Slack,

I think if you read goblue97's post again, you will see that he mentions that it is flashing red and green which is "fraging" which means that something has crapped out on either his motherboard or his mod chip if he has one installed.

Just a thought.

Regards,
TCIII

Just a heads up guys - UPnP support was added as of July 3rd :) http://www.plutinosoft.com/blog/category/blahblah/121

I'm downloading a T3CH version of it right now and will try it out as soon as I'm able! I will be testing it with my Linkstation - if it works as well as my Linktheater I'll be ecstatic.

Also, anyone else having troubles getting the Accuweather script to work? Mine downloads maps etc. but doesn't display them on the screen :(

Just a heads up guys - UPnP support was added as of July 3rd :) http://www.plutinosoft.com/blog/category/blahblah/121

I'm downloading a T3CH version of it right now and will try it out as soon as I'm able! I will be testing it with my Linkstation - if it works as well as my Linktheater I'll be ecstatic.


BLKMGK, I'm familiar how plug-n-play works on a PC, but why is it needed on the Xbox? With the exception of ethernet, the Xbox has no ports for attaching external devices.

BLKMGK, I'm familiar how plug-n-play works on a PC, but why is it needed on the Xbox? With the exception of ethernet, the Xbox has no ports for attaching external devices.

Thank Microsoft and the computer industry for the confusion... PNP !=UPnP. UPnP is a streaming standard that allows "light" devices like my Buffalo Linktheater DVD player to communicate with backend servers that stream music, pictures, and video. The interface is all done at the server so that lightweight devices can give rich interfaces to the media. In my case this means my DVD player can also read from a library of music and videos I download to my Linkstation. Now my XBOX will be able to do the same thing! This is cool for me because I store Torrented TV shows to a different NAS that runs a UPnP server on it. I guess I could as easily just put them in some directory that's an SMB share to the XBOX but I like this better for stuff I'm not keeping around long. :o

The biggest problem with this is finding a decent UPnP server. The Linkstation one ROX but Nero and all of the others have only ever given me an ugly text interface on my Linktheater. It may be the DVD player's fault so we'll see what they look like on the XBOX. Microsoft has a UPnP server too, WizD is another (Linux), and the list goes on and on. Maybe this will help -> http://www.xbmc.xbox-scene.com/wiki/index.php?title=UPnP_Sharing

P.S. AccuWeather working on the new build now! W00t! Still trying to get movie and music databases\thumbnails moved over right. Will be testing UPnP tonight I hope! :D

BTW: Pimped 7/15/06 is out. A number of UPNP Features/fixes. A few GUI bugs and some python bugs. Some DVD player issue related to DVD on VCD. Pretty much business as usual for the recent releases. One thing to note for you guys running T3CH releases which only come with a small set of milkdrop presets. There are lot of other good ones out there. Pimped comes with thousands more and you can download the mega milkdrop preset pack from the usual torrent sites. I would recommed those running T3CH releases to load some of these presets from pimped or the mega pack.

Sean

I'm running the BlingBling 7/14 release right now. Neither it nor the first UPnP release see either my TVersity Media Center or worse my Linkstation UPnP servers. I've posted about this in hopes that others will be able to confirm or deny that it works but so far no really helpful responses. they appear to be testing mostly with the Microsoft UPnP server which I've got on a machine that's down so I cannot test. Anyone trying out the UPnP stuff? I use the Linky to stream downloaded torrents of TV shows and other misc vids :) So far it has the best UPnP interface I've tried.

Oh, the BlingBling release has some nice Python scripts. Was having a BLAST watching Google vids and I've got Accuweather working well on it too. Visulaization stuff is interesting but what of substance are they adding? Keeping up with all of these new versions is driving me crazy - I must have 4 of them on the box right now as it is! :eek:

BLKMGK,

I've done some very limited testing of the UPnP functionality. I've gotten XBMC to successfully play files from Windows Media Connect 2.0 and Nero's MediaHome server. I did get it to briefly detect the UPnP server in my D-Link DSM-G600 NAS box, but have not successfully played anything from it (that is most likely a network setup issue though, not one with UPnP). If you'd like I can try downloading TVersity and see if I get something to play from there.

Sorry, I don't have a Linkstation, so can't help you there.

Julie

goblue97,

To be able to help you out, please tell us whether you have a softmod or a chip mod.

If you have a chip mod, then who's mod chip is it? Also, if you have a chip mod, you can check the voltages on the mod chip's pin header. You can find out what the voltages should be at the xbox-scene website. Additionally, if you have a mod chip, try removing it from the pin header and see if you can boot into the MS dashboard.

Regards,
TCIII
Let me try to answer some questions/provide more info. The xbox is modded with a chip, I believe it is an xecuter but not 100% positive. I purchased this unit fully modded with a 120GB HDD so I'm not intimately familiar with the modding process. Now I wish I would have done it myself so I would be. I took it apart today to look around and switch out the HDD to eliminate that as an easy fix but no deal there. I went all the way to the mobo and looked underneath at where the mod chips wires are connected and it looked like one of the points may be slightly burned in the area.
Sorry for the stupid question but, which one is this "pin header" you speak of?

BLKMGK,

I've done some very limited testing of the UPnP functionality. I've gotten XBMC to successfully play files from Windows Media Connect 2.0 and Nero's MediaHome server. I did get it to briefly detect the UPnP server in my D-Link DSM-G600 NAS box, but have not successfully played anything from it (that is most likely a network setup issue though, not one with UPnP). If you'd like I can try downloading TVersity and see if I get something to play from there.

Sorry, I don't have a Linkstation, so can't help you there.

Julie

If you feel like trying out another UPnP streamer please do. :p It installs a service FWIW, not yet tried to uninstall to see how clean it is. I may have Nero around too, I'll see and if so try it as well. I'm playing video off the Linky now so I know it's working. You have to do anything special to get it recognized or did it just show up when browsing a UPNP:// shortcut?

Appreciate the feedback - which build are you running?

Thanks!

BLKMGK,

I'm running on the July 9 T3CH build. I meant to set up a upnp shortcut, but decided instead to try a little experiment. In My Videos (I usually use XBMC to play video content) I went into the UPNP auto-discovery link. I did have to refresh the page a few times (leave and come back) but lo and behold there were two entries for WMC and Nero. Browsing each, I did find the directories I had shared within each of the apps available to me.

WMC would only display MPEG and WMV files, which was extremely annoying. Nero displayed all files. I only tested a few straightforward DivX compatible avis with Nero, so I can't give you a comprehensive report yet of which formats worked or didn't work. What I really want of course is to get this working on the D-Link NAS and compare performance between the UPNP streaming and regular SMB streaming. At least I can confirm that UPnP *does* work, at least to some extent.

I'll probably give TVirsity or Twonkyvision a try tomorrow, just to see if either work.

Julie

I'm running a later version but am not sure I ever saw an Autodiscovery link even when I tried that one - is it a button off to the left or a pre-created shortcut? I have created a upnp:// shortcut and tried "browsing" using it several different ways - no joy. Going to have to break down and find the Microsoft stuff or finally get that other machine running again - grr!

Appreciate the info, please keep us posted as you continue explooring. I share your frustration trying to get it working with a specific package. Using a 3rd part to share the NAS when SMB works just seems kind of silly!

BLKMGK,

There's a predefined link (not a button off to the left) that you can see if you are in file view for UPnP auto-discovery. That's what I used. Still having trouble with the D-Link. I can see it if it is directly plugged into my router, but not when plugged into a switch in a different room (which is where I actually want it). Once I figure out how to get the D-Link seen behind the switch, I can wrestle with whether its UPnP server will work with XBMC.

Julie

Never tried UPNP before tonight and I got it to work with the X6 NAS. Can't verify too much other than it found the server. couldn't get it to open a DVD ISO.....

Sean

I'm running a later version but am not sure I ever saw an Autodiscovery link even when I tried that one - is it a button off to the left or a pre-created shortcut? I have created a upnp:// shortcut and tried "browsing" using it several different ways - no joy. Going to have to break down and find the Microsoft stuff or finally get that other machine running again - grr!

Appreciate the info, please keep us posted as you continue explooring. I share your frustration trying to get it working with a specific package. Using a 3rd part to share the NAS when SMB works just seems kind of silly!

Sorry if I am pointing out the obvious but did you enable the UPNP Client in the network settings menu?

Sean

BTW: Pimped 7/15/06 is out. A number of UPNP Features/fixes. A few GUI bugs and some python bugs. Some DVD player issue related to DVD on VCD. Pretty much business as usual for the recent releases. One thing to note for you guys running T3CH releases which only come with a small set of milkdrop presets. There are lot of other good ones out there. Pimped comes with thousands more and you can download the mega milkdrop preset pack from the usual torrent sites. I would recommed those running T3CH releases to load some of these presets from pimped or the mega pack.

----------------------------------

Maybe this will be the one that will actually be able to play all my ISO's. The previous release still could not handle Annie, or a couple of others, without entirely siezing up a few seconds into the movies.

BLKMGK,

There's a predefined link (not a button off to the left) that you can see if you are in file view for UPnP auto-discovery. That's what I used. Still having trouble with the D-Link. I can see it if it is directly plugged into my router, but not when plugged into a switch in a different room (which is where I actually want it). Once I figure out how to get the D-Link seen behind the switch, I can wrestle with whether its UPnP server will work with XBMC.

Julie

If you get a chance could yuo hit the white button on that linkl and see what it's settings look like? I suspect that button is setup much like my UPnP link is now - I never saw anything that said Auto-Discovery. It might have gotten stomped when I moved over my settings from the previous release(s) :o I'm wondering if there's something special there that I've somehow screwed up :(

The issue you have with the traffic going across the switch might have to do with broadcast traffic. I'm pretty sure that's what's being used to do the UPnP discovery and for some reason it may not be traversing your switch. If you saw it with other clients then maybe it has to do with the quirk on the XBOX they are using to trigger this. Reading the notes on the UPnP feature it sounded like they had to come up with a little bit of a hack to get it to work - it wasn't really clear.

Sean = the "enable UPnP" thingy was set by default and is apparently used to Autodiscover on bootup only, it'snot needed for UPnP functionality but rather to speedup discovery is all. <shrug> Glad to hear you got it working on another server at least - did it play normal MPEG video?

BLKMGK,

Did you manually edit or copy over your sources.xml file? With the new release there is a new default bookmark under each media section (<video>, <music>, <pictures>...) that looks like so...

<bookmark>
<name>UPnP Media Servers (Auto-Discover)</name>
<path>upnp://</path>
</bookmark>

I'm assuming the way it works is it will auto-discover if you leave the path as "upnp://", and will simply go to the bookmark you specify if you replace it with an actual upnp link.

As for the switch issue. I'm calling D-Link now. This is just too frustrating for me to deal with, and I'm ready to chuck both the NAS and the access point into the woods if I can't get them to play nicely together with the switch. It's not just a UPNP thing - I cannot get the NAS to be recognized behind the switch at all, not even for smb sharing.

Julie

I did indeed copy over all of my older User Data files - databases etc. However I've got a link that should look just like that in the XML. Properties for it are indeed upnp:// and when I set that up as a new data source and try to browse or open it when it's an icon I get nothing but the double dots up top to back out :( The XML for those shortcuts probably looks just like that with my title - argh! Downloading yet another release tonight by a different group that's a day later :D I don't expect much difference but it's interesting to see the various tweaks the groups make and the code is under constant bug fix....

goblue97,

The mod chip is plugged into a 16 pin header that is to the front of and slightly to the right of the 40 pin HD/DVD motherboard connector.

The area that looks burned may be where the modder soldered to the D0 pad on the motherboard.

Regards,
TCIII

Thomas,
I've identified the chip, it's an aladdin advance. There are only two wires coming off of it. One goes to the top of motherboard toward the front of the unit and the other goes underneath. The one that goes underneath is the one that looks burned. If wanted to remove the modchip to eliminate that as a possible problem, do I have to remove the entire thing? The chip from the pin header, pin header from mobo, and wires going from chip to board? Or is there a simple way to disconnect without all that?
thanks again for your assistance.

goblue97,

As long as the XBOX is not ON, you can remove the mod chip from the LPC 16 pin header to see if the XBOB will boot into the MS Dashboard.

Just make sure that you have grounded yourself to the metal shield before touching the mod chip and make sure that when you remove the mod chip from the header it is not shorting to the motherboard.

You can use a small piece of cardboard to lay the mod chip on while it is detached from the header.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
TCIII

For anyone using the MC360 skin, here's a mod to replace the KAI section with Weather, File Manager, and Scripts.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=530246

I'm also looking forward to the Hades666 MCE skin for XBMC coming soon.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=529403&st=30#
http://www.maj.com/gallery/Hades666/MCE2006/screenshot004.jpg

I have to admint - I'm not feelin' the 360 skin at all. It's just not real intuitive to me and while it's really cool that they have so well mimicked the Microsoft stuff but functionality wise I just don't find it really attractive. The default skin works WELL for me and that MCE skin is also looking really good but I'd want to see how it functions before deciding. The "real" MCE interface is pretty slick I think so if they have emulated that it ought to work pretty well I'd think... Appreciate you pointing it out!

BTW - I usually use my Linktheater to watch downloaded Torrents but tonight am watching the new Dr. Who off the XBOX (SD). Niiice! I may yet start using this thing for everything :) Someone hurry up and hack the 360 so we can get true HD with no CPU issues etc..

For anyone using the MC360 skin, here's a mod to replace the KAI section with Weather, File Manager, and Scripts.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=530246

I'm also looking forward to the Hades666 MCE skin for XBMC coming soon.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=529403&st=30#
http://www.maj.com/gallery/Hades666/MCE2006/screenshot004.jpg

Yeah. I (fredmon) started that thread about the Hades_666 MCE skin as I wanted to bring it back from the dead. And look what good things came out of it. I can't wait for final release.

I posted offering to test - I hope they take me up on it :-) That puppy looks REAL pretty! Half tempted to download that skin editor and see how hard it is to build or tweak a skin but my artistic ability is slim to none :-(

As long as the XBOX is not ON, you can remove the mod chip from the LPC 16 pin header to see if the XBOB will boot into the MS Dashboard.

Regards,
TCIII
is that all that I need to remove? No need to remove the two wires going to the motherboard? thanks again for your help.

goblue97,

No, you do not have to remove the two wires going to the mod chip.

Just remove the mod chip board from the header and make sure that it does not short to any components on the motherboard when you turn the XBOX ON.

Regards,
TCIII

Ja Phule, thanks for the heads up on the Weather and Files mod... Just what I have been looking for. I don't use kai so this puts it back like I liked it a couple of releases ago.

By the way, I was using the MCE from Hades before all the changes took place in XBMC that outmoded it. It seems that it is the favorite of my wife and the inlaws, it is very easy to navigate in and is very elegant... I will def. be downloading when Hades gets done with it....

Here is another skin that has been revised for your viewing pleasure. For those fans of Project Mayhem I, Jezz has brought it back to life. I personally like PMIII better but to each their own...

Linky Below...


http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=532709


http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/8889/pm1screenshothy71nf0.jpg

I have a handful of XIMETA Net-Disk's with ripped movies.
At the same time I am new to XBMC, does anyone here use the Net-Disk via lan with XBMC and if so. I sure could use some help.
A link of how to or the basic's
Thanks.

Diode1..

Is the XIMETA accessible using SMB directly? If it is, you can access it from XBMC. I *think* when I was shopping around for a NAS some time ago I found the Ximeta did not use SMB but another access method instead that required you to install drivers on your PC. If that's the case, I don't think you'll be able to use XBMC with the XIMETA without your computer being on and the folder shared. (I think it may use NFS).

Can you tell us what OS you are using on your PC and how the XIMETA in installed on your system and maybe we can help more. If the drive you are using is capable of SMB access then we'll be able to give you some links that will show you how to set up access in XBMC. If not, we may be able to find a way to work around it.

Julie

Julie
Indeed the Net disk uses a driver within windows.
I am using XP.
At this time I have only been using the USB interface as external storage.
I know that there are Linux drivers as well.
I have seen that the Roku HD unit can access these drives; therefore, I figured maybe someone knows a way for XBMC to use it as well.
I have not tried anything at this point other than searching the net for some further information.
I will give it a shot & see what happens.
My best guess is the proprietary drivers may get in the way.
Jerry

Diode1..

Is the XIMETA accessible using SMB directly? If it is, you can access it from XBMC. I *think* when I was shopping around for a NAS some time ago I found the Ximeta did not use SMB but another access method instead that required you to install drivers on your PC. If that's the case, I don't think you'll be able to use XBMC with the XIMETA without your computer being on and the folder shared. (I think it may use NFS).

Can you tell us what OS you are using on your PC and how the XIMETA in installed on your system and maybe we can help more. If the drive you are using is capable of SMB access then we'll be able to give you some links that will show you how to set up access in XBMC. If not, we may be able to find a way to work around it.

Julie

Does anyone know if xbins is back up and running ? I cant seem to connect - is anyone else having similar probs ?

Xbins is working fine for me.... Give it another shot...may have just been a glitch...

Thanx Scotty - seems it was a glitch

FWIW - there are torrent sites and other places to find alot of the stuff you'd find on XBINS with less hassle. Mininova, XBOX Skytracker, Piratebay, lots of sources out there so don't limit yourself. XBINS is nice in that it's all in one place with a reasonable transfer limit though...

The trust factor for me with xbins is MUCH higher than any torrent site. With that being said.... I had to download the 6/6/06 release of MC360 via piratebay because xbins was fubard. I have a folder of torrent sites that I keep around to use only as a last resort. As long as xbins is working which it usually is I would recommend using it instead of a torrent site where there is no telling what the uploader has done to the original files....

Just my 2 cents..

To date I've yet to have an issue although I usually read the comments posted by others before I start a download. <shrug>

Its not so much the new releases that are difficult to find outside xbins, its the apps and additional programs that can be hard to locate

The trust factor for me with xbins is MUCH higher than any torrent site. With that being said.... I had to download the 6/6/06 release of MC360 via piratebay because xbins was fubard. I have a folder of torrent sites that I keep around to use only as a last resort. As long as xbins is working which it usually is I would recommend using it instead of a torrent site where there is no telling what the uploader has done to the original files....

Just my 2 cents..

FYI:

Pimped is a private tracker of enthusiasts who does their own XBMC builds which are of excellent quality. They add some extras you don't get with the T3CH release henced the pimped name. They also tend to mirror some of the more popular tools like AID, SID, and DVD2XBOX etc... Since its a private tracker they keep out a lot of leechers and the speeds are super fast...

They also seem to consistenly create a build every saturday like clock work....

Sean

FYI:

Pimped is a private tracker of enthusiasts who does their own XBMC builds which are of excellent quality. They add some extras you don't get with the T3CH release henced the pimped name. They also tend to mirror some of the more popular tools like AID, SID, and DVD2XBOX etc... Since its a private tracker they keep out a lot of leechers and the speeds are super fast...

They also seem to consistenly create a build every saturday like clock work....

Sean

I'm running their's now actually - from their tracker. I wasn't able to get it from SkyBox because it was too new and I'd not uploaded enough. Screamed down off the Pimped tracker in nothing flat and i'm still seeding it. Not installed the VERY latest code yet as every time I upgrade there's a little hassle involved and I've been upgrading ALOT lately :o I'll run this latest one soon enough I guess.

One thing I've found frustrating.... I have a collection of movies - easily browsed and viewed. I have a collection of downloaded shows too - I can easily browse these in file mode and I've got some icons setup for some of them - I may be doing wide icons soon. What I cannot easily figure out is how to have BOTH in a user friendly manner for guests. If I leave it in the mode that shows IMDB icons it's easy to browse movies but danged if I know how to get the shows to appear in that library. A seperate area for downloaded shows like we have with "My Videos" might do it but I'm not sure how to create that yet. How are others handling this?

One thing I've found frustrating.... I have a collection of movies - easily browsed and viewed. I have a collection of downloaded shows too - I can easily browse these in file mode and I've got some icons setup for some of them - I may be doing wide icons soon. What I cannot easily figure out is how to have BOTH in a user friendly manner for guests. If I leave it in the mode that shows IMDB icons it's easy to browse movies but danged if I know how to get the shows to appear in that library. A seperate area for downloaded shows like we have with "My Videos" might do it but I'm not sure how to create that yet. How are others handling this?

You could create two GUI bookmarks, one that points to your downloaded movies and one that points to your movie collection. Clicking on a bookmark button would show the list of the movies, either downloaded or collection, depending on which button you click.

See my GUI bookmark post here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7971369&&#post7971369)

Thanks Steve, I'll try that out when I get home this evening! These show to the left rather than in the normal field of sources right? Is it possible to specify the default view for the sources?

Another interesting quirk I'm seeing - some of the folders do not have icons for them in file view while reviewing my movies. If I get the information for that movie the folder appears but when I go into my library view I end up with two copies of that movie appearing. If I delete the wrong one I'm back to not having an icon for the folder again. (lol) I suspect this has something to do with my having migrated this data from a previous build but I'm not sure. I may be upgrading yet again soon so perhaps this time I'll start from scratch. So far UPNP isn't working for me either so a clean start might also help that. Oh, here's an interesting one - I own TWO movies with the same name, Derailed. If I get IMDB info for them I see both production years. When I try to choose the earlier production year for the older movie the system hangs consistantly. I'm wondering if having two movies named the same in the backend database is causing an issue - anyone seen this? When folks setup multidisk DVDs, like say Band of Brothers, how are you handling it? I've done seperate folders for Disk #1 etc. and modified Title names but it was tedious and I'm curious as to whether or not there's a better way.

Somewhere I'd seen something that allowed you to setup a TIVO as a streaming server for content stored on the TIVO. Does this ring bells with anyone? I've got a DTIVO that's been hacked up pretty good and this might make for another interesting media source to my XBOX :) I can certainly pull shows off to a share or, duh, use the TIVO as intended but this sounded intruiging to me. Unfortunatly I cannot recall where I'd seen that or what was involved.

All in all desite the occasional quirks this is a VERY polished package IMO. I am hoping the 360 is whacked soon so that we can enjoy it's presumably higher powered hardware in much the same manner :D I play few games on my system, had Microsoft released the hardware\software as capable as we've now made it I'd have certainly paid a pretty penny for the chance to own it. I understand, mostly, why they couldn't but it sure is an opportunity missed....

Folks, I was trying to make my 1st XBOX rescue disc from the "Krayzie Ndure SOFTMOD" instructions, and I noticed it was missing some MAJOR important tips:

1. Your cd root dir structure should look like this:

c drive
dashboard
e drive
default.xbe
config.xml
ux.xbe
bios.bin
boot.cfg

To generate this, COPY the entire contents of the XBOX [via FTP]. Specifically, the XBOX C:\ goes into "c drive", E:\ into "e drive", and E:\dashboard into "dashboard",

2. Once you have the dir structure setup like the above on your computer hard disk, use Qwix to write the XBOX compatible ISO to your PC HARD DISK. (http://www.teamavalaunch.com/qwix/).

3. Now use NERO or similar to write this SPECIAL ISO onto a CD-RW, NOT A CDR!

4. cold boot your xbox with the cd-rw in the drive, it should see the cd-rw and show you the XBOX recovery console.

Note: If you want the FTP feature to work in the XBOX recovery console, update the config.xml to your specific network settings.

Thanks,
Fabian.

Thanks Steve, I'll try that out when I get home this evening! These show to the left rather than in the normal field of sources right? Is it possible to specify the default view for the sources?

Another interesting quirk I'm seeing - some of the folders do not have icons for them in file view while reviewing my movies. If I get the information for that movie the folder appears but when I go into my library view I end up with two copies of that movie appearing. If I delete the wrong one I'm back to not having an icon for the folder again. (lol) I suspect this has something to do with my having migrated this data from a previous build but I'm not sure. I may be upgrading yet again soon so perhaps this time I'll start from scratch. So far UPNP isn't working for me either so a clean start might also help that. Oh, here's an interesting one - I own TWO movies with the same name, Derailed. If I get IMDB info for them I see both production years. When I try to choose the earlier production year for the older movie the system hangs consistantly. I'm wondering if having two movies named the same in the backend database is causing an issue - anyone seen this? When folks setup multidisk DVDs, like say Band of Brothers, how are you handling it? I've done seperate folders for Disk #1 etc. and modified Title names but it was tedious and I'm curious as to whether or not there's a better way.

Somewhere I'd seen something that allowed you to setup a TIVO as a streaming server for content stored on the TIVO. Does this ring bells with anyone? I've got a DTIVO that's been hacked up pretty good and this might make for another interesting media source to my XBOX :) I can certainly pull shows off to a share or, duh, use the TIVO as intended but this sounded intruiging to me. Unfortunatly I cannot recall where I'd seen that or what was involved.

All in all desite the occasional quirks this is a VERY polished package IMO. I am hoping the 360 is whacked soon so that we can enjoy it's presumably higher powered hardware in much the same manner :D I play few games on my system, had Microsoft released the hardware\software as capable as we've now made it I'd have certainly paid a pretty penny for the chance to own it. I understand, mostly, why they couldn't but it sure is an opportunity missed....


I have not tried this but there is python front end so you can stream TIVO video to the xbox. I found info on this prevously over on dealdatabase.com in their tivo forums. You might want to check it out. I haven't tried it...

Pimped 7/30 is out with a # of video fixes. a upnp fix or two and some more GUI and IMBD tweaks....


CVS Changes Since Last Build:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
added/fixed: (dd-mm-yyyy) (please specify date in CET)

- 28-07-2006 added: new speed units
- 28-07-2006 updated: Icelandic language file (Thnx to kristjan)
- 28-07-2006 updated: Swedish language file (Thnx to blittan)
- 28-07-2006 updated: Norwegian language file (Thnx to vnm)
- 28-07-2006 updated: Finnish language file (Thnx to jutski)
- 28-07-2006 updated: Dutch language file (Thnx to console-ombouw)
- 28-07-2006 fixed: [ 1522095 ] Weather location does not update.
- 28-07-2006 fixed: [ 1530058 ] Playing a movie from info screen doesn't count as watched.
- 28-07-2006 fixed: Weave (Old Sync...) deinterlacer would use invalid field offsets during scaling, causing more small details to dissapear than needed
- 28-07-2006 changed: HQ PixelShader now uses one 32bit video frame less of memory (1.5megs dvdres) during standard output (blend and weave deinterlaces still need it thou)
- 28-07-2006 fixed: vobsubs and text subtitles using mplayer font's would lock on screen and not disapear until next subtitle since render cleanup.
- 27-07-2006 added: xbmc.getCondVisibility() method to python. Pass it any condition(s) string as you would
for skinning. It returns (true (1) or False (0)).
- 26-07-2006 added: bob and blend deinterlacing using renderer (gpu)
- 26-07-2006 fixed: Refresh of IMDb info freeze.
- 26-07-2006 fixed: Video streaming fixed with UPnP (ShareOrDrive flag was the problem. somehow the code logic is different for Music vs Video)
- 26-07-2006 changed: Make .aif play with the AIFFcodec in paplayer.
- 25-07-2006 changed: Moved the paplayer chain to fully use floating point (speedup and possible quality boosts)
- 25-07-2006 fixed: [ 1527036 ] My Programs shares show network-shares icons
- 25-07-2006 fixed: [ 1526978 ] Movie info is no longer pulling the Cast data from IMDB
- 23-07-2006 changed: cleanup and simplification of renderer and field rendering.
combined async rendering of dvdplayer and mplayer
changed texture memory to not be write combined, allows fast reads
- 23-07-2006 changed: stacking of files was case sensitive on filenames before, now it's case insensitive
- 23-07-2006 changed: made seamless stacking quicker to startup with mplayer by not initing codecs or audio/video outputs and disabled caching of subtitles

Am running the Bling Bling 7/27 version now - still not seeing my Linkstation. <shrug> As fast as I upgrade a new one comes out! Rebuilt my movie database this time around, quirks gone. However while building my music dB it blew up. Somehow wiped out most of my XBMC load, locked the box and overheated too since it had no fan control - doh! Finally just copied over my old music dB and now it's working. Watching shows on it now - working well. Found one quirk in the movie setup that's new - when you set a movie and it's wrong going back and doing a refresh doesn't help if the first search only brought back one result. Renaming the folder to something more descriptive and it was fine.

Oh and yes I may work on the Python stuff for the Tivo. That would SO rock! Am familier with DealDatabase - they eat their young lol. Need to check in there for Tivo advances anyway, need to try out the Zipper code one of these days too. Anyway, thanks for the tip!

I have not tried this but there is python front end so you can stream TIVO video to the xbox. I found info on this prevously over on dealdatabase.com in their tivo forums. You might want to check it out. I haven't tried it...


How doeas this work??

I thought all TiVO to Go & In Home options for TiVO MUST go through a USB port. And that the USB port doesn't have enough speed to support real-time streaming. So it's more of a copy-until-you-have-sufficient-buffer then start watching. Has this changed with newer TiVOs??

How doeas this work??

I thought all TiVO to Go & In Home options for TiVO MUST go through a USB port. And that the USB port doesn't have enough speed to support real-time streaming. So it's more of a copy-until-you-have-sufficient-buffer then start watching. Has this changed with newer TiVOs??

Yes, through a USB port although if they have upgraded the USB drives in later versions it's MUCH faster than it used to be - I seem to recall it's USB 2.0. I got over to DealDatabase researching some other things and it looks like ALOT has changed since I last tweaked my DTIVO. Not to get too afar afield here but a TIVO emulator sort of server code appears to have been completed to a point where you can serve up all sorts of stuff as it if were coming from another TIVO via MRV. The DTIVO code has also been tweaked to allow HMO and MRV too it seems so it looks like my box will undergo a rebuild sometime soon. :cool:

When that occurs I'll try out this Python stuff as being able to access the TIVO via the XBOX would be nice although perhaps overkill. For WAF however it might be necessary as she finds the XBOX controller unintuitive and goofy. The XBOX DVD remote I've got is a knockoff and not too hot. Eventually I'll get a programmable remote but for now the more options the better - and more toys! :o

You could create two GUI bookmarks, one that points to your downloaded movies and one that points to your movie collection. Clicking on a bookmark button would show the list of the movies, either downloaded or collection, depending on which button you click.

See my GUI bookmark post here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7971369&&#post7971369)

I didn't ask the initial question, but thanks for reposting this. This is a feature I didn't even know existed.

I didn't ask the initial question, but thanks for reposting this. This is a feature I didn't even know existed.

I dug into that too and am pretty sure I've got it setup right. Only thing I don't like is if you list by Movie Title you only get the IMDB movies. If you stay in File mode you've got to have descriptive folder names or be able to recognize the image :( Oh, I managed to do this with no manual editing. Made a data source then dug down and made the shortcut with the same name and it appeared on the left side of the Videos area and pointed to the source I'd made. :o Stumbled over it digging into the settings area :rolleyes: Handy though and I'd have not known what it was had it not been brought up here.

Ok, you guys shamed me into doing it myself. I successfully softmodded my xbox last weekend. Now I want to rip my dvd's to Divx.

I know how to use DVD decrypter and DVD Shrink to make DVD+R backups of my movies.

Question: What are you guys using to make DIVX backups of your movies? I figure this is the way to go to save on server disk space.

Ok, you guys shamed me into doing it myself. I successfully softmodded my xbox last weekend. Now I want to rip my dvd's to Divx.

I know how to use DVD decrypter and DVD Shrink to make DVD+R backups of my movies.

Question: What are you guys using to make DIVX backups of your movies? I figure this is the way to go to save on server disk space.

Use AutoGK software.

Use AutoGK software.

Agreed. I just set it to 75% quality and let it go. Couldn't be simpler, and I can't really tell a difference on my 56" set.

No doubt - AutoGK really helps XBMC to shine.

Couple of things....
I set it to encode using Xvid rather than DivX.
For wide format movies I force the width to 848 pixels, which is the closest multple of 16 to my display's native res of 854 (Panny Plasma EDTV)
I also try to keep a director's comments as the secod sound track.

Use AutoGK software.

Another vote for AutoGK (Gordian Knot)....

Sean

OK - I'll bite. What is the relative file size of a Divx/Xvid file compared to the ISO file size? Do you maintain menus and chapter information?

OK - I'll bite. What is the relative file size of a Divx/Xvid file compared to the ISO file size? Do you maintain menus and chapter information?

It's movie only. You can set the file size. Most people do either 700mb (to fit on a cd) or 1.4gb (movie with AC3 soundtrack). I've encoded some movies at 200mb to use on my smartphone/pda/mp3/video player. :)

Thanks for the help guys. More questions.

If I use dvdshrink to create .iso on my PC hard drive, how do I set it up (on the PC or XBOX or both) so that XBMC shows the .iso as an icon that looks like the movie poster from IMDB?

I don't have a dvdprofiler acct, but I can set one up if that helps.

I searched this thread but couldn't find it. Thanks.

Thanks for the help guys. More questions.

If I use dvdshrink to create .iso on my PC hard drive, how do I set it up (on the PC or XBOX or both) so that XBMC shows the .iso as an icon that looks like the movie poster from IMDB?

I don't have a dvdprofiler acct, but I can set one up if that helps.

I searched this thread but couldn't find it. Thanks.

Highlight the iso file and press the white button, you can query imdb for the movie info here and it should dl the movie poster and use it as the thumbnail automatically. Or you can use your own picture by renaming the jpg file to moviename.tbn and place it in the same directory as the moviename.iso file.

Worked great, thanks!

The MCE skin by Hades_666 came out the other day. I'm using it right now, seems nice.

DL here
http://www.xbox-skins.net/forums/index.php?download=5726

Skin thread:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=535727

Worked great, thanks!

You can hit the scan allow menu selection to scan all of them quickly and automatically. Then do manual lookups editing the title for ones that don't get detected by the first step...

Sean

Be careful using the scan all if you've got multi disk sets like Band Of Brothers. Really screwed me up when I did that :(

As for compression - I use DVD Shrink and shrink everything EXCEPT the main movie. I want the menus for WAF but the movie at full resolution. I am not sure what the space savings would be but honestly for me it makes more sense to not compress than to find out later I shouldn't have - I've got 500+ DVD and no way am I doing this twice if I can help it! :eek:

Will check out the MCE skin when I get home, am in Vegas for DEFCON :D I really look forward to seeing that in action - it looked quite good. Anyone tried it yet?

A softmod question if I may (well probably a couple of questions really....)
I am trying to softmod my daughters xbox by using my xbox running xbmc (already chipped) and a memory card.
Can someone confirm that I firstly use the PAL version (being in Australia).
I have tried both S.I.D and Krayzie but cant seem to get the game save files onto the memory card - the process I am following is below:
1. Unzip the package
2. Transfer via FTP to my xbox (already chipped running xbmc) - transferring to E:
3. Turn off xbmc and reboot into MS dash
4. Go to memory etc - when I do this I dont get any files to save ??

I hope someone understand and is able to help. What I do get under the memory heading in the MS dash are other files such as xbmc and xbox generic files......

A softmod question if I may (well probably a couple of questions really....)
I am trying to softmod my daughters xbox by using my xbox running xbmc (already chipped) and a memory card.
Can someone confirm that I firstly use the PAL version (being in Australia).
I have tried both S.I.D and Krayzie but cant seem to get the game save files onto the memory card - the process I am following is below:
1. Unzip the package
2. Transfer via FTP to my xbox (already chipped running xbmc) - transferring to E:
3. Turn off xbmc and reboot into MS dash
4. Go to memory etc - when I do this I dont get any files to save ??

I hope someone understand and is able to help. What I do get under the memory heading in the MS dash are other files such as xbmc and xbox generic files......


You need to use something like XBOX game save manager to place the gamesave on the xbox. The Xbox game save manager will process the zip file directly... you can get the software here... The save has to live in a special place in e :\udata or e:\tdata to be recognized...

http://www.xbox-saves.com/news.htm

Sean

Be careful using the scan all if you've got multi disk sets like Band Of Brothers. Really screwed me up when I did that :(

As for compression - I use DVD Shrink and shrink everything EXCEPT the main movie. I want the menus for WAF but the movie at full resolution. I am not sure what the space savings would be but honestly for me it makes more sense to not compress than to find out later I shouldn't have - I've got 500+ DVD and no way am I doing this twice if I can help it! :eek:

Will check out the MCE skin when I get home, am in Vegas for DEFCON :D I really look forward to seeing that in action - it looked quite good. Anyone tried it yet?

Agreed, also with the current build (7-25-06) there is a glitch whrere if you do a manual lookup for a movie that has already been scanned your xbox will lock up.. New CVS build corrects this but I don't think it has been release as of yet...

The new MCE skin is very nice... I helped test it and was amazed at the similarities to the acutal MCE. I have both but never use my 360 for media serving anymore... XBMC blows it away... Can you imagine how powerful XBMC will be when they finally hack the 360?

By the way, I still find myself using PMIII for the simple reason that on the video screen you see more movies in the display. When you have 200 movies like me or more like in your case it is a must. I hope some day a skinner will make a video screen where the whole screen is filled with movie cover art and controles can be accessed through a popup window with a button push... Just seems more logical to me. (and yes, I have requested this many times and everyone says...."Hey that sounds like a great idea!" but no progress as of yet...lol

You need to use something like XBOX game save manager to place the gamesave on the xbox. The Xbox game save manager will process the zip file directly... you can get the software here... The save has to live in a special place in e :\udata or e:\tdata to be recognized...

http://www.xbox-saves.com/news.htm

Sean

Legendary - thanx Sean. :)

Because of this post, I bought a used XBOX and modded it. THANK YOU!

It's great!

OK - I'll bite. What is the relative file size of a Divx/Xvid file compared to the ISO file size? Do you maintain menus and chapter information?

I know the first part of this question was answered earlier. Wondering about the last part.

Anyone using AutoGK and successfully retaining chapter information from the orginal DVD? Care to share your technique?

I have all my discs ripped in ISO's right now, but if xvid at 75% quality through AutoGK is truly indecipherable in quality, I may consider changing my tune and going compressed for my traditional movies. I'm guessing TV episodes will need to stay ISO's.

I know the first part of this question was answered earlier. Wondering about the last part.

Anyone using AutoGK and successfully retaining chapter information from the orginal DVD? Care to share your technique?

I have all my discs ripped in ISO's right now, but if xvid at 75% quality through AutoGK is truly indecipherable in quality, I may consider changing my tune and going compressed for my traditional movies. I'm guessing TV episodes will need to stay ISO's.

AutoGK rips to AVI files. I don't think there is any standard way to have chapters in AVIs, so that information is lost.

As an additional note, XBMC doesn't seem to do too well with AVI files > 2GB, so you have to either split the file (which causes a gap in playback as XBMC switches from one part to another), or recompress to make sure the size is < 2GB.

From what I've read, 83% is supposedly equal quality to the DVD. I can't tell a difference between 83% and 75%, so that's what I use, hoping for a little savings. My overall average of ~40 DVDs that I've ripped so far is about 2.5:1 compression vs. the original VOB.

There should be no reason you can't rip your TV discs, it will just turn into multiple files (one per episode).

I know the first part of this question was answered earlier. Wondering about the last part.

Anyone using AutoGK and successfully retaining chapter information from the orginal DVD? Care to share your technique?

I have all my discs ripped in ISO's right now, but if xvid at 75% quality through AutoGK is truly indecipherable in quality, I may consider changing my tune and going compressed for my traditional movies. I'm guessing TV episodes will need to stay ISO's.

i disagree with the quality statement. I can tell the difference between any DIVX encoding the MP2 original (Blacks and the dithering are the two most noticable artifacts to content transcoded from MP2 to XVID/DVIX). To the trained eye the differences are there.. I would do some comparison yourself before chosing what to do. Some people are more sensitive to certain things than others. Do your own comparisons....

Sean

I have a HD Tivo coming next week. XBMC just doesn't cut it for HD. Can anybody recommend a decent HD able network player?

I'll certainly be keeping XBMC for my DVD rips, music, etc. I just need something additional that can handle HD.

i disagree with the quality statement. I can tell the difference between any DIVX encoding the MP2 original (Blacks and the dithering are the two most noticable artifacts to content transcoded from MP2 to XVID/DVIX). To the trained eye the differences are there.. I would do some comparison yourself before chosing what to do. Some people are more sensitive to certain things than others. Do your own comparisons....

Sean

Agreed. If you have the disc space, keep them in ISOs. If you are cheap like me, and can't tell the difference, save some hard drive space and recompress.

It only takes a couple hours to try it on one of your existing rips. Pick something that has good video quality and give it a whirl.

I have a HD Tivo coming next week. XBMC just doesn't cut it for HD. Can anybody recommend a decent HD able network player?

I'll certainly be keeping XBMC for my DVD rips, music, etc. I just need something additional that can handle HD.

Don't know of anything that stream content of the HD Tivo. I have an HD Tivo as well. Let me know what you find....

Sean

Don't know of anything that stream content of the HD Tivo. I have an HD Tivo as well. Let me know what you find....

Sean

Well, that is the issue right now. See the rest of this forum for other potential players. Many are close, but still note quite there yet. the TViX and the zensonic are maybe hopefuls, but they all have issues with firmware and so on. None of the sigma-based streamers avaible right now will play back h.264 or the other "heavy" codecs.

For HD tivo programs you really aren't going to find anything that is as easy to us as just the tivo itself (yes, I know the tivo UI could be better!).
FYI, the hd tivo is just recording mpeg 2, so even the now discountinued roku photo bridge is quite able to playback my HD Tivo programs.

My hope is that the energetic people who like hacking xboxes will get to the point of being able to run unsigned code on the xbox 360. Then a port of XBMC will be _the_ solution. I suspect it will take a while for an xbmc on the 360 because the 360 hardware is expensive and lots of energy is currently being applied to being able to play pirated game discs via the dvd-firmware hole of the 360. [sigh]

If you do find a high def streamer that works well, please do post about it.

I'm not aware of anything being able to play HD Tivo other than HD Tivo. If HD Tivo can be played by an HTPC for example (maybe it can, I'm not sure really) then I'd try something like the xbox360 using transcode 360.

I'm not aware of anything being able to play HD Tivo other than HD Tivo. If HD Tivo can be played by an HTPC for example (maybe it can, I'm not sure really) then I'd try something like the xbox360 using transcode 360.

My friends HTPC can play the HD .ty files off the tivo. Dunno if he had to modify anything with TY tools or install some additional codecs. I thought tivo changed the framing around some so a standard MP2 player won't play a .ty file but I may be wrong. Anyone have any experience here?

BTW: Tivo's UI is still awesome. I have yet to see another PVR better it and the interface is now 7 years old. I wish it had PIP so I could watch TV while scheduling shows and other stuff but everytime I try another PVR I am still shocked at how poor the UI is... I have not tried the D* PVR but have tried replay, about every cable PVR out there and the Dish PVR's and they all are pretty poor. I hear the MS DTV was pretty cool but of course that died too.... I love everything about my HD Tivo except the thousand dollar price tag and I am on my 4th box because the DVI port kept burning out. Been over a year on the last one. I guess they finally fixed the DVI port issue...

The latest POS is a MOT DCT3412 at my GF's house in Mtn View, CA. Bad UI, The remote is utterly unresponsive (sometimes 30 seconds before it responds to an IR remote click) and NO OVERSHOOT correction on the FF. it drives me nuts. I thought the Scientific atlanta was the most user hostile one I had seen but this thing takes the prize!

Sean

question,

I can't seem to get Quicktime browser to work anymore on my PIMPED version 7/30 of XBMC.. Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Fabian.

question,

I can't seem to get Quicktime browser to work anymore on my PIMPED version 7/30 of XBMC.. Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Fabian.


Its been broken for a while. There is a thread somewhere over on Xbox scene on how to hack the QT movie previewer to work with recent versions of XBMC. I think it broke when the upraded the python lib in XBMC maybe 1-2 months ago. It broke many scripts I had that worked... I haven't bothered to worry they will get around to issuing a fix before 2.0 releases hopefully. That was one script I did occasionally use to check out previews since I tend to zap most commercials in tivo.

Sean

Completely inspired by the thread, so my buddy let me borrow his modded XBox to test this stuff. Everything's going well. I modded the XML to see all the volumes on my unRaid server.

My only gripe: Is there a way to make the "My Videos" interface work with one click? I have ISO files. When you go to "My Videos" I see a bunch of folders with the Movie name. When I click that, I can see the ISO file (with cover art if I use IMDB), then after I select that, the movie starts.

Is it possible to have the cover art show in the root of "My Videos" and then when you click that, it plays the ISO? That would save me a click. Ultimately, it would be really cool if this could use a DVD Profiler's XML file and thumbs...

Completely inspired by the thread, so my buddy let me borrow his modded XBox to test this stuff. Everything's going well. I modded the XML to see all the volumes on my unRaid server.

My only gripe: Is there a way to make the "My Videos" interface work with one click? I have ISO files. When you go to "My Videos" I see a bunch of folders with the Movie name. When I click that, I can see the ISO file (with cover art if I use IMDB), then after I select that, the movie starts.

Is it possible to have the cover art show in the root of "My Videos" and then when you click that, it plays the ISO? That would save me a click. Ultimately, it would be really cool if this could use a DVD Profiler's XML file and thumbs...


Mine works the way you want it. you just put all the ISO's in one directory and then lookup cover art with IMDB or you can scan the stuff the way you have it and switch from the FILES view to the LIBRARY view....

Sean

Completely inspired by the thread, so my buddy let me borrow his modded XBox to test this stuff. Everything's going well. I modded the XML to see all the volumes on my unRaid server.

My only gripe: Is there a way to make the "My Videos" interface work with one click? I have ISO files. When you go to "My Videos" I see a bunch of folders with the Movie name. When I click that, I can see the ISO file (with cover art if I use IMDB), then after I select that, the movie starts.

Is it possible to have the cover art show in the root of "My Videos" and then when you click that, it plays the ISO? That would save me a click. Ultimately, it would be really cool if this could use a DVD Profiler's XML file and thumbs...

I have links in the first post on how to use DVD Profiler's XML and thumbs.

If you want to keep the iso within the movie folder (which I don't think is necessary) you can try pressing the play button (if you have the remote). Otherwise you can press the white button and choose play.

Ja Phule,
Your DVDProfiler2XBMC looks interesting, but I'm still confused on a few things.

1 - If you create a directory with fake ISO's and point XBMC to that, then how do you get XBMC to play the actual DVD ISO?

2 - I have some VOB files as well as ISO's b/c I was previously using the Roku HD1000 and it only supported ISO's (at the time - Mplay now supports ISO). Will your program work with VOB's as well? I could delete those and re-rip but just wondering...

Thanks

Ja Phule,
Your DVDProfiler2XBMC looks interesting, but I'm still confused on a few things.

1 - If you create a directory with fake ISO's and point XBMC to that, then how do you get XBMC to play the actual DVD ISO?

2 - I have some VOB files as well as ISO's b/c I was previously using the Roku HD1000 and it only supported ISO's (at the time - Mplay now supports ISO). Will your program work with VOB's as well? I could delete those and re-rip but just wondering...

Thanks

1. The fake isos are created so you can just view your dvd catalog via XBMC. If you want to play your dvds, replace the fake iso file with the real iso of the dvd.

2. You can create fake vobs with the program.

BTW....

Manual has been evolving much lately. Check out this section on UPNP....

http://www.xbmc.xbox-scene.com/wiki/index.php?title=UPnP_Sharing

SEan

I am having the hardest time getting HD to work on my XBMC softmodded xbox, which was modded using the 30 minute mod process posted [with Krayzie's NDURE exploit] online several months ago.

From within Krayzie's instructions, the softmod requires a certain version of the MS dashboard (v. 5960). to work. I confirmed that I have this version OK and have been running XBMC for about 4 months.

Problem: When I go to the MS dashboard (v. 5960) video setting page, I DO NOT see any settings for HD, even though I have my HD component cables connected. I DO NOT see any video setting for 480p, 720p, or 1080i as depicted in this HOW-TO image:

http://blog.frunder.com/blog-images/xbox-dashboard/xbox-720p.jpg

I ONLY see NORMAL, WIDESCREEN, AND LETTERBOX in video setting options and cannot drill down further. How do I get my XBOX to support 720p? Also, XBMC only shows me 16:9, 4:3, and auto when I try and change my resolution.. HELP?

Thanks everyone,
Fabian.

I am having the hardest time getting HD to work on my XBMC softmodded xbox, which was modded using the 30 minute mod process posted [with Krayzie's NDURE exploit] online several months ago.

From within Krayzie's instructions, the softmod requires a certain version of the MS dashboard (v. 5960). to work. I confirmed that I have this version OK and have been running XBMC for about 4 months.

Problem: When I go to the MS dashboard (v. 5960) video setting page, I DO NOT see any settings for HD, even though I have my HD component cables connected. I DO NOT see any video setting for 480p, 720p, or 1080i as depicted in this HOW-TO image:

http://blog.frunder.com/blog-images/xbox-dashboard/xbox-720p.jpg

I ONLY see NORMAL, WIDESCREEN, AND LETTERBOX in video setting options and cannot drill down further. How do I get my XBOX to support 720p? Also, XBMC only shows me 16:9, 4:3, and auto when I try and change my resolution.. HELP?

Thanks everyone,
Fabian.


Did it work correctly before you soft modded it?

Two Suggestions:

1. WHo's Hi Def cable pack is it. I have seen this with one of my boxes and a no name HD cable pack. Never seen this with the monster or MS cable pack....

2. There is some HD Patch to softmod I remember seeing on Auto Installer Deluxe but I always install not sure exactly what it does?


BTW: Pimped 08/07 is out... More DVD and uPNP Fixes... release notes below...

Was having a problem getting it to compile this weekend. Its sorted out now tho.

CVS Changes Since Last Build:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
added/fixed: (dd-mm-yyyy) (please specify date in CET)

- 07-08-2006 fixed: bob deinterlacing wasn't working for dvdplayer, it overwrote texture before displaying second field
- 07-08-2006 fixed: possible fix for UPnP leak
- 07-08-2006 fixed: UPnP limit to 256 entries per container.
- 06-08-2006 fixed: Skin bool settings with value didn't work (and caused eratic behaviour)
- 06-08-2006 fixed: broken trainers could crash xbmc in some cases.
- 06-08-2006 added: zipped trainers.|
- 06-08-2006 fixed: Listcontrol crash when going from a long listing to a short listing.
- 06-08-2006 changed: Folders should display with their labels by default, rather than the filenames.
- 05-08-2006 fixed: DVDPlayer didn't use the time seek values from AdvancedSettings.xml
- 04-08-2006 fixed: some files slipped through when browsing for dirs in filebrowser (for instance shoutcast streams).
- 04-08-2006 fixed: [ 1518486 ] xbmc.PlayList(0)[i].getduration() is broken.
- 04-08-2006 changed: last loaded profile is now automatically selected in the login screen.
- 04-08-2006 fixed: reenabled filedirectories in the browse for subtitles dialog. means archives works again.
- 04-08-2006 added: [ 1533282 ] IMDb Python Library. thanks to no1cantel and allthekill. now go create a bunch of fancy imdb enabled scripts!
- 03-08-2006 changed: guibuilder.py, added <resolution> option tag to skin.xml file, fastMethod option, maybe others.
- 02-08-2006 fixed: [ 1492732 ] mbcs encoding incorrectly leaves null byte at end of string.
- 01-08-2006 fixed: Cleaned up the action code + moved the special case built in function interception for the login window to its class.
- 01-08-2006 fixed: List and thumbcontrols cleared there page reference when cleared, meaning refreshed windows often caused jumping in the lists.
- 01-08-2006 fixed: guibuilder.py, apparently xbmc.getLocalizedifong() isn't the same as xbmc.getLocalizedString()
- 01-08-2006 added: guibuilder.py and example in GUI Builder.zip. This module allows you to skin your python scripts with a standard XBMC skinfile.xml.
- 01-08-2006 fixed: on some dvd's, menu overlays appeared to soon, even after the last bugfix.
- 01-08-2006 fixed: [ 1530775 ] Trainerpath dialog bug.
- 01-08-2006 added: [ 1527477 ] Add restart video menu when auto resume video option is on. thanks to kusskowe.
- 01-08-2006 changed: don't start kai on login screen.
- 31-07-2006 added: [ 1440803 ] Associate Profiles with AV pack. thanks to markeen. will be documented on http://xbmc.xbox-scene.com/wiki/ soonish.
- 31-07-2006 fixed: some minor trainer related issues.
- 31-07-2006 fixed: master user login timestamp wasn't saved.
- 31-07-2006 changed: autoexec.py is hidden in the script window (clutter). use the filemanager for testing.
- 31-07-2006 fixed: [ 1530774 ] Trainers "update list" bug
- 31-07-2006 fixed: overlay rendering had tearing, renderer updated overlay surface before previous overlay had been copied (second attempt, restored double buffering)
- 31-07-2006 changed: player controls are now disabled on the login screen.
- 31-07-2006 fixed: conflict with using the different types of locks (all locks had to be of the same kind as the master lock).
- 31-07-2006 fixed: Stuck in settings after loading PM3 (or other skins) from Mc360.
- 31-07-2006 fixed: Removed old non-float code from paplayer path, and fixed buffer sizes.
- 30-07-2006 fixed: on some dvd's, menu overlays appeared to soon

I've got my XBMC up a running over a wired network connection. Everything seems to work fine for pictures, music, weather, and some video clips. However, when I watch backups of DVDs (Corpse Bride, and Kill Bill for example) I get a slight pause or picture breakup when it switches from one ISO file (I assume chapters) to the next. Other movies play fine. I used DVD decrypter, and DVD shrink, removing features and menus. MOVIE ONLY. Any suggestions. The movies seem to breakup as it jumps from one ISO to another.

Did it work correctly before you soft modded it?

Two Suggestions:

1. WHo's Hi Def cable pack is it. I have seen this with one of my boxes and a no name HD cable pack. Never seen this with the monster or MS cable pack....

2. There is some HD Patch to softmod I remember seeing on Auto Installer Deluxe but I always install not sure exactly what it does?





Ohh.. interesting.. so if I plug in a diffrent "quality" component cable like Monster, those additonal resolution options will appear on the MS dashboard?

I will try this..

F.

I've got my XBMC up a running over a wired network connection. Everything seems to work fine for pictures, music, weather, and some video clips. However, when I watch backups of DVDs (Corpse Bride, and Kill Bill for example) I get a slight pause or picture breakup when it switches from one ISO file (I assume chapters) to the next. Other movies play fine. I used DVD decrypter, and DVD shrink, removing features and menus. MOVIE ONLY. Any suggestions. The movies seem to breakup as it jumps from one ISO to another.

Fredoh,

Are you saying that you have mulitple ISO's for the same movie? If so, are you using the "Stack" feature to bind the iso's so that when one finishes the next one begins? I know that xbmc will give a slight pause when doing the above, maybe 1 or 2 seconds. That would be normal as it is ending one file and starting another.

Secondly, if you are doing the above you may want to change your output in DVD Shrink or DVD Decryptor to output to one ISO file.

Now, if none of the above actually applies and I missunderstood and you actually have just one ISO file for each movie we need to look elsewhere for the cause. I have a couple of movies that will give a slight pause where I assume there was a layer change as it always seems to happen in the middle of the movie. I have also wondered if it is some type of encryption that Shrink or Decryptor is having a hard time with. I know Sony DVD's have become a major pain in the butt to back up and I have had to add several new programs to my "Backup Programs" folder. The good news is that if Shrink or Decryptor doesn't give me a clean backup I will run the DVD through DVD Fab or Ripit4Me and usually get a good backup.

One more thing... I have about 200 backed up DVD's and I can tell you that sometimes you just have to re-rip the DVD and whalla..... It works fine. I don't know what can cause interference in the ripping process that creates problems but on occasion it happens...

Good luck!

Scott

Ohh.. interesting.. so if I plug in a diffrent "quality" component cable like Monster, those additonal resolution options will appear on the MS dashboard?

I will try this..

F.

Not the cable but the dongle that plugs into the back of the xbox? Is your's made by MS.....

Not the cable but the dongle that plugs into the back of the xbox? Is your's made by MS.....

umm.. I have two units of my own, one made by madcow, another off brand component w/toslink, and

I am going to borrow a Monster XBOX certified component w/LR autio cable today.

But in short, no I down't have an actual MS branded XBOX component cable, just other brands.

I guess the XBOX can determine which kind of cable is being plugged into it and show the appropriate interface options in the MS dashobard.. interesting.

F.

umm.. I have two units of my own, one made by madcow, another off brand component w/toslink, and

I am going to borrow a Monster XBOX certified component w/LR autio cable today.

But in short, no I down't have an actual MS branded XBOX component cable, just other brands.

I guess the XBOX can determine which kind of cable is being plugged into it and show the appropriate interface options in the MS dashobard.. interesting.

F.

Yeah, actually it *can* tell. Playing around with mine I found I coldn't enable the higher resolutions (standard cable). Then I purchased one capable of doing HD (I have SD) so that I could have DD audio etc. and when I plugged this in the additional resolutions were available. so far as I know all I had to do was swap the cable, I don't think I changed anything else... :o

I'm not sure how the madcatz one works, but my off brand one has a switch on the side that lets me switch between 480i and 480p/720p/1080i. I plan on replacing my off brand adapter sometime soon b/c it's 480p/720p/1080i output isn't very good.

Stop in at your local EB Games / Game Stop.
I have found several original Microsoft HD packs.
MS made two kinds, one that has the component & audio cables built in – attached.
The other is the dongle style that you use you own cables.
Both have the optical audio outs.
I normally pay between $8-$10 for these when they have them in.
Look on the wall of used accessories.
The HD is very good with the original HD packs.

The original dongle unit sells for $30+ on eBay. :eek:

You may even find new for about $15

I've seen several references both here and in other threads to having a bootable CD with FTP on it just in case a softmod goes wrong. But I haven't been able to find any instructions on how to create one.

Can anyone enlighten me?

I've seen several references both here and in other threads to having a bootable CD with FTP on it just in case a softmod goes wrong. But I haven't been able to find any instructions on how to create one.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Google on Auto Installer Deluxe but there is little that will help you other than a BIOS image and a bunch of hacking when a softmod goes wrong. With a hard mod and a boot disc you are always ready to go...

Sean

Google on Auto Installer Deluxe but there is little that will help you other than a BIOS image and a bunch of hacking when a softmod goes wrong. With a hard mod and a boot disc you are always ready to go...

Sean
Thanks - sounds like a hard mod is the way to go.

You can always recover from a soft mod if you make a HD upgrade CD.
It will not be bootable within the Xbox nor have ftp.
However, you can get up and running again on a new installed drive within 15 minutes.
This method will not save any files or settings you made since you would be rebuilding a drive from scratch. Better than a doorstop

I used xboxhdm and it works great.
Create one for all your units.
Be sure to test it on a new drive, then put the disk away for insurance

That seems a good way to go - I will be replacing the HDD before installing the softmod in any case, so as long as I keep the old one safe I should be able to recover from my latest backup.

Thanks!

OK, I plugged in the Monster component cable and the options for HD widescreen viewing in 480p, 720p, and 1080i all showed up.

PROBLEM: Is anyone else running a DVDO to a HS51 projector? When I select 720p or 1080i in the dashboard, and then enable this resolution in XBMC, my projector is not able to sync up to the signal, it say the signal frequency is out of range and keeps trying to sync.

Is the DVDO at fault, do I need to change something? My DVDO iscan HD+ is set to output 720p @ 60hz for all source material.

Is it possible my DVDO can't process an HD signal through the component connection, only DVI, VGA, and HDMI?

Any help would be appreciated,
Fabian.

I just called DVDO about my XBOX 720p dilema.

I am oficially not buying any more DVDO stuff after having spent full price on my iscan HD+ and being told "it doesn't do that" every time I need to do something which would appear to be quite common. Like wanting to play HD games from an XBOX on my projector, which happens to be running through a DVDO scaler. The freaking XBOX came out around 2002 and had HD features out of the gate.

From what I can tell, DVDO performs minor upgrades on their equipment to keep up with the market. I was just told that if I wanted to run native component 720p XBOX games through a DVDO unit, I would have to upgrade for $900 to the VP20, I don’t think so, I just got my iscan HD+ only a few months ago.


My main two issues with this unit are:

1. The DVDO iscan HD+ unit does not convert a toslink signal to coax SPDIF. I had to buy a hardware conversion box, 30 buck, so what, but I should not have to deal with this lame limitation having spent $1500 for [what was sold as a] a modern scaler / switcher.

2. The DVDO iscan HD+ does not accept a signals beyond 480p through its component connectors, so I guess I will never really know how well my XBOX looks in native 720. I actually have some nice DIVx videos which are native 720p which actually play well on my xbox, not too many do.

Fabian.

I modded my boxes a few months back and couldn't be happier. I do check back on this thread every few weeks or so to check on updates.

One thing I'm really waiting for is the ability to have thumbnails for all my .wmv files like my mce comp does. I've been told in the past that it's not currently available for xbmc. Has anything changed on this?

ON a side note:
I'm curious, what actually creates the thumbnails in mce for .wmv files?
Is it media center, windows media player, or something else?
Why is there such an issue with generating thumbnails for .wmv files when virtually every other software product does it, esp since the xbox is an ms product?

thnx in advance for any info

dreamhost,

When was the last time you updated your XBMC? I have a couple of .wmv files in a folder and usually XBMC will display the first frame of the movie as the thumbnail... I have MS Media Center and it does this as well. You may have to go into file view or something like that to see the thumbs I can't remember off the top of my head.

Definately update soon as there have been lots of good changes lately.

wow... I have been thinking something like this would be in the Xbox forum... been using my xbox for media center for years and totally loved it, people just can't believe it's all done from a networked xbox when I show them!

I just called DVDO about my XBOX 720p dilema.

I am oficially not buying any more DVDO stuff after having spent full price on my iscan HD+ and being told "it doesn't do that" every time I need to do something which would appear to be quite common. Like wanting to play HD games from an XBOX on my projector, which happens to be running through a DVDO scaler. The freaking XBOX came out around 2002 and had HD features out of the gate.

From what I can tell, DVDO performs minor upgrades on their equipment to keep up with the market. I was just told that if I wanted to run native component 720p XBOX games through a DVDO unit, I would have to upgrade for $900 to the VP20, I don’t think so, I just got my iscan HD+ only a few months ago.


My main two issues with this unit are:

1. The DVDO iscan HD+ unit does not convert a toslink signal to coax SPDIF. I had to buy a hardware conversion box, 30 buck, so what, but I should not have to deal with this lame limitation having spent $1500 for [what was sold as a] a modern scaler / switcher.

2. The DVDO iscan HD+ does not accept a signals beyond 480p through its component connectors, so I guess I will never really know how well my XBOX looks in native 720. I actually have some nice DIVx videos which are native 720p which actually play well on my xbox, not too many do.

Fabian.

Fabian,

Sorry to here about your troubles. It sounds frustrating... Hard to beleive it won't accept a 720p or 1080i signal....

Anyway you can just bypass the scaler and connect the xbox straight to your projector...


Glad at least you understand the issue...

Sean

dreamhost,

When was the last time you updated your XBMC? I have a couple of .wmv files in a folder and usually XBMC will display the first frame of the movie as the thumbnail... I have MS Media Center and it does this as well. You may have to go into file view or something like that to see the thumbs I can't remember off the top of my head.

Definately update soon as there have been lots of good changes lately.


AS far as I know XBMC has no capability or ever has to show the first frame of a video file as the icon. It surely don't on any of the thousands of videos I have. Windows surely does. As far as I know icons in XBMC are from the folder.jpg file for directory or from the IMDB thumbnails it can look up and download. Am I missing something here...

Sean

Blkmagic or Anyone...

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=526986&st=45

In the URL above I saw the Nuka acknoledged the accuweather animated maps were broken due to some change and he made reference to a work around. Anyone understand what he is saying and how to fix this? Was really digging the loops. Its still really cool....

Sean

I have put in a request at xbox scene for advise from nuka on this issue. He's missing in action at the moment...lol I had assumed that the fix was in the link he posted just after the explanation of how he fixed it... well I installed and no dice. If he answers me I will post an update here.

As far as the wmv files go, I will double check about the thumbnail display and report back this evening...getting my kids to bed here.. It wouldn't be the first time I was sure of something and was completely ass-backwards...lol

Scott

I've asked this before on this thread, and have had no response. I'm going to try again.

My movies backed up DVDs on my network. They are in the decrypted Vob files just as they were on the disc.

I'm running XBMC pimped 8/8 at this point...I still have a nav issue. If I do anything with the nav (other than the d-pad), e.g. skip forward or backward by chapter, I'm kicked out of the movie & back to the My Videos menu. Also, the trigger forward/backward do not work.

Does anyone have any information on these?

Sean and Dreamhost.... Your absolutely correct...I was getting my Xbox 360 Media Center criss crossed with my XBMC. XBMC will not automatically retrieve thumbs for your wmv movies. After some playing around I have come to the conclustion that you have to manually retrieve the thumb (that you have made/downloaded and stored on your computer) via the Get Thumb/Browse option in Movie Information. Not as easy as an IMDB lookup but you can do it...

By the way, are these wmv's home videos are DVD movies converted to wmv?

Sorry if I got your hopes up....should have confirmed before opening my mouth...lol Have you made a request at xbox-scene forums or over at xboxmediacenter.com for this type of functionality?

Bout01.... I am not having this problem with my T3CH version. Pimp has a few extra cool features but you can't beat T3CH for stability... Why don't you download the latest T3CH version and see if this fixes the issue. You can just rename your pimp version and FTP over the new one and see if it helps the issue.

Good luck!

Scott

Sean and Dreamhost.... Your absolutely correct...I was getting my Xbox 360 Media Center criss crossed with my XBMC. XBMC will not automatically retrieve thumbs for your wmv movies. After some playing around I have come to the conclustion that you have to manually retrieve the thumb (that you have made/downloaded and stored on your computer) via the Get Thumb/Browse option in Movie Information. Not as easy as an IMDB lookup but you can do it...

By the way, are these wmv's home videos are DVD movies converted to wmv?

Sorry if I got your hopes up....should have confirmed before opening my mouth...lol Have you made a request at xbox-scene forums or over at xboxmediacenter.com for this type of functionality?

Bout01.... I am not having this problem with my T3CH version. Pimp has a few extra cool features but you can't beat T3CH for stability... Why don't you download the latest T3CH version and see if this fixes the issue. You can just rename your pimp version and FTP over the new one and see if it helps the issue.

Good luck!

Scott


cool thanks for the info.... This feature has been formally requested a while ago. There had been threads on this @xboxscene. I can navigate DVD's fine on all my boxes... I maintain separate installs of pimped versus t3ch. In 2 years never seen any real difference in the core player stability of either build. But thats just my $0.02

Sean

I've asked this before on this thread, and have had no response. I'm going to try again.

My movies backed up DVDs on my network. They are in the decrypted Vob files just as they were on the disc.

I'm running XBMC pimped 8/8 at this point...I still have a nav issue. If I do anything with the nav (other than the d-pad), e.g. skip forward or backward by chapter, I'm kicked out of the movie & back to the My Videos menu. Also, the trigger forward/backward do not work.

Does anyone have any information on these?

Yes, they don't work. :)

Chapter skipping and FF/RR have never really worked correctly on DVDs in XBMC. The only thing you can do to forward a movie is use the dpad to jump a few minutes (which doesn't always work correctly either).

Yes, they don't work. :)

Chapter skipping and FF/RR have never really worked correctly on DVDs in XBMC. The only thing you can do to forward a movie is use the dpad to jump a few minutes (which doesn't always work correctly either).


If we are talking DVD ISOs then, yes, FF/REW and chapter nav works perfectly on my 20-30 ISOs using PIMPED 7/30. I don't bother with getting VOBs, hard drive space is cheap.

2 cents,
F.

I finally upgraded from Oct 2005 to the 8/6/06 T3CH build last night. Updated the sources.xml file with my old xml info - all works good...... except I'm trying to implement audio playlists:
I have m3u playlists on the Terastation, and the XBMC fails when trying to play them (error - over 100 consecutive failures). Therefore I believe I have to create the AdvancedSettings.xml file and include the substitution information, as the playlist may be hardcoded. Anybody done this yet?
I want to have my playlists reside in one common directory for the Roku, Xboxes, and wife's PC to access them.
Any help is greatly appreciated!!

If we are talking DVD ISOs then, yes, FF/REW and chapter nav works perfectly on my 20-30 ISOs using PIMPED 7/30. I don't bother with getting VOBs, hard drive space is cheap.

2 cents,
F.

At the moment I have 119 ISO ripped DVDs and so far I have only have a problem with King Arthur (Keira Knightley version). It jumps from chapter to chapter each second. Honestly, there could be more with that problem, but I've only used XBMC to test about 50 of the 119 that are stored

In the end, I will also only use ISO's. If I want to watch King Arthur, I'll go downstairs to my theater and watch it through my HTPC.

If we are talking DVD ISOs then, yes, FF/REW and chapter nav works perfectly on my 20-30 ISOs using PIMPED 7/30. I don't bother with getting VOBs, hard drive space is cheap.

2 cents,
F.

Was chapter skip and FF/RW fixed recently in an update? This is news to me.

Not ever tried chapter skip but the FF/RW has worked fine for me so far. I've mostly used it on vids other than DVDs but I have had no issues. I have found no DVDs with issues either but I've got like 500, only 120 ripped, and only a few played so far. I rip them using AnyDVD\DVD Shrink and only shrink the menus etc. - main movie is left uncompressed. With the way the content providers are screwing with DVDs in an attempt to foil programs like AnyDVD it's no surprise that some are hosed after ripping <sigh>

Chapter skipping must be fixed. It works great in the 7/16 build I'm using. I use DVD Decrypter to create an exact duplicate of the original (sans CSS of course).

FF/RW works fine for me on video files but not on DVD iso. I'll have to test them out tonight on my build (which is a few weeks old).

Is anyone using the wake on LAN python script? I just installed it and get "Master Server Connection Problems" error when I run the wol.py script. The script would save me running upstairs to power on the PC.

I'm using the 7/3 build of XBMC.


I found this post, but I can't find any resolution- I am having the same issues with Wake On LAN script with a "Master Server Connection Problems" message. I have set the correct MAC address - not sure what the issue is.

Any idea?

Thanks!

I found this post, but I can't find any resolution- I am having the same issues with Wake On LAN script with a "Master Server Connection Problems" message. I have set the correct MAC address - not sure what the issue is.

Any idea?

Thanks!

I never got the script to work. I checked the XBMC forums but no one else has mentioned this problem.

At the moment I have 119 ISO ripped DVDs and so far I have only have a problem with King Arthur (Keira Knightley version). It jumps from chapter to chapter each second. Honestly, there could be more with that problem, but I've only used XBMC to test about 50 of the 119 that are stored

In the end, I will also only use ISO's. If I want to watch King Arthur, I'll go downstairs to my theater and watch it through my HTPC.

May I ask what software you use on the HTPC to watch ISOs?

May I ask what software you use on the HTPC to watch ISOs?

If you've got MCE search for My Movies for MCE. Plays ISO or VOB format IME. Works with IMDB etc. too.

Speaking of IMDB - I upgraded to the Pimped 8/7 release from their previous release. when I did this I copied over the user databases but for some reason the various XML files didn't come over. Upon finding my database unpopulated I checked and copied over those files. Still, no info for my movies and I really don't want to have to do them AGAIN. I've tested once or twice looking them up and new XML files are created. Any ideas how to get my database fixed without readding ALL of my movies again? I've got like 150 I'd have to add and when I finish ripping them all there's no way in the world i'll want to do this very often! :eek: Not sure how it's all stored so insight would be helpful... :o

If you've got MCE search for My Movies for MCE. Plays ISO or VOB format IME. Works with IMDB etc. too.

Speaking of IMDB - I upgraded to the Pimped 8/7 release from their previous release. when I did this I copied over the user databases but for some reason the various XML files didn't come over. Upon finding my database unpopulated I checked and copied over those files. Still, no info for my movies and I really don't want to have to do them AGAIN. I've tested once or twice looking them up and new XML files are created. Any ideas how to get my database fixed without readding ALL of my movies again? I've got like 150 I'd have to add and when I finish ripping them all there's no way in the world i'll want to do this very often! :eek: Not sure how it's all stored so insight would be helpful... :o

I don't have MCE. Any suggestions for Win XP?

Your problem with upgrading to the latest release makes me scared to upgrade. Hope I don't need to any time soon!

If you've got an "HTPC" running Windows it'll be worth your while to get MCE IMO. Get an OEM version, it's cheap enough. The interface is pretty slick although were it not for the My Movies code it would leave alot to be desired IMO. For backed up DVD it's perfect. Not as simple as XBMC overall but it's easy to use and you get FM and other things with the right hardware. There ARE some other packages out there, and I've tried a few of them, but none of them were satisfactory for me and My Movies was free. There are probably threads all over the place here dedicated to the various solutions.

Not sure what occured with my upgrade but I've still got the previous version installed in another directory so no worries, I could back out if I wished. If this really bothered me I'd switch back - if I had all 500+ DVD ripped I would! :eek: Instead I'd rather figure out what occured - hence my bringing it up. Perhaps if the XML files had been there during the initial start it would've been fine - hopefully someone will have the answer.

I just spent a few hours downloading, installing, and configuring Media Portal (PC port of XBMC).

It's bloated, clunky and buggy as hell. And that's BEFORE I installed Daemon tools to be able to virtually mount ISOs.

From my quick google searches it appears Daemon tools is a requirement for ISO playback and with it my choices for a front-end are Media Portal or Xlobby. Any other choices?

Regardless, any way to avoid Daemon Tools? It has that WhenUSaveNow spyware crap.

Hrm, I've got Daemon Tools installed with My Movies and i do not recall anything objectionable installing with it. :( Downloaded from here -> http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php ?

I cannot recall all of the various things I looked at but KnoppMyth and SwissCenter (uPNP?) were at least two of them. I trialed at least one commercial product but many of these are geared for PVR and not so much easy to navigate DVD playback. Automating the mounting of stuff via Daemon or some other was also a PITA. In the end I went with VOBs and My Movies rather than ISO although the Daemon was still loaded on my box just in case. In the end rather than trying to spend forever working on something like Myth I went the easy path.

Mind you after hacking my DTIVO and a pile of other things I simply wanted somehting mostly easy - this is a hobby and not something I wanted to make my life. Hence why I now also have XBMC because it is EASY.

BTW - Tivoserver is now running on one of my boxes and as soon as my danged shows are backed up I'll be upgrading my DTIVO to 6.2 w/HMO and MRV. Tivoserver can playback\transcode AVI, MPEG, and it might do VOBs - I'll know as soon as I test it :lol: I know they are working on DVD playback at least. DealDatabase.com has details...

If you've got MCE search for My Movies for MCE. Plays ISO or VOB format IME. Works with IMDB etc. too.

Speaking of IMDB - I upgraded to the Pimped 8/7 release from their previous release. when I did this I copied over the user databases but for some reason the various XML files didn't come over. Upon finding my database unpopulated I checked and copied over those files. Still, no info for my movies and I really don't want to have to do them AGAIN. I've tested once or twice looking them up and new XML files are created. Any ideas how to get my database fixed without readding ALL of my movies again? I've got like 150 I'd have to add and when I finish ripping them all there's no way in the world i'll want to do this very often! :eek: Not sure how it's all stored so insight would be helpful... :o

I just updated from an earlier build and lost all my imdb info as well. No problems though - just go to the root directors and press the white button - find update album info and go to bed - in the morning all the info and thumbs will be there !!

I just updated from an earlier build and lost all my imdb info as well. No problems though - just go to the root directors and press the white button - find update album info and go to bed - in the morning all the info and thumbs will be there !!

Umm, no! I have a 5disk set for Band Of brothers. All disks in one directory and it will name them ALL the same. I have to manually name one, then rename it to disk # whatever, then do the next, and so on. MAJOR PITA to say the least. I also have two movies with the same name that I have to tinker with to get "right". Also a PITA! Get enough movies and you'll hit snags like this :(

Hrm, I've got Daemon Tools installed with My Movies and i do not recall anything objectionable installing with it. :( Downloaded from here -> http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php ?



Thanks for your help.

That's the same place I downloaded it from. It installs a toolbar at the bottom of your Windows Desktop, along with spyware, "targeted" ads, etc.


I don't have a dedicated HTPC. I have a softmodded xbox in my home theater, and wanted to also be able to access my .ISOs on my server from not only the xbox, but also my laptop.

Having laptop access would allow me to watch in the bedroom. But since it doesn't work unless you have MCE or the DaemonTools/Media Portal disaster, I think I'll just buy a second xbox.

I use alcohol 120% to mount ISO drives on my PC.

Hrm, that toolbar crap must be new or I somehow dodged the bullet! :eek: Alcohol 120% is another option too and there may be others.

/ran ON One thing to be aware of, and it pisses me off, there are SOME software packages out there (games mostly) that will detect these packages installed on a system. they will then REFUSE to run or install! Quake4 was one of them I think and I ended up cracking mycopy just to play the game I'd bought. No amount of fiddling would get the error to go away as the driver entries were buried somewhere and the code no longer on my box. The lesson learned for me was to only install this kind of thing on machines I really need it on. Companies that do that kind of crap tick me off and i refuse to partake in an arms race with them! /rant OFF

Hope that helps some ;)

Thanks guys - I'll try alcohol - both the software and the liquid. I think I need the liquid after all this fiddling.

;)

Having laptop access would allow me to watch in the bedroom. But since it doesn't work unless you have MCE or the DaemonTools/Media Portal disaster, I think I'll just buy a second xbox.

You can play your ISOs on your laptop using VLC.
I did it last week at work. Granted, it was an ISO on the local disk, but given VLC's strong streaming credentials I bet it would work if you pointed to an ISO on an SMB share.

You can play your ISOs on your laptop using VLC.
I did it last week at work. Granted, it was an ISO on the local disk, but given VLC's strong streaming credentials I bet it would work if you pointed to an ISO on an SMB share.

That sounds like the best suggestion yet, come to think of it can't Power DVD also play ISO without having to mount them?

Just an FYI:

VLC plays ISOs from my ReadyNAS quite well. Full menu NAV is available from the right click menu. And quick skip hot-keys seem fully functional.

I find it easiest to just drag & drop the iso onto VLC.

Hello! After reading the first few pages of this enormous thread, I have decided I want to softmod my xbox and put on XBMC. I have got the softmod stuff that is needed, but I have only found sourcecode for XBMC, apparently I have to compile it myself using a microsoft SDK! How/where did you do/get yours from?
Any help much appreciated.

Ingsy, you need to search with Google for XBMC and T3CH for a Torrent site to download this. Use a torrent client to download them - I use azureus, it takes about 30 minutes on my DSL connection.
This forum won't allow anything more specific than that.

I just came back here to post that I'd figured it out, but you'd already replied.

A couple of basic questions:
Once I've copied over all my MP3's, can I use my existing .m3u playlists?
If not, is there a way of creating playlists within Xbox Media Center?
How do you navigate the MP3's once they are on the HDD? Can you play by folder, or genre or whatever? I take it all my ID3 tags will need to be up to date also?
Also, .avi files, can these be played either from the HDD or straight off a CD with the avi on it?

I realise these are n00b questions, but we all have to start somewhere :-)

A couple of basic questions:
Once I've copied over all my MP3's, can I use my existing .m3u playlists?
If not, is there a way of creating playlists within Xbox Media Center?
How do you navigate the MP3's once they are on the HDD? Can you play by folder, or genre or whatever? I take it all my ID3 tags will need to be up to date also?
Also, .avi files, can these be played either from the HDD or straight off a CD with the avi on it?

I realise these are n00b questions, but we all have to start somewhere :-)

You'll likely need to edit the .m3u to get the path info correct.

Making XBMC playlists from the GUI is easy & fun (if you have cover art).

After you scan your mp3s you can browse by file, artist, genre, etc...

A basic tennent of XBMC: any media can be played from any source (bandwidth allowing).

There is a path substitution function in the Advanced settings.xml that will solve this problem on a global basis without editing all your playlist files. I tried it works well....

http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=AdvancedSettings.xml#.3Cpathsubstitution.3E

Sean

well I'm about to walk down the XBMC path, either chip or soft mod.(depending on if I can get a chip cheap enough.
today I'll be hunting for all the gear I'll be needing(component out/toslink, remote, network adaptor...)
I will be looking to installing a 120gig HDD for my music collection at some point...I might wait on this part.

could someone pm me where they get they get XBMC from.
thanks

James

Question concerning the path substitution in the AdvancedSettings.xml file:
Would you set the <from> directory as the path listed in the Sources.xml file, and the <to> directory as the location of the audio files?
I am having difficulties with my playlists - I have them in a separate directory on the server, and the XBMC program will not play them (greater than 100 errors). However, if I have the playlist in the same directory as the audio files, it plays fine. Just inconvenient to scroll thru 700+ artists to get to a playlist.
Therefore I have tried the substitution in the AdvancesSettings by indicating the <to> as the audio file location, and the <from> as the playlist directory, but have had no luck so far.

Unless I'm suffering from a cranial-anal inversion and all I have to do is load the M3U files onto the Xbox under F:/Apps/XBMC/User/Playlists....

LSF - do a Google for pimped and XBMC. I'm thinking you'll have little trouble finding their tracker. Oh and the 8/14 release is out. I never even got the last one working right!

Honestly, I just wish there was some way to DL updates right to the XBOX and upgrade ala Azeurus! :eek:

Question concerning the path substitution in the AdvancedSettings.xml file:
Would you set the <from> directory as the path listed in the Sources.xml file, and the <to> directory as the location of the audio files?
I am having difficulties with my playlists - I have them in a separate directory on the server, and the XBMC program will not play them (greater than 100 errors). However, if I have the playlist in the same directory as the audio files, it plays fine. Just inconvenient to scroll thru 700+ artists to get to a playlist.
Therefore I have tried the substitution in the AdvancesSettings by indicating the <to> as the audio file location, and the <from> as the playlist directory, but have had no luck so far.

Unless I'm suffering from a cranial-anal inversion and all I have to do is load the M3U files onto the Xbox under F:/Apps/XBMC/User/Playlists....

Put the playlists in the XMBC/UserData/Playlists/Music directory

then if there is a path in the M3u that says

c:\music\foo.mp3

and you reference that on your xbox as

\\somepc\c\music\foo.mp3

then put source as c:\music and to as \somepc\c\music\

and you should be in business...

Sean

You can play your ISOs on your laptop using VLC.
I did it last week at work. Granted, it was an ISO on the local disk, but given VLC's strong streaming credentials I bet it would work if you pointed to an ISO on an SMB share.


Holy Cow!!!!! It works! Just like it should. Smallish footprint, too. Amazing. Exactly what I needed.

My videos are on a Dell PC on my network, in a shared drive. I can see them all from VLC on any other PC on the network, and they play

You don't have to mount the ISOs as drives either. Just browse, find the file and away you go.

Thank you!!!

Everyone else - go get this now if you need to play .ISOs on a PC.

Another stupidly nooob question, but I take it I'll still be able to play my original xbox games once softmodded? I've got all the software I need, got a controller USB coble thing to link to the PC so I can copy all the stuff onto my memory card, just need a copy of splinter cell now. Off to eBay, methinks...

Then I need to trawl through all of my mp3's checking out the ID3 tags. Nice.

You will be able to play\backup XBOX games - yes. However if you play on Live! you will get locked out as the modifications are detected. There may be a way to avoid this but I've never researched the gymnastics required as I seldom play games on my box :)

ID3 tags? TheGodFather and MusicBrainz older software were helpful for me. I've also got another package at home I'll look up for you that is VERY good and is what I use most often. It's called "MP3 Tagger" but as you might imagine finding it via Google is a bit hard sigh> Will provide a link later tonight unless I forget ;)

Excellent, thanks very much :)
EDIT - I know everyone probably says this, but I really have no intention of playing dodgy games on my Xbox. I barely have time to play the ones I've bought, and I want to get my moneys worht out of those first :)

I'll be modding it so I can put all my music on it. I've got a wireless media player which I will be selling as it's not really lived up to what I was hoping for. If only I'd found out about this xbox mod earlier :rolleyes:

Someone on AVS forum recommended a program called Tag&Rename for dealing with music tagging. Its the only program I have seen that can compete with MusicMatch jukeboxes supertagging features but it does it on all music format files including FLAC!. I ran a batch job over the weekend to convert 200G of Shorten .SHN bootlegs to FLAC and now I am in the process of tagging them all. SHN doesn't support tags. More and more etree tapers are using FLAC but unfortunately many still use SHN....

Sean

I picked up a remote, cat 5e cable, mechassault,
having trouble finding an HD-pac w/digital audio out :mad: I don't need it for now so no big deal.

well it looks like I'm going for a chip mod(Xenium Gold), and 200GB HDD.



I'll be modding it so I can put all my music on it.
that's my plan, and then when I have the $$$$ I'll be doing up a NAS device for my DVD collection.... :eek: 3+TB :eek:

Someone on AVS forum recommended a program called Tag&Rename for dealing with music tagging. Its the only program I have seen that can compete with MusicMatch jukeboxes supertagging features but it does it on all music format files including FLAC!. I ran a batch job over the weekend to convert 200G of Shorten .SHN bootlegs to FLAC and now I am in the process of tagging them all. SHN doesn't support tags. More and more etree tapers are using FLAC but unfortunately many still use SHN....

Sean
I've used media monkey, if your files are named "band-song" it can import the information. but for some reason they like to do (date-disk#-track#)
just be careful and check the tags, it can cut long names short.

Check your local EB Games & Game stop.
You should be able to find both original USED MS HD packs from $7.99 - $9.99
They may even have a few new units for $14.99 - $19.99
I say both since there are two models. One that includes the attached cables and the other that is like a dongle that uses detachable cables. Both have the Digital optical outputs.
I picked up a remote, cat 5e cable, mechassault,
having trouble finding an HD-pac w/digital audio out :mad: I don't need it for now so no big deal.

well it looks like I'm going for a chip mod(Xenium Gold), and 200GB HDD.



that's my plan, and then when I have the $$$$ I'll be doing up a NAS device for my DVD collection.... :eek: 3+TB :eek:

Check your local EB Games & Game stop.
You should be able to find both original USED MS HD packs from $7.99 - $9.99
They may even have a few new units for $14.99 - $19.99
I say both since there are two models. One that includes the attached cables and the other that is like a dongle that uses detachable cables. Both have the Digital optical outputs.


the Microsoft ones are the hardest to find since they aren't made anymore. that said, you'll find them used on ebay going for 50-60 bucks. :(

the Microsoft ones are the hardest to find since they aren't made anymore. that said, you'll find them used on ebay going for 50-60 bucks. :(
I have purchased many in the last month
All are TRUE MS products
Then i also found the DVD remote kits with the ir at TRus for $1
You need to go into the store once a week.

Yes the Dongle style sell for big bucks on eBay
Item 320003317183
You can see I sold four brand new sealed MS cable style a month or so ago via eBay at $21.44 each. That was when I had some extras.
I was only sharing the find with those that needed them.
I will be out & about today, if I find a few more, I will let you know.

I made a few calls and found two of the MS attached cable style HD packs.
If anyone needs them, pm me.
I will check my pm box once I return & have them in hand, I had the store place them on hold.

I now have two IN HAND for anyone that has a need.

goblue97,

As long as the XBOX is not ON, you can remove the mod chip from the LPC 16 pin header to see if the XBOB will boot into the MS Dashboard.

Just make sure that you have grounded yourself to the metal shield before touching the mod chip and make sure that when you remove the mod chip from the header it is not shorting to the motherboard.

You can use a small piece of cardboard to lay the mod chip on while it is detached from the header.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
TCIII
ok...looking for more suggestions. I removed the chip from the pin header. Still no boot. I am getting three long solid green flashes follwed by the flashing red/green. I hate to say it but I can't remember if I was getting the three greens before or not. Do I need to remove the other two wires coming off the motherboard going to the mod chip? I'm starting to think that I may just need to get a new mobo....is this an easy swap?

Tag and Rename appears to be touted as the best by many - I use it - pretty easy to use and lots of good features. I actually went through and 'fixed' about five hundred albums last night which took about three hours or so...

Someone else may be interested in this also - I am regularly putting movies / music on my server - so that I know 'whats new' on my xbox I created a web blog and the parsed the info into an RSS feed. The RSS feed is then displayed on xbmc. Takes a bit of fiddling - about ten minutes a week to update the web blog - the rss feed is then done automatically.

If anyone is interested let me know however its a pretty simple process. I did research scripts that would do this automatically however it all became to difficult for a windows environment.

Cheers

I'd be interested in knowing how to do that.
Cheers for the info on Tag & Rename, have found a demo of it and it's just what I'm after.

See my post in this thread.
I still have one left if you want it.
All i need is your zip code for a shipped total.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=635294&page=31&pp=30
I'm in Canada, I still have some places to check that tend to get this sorta stuff all the time, and as I said in my post, I can wait to get it, I still have to get my xbox modded.
thanks for the offer :)


Diode1, your in box is full;)

I should have been clearer about these MS Xbox HD cable packs.
To make things easy, I would prefer to ship only within the USA & via Priority mail.
I can print postage out right from paypal and drop them in the mailbox without the need to stand in line at the post office.
I am NOT looking to profit, my only desire is to help those that need these and can’t find them, All I ask is cover the cost of shipping, sales tax, paypal fee's
and maybe a tag extra to feed my gas hog Tahoe for picking them up.
I have one left, figure 22 shipped.
My full in box was from a westy 42” 1080p poll thread, it is now clear for pm

Hey Ja...

Couple of quick questions... one regarding your program and the other one on a side note...but thought maybe you could help.

1. Can I have a short cut to a WMV file in a folder, have your program "see" it and give me the cover art then when selected play it from it's original location using the shortcut?

2. I've been ripping my DVDs using Movie Pro. They play fine on my computer using Windows Media Player (even wirelessly), however, when I play them through XBMC on my Xbox the audio and video aren't in sync. Any idea what I might need to do to correct this or how to fix it?

I'm pretty sure I'm using the most recent build of XBMC as I just modded my box about 2-3 weeks ago. I'm streaming from a NAS on my network.

Thanks.

You may need to remux those movie files...

A great forum I have used in fixing conversion issues is Doom9... Here is the link...

http://forum.doom9.org/

There are plenty of free programs that will remux your video... It's usually a pretty fast process and if it works....problem solved... I even think with some programs you can do a batch remux... click and go...

Good luck...

You may need to remux those movie files...

A great forum I have used in fixing conversion issues is Doom9... Here is the link...

http://forum.doom9.org/

There are plenty of free programs that will remux your video... It's usually a pretty fast process and if it works....problem solved... I even think with some programs you can do a batch remux... click and go...

Good luck...

Thanks Scotty.

Any suggestions on a good one for using with WMV formatted videos?

Thanks Scotty.

Any suggestions on a good one for using with WMV formatted videos?

You might run them through AsfTools. I've used it mainly for splitting and joining, but it has also repaired some of my broken files. I'm not sure if it will fix your lipsync issues, but it's free, so it's worth a try.

http://www.geocities.com/myasftools/

Forgot to link up the MP3 tool I've found so helpful - check this one out -> http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

The numbers of WEB sources for album info and album art are truly awesome. They tend to keep up with the WEB sites changing too which is nice.

Oh, had no issues with synch on my box so far - whew!

Ok, am going to put XBMC on tonight, but have realised I have too much music to fit on the drive, how easy is it to fit a larger one?

Ok, am going to put XBMC on tonight, but have realised I have too much music to fit on the drive, how easy is it to fit a larger one?

I have found that xboxhdm is very easy to use, let us also say it is a good idea since it will build a new drive from scratch, and consider it your failsafe backup/recovery disc.

So I just aquire that and follow the instructions with a clean HDD? Ok, Cheers.

Couple more questions (sorry) once XBMC is on my Xbox, does it matter whereabouts I store my music? I'm going to FTP in and transfer it from my PC. I've got E and F drives - can I use either?
Also, if I want to put other programs on there (emulators, homebrew etc) does it matter whereabouts I put those as well?

Thanks for helping out a stupid n00b :)

Couple more questions (sorry) once XBMC is on my Xbox, does it matter whereabouts I store my music? I'm going to FTP in and transfer it from my PC. I've got E and F drives - can I use either?
Also, if I want to put other programs on there (emulators, homebrew etc) does it matter whereabouts I put those as well?

Thanks for helping out a stupid n00b :)


no it doesn't matter.

Xbox SW must live locally. Media files can be local or anywhere on the network and accesses using a variety of protocols...

Sean

Hey Ja...

Couple of quick questions... one regarding your program and the other one on a side note...but thought maybe you could help.

1. Can I have a short cut to a WMV file in a folder, have your program "see" it and give me the cover art then when selected play it from it's original location using the shortcut?

2. I've been ripping my DVDs using Movie Pro. They play fine on my computer using Windows Media Player (even wirelessly), however, when I play them through XBMC on my Xbox the audio and video aren't in sync. Any idea what I might need to do to correct this or how to fix it?

I'm pretty sure I'm using the most recent build of XBMC as I just modded my box about 2-3 weeks ago. I'm streaming from a NAS on my network.

Thanks.

1. I'm not sure how XBMC handles shortcut files. I'm guessing your idea would not work.

2. If the audio lag is constant (ie, always 2 seconds behind), I'd probably set the audio delay in XBMC. Personally, I'd look into another solution to rip your movies...like AutoGK and convert it to divx.

1. I'm not sure how XBMC handles shortcut files. I'm guessing your idea would not work.

2. If the audio lag is constant (ie, always 2 seconds behind), I'd probably set the audio delay in XBMC. Personally, I'd look into another solution to rip your movies...like AutoGK and convert it to divx.

Thanks Ja Phule....

Why if I use AutoGK why the suggestion to convert to Divx? Just file size? What program would you recommend to do that with? What would you use to rip the DVD before running it through AutoGK? DVD Shrink and make one large VOB?

The more I'm getting into this, the more I realize it's going to be a long.. long process.

To compress or not to compress, that is the question.

The answer is up to you. You are getting an incling that to compress everything requires an investment in time & cpu cycles like nothing you've done before.

Personally, I compress things that I want to keep around for ever. Rental flicks that I merely want to time-shift I rip an ISO & delete after streaming from the NAS. I watch then on a 42" Panny plasma and cannot say that I even notce compression artifacts (excepting some color banding when I push compression too far).

AutoGK is a great tool. I typically compress a main movie to about 1/3 it's original size but it depends on the content. Kid shows & animation I compress much more. But most importantly in my opinion, AutoGK's best point is that it allows you to keep DD5.1 and DTS audio tracks intact. And allows 2 audio tracks. This allows me to keep director's comments track on movies where I think I might care about that at some point.

I have a 1 TB ReadyNAS & between home movies (which I would never compress) 'permanent collection' movies & concerts, and rentals (watch & discard) I'm pushing 80% full. Without the compression I'd be looking at another NAS or much bigger disks, or a smaller collection - or the worst scenario: burning removable media.

My xbox harddrives are getting full too. I keep all the kid movies on there, but I must balance disk space with games (I never used to play 'em but since the kids are entering that age group I find myself collecting game titles too).

I agree with Slack. A couple of months ago when I got my first XBOX and put XBMC on it, I planned to keep all my vobs uncompressed. I had them on my HTPC and streamed from that. But soon realized all my daughters movies + my movies would be more than 500GB. While storage is cheap, I tested AutoGK (tried many others - but they all needed advanced settings, tweak here, tweak there - got fed up and went to AutoGK)- and I compress to about 50%-75% of original size as xvid - I was really surprised with how well they looked. So, over the last 3 weeks, I have done batch encoding for the movies - and now have reclaimed 50% of my HDD space.

Just like Slack, for movies that I won't keep for very long, I just throw it in my HTPC and rip with DVDDecrypter and save as an iso, until I watch it then delete it.

I do, however, like to create ISOs of DVDs with multiple episodes of TV shows (Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm) as this is easier to navigate the DVD menu to the episodes rather than a list of AVIs. I do compress a little with DVD Srink or Clone DVD with these. Sometimes I have a problem when XBMC doesn't seem to go past the FBI warning ;) - but some do. Kinda odd.

Hope this helps! XBMC rules!

I'll put in my vote for not compressing. Without compression I needed >2 TB for storage of my movies, tv shows, photos, music, and home movies. (I also store some documents on my NAS.) After trying AutoGK I just couldn't handle committing the time/CPU to it. If I had a newer workstation the commitment would not have been as drastic...but I don't have a newer workstation.

If I had all the time in the world and a monetary concern I would definitely consider AutoGK, of course. I don't compress my ISO's, either. But I do tend to rip everything but the main feature out of my movies. With TV DVD's I keep the menus in tact, but rip out everything save the actual episodes.

And remember, cost of not compressing is typically more than just hard drives. I built a NAS running on a very old machine under Ubuntu Server. Rather than stuff 6 hard drives in that machine, which would make me be very, very particular about cooling, I chose to buy a second barebones PC from newegg and stock it up. Now I have a NAS and NAS2 machine. All the file sharing is facilitated by the NAS, so everything is available in one location on my network. I probably spent a little over $1000 on the project, using parts I had lying around and purchasing what I needed. Not a bad deal, but certainly more than simply the cost of the hard drives.

And remember, there is an opportunity cost to taking the time to compress. If I had compressed, I'd probably still be ripping to my NAS. In which case I wouldn't have had the time to explore starting a new software business over the summer. In which case I would not be very near moving on to an exciting new phase in my life. :)

And remember, there is an opportunity cost to taking the time to compress. If I had compressed, I'd probably still be ripping to my NAS. In which case I wouldn't have had the time to explore starting a new software business over the summer. In which case I would not be very near moving on to an exciting new phase in my life. :)

Ripping is the time consuming part, compression has no opportunity cost. Queing up a bunch of rips in AutoGK & going to bed. Has no cost other than the electricity to peg the CPU @ 100% for 8 hours or more.

Have any of you got issues with jerky/skipping playback of ripped dvds using XBMC? Since modding and installing XBMC a few weeks ago I have been unable to this working successfully. I've tried multiple recent builds from multiple sources and they all have this issue. An old version (from Dec '05) works fine however.

The interesting thing is that if I play a vob/iso directly via the Mplayer, all is fine., but when using the DVDPlayer I get skipping.

Other than this (and lack of HP for HD ;) ), I've found XBMC to be a great piece of work, so far...

Scott

Have any of you got issues with jerky/skipping playback of ripped dvds using XBMC? Since modding and installing XBMC a few weeks ago I have been unable to this working successfully. I've tried multiple recent builds from multiple sources and they all have this issue. An old version (from Dec '05) works fine however.

The interesting thing is that if I play a vob/iso directly via the Mplayer, all is fine., but when using the DVDPlayer I get skipping.

Other than this (and lack of HP for HD ;) ), I've found XBMC to be a great piece of work, so far...

Scott

Hi Scott.

I'm having the same issue. I use Movie Pro to rip my DVDs into WMV format. When I play them through my 360, they work great. When I play them through XBMC, the video/audio is not in sync and some moves have the same issue you're experiencing.

I'm not going to re-rip all my movies, so if anyone has a solution, please let us know.

And I agree with Scott... other than that, it is excellent software.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Have any of you got issues with jerky/skipping playback of ripped dvds using XBMC? Since modding and installing XBMC a few weeks ago I have been unable to this working successfully. I've tried multiple recent builds from multiple sources and they all have this issue. An old version (from Dec '05) works fine however.

The interesting thing is that if I play a vob/iso directly via the Mplayer, all is fine., but when using the DVDPlayer I get skipping.

Other than this (and lack of HP for HD ;) ), I've found XBMC to be a great piece of work, so far...

Scott

I posted a similar issue on XBMC forum. I was told to change the interlacing from "Auto Select" to "None". It worked. Worth a try.

I posted a similar issue on XBMC forum. I was told to change the interlacing from "Auto Select" to "None". It worked. Worth a try.

Already tried that, along with all the other tweaks I could find on that forum (and else where). Nothing has seemed to help :( .

I'll just keep the old on there and switch to it when playing DVDs and use the latest for testing and anything else.

Have any of you got issues with jerky/skipping playback of ripped dvds using XBMC? Since modding and installing XBMC a few weeks ago I have been unable to this working successfully. I've tried multiple recent builds from multiple sources and they all have this issue. An old version (from Dec '05) works fine however.

The interesting thing is that if I play a vob/iso directly via the Mplayer, all is fine., but when using the DVDPlayer I get skipping.

Other than this (and lack of HP for HD ;) ), I've found XBMC to be a great piece of work, so far...

Scott

Try fooling around with the cache settings under system settings.

Compressing - I don't do it except on menus and extras - the main movie is uncompressed. I do this with DVDShrink and SlySoft's AnyDVD and it is a simple FAST process. Wen I have time to work on it I can do DVD after DVD on my 3 machines for ripping and it just moves one after the other. Copying from local drive to array takes longest but that's a background thing.

AutoGK is a front-end for FFMEPG I believe, you may see some speed increases compressing by getting the front-end out of the way and just batching the jobs. I've found that using front-ends for FFMPEG usually slows things - PSP9 for instance gets in my way. One tool I believe is a must is AnyDVD. With this tool anything that wants access to the DVD can have it sans copy protection. It will remove all sorts of crap protections and they update it on almost a weekly basis, very worthwhile for me to have paid the few dollars for it. I even use it with DVDDecryptor when creating single VOBs for PSP compression since protections have come out since development on that product ceased that trip it up.

Compression would certainly save space. However I want to have as much resolution as possible for HD viewing later on (I'm SD now) and not doing it saves me time. This way I can havemore data to post process later if I want to try it. Drive space is cheap and getting cheaper. I am at about 3TB and as prices of 750s come down (and 1TBs announced!) I will be moving to 750s for the 9 drives I have now. With an unRAID array I can upggrade at any time without worries about my data since it's not striped across disks. In short - space is cheap but my time redoing things isn't as I never seem to have enough time. I want to do this once and in a format that I can use with multiple software packages - the woman wants the menus and I like the multiple audio tracks. <shrug>

Oh and I've never seen stuttering on my stuff thank goodness. All hardwired here and no compression for the CPU to chew on while playing back :P I have managed to overheat\frag the box once when it locked up and the fan control wasn't working - doh! Was fine after cooldown....

Anyway, my vote for no compression...

P.S. Because I know my NAS can have less than awesome performance I bump cache settings on most everything. That may be why I have never seen stuttering - a worthwhile suggestion IMO and helped with Shoutcast for me!

Hi Scott.

I'm having the same issue. I use Movie Pro to rip my DVDs into WMV format. When I play them through my 360, they work great. When I play them through XBMC, the video/audio is not in sync and some moves have the same issue you're experiencing.

I'm not going to re-rip all my movies, so if anyone has a solution, please let us know.

And I agree with Scott... other than that, it is excellent software.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

I've never tried creating WMVs and all the ones I have are HD and won't play. I only have issues with playing ripped DVDs as DVDs, all other formats have seemed to work great.

I posted a similar issue on XBMC forum. I was told to change the interlacing from "Auto Select" to "None". It worked. Worth a try.

How do you change the interlacing from Auto Select to None? Are you doing this in XBMC?

Thanks.

In XBMC, go to >Settings>Video> it will be in there...maybe on the second page of options..

do you guys have to do the Video Calibration (in the My Videos Settings) everytime you run XBMC? I have XBMC running at 1080i and the picture moves over time and i have to do the Video Calibration again.

the tv is the Sony KP-51WS510, XMBC is 8-14-06

is it a problem with my tv or xmbc? anyway to fix this?

thanks!

I now have my HD-pac, only things left are:
hard drive,
chip,
a new fan, the stock POS is freaking loud.

I now have my HD-pac, only things left are:
hard drive,
chip,
a new fan, the stock POS is freaking loud.

Look at the XBMC setup - there's an option to control fan speed based on temps observed while the system is running - it helps ALOT! However if XBMC locks up you'll want to reboot it ASAP since fan speed will not change and it can overheat - guess how I know :o Redoing the heatsink grease with Arctic Silver is also a good idea while you're inside the system. I seem to recall one sink needs to be taken off while the board is out of the system, the other on the CPU can be taken out without removing the board. The old grease was pretty bad on mine...

Just a quick thanks to everyone who's posted in this thread, either in direct response to a question I've asked or with general tips and stuff.

Got my 'box up and running with XBMC over the weekend and really like it. I wish I'd done it ages ago. Haven't managed copying my MP3's over yet, as I've got too many to fit on the standard HD ( didn't realise how many I had until I went to FTP them over) so I just need to sort that out - found out how to do it, just need to find the time now...

Anyhow, thanks again everyone :)

Look at the XBMC setup - there's an option to control fan speed based on temps observed while the system is running - it helps ALOT! However if XBMC locks up you'll want to reboot it ASAP since fan speed will not change and it can overheat - guess how I know :o Redoing the heatsink grease with Arctic Silver is also a good idea while you're inside the system. I seem to recall one sink needs to be taken off while the board is out of the system, the other on the CPU can be taken out without removing the board. The old grease was pretty bad on mine...
thanks for the reply, I haven't installed XBMC yet. so I'm not positive I'll have to swap fans, just that I want to keep things cool.


I too wish I could fit my music collection on the onboard harddrive, or if I had a server/nas that I could use.... then I'd just go with the soft mod.

arrrg, too many options. :confused:

I love XBMC. I just wish there was a similar application for the PC (either windows or linux) that was as feature rich and user friendly.

Here's some screenshots from my setup in 720p

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8444/xbmchd09uu3.jpg

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/750/xbmchd-19.jpg

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2897/xbmchd01ii0.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd01ii0.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6174/xbmchd02nl8.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd02nl8.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3716/xbmchd-03.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-03.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7219/xbmchd-04.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-04.jpg) http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/4807/xbmchd05gx1.th.jpg (http://img235.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd05gx1.jpg)http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/6169/xbmchd06uh1.th.jpg (http://img234.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd06uh1.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/160/xbmchd-07.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-07.jpg) http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/8531/xbmchd08pq7.th.jpg (http://img234.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd08pq7.jpg) (ugh only 10 pictures per post)

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8444/xbmchd09uu3.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd09uu3.jpg)http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2694/xbmchd-10.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-10.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9836/xbmchd-11.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-11.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4341/xbmchd-12.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-12.jpg) http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2087/xbmchd13hp9.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd13hp9.jpg)http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6858/xbmchd-14.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-14.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8373/xbmchd-15.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-15.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/260/xbmchd16iv5.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd16iv5.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8544/xbmchd-17.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-17.jpg)

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4172/xbmchd18xr9.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd18xr9.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/750/xbmchd-19.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-19.jpg) http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1898/xbmchd20ja9.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd20ja9.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1993/xbmchd-21.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-21.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2637/xbmchd22pn0.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd22pn0.jpg) http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1806/xbmchd23mf6.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd23mf6.jpg)
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8245/xbmchd24pl9.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd24pl9.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8153/xbmchd-25.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-25.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2155/xbmchd-26.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-26.jpg)

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9103/xbmchd27al1.th.jpg (http://img97.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd27al1.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2155/xbmchd28yf3.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd28yf3.jpg) http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8628/xbmchd29ob6.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd29ob6.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3292/xbmchd-30.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-30.jpg) http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/6893/xbmchd31bv0.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd31bv0.jpg)http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8862/xbmchd32lm8.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd32lm8.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2023/xbmchd-33.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-33.jpg) http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1854/xbmchd34cy2.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd34cy2.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2888/xbmchd-35.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-35.jpg)

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6427/xbmchd-36.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-36.jpg) http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3236/xbmchd37yh9.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd37yh9.jpg)http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5332/xbmchd-38.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-38.jpg)
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9223/xbmchd39hk4.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd39hk4.jpg)http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9595/xbmchd-40.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-40.jpg) http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3640/xbmchd41kh7.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd41kh7.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9943/xbmchd-42.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-42.jpg) http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7862/xbmchd43ab5.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd43ab5.jpg)http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/6198/xbmchd44lj2.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd44lj2.jpg)

I've never tried creating WMVs and all the ones I have are HD and won't play. I only have issues with playing ripped DVDs as DVDs, all other formats have seemed to work great.


Sorry watched 2 movies in the last 3 days from the Infrant NAS and everyything was perfect...

Sean

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6427/xbmchd-36.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-36.jpg) http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3236/xbmchd37yh9.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd37yh9.jpg)http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5332/xbmchd-38.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-38.jpg)
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9223/xbmchd39hk4.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd39hk4.jpg)http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9595/xbmchd-40.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-40.jpg) http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3640/xbmchd41kh7.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd41kh7.jpg)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9943/xbmchd-42.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd-42.jpg) http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7862/xbmchd43ab5.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd43ab5.jpg)http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/6198/xbmchd44lj2.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xbmchd44lj2.jpg)


Yes the GUI is sexy... Nice to see the MythTV integration working. need to try and get the Tivo stuff running over here one of these days....

Sean

As for the fan, I modded all of my boxes with a 80mm fan. I couldn't stand the stock fan noise. Keeps it cool, plus it's a hard-wire fix, therefore no software reliance. And somewhat quieter.
But it's still fan noise. Therefore I have installed the X3IR and will remote the units using Xantech.

Thanks to sean_w_smith:
The playlist problem was solved with the path substitution info you gave me, plus my playlists were scrambled in the header info as well.
Thank you very much for the help - this forum is great!!

Sean,

Can you tell us where you got some of your icons/images for your programs and videos? What size images "work" as icons in XBMC? I'm still using file view for now, but I think I'd like to make the jump to a "prettier" interface.


Thanks,
Julie

I love XBMC. I just wish there was a similar application for the PC (either windows or linux) that was as feature rich and user friendly.



There is.

Media Portal (http://www.team-mediaportal.com/)

If you've been around the xbmc scene for a while, you'll notice some familiar names in mp's coders. The folks who started xbmc founded mp.

Alas, it's not quite 'there' last I checked, because they were relying on the WMP engine for playback. But it's getting re-done from the ground up, including a new TV engine. I'll be giving it another crack when my HD tuner & antenna arrive.

Plus there is a an XBMC/Project mayhem skin skin for it. Although I think the wide format skins are few and far between.

But if you have a library of content already setup to look nice through XBMC it'll look pretty much the same through media portal.

Sean,

Can you tell us where you got some of your icons/images for your programs and videos? What size images "work" as icons in XBMC? I'm still using file view for now, but I think I'd like to make the jump to a "prettier" interface.


Thanks,
Julie

BTW: I didn't post those screenshots I was just replying but since you asked....

There are two easy ways to get Movie cover art.

1. The built in IMDB lookup either one at a time or batch
2. Ja Phules script

and a manual process

3. put each in its own folder and put a folder.jpg in there... (from my experience the folder.jpg can be a huge image and it will scale it down)

I use the built in IMDB batch lookup all function and then hand tweak a few that it won't get right. Works well with my DVD's. Others clearly like the scripts Ja Phule wrote...

Sean

I found most of those program thumbs on xbox-scene and made the others. Here's a link to a zip of bunch that someone made: http://www.hostclip.com/dl/740a818aaae5563efa4dff05461c3a17

By default XBMC will cache and scale all the movie, album, game and picture thumbnails to 128 pixels. That looks fine on SD but if you are running in High Definition it isn't as clear as it could be. In advancedsettings.xml add <thumbsize>256</thumbsize> and it'll cache them at 256 instead.

If I'm making my own thumbs I will save them as 256x256 for the programs and album artwork and 180x256 for the movie covers.

If all your DVD's, avi's, etc aren't in separate folders (which mine are not) you can just give the jpeg image the same name as the movie but with a tbn extension instead. So for example if you have Pulp Fiction.iso the thumbnail jpeg can be named Pulp Fiction.tbn.

The imdb thumbnails is the easiest route to go for movies since it is automatic but they aren't very good quality because they are too small of an image for HD.

Where can I get the most recent build of XBMC? Been searching ********** Spy, but the newest version has red for health. Anywhere else I could look?

Thanks.

I found most of those program thumbs on xbox-scene and made the others. Here's a link to a zip of bunch that someone made: http://www.hostclip.com/dl/740a818aaae5563efa4dff05461c3a17

By default XBMC will cache and scale all the movie, album, game and picture thumbnails to 128 pixels. That looks fine on SD but if you are running in High Definition it isn't as clear as it could be. In advancedsettings.xml add <thumbsize>256</thumbsize> and it'll cache them at 256 instead.

If I'm making my own thumbs I will save them as 256x256 for the programs and album artwork and 180x256 for the movie covers.

If all your DVD's, avi's, etc aren't in separate folders (which mine are not) you can just give the jpeg image the same name as the movie but with a tbn extension instead. So for example if you have Pulp Fiction.iso the thumbnail jpeg can be named Pulp Fiction.tbn.

The imdb thumbnails is the easiest route to go for movies since it is automatic but they aren't very good quality because they are too small of an image for HD.

Thanks for these thumbnails - love 'em.

But I have a question - with these I need to make a folder.jpg for something like TV Shows folder, but when I do that I get a white background - I like the transparent look - how did you do this? Not too familar with png and jpg editing.

Thanks!

You can't make a jpg transparent (at least not that I know of) so you need to save it as a png. I use the "save for web" option in photoshop and just make sure the make transparent box is checked. I'm sure other image editing programs have a similar setting.

I'm hoping one of you XBMC experts can help. I recently got rid of the PC in the lounge in favor of a modded XBox with XBMC (mainly on the basis of this forum) and i love it, its now made my MG35 redundant too.
However i first bought it with an old version of XBMC already installed which was then upgraded with an April 2006 TCH release. This had a web radio script accessible on the front screen which played shoutcast streams, which you could select by genre. However after fitting a new bigger hard drive and installing the latest TCH release (Aug 2006) this script has now gone and the only web radio script i can find is itunes web radio which is ok but just too slow. Anyone know what i'm talking about and where i can find the script. I've looked on XBMC scripts but cant find anything and i've checked the zip file of the April TCH release i used and can't find anything in there so i suspect it was part of the original V1 build. Can anyone help?

I'm hoping one of you XBMC experts can help. I recently got rid of the PC in the lounge in favor of a modded XBox with XBMC (mainly on the basis of this forum) and i love it, its now made my MG35 redundant too.
However i first bought it with an old version of XBMC already installed which was then upgraded with an April 2006 TCH release. This had a web radio script accessible on the front screen which played shoutcast streams, which you could select by genre. However after fitting a new bigger hard drive and installing the latest TCH release (Aug 2006) this script has now gone and the only web radio script i can find is itunes web radio which is ok but just too slow. Anyone know what i'm talking about and where i can find the script. I've looked on XBMC scripts but cant find anything and i've checked the zip file of the April TCH release i used and can't find anything in there so i suspect it was part of the original V1 build. Can anyone help?

It got promoted and is now part of the My Music section on that menu....

you probably copied your old xboxmediacenter.xml file over the new one and removed this entry....

it should have an entry like this....


<bookmark>
<name>SHOUTcast - Directory</name>
<path>shout://www.shoutcast.com/sbin/newxml.phtml</path>
<!-- direct links to genres and searches are allowed -->
<!-- shout://www.shoutcast.com/sbin/newxml.phtml?genre=Funk -->
<!-- shout://www.shoutcast.com/sbin/newxml.phtml?genre=Top500 -->
<!-- shout://www.shoutcast.com/sbin/newxml.phtml?search=[stationname] -->
</bookmark>

i hadn't copied anything back as it was set up from scratch. however i hadn't see that as i usually have my music showing in library mode.

I take it its new and buggy as on mine it downloads a list but if you select a station nothing few flashes on the network lights (i use a wireless bridge) then nothing. doesn't matter what station you select also seems to sort in reverse order (Z to A) looks like i'm stuck with that awfull iTunes radio rubbish :(

ho hum if it was easy and perfect we probably wouldn't bother :)

i hadn't copied anything back as it was set up from scratch. however i hadn't see that as i usually have my music showing in library mode.

I take it its new and buggy as on mine it downloads a list but if you select a station nothing few flashes on the network lights (i use a wireless bridge) then nothing. doesn't matter what station you select also seems to sort in reverse order (Z to A) looks like i'm stuck with that awfull iTunes radio rubbish :(

ho hum if it was easy and perfect we probably wouldn't bother :)


April is kinda of an really old build. maybe try something newer. Its working just fine for me. I was listening to rain forrest piano music last night before bed off shoutcast.... This is not a new feature its been like this for quite a while....

If there are specific streams you listen to you can create separate .pls files and put them in the playlists dir so they are accessible from the library view as well.....

Sean

nope its TCH 29th July - i'll get the latest and give it a try.

A couple more suggestions. Excuse them if they are obvious....

1. make sure your network is setup correctly and DNS is working
2. When you upgraded did you remove the \udata and \tdata\ settings directories for XBMC. See the install notes or manual for exact names.
3. Incrase the debug messaging verbosity and capture a log file (advanced settings.xml)
a. see if there is something obvious in there.
b. post it on the XBMC forums and usually a developer will reply. Or post an issue on sourceforge (I would consider that a 2nd course of action).


OK I just tried this on 08/13/ and 08/14 versions of t3ch and pimped. Works in both cases. Something I did notice was when I first clicked on a station it would not even say "opening file" its like I could not even select it. Then tried some others and they worked and went back to the first one and it now works. I can reproduce this. Its like it takes a minute after the initial display until it really works. Weird...

Sean

You can't make a jpg transparent (at least not that I know of) so you need to save it as a png. I use the "save for web" option in photoshop and just make sure the make transparent box is checked. I'm sure other image editing programs have a similar setting.

Thanks - does XBMC allow for a folder thumbnail to be "folder.png"? I thought it would only read "folder.jpg".

Thanks again.

Thanks - does XBMC allow for a folder thumbnail to be "folder.png"? I thought it would only read "folder.jpg".

Thanks again.

It will only look for "folder.jpg" but you can just rename the png file to have a jpg extension instead and it will work.

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


With the most recent XBMC builds you can also set it from the interface... just highlight whatever shortcut you want to change and click the white button (or info on the remote) and go to "Choose Thumbnail" and then browse to whatever image file you want to use.

OK I just tried this on 08/13/ and 08/14 versions of t3ch and pimped. Works in both cases. Something I did notice was when I first clicked on a station it would not even say "opening file" its like I could not even select it. Then tried some others and they worked and went back to the first one and it now works. I can reproduce this. Its like it takes a minute after the initial display until it really works. Weird...

Up until about a week ago Shoutcast was working beautifully for me but now it is hit and miss. I'm running the 2006-08-13-T3CH build. It will either not work at all or do like you've described where nothing happens on the first click and then you go back and try some others and then it will start.

I'm wondering if shoutcast has changed something on their website to try and check for a cookie or something to see if we've been shown an advertisement before it'll start the stream.

After reading this where can I get my XBOX modded. Is there anyplace that offers to mod the hardware, not just offer a kit.

After reading this where can I get my XBOX modded. Is there anyplace that offers to mod the hardware, not just offer a kit.

1 answer GOOGLE

Ok tried it again this morning, some work some don't. I also get the same where you get no dialoge box the stream just eventually starts playing.

I did notice this the log from yesterday

13:01:20 M: 54185984 NOTICE: -----------------------------------------------------------------------
13:01:20 M: 54165504 NOTICE: Starting XBoxMediaCenter. Built on Jul 25 2006
13:01:20 M: 54165504 NOTICE: Q is mapped to: Harddisk0\Partition6\Apps\XBMC
13:01:20 M: 54165504 NOTICE: Log File is located: Q:\xbmc.log
13:01:20 M: 54165504 NOTICE: -----------------------------------------------------------------------
13:01:20 M: 54165504 NOTICE: Setup DirectX
13:01:21 M: 54140928 NOTICE: load settings...
13:01:21 M: 54140928 NOTICE: loading T:\guisettings.xml
13:01:21 M: 53997568 NOTICE: Getting hardware information now...
13:01:21 M: 53997568 NOTICE: Checking resolution 7
13:01:21 M: 54087680 NOTICE: q:\userdata\sources.xml
13:01:21 M: 48480256 NOTICE: loaded Q:\system\players\mplayer\ISO639-1.xml
13:01:21 M: 48439296 NOTICE: loaded Q:\system\players\mplayer\ISO639-2.xml
13:01:21 M: 48394240 NOTICE: Checking the Date!
13:01:21 M: 48394240 NOTICE: start dvd mediatype detection
13:01:21 M: 47869952 NOTICE: initializing playlistplayer
13:01:21 M: 47345664 NOTICE: load default skin:[Project Mayhem III]
13:01:22 M: 46170112 ERROR: Error, trying to add a second window with id 10055 to the window manager
13:01:22 M: 45830144 NOTICE: use DHCP
13:01:22 M: 45400064 NOTICE: initialize done
13:01:22 M: 45400064 NOTICE: Running the application...
13:01:23 M: 39137280 NOTICE: start timeserver client
13:01:23 M: 38608896 NOTICE: XBFileZilla: Starting...
13:01:23 M: 35987456 NOTICE: XBFileZilla: Started
13:01:28 M: 35450880 ERROR: Unable to wait for NTP reply from the SNTP server, GetLastError returns 10060
13:03:02 M: 38129664 WARNING: PLAYLIST::CPlayListPLS::LoadFromWeb - Unknown playlist contenttype text/html
13:03:02 M: 38129664 ERROR: Playlist Player: skipping unplayable item: 0, path [shout://www.shoutcast.com/sbin/tunein-station.pls?id=958596]
13:03:11 M: 38166528 WARNING: PLAYLIST::CPlayListPLS::LoadFromWeb - Unknown playlist contenttype text/html
13:03:11 M: 38166528 ERROR: Playlist Player: skipping unplayable item: 0, path [shout://www.shoutcast.com/sbin/tunein-station.pls?id=3749]
13:03:16 M: 38166528 WARNING: PLAYLIST::CPlayListPLS::LoadFromWeb - Unknown playlist contenttype text/html
13:03:16 M: 38166528 ERROR: Playlist Player: skipping unplayable item: 0, path [shout://www.shoutcast.com/sbin/tunein-station.pls?id=958596]


So i'm guessing it's shoutcast more than XBMC. Thanks for the help anyway sean, guys

Dunno the exact meaning of the message. I would post the question and log over on the XBMC bug forums and see what otheres there have to say. Again, if you go the trouble of posting the log and ask nicely jmarshall or one of the other developers will often reply.

http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/forum/

Sean

After reading this where can I get my XBOX modded. Is there anyplace that offers to mod the hardware, not just offer a kit.

The xbox-scene.com forum area has a section for local modders from various cities.

After reading this where can I get my XBOX modded. Is there anyplace that offers to mod the hardware, not just offer a kit.

Hey Richnoe, I sent you a PM.

After reading this where can I get my XBOX modded. Is there anyplace that offers to mod the hardware, not just offer a kit.
You don't even need any special hardware anymore. If you've got a computer and a cd burner then you have everything you need to get your xbox modded. Instructions Here. (http://turdinc.kicks-ass.net/Msntv/ps2/Xguide2.html)

You don't even need any special hardware anymore. If you've got a computer and a cd burner then you have everything you need to get your xbox modded. Instructions Here. (http://turdinc.kicks-ass.net/Msntv/ps2/Xguide2.html)


Thats a new method to me... cool...

Thanks for sharing. Looks pretty easy!

Thats a new method to me... cool...

Thanks for sharing. Looks pretty easy!

Interesting but a memory key and mech assault is certainly easier since ther e is 0 disassembly required... but cool none the less...

Sean

Interesting but a memory key and mech assault is certainly easier since ther e is 0 disassembly required...True and that is the method I usually use. It is the easiest but only because I already have the memory card, a separate modded xbox to copy the saved game files to the memory card and the game (Splinter Cell in my case).

The hotswapping method is the way to go for those who don't have all those prerequisites.

I'm still looking for a memory key.
I would like to format a new 200Gb harddrive with xbmc from a pc and swap out the original xbox drive(with no changes to it)
I have yet to find a simple way to do this :(

Not to jump slightly off topic, but what would be the best choice of AV interconnect cable from the Xbox to meet the following requirements:
Component Video to HD set
Optical Digital Audio out
Composite video out
L and R audio out
S-video would be a bonus.
Reason: I am feeding two rooms with one Xbox for music, and one room has the HD set, the other has the 27" CRT. Therefore one cable to rule them all.
I currently am using a Monster cable HD cable pack, which only provides component, L R audio, and optical digital outputs.
I have read that many of the forum members swear by the official Microsoft version, but it appears to only support the component video, not both the component and composite simultaneously.
Thanks in advance!

You can use a red Lexar FireFly 256MB thumb drive sold at wal-mart.
Purchase a simple usb cable that hooks up to the xbox.
Then you can write the files to the firefly with the action replay software.
I'm still looking for a memory key.
I would like to format a new 200Gb harddrive with xbmc from a pc and swap out the original xbox drive(with no changes to it)
I have yet to find a simple way to do this :(

Purchase a simple usb cable that hooks up to the xbox.

hmm, I'll have to look into that, also into splicing a cable together... :cool:

hmm, I'll have to look into that, also into splicing a cable together... :cool:


Should be able to get a USB adapter from an XBOX vendor or EBAY - I bought one with my MOD chip. I also am purchasing a new front panel for my XBOX that will contain an LCD, an "eye" for an IRDA device so I can turn it on from the couch, and two USB ports. If you use this as a part of your entertainment system you may want to consider such a thing - the USB ports can be used for mice and keyboards too apparently. Thus far I'll admit I've yet to use the USB thingy :o

P.S. I've found two vendors of front panels so far, the one in Canada was actually cheapest so be sure to shop around if you go for this option. I'm honestly not sure the LCD will be legible at a distance but what the heck, I'm pimping this thing out :P

Not to jump slightly off topic, but what would be the best choice of AV interconnect cable from the Xbox to meet the following requirements:
Component Video to HD set
Optical Digital Audio out
Composite video out
L and R audio out
S-video would be a bonus.
Reason: I am feeding two rooms with one Xbox for music, and one room has the HD set, the other has the 27" CRT. Therefore one cable to rule them all.
I currently am using a Monster cable HD cable pack, which only provides component, L R audio, and optical digital outputs.
I have read that many of the forum members swear by the official Microsoft version, but it appears to only support the component video, not both the component and composite simultaneously.
Thanks in advance!

I use the Arsenal Xbox component adapter which has everything you want including svideo, which I bought to do exactly what you want to do. There is a switch on the adapter that lets you switch between composite/svideo and component on the xbox. I'm about to replace my arsenal adapter with the monster set, since the arsenal adapter seems to be a little softer in picture quality and doesn't do well at 720p/1080i. I got a new HDTV and no longer need the composite/svideo connection and have component running to both of my displays using a 4x2 component switch.

I've seen the arsenal adapter available at my local fry's.

Thanks - I'll check it out. I seem to go to Fry's every weekend... like a moth to the flame...
And I need two more Xbox DVD playback kits anyway.

well I squeezed in a 80mm fan(cutting and hacking) it's direct to the power supply, and still not as loud as the oem pos. :D
have my 200Gig HD(I'm still not shure if I will see all 200Gig with a soft mod)

and I'm about to get all the software that I'll need to get everything running....I hope.

and if the soft mod doesn't work, I'll have to chip it I guess.

oh well, here goes nothing.....

well I squeezed in a 80mm fan(cutting and hacking) it's direct to the power supply, and still not as loud as the oem pos. :D
have my 200Gig HD(I'm still not shure if I will see all 200Gig with a soft mod)

and I'm about to get all the software that I'll need to get everything running....I hope.

and if the soft mod doesn't work, I'll have to chip it I guess.

oh well, here goes nothing.....

Think it might have been posisble to fit that in there so that it could still be throttled by the XBOX? Mine is pretty loud too and I'd LOVE to get a bigger fan in! I shoudl have my LCD and whatnot tomorrow so I'll have it apart... might be time to hunt up a bigger fan :rolleyes:

have my 200Gig HD(I'm still not shure if I will see all 200Gig with a soft mod)You'll be able to use it all. All the soft mods I've seen recently support LBA48 so it is no problem using 137+ gig HDD. If by some chance yours doesn't (highly unlikely) just get a copy of a newer softmod and install that. I would recommend Auto Installer Deluxe 3.0. It has a very current softmod with it.

Grrrr

hot swap's not working...

on to plan B


"Auto Installer Deluxe 3.0."
link?
edit: found it

I finally have XBMC,
took some work, but it's on there.
now... on to the bigger hard drive.

I seem to have a problem, I'm using EvoX +3935
and I don't have "system utilities" in my menu, just "system management"
I can't do a backup...

have they changed the menu? all the how to's refer to the "utilities" section,
should I ftp a new version or does it have to do with how it's set up?
help!!

Edit: fixed it, took some research on how the "evox.ini" works,
had to add the line: Item "Backup",ID_Backup

strange how that useful line wasn't included.

I'm serving music files (as I type this) to my xbox :cool:

BTW: Pimped and T3CH 8/27 is out... Looks like they added DVD player resume from last position....

CVS Changes Since Last Build:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
added/fixed: (dd-mm-yyyy) (please specify date in CET)

- 27-08-2006 fixed: Very short songs were often cut short when played with paplayer (meaning no sound at all).
- 26-08-2006 added: Flicker Filter Xbe Patcher. Based on hargle and VooD Win32 Flicker Filter XBE Patcher http://xbox.nugnugnug.com/Flicker****er/
settings - my Programs - auto flicker filter patch on/off
will always create a patched _ffp.xbe, the default will not touched
ff patcher uses the flicker filter setting in XBMC settings
will not patch: in progressive mode and homebrew xbe's
- 25-08-2006 changed: skins are not reloaded unless needed when you log on / log off - allows for smoother transitions.
- 25-08-2006 fixed: files (or folders) with 0 byte size would display as 0.1 Kb.
- 25-08-2006 changed: treat a folder containing a VIDEO_TS.IFO file a complete dvd when stacking is enabled. you now don't need to enter folder and select video_ts.ifo to start it.
- 25-08-2006 added: resume playback for dvd's and automatic bookmark for last played position
- 25-08-2006 fixed: Folders on memory units weren't retrieved correctly.
- 25-08-2006 fixed: Prepended characters in track label were applied even if the track had no tag information (usually only on playlists treated as files).
- 25-08-2006 fixed: Fullscreen information bar wasn't rendered while paused.
- 25-08-2006 fixed: Fullscreen GUI was rendered twice while paused.
- 25-08-2006 fixed: Some fullscreen OSD dialogs weren't unloaded (wasted memory after playing a video)
- 25-08-2006 fixed: Fullscreen video didn't load the OSD files from the appropriate resolution.
- 25-08-2006 changed: TTF rendering improved through the use of freetype.
- 25-08-2006 changed: Cleaned up the memory card notification code.
- 25-08-2006 added: some better labels for the shutdown timer.
- 24-08-2006 fixed: NextSubtitle didn't work with the dvdplayer.
- 24-08-2006 changed: better samba user and password entry dialogs.
- 24-08-2006 fixed: mockup in the kai client with the new evil b button.
- 24-08-2006 added: you can now lock the screensaver.
- 24-08-2006 fixed: mockup in my programs with the new evil b button.
- 24-08-2006 fixed: loginscreen first activated the home window, then your prefered startup window.
- 24-08-2006 fixed: HDD S.M.A.R.T Requesting of non (ID:17) will cause a loop request! http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=InfoLabels&action=submit
- 23-08-2006 fixed: adding bookmarks wouldn't generate proper video thumbnails
- 22-08-2006 added: songinfoduration tag to advancedsettings.xml. controls how long song info remains onscreen after song change in visualisation
valid range is 1 to 15, in seconds. example: <songinfoduration>10</songinfoduration>
- 22-08-2006 added: SmartXX v3 and OPX full RGB PWM control (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=List_of_Built_In_Functions)
BuildIn Command: XBMC.system.pwmcontrol(#rrggbb,#rrggbb,action,time)
e.g.: blink Blue <onclick>XBMC.system.pwmcontrol(#0000FF,#000000,blink,100)</onclick>
Thanks to www.freakware.com for sponsoring some SmartXX v3
- 22-08-2006 added: popup informations if xbox memory units are detected
- 22-08-2006 added: XBOX Autodetection now creates a Virtual ftp share on sucessfull detection
- 22-08-2006 removed: Settings, XBOX autodetection Createlink, no longer needed
- 22-08-2006 fixed: [ 1476262 ] System Info error while playing music
- 22-08-2006 added: Systeminfo: display Memunit information
- 22-08-2006 added: HDD S.M.A.R.T Requesting to InfoManager (atm. only HDD Temperature is Tested)
Request String: System.HDDsmart(17) http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=InfoLabels#Labels_Available_In_XBMC
- 22-08-2006 added: B as Back in media windows (and elsewhere). Thanks to Markeen.
- 22-08-2006 changed: Stretch 14:9 zooms additionally so that black bars are eliminated.
- 22-08-2006 fixed: Random highlighted items when entering folders for the first time.
- 22-08-2006 changed: Slightly faster video database lookup of video settings.
- 22-08-2006 changed: Improved filtering of filenames prior to IMDb lookup, thanks to ezd
- 22-08-2006 changed: Better support for xbox memory units.
- 22-08-2006 fixed: "hide media extensions" works on virtual folders like playlists, archives, etc.
- 22-08-2006 updated: libsmbclient to 3.0.23b, fixes some signing issues and some bugs with landrives

Sean

Does anyone have any idea why some of my .iso/.img file would play just fine while others wouldnt load (meaning when I click on them nothing happens)? I'm using 8/23 cvs compiled by t3ch

Thanks

If you upgraded from an old build, try re-installing, but wipe the entire old install (e:/apps) and any cache files on Tdata & qdata.

If you upgraded from an old build, try re-installing, but wipe the entire old install (e:/apps) and any cache files on Tdata & qdata.

That is the best advice whenever updating from an old build.

mm cachefiles...
thank you, i'll give it a shot later tonight (i actually did erase everything in the old directory before putting the new build in) :)

I have some jpg pictures on my server that I've rotated so that they are the correct way up, but on the XBox they are still "sideways".

I've tried editting them in Photo Elements, copying them to a different PC but they still display as they were originally.

Any ideas anyone? I've looked on the XBMC forums but to no avail.

EXIF

XBMC reads the EXIF information that your camera stores as metadata with each shot.

Windows does not.

Since XBMC made the change I haven't had to rotate the images at all, they are always displayed correctly.

I suggest you get a picture managing app for your PC that uses EXIF as well. I know Picasa does.

And as soon as Flickr supports EXIF, I'll never have to rotate another picture manually again.

PS You might need to get an EXIF editor to undo what windows has done to the pictures you've already rotated.

slack, jenielsen:

erased the cache files and simultaneously upgraded to 8-27 T3CH build (by wiping the old 8-22 build of course) however the same problem persists.

If you upgraded from an old build, try re-installing, but wipe the entire old install (e:/apps) and any cache files on Tdata & qdata.
can you just rename the old xbmc folder "xbmc old" and clear the cache then ftp the new build of xbmc?

I'm using the latest build and have been getting lots of crashes, I'll have to re-upgrade my build to see if it works better.

I'm really liking mayhem III, though I see some skins will need to be updated(2.0?) to work with this build.


another problem, I can't seem to find a "play all" or "play all random" for my music :confused:
I'm still getting used to xbmc, but having fun:) I'm glad I modded it, tons of potential

edit:
well after searching and playing, I found it(after switching to the controller :( ), have to scan the collection, then switch views, then check party mode...surprised I didn't have to pat my head and rub my tummy

Yes you can just rename your current XBMC directory to XBMC - old or "Backup" or what ever you want. I always keep an extra build on my box and I just name that directory Backup.