Thanks Dan...thanks Sean. I suspect you're right that it's the file, as I'm having some trouble copying it too (?) I will check the version of XBMC and maybe look into that. I have to admit, with the XBMC...I don't ask it to do much, and it usually works just the way I need it to...so I don't know how to futz with it much (check the logfile, check the version, etc...lol).

The thing I don't understand is what could really be wrong with the file. It's ripped just like the 100s of others that work fine...and how the XBMC/XBox handles it; if the file has a problem, fine...lock up, don't play it. But after the file locks XBMC up, it can't play ANYTHING from that share without a reboot; weird :confused:

In any case, I thought maybe it was time to put the old guy out to pasture, but the truth is...my needs at this location really preclude me from getting something newer. For example, I need composite out :o and my TV here is only SD, so anything HD is actually overkill.

Maybe I can get to the bottom of my problem and just stick with the XBMC. Maybe the issue is with hardware; know anything inexpensive and newer than the XBox that I could run the XBMC on instead? With composite out? LOL

CD

Thanks Dan...thanks Sean. I suspect you're right that it's the file, as I'm having some trouble copying it too (?) I will check the version of XBMC and maybe look into that. I have to admit, with the XBMC...I don't ask it to do much, and it usually works just the way I need it to...so I don't know how to futz with it much (check the logfile, check the version, etc...lol).

The thing I don't understand is what could really be wrong with the file. It's ripped just like the 100s of others that work fine...and how the XBMC/XBox handles it; if the file has a problem, fine...lock up, don't play it. But after the file locks XBMC up, it can't play ANYTHING from that share without a reboot; weird :confused:

In any case, I thought maybe it was time to put the old guy out to pasture, but the truth is...my needs at this location really preclude me from getting something newer. For example, I need composite out :o and my TV here is only SD, so anything HD is actually overkill.

Maybe I can get to the bottom of my problem and just stick with the XBMC. Maybe the issue is with hardware; know anything inexpensive and newer than the XBox that I could run the XBMC on instead? With composite out? LOL

CD


your getting way ahead of yourself.....

Lets start with the basics.

Do you have problems with more than 1 file or just this one?

your original post said everything was broken after your network upgrade...

There are infinite reasons that could cause this problem and cause the box to hang. I have DVD and BD rips that play fine on my PC but hang the PCH. Hang it so hard I need to reboot. Again there are literally infinite reasons. I dont think the purpose of this thread is to explain HW/SW achitecture so lets focus on fixing the issue. There doubtfully is anything wrong with the HW. so lets start with basics.

is it one file or more than 1 file?

what XBMC software version?

Sean

your getting way ahead of yourself.....

Lets start with the basics.

Do you have problems with more than 1 file or just this one?

your original post said everything was broken after your network upgrade...

There are infinite reasons that could cause this problem and cause the box to hang. I have DVD and BD rips that play fine on my PC but hang the PCH. Hang it so hard I need to reboot. Again there are literally infinite reasons. I dont think the purpose of this thread is to explain HW/SW achitecture so lets focus on fixing the issue. There doubtfully is anything wrong with the HW. so lets start with basics.

is it one file or more than 1 file?

what XBMC software version?

Sean

Sure Sean. OK, prior to a few months ago, my network was 10/100 and I never had much problem beyond what was reasonable; every once in a while a file might hiccup...every once in a while I might have trouble scanning new files from a share (background...these are SMB shares from my HP MSS).

Since I've upgraded to the Gig routers and switches, issues seem more frequent. Almost all of my files...that played without a hiccup before...would hiccup, at least once during say a 45-minute ripped file. It wasn't anything I couldn't live with...a little stutter, and then things would be OK; sometimes it would stutter 2 or 3 times, in short succession, and that was a little annoying...sometimes I would have to skip forward a little section in order to keep a file going. Then...I started noticing I had a lot more trouble scanning for new files. I thought maybe it was that this particular share had just gone over 1T, and XBMC had trouble with shares of that size...so I started moving files over to another share. One of the things I noticed...at least I can't figure out how to do it...is that you can't run in library mode from more than one share?

And that brings us to these two most recent files; FWIW, The Shield, S7E10 & S7E11. For like the first 35 minutes of S7E10, everything is fine...then, same place every time...BOOM, it blows me up. Same thing happens in the first minute of S7E11, but I did notice this morning if I skip that chapter, things were OK after (not sure if to the end of the file).

Look...I shouldn't have picked on XBMC (sorry XBMC :)); this is likely an issue with those 2 files (again, why I don't know), incompatibility with my Gig network, and...maybe most likely...it appears I am running "pre-2.1", compiled on June 2008 :o So...I assume an update is in order?

CD

CD,

It sounds like you have multiple issues here that we should address individually....

Try 09.04.1 Its a known good stable release....

as for glitches. once you update SW try again.

then I recommend trying increasing the buffer size in the settings menu and also lowering the size in the setting menu and see how that effects things.

I am not sure as to your question about multiple shares. Library mode can access content across multiple shares and even file mode can make multiple shares on multiple servers look like 1 server. Explain what you want to accomplish and we can show you how to do it.

Onto the 2 shows that hang? Did you rip these from DVD, BT, some DVR, etc.... do they play well in other players.... The issue could be an XBMC bug. an improper encode or any number of more subtle issues. All of which has nothing to do with stuttering/glitching in general.

Lets solve the glitching/stuttering issue first and get you on known good software and then we can work out the issue with your 2 TV episodes. This should be relatively easy.

I can say that the majority of xbox I have installed (now over 100) are plugged into GigE's and there has never been an issue. so far I have yet to see any type of incompatibility with the xbox and any of the network gear I plug things into. Its not going to be that hard to fix.

try the suggested two steps and report your findings and then we can take next steps one way or the other.....

Sean

The most stable 'new' XBMC for the xbox that I know of is 9.04. It can be found here:
http://t3ch.yi.se/

Thanks again guys; sounds like a plan. It's been a long time (obviously!) since I did my install...and I just "set it and forgot it" so to speak. So I'll have to re-edu-macate myself on the process. I'll do my best to follow the links, but I might have to check back for a question or three.

Hard to believe it's gone from 2.01 in June of '08, to 9.04 :eek: Looking forward to moving out of the stone-age.

EDIT- What's the difference between a fresh install and an upgrade...you'd keep your library and cover art, etc? At this point, I'd almost rather start the process over. Not all the pre-XBMC stuff, but just install a fresh copy and re-set-up all my shares and stuff. Agreed?

CD

Hey CD,

The upgrade to newer stable release can only help

What I would try before doing anything else (if your system runs fine on all your other media) is since you have an .iso file of the dvd, why not burn an image and try that dvd in another player. Then if that same image blows on that section during playback you know its not the xbmc/xbox/network but the file. It sounds as though the file got corrupted when copying the disk. Or use Daemon Tools and mount the iso and see if it plays in VLC or similar player..if file craps out then its the file.

I have never had a problem with playback of SD material even over wireless G network bridges I have setup

Good luck!

Hey CD,

The upgrade to newer stable release can only help

What I would try before doing anything else (if your system runs fine on all your other media) is since you have an .iso file of the dvd, why not burn an image and try that dvd in another player. Then if that same image blows on that section during playback you know its not the xbmc/xbox/network but the file. It sounds as though the file got corrupted when copying the disk. Or use Daemon Tools and mount the iso and see if it plays in VLC or similar player..if file craps out then its the file.

I have never had a problem with playback of SD material even over wireless G network bridges I have setup

Good luck!

Preston, I did try that at one point...and I got an error writing the file to DVD; so I agree, something must be wrong with the file. Like I said, I was just surprised at how it crippled the XBMC; essentially taking the share down with it until I rebooted.

It's shed some light on being woefully behind in my builds. I mean, I'm a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kinda guy...and as I've said before, I don't ask my XBMC to do much. But, now that I've got an issue, I'm gonna get on a newer build, increase the buffer per Sean's suggestion, and take things from there.

CD

CD,

the versions number changed..... they switch from traditional numbers like 2.1 to a date based system. 09.04.1

.1 patch of april (04) 2009 release. Even though the release came out in may and the .1 patch in June.

The current version they are about to release is 09.11 (November 2009)

Considering how old your build is I would not upgrade just replace it.

I recommend running some other peice of code besides XBMC while upgrading (I dont like upgrading the code thats acutally running). try running the evox dash or whatever your softmod installed.

XMBC is installed in:

e:\apps\xmbc

backup the userdata folder to your PC.

delete e:\apps\xbmc

ftp over the new build.

the replace just the sources.xml and rssfeeds.xml from your backup and then reconfigure from their.

That will eliminate any mysteries surrounding, settings, bad updates or previously misconfigured players....

Sean

and also dont increase the buffer till you test the new version first....

Sean

and also dont increase the buffer till you test the new version first....

Sean

Oops...I already did Sean :o I was actually pretty disappointed that it didn't seem to help with either of those files...and, The Shield S7E12 & E13 also had some stuttering...although it didn't totally lock me up. However, the same places in E10 & E11 still do.

I'll work on the replacement build in the next day or two. Want me to move the Cache back for any reason?

CD

ignore those two episodes for now.

Can you watch movies/videos with skipping and stuttering?

with the default or any other buffer settings?

(the default settings work fine in almost all cases). Turning them up uses precious XBOX memory and will usually cause other issues. The only case where I have seen a legit need to turn them up is with wifi. There is no reason you should need to turn them up on a wired network except as part of debugging.

If not its time to investigate the server to client bandwidth....

u have multiple problems. Lets treat them and solve them as separate problems unless you dont want to actually want solve them :)

Sean

can you also confirm you did a clean install versus an update, which I outlined a few posts up....

Sean

can you also confirm you did a clean install versus an update, which I outlined a few posts up....

Sean

I dont think CD did any update to the xbox yet:

Originally posted by CDLehner:
I'll work on the replacement build in the next day or two.

But when he does I suggest like I said above that he updates (sorry, installs:D) Stable 9.04 instead of trying the newer 9.10 or 9.11 builds since we know 9.04 works well.

I dont think CD did any update to the xbox yet:

Originally posted by CDLehner:
I'll work on the replacement build in the next day or two.

But when he does I suggest like I said above that he updates (sorry, installs:D) Stable 9.04 instead of trying the newer 9.10 or 9.11 builds since we know 9.04 works well.

OK,

Its hard to tell his posts are not very specific.... (or at least to me).....

Sean

OK,

Its hard to tell his posts are not very specific.... (or at least to me).....

Sean

Sorry Sean...I'm specific when I need to be. Dan's right...at this point I have not re-installed v9.04.

CD

Sorry Sean...I'm specific when I need to be. Dan's right...at this point I have not re-installed v9.04.

CD

Can you then explain what you did with the buffers sizes and what the results were.... your last batch of comments were not clear to me. I always ask for details because often the issues the poster's gloss over repeatedly that are the real source of the problem.

Sean

Can you then explain what you did with the buffers sizes and what the results were....

Sean

I maxed-out all the buffers that (I thought) were applicable to streaming video. I see you're point; no sense setting them higher than they need to be, if it eats up memory. Want to make a suggestion for good "default" sizes?

Yes, plenty of files work just fine.

BTW, I'm working on the 9.04 install as we speak.

CD

I maxed-out all the buffers that (I thought) were applicable to streaming video. I see you're point; no sense setting them higher than they need to be, if it eats up memory. Want to make a suggestion for good "default" sizes?

Yes, plenty of files work just fine.

BTW, I'm working on the 9.04 install as we speak.

CD

OK thats very helpful.

that indicated what I expected. you have a network performance issue between the Xbox and the server. The increasing of the buffers is masking the real problem.

report back after the SW upgrade with stock buffer sizes. no need to do this again and then we can start debugging the network and the server and find the root cause of the problem.

I doubt the new SW will fix anything but I have seen weirder things...

I have a number of theories, but lets not get ahead of ourselves....

BTW: My suggestion for good sizes is the default. Its worked in over 100 installations for me. in 2 installs where wifi would drop in and out we turned them up to absorb the drops but in no other case have I ever needed to modify them since the 2.0 release. 1.x was another story.

Sean

CD,

the versions number changed..... they switch from traditional numbers like 2.1 to a date based system. 09.04.1

.1 patch of april (04) 2009 release. Even though the release came out in may and the .1 patch in June.

The current version they are about to release is 09.11 (November 2009)

Considering how old your build is I would not upgrade just replace it.

I recommend running some other peice of code besides XBMC while upgrading (I dont like upgrading the code thats acutally running). try running the evox dash or whatever your softmod installed.

XMBC is installed in:

e:\apps\xmbc

backup the userdata folder to your PC.

delete e:\apps\xbmc

ftp over the new build.

the replace just the sources.xml and rssfeeds.xml from your backup and then reconfigure from their.

That will eliminate any mysteries surrounding, settings, bad updates or previously misconfigured players....

Sean

OK Sean...I backed-up my UserData, deleted XBMC, ftp over the new XBMC...so you're saying I should only replace the sources.xml and rssfeeds.xml from my saved UserData? And then what to rebuild...reboot?

EDIT- Nevermind, I'm good...9.04

CD

yep and then reboot.

no need to rebuild libraries yet as that has nothing to do with what are trying to solve. chances are your old libraries would not have worked coming forward anyway....

Sean

yep and then reboot.

no need to rebuild libraries yet as that has nothing to do with what are trying to solve. chances are your old libraries would not have worked coming forward anyway....

Sean

Ok, and you wanted to confirm my buffers...which should be default at this point, right?

Video, Local Network 2048
Video, Internet 4096

Audio 256 for all (that seems low to me?)

CD

CD

if we assume 256K bit MP3 for sake of discussion then we have about 8 seconds of buffer which is about 100X more than you need on a properly working network connection. Even if we assume FLAC then thats over 2 seconds of buffer.

So what are the results of the new SW?

Sean

CD

if we assume 256K bit MP3 for sake of discussion then we have about 8 seconds of buffer which is about 100X more than you need on a properly working network connection. Even if we assume FLAC then thats over 2 seconds of buffer.

So what are the results of the new SW?

Sean

Well...I can't test every second of every file that I have. Some stuff played just fine last night...but again, most stuff played just fine on 2.1. So...is it time to test the 2 troublesome files?

BTW, to my knowledge...I'm not transcoding audio at all.

CD

Well...I can't test every second of every file that I have. Some stuff played just fine last night...but again, most stuff played just fine on 2.1. So...is it time to test the 2 troublesome files?

BTW, to my knowledge...I'm not transcoding audio at all.

CD

Again, not very clear. you had indicated previously that you had glitching on most all content. Is that glitching gone? I completely realize you can't test everything.

I dont care about the 2 problem files in question until we resolve the basic software and setup and prove the network is working right.

sit down and watch a show or a movie for more than 5 minutes and see what happens....

we'll get to your troubled files....

EDIT: Where does transcoding audio comment come from? What does that have to do with anything?

Sean

Again, not very clear. you had indicated previously that you had glitching on most all content. Is that glitching gone? I completely realize you can't test everything.

I dont care about the 2 problem files in question until we resolve the basic software and setup and prove the network is working right.

sit down and watch a show or a movie for more than 5 minutes and see what happens....

we'll get to your troubled files....

EDIT: Where does transcoding audio comment come from? What does that have to do with anything?

Sean

OK Sean, let me try to be very clear...which IMO is giving way too much info, but...I seem to leave you wondering.

It'll come as no surprise, like most of you, that I have TONS of files ripped. I mostly use my XBMC XBox to watch SD TV-on-DVD that I have ripped to .ISO. I will also watch SD Movies, also ripped as .ISO.

Until a few months ago, I never noticed any significant issue streaming ANY of these files...whether it be Arrested Development, ER, West Wing, The Larry Sanders Show, The Wire, The Shield, Rescue Me, etc., etc., etc. Nor did I have any trouble with various movie files.

As soon as I installed my Gig network (Gig router, and Gig switches at all locations that needed them) I started noticing issues. I was watching Rescue Me at the time, I think...and whereas all the episodes that I watched prior to the network switch, never stuttered...right after the switch I noticed freezing. Just for a second, and then things would resume. Sometimes it would only happen once per ~40-minute episode, sometimes 3 or 4 times throughout; sometimes 2 or 3 times in quick succession, to the point where I might have to skip ahead to get out of a bad section. I can't say with any certainty it happened on 79 out of 100 files watched...84 out of 100 files watched, etc. But it happened regularly enough where I was like "wow, this never happened before the Gig switch and now it happens regularly".

When I posted at the time, you suggested an incompatibility with the switch or router (D-Link "Greens"), and suggested I put a 10/100 switch back between the XBox and the rest of the network. At the time, I didn't, because it was a minor annoyance I could live with...but I always kept the suggestion and solution in my back pocket.

Lately, I've been watching The Shield S6 & S7. I don't recall having many problems...maybe a stutter here or there, like I explained above, but nothing that caused me to remember a problem...until the files in question.

That brings us current. I did start by putting the 10/100 switch back in the loop...I did increase the Cache buffers...and now I have replaced my old, old build with 9.04 (and left the Cache buffers at default). Since upgrading the build, I've watched 3 episodes of The Office without incident...FWTW :confused:

I mentioned that I'm not transcoding in response to your comment that 256K for "audio" is fine for MP3 and FLAC. I assumed (erroneously perhaps?) that "audio" buffering also referred to "soundtrack" audio, which I know some people transcode down to FLAC for example...but I don't. One of the reasons I thought S7 of The Shield might have been giving me some newfound trouble, is...as a newer show...I noticed it was DD5.1, and I thought maybe XBMC was having trouble streaming the bitrate based on my "low" buffer.

I'm probably wrong on a lot of that, but that doesn't make me an idiot. I appreciate the help; the amount of time you devote to the thread is appreciated. But I don't know how much more detailed you want me to be about my problem. I'm in IT myself, and problems of an intermittent nature are always hard to convey, because there's no common thread...there's no rhyme or reason; hence the intermittent nature of the problem. Anyway, that's all I have for now. If you're looking for more or different information, all you need do is ask. I'm grateful for the help.

CD

Thanks for the details....

information which may seem irrevelant to you is usually the cause of where these problems lie which is why I want to know. my knowledge of these topics goes very deep and things I ask about which may seem irrevelant but are extremely important to solving the overall problem or I would not ask.

If you are getting any gltiching at all something is still not right so keep that in mind. XBMC on the Xbox will stream reliably for extended periods of time. (if you see any glitching please let me know and we WILL find the root cause, its not that hard, I still think you have a network related issue lingering).

So now that the basic software is upgraded and it seems like the glitching is gone lets talk about those other files that are causing major problems.

1. why type of files are they? mediainfo cut and paste would be helpful.

2. how did you create them? BT, rip from DVD, recorded on DVR, etc.

3. Does these files play correctly on your PCH? How bout Windows Media Player or VLC on your PC?

EDIT: Audio buffer setting has nothing to do the audio sound track in a videofile. All I was trying to do was clarify your misconception that the default buffer size is too small when in fact is at least 100X overkill.

Sean

CD,

Let me give you an example of why I think you may still have network issue. I dont know all the details of your network upgrade but lets just assume you replaced the old 10/100 switch with a GigE switch and thats it?

How could that possibly cause problems?

well a number of ways. Lets consider the most common. seen this happen more than once.


FastE uses 2 wire pairs.
GigE uses 4 wire pairs.

you could have a nick on one of the wires in the wall to the bedroom
or a staple through the wire in wall.
or a bad termination at the RJ-35 on either end.

The old switch may have had a more robust phy and not caused a lot of re-transmitted packets.

The new switch may be more sensitive to the bad wiring and cause lots of retransmitted packets (remember SMB is used TCP as a transport and not
UDP).

Therefore the xbox could start stuttering due to the retransmits.

Unless you have a smart ethernet switch or a TDR (Time Domain Reflectometer) to test your wiring you could indeed have a marginal drop and never have noticed it.

This is not what I would even consider a subtle bug. It happens all the time. They key is knowing how to ask the right questions and debug things in a logical manner to get the root cause.

which is why I suggest inserting the old switch in the link. what I didn't make clear in the the old switch would be need to wired in the closet not the bedroom to test this.

your upgrade may have involved running new wires, replacing patch cables and other aspects which seem harmless but can have everything to do with your problem.

you could have installed a SW update for some SW and its generating a lot of broadcast traffic and congestion the packet processing on the xbox. The possibilities are literally infinite. The only way to solve these types of problems is to take a deterministic divide and conquer approach until the root cause is determined.

Hopefully this explains some of my thought process and why I want to know details and stay focused.

Sean

information which may seem irrevelant to you is usually the cause of where these problems lie which is why I want to know. my knowledge of these topics goes very deep and things I ask about which may seem irrevelant but are extremely important to solving the overall problem or I would not ask.

Sure, I understand that Sean; as I said, I'm in IT myself and I get accused all the time of seemingly talking down to someone when I'm really just trying to elicit information. Not to beat this into the ground, but if you need to know something you only have but to ask; I have never been accused of brevity :D In some of those posts, I was initiating; I didn't feel as if I was responding to a request for information. So I was puzzled by a response like "not very clear" or "not enough information". Bottom line is it's all good.

OK, that being said...I think we (you) may have uncovered my problem; at least what has to be a significant part of it. My "upgrade" was simply replacing the router and switches. I went Gig mainly for the C-200, as that's the only device in the house that has a Gig port (obviously XBox doesn't have one, A-110 doesn't ((oops, maybe the A-110 does? I always thought this was one of the upgrades for the C-200)), does the PS-3?), but now it's gone (and a Zino HD...with Gig port...lol...is on it's way as a replacement).

When I was looking to wire my house for networking, I uncovered that Cat5 (not Cat3, as I checked...but I can't remember if it was 5e or just stock 5) was run for the telephone jacks. Since we VoIP anyway, I clipped everything and used those runs for my networking. However, I definitely know that at least some of the runs only had two pairs left. Some had all 4, and I used them if they were there, but I didn't sweat the locations that had just two, because I knew "ethernet" only used 2. However, I didn't know Gig took advantage of all 4. So there ya go.

That being said, as an IT guy, and a troubleshooter by occupation, if not nature...I have to ask: even though I have no doubt this is a big part of the problem, why would something as intrinsic as the cable itself only cause a problem sometimes? On some files and not others?

So...short of re-pulling Cat6 through the house (which now that you've enlightened me, is not out of the question)...how do I optimize and try to take care of the occasional issues...and the 2 big ones?

ALL of my SD files...except for the rare, newer title that beats the decrypter...are backed-up using DVD Shrink (remember when I said I'm a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kinda guy...lol), from a disc, to .ISO. I haven't tried playing them on my A-110 yet (and of course they won't play on the PS-3...well, natively), but I can. Also, I'll post mediainfo on the files in question to follow.

EDIT- Ah, it doesn't appear that mediainfo will give you info on .ISO images? I've only ever used it for .m2ts

CD

CD,

not to get too sidetracked but you asked why?

It could be many factors....

1. the receiver has better jitter tolerance
2. the receiver has better common mode noise rejection.
3. you got a fast part or a slow part.

lets try to simplify this for those following along.

There are no 1's and O's in digital chips. There are still only analog voltages.

Lets say for discussions sake that a 1 is any voltage above 2.5V.

Lets say design A really tolerates 2.4V as a 1 and design B tolerates 2.5V as a 1.

lets say then the signal on your wire is modulating only to 2.48 (due to resasons I outlined in prevous posts). Lets say noise is another +/- .05v

so now design A will correctly detect the 1 but in the +.05V Noise case receiver B will not detect the 1 correctly.

so due to improper cabling or a bad design or a fast or slow part the margin for error has been eroded so that its close enough that random noise will effect the results.

I designed a DDR controller that had a bug like this in the read path clock sync logic where it would only fail once ever 15 trillion operations! talk about a pain to debug.

Anyway, that trys to explain why. I would most liklely suggest that the switches are fine and some of wires in the walls are less than ideal (happens all the time, my utah house has shorted pairs all over the place).

try those really problem files on VLC on your PC and the PCH and see what happens there.... I use shrink a lot too but once in a while I have found it will mess something up. Also just because hollywood are pros does not mean that once in a while they dont encode things properly which results in files that are slightly out of spec. Oppo made a name in being the first player that really could tolerate a lot of these bad encodes. Anyway, give those other players a shot and lets see what the behavior is for reference.

Glad this is helping. certainly a lot of typing on both ends... back to debugging code.

Sean

BTW: Anyway, did anyone try camelot yet on the Xbox?

I have not had time....

Sean

I cant remember the xbox build version I use, its basically been the same one the Dan pointed me to last summer. It seems to work fine so have been hesitant to upgrade. Is there way in the xbmc dashboard to determine what current build is?

Looks like in some of the scripts like Installer Passion and Navi X they have capablility for updating skins....but am reluctant to change anything...anyone use this method for changing skins?

Kinda off topic, but has any of the regulars here in the XBMC thread tried the Windows Media Center (MCE) interface? I have been using that for live tv and streaming from htpc in office to living room hdtv with xbox 360 as an extender. Its pretty good interface, easy bells and whistles especially with My Movies. I did upgrade to win7, but I like the vista mce performance much much better, the Movie Library in win7 mce is absolutely terrible. I wouldnt suggest upgrading to win 7 for mce, the vista seems more stable. I have cable dvr tuner (Scientific Atlanta) in the living room but this mce interface runs circles around the cable dvr interface. I have a HAVA device that I use for my tuner to MCE. Only problem with that its 480p at best, but I get all the digital cable box channels.

I cant remember the xbox build version I use, its basically been the same one the Dan pointed me to last summer. It seems to work fine so have been hesitant to upgrade. Is there way in the xbmc dashboard to determine what current build is?

Looks like in some of the scripts like Installer Passion and Navi X they have capablility for updating skins....but am reluctant to change anything...anyone use this method for changing skins?

Kinda off topic, but has any of the regulars here in the XBMC thread tried the Windows Media Center (MCE) interface? I have been using that for live tv and streaming from htpc in office to living room hdtv with xbox 360 as an extender. Its pretty good interface, easy bells and whistles especially with My Movies. I did upgrade to win7, but I like the vista mce performance much much better, the Movie Library in win7 mce is absolutely terrible. I wouldnt suggest upgrading to win 7 for mce, the vista seems more stable. I have cable dvr tuner (Scientific Atlanta) in the living room but this mce interface runs circles around the cable dvr interface. I have a HAVA device that I use for my tuner to MCE. Only problem with that its 480p at best, but I get all the digital cable box channels.

you can find the version # info on the system info screen which is on the shutdown menu. 09.04.1 is a great stable version. much better than last summers versions.... but I expect a new production release any week now but wont know if its any good. I'll have to wait and see. So dont bother upgrading just yet....

Yes I have tried MCE over the years include Win7. Not interested in at as DVR as I dont watch Standard Def TV and there is no interface for DirectTV Satellite. The interface on win7 was OK but is way slower than XBMC on the same hardware and lacked a lot of the features I am used to in the music playback area. The movie plugins make it usable...

Sean

...and there is no interface for DirectTV Satellite. The interface on win7 was OK but is way slower than XBMC on the same hardware and lacked a lot of the features I am used to in the music playback area. The movie plugins make it usable...
Sean

There are some alternatives....essentially taking advantage of analog "hole" with component outputs.

Hauppauge DVR can be used for true hi def up to 1080i as they have 3rd party mce plugin. That'll cost around $300. You hook up the Hauppauge unit to the component output of the directv receiver.

If you can live with 480p then you can get Hava box (I got mine off Woot for $50) and interface that with mce and hook up the Hava to the Directv component output.

Totally Win 7 MCE is sluggish when compared to Vista MCE. Knowing what I know now I wouldnt have upgraded my htpc to Win 7.

Thanks for the XBMC version tip...as always you are very knowledgeable and informative.

Preston

0 interest in SD or degrading my content at all. I want bit for bit what comes off the satellite and there is only one solution that does that which I am very happy with. I have 5 HD DVR and with 3TB of storage and multiroom viewing. Life is good..... Oh yeah and I never have to do anything to them. I have 0 desire for another hacking project or having my TV viewing but subject to the whims of windows.

Sean

0 interest in SD or degrading my content at all. I want bit for bit what comes off the satellite and there is only one solution that does that which I am very happy with. I have 5 HD DVR and with 3TB of storage and multiroom viewing. Life is good..... Oh yeah and I never have to do anything to them. I have 0 desire for another hacking project or having my TV viewing but subject to the whims of windows.

Sean

Yeah the xbmc interface and ease of use is the best so far but I didnt know that Directv has gotten so capable...So the directv hd dvr can share content on each dvr with one another? Can you download recorded hd shows from Directv HD DVRs to your NAS? Do they have similar functionality with sharing and fie transfer like Tivo?

So the directv hd dvr can share content on each dvr with one another? Can you download recorded hd shows from Directv HD DVRs to your NAS? Do they have similar functionality with sharing and fie transfer like Tivo?

The D* HD DVR already acts as a media extender. It can play files from a NAS or other devices on your network. Honestly I haven't looked at it seriously because that's what I have the XBMC for. Also, I refuse to run any transcoding or UPNP/Media serving software on my server. The DVR-DVR streaming is something I hear they're working on. I should probably look that up to see if it's been released. The ReplayTV had this functionality and it was very useful.

I have 3 xboxes and one of them has the replacement cord with the circuit breaker. Today the circuit breaker started tripping if when its not plugged into the xbox. I'm hoping I can find one locally.

Call Microsoft. The number should be on the power cord. They replaced one for me about a year and a half ago, 4 years out of warranty.

I was wondering what the optimal way for setting up the xbox (w/ xmbc) w/ a home theater system is to play my dvd iso's from the server? I've currently got my xbox going into the hdtv via the original composite connectors and then to from the tv out to the reciever via toslink. Is there a better method to hook it up, mainly thinking sound wise?

For reference, the setup is Panasonic TC-P42X1 TV and the receiver is Pioneer SX-519V-K

Sure use a component cable instead of composite. That will make a tremendous difference....

getting expensive these days and I have not found any cheaper alternatives....
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Component-Video-Cable/dp/B00005TN7U/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1262060277&sr=8-13

and you need one of these two for the toslink output.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Cable-100-XLW100K-FO-10/dp/B000H5IYT2/ref=pd_sim_vg_1

you can't get much worse than what you have. getting toslink for 5.1 and component for video will re-invigorate the xbox.

whether you switch the component video through your receiver is up to you. toslink needs to go from xbox to the receiver. you should have no toslink inputs or outputs to your TV.

Sean

Yeah the xbmc interface and ease of use is the best so far but I didnt know that Directv has gotten so capable...So the directv hd dvr can share content on each dvr with one another? Can you download recorded hd shows from Directv HD DVRs to your NAS? Do they have similar functionality with sharing and fie transfer like Tivo?

There is no way to get content digitally off their DVR. I loved my tivo's and owned 7 of them but I would not trade my HR20 for a Tivo if such a beast existed. There are somethings which drive me nuts about tivo (lack of PIP) that I can't live without anymore.

Sean

The D* HD DVR already acts as a media extender. It can play files from a NAS or other devices on your network. Honestly I haven't looked at it seriously because that's what I have the XBMC for. Also, I refuse to run any transcoding or UPNP/Media serving software on my server. The DVR-DVR streaming is something I hear they're working on. I should probably look that up to see if it's been released. The ReplayTV had this functionality and it was very useful.

Its not officially released but its on the cutting edge for download. the media center in the HR20 is crap. about the same at tivos pitful attempt at media playing....

Sean

Sure use a component cable instead of composite. That will make a tremendous difference....

getting expensive these days and I have not found any cheaper alternatives....
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Component-Video-Cable/dp/B00005TN7U/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1262060277&sr=8-13

and you need one of these two for the toslink output.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Cable-100-XLW100K-FO-10/dp/B000H5IYT2/ref=pd_sim_vg_1

you can't get much worse than what you have. getting toslink for 5.1 and component for video will re-invigorate the xbox.

whether you switch the component video through your receiver is up to you. toslink needs to go from xbox to the receiver. you should have no toslink inputs or outputs to your TV.

Sean

Thanks for the links Sean. Ouch, wasn't expecting about $100 for that. Any way I could use the MS AV pack somehow?

do you have an MS HD pack if so yes if not no

you can find them for less than $100 on amazon. more like $50

Sean

I think I found one a lot cheaper on ebay that should work as it has the digital audio out.

Link (http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Definition-HDTV-HD-TV-AV-Pack-For-Microsoft-Xbox_W0QQitemZ230369764886QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Acc essories?hash=item35a31ba616)

good luck. let us know how its worked.

I have tried about 8 different kinds of these over the last 5 years. The only ones that were any good were the MS, monster and psyclone. All of which are no longer made....

I'm going to buy one too and see if they are any good....

Sean

OK I bought one. I'll let everyone know how the PQ is and if the toslink audio works correctly.

Cheers,
Sean

I put in an order as well, hope it works as advertised.

we'll see....


BTW: Still seems like no new XBMC for Xbox release.

been too busy trying to finish a project to have anytime to hack around...

I remain optimistic that we might see a few more releases for the old xbox but could happily live for a long time with 9.04.1

anyone tried the Dec 13 T3CH build?

BTW: XMBC does not seem to work on my quad core win 7 64bit install. haven't investigated. no real use in loading it other than to tinker around.

Did get 3 revos built and delivered to some friends over the holidays. Have a great image procedure that takes a stock revo to fully configured XBMC rig in about 10 minutes...

not that the whole solution is perfect yet but at least with standard HW like aver revo once you get some working reasonably well you can clone. Still have not tried the released 09.11 live image. hopefully that will just work someday. If trying to get XBMC to work on a standard HW config like ION is such a pain the geneeral purpose world of HTPC's must still be a disaster...

nuff ramblin...

EDIT: BTW has anyone else noticed that the Camelot releases on PC and my Mac mini are blazing fast scraping music. What takes 1.5 days on my xbox happens in a few hours!!!! Not the babylon on the PC was not faster but this is whole another level.

Sean

I think I found one a lot cheaper on ebay that should work as it has the digital audio out.

Link (http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Definition-HDTV-HD-TV-AV-Pack-For-Microsoft-Xbox_W0QQitemZ230369764886QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Acc essories?hash=item35a31ba616)

I keep shying away from these as they use the OEM Microsoft picture, then state this in the bullet points:
Third party product, not made by Microsoft

I guess $15 isn't too big of a gamble, but still I wish they would be honest about the product, packaging and manufacturer.

On the Monster products, why do you need the $50 Toslink cable? Why can't you just use whatever toslink you have lying around? Does it have a special connector combination?

Yes its a little sneaky.... Lets see how it works....

The monster cable uses a proprietary adapter to the standard toslink which is only included with their overpriced toslink cable.

But there you can get them for $15 not $50

Sean

I think I found one a lot cheaper on ebay that should work as it has the digital audio out.

Link (http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Definition-HDTV-HD-TV-AV-Pack-For-Microsoft-Xbox_W0QQitemZ230369764886QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Acc essories?hash=item35a31ba616)

This (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330387452196) looks like a psyclone one if anyone's still interested.

If it doesn't work, I'll consider it a worthwhile try, but I refuse to buy the Monster cables on principal that they so overprice their products.

If it doesn't work, I'll consider it a worthwhile try, but I refuse to buy the Monster cables on principal that they so overprice their products.

I agree and do not purchase the overpriced Monster cables myself. However, I think there's a typo in the listing and believe the one for sale is not a Monster but a Psyclone which takes a regular optical cable (someone can correct me if I am wrong). In any case, hope you get one that works best for you.

Ok; received a new APTV with Boxee and XBMC installed! Figured out Boxee without any problems... I have spent time over at the XBMC site; but way to techy for me.... Can someone please give me a step by step instructions so I can enable my XBMC to see my network. I enabled sharing on my PC; but can't get past step one: Configuring it for my network? Any help; greatly appreciated! Thxs

Ok; received a new APTV with Boxee and XBMC installed! Figured out Boxee without any problems... I have spent time over at the XBMC site; but way to techy for me.... Can someone please give me a step by step instructions so I can enable my XBMC to see my network. I enabled sharing on my PC; but can't get past step one: Configuring it for my network? Any help; greatly appreciated! Thxs

select auto configure for TCPIP setup and plug it into your network. There is nothing different about configuring an ATV as there is any other device on your network that uses TCPIP. hack for boxee and xbmc has nothing to do with it.

Sean

Hey guys, 2 questions for anyone who can help. I am looking at using SBMC on my xbox but have come accross an issue. The long term plan is to have a Media Center DVR that records of HD Cable, so I would end up with a number of files in HD format. I was going to use the X-Box on a TV that wasn't HD but I would still want it to read those files and broadcast them at SD resolution.

What happens if I have media files that are 720p or 1080i? Will XBMC scale it down for the XBOX or does everything have to be recorded in a lower resolution?

Has anyone used XBMC "Live" installed on a thumb drive to run on a box that only functions as a media sever. I'm wondering if a small computer might be the alternative to the X-Box to get over this problem since it looks like XBMC will read the files, its only the limitatiosn of the xbox that wont allow the HD programs.

Thanks!

Hey guys, 2 questions for anyone who can help. I am looking at using SBMC on my xbox but have come accross an issue. The long term plan is to have a Media Center DVR that records of HD Cable, so I would end up with a number of files in HD format. I was going to use the X-Box on a TV that wasn't HD but I would still want it to read those files and broadcast them at SD resolution.

What happens if I have media files that are 720p or 1080i? Will XBMC scale it down for the XBOX or does everything have to be recorded in a lower resolution?

Has anyone used XBMC "Live" installed on a thumb drive to run on a box that only functions as a media sever. I'm wondering if a small computer might be the alternative to the X-Box to get over this problem since it looks like XBMC will read the files, its only the limitatiosn of the xbox that wont allow the HD programs.

Thanks!


Xbox wont play the HD files from your DVR. It does not have enough cpu processing power.

for info on #2 check out the acer revo aspire or the ION threads here...

Sean

Xbox wont play the HD files from your DVR. It does not have enough cpu processing power.

for info on #2 check out the acer revo aspire or the ION threads here...

Sean

Thanks, that is what I thought I would hear back on the HD files.

I have looked at the ION, but have only seen it for $300 bare bones (no memory or HD). More fully loaded. I was hoping to keep cost down by using X-Box but that may not be possible. There certainly are more options at this price range. I will do some reading for people using the ION with XBMC Live.

Thanks for the feedback.

I built one for $200

the acer is $200 with RAM, a 160HD and a windows XP license.

read some more....

Sean

^^ for HD you may want to look into something like the WD TV Live (Live version has the network plug). I may go that route when it comes time to upgrade from my xbox in the den.

Ok, I got my adapter in today (much faster than I expected).

I got it hooked up now to my tv and then went into the xbox dashboard settings and set the audio and video options (turned on 720p and the audio, dolby I think). I then went and tested out a movie, Black Hawk Down streaming from the server.

First and foremost, after restarting the xbox after changing the settings the screen clarity was immediately noticeably better. Then came the movie. WOW, the picture and the sound look much better, so worth the $15 for the part. Now I just have to wire it up nicely.

mine showed up too. I will comment on the image quality compared to the other adapters I have.

Make sure to set audio to digital and enable DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1 pass through.

Sean

Has anyone here tried PlayOn (running on a central server) to transcode/stream on-the-fly high-def content to an XBox? I bought two Revos a while back but still have a few XBoxes and now that I'm starting to switch over from standard-def DVD .ISO rips to Blu-ray rips, I'd like to still be able to stream everything to either the Revos (at full quality with no transcoding required) as well as to my XBoxes in other rooms (transcoded to lower quality, but hopefully at least as good as the standard-def DVD .ISO's would have offered).

I built one for $200

the acer is $200 with RAM, a 160HD and a windows XP license.

read some more....

Sean

OK, help me aout a little more. I haven't seen it anywhere that cheap but will keep looking. Any directions to point me?

I saw a post abouta deal at best buy but nothing on their website about it.

I have a spare windows license and possibly the HD, just need the board, case, RAM.

EDIT: Iwas looking at the ASRocks Ion before that was $400. Looks like I could get an ASUS MB with similar chips on it for $150-160, just have to find that tiny case.

Curious about the componenet adapter (currently at work so I can't test this) but does it have to plug directly to the TV or would it work if I plugged it into a receiver (mine is Pioneer VSX-519V-K) and use it's HDMI output to the TV?

OK, help me aout a little more. I haven't seen it anywhere that cheap but will keep looking. Any directions to point me?

I saw a post abouta deal at best buy but nothing on their website about it.

I have a spare windows license and possibly the HD, just need the board, case, RAM.

EDIT: Iwas looking at the ASRocks Ion before that was $400. Looks like I could get an ASUS MB with similar chips on it for $150-160, just have to find that tiny case.


BestBuy has the Acer Aspire Revo for $199. Thats what most of the posters on the Revo/XBMC thread paid. I got lucky and bought mine from BestBuy for $169 when they were running the Paypal/Bing deal.
That is for the single core, Windows XP, 160gb model.

Here is the page at BestBuy...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+AspireRevo+Nettop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Atom%26%23153%3B+P rocessor/9535434.p?id=1218120545008&skuId=9535434&st=acer&cp=2&lp=10

What are / is the best option available now? I just looked on ebay and found these.

Are there others / official ones you'd recommend for now?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110353580521&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390138210185&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160389472078&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230369764886&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

First two listings don't appear to have a digital out.
Third does, but I have never seen that company before.
The last listing is the one that I bought, from the same seller too, and worked amazing. All connections were tight.

we'll see....


BTW: Still seems like no new XBMC for Xbox release.

been too busy trying to finish a project to have anytime to hack around...

I remain optimistic that we might see a few more releases for the old xbox but could happily live for a long time with 9.04.1

anyone tried the Dec 13 T3CH build?

BTW: XMBC does not seem to work on my quad core win 7 64bit install. haven't investigated. no real use in loading it other than to tinker around.

Did get 3 revos built and delivered to some friends over the holidays. Have a great image procedure that takes a stock revo to fully configured XBMC rig in about 10 minutes...

not that the whole solution is perfect yet but at least with standard HW like aver revo once you get some working reasonably well you can clone. Still have not tried the released 09.11 live image. hopefully that will just work someday. If trying to get XBMC to work on a standard HW config like ION is such a pain the geneeral purpose world of HTPC's must still be a disaster...

nuff ramblin...

EDIT: BTW has anyone else noticed that the Camelot releases on PC and my Mac mini are blazing fast scraping music. What takes 1.5 days on my xbox happens in a few hours!!!! Not the babylon on the PC was not faster but this is whole another level.

Sean

Nothing but problems with the latest 9.11 Live CD. I tried it on my AMD780G and it just hung when I tried to access any networked resources (didn't try local). Same with my asus eepc 1009 (intel GMA).

I still have the first stable build on my xbox, and I'm hesitant to upgrade, even to the babylon release which is build number what?

Curious about the componenet adapter (currently at work so I can't test this) but does it have to plug directly to the TV or would it work if I plugged it into a receiver (mine is Pioneer VSX-519V-K) and use it's HDMI output to the TV?
It's just a component out from the xbox. It's analog and will plug into whatever.

Has anyone here tried PlayOn (running on a central server) to transcode/stream on-the-fly high-def content to an XBox? I bought two Revos a while back but still have a few XBoxes and now that I'm starting to switch over from standard-def DVD .ISO rips to Blu-ray rips, I'd like to still be able to stream everything to either the Revos (at full quality with no transcoding required) as well as to my XBoxes in other rooms (transcoded to lower quality, but hopefully at least as good as the standard-def DVD .ISO's would have offered).

I use PlayOn to stream Hulu to my xbox. I just shared some of my videos and had PlayOn transcode a 720p H264 video just fine. It seems PlayOn's max encode resolution is 720x404 MPEG2 with 2 channel 192kbps mp3 audio.

I use PlayOn to stream Hulu to my xbox. I just shared some of my videos and had PlayOn transcode a 720p H264 video just fine. It seems PlayOn's max encode resolution is 720x404 MPEG2 with 2 channel 192kbps mp3 audio.Can you elaborate on the picture quality? Is the end result smooth and overall better looking than, say, an uncompressed standard-def DVD ISO file? Obviously, based on your comments I would be losing out on multi-channel audio, but I only have one room with a multi-channel speaker setup and that room has a Revo in it, so that room/box wouldn't need to make use of PlayOn. But other rooms with XBoxes would be connected to 720p displays, so it would be great if I could get better-than-DVD PQ in those rooms.

Can you elaborate on the picture quality? Is the end result smooth and overall better looking than, say, an uncompressed standard-def DVD ISO file? Obviously, based on your comments I would be losing out on multi-channel audio, but I only have one room with a multi-channel speaker setup and that room has a Revo in it, so that room/box wouldn't need to make use of PlayOn. But other rooms with XBoxes would be connected to 720p displays, so it would be great if I could get better-than-DVD PQ in those rooms.

It seems smooth and picture quality does not look bad. I don't have many test HD videos at the moment to do a good comparison unfortunately. I believe you can get a 7 or 14 day trial with playon to see how it would work with your videos. I think it may also depend on your pc processing power (i have a core i7 920). This feature is fairly new and is still in beta for PlayOn.

XBMC question for anyone that can help with a network issue:

I just started trying to use XBMC for the first time. I am using the Live version isntalled on a thumb drive. It loads fine with no errors.

I am trying to add a media source (shared folder on another computer) and I keep getting a nework error. When I try to add a specific source it immediately comes back and tells me it can't find it, so fast its as if it couldnt even connect to the network. When I try to browse for the source it hesitates for about 30 secs and then tells me the network connection timed out. When I go look at my router, it has handed out an IP address to the XBMC system.

When I boot Win XP on this computer, it runs on the network fine (IE Internet works etc).

Any thoughts?

XBMC question for anyone that can help with a network issue:

I just started trying to use XBMC for the first time. I am using the Live version isntalled on a thumb drive. It loads fine with no errors.

I am trying to add a media source (shared folder on another computer) and I keep getting a nework error. When I try to add a specific source it immediately comes back and tells me it can't find it, so fast its as if it couldnt even connect to the network. When I try to browse for the source it hesitates for about 30 secs and then tells me the network connection timed out. When I go look at my router, it has handed out an IP address to the XBMC system.

When I boot Win XP on this computer, it runs on the network fine (IE Internet works etc).

Any thoughts?

Do you have a 2nd computer on your network that you can use to see if you can access the shared folder?

Anyone know if it's possible to use a non-XBox remote with the XBox/XBMC? I recently have been playing around with using a TiVo remote with my Acer AspireRevo running XBMC, but I'd like to try the same with some of the classic XBoxes I've got which are running XBMC (for a consistent user experience). I can't seem to use putty to get over to my XBMC, and with my FTP app (FileZilla), I'm not seeing the same directory structure on my XBox as I see with XBMC-Live. I thought the XBox was running Linux, so I expected the directory structure/files to look the same.

Specifically, I was hoping to find a /etc/lirc/lircd.conf file.

Xbox does NOT RUN Linux.

Xbox runs a special version of windows CE. There is no remote remapping available for the original xbox... you are out of luck.... unless you want to develop said application yourself.

Thew first clue should the drive letters. c,d,e etc... thats a windows specific concept.



Sean

Xbox does NOT RUN Linux.

...

Thew first clue should the drive letters. c,d,e etc... thats a windows specific concept.Indeed. I thought I read a long while back that the original XBox ran Linux and that was a source of some ribbing/embarrassment by MS since it didn't run one of their own OSes, which was to be later remedied by the XBox 360. I guess I dreamed it all.

Ah well...that puts a bit of a damper, then, in my plan of using TiVo remotes all around the house. So I either deal with some inconsistency, or I buy a few new Harmony remotes. Or I buy a couple more Revos.

Nah every MS product ever produce ran a MS OS. Nothing has EVER and I mean ever run linux... someone somwhere put out some bad info...

Sean

There is no remote remapping available for the original xbox... you are out of luck.... unless you want to develop said application yourself.
Sean

I thought keymap.xml was for this purpose. I have no experience with it, however.

I thought keymap.xml was for this purpose. I have no experience with it, however.
Well, I did a little more searching on this and got my hopes up, but then got let down. It turns out that there is the possibility of using other "universal" remote controls with the XBox. To try and get this to work you would edit (or create if you don't already have one) the advancedsettings.xml file (stored in the UserData folder) and temporarily add the following:
<advancedsettings>
<displayremotecodes>true</displayremotecodes>
</advancedsettings>
Then, reboot the XBox.

Now, point your remote at the XBox and start pushing some buttons. If all goes well, you'll see a bit of text flash up in the top left corner of the screen which reads "Remote Code: xx" where xx is a number. Push every button on your remote individually and write down what the code is.

Then, you remove the "displayremotecodes" tag from advancedsettings.xml and edit your keymap.xml file, adding in "universalremote" blocks using the following syntax:
<universalremote>
<obc45>Stop</obc45>
</universalremote>
...where obc45 would be obc followed by the remote code number that you previously wrote down.

That's all wonderful and all, but it looks like it will only work with remote controls that are transmitting a signal similar to what the XBox remote transmits. In the case of my TiVo remote, pressing the buttons never produced any on-screen messages with the button code information, so the official XBox IR receiver apparently can't see the TiVo remote signals.

Yes it only understands RCA (Style) remote codes... I had tried this before many years ago with the same success..

Sean

Seems other option would be a universal remote.

What about using some tivo friendly universals that provide similar functionality? I'm using the One For All URC6131n currently and those can be had pretty cheap. Though I'd recommend one that is JP1 capable.

If you're going to buy some new remotes and want to stay relatively cheap, you can get a refurbed Harmony 620 for $50 from TigerDirect, and they offer Bing cashback (yesterday it was up to 15%).

For now I think I'll be cheap and use my TiVo remote with my Revo's, and have the rooms which are still using XBoxes use an XBox remote.

I am running XBMC on XBOX, these are the standard def WMVs not HD. On playback from my Iomega NAS via wired network they play somewhat jerky. It plays for about 10 seconds then gets jerky...then plays for about 10 seconds then gets jerky.

These wmv's are from mpeg's that I converted with Windows Movie Maker to wmv. The mpegs that these wmv's are made from play fine, so the bitrate and all appears to be within specs and the wmv is supposed to be smaller bitrate than the mpeg.

I want to use a format that is compatible with windows media center (plus extenders) and xbmc and a format that doesnt take up too much space on the server so the wmv format I thought would be good to use.

Anybody have any experience with these or any suggestions?

If no one uses wmv's what other video file formats do you use if compatible with windows mce and extenders and xbmc on xbox for standard def stuff?

I've converted all my videos to ISO or AVI for playback on my tv w/ my xbox, but have had issues in the past with AVI so I stick to ISO 100% now. Not sure if it plays on MCE because I haven't thought to test it yet.

Well I checked the xbox and when playing the wmv the cpu is pegged at 100%, when playing the same movie in mpeg2 the cpu utilization is only 50%. I guess xbmc on xbox is not ready for wmv (wmv9 - wide screen standard def setting)

ISO files work great for me streaming through a wireless ethernet adapter to my home network. Streaming video via internet is still a problem though. Can hardly rewind or fast forward, choppy, and files just quit without warning oftentimes...

I recently modified my system so that an external hard drive of music, movies, and pictures is now connected directly to my router that the Xbox running XBMC is also plugged into. When I attempt to add a music source, for example, I can see the router. Clicking on it gives me a "default" folder, but when I click on that I get "Lock settings" asking for username and password. Profile is set up so that lock settings is disabled...I used xbox/xbox and router username/password, both don't work. What's going on and how do I add this drive again so that I can access everything? Thanks for any help!

Its an issue with the how the router is advertising its SMB shares.... what router is it? I have had poor luck with many of these...

Sean

It's a Linksys WRT610N...I went into the router page under "Storage" then "Disk"...and then tried to "create share". I entered a display name (what I originally called the hard drive), partition is NTFS2...location is somehow "/foreign_shares/NTFS2" and share entire partition is checked...

I recently modified my system so that an external hard drive of music, movies, and pictures is now connected directly to my router that the Xbox running XBMC is also plugged into. When I attempt to add a music source, for example, I can see the router. Clicking on it gives me a "default" folder, but when I click on that I get "Lock settings" asking for username and password. Profile is set up so that lock settings is disabled...I used xbox/xbox and router username/password, both don't work. What's going on and how do I add this drive again so that I can access everything? Thanks for any help!

Appendix B of the Router manual here says the default user name is admin and the default password is admin.

http://homedownloads.cisco.com/downloads/userguide/WRT610N_V20_UG_NC-WEB.pdf

test this from a PC first and then setup XBMC afterwords.

XBMC and Windows prior to Vista/7 default to userid: guest and password is blank/no password.

There is a link on that page that how to create accounts on the router.

once you get that figure out. The xbox should be easy.

If you can get guest thing going it will be really simple. Otherwise you can encode the password in the sources.xml. Syntax for that approach is documented here...

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Adding_Media_Sources

but for short its....

<path>smb://username:password@server.com/share/music/</path>

This should get you going....

Sean

Sean--you're awesome. I got it to work...seems like something about having my roaming laptop find that drive first helped the xbox/xbmc along in finding it as well...admin/admin was the ticket. Awesome, back in business...thanks!!!!!!

One question...with each fresh power-up of the xbox/xbmc do I have to enter admin/admin to get to that drive or is there a way in settings I can automatically access those files without doing that each time?...

Hi all,

Looking for relatively inexpensive NAS suggestions. Some of my criteria are listed below. This will primarily be used for storing music that is played with a Sonos sytem, videos played with XBMC (on old Xbox for now, possibly moving to Aspire Revo or something similar soon), and general file/photo backups.

Looking for something that can do RAID (1, I think? Full mirror drive is what I'd like). 1.5-2TB storage. Would like to stay under $400. Low power usage would be nice, so ability to spin down drives is a plus.

Would really like something where I can share files, particularly photos, over the web by giving out a URL to friends/family, but not sure how common this is outside of Windows Home Server.

No need for built-in BT client, iTunes server. uPnP might be nice at some point, but no need for it at the moment.

One option I am considering is the D-Link DNS-321, currently onsale at Amazon for under $100 (diskless). Slap in 2x2TB drives and that gets me to around $350-400ish. I think it can share files over FTP but not web-based (URL).

WHS boxes seem cool, but are probably overkill for what I need in terms of power usage and features, not to mention cost.

Right now I have a big old tower desktop that was my primary computer, connected to a single 1TB external drive which I think is failing. Since I've switched to a laptop I don't really need the desktop anymore so I want to sell it and get something more suited to the task of being just a server, hence the search for a NAS.

Thanks in advance!

Very little available at your price point since the drive cost ate most of your budget. The 321 is reasonable little decvice..... If I remember right it has webshare too..... Its been a while since I setup and deployted one....

Sean

Why not just make the old desktop your NAS device? It's cost is free. Depending on what it is, power consumption may be an issue however.

The desktop PC I have now is a Dell GX260 if I remember right. Mid-size tower, so it takes up a little more space and uses more power than a dedicated NAS box would. Figure I can (hopefully) sell the desktop on Craigslist to get some of the cost of the NAS.

I would be willing to go with only a single drive NAS solution for now, provided it has an empty bay to add a 2nd drive down the road - if it meant I could get a better NAS box in the short term.

The Acer EasyStore H340 looks like a decent WHS solution in the $400 range (about $450 for the 2TB model, but it is a single 2TB drive). Has a total of 4 drive bays.

Edit: Looks like there are some good rebates going on the ReadyNas Duo products right now, making them an attractive possibility too. Around $350 for a 1x2TB system, I can always add the 2nd drive a little later. I think the Duo is considered pretty good?

I used an old laptop with external USB 2.0 HD as my first NAS. My current highend NAS which is an home built unraid box with 6x1.5TB drives in it was built from deals from newegg for $220 sans drives after about $100 in rebates. So if you are confortable building your own system than that could be another option....

me personally never been interested in raid1 for space efficiency reasons. therefoew WHS never made my radar since it won't do anything ohter than pure raid 1. unraid is awesome. I just wish it supported two parity drives....

Sean

I used an old laptop with external USB 2.0 HD as my first NAS. My current highend NAS which is an home built unraid box with 6x1.5TB drives in it was built from deals from newegg for $220 sans drives after about $100 in rebates. So if you are confortable building your own system than that could be another option....

me personally never been interested in raid1 for space efficiency reasons. therefoew WHS never made my radar since it won't do anything ohter than pure raid 1. unraid is awesome. I just wish it supported two parity drives....

Sean

I love my unraid set up too! And I completely agree about WHS.

Thanks for the added comments, guys. I would say I am trying to move from low-end (desktop PC with external drive) to mid-level. The UnRAID (and other free option) systems seem cool but definitely overkill for my needs. I know at some point I will regret saying this, but I can't imagine needing more than about 2TB and even that is more than I'll need in the short term. If I get into a lot of HD video, I know things change quickly.

I thought WHS wasn't even true RAID of any form, but rather some unique handling of backups and data redundancy? I need to do some more reading, I guess.

For the cost involved, I think I am looking at something like the ReadyNas Duo vs that Acer Easystore H340 option. The latter seems to offer the flexibility of the WHS system and 4 drive bays at a slightly higher cost... might be worth it for my needs, though.

the 321 system you mentioned works fine and I have deployed two of those and no complaints yet....

Sean

Just jumped on a used ReadyNAS NV with 2x1TB drives. Figure I can add more later if/when I need it.

Semi-related to this thread, anyone using Boxee or XBMC on an Acer Revo (yes, I know there are other threads dedicated to this, just figured I'd start here). Think it might be time for me to move on from the ole' XBOX. Anyone looking for another one, drop me a line! Have a MS HDAV adapter if anyone is looking for one of those, too.

This thread (and Sean in particular) has been extremely helpful over the past year (or more?!) getting XBMC up and running. I am still amazed by how well-developed and supported this free software is. And amazed that maybe with a few exceptions, most commercial media devices still don't come close to the UI.

Just jumped on a used ReadyNAS NV with 2x1TB drives. Figure I can add more later if/when I need it.

Semi-related to this thread, anyone using Boxee or XBMC on an Acer Revo (yes, I know there are other threads dedicated to this, just figured I'd start here). Think it might be time for me to move on from the ole' XBOX. Anyone looking for another one, drop me a line! Have a MS HDAV adapter if anyone is looking for one of those, too.

This thread (and Sean in particular) has been extremely helpful over the past year (or more?!) getting XBMC up and running. I am still amazed by how well-developed and supported this free software is. And amazed that maybe with a few exceptions, most commercial media devices still don't come close to the UI.

Many of us are.
Check out this:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1185529

My xbmc has been acting strangely lately. It takes a really long time to get to my videos from the main menu. Also, whenever I open a dvd image, it takes forever and if remember correctly the playback in the dvd menus was a bit choppy. Currently I'm running the T3CH 2010-04-27 SVN rev29407 of xbmc. A while ago I did change the usb hard drive attached to my desktop that stores all my movies to a larger one. But at first my setup was working like it did before, so I haven't got a clue why it's running so slow at the moment. I tried storing some movies on the desktop's own internal hard drive with the same results. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My xbmc has been acting strangely lately. It takes a really long time to get to my videos from the main menu. Also, whenever I open a dvd image, it takes forever and if remember correctly the playback in the dvd menus was a bit choppy. Currently I'm running the T3CH 2010-04-27 SVN rev29407 of xbmc. A while ago I did change the usb hard drive attached to my desktop that stores all my movies to a larger one. But at first my setup was working like it did before, so I haven't got a clue why it's running so slow at the moment. I tried storing some movies on the desktop's own internal hard drive with the same results. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like it could be a network issue. Any changes to your network settings (pc or router settings) recently that could cause issue?

http://xbmc.org/theuni/2010/05/27/farewell-xbox/

It looks like the XBMC team has finally decided to remove official XBOX development from their codebase. It seems the XBOX development was only being done by one member of the team, but development is still ongoing but just separate from official XBMC.

I still use my xbox w/ xbmc regularly and it is working fine. I have yet to build an HTPC to run xbmc but it is something I've looked into every now and then.

I still use my xbox w/ xbmc regularly and it is working fine. I have yet to build an HTPC to run xbmc but it is something I've looked into every now and then.

Same here. When I modded my original Xbox in early 2003 I had every expectation XBMC would be supplanted in no more than 2 years. I was just talking about this yesterday. Maybe I'll get to a HTPC soon but I was really thinking we'd be at a super smooth, do-everything, plug/play solution by this point. I mean really, we had an awesome model over 7 years ago and we can't get any better than where we are today? Shocking.

I'll have to take the step soon but honestly I'm not very excited about the options at this point. I'm also a little bit melancholy about saying goodbye to the old standby that's served me so well.

First, i want to thank JaPhule for starting this thread and everyone else that contributed. This was my inspiration to mod my first box to add to my lonely Xbr crt in the basement.

I used Ndure 3.1 to create a dual boot Xbox 1.6 (stock dash/Xbmc). I backed up both the C and E partion to my PC. My question is what exactly do i have to keep from the back up? Most tutorials were'nt too clear on this. Some said just Eeprom some said C + eeprom.

My C folder is 171 mb
audio-33mb
fonts-32mb
xboxdashdata.185EADOO-41.2mb
xodash-32.5mb
xboxbook.xtf-16.2mb
xbox.xtf-14.8mb
xboxdash.xbe-1.87mb

E folder is 215mb
apps-empty
backup-171mb
cache-8.71mb
dash-2.86mb
ndts-12.5mb <----bios.bin is in here 256k
nkp11-empty
tdata-9.33mb
udata-9.81mb

Thanks again.

e:\backups

It contains both the C: drive and the eeprom. It's about 174MB total for me.

It seems XBMC for XBOX development is still moving forward despite being officially removed from the main XBMC branch. It also seems like support has gotten better since. More info at xbmc4xbox.org. I've updated my xboxes to one of the nightly builds and it seems to be working quite well.

One of the biggest issues I've had with prior builds was trying to get some of the graphic intensive skins running well on the xbox and my xbox would freeze trying to play videos from the library due to memory issues and file view was the only option for me using these skins. Using xbox optimized version of the NIGHT skin, I'm pleased to see that I have yet to have any issues viewing movies and tv shows from my library.

One of the new things for XBMC is the official android remote app. I played with this recently and it is quite cool. You have the ability to browse your movies and tv shows and cast info/synopsis, see cover art/screenshots straight from your phone and it works with XBMC for XBOX. Interestingly enough, there's an option to push your SMS notifications and phone calls directly to your TV while running the app. Check the screenshots here: http://code.google.com/p/android-xbmcremote/wiki/Gallery

I'd recommend testing out the latest nightly builds if you guys are still using the old version if you haven't updated in a while. T3CH has retired and is not providing builds anymore but nightly builds are available here: http://www.sshcs.com/xbmc/

I do have a full HTPC XBMC in my living room now but serve xbmc xbox in bedrooms currently. The HTPC stores most of my media and I have the xboxes set up to run a WAKE ON LAN script to power up the HTPC from sleep when I need to stream anything from it, works well and it helps save energy at the same time :)

Nice setup, Ja Phule, and thanks for the briefing. I had pretty much given up on any support for XBMC on Xbox, but will head over and check it out (http://xbmc4xbox.org).

We're still using XBMC/Xbox, on 7 Xboxes through the house, as our main media client, when not watching DVR'd shows -- though, even w/ the 'end of show lockup' potential, I still prefer accessing our ReplayTVs through XBMC, to get date sorting of shows.) Bottom line for us is that we haven't gone full HD, and prioritize easy access to our existing MPEG2 DVR-sourced content over 1080p.

No posts were found because the word replaytv is not contained in any post.
No posts were found because the word tivo is not contained in any post.

Ouch! ... that doesn't bode well. ;)

All member'd up. Thanks again.

I do have a full HTPC XBMC in my living room now but serve xbmc xbox in bedrooms currently. The HTPC stores most of my media and I have the xboxes set up to run a WAKE ON LAN script to power up the HTPC from sleep when I need to stream anything from it, works well and it helps save energy at the same time :)

LOL - I just got my XBMC on HTPC/Linux running the other night. I played a flawless mkv. Does a great job and with Nvidia support in Linux this can be built super cheap. I'm running HDMI/DVI to display and an optical to my receiver (which is a 5.1 setup anyway).

Ironically I'll be relocating my original Xbox to the bedroom such as you have already done.

Was wondering who else had gone the HTPC route.

LOL - I just got my XBMC on HTPC/Linux running the other night. I played a flawless mkv. Does a great job and with Nvidia support in Linux this can be built super cheap. I'm running HDMI/DVI to display and an optical to my receiver (which is a 5.1 setup anyway).

Ironically I'll be relocating my original Xbox to the bedroom such as you have already done.

Was wondering who else had gone the HTPC route.

Same here.

Using a Acer Revo in the living room and moved one xbox to bedroom other to computer room.

I do have a full HTPC XBMC in my living room now but serve xbmc xbox in bedrooms currently. The HTPC stores most of my media and I have the xboxes set up to run a WAKE ON LAN script to power up the HTPC from sleep when I need to stream anything from it, works well and it helps save energy at the same time
__________________

Ja Phule
would you mind sharing your wake on lan scipt.. I have multiple xboxs using one media server and it would be nice to allow the server to sleep when not being used..

bigbw

I dusted off my Xbox this week and updated to the latest build. I'd love to put it back into service as a dedicated music player, outputing SPDIF to a reciever - but I cannot find a viable web interface skin that will allow me to control from a handheld Hp Ipaq.
The objective is to not have it hooked up to a TV.

I do have a full HTPC XBMC in my living room now but serve xbmc xbox in bedrooms currently. The HTPC stores most of my media and I have the xboxes set up to run a WAKE ON LAN script to power up the HTPC from sleep when I need to stream anything from it, works well and it helps save energy at the same time
__________________

Ja Phule
would you mind sharing your wake on lan scipt.. I have multiple xboxs using one media server and it would be nice to allow the server to sleep when not being used..

bigbw

Throw this code into Notepad and save it as wake.py (or whatever you want with extension .py).

# Wake-On-LAN
#
# Copyright (C) 2002 by Micro Systems Marc Balmer
# Written by Marc Balmer, marc@msys.ch, http://www.msys.ch/
# This code is free software under the GPL

import struct, socket

def WakeOnLan(ethernet_address):

# Construct a six-byte hardware address

addr_byte = ethernet_address.split(':')
hw_addr = struct.pack('BBBBBB', int(addr_byte[0], 16),
int(addr_byte[1], 16),
int(addr_byte[2], 16),
int(addr_byte[3], 16),
int(addr_byte[4], 16),
int(addr_byte[5], 16))

# Build the Wake-On-LAN "Magic Packet"...

msg = '\xff' * 6 + hw_addr * 16

# ...and send it to the broadcast address using UDP

s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_BROADCAST, 1)
s.sendto(msg, ('<broadcast>', 9))
s.close()

# Example use
WakeOnLan('00:00:00:00:00:00')


On the last line, replace the 00:00:00:00:00:00 with your MAC address of your machine that you want to wake up. I'm assuming your machine is properly configured to wake on lan.

Then place the file into the scripts folder (xbmc\scripts). In order to run the script you can run it via the Add-On menu or have a custom add-on button for it which is what I do. You can create a custom addon button in the skin settings.

I dusted off my Xbox this week and updated to the latest build. I'd love to put it back into service as a dedicated music player, outputing SPDIF to a reciever - but I cannot find a viable web interface skin that will allow me to control from a handheld Hp Ipaq.
The objective is to not have it hooked up to a TV.

I cant help you with the HP Ipaq but there is a nice app for the IPhone/itouch that works great and lets you scroll through album covers or songs.
I believe there is also an app for android phones as well.

I cant help you with the HP Ipaq but there is a nice app for the IPhone/itouch that works great and lets you scroll through album covers or songs.
I believe there is also an app for android phones as well.

Thanks for this lead.
I saw this app when it came out - but assumed it was specific to the PC branch of XBMC. I'll load it onto my daughters Ipod to demo, and if it's as slick as it looks in the videos, Daddy's in line for a new 8GB 4th Generation iPod Touch this weekend :).

Thanks for this lead.
I saw this app when it came out - but assumed it was specific to the PC branch of XBMC. I'll load it onto my daughters Ipod to demo, and if it's as slick as it looks in the videos, Daddy's in line for a new 8GB 4th Generation iPod Touch this weekend :).

Good luck and report back on what you think of it.

Throw this code into Notepad and save it as wake.py (or whatever you want with extension .py).

# Wake-On-LAN
#
# Copyright (C) 2002 by Micro Systems Marc Balmer
# Written by Marc Balmer, marc@msys.ch, http://www.msys.ch/
# This code is free software under the GPL

import struct, socket

def WakeOnLan(ethernet_address):

# Construct a six-byte hardware address

addr_byte = ethernet_address.split(':')
hw_addr = struct.pack('BBBBBB', int(addr_byte[0], 16),
int(addr_byte[1], 16),
int(addr_byte[2], 16),
int(addr_byte[3], 16),
int(addr_byte[4], 16),
int(addr_byte[5], 16))

# Build the Wake-On-LAN "Magic Packet"...

msg = '\xff' * 6 + hw_addr * 16

# ...and send it to the broadcast address using UDP

s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_BROADCAST, 1)
s.sendto(msg, ('<broadcast>', 9))
s.close()

# Example use
WakeOnLan('00:00:00:00:00:00')


On the last line, replace the 00:00:00:00:00:00 with your MAC address of your machine that you want to wake up. I'm assuming your machine is properly configured to wake on lan.

Then place the file into the scripts folder (xbmc\scripts). In order to run the script you can run it via the Add-On menu or have a custom add-on button for it which is what I do. You can create a custom addon button in the skin settings.

thanks.. got the script working.. still working on the custom button (still use pm3hd) but not that big an issue..
bw

thanks.. got the script working.. still working on the custom button (still use pm3hd) but not that big an issue..
bw

I was looking at xbmc4xbox forums and they have a wake on lan plugin that you can combine with a autoexcec scrip. It turns the server on when you turn the xbox on.. no need for a custom button.. Installed it last night and works great. you can find it in the python scrips/plugins area.

Good luck and report back on what you think of it.

I've set this up as a distributing music server, and it's working great. Just one small (big) issue with the remote app - it seems to have an issue with song order/track display depending on the view. Choosing song "2" from an Album drill down plays song "5" in the menu. I'm exploring this on the Apps developers forum.

If we can solve that issue, I have my end game solution. (until I win the lotto and get real silly with this stuff...)

I was looking at xbmc4xbox forums and they have a wake on lan plugin that you can combine with a autoexcec scrip. It turns the server on when you turn the xbox on.. no need for a custom button.. Installed it last night and works great. you can find it in the python scrips/plugins area.

Cool. I do recall seeing a post about that addon. I don't need my machines on each time I use the xbox but I'm glad it works for you. Wake On Lan is a pretty useful feature.

On another note, I recently started backing up my DVDs to x264 mkv files. XBMC Xbox is pretty picky about x264 but I found a xbox profile for HandBrake (forgot where unfortunately) but it seems to work well with xbox and maintain pretty good video quality with 5.1 sound. Most of my backups are in the 1-2gb range (1.3gb avg). I've attached the Handbrake profile if anyone else wants to try it.

I'm about to buy this one on ebay. Can anyone please give me an opinion if it is a good buy? Pro and Con will be appriciate.

Thank you for your advise.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-Acer-AR3610-U2002-New-Version-ION-HT-/110593128684?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item19bfdd38ec

Good luck and report back on what you think of it.

Well, a couple of frustrating days spent with this App from Collect3. It looks so promising, but for the life of me I cannot make it queue an album by track number - it insists on playing the songs alphabetically.

That's a fatal deal breaking flaw. Not the way to hear Abby Road.

I'm about to buy this one on ebay. Can anyone please give me an opinion if it is a good buy? Pro and Con will be appriciate.

Thank you for your advise.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-Acer-AR3610-U2002-New-Version-ION-HT-/110593128684?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item19bfdd38ecIf you haven't seen it already, you may want to subscribe to the thread about the Revo and XBMC here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1185529&highlight=revo

That eBay deal could be a good deal or could be bad. There's no "Buy it now" price, so it all depends on how much you can get it for. You can buy it brand new from Amazon for $330, so you certainly don't want to pay more than that. You can also get the original 1600 model for $180 refurbished, or $250 new. Originally, you could get that one for $200 new. I'm thinking that it was such a hot seller at that price that either Acer or their resellers increased the price as a result. The cheaper model will likely require an XBMC Live/Linux install in order to get great high-bitrate 1080p playback fully within XBMC (or you can launch an external player like MPC-HC to do that, but that makes it a tad clunkier), or with the 3600 you can essentially do it "out of the box" just by installing XBMC since XBMC for Vista/Windows 7 natively supports the NVIDIA ION processor. It all depends on how much you're willing to spend and how much labor/time you're willing to put into it.

On another note, I recently started backing up my DVDs to x264 mkv files. XBMC Xbox is pretty picky about x264 but I found a xbox profile for HandBrake (forgot where unfortunately) but it seems to work well with xbox and maintain pretty good video quality with 5.1 sound. Most of my backups are in the 1-2gb range (1.3gb avg). I've attached the Handbrake profile if anyone else wants to try it.

What version of Handbrake are you using? I used to have .94/Windows dialed-in fairly well (using a bitrate target and vbv-maxrate=1500:vbv-bufsize=1500). However, I have yet to get a useable encode using the nightlies on either W7 or Linux (Ubuntu).

OK, I found this thread on the xbmc4xbox forums that describes my issue:

http://www.xbmc4xbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1228

Are people using mplayer or dvdplayer as their default player in XBMC?

I'm using the default player, I've never changed the settings other than what is set by XBMC, which is mplayer I believe.

This thread has really died off as people have (presumably) moved onto more modern hardware!

Quick question to anyone still following this thread... back when I did my softmod I also added a 320GB hard drive (which as it turns out, I never really needed). Now if I want to take that drive out to use in a PC, what would I need to do? I vaguely recall needing to lock/unlock drives with some Linux tools. No way to just install the drive in a PC and reformat/partition unless it is unlocked first - is that correct?

Thanks!

I believe that is correct. You have to unlock it before you can use the drive. You can unlock it via xbmc I believe also. Just make sure you have your eeprom backed up before you do so you can use it to put in another drive.

Hi AVS-Xbmc people,

I'm wondering if anyone knows what is the correct file structure to get back a failed XBMC update? In 2006 I took an original Xbox v1.6, did the Krazie-Ndure softmod and MechAssault to install XBMC (which, unknown to me, used a Virtual C-drive technique), but gave me flawless media-serving for years.

Present day, I needed to playback SWF and FLV files, so I updated using the AID disc (Auto-Installer Deluxe). However, I mistakenly chose the option: "Softmod without Virtual-C". Did not work. After several attempts to correct this and re-install the softmod, I suddenly lost the ability to read the DVD boot discs. Only EvolutionX's dash now boots, but only two options are presented:
- Launch Disc (which does nothing)
- System Settings (which works, but doesn't help much)

However, my FTP works (I am studying to be a network engineer), so I can easily retrieve and place files from/to the Xbox from a separate machine. Also, I have full FTP backups of (2) v1.6 identical Xboxes on my laptop. I also have the EEprom backups from both Xboxes saved.

Theoretically, I have everything I need to fix this. However, I only have 1 chance to FTP over the fileset. Once I replace the EvoX dashboard, I might lose the FTP. And without the disc boot working, I would have no way to try again.

Questions:
1) What *.xbe and dashboard files are really needed to boot my softmod?
2) Does the old school Krazie Ndure softmod with Virtual C drive put all the new stuff on the E drive and leave the C drive alone?

If you or any other experts know how to restore files manually over FTP (and have done this before), please let me know.

Thanks,
Will in San Jose

Since you have the Eprom saved you can rebuild the hard drive using XboxHDM V1.9 with the help of an old PC with an IDE connection. I believe you will need the stock C: and E: contents which you should be able to find somewhere(slayers or AID I believe has them). There is a tutorial on the xbox-scene forum. Also check out xbmc4xbox.org, as that is where the most up to date info can be found for the xbox platform these days it seems.