component cables that work these days...

the monsters are high again. should have bought more when they were $6

psystars dont seem to be available...

must be componnt and have WORKING optical pass through.....

1st hand experiences only please... I've had too much trouble with non name junk that is supposed to work but doesn't...

Sean

Stryker412

09-22-09, 09:28 AM

topperdude

09-22-09, 11:10 AM

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10235

They are a sponsor of AVS, all my cables come from there.

Wonder if Sean was referring to these (http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=18821) for connecting original Xbox to TV via component cables? If so, those adapters (and similar ones by Psyclone) are hard to find now that Gamestop seems to have discontinued all original Xbox hardware and games. OTOH, if he wants component cables (not adapters), I second Stryker's recommendation - hard to beat monoprice.

Anyone know where to get cheap component cables that work these days...

the monsters are high again. should have bought more when they were $6

psystars dont seem to be available...

must be componnt and have WORKING optical pass through.....

1st hand experiences only please... I've had too much trouble with non name junk that is supposed to work but doesn't...

Sean
Sean - I entered the zipcode of my old stomping grounds (94040) in the link above, which should be close enough to the zipcode for your new/current stomping grounds. Looks like a Gamestop in SF/Powell Street might have it in stock for ~$3. You can check with your local Gamestop and see if they would do a store-to-store transfer. I was able to purchase the above adapter for ~$5 from a local Gamestop about a year ago when the manager agreed to have it transferred from another store ~50 miles away. Have been using it to connect my Xbox to my AV receiver in the living room. I am not sure tho' if Gamestop's policy for store-to-store transfer might have changed since they stopped carrying original Xbox stuff,? :confused: Worst case - you might have to go on a "field trip" to SF or the other locations that show it in stock ;). Hope it helps.

BTW, would appreciate recommendations for the most stable recent version of XBMC. I am still running the one from ~June 2008. I understand there is a more stable version recently/earlier this year that I would like to upgrade my XBMC (on original Xbox) to? Also, is T3CH still the place to get that version from?

-Topper

sean_w_smith

09-22-09, 11:53 AM

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10235

They are a sponsor of AVS, all my cables come from there.

I buy tons of cables from monoprice and have for years but they dont make an xbox adapter. This is a proprietary connector on one end with component and toslink on the other end.....

thanks for the pointer though....

Sean

sean_w_smith

09-22-09, 11:57 AM

Wonder if Sean was referring to these (http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=18821) for connecting original Xbox to TV via component cables? If so, those adapters (and similar ones by Psyclone) are hard to find now that Gamestop seems to have discontinued all original Xbox hardware and games. OTOH, if he wants component cables (not adapters), I second Stryker's recommendation - hard to beat monoprice.

Sean - I entered the zipcode of my old stomping grounds (94040) in the link above, which should be close enough to the zipcode for your new/current stomping grounds. Looks like a Gamestop in SF/Powell Street might have it in stock for ~$3. You can check with your local Gamestop and see if they would do a store-to-store transfer. I was able to purchase the above adapter for ~$5 from a local Gamestop about a year ago when the manager agreed to have it transferred from another store ~50 miles away. Have been using it to connect my Xbox to my AV receiver in the living room. I am not sure tho' if Gamestop's policy for store-to-store transfer might have changed since they stopped carrying original Xbox stuff,? :confused: Worst case - you might have to go on a "field trip" to SF or the other locations that show it in stock ;). Hope it helps.

BTW, would appreciate recommendations for the most stable recent version of XBMC. I am still running the one from ~June 2008. I understand there is a more stable version recently/earlier this year that I would like to upgrade my XBMC (on original Xbox) to? Also, is T3CH still the place to get that version from?

-Topper

Topper I will check around I buy stuff at Gamestop all the time.... I have about 6 lying around and want to buy at least another 15 sets..... BTW: Gamestop has been running a sale on used xboxes buy 2 get 1 free. thats $33 a peice. I bought 9 in the last 2 weeks.....

The build you want is T3CH 09.04.1 Its by far the best and most stable build they put out since 2.1 over 2.5 years ago.....

Highly recommended...

SVN repoinstaller is very cool....

I have issues with the June build. stick to that released version and you will be happy.....

Sean

arnesr

09-23-09, 12:22 PM

BTW: Gamestop has been running a sale on used xboxes buy 2 get 1 free. thats $33 a peice. I bought 9 in the last 2 weeks.....

I haven't been in to my local Gamestop recently. I may have to check out if they are running this sale in my area. I have noticed they don't stock as much xbox accessories latley. I'm not sure if it's just getting more rare or if they are discontinuing stocking the original xbox stuff. Could they be trying to clear out their inventory with this "sale"?

sean_w_smith

09-23-09, 12:46 PM

most stores already cleared out accessorie but seem to have a bunch of players taking up space in the backroom... so I would guess yes they are trying to get rid of all this stuff....

Sean

krkaufman

09-23-09, 02:43 PM

I haven't been in to my local Gamestop recently. I may have to check out if they are running this sale in my area.

Your best bet is to hit the GameStop website's (http://www.gamestop.com) Store Locator to find your nearby locations, and let your fingers do the driving. Earlier this year, GameStop shutdown repurchase of Xbox consoles and games and consolidated their reburbished/used Xboxes to select stores. Some have 'em, some don't; and the stocks are dwindling.

Thanks for the tip on the sale, Sean; I just bought 2 more a few weeks back, but was looking for more. (spare parts, backups, etc)

krkaufman

09-23-09, 02:48 PM

srauly

09-24-09, 09:25 PM

Some very exciting things going on:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55042

A developer is working on adding support to XBMC for a replacement video card for the AppleTV which supports 1080p and only costs about $25. No experimental XBMC release for users to try yet, but hopefully this will bear fruit. I'm considering picking up a couple of AppleTV units just based on the hope that this might end up working out.

sean_w_smith

09-25-09, 02:10 PM

arnesr

09-25-09, 02:21 PM

Your best bet is to hit the GameStop website's (http://www.gamestop.com) Store Locator to find your nearby locations, and let your fingers do the driving. Earlier this year, GameStop shutdown repurchase of Xbox consoles and games and consolidated their reburbished/used Xboxes to select stores. Some have 'em, some don't; and the stocks are dwindling.

Thanks for the tip on the sale, Sean; I just bought 2 more a few weeks back, but was looking for more. (spare parts, backups, etc)

I checked Gamestop's website for locations and found three that still have the xbox instock. Sadly, when I called they told me they do not have the buy 2 get one free promo on the consoles, it only applies to the games. I got the same answer from all three stores. I guess the Gamestops around me(WI) are hoping their value will appreciate if they hang on to them. :)

eliastico

09-27-09, 11:21 AM

Today I was trying to update my late 08 revision of XBMC to the latest one. Installed flashfxp but didn't have any luck getting the ftp connection to work with the xbox. I've read that the problem might be a corrupted fileZillaServer.xml file. this is the log from flashfxp:

[R] Connecting to 10.0.0.3 -> IP=10.0.0.3 PORT=21
[R] Connected to 10.0.0.3
[R] 220-
[R] 220----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[R] 220-XBMC:FileZilla version 1.5.6, (based on FileZilla Server 0.8.8)
[R] 220-
[R] 220-http://sourceforge.net/projects/xbmc/
[R] 220----------------------------------------------------------------------------

and at this point it just freezes till it times out.

I managed to found a proper filezillaserver.xml online and I was instructed to place it in my smb shares. Then I was supposed to copy&paste it from my shares on to the xbmc directory on the xbox hard drive.

The problem is that the xbmc filemanager doesn't let me copy or move any files (the copy/move buttons arent available on the list of commands). Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

sean_w_smith

09-27-09, 01:09 PM

lets start with are you sure you know the IP address of the xbox?

is the FTP server enabled in the setting menu?

SEan

sean_w_smith

09-27-09, 01:11 PM

the move copy commands are not there because you disabled them in the systems settings menu.

I would not be copying around the filezilla configuration until you know what you are doing....

in place updates are dangerous. I always recommend running another dash like EvoX or unleashx when doing an upgrade....

Sean

eliastico

09-27-09, 04:01 PM

Thanks Sean. I managed to upgrade to the newest tech build with the tech upgrader that was included in the old tech build. Only one thing left, The new rev didn't overwrite the old ones in the e:/apps folder, instead there's a completely new folder inside it for the new build. So, now the xbox boots to the old dashboard/build. I can't remember what file I'm supposed to edit to get it to point to the new xbmc build to boot.

sean_w_smith

09-27-09, 04:33 PM

unmesh

09-28-09, 08:18 PM

unmesh

09-28-09, 08:20 PM

For those who havent seen it yet the new skin 'Rapier' is very very nice and is working well so far on my xbox running xbmc.

(It can be found here: http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=58103)

BTW, I went to download AEON and noticed the download is 187mb!! Is anybody using AEON on the xbox? Rapier and PM3-HD are both only about 18mb.

I downloaded the Rapier skin but am having trouble FTP'ing some of the files over where the filenames seem to have embedded international characters. If you did the file transfer from a PC running Windows, which FTP program did you use?

Thanks.

dan4081

09-28-09, 09:57 PM

I downloaded the Rapier skin but am having trouble FTP'ing some of the files over where the filenames seem to have embedded international characters. If you did the file transfer from a PC running Windows, which FTP program did you use?

Thanks.

I use Core FTP Lite.
You can find it on CNET. (Its a free program)

sean_w_smith

09-29-09, 12:21 AM

I recommend filezilla. its free and its the only one of over a dozen FTP programs I have tried that does not leak memory and I can actually transfer over 500G of data without crashing...

See the ION thread here for what I built..... good news is now you can get the Acer Revo Aspire with mouse and keyboard and 160G drive and Windows XP for $199. which is even cheaper and it comes with an XP license worth $90

Sean

unmesh

09-29-09, 12:51 AM

I use Core FTP Lite.
You can find it on CNET. (Its a free program)

It worked great for the Xbox but the funky named files did not work for the Apple TV. I need to find a suitable SFTP or SCP client.

dan4081

09-29-09, 10:28 AM

It worked great for the Xbox but the funky named files did not work for the Apple TV. I need to find a suitable SFTP or SCP client.

Since Sean recomended 'Filezilla' and he also has a Apple TV I would give that a try.

unmesh

09-29-09, 11:20 AM

Since Sean recomended 'Filezilla' and he also has a Apple TV I would give that a try.

Filezilla is my default FTP client but I did not know that it also did SFTP :o

The files transferred successfully.

sean_w_smith

09-29-09, 02:05 PM

Yep and if you need SCP try winscp......

Sean

dan4081

09-29-09, 04:37 PM

Filezilla is my default FTP client but I did not know that it also did SFTP :o

The files transferred successfully.

What do you think of Rapier?

I go back and forth between that and PM3-HD.

eliastico

09-29-09, 06:06 PM

all depends on what type of mod/hard/soft and which one....

easiest way. run some other dash and FTP in. rename the old build that you boot into and rename the new build dir to match the old one....

Sean

Thanks you so much Sean! renaming the build did the trick. Couldn't have figured out that myself. Much appreciated.

sean_w_smith

09-29-09, 07:29 PM

great glad you are working again....

Sean

1day

09-29-09, 11:50 PM

Hi Sean, from post 4613 you mention,

"I have been using the AEON Movie wall skin which is pretty sexy..... Its not fast and animated like on the xbox but YAMJ and AEON get the job done."

I have not been keeping up on the thread, but do you run Aeon on the xbox now without issues as far as memory. I was under the impression this was to graphics intensive for the xbox to handle. Thanks for the reply.

sean_w_smith

09-30-09, 01:19 PM

no I dont use it on the Xbox but there are lite variations of AEON and Moviestream that run just fine on the xbox at 720p. I dont recommend 1080i.

you can download these skins from the XBMC SVN installer script....

I have tried all the various skins but I still prefer PM3 HD

Sean

dan4081

09-30-09, 01:40 PM

sean_w_smith

09-30-09, 03:26 PM

dan4081

09-30-09, 03:32 PM

no I have not tried it yet....

I have no had much time to do much....

I have been busy building xboxes and servers for a few friends with new houses....

a couple of this rigs are basically stand alone but with the cost of IDE drives these days you can do one of these with a 1.5TB drive for the cost of a 750G IDE and just hook the xbox straight to the server and skip the whole network.

seems to be a decent NAS for $89

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822155009&Tpk=DNS%20321

Sean

Thats the same one I had before I purchased my HP MediaSmart server. Worked really well. It was $99 when I bought it and I used 2 1tb drives in it.
My friend is still using his with 2 1.5tb drives with no issues at all.

Great deal for the money.

unmesh

09-30-09, 10:25 PM

no I have not tried it yet....

I have not had much time to do much....

I have been busy building xboxes and servers for a few friends with new houses....

a couple of these rigs are basically stand alone but with the cost of IDE drives these days you can do one of these with a 1.5TB drive for the cost of a 750G IDE and just hook the xbox straight to the server and skip the whole network.

seems to be a decent NAS for $89

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822155009&Tpk=DNS%20321

Sean

Also, these can be trivially hacked if you want to run a raft of other features such as DLNA servers etc. Personally, I was most interested in rsync based scripts to implement Time Machine type backups to another unit.

unmesh

09-30-09, 10:28 PM

Have you tried the new Rapier?

I like it, but think I like PM3-HD just a bit better.

Me too. It might just be that I'm very familiar with PM3-HD.

srauly

09-30-09, 10:41 PM

I would wait and be patient. I just built an ION HTPC for $220 that will do 1080P video too... They have some kinks to get out of the ION/ XBMC Live solution but it has potential as well...... and should be cheaper than a hacked ATV... only time will tell..... ATV"s are not going anywhere. I would not be in any rush to go buy em....This mod for the AppleTV still hasn't been released yet, but if it comes to fruition, I would think that there are some definite advantages to it. It's a nice, fanless (silent) box that can be had for $150 refurb. This add-on video card can be had for $25. So we're talking a total cost of about $175. Plus you could jump over to the standard AppleTV side and get no-fuss Apple movie trailers, a nice photo slideshow and music streaming experience, and AppleTV movie rentals if you wanted (they're a rip-off, but on the rare occasion that you want to watch something you may not have, it could be nice).

srauly

09-30-09, 10:50 PM

I don't have a NAS box. I've been letting my HP slimline desktop PC run 24/7 for quite a while. I've got a WD 1TB drive hooked up to it via USB. While the idea of RAID certainly sounds smart, part of me hates the idea of giving up half of my storage space just for redundancy. For the time being, I'm on board with just letting the chips fall where they may. What I would like, though, is to not have to have my slmline PC running all the time. And as I play around with Blu-ray, I might like to take that slimline out of my office and into my home theater or bedroom so that I can run XBMC on it and watch movies from that PC. But I don't want to also lug my WD drive to that room, so I'd like to keep that in the office.

So what I'm getting at is...what are some options for inexpensive NAS boxes which will allow me to plug in my WD external drive via USB (or Firewire, since my WD also supports that)? A while back I tried a Belkin N+ wireless router which had a USB port for external hard drive support, but it resulted in very choppy playback, so I returned it. I don't know if they ever fixed that problem via firmware, but I've read more recent reviews of it, and it sounds like it's still got other problems.

I'm considering trying out a TonidoPlug (like a PogoPlug, for those who have heard of it, but seemingly more capable). Beyond that, I'm not sure what my options are. Of course, I need it to support NTFS as I need support for files > 4GB, so Apple's AirPort Extreme is out.

candre23

09-30-09, 11:33 PM

This mod for the AppleTV still hasn't been released yet, but if it comes to fruition, I would think that there are some definite advantages to it. It's a nice, fanless (silent) box that can be had for $150 refurb. This add-on video card can be had for $25.This is exactly what I did. I installed the Broadcom card today in anticipation of a version of XBMC that takes advantage of it. Interestingly, the ATV isn't fanless. There is a 1U heatsink/fan on the CPU. The ATV doesn't have any vents though, so what little sound it makes is inaudible from the outside.

sean_w_smith

10-01-09, 12:21 PM

unmesh

10-02-09, 03:50 PM

the $89 nas I mentioned above is certainly a good deal.... Sorry I dont have much experience with the low end devices....

I don't have personal experience with it but Seagate is now selling a FreeAgent Dockstar which will connect upto 3 USB drives to a network with (almost) no configuration. The list price of $100 makes it no cheaper but it might be easier to deal with and you can have a tiny fanless "NAS" if you use Seagate's FreeAgent Go 2.5" external drive (upto 1TB) as your primary in the units' dock.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/external/freeagent/freeagent_dockstar/

srauly

10-02-09, 05:07 PM

dan4081

10-02-09, 07:10 PM

Yeah I saw that on engadget. It also works with the PogoPlug service, but that costs extra. I'm also researching/considering the TonidoPlug which I've heard can be used as a NAS but I can't find a lot of end-user experiences online about that product.

The NAS that Sean mentioned wouldn't meet my requirements. It has two open drive bays but doesn't appear to allow for hooking up external USB drives. I've already got an external WD 1TB drive, and my desire is to add additional external USB drives as needed.

How about this:
http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Storage-Link-Drives-NSLU2/dp/B0001FSCZO
You can add multiple USB 2 Hard drives to it, though i'm not sure if they can be formated NFTS.

Or there is this 2-bay Nas that also has USB ports for adding external HD'S:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QGTNWY/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0001FSCZO&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1MP4NHC7ARBFW9QZX06T

unmesh

10-03-09, 01:43 PM

Yeah I saw that on engadget. It also works with the PogoPlug service, but that costs extra. I'm also researching/considering the TonidoPlug which I've heard can be used as a NAS but I can't find a lot of end-user experiences online about that product.

The NAS that Sean mentioned wouldn't meet my requirements. It has two open drive bays but doesn't appear to allow for hooking up external USB drives. I've already got an external WD 1TB drive, and my desire is to add additional external USB drives as needed.

Dlink also sells a DNS-323 that looks the same but has a USB port. The official firmware only supports USB printers but the hacked one supports USB drives. I'm not sure what the performance will be. In comparison, the Dockstar has been measured at 22MB/s over GE.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30936/75/

srauly

10-04-09, 09:24 AM

I was at my local Best Buy yesterday and spotted the Belkin Home Base:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=505043

I think it's brand new (Belkin's site says "Coming soon" and Best Buy's site doesn't list it. It's $100. But I looked at Belkin's support pages, and it sounds like it doesn't support allowing multiple users to access the same USB port at the same time, so that's a no-go.

A few minutes ago I found the WD MyBook World Edition 1TB NAS (model: WDH1NC10000N). Best Buy's selling it for $170 with a $20 gift card right now, so $150. Not bad considering that it nets you another 1TB of storage as well. It's got a single USB port for connecting other drives. I haven't confirmed yet if you can use a USB hub with that. It runs Linux and is apparently hackable (e.g., a ********** client like Transmission can be installed). The main complaints I'm reading about it are that it's very slow to transfer files from/to. I only found one mention (in an Amazon review) of someone using XBMC with it (technically, they were using Boxee on the AppleTV). They didn't go into details about the types of media they were watching, but since it was an AppleTV, one can assume that they weren't .m2ts Blu-ray rips. So I haven't found any online confirmations about whether it's capable of streaming high-bandwidth media without issues. It has a Gigabit ethernet port, but I've read that it can't get anywhere near that speed due to the chipset it has, but if it can exceed 100Mbps, then it should be a non-issue. The drive is formatted as EXT3, and because of it running Linux, I'd imagine that you probably can't reformat it as NTFS. Not sure of the implications of EXT3 (e.g., is there anything like the FAT32 4GB filesize limit?).

srauly

10-04-09, 09:30 AM

BTW, I think I mentioned this previously, but did not link to it. The TonidoPlug can be found here:
http://www.tonido.com/

Lots to read about on their site. At $100, it sounds like a very exciting product.

dan4081

10-04-09, 09:39 AM

I was at my local Best Buy yesterday and spotted the Belkin Home Base:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=505043

I think it's brand new (Belkin's site says "Coming soon" and Best Buy's site doesn't list it. It's $100. But I looked at Belkin's support pages, and it sounds like it doesn't support allowing multiple users to access the same USB port at the same time, so that's a no-go.

A few minutes ago I found the WD MyBook World Edition 1TB NAS (model: WDH1NC10000N). Best Buy's selling it for $170 with a $20 gift card right now, so $150. Not bad considering that it nets you another 1TB of storage as well. It's got a single USB port for connecting other drives. I haven't confirmed yet if you can use a USB hub with that. It runs Linux and is apparently hackable (e.g., a ********** clientsmission can be installed). The main complaints I'm reading about it are that it's very slow to transfer files from/to. I only found one mention (in an Amazon review) of someone using XBMC with it (technically, they were using Boxee on the AppleTV). They didn't go into details about the types of media they were watching, but since it was an AppleTV, one can assume that they weren't .m2ts Blu-ray rips. So I haven't found any online confirmations about whether it's capable of streaming high-bandwidth media without issues. It has a Gigabit ethernet port, but I've read that it can't get anywhere near that speed due to the chipset it has, but if it can exceed 100Mbps, then it should be a non-issue. The drive is formatted as EXT3, and because of it running Linux, I'd imagine that you probably can't reformat it as NTFS. Not sure of the implications of EXT3 (e.g., is there anything like the FAT32 4GB filesize limit?).

Ext 3 doesnt have any limits like Fat 32 did. So no worrys there.

Instead of the WD 1TB you saw at best buy I would really consider this if I were you:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QGTNWY/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0001FSCZO&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1MP4NHC7ARBFW9QZX06T

It has 2 bays PLUS 2 USB ports to add additional drives. You can usually find it on sale for $99 and should easily be able to find a 1TB drive for around $70 so it shouldnt cost more than the WD at BestBuy, and its a much better option IMO.

srauly

10-04-09, 11:15 AM

unmesh

10-05-09, 08:40 PM

Thanks, I'll read up more on that one as well. To be honest, though, I'm really leaning towards the TonidoPlug. Even though I'm mainly looking for a NAS, I like that it has a lot of interesting add-on apps available for it and they have an SDK so that others can develop for it, too.

If you're looking for 3rd party add-ons to a commercial product, check out http://wiki.dns323.info/

The community has been around for a long time and the add-ons can be used on a family of related NAS products.

srauly

10-05-09, 09:02 PM

Thanks for the info, but it looks like these don't meet my need for connection to external drives via USB. The DNS-323 has a USB port, but according to the Amazon page, that's for connecting a printer.

As I mentioned previously, I like the idea of keeping functionality separated into boxes dedicated to a purpose. So the TonidoPlug is appealing to me in that respect, as it would serve as a NAS and I'd then string off multiple USB external drives onto it. If one goes bad, I replace it. As I need more storage, I just add a new drive onto the USB hub connected to it. With a lot of these NAS devices, they seem focused around their internal bays. Yes, if a drive goes bad, they're designed to be easy to swap out, but they're also limited in design in that you've only got the 2 bays (or whatever). Eventually you might want to grow beyond that. And, yes, RAID is probably the smart way to go, but I don't like the idea of "wasting" 1TB of storage just for it to mirror another 1TB drive. Perhaps I'll change my mind about that once my first 1TB drive goes bad. :)

Having said all that, I've got some questions in to Tonido's support, and while I've been waiting for them to respond, I've been thinking that I should really spend this money (that I don't have) on a high-def-capable XBMC streamer first and foremost. I'll likely be placing an order shortly on an Acer AspireRevo. I may end up getting a TonidoPlug or other NAS soon as well, but if I have to keep my desktop PC on 24/7 for a while longer, to serve as my NAS, so be it...it gets the job done.

sean_w_smith

10-08-09, 02:20 PM

krkaufman

10-12-09, 04:42 PM

Congrats on the post milestone, sean -- and thanks. Your contributions to this thread, especially, are most appreciated.

PrestonD

10-12-09, 09:19 PM

Bump for my 2000th post. figured it might as well be here.....

still no time to hack on the ION anymore.... still too busy building and delivering xboxes for some new friends in silicon valley.....

Sean

Yes Sean I too want to thank you for all your help and assistance...between you and Dan4081 I have successfully deployed xbox's through out the house at every tv location, networked them in and am now building xbox's for friends or assisting them in doing so.

I was doubtful about the xbox when using it for xbmc platform but now its preferred streaming client for me thanks to all the support here.

For the NAS I am using the Iomega Home Media NAS, dont know if it can handle the high def streaming but for atsc stuff I record off the air its fine. I wouldnt recommend it if you are concerned with making backups, file transfers are slow but streaming video and music, etc is fine even with several xbox's hitting the NAS server. It only draws like 15 watts when streaming and I think 8 watts when in standby.

Thanks again...

sean_w_smith

10-12-09, 09:27 PM

Hey we all help each other... I got turned on to this setup by a co worker (Robert J) back at cisco in 2003 and he helped me and a lot of others get started. Back then mod chips were a necessity and luckily a really nice coworker of ours who did board re-works used to do all the soldering so geeks like me didn't mess em up....

Just finished modding an ATV for a neighbor down the street. XBMC keeps growing and growing but I still find I love the ole xbox the best. mainly for the controller an the reliabiity.

The ATV is growing on me...

One thing thats really cool I discovered in that even with XBMC running on the ATV I can still output music to it as an "AirTunes" speaker from iTunes....

I have 6 zones of airtunes setup now and having synchronized music playing all over the house is pretty cool on weekends when we are just working around the house and the yard...

Sean

ArtVandalay7

10-14-09, 06:05 PM

Hello...was wondering if someone might be able to help me with a problem I can't seem to figure out...After recently updating my xbmc build to tch 9.04.1 I seem to now have trouble displaying certain song lyrics using the xbmc lyrics plugin. It seems like maybe some type of fonts won't display when I think they did previously (copied userdata folder to new build). For example, on some songs it will display for example 1/5 in the bottom right corner for 5 pages of lyrics but will be an otherwise blank box...same thing happens when lyricwiki.org tries to scrape lyrics...Don't know if something got screwed up when I updated, etc...thanks!!!

debug log:
http://pastebin.com/ma4ed1e2

PrestonD

10-14-09, 08:01 PM

Art,

I dont know anything about what the lyric functionality and plugin do but I did look at your debug log and noticed that its not for want for errors, but it seems that most of the errors are that it cannot find a script or cannot open a script cause it cant find it, also the following seems to indicate that perhaps default paths maybe from preferences or configuration settings changed with the new skin or plugin...or maybe it needs to be set/configured:

13:57:05 M: 24682496 DEBUG: new python thread created. id=16
13:57:05 M: 24158208 DEBUG: Python thread: start processing
13:57:05 M: 24158208 DEBUG: XBPyThread::Process - The source file to load is Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\default.py
13:57:05 M: 24158208 DEBUG: XBPyThread::Process - Setting the Python path to Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics;Q:\system\python\python24.zlib;Q:\system\python\DLLs; Q:\system\python\Lib;Q:\system\python\spyce
13:57:05 M: 24158208 DEBUG: XBPyThread::Process - Entering source directory Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics
13:57:05 M: 24158208 DEBUG: unable to load Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\resources\language\English (US)\strings.xml: Failed to open file at line 0
13:57:05 M: 26419200 INFO: Default 4:3 resolution directory is Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\resources\skins\Default\PAL
13:57:05 M: 26419200 INFO: Default 16:9 resolution directory is Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\resources\skins\Default\PAL16x9
13:57:05 M: 26419200 INFO: Skin version is: 2.1
13:57:05 M: 26419200 INFO: Loading skin includes from Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\resources\skins\Default\PAL\includes.xml
13:57:05 M: 26419200 INFO: Error loading includes.xml file (Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\resources\skins\Default\PAL\includes.xml): Failed to open file (row=0, col=0)
13:57:05 M: 26419200 INFO: Loading skin file: Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\resources\skins\Default\PAL16x9\script-XBMC_Lyrics-main.xml
13:57:05 M: 26419200 DEBUG: unable to load Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\resources\language\English (US)\strings.xml: Failed to open file at line 0
13:57:05 M: 26419200 DEBUG: Load Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\resources\skins\Default\PAL16x9\script-XBMC_Lyrics-main.xml: 27.91ms

With the new skin did directory path defaults get changed? I would check the Python paths and other referenced paths above. Also is PAL the european tv standard? Seems like if US it should be NTSC or something...

Oh well someone who knows what they are talking about may have better luck....

sean_w_smith

10-14-09, 09:57 PM

The PAL thing is normal. dont worry about that....

2 things...

1. make sure the path in the PM3 HD Skin settings correctly points to the XBMC lyrics script.

2. use the SVN updater and download the latest version of the XBMC Lyrics scruipt.

I can't say I am having the issue you described with 9.04.1

Sean

ArtVandalay7

10-15-09, 12:46 AM

hey guys, thanks...I have the latest version installed and lyrics was formerly working fine...I had to install the new build a couple of times to get it working so I can't help but think I messed something up although everything else seems to be working fine...

Sean, should the skin settings point to Q:\scripts\XBMC Lyrics\default.py

I pointed to that script path but still not working...

also tried uninstalling and reinstalling, didn't seem to make a difference...

latest debug log:
http://pastebin.com/mad78208

Frustrating!

sean_w_smith

10-15-09, 11:05 AM

Thats the right path.

I dont want you to re-install XBMC just update the XBMC Lyrics app using the SVN Installer....

if that does not work. back up your userdata and try a clean install and see what happens....

Sean

ArtVandalay7

10-15-09, 11:44 AM

hey sean...it was already up to date, but to be sure I uninstalled xbmc lyrics using svn repo installer, restarted xbmc and reinstalled xbmc lyrics again using svn repo installer...still doesn't work...what now? should I ftp the build into the q drive or the e drive? should I use the tch3 updater using xbmc? thanks again for the help!

sean_w_smith

10-15-09, 11:54 AM

backup your userdata directory and then delete it.

if the issue still ocurrs then the program is broken and is not based on your setup.

if it works then restore the basic files like sources.xml and gui_settings.xml and rebuild the database and hope everything still works....

Sean

ArtVandalay7

10-15-09, 12:33 PM

I keep finding mixed messages about how to do a clean install. First of all, should I be working within the e drive or the q drive to delete the userdata folder using the ftp application?

sean_w_smith

10-15-09, 12:40 PM

I work in the E drive.....

the Q drive is just an alias of the where q:\ points to e:\apps\xbmc

Sean

ArtVandalay7

10-15-09, 02:05 PM

ok, that's what I have been doing. I started with deleting the current userdata folder from the e drive and replacing with an older iteration of a previous userdata folder...taking forever but we'll see if it works...thanks again sean.

sean_w_smith

10-15-09, 03:46 PM

dont replace it.

delete and see if the function works.... do not repace it with some other copy you have lying around.

that is next step.

Sean

srauly

10-15-09, 03:52 PM

In case anyone has any interest and was following my Acer AspireRevo w/XBMC thread but stopped due to it becoming a long saga about the many problems I was having, well there's some good news to report. I just replied to that thread about my latest experiences and compared XBMC on Windows XP to XBMC Live to the WDTV Live. In trying to play a Blu-ray rip, here's what I had to say...

********

- With XBMC for Windows, it was unwatchable (stuttering), but as I said above, perhaps there's a way to get that to work via an outside video player? One thing I think I can say in XBMC for Windows' favor: I *think* that navigating around the GUI is faster than it is with XBMC Live (still slower than XBMC on my classic XBox, though).

- With WDTV Live, the .ts file plays back fine across my wired network. The chapter skip (actually, I think WDTV Live just does a 10 minute skip) works fine, and fast forwarding is actually watchable. It would also play the huge .iso file (no menu support), but was choppy across the network and the Dolby TrueHD track only bitstreams (no on-the-fly conversion).

- With XBMC Live (my USB stick still gets corrupted, but running a chkdsk on it from Windows seems to get it working again), it seemed to play back the .ts file just fine across my wired 100Mbps network. Woohoo. But wait...Fast forwarding sort of works, but the video looks garbled and blocky while you're doing it. Worse: using the chapter skip buttons on MCE remote seemed to stop the video (returning me to the XBMC UI).

At this point, I figured, well maybe the WDTV Live has it beat. I mean, XBMC has a much better UI, but if it can't play the high-def video/audio formats or handle chapter skipping as well as the WDTV Live, what good is a great UI? Or, maybe I should just stick with XBMC on my classic XBox and forego high-def content.

But, no, there's good news to be had...Perhaps the chapter skip button is not really mapped for use as chapter skip in MCE? If I instead press the D-Pad's right button, I get a 30 second skip. Pressing the D-Pad's up button skips 10 minutes.

The news gets better...In addition to keeping the Blu-ray .iso file around (which I already discovered wouldn't play in XBMC), I also had the directory/multi-.m2ts file folder structure of the disc. So I went in there and played the largest .m2ts file (24GB) (I wanted to try this because that one still had the Dolby TrueHD track). To my amazement, the Dolby TrueHD was playing downmixed on-the-fly to stereo (or maybe regular 5.1?) thru HDMI to my LCD TV. Oh, and the subtitles were a much nicer, smoother font than what the WDTV Live had to offer. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out what button on the MCE remote would allow me to change soundtracks or turn off subtitles. Anyone?

So now there's renewed optimism about XBMC (or, at least, XBMC Live). I think my next step might be to take a risk and install XBMC Live to the hard drive. I realize that this will completely wipe out my XP partition, but it seems to me that XBMC Live (with a few tweaks as mentioned earlier in this thread) may be the best/easiest way to get XBMC working well on the Revo.

*************

Note: I didn't/couldn't test bitstreaming the Dolby TrueHD soundtrack as I don't yet own a Dolby TrueHD-capable receiver. I'm also curious as to if/how it handles a DTS-HD soundtrack.

sean_w_smith

10-15-09, 04:00 PM

XBMC Live is still evolving. hopefully the next version will be much better.... I still have lots of issues with HDMI audio and have no gotten any HD Audio to play through XMBC live on my ION.

Sean

srauly

10-15-09, 04:08 PM

XBMC Live is still evolving. hopefully the next version will be much better.... I still have lots of issues with HDMI audio and have no gotten any HD Audio to play through XMBC live on my ION.I may have asked you this before (if so, I apologize), but do you just mean that you can't get bitstreaming to work or that you can't even get it to downmix Dolby TrueHD to something "lesser"? If the latter, you may want to experiment with my audio settings (Settings / System / Audio Hardware):

Audio output: Digital
- Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver: <unchecked>
- DTS Capable receiver: <unchecked>
Audio output device: hdmi (I believe that lowercase is important)
Passthrough output device: hdmi
Downmix multichannel audio to stereo: <checked>

Obviously, in your case (seeing as you have a Dolby TrueHD-capable receiver), you wouldn't *want* the settings I noted above, but it might be worth trying just to see if it works, and then unchecking the downmix option and checking the Dolby Digital / DTS capable receiver options.

sean_w_smith

10-15-09, 04:30 PM

ArtVandalay7

10-15-09, 04:45 PM

dont replace it.

delete and see if the function works.... do not repace it with some other copy you have lying around.

that is next step.

Sean

But if I don't replace it and have no UserData folder I don't have access to anything (e.g. lastfm, xbmc lyrics, music and video sources, etc.) to test it out with...

sean_w_smith

10-15-09, 05:18 PM

then just put back the sources.xml then

or you can easily re-create a share from the GUI

Sean

ArtVandalay7

10-15-09, 05:39 PM

ok, deleted the userdata folder, made a new one and only put sources.xml into the folder. used svn repo installer to install xbmc lyrics...still doesn't work...:mad:...when the lyrics box comes up, it recognizes how many pages of lyrics are SUPPOSED to be there, just a blank box however...

sean_w_smith

10-15-09, 05:50 PM

well then its either XBMC or the combination of the script. not your config or data....

you could try a more recent SVN or downgrade if that functionality is critical to you....

I can't say I use XBMC Lyrics a ton but it generally seems to work when I use it. but I maybe use it once a month.....

Sean

ArtVandalay7

10-15-09, 05:56 PM

ok, right now I'm overwriting the entire xbmc folder on the e drive with the 9.04.1-FIXED build...it's just frustrating b/c this worked so well before...

ArtVandalay7

10-15-09, 06:18 PM

no go...I deleted the xbmc folder in apps and then ftp'd the bleeding edge xbmc folder over to E:Apps...STILL doesn't work

Since there seems to be so many differing accounts, is there a link or site that explains how to do a clean install?

thanks! (again)

srauly

10-15-09, 07:04 PM

I dont want stereo I want 5.1

with those settings

does trueHD play as DD 5.1
does DD 5.1 play correctly
does DTS play correctly
does music play correcty?

I'd be very surprised if the answer to all those is yes.....Yeah, I know you wouldn't want stereo...I just figured that might be a workable starting point. When I did my testing, I was hooked up to my LCD TV. I just lugged everything up to my home theater and hooked it up to my A/V Receiver via HDMI. The receiver doesn't support Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD (just Dolby Digital and DTS).

Well, you were right (I think)...I'm only getting stereo sent over HDMI. No matter how I play with the settings, I can't seem to Dolby TrueHD to downmix to 5.1. Here's what really sucks...Even my .ts file which I had muxed down to 5.1 isn't playing right, nor are any of my DVD .iso rips (Dolby Digital or DTS). But now I'm wondering if I didn't screw up my receiver somehow. It reports that it's getting multi-channel audio, but only the left and right speakers actually have sound coming out of them. I can't remember if my subwoofer was working (I have towers for L/R and I was keeping the volume low).

But it gets even weirder...the WDTV Live also wasn't playing right. In it's A/V Settings screen, it gives two options for audio: Stereo or Digital. If I select Stereo, it just sends L/R info over HDMI, which makes sense. But if I select Digital, it's not sending *anything* over HDMI. And, like the Revo w/XBMC, that was the case whether I was playing my Blu-ray .ts or .m2ts files, or if I was playing my old DVD .iso files.

Like I said, at one point I thought I had gone crazy or screwed up my receiver, so I then started up my classic XBox w/XBMC and played one of my DVD .iso files with DTS audio and it played it just fine. This is sent over optical, of course. I've in the past used this receiver with a Blu-ray player, so I may try that out again just to make sure there isn't something screwed up with the receiver with HDMI multi-channel audio all of a sudden.

srauly

10-15-09, 09:17 PM

Sean, for the HDMI audio issues, you might want to take a look at this thread:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56750&highlight=revo+5.1

It involves "downgrading" to an older svn. I'm not sure if I'm set up to do that with XBMC Live, but I'll give it a go later.

CDLehner

10-17-09, 10:04 AM

ChrisFB

10-17-09, 11:14 PM

I stream to 3 different locations, using 4 boxes; PCH A-110, C-200, PS3, and XBMC XBox. The XBox is in my Bedroom system, and has always been rock solid in streaming my SD movies and TV on DVD ripped to .ISO. However I recently switched all my networking, router and switches, to gigabit to take advantage of the C-200s capability, and ever since I've experienced consistent "freezing" issues with the XBMC; file will freeze for a second, and then resume. It might happen once, or as much as 5 times in a typical 40-minute file.

I looked through the Network settings to see if there was anything I needed to switch to accomodate the gigabit network (even though I know the XBMC is only 100mbps), and nothing jumped out. Any thoughts?

CD

There should be no issue. After a lightning strike a year or so ago I made the jump to Gigibit in replacing my switches and router - smooth transition no issues.

My thought would be that something is going on with a given cable/switch connection. The first thing I would try would be a different port on the switch. If no difference try a different cable. If no difference try a different streaming machine running the same file through the same cable/connection on the switch. Go at it that way.

On an off side you might also check your cache.

Lastly there are some gigabit network devices that don't play well with a 10/100 connection like the Xbox's or if there are mixed connections on the same switch. I'm running a DLink Green Ethernet 8 port giga switch which goes down the a 4-5 port (can't remember) of the same type downstairs. Mixed connections are no issue for my setup but when I was shopping for these I recall some people were griping heavily with other models available when running a 10/100 and a Giga connection on the same switch.

That's all I can offer. Good luck.

CDLehner

10-17-09, 11:57 PM

There should be no issue.

I know, that's why I was asking for help with anything I might be missing. :confused:

I'm running a DLink Green Ethernet 8 port giga switch which goes down the a 4-5 port (can't remember) of the same type downstairs. Mixed connections are no issue for my setup...

I'm running exactly the same set-up; DLink DGS-2208 switch to a DLink DGL-4100 router. I'm stumped. It's almost like a buffering problem, but I never had trouble with my old, 10/100 gear...and if anything, things should obviously be faster now...not choking.

CD

srauly

10-18-09, 07:53 AM

CDLehner

10-18-09, 09:12 AM

I've had weird stuttering issues in the past which made no sense. FWIW, I just bought the DGS-2208 myself, and may get around to setting it up later today, so maybe we can exchange notes.

Just to clarify, you're only having problems with the XBox, right? Your C-200 is working fine?

Well...I wouldn't say my C-200 is fine, but that's another story...as C-200 owners know. My A-110 is fine, but I don't usually stream anything to it other than .m2ts rips. Maybe I'll try streaming some of the SD .ISO and see if I can duplicate the issue.

CD

srauly

10-19-09, 03:30 PM

CD, everything appears to be working fine with my DLink DGS-2208 in place. I didn't try a lot of movies on my XBox (just one), but it seemed to play fine (FWIW, all my movies are DVD .iso files).

Note that as part of this upgrade, I also bought a new PCI Gigabit ethernet card for the desktop computer that is serving as my media server/NAS. You may want to look into that side of things. Is your server/NAS Gigabit-capable? If so, you may want to see if you've got the latest ethernet drivers for it, and/or try forcing it down to 100mbps (just to see if the choppiness goes away).

sean_w_smith

10-19-09, 03:46 PM

Xbox is having a compatibility issue with the new switch. replace the switch and the problem will go away most likely.....

My latest PC does not talk to the new trendnet 8 port switch I bought correctly.... Its not uncommon with cheap network devices that you see incompatibility on ethernet. Actually I have seen issues like this on plenty of high end gear too... :)

either that or your sever is now overloaded....

Sean

dan4081

10-21-09, 10:03 AM

sean_w_smith

10-21-09, 12:35 PM

Maybe someone here can help with an issue I cant find an answer to.

If I use the 'Pictures' section of the XBMC on an Xbox I am not able to view any of my pictures that are over 1mb in size.
I searched at XBMC.org and looked through the wiki over there and couldnt find anything about a size limit.

Has anybody else run across this?

can't say I have tried.... your probably running out of memory. turn on debug log and try it and then look at the log and see what it says....

Sean

dan4081

10-21-09, 01:37 PM

can't say I have tried.... your probably running out of memory. turn on debug log and try it and then look at the log and see what it says....
Sean

Good thought.
Ill try that tonight....Thanks

PrestonD

10-22-09, 11:19 PM

I got a couple of extra softmodded xbox's with xbmc on them, do you guys think anyone would be interested in buying them? I have xbox's networked all around the house and decided I dont need one in the shop or garage (yeah I have tv's there for when I work on stuff). I guess i would ebay them...how much do you think I should sell these for? seems like shipping would be pricey...

dan4081

10-23-09, 09:47 AM

sean_w_smith

10-23-09, 11:31 AM

Not sure how much you could sell them for but I would consider selling on Craigslist since it is free and you wouldnt have to ship.

+1 for craigslist

and dude why wouldn't want an xbox in the garage... I am going to put a projector in one of mine :)

Sean

dan4081

10-23-09, 02:41 PM

For anybody looking for a great deal on a 4-bay NAS Newegg has refurbished HP MediaSmart 470's for 229.00 today.

Thats an excellent price. Unit also has an E-Sata port with built in port multiplier so you can add on an inexpensive 4 bay esata enclosure to double the capacity, plus it also has usb ports to add on even more drives.

Scotty6595

10-23-09, 02:52 PM

Hey guys... Long time, no post...lol!

I just got around to updating xbmc to the latest SVN and I am having some weird issues...

For some reason I can't click on a movie in my movie library to start it, I have to go in to "files" and drill down to my server to click the actual file...

This did not happen immediately after installing the latest SVN. We watched several movies in the normal manner and then all of the sudden this started happening...

Any ideas as to what would cause this?

sean_w_smith

10-23-09, 03:14 PM

no idea.....

gave up on SVN's for the xbox platform a while ago. Just too unstable because of linux etc..... I recommend the 09.04.1

Honestly the best and most stable xbox build in over 2 years... everything works....

unfortunately while latest SVN's have been good for linux users they seem to be bad for the xbox....

as usual you can always blow away the database and have it recreate everything and see if that helps....

Sean

Scotty6595

10-23-09, 03:16 PM

The only reason I am using the latest svn is because I really liked the Rapier skin... I will wipe my db and see if that helps...

Thanks!

dan4081

10-23-09, 03:47 PM

The only reason I am using the latest svn is because I really liked the Rapier skin... I will wipe my db and see if that helps...

Thanks!

I'm using the 9.04.1 and the Rapier skin seems to work fine with it in the limited testing I did.
BTW, I am using the original Rapier the author put out so maybe the updates he has done since then will cause some issues with 9.04.1.

splazoid

11-03-09, 03:42 AM

I just bought a Belkin N+ wireless router today at Best Buy (on sale for $99). It has a single USB port for hooking up a USB drive. It supports FAT, FAT32, or NTFS. You can install special software on a PC (so that it thinks that the USB drive is connected locally) or reference the drive by IP address / drive name. Here's the pertinent quote from the user manual:

Theoretically, should this work with a modded XBox w/XBMC? I won't have time to set it up and try it out until tomorrow, so if anyone knows of a definite reason why it would not work, please let me know so I won't waste my time and can just go and return it.

I'd love to be able to hook it up to my 1TB Western Digital drive and leave my desktop computer turned off most of the time.

Oh, despite the fact that it only has one USB port, the manual also states:
Did you ever get the modded Xbox and Belkin N+ USB drive working together?
I just got everything all hooked up, but when i try to get XBMC to detect the drive as a network location, it asks for username & password credentials which do not exist.

Halp!?

srauly

11-03-09, 10:13 AM

Did you ever get the modded Xbox and Belkin N+ USB drive working together?
I just got everything all hooked up, but when i try to get XBMC to detect the drive as a network location, it asks for username & password credentials which do not exist.Sorry, I returned the Belkin N+ within 30 days. I was able to connect to the connected drive, but I don't remember how. If I recally correctly, I was having performance issues (data transfer rates too slow to play back my DVD rips without stuttering), and from what I've read online about the router more recently, I don't think the problems were ever fixed (and there's probably a hardware component to the issue, so they may never get fixed). In fact, from what I've read online about a number of routers with USB connections touted as being good for NAS/multimedia streaming, all of them suck. Many only allow for one person to be connected at a time (which, if you're planning on having multiple streamers in your house won't suffice), and many/most/all of them also seem to offer poor performance and seem to lose their connection to the hard drive, requiring rebooting the router. That last issue I don't understand why the various manufacturers haven't solved.

I'll leave it to someone else to jump in with some recommendations. In the end, though, from what I currently know, it seems like the best way to do what you want to do is to buy a separate NAS or leave one of your computers on all the time and have it act as the NAS. A low-cost NAS/hard drive is the WD model which is white and looks like one of their normal external 1TB hard drives, but it has an ethernet port on the back. It can be found for about $160. It also has a separate USB port on the back, but you can't use that to connect it directly to a computer (you have to transfer files from/to it via ethernet). The USB port allows for expanding the storage by connecting another external hard drive to it. I don't know/remember if you can connect a USB hub to that and connect multiple drives.

Another option I was seriously considering is the TonidoPlug which is a smallish $100 box with a single USB port and an ethernet port. Basically, it's like the WD unit I just described but without built-in storage. You supposedly can connect a powered USB hub to that and connect multiple drives.

Both of these devices run some variation of Linux, so you can hack the WD unit to have, for example, a Torrent client running on it. The TonidoPlug touts those features as built-in, and there are a number of apps you can install onto it.

For me, I've been sticking with having an old (probably fairly high power-sucking) HP Slimline desktop computer act as my always-on file server. I also use that machine to rip my DVDs/Blu-rays. It's not power efficient, but it works, provides fast transfer times, and allows for a lot of other flexibility (e.g., use it to share a laser printer, etc.). The Acer AspireRevo nettop's that I recently bought ($200 each) make excellent high-def streamers, but it would also make sense to leave at least one of those on all of the time and have it serve as the primary file server since it should be pretty low-power.

Ja Phule

11-10-09, 03:10 AM

dan4081

11-10-09, 11:44 AM

It's been awhile since I've updated my XBMC. Has anyone tried the new alpha just released the other day? Downloading now, but not sure when I'll actually get to updating my xbox...

http://t3ch.yi.se/

I really didnt see anything in the xbox update to tempt me to change. I think most all the changes and fixes in it are geared for other platforms. (i.e.windows, linux, etc.)
The last stable build before this one (9.04.1) has been FLAWLESS for me, so I'll stick with it.

zimdba

11-27-09, 09:48 AM

ChrisFB

11-27-09, 10:00 AM

Has anyone considered the WD Live as an XBMC replacement? They just came out with V2 and it's something I'm considering.

My motivation: I'm out of storage. Either I need to spend $400 upgrading my storage (new RAID card + HD's or swap my 320GB HD's for 1.5TB HD's). Or, I can spend $150 on a new dedicated device and re-encode all of my movies to h.264.

The XBMC's interface would be hard to give up.

Honestly I have yet to find a real replacement. At some point soon I hope to go XBMC on a HTPC like an Ion or something. I'd like them to get everything standardized first so I can built a known bullet proof box and not have to deal with any issues.

To bad the damn original Xbox can't do HD mkv. I'd have no reason to ever upgrade.

dan4081

11-27-09, 10:44 AM

dan4081

11-27-09, 10:47 AM

Has anyone considered the WD Live as an XBMC replacement? They just came out with V2 and it's something I'm considering.

My motivation: I'm out of storage. Either I need to spend $400 upgrading my storage (new RAID card + HD's or swap my 320GB HD's for 1.5TB HD's). Or, I can spend $150 on a new dedicated device and re-encode all of my movies to h.264.

The XBMC's interface would be hard to give up.

Read srauly's take on replacing xbmc with a WDTV Live here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1185529

zimdba

11-27-09, 02:47 PM

Read srauly's take on replacing xbmc with a WDTV Live here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1185529

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for. I'm also reading this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1140846
with a lot of contributions from srauly & Sean.

zimdba

11-29-09, 09:48 AM

Honestly I have yet to find a real replacement. At some point soon I hope to go XBMC on a HTPC like an Ion or something. I'd like them to get everything standardized first so I can built a known bullet proof box and not have to deal with any issues.

To bad the damn original Xbox can't do HD mkv. I'd have no reason to ever upgrade.

I don't think that they'll ever get to 100% standardized, but probably 80 or 90% of the way there. I'll do some more reading & figure out my comfort level with the ION platform. I know that I could buy a Revo or a premade PC, but then I'm paying for the assembly + a windows license I don't need. So I'll probably just roll my own.

I like tinkering with things to a point, then I want them to "just work." Note that this point comes when the wife starts giving me the look an complaining about spending all day in front of the computer. This is probably why I don't have an HTPC today.

Per my earlier post - there's no way I can get away without buying more storage. I picked up an 8 port HPT SATA RAID card from newegg for $169 ($100 off + free shipping). I'll decide what drives to pair it with later. I'll probably start with 3 1.5TB drives & go from there.

sean_w_smith

12-01-09, 01:12 AM

ejhuzy

12-01-09, 01:45 PM

BTW: Has anyone else of the unraid crowd tried 4.5 Beta 11. Its screaming fast..... I saw a sustained 70 Megabytes a second tonight copying a DVD Iso and over 55 Megabyes a second on a 40G BD rip. Way faster than before....

highly recommended. been running the 4.5 betas for 6 months with no issue but the last 2 builds are just blinding fast compared to anything previously...

Sean

Sean, is that with a cache drive? I've been holding out on unRAID because I keep hearing it's not fast enough for streaming HD (I know write speed has nothing to do with that). I know you're streaming BD rips and so are others. It's good to hear that they are working on the write speeds.

sean_w_smith

12-01-09, 01:56 PM

sean_w_smith

12-01-09, 01:57 PM

Sean, is that with a cache drive? I've been holding out on unRAID because I keep hearing it's not fast enough for streaming HD (I know write speed has nothing to do with that). I know you're streaming BD rips and so are others. It's good to hear that they are working on the write speeds.

Yes with Cache Drive. I was seeing over 40 megabytes a second without cache drive... read performance is better.... this should easily be able to handle at least 8 BD Streams simultaneously....

Sean

ejhuzy

12-01-09, 02:06 PM

Yes with Cache Drive. I was seeing over 40 megabytes a second without cache drive... read performance is better.... this should easily be able to handle at least 8 BD Streams simultaneously....

Sean

Thanks Sean. The comments tend to be from WHS fanboys. I really like the unRAID model and that's 99% sure the direction I'll go. Right now my bigger question is what to stream the movies to. I'm leaning towards PCH 110 or 200 (for speed) but was hoping a XBMC platform would emerge that handles HD audio and video well.

PrestonD

12-03-09, 01:06 AM

Who ever keeps telling that unraid can't stream HD is clueless.... Every file server I have ever owned can stream multiple BD streams no problem including my POS 600 Mhz Laptop with an external USB drive... your getting advise from people who dont know what they are talking about....

Sean

So my lowly 2.3 Ghz Dell P4 desktop can stream a BD or HD-DVD rip? Or do I have to reformat that file/stream to like a mp4? (POS must be some off brand :D )

PrestonD

12-03-09, 04:38 PM

I just replaced my original xbox with an ION and couldnt be happier.
It's hi-def capable and runs as fast and smooth as the xbox did now that I'm running the Camelot Beta version of XBMC. And, it was only $169 dollars at bestbuy with the paypal/bing special they were running. Not as cheap as an xbox, but not all that expensive for what you get.

Hi Dan,

Whats the details of the ION that you got? I did some searching and mostly everything is netbooks.

Prestond

sean_w_smith

12-03-09, 05:10 PM

PrestonD

12-03-09, 06:10 PM

Hi Sean,
I think what Dan was referring to was the playback itself of the HD content not so much the interface itself.

Let us know your results of your testing
PD

dan4081

12-03-09, 07:50 PM

There are two primary ION platforms that people are buying....

Zotac Motherboard build your Own....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=ion+motherboard&x=0&y=0

and the Acer Revo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=Acer+revo+&x=0&y=0

I will disagree with one thing Dan said. The interface is responsive but its not as fast as it is on the original xbox.... not even close....

most will feel its very fast until you side by side compare scrolling through a couple thousand music thumbnails on both platforms....

Me overall I am still disapointed. No Lossless Audio support is the thing thats keeping me from recommending this instead of a PCH.

XBMC Live on 09.04.1 was a bad. I have not had time to try the latest beta which hopefully will have the HDMI audio issues sorted out.

when my acer aspire shows up later this week I will try the hybrid XMBC/MPC under windows XP and see how that works out....

Sean

The interface with Camelot Beta 1 and the new Confluence skin is just as fast as the xbox was. As a matter of fact, I'd say its faster. My movie thumbnails used to take a long time to show up when I first clicked on 'movies'. Now, its almost instant. Scrolling through all the thumbnails is fast and smooth. Also, the 'pictures' section used to be slow because of the size and quantity of my images, but its much faster on the Revo.
Believe me, I was a bit disappointed when I first tried the XBMC for Windows as an xbox replacement because it didnt seem as smooth or 'snappy' as the xbox did. All that changed with Beta and the new default skin (which is beautiful BTW). This skin has replaced my modified PM3-HD.

BTW I am using the AceAspire Revo, just as Sean mentioned. I went with the 1600 single core, and am using XBMC for Windows.

dan4081

12-03-09, 07:51 PM

Hi Sean,
I think what Dan was referring to was the playback itself of the HD content not so much the interface itself.

Let us know your results of your testing
PD

No, I was referring to the interface Preston. See my post just above.:D

dan4081

12-05-09, 01:52 PM

If anyone is interested Camelot Stable should be released any day now.

CDLehner

12-06-09, 08:43 AM

CDLehner

12-06-09, 08:45 PM

OK...I've had XBMC set-up on an XBox for some time now. I don't ask it to do much; just stream SD .ISO from SMB shares of my HP MSS. Occasionally I'll have trouble with a file locking up, but nothing that a good 'ole reboot doesn't usually resolve. However, last night I ran into an issue I'm having a tough time with.

I have an SD .ISO file that keeps locking up around the same part in the file. When it does, XBMC doesn't handle it very well; it just freezes on the frame...doesn't even stop the file...and when I hold the stop button on the remote down, to force the file stopped...the refresh just spins and spins until it finally shows the share directory, with all the files there, but no data (in other words the files show their size as 0).

When this happened last night (very late) I rebooted the XBMC, my MSS, all the switches and routers in the path...to my sleeping wife's dismay, several times...and the share would always come back, but then the file would lock-up in the same place and everything would happen all over again.

So...it's gotta be like a bitrate issue, yes? If so, what can I do for XBMC to resolve it? I've been thinking about an HTTP server like Apache, for streaming to my PCH; would Apache work/help with XBMC? Can XBMC take advantage of the PVConnect media server "built-in" to my MSS?

Thanks for any help,
CD

NADA? I tell ya, may be time to give up on the 'ole XBMC XBox. Sure, people still say its got the best UI around...and that may be...but ever since I upgraded to a Gig network, I've had nothing but (sporadic) trouble.

Like I said, freezes here and there...and now I just can't get past this issue. I'm not asking the thing to do that much; play a damn SD .ISO. And no...my network is fine, my server is fine, as I don't have any problems with PCH A-110, PS3, etc. I even put a 10/100 switch between the XBMC and my network, hoping that would settle things down, but no dice.

So...any thoughts? Or what's an XBMC-modded box get ya these days? I might have to trade up. :(

CD

sean_w_smith

12-07-09, 12:40 PM

Whats the logfile say. post a debug log over on the XBMC forum and see what the devs have to say.

Sean

dan4081

12-07-09, 02:59 PM

NADA? I tell ya, may be time to give up on the 'ole XBMC XBox. Sure, people still say its got the best UI around...and that may be...but ever since I upgraded to a Gig network, I've had nothing but (sporadic) trouble.

Like I said, freezes here and there...and now I just can't get past this issue. I'm not asking the thing to do that much; play a damn SD .ISO. And no...my network is fine, my server is fine, as I don't have any problems with PCH A-110, PS3, etc. I even put a 10/100 switch between the XBMC and my network, hoping that would settle things down, but no dice.

So...any thoughts? Or what's an XBMC-modded box get ya these days? I might have to trade up. :(

CD

Sorry to hear you are having problems.
I am still running 2 original xbox's with xbmc 9.04 on them. I have recently upgraded a third one to an Aspire Revo running XBMC for Windows.

Of the 2 original xboxs one is hooked directly into my gigabit router, the other is hooked to a 10/100 switch. BTW, I am also streaming from a HP MSS via SMB. I have never had a single freezing problem with any SD DVD, ISO or otherwise.

First thing to check is what version of XBMC is on your xbox? Maybe you have a version that has a known network issue?
If you have any version other than 9.04 I suggest trying that first. Its been rock solid for many people.

If that doesnt help then I would do as Sean said with a debug log over at the XBMC boards. (Though the fact that the same ISO keeps locking up at the same spot suggests a file issue more than hardware or XBMC as the culprit)