Some quicklinks for more info about XBMC and XBOX:

xbox-scene forums
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showforum=180

Xbox MediaCenter Official web site
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/forum/

XBMC Wiki
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=Xbox_Media_Center_Online_Manual

T3CH Site to DL XBMC (http://t3ch.yi.se/)

Xbins FTP
ftp://xbins:homebrew@xbmp.uk.xbins.org

XBMC Scripts
http://www.xbmcscripts.com/

10 Minute Guide to mod your xbox
http://www.techfreaks.org/articles/modxbox.shtml

Softmod your XBOX in 30 minutes
http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft_xbox/article/how_to_go_from_xbox_to_xbox_media_center_in_30_minutes.html

Replacing your xbox hard drive with a larger one
http://www.techfreaks.org/articles/modxbox2.shtml

EVOX Boot disc info
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?act=ST&f=16&t=89545

MORE SCREENSHOTS
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12509085#post12509085

Original Post
I recently got my xbox modded and I am quite surprised on how well it acts as a media center. I know many people here recommend the Xbox Media Center as a media center but I figure some people can get a good idea of what it is capable with some pics of what I'm currently doing with it.

DVD Collection was created with DVDProfiler2XBMC (http://japhule.collinsreport.com/DVDProfiler2XBMC/index.html).

XBMC Main Menu (this is just one skin of the various skins you can dl)
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/12.jpg

My Videos - My DVDs
I wrote a program that will read my DVD Profiler data to create a fake iso image of all my dvds and at the same time copy the dvd cover images from DVD Profiler and create the thumbnails for each movie. For the real DVD iso, I simply overwrite the fake one with the real one and I can play it straight off the network. You can download the program here (http://japhule.collinsreport.com/DVDProfiler2XBMC/index.html).
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/1.jpg
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/3.jpg
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/4.jpg

Another view of my DVD library with IMDB rating
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/5.jpg

Movie Info with Poster taking from IMDB. The xbox has a crawler that will look at the movie titles and grab info and poster from IMDB and store it on the xbox.
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/7.jpg
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/2.jpg

DVD is playing in the bottom left corner while you browse other dvds.
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/10.jpg

Weather plugin
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/13.jpg

Another DVD Listing View
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/14.jpg

I didn't have much time to take pictures of the Music and Photo gallery interface but it too is quite nice. Not only will it play mp3s (and other music types) but it will connect to winamp shoutcast radio to give you access to 500 online radio stations. Here's a picture of an MP3 playing with a visualizer in the background. It's showing the album info along with album cover from the ID3 tag.
http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/15.jpg

http://japhule.collinsreport.com/avs/xbmc/16.jpg

Apple Movie Trailers, CNN News, and Launch Music Videos. There are also downloadable plugins for many things including these sites. You can connect to the Apple movie trailer website and stream the quicktime movie to the xbox. You can also connect to the CNN Video news to view video news for various reports. You can also connect to Yahoo Launch to stream the latest music videos.

I have yet to get my XBMC playing movies. I click on the movie to play it over the network and it just hangs. they're ifo/vob. I'll try playing an iso and see if that helps.

Truely awsome man! I was wanting to be able to use my 360 to run a media server with DVD playback capabilities but it looks like we will have to wait for the "work arounds" to get hashed out. I have my old XBox just sitting on a speaker and I think you have inspired me to get it modded. What chip did you use for the mod and what dashboard are you using. I will primarely use it for a XBMC. Also, being able to play your iso's is very cool. Are there app's available for this or did you make it yourself?

Thanks for the great show!

Scott

Carguy,
I am still working on this myself, I must have downloaded 10 MPEG converters and 10 kinds of codecs this weekend and all I got was a pain in the neck. I ended up having to perform a system restore to clean up all the codec crap. At one point my WMP 10 would not even open up!

Keep on trying, I know I will!

Thanks for the pictures. I still don't entirely grasp the advantage of grabbing info from DVD Profiler rather than IMDB, but I'll continue playing with things.

I do see now how it could be more convenient ripping to ISO rather than VOB. Tossing all the ISO's in a directory would make it easier to start up movies (less "clicks"). Maybe getting the thumbnails on the ISO's is part of the DVD Profiler vs IMDB question now that I think about it.

I'm using the UnleashX dashboard with the Duox2 mod chip. The version I have was compiled in late December 2005 (I had someone do the mod for me). Playing the isos worked for me automatically. I may have had 1 dvd so far where I couldn't navigate the menu.

Scott, the only app I used was the one i created only because I wanted to use the dvd profiler dvd covers and also have it quickly create a listing of my collection into xbmc to easily browse. It's not fun having to manually create a fake iso or video file of each movie when you've got over 200 movies. Those fake isos are simply an empty text file with and iso extension. You can simply put the dvd isos in a directory and xbmc will scan all the isos with imdb and it will grab movie info and movie poster which will be used as the thumbnail. The scan isn't always perfect but you can manually and easily update the movie info for each movie using the imdb search.

I want the dvd profiler dvd covers because I have in some cases, 3 or 4 versions of the same movie and I just like the idea of seeing the actual dvd cover as opposed to the movie poster or dvd cover provided by IMDB.

I want the dvd profiler dvd covers because I have in some cases, 3 or 4 versions of the same movie and I just like the idea of seeing the actual dvd cover as opposed to the movie poster or dvd cover provided by IMDB.

It also sounds like you wanted to play with writing some code. :)

Japhule - You should use the snapshot feature in XBMC to capture those images. It'll look a million times better. Search the XBMC manual wiki for snapshot. It'll save jpgs on the hdd. [Left Thumbstick]
As an example...
http://www.allxboxskins.com/skins/xbmc/xbmc360_preview.jpg

FYI & buyer beware...
XBMC is the greatest reason to own an xbox IMHO. That being said, it seems the newer builds are breaking some functionality with respect to streaming VOBs that I had come to know & love.

VOB Navigation: The build I'm using (couple of months old) still allows VOB nav. Play a VOB, right/left nav on remote does ~30 seconds skip. Back button does ~7 second back up. Up/Down nav on remote does ~10 minute skip. None of these worked the last time I tried a newer build. I had to revert, because that is a 'deal breaker' It's a shame too because the newer builds have the My pictures Slideshow screen saver option that I'd like to use. (The NAV breaking only affected VOBs all my Xvid/Divx naved just fine)

VOBsub subtitles: Time was you could enable disable any subtitles on-the-fly via the OSD. But that hasn;t worked in ages. It's very convenient when that center channel dialog is not up to par.

The new builds work fine for me, even on VOBs. I love my XBMC. Aside from the occasional buggyness, the only complains I have lie with the XBox itself. It's noisy (from the fan) and you cannot turn it on via a remote (without a soldered mod). You can turn it off or reboot it, but not power it on.

Slack,
Thanks for the tip. I knew screen capture was somewhere in xbmc but never thought about how it is done.

The new builds work fine for me, even on VOBs. I love my XBMC. Aside from the occasional buggyness, the only complains I have lie with the XBox itself. It's noisy (from the fan) and you cannot turn it on via a remote (without a soldered mod). You can turn it off or reboot it, but not power it on.

I'll have to re-try the latest build tonight. BTW are you using the T3CH package, or some other??

I just got mine modded last night with Xecuter3. I launch straight into XBMC rather than fooling with a dashboard. I am amazed by the quality of XBMC. It blows away the BLT (though XBMC definately has better hardware to run on).

I'm using it to link to my PC where I have about 1 TB of VOB files. I need to play with SMB some more since it doesn't follow Windows shortcuts like the BLT and my VOBs are spread over 5 drives.

Ja Phule, can you give me info on your code? That looks awesome!!!
Chris

I just got mine modded last night with Xecuter3. I launch straight into XBMC rather than fooling with a dashboard. I am amazed by the quality of XBMC. It blows away the BLT (though XBMC definately has better hardware to run on).

I'm using it to link to my PC where I have about 1 TB of VOB files. I need to play with SMB some more since it doesn't follow Windows shortcuts like the BLT and my VOBs are spread over 5 drives.

Ja Phule, can you give me info on your code? That looks awesome!!!
Chris

My app just creates the fake isos and copies over and rename the dvd cover image to a thumbnail using your dvd collection data from DVD Profiler. If you are interested, I can make the app public for everyone to use.

I'll have to re-try the latest build tonight. BTW are you using the T3CH package, or some other??

I am using the T3CH package. The only issue I have is a bit of video choppiness. I think that is caused by serving up my files via SMB on an iMac. I'm going to get a NAS soon... should work fine then.

I would have to agree that it works really well..

I have mine play ISOs, and it is great..

Ja Phule, you can disable the showing of the file extensions so they don't appear in the title.. ;-)

-Robert

Japhule, that is a very impressive UI. What type of TV are you using for display device? Does XBMC support HDTV resolutions and aspect ration (16:9). I know it can't stream HD files, I'm just curious if the User Interface supports HD?

Would it be possible to get an Xbox up and running to support both XBMC and XMAME?

I wish I had the time to set it up and get it going. I'll have to look into local shops that will do the mods for me.

What do you use to control the system? Is there a standard XBOX Remote?

Lastly, does the XBMC upscale DVD's to HD resolutoins? I've read that it does.

Drew

Ja Phule,
Please do if you don't mind.
Chris

Ja Phule, you can disable the showing of the file extensions so they don't appear in the title.. ;-)
Yeah, I believe there's an option in XBMC to disable extensions. I'm also in File view when the extensions are shown. If I was in Title view, it would show just the title (seen in some of the screenshots). My only issue with the Title view, is that it's based off of IMDB's title, and I have a lot of foreign movies, many of which show up as their foreign name as opposed to their english translated name.

Japhule, that is a very impressive UI. What type of TV are you using for display device? Does XBMC support HDTV resolutions and aspect ration (16:9). I know it can't stream HD files, I'm just curious if the User Interface supports HD?

Would it be possible to get an Xbox up and running to support both XBMC and XMAME?

I wish I had the time to set it up and get it going. I'll have to look into local shops that will do the mods for me.

What do you use to control the system? Is there a standard XBOX Remote?

Lastly, does the XBMC upscale DVD's to HD resolutoins? I've read that it does.

Drew
I'm using the Infocus 4805 16:9 projector. XBMC does support widescreen resolutions as you can see in the screenshots. It supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i as well as 4:3. Before I load up XBMC, the xbox loads the dashboard where I can access MAME. MAME can also be accessed via XBMC with some tweaking.

XBMC can be controlled by the xbox controller, the xbox dvd remote, and the xbox media center extender remote (which uses the same IR codes as the xbox dvd remote). The xbox dvd remote MSRP is $30 and I found the xbox media center remote online for around $30 so I got that remote and learned the commands onto my Osiris MX-350 and it works great.

XBMC does upscale DVD.

Ja Phule,
Please do if you don't mind.
Chris

I'll clean up my app a little bit and make it a little more user friendly, then I'll share it when it is ready.

Thanks for the clarifications.

How much for the xbox plus the pre-modding? I'm interested.

Drew

I paid retail for the xbox last year at $150. I had someone do the mod, so install + mod chip = $60. I also replaced the 10gb hard drive in the xbox with a 160gb seagate, $60. $270 total. I'm wishing I had done this mod sooner, that's for sure. There are a few people online that will sell a new modded xbox or will mod your sent in xbox.

With the Xbox 360 coming out, Xbox's are going for about $100 on eBay now with the DVD kit included. I've seen mod-chips from $35 to $100 (solderless). Mine was $60. I could have paid less, but it was in stock. The soldering was pretty easy (though it looks tougher on a version 1.6 motherboard), but I'd say the solderless kits or someone to do the mod is worth it if you've never soldered.

Thanks for sharing Ja Phule. I look forward to seeing it. Could DVD Profiler do a decent job with an imported text file of titles, or do I really need to enter the UPCs?
Chris

No affiliation whatsoever, never used them, but this might be the shortest path for newbies to xbmc & modded xboxen.

http://www.softmodmyxbox.com/

I'll recomend the Xenium ICE chip. When things go south and your xbox no longer boots to the app you intended. You can boot to an OS thats on the chip itself, and gain access again via the chip's own ftp server. Much handier than messing with creating bootable media imho.


Thanks for the clarifications.

How much for the xbox plus the pre-modding? I'm interested.

Drew

FWIW, My ReadyNAS streams without a hitch for hours on end, to multple xboxes. Can't recommend it enough as a companion for XBMC.


I am using the T3CH package. The only issue I have is a bit of video choppiness. I think that is caused by serving up my files via SMB on an iMac. I'm going to get a NAS soon... should work fine then.

Chris,
I think my mod chip is around $15-20, but I know nothing about soldering, but $60 to have someone do it + the chip + install of software was well worth it in the end for me.

You can add dvds using upc or title name. Not sure about importing a text file but that may work. DVD Profiler connects to its own DVD database to get the dvd info and dvd covers, using a title name could result in a different dvd of the movie that you have. Without profiler, you can just create your own img file and use the IMDB lookup to grab the movie info and movie poster for thumbnail.

This guy only does softmods, not a mod-chip. XBMC will have some limitations without a mod-chip won't it?

xbmc will not care where the bios resides when it boots. I'm not aware of any feature of xbmc that is chip dependant. With the possible exception of the LCD (mini display) stuff I've never used.


This guy only does softmods, not a mod-chip. XBMC will have some limitations without a mod-chip won't it?

So for a $100 bucks for a used xbox plus 60 for the modding and a little tinkering and I can replicate what you have listed JaPhule?

Slack, did you softmod or chip mod you're xbox's?

Drew

PS: Just when i thought i was settling down and getting everthing in working order you have to go and start this thread. thanks!

So for a $100 bucks for a used xbox plus 60 for the modding and a little tinkering and I can replicate what you have listed JaPhule?

Slack, did you softmod or chip mod you're xbox's?

Drew

PS: Just when i thought i was settling down and getting everthing in working order you have to go and start this thread. thanks!

Probably. You should check the xbox-scene.com forum if you want to find someone local who would can do the mod for you.

If your handy you can mod the box yourself... To do it, you should feel comfortable with a soldering iron and with pc inards...

I did both of mine and those of many friends this way. I just reflash the original bios chip instead of having to add anything else...

Ja Phule,

Are you storing the movies on the Xb HD or are you pulling them off the network?

rjgarcia,
I'm pulling them off the network. Storing dvd isos are going to require a bigger and bigger hd eventually and I'd prefer to maintain them over the network than on the xbox hard drive. I'll put other stuff in the internal hd. :)

Cool.. That is the same thing I am doing, I've been doing some calculations though and it is going to get really expensive.. :-(

I figured I could build a nice raid 5 array with hot spare for about $2400 that has almost 3TB or online capacity, I'm still trying to figure out if I want to do that or not..

-Robert

I'm waiting for hard drive prices to come down a little more.

Pictures updated. :)

it seems the newer builds are breaking some functionality with respect to streaming VOBs that I had come to know & love.

This is a wierd one. After tinkering with the latest build. I still noticed some .VOBs I could not skip forward in. Others I could. I noticed that the one's having trouble were newer rips. I played with cache settings but it didn't make a dif.

Then an aha moment.

I was saving a step with my latest rips by ripping them straight to my ReadyNAS, whereas in the past I was ripping to local HDD then copying over to the NAS.

Tonight I was ripping Million Dollar Baby, and NAV was not working. I ripped 4 chapters to local HDD, copied over & voila, NAV works.

Go figure.

I wonder if copying them back to local HDD & then back to ReadyNAS will fix them?

Slack,
Does FF/RW work for you? It doesn't work for me at least. However, I can skip a few seconds (or minutes) using the d-pad.

On the 'broken' ones it works for a short while, then xbmc locks up HARD, not even IGR will get it back.

I'll go test a 'good' one....

Yeah, it works. Trigger method and OSD.
T3CH 18 Jan 06 Build. Single file .Vobs & .avis (NOT ISOs, I can't test those as I never used them cause that's only recently been added. I am however gonna test it on this Million Dollar Baby disk.

BTW the screenies look much better. :)

Slack,
Does FF/RW work for you? It doesn't work for me at least. However, I can skip a few seconds (or minutes) using the d-pad.

Thanks. Actually, I was referring to ISOs. With video files ff/rw work just fine.

Slack, did you softmod or chip mod you're xbox's?


Chips all around

I've heard it decribed thusly. 'One weekend of "geeking out" and your set.'

First box (v1.0) was first chiped with Matrix Solderless chip. Clunky old chip with a parallel port programmer. yuk! That chip lost it' brain once & I had to yank it & re-program.

That box got an upgrade to Xenium ICE solderless when I read that the Xenium ICE had it's own OS & ftp server. That solderless install made it from Charlotte to San Diego in a carry on bag with out a problem. I had it up & running as soon as we got to the relative's house. (Very cool doing slideshows of that days pictures in the evening)

Then I got another box (V1.4) refurb from game stop. And chipped it with another Xenium ICE. I think the hardest part of the solderless install is the strain on my old eyes. I had to grab the wife's readers to complete the second box. :eek:

Grrr...I ordered my modchip from themodchip dot com two weeks ago and it still hasn't arrived. I don't like my odds...

I soft modded my xbox yesterday (well I even picked it up yesterday, $90 used including the dvd remote)...

Took like 10 minutes?

I was soo worried :) Now I'm tweaking and just spent the $$ to build a 3.2tb raid (windowsxp raid 5, hardware is overkill when I've got the media in the closet)...

[QUOTE=Slack]No affiliation whatsoever, never used them, but this might be the shortest path for newbies to xbmc & modded xboxen.

http://www.softmodmyxbox.com/

Used this twice and its great. What Ja Phule showed is really only the tip of the iceberg with XBMC. I have 3 of these things and the noisy fan is the biggest problem. Time to fix that too.... :)

Sean

I would have to agree that it works really well..

I have mine play ISOs, and it is great..

Ja Phule, you can disable the showing of the file extensions so they don't appear in the title.. ;-)

-Robert

How do you do this - have looked but cant find how to disable....

I was playing around with the IMBD feature last night. Pretty neat, though it locked up a few times. I'm also using the T3CH build.
What I'm trying to figure out is how to manually hack the info if IMDB gets it wrong. I can see where the thumbnails are and where the IMBD info is, but where does that get mapped to each VOB file?
My biggest issue came with my X-File Mythology and Firefly episodes, which are in their own directories with episode names as their titles. XBMC had no idea what to do with that as IMDB doesn't keep up with episode names. I need to find where each VOB file is referenced and mapped to the thumb and info files, make my own info entry and then point to whatever thumbnail I want.
Any ideas?

Chris

How do you do this - have looked but cant find how to disable....

Settings, Videos, Show extensions

I was playing around with the IMBD feature last night. Pretty neat, though it locked up a few times. I'm also using the T3CH build.
What I'm trying to figure out is how to manually hack the info if IMDB gets it wrong. I can see where the thumbnails are and where the IMBD info is, but where does that get mapped to each VOB file?
My biggest issue came with my X-File Mythology and Firefly episodes, which are in their own directories with episode names as their titles. XBMC had no idea what to do with that as IMDB doesn't keep up with episode names. I need to find where each VOB file is referenced and mapped to the thumb and info files, make my own info entry and then point to whatever thumbnail I want.
Any ideas?

Chris

If IMDB gets the info wrong, go to your video and view the info, from there, you can refresh and IMDB will show some search results, if your title isn't in the search results, there is a manual button you can press where you manually enter in the title name to search again.

I believe the movie info is saved on the xbox hard drive in a .db file. Not sure where it is at the top of my head right now, but you should check the xbmc manual for more info.

Yeah, but it always ends up searching and there's no way to make it stop. You have to just enter the wrong thing and live with it. If it's something that's not going to show up in IMDB, then you need to hack the DB file. I looked at the forums and manual on XBMC but couldn't find any info. I'll try to find it and open it with Access tonight.

Settings, Videos, Show extensions

Yep thats what I thought too......its not there in the recent builds..... :(

Yep thats what I thought too......its not there in the recent builds..... :(

It may be because it's in Settings, Appearance, View Options. For me at least. :)

It may be because it's in Settings, Appearance, View Options. For me at least. :)

Ha :D I was going from memory, but I knew it was somewhere!

One thing I added last night to XBMC. I downloaded and put a bunch of trailers on my xbox hard drive. Whenever XBMC starts, it will play a random movie trailer in the background. This is one of the many things you can do with XBMC scripts. I'm using the autostartmanager script to play the videos. You can also have it play random music.

That's a FANTASTIC skin. I looked for something similar and can't find it anywhere. Can you post a link?

Also, how does IMDB find the Disc. Long story short I'm using DVDShrink to convert my DVDs and eliminate scratching problems. It saves in a temp file (which I can make permanent) and it just labels VIDEO.TS--no label on it. Are you going into the XBMC and titling it there?

Have a Win2000 computer as my media server and tried ReLax and it isn't working at all--only streamable from my XP. I guess I'll try others...

Thanks in advance!

I'm using the Project Mayhem III skin, which I believe is the default skin.

DVDShrink will give you the option to output a DVD via a video_ts folder with files in it or as 1 large ISO image file. I have my DVDs stored as a large iso image and name it however I want. IMDB will search the name of the iso file. XBMC will open the iso file as a dvd.

I was reading on one of the sites out there that you can't softmod the newer generation of xbox consoles (NOT 360). Is this true?

I was going to pick up a new xbox (classic?) and softmod it myself, but if that's not possible, i'll head to e-bay!

Thanks,
Jeff

I love my Xbox. It will play almost everything you will throw at it from AVI to odd MKV files. I was even more surprise the first time I got it running: everything was looking so much better on the TV than it did on my computer.

The only downside with the xbox is that it will not play any HD content, nor TS video nor some H.264 videos. I ended up down converting most of my HD caps to a resolution the xbox can handle, and they all still look great!

More caps:

http://anh.bi.home.comcast.net/screenshot000.jpg
http://anh.bi.home.comcast.net/screenshot001.jpg
http://anh.bi.home.comcast.net/screenshot002.jpg
http://anh.bi.home.comcast.net/screenshot003.jpg
http://anh.bi.home.comcast.net/screenshot004.jpg
http://anh.bi.home.comcast.net/screenshot005.jpg
http://anh.bi.home.comcast.net/screenshot006.jpg

Those are some, uh, beautiful pictures!

the only complains I have lie with the XBox itself. It's noisy (from the fan) and you cannot turn it on via a remote (without a soldered mod). You can turn it off or reboot it, but not power it on.Not true. Check this mod: http://cheaplpc.com/xir/xireasy.asp it's solderless and works perfectly. I've installed it myself without problems.

I was reading on one of the sites out there that you can't softmod the newer generation of xbox consoles (NOT 360). Is this true?

I was going to pick up a new xbox (classic?) and softmod it myself, but if that's not possible, i'll head to e-bay!

Thanks,
Jeff

I'm interested in this also. Anyone?

Not true. Check this mod: http://cheaplpc.com/xir/xireasy.asp it's solderless and works perfectly. I've installed it myself without problems.

Thanks, I think I'm gonna have to get one of these myself.

I have two very similar devices, their names are Anika & Lauren 4.5 Years old twins. :D

Thanks, I think I'm gonna have to get one of these myself.

I have two very similar devices, their names are Anika & Lauren 4.5 Years old twins. :D

LOL, I guess you have one for on and one for off. :)

Not true. Check this mod: http://cheaplpc.com/xir/xireasy.asp it's solderless and works perfectly. I've installed it myself without problems.

I've installed 3 of these, and they work great. Depending on which rev of xbox you get, it can be pretty quiet, and there are ways of retrofitting the noisy ones to quiet them down. The new ones can allow you to program your own on/off IR codes instead of using select and 0, which is nice. Program it with an on and off codes from an RCA DVD player and most universal remotes can control it just fine.

XBMC is a great program. Mediaportal is based on it, but is still unstable compared to even an XBMC CVS release.

Thanks,
Mike

I just picked up a used XboX classic console and it's on the way to me now. Sorry don't know the version number at this point. Quick question -

I would prefer to do a solderless install of a mod chip and would be interested in everyone's opinion on the best way to go and why. Xecuter3 and Xenium look like the leading candidates based on my level of understanding / capabilities.

I'll be using it for Movies and Games primarily. Don't care one iota about XboX Live.

Any assistance is appreciated in advance

Would one of you guys please help me. I have an old xbox. It has the component out adapter and that's all. I do not have the DVD kit.

Will someone please list out 1, 2, etc, what I need to make it into a DVD player that will play off the network.

I want it to upscale to 720.

So, what do I need?

This list is only meant to show what I am asking and does not reflect anything else.

1. DVD remote
2. Chip mod bla bla bla or
3. Soft mod bla bla bla
4. etc.

Thanks guys. Sorry to be so ignorant about these xboxes. More I read, more confused I get.

I just picked up a used XboX classic console and it's on the way to me now. Sorry don't know the version number at this point. Quick question -

I would prefer to do a solderless install of a mod chip and would be interested in everyone's opinion on the best way to go and why. Xecuter3 and Xenium look like the leading candidates based on my level of understanding / capabilities.

I'll be using it for Movies and Games primarily. Don't care one iota about XboX Live.

Any assistance is appreciated in advance

From what I understand, those are probably the top chips right now, but they offer much much more than you really need. I'm using the Duox2 chip, which will let you do all you want such as use xbmc and games and is quite cheap. Get Xecuter if you want do things like run linux.

Would one of you guys please help me. I have an old xbox. It has the component out adapter and that's all. I do not have the DVD kit.

Will someone please list out 1, 2, etc, what I need to make it into a DVD player that will play off the network.

I want it to upscale to 720.

So, what do I need?

This list is only meant to show what I am asking and does not reflect anything else.

1. DVD remote
2. Chip mod bla bla bla or
3. Soft mod bla bla bla
4. etc.

Thanks guys. Sorry to be so ignorant about these xboxes. More I read, more confused I get.

If you don't know much about putting one together, I'd recommend looking into having someone do the install for you. www.xbox-scene.com forums have a listing of local modders willing to do the mod for you and set up the software. But basically, you have a few options including:

Option 1:
1. DVD Remote (though I recommend the Xbox Media Center Kit which has a better remote and can be found for about the same price as the regular xbox remote and it works great)
2. Chip Mod
3. XBMC install

Option 2:
1. DVD Remote
2. Solderless mod
3. XBMC Install

You can enable 720p in your main xbox dashboard and when you are in XBMC, you can set it to 720p.

but do i need to be running media center on my pc in order to use the xbox media center extender?

ok sorry for two posts in a row. Did a google search of xbox media center kit, and i come up with a kit that requires you to have your pc running media center..is this the os you are running?....can i still set my xbox up as a media center without the pc running xp pro..what im running now....
thanks for all the help, going to order my chip this weekend and some sort of remote ect.
thanks

From what I understand, those are probably the top chips right now, but they offer much much more than you really need. I'm using the Duox2 chip, which will let you do all you want such as use xbmc and games and is quite cheap. Get Xecuter if you want do things like run linux.

I thought the Duox2 required soldering.

but do i need to be running media center on my pc in order to use the xbox media center extender?


Lets be clear this thread is not discussing xbox media extender (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00066FHM4/sr=1-1/qid=1138500259/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9219115-5769426?%5Fencoding=UTF8) An MS priduct fully licenseed etc... No mod chip required.

Rather, it is discussing xbox media center (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/) which is an open source, home brew application that can run on an xbox if that xbox has been modified to run unsigned code.

a google search of xbox media center (no kit!) would have led you to the second link. Which has an incredibly detailed...faq & wiki based manual.

so to answer your question...

If you are running ms meda extender on your stock xbox, YES you need to be running MCE on you PC.

If you are running XBMC on you MODDED xbox, NO you do not need to run MCE (media center edition) on anything.

buzzyboy,
I mentioned the Xbox Media Extender Kit, which I got, but I only got it for the use of the remote, which will work with XBMC (the modded xbox media center we're discussing here). So basically, I bought the kit, threw everything away except for the ir receiver and the remote.

I thought the Duox2 required soldering.

Probably, not too sure since I had someone do the mod for me.

Does the XBMC remote infrared receiver plug into a usb port? I have a MCE 2005 remote which looks identical to the XBMC remote that's being discussed (except it's silver). The difference may be my remote's infrared receiver plugs into a usb port. Just trying to figure out if it would work with the XBMC.

The XBMC ifrared receiver plugs into the xbox controller port (it's the same infrared receiver used by the regular xbox dvd remote). I read a review on the Xbox Media Center Extender and the reviewer complained that the xbox media center remote uses different IR codes as the regular MCE remotes. I don't think your remote would work with XBMC. There's a controller to usb adapter for xbox, but I'm guessing it won't work because someone would need to write drivers for it to work with xbox i would assume.

Thanks, that's just what I wanted to know. Thanks also for starting this thread. I'd kind of made up my mind I wanted to do an XBMC, but like a lot of people, I was a little overwhelmed at wading through all the info out there. This thread has answered a lot of the questions I've had.

umm...like no fooling this is not a thread about xbox media center.....
My question was in regards to ..DVD Remote (though I recommend the Xbox Media Center Kit which has a better remote and can be found for about the same price as the regular xbox remote and it works great)
Thankyou Ja Phule for your answer..thats what i wanted to know.

Ja Phule,

I am very interested in your program that integrates or moves data from DVD Profiler to XBMC. I am getting ready to begin using XBMC in my media room which will be connected to an UnRaid Media Server. It would be great to be able to see all my DVDs in one folder in XBMC with covers based on the information I already have in DVD Profiler. I appreciate your offer to share your program.

Sincerely,
Scott

Ja Phule,

I am very interested in your program that integrates or moves data from DVD Profiler to XBMC. I am getting ready to begin using XBMC in my media room which will be connected to an UnRaid Media Server. It would be great to be able to see all my DVDs in one folder in XBMC with covers based on the information I already have in DVD Profiler. I appreciate your offer to share your program.

Sincerely,
Scott

Thanks. I'm working on fixing up the program so that other people can use it easily. Right now it just takes the movie title and cover from dvd profiler and it will get the movie info from IMDB. I will post it up here whenever it is ready.

Probably, not too sure since I had someone do the mod for me.

re: DuoX2 - I think it's a solder mod. I really need a solderless mod. I know my limitations - software / hardware configuration, scripts, cables, etc, I'm fine. Soldering, welding, auto mechanics, big trouble.

Looking forward to you sharing your cool piece of software. :)

I'm using the Project Mayhem III skin, which I believe is the default skin.

DVDShrink will give you the option to output a DVD via a video_ts folder with files in it or as 1 large ISO image file. I have my DVDs stored as a large iso image and name it however I want. IMDB will search the name of the iso file. XBMC will open the iso file as a dvd.


Ja Phule :

Was thinking about using dvdskrink to large iso, but i thought I read somewhere that the xbox can only read files up to 4.7 gig or so???

By the way, read this thread on Thursday was so impressed, bought an xmod and had it modded by Saturday. XBMC is really something else. Since I'm here in Cali, had a local installer do it here in the Ventura area. Put the a SmartXX LT OPX and all the software. Everything was about $85 for his work. Not sure if that was too much but I'm happy.

Only thing I cant seem to have XBMC remember the folder it accessed when searchin for movies or music after rebooting. After reboot, I have to navigate to the shared network, folder, sub folder, etc. everytime. Kind of a newbie so any ideas?


Jonathan

Ja Phule :

Was thinking about using dvdskrink to large iso, but i thought I read somewhere that the xbox can only read files up to 4.7 gig or so???

By the way, read this thread on Thursday was so impressed, bought an xmod and had it modded by Saturday. XBMC is really something else. Since I'm here in Cali, had a local installer do it here in the Ventura area. Put the a SmartXX LT OPX and all the software. Everything was about $85 for his work. Not sure if that was too much but I'm happy.

Only thing I cant seem to have XBMC remember the folder it accessed when searchin for movies or music after rebooting. After reboot, I have to navigate to the shared network, folder, sub folder, etc. everytime. Kind of a newbie so any ideas?


Jonathan

I was able to open a dvd iso greater than 4.7gb off my network with no problems. If anything, I'm guessing the xbox's built in hard drive may be limited to 4.7gb file sizes.

If you go into my videos, press the white button on the xbox controller, it will give you the option to "Add Share." Here you can put in a direct link to shared folder you want to access. So if you're computer name is "Computer1" with a shared folder called "Share." The share path on you'd put in would be smb://Computer1/Share and then give it a name.

Ja Phule :

Was thinking about using dvdskrink to large iso, but i thought I read somewhere that the xbox can only read files up to 4.7 gig or so???

By the way, read this thread on Thursday was so impressed, bought an xmod and had it modded by Saturday. XBMC is really something else. Since I'm here in Cali, had a local installer do it here in the Ventura area. Put the a SmartXX LT OPX and all the software. Everything was about $85 for his work. Not sure if that was too much but I'm happy.

Only thing I cant seem to have XBMC remember the folder it accessed when searchin for movies or music after rebooting. After reboot, I have to navigate to the shared network, folder, sub folder, etc. everytime. Kind of a newbie so any ideas?


Jonathan

Jonathan, in your .xml file in the node right below <video> there's a setting where you can specify the default (by name given to a share below). When you hit My Videos, it will go directly to that share (you can back up to the others if you want).

That way, let's say your videos are in smb://mediaserver/videos/dvds you can have it go there first.

If anything, I'm guessing the xbox's built in hard drive may be limited to 4.7gb file sizes.

FATX is the file system, like FAT32 it is limited to 4.0 GIGs max file size. But it supports long file names.

Does this impact the max file size that can be read from a SMB share?
I was playing a movie for my kids yesterday and it kept freezing at the same point in the movie. I'm using the 12-5 TC3H build right now.

AFAIK.. No.

I stream vobs 7gigs & greater regularly.

The syntax ended up taking a while to get exactly right, but I changed the .xml to be the following:

<name>My Music Shortcut</name>
<path>smb://MSHOME;administrator:@192.168.0.xxx/My Music/</path>

Where MSHOME is the workgroup, administrator is the login name, no password, and IP address it found when I did the search before, then name of drive.

Jonathan, in your .xml file in the node right below <video> there's a setting where you can specify the default (by name given to a share below). When you hit My Videos, it will go directly to that share (you can back up to the others if you want).

That way, let's say your videos are in smb://mediaserver/videos/dvds you can have it go there first.



Goofygrin & Forum

Just got the unit on Saturday, first modded Xbox, actually first xbox, so still trying to learn everything, navigate, etc. Do any of you have it setup w/ a harmony remote?? Haven't figured out to updated future relases of XBMC yet if the need comes, but the mod installer did provide some info I'll look through later. I know I need a ftp client in order to edit the .xml file. Going to check it out later tonight and change that file. If I want to edit that file, I should be able to access it somehow from my laptop, which is connected to a dlink wireless router that then is connected to both the net,xbox and my maxtor shared network drive, right??

Oh a couple of question for everyone. What's the quickest and most reliable dvd ripping programs? Been using dvd fab & anydvd, any other suggestions? Also, what the fastway to transfer these .iso's to my network drive. Last night I ripped the vobs, made it into a iso on my laptop. Then from the laptop had it hardwired to the dlink router, that then was connected to the Maxtor drive. It still took about 20 to 25 minutes to transfer a 7 gig file. Doing it wirelessly I assume would be even slower. Is there a quicker method for this? Should I connect directly to the drive ( http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.ba88f6d7cf664718376049b291346068/?channelpath=/en_us/Products/Network%20Storage/Maxtor%20Shared%20Storage%20Family/Maxtor%20Shared%20Storage%20Plus&productview=Features).

Thanks.


Jonathan

You asked lots of questions... lemme see if I can answer them for you...

Goofygrin & Forum

Just got the unit on Saturday, first modded Xbox, actually first xbox, so still trying to learn everything, navigate, etc. Do any of you have it setup w/ a harmony remote??

Not yet, but I'll be using my 520 here soon. You have to have the dvd remote kit to get the ir receiver though. I think that the Harmony has the xbox dvd player in it...


Haven't figured out to updated future relases of XBMC yet if the need comes, but the mod installer did provide some info I'll look through later.

You'll need an ftp client to ftp over the new files (to your e:\apps\xbmc directory on the xbox -- probably)


I know I need a ftp client in order to edit the .xml file. Going to check it out later tonight and change that file. If I want to edit that file, I should be able to access it somehow from my laptop, which is connected to a dlink wireless router that then is connected to both the net,xbox and my maxtor shared network drive, right??

Yes. You need to find out what your xbox's ip address is (it's in the network settings probably). Then open your ftp client (flash fxp, cuteftp, wsftp, etc.) and connect to that ip using the login/password xbox. You should connect and see a lot of drives on the xbox (c - boot, d - dvd, e - programs, etc.).

Oh a couple of question for everyone. What's the quickest and most reliable dvd ripping programs? Been using dvd fab & anydvd, any other suggestions?

I use dvd shrink, except for Sony dvds I use dvddecryptor. I'm ripping to ISO files so that my navigation is easier (I don't have to hunt for a vob file), just select the movie and hit the play button.


Also, what the fastway to transfer these .iso's to my network drive. Last night I ripped the vobs, made it into a iso on my laptop. Then from the laptop had it hardwired to the dlink router, that then was connected to the Maxtor drive. It still took about 20 to 25 minutes to transfer a 7 gig file. Doing it wirelessly I assume would be even slower. Is there a quicker method for this? Should I connect directly to the drive ( http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.ba88f6d7cf664718376049b291346068/?channelpath=/en_us/Products/Network%20Storage/Maxtor%20Shared%20Storage%20Family/Maxtor%20Shared%20Storage%20Plus&productview=Features).

Thanks.


Jonathan

This is where it sucks. I've read on here where someone had problems when they ripped directly to the netowrk storage... but moving large files takes a long time... even copying a 8 gig file from one drive to the other on one of my systems takes 4-5 minutes (slow drives). I'd say that xfering that large file over your wired network in 20 minutes is about right... If you can connect the maxtor drive direct to your computer via usb (I didn't look), you might try that... but there's no guarantee that that's faster...

Do any of you have it setup w/ a harmony remote??
Jonathan

Yes. Harmony 768s One for HT, one for bedroom. No major issues.

Just add the xbox to you system on the web front end. & start mapping buttons as you see fit. Most if not all of the xbox remote codes are in there & correctly named. I recall having to teach the harmony the 'Display' button. YMMV.

I've read on here where someone had problems when they ripped directly to the netowrk storage...

Your's truely.

Ripping main movie VOBs straight to an Infrant ReadyNAS, AND using latest builds of XMBC results in VOBs that play fine, but D-Pad NAV is broken. And bookmarks save but unit locks up when you attempt to go to book mark.

Ripping to NTFS volume first & then copying over seems to have no issues.

Transfering DVD images over the network can be faster if you use gigabit ethernet, otherwise, you're limited to 100mbps over most networks which explains the transfer times. Transfering over USB2 is much faster since it maximum transfer rate is 480mbps (closer to 400 really). Transfering over usb1 would take forever (10mbps).

My mod chip arrived today. Hopefully I can get my buddy to help me solder yet this week.

I'm a little concerned about this "ripping to network storage" problem as that was basically what I was planning to do. Bother!

I have to wash mine through VideoRedo because some of the newer DVDs have bad frames that trip up my Buffalo. No idea if XBMC suffers from this issue. But I have VideoRedo put the final output in its correct place on the network.

Has anyone else seen VOB playback frozen at the same place in a movie? Since it's the same place, it can't be a random lock-up, but something about that VOB that XBMC doesn't like.

You asked lots of questions... lemme see if I can answer them for you...


Not yet, but I'll be using my 520 here soon. You have to have the dvd remote kit to get the ir receiver though. I think that the Harmony has the xbox dvd player in it...


You'll need an ftp client to ftp over the new files (to your e:\apps\xbmc directory on the xbox -- probably)


Yes. You need to find out what your xbox's ip address is (it's in the network settings probably). Then open your ftp client (flash fxp, cuteftp, wsftp, etc.) and connect to that ip using the login/password xbox. You should connect and see a lot of drives on the xbox (c - boot, d - dvd, e - programs, etc.).

I use dvd shrink, except for Sony dvds I use dvddecryptor. I'm ripping to ISO files so that my navigation is easier (I don't have to hunt for a vob file), just select the movie and hit the play button.



This is where it sucks. I've read on here where someone had problems when they ripped directly to the netowrk storage... but moving large files takes a long time... even copying a 8 gig file from one drive to the other on one of my systems takes 4-5 minutes (slow drives). I'd say that xfering that large file over your wired network in 20 minutes is about right... If you can connect the maxtor drive direct to your computer via usb (I didn't look), you might try that... but there's no guarantee that that's faster...

Thanks Goofygrin:


Yes I have the dvd kit, going add the IR function to my 520 tonight. The mod installer said there supposed to be an IR on/off device coming out next month. Adding that would be nice, instead of having to turn the box off and on all the time. I'll practice working w/ the ftp programs. By the way what are your iso averaging in size? Are you retaining the menus and everything, just the movie, or extracting out all the spanish,french audios, annoying trailers, advertising, etc from your iso's? Used Clonedvd from slysoft......to remove what you don't want, VERY EASY and straight forward. Worked pretty good so far, I'll try a sony disc later. Whats everyone else using?

Going to check w/ maxtor see if there's a way to connect via usb2 to my laptop usb2 port. The back of the Maxtor unit though only has a ethernet port, and (2) usb2 (INPUTS), not an output (printer example)....."sorry if I have the terms wrong". Not sure if they make a cord for matching a laptop USB2 (IN) to a external drive (IN).


Jonathan

Thanks Goofygrin:

Going to check w/ maxtor see if there's a way to connect via usb2 to my laptop usb2 port. The back of the Maxtor unit though only has a ethernet port, and (2) usb2 (INPUTS), not an output (printer example)....."sorry if I have the terms wrong". Not sure if they make a cord for matching a laptop USB2 (IN) to a external drive (IN).


Jonathan

Usb is usb... it's a 2 way street... just wire that biznotch in :D


I tend to just rip the whole thing... all the extras are not that much (maybe a couple hundred megs)... (it's easier to just stick the disk in and say "go."

Using DVDshrink you can reauthor the dvd as well... You might check it out...

I have to wash mine through VideoRedo because some of the newer DVDs have bad frames that trip up my Buffalo. No idea if XBMC suffers from this issue. But I have VideoRedo put the final output in its correct place on the network.

Has anyone else seen VOB playback frozen at the same place in a movie? Since it's the same place, it can't be a random lock-up, but something about that VOB that XBMC doesn't like.

What's a movie with this problem?

Usb is usb... it's a 2 way street... just wire that biznotch in :D


I tend to just rip the whole thing... all the extras are not that much (maybe a couple hundred megs)... (it's easier to just stick the disk in and say "go."

Using DVDshrink you can reauthor the dvd as well... You might check it out...

Where can you find that CORD at Goofygrin, the most common one is the one they sell everywhere, the printer type. You can find that one everywhere, at Radio shack, BB, etc. Don't think I've seen the other type. Is there a specific name for it? So say you had (2) Desktops next to each other both w/ front panel usb2 ports, you could connect to each port and transfer files??


Jonathan

It's called a USB type a to type a cable...

looking at the specs for that drive, you can't use it usb connected... only network... sorry.

DU-OH! I know you can connect external devices to it, printer, other external drives, hmmmm. Oh well. Thanks anyway Goofygrin.

Hey been using the Anydvd & Clonedvd,( http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html) they're both 22 day trial programs. You need both. Working great so far, even on Sony dvds. On my desktop ripping and creating an iso at the same time is taking about 10 to 12 minutes. Pretty quick.

Jonathan

Goof,
Star Wars and Matrix both had the issue on the BLT.
Loot

I too would be interested in your app Ja Phule.

So far I haven't had an issue playing files over 6 gigs. I store my movies as VOB's.

Once I highlight the movie I want to watch, I use the white button on the Xbox controller to bring up the menu and just select PLAY.

I do rip my movies without the menus and extras. If I'm not mistaken at this moment XBMC doesn't support DVD menus navigation (correct me if I'm wrong).

I'm on CVS_2006-01-29-T3CH.

Paul, using the same build, I navigate menus with .iso files

loot, on Matrix, where does it hang? I'll rip it and try it... (haven't gotten to it yet)

Edit: I'm on a slightly older build (about a week older, my reading comprehension skills ain't so good these days :D)

My mod chip arrived today. Hopefully I can get my buddy to help me solder yet this week.

I'm a little concerned about this "ripping to network storage" problem as that was basically what I was planning to do. Bother!

Well, the Xecuter with X3 control panel is all installed now. I also modded a knock-off HD pack to output co-ax digital audio using these instructions (http://wrongcrowd.com/xboxspdif/). That will help me run digital audio through the existing cables in my wall to my A/V closet. Hope it works - haven't tested yet!

Anyway, XBMC will, with any luck, be D/L'd to my machine when I get home. Then the fun will truly begin. :)

I'm a little concerned about this "ripping to network storage" problem as that was basically what I was planning to do. Bother!

YMMV, I ripped to a ReadyNAS, which is a Terabyte RAID 5 array. As such, it has a proprietary file system. Its not NTFS, not FAT32. And I *guess* there is something about it that newer builds do not like. Then again perhaps it's a problem with DVDDecrypter and the increased latency of writing to a netwroked drive (although it shuld be faster than my old DVD drive can rip).

Whatever it is, XBMC has a problem with it. 'cuz I can use VLC to nav just fine.

Goof,
The hang in Matrix was something that VideoRedo fixed and only effected the BLT. I never tried the unfiltered DVD Decryptor output on the Xbox. I'll see if I can, but I bet XBMC has better playback code so it ignored this. I never saw the issue on my laptop or playing the disc itself, just the raw VOB rip on the BLT. Here's a link to the thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6780972&highlight=VideoRedo+quickstream+fix#post6780972

The movie that hung, well, you won't have it unless you have kids. Lion King 1.5 hangs about 45 minutes in.
I'll try the 1-29 build.
Loot

Paul, using the same build, I navigate menus with .iso files

loot, on Matrix, where does it hang? I'll rip it and try it... (haven't gotten to it yet)

Are you using just the xbox controller or a remote control?

What's a movie with this problem?

You might be running into the effects of sony's arccos (not arc-cosine). Google it. Madagascar and Toy Story 2 are two titles confirmed to have arccos (in addition to CSS).

You might be running into the effects of sony's arccos (not arc-cosine). Google it. Madagascar and Toy Story 2 are two titles confirmed to have arccos (in addition to CSS).

Both of these titles have reportedly been ripped. Not quite as easy as normal, but doable with some basic online instruction.

By the way...how do you guys name your longer movie titles when you rip them?

Example:

SAVING_PRIVATE_RYAN.iso or SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.iso?

**Nevermind...just checked and saw that it inputs the underscore for you.

Hey all:

Has anyone been able to use they're exact Itunes playlist within XBMC? Any info on how to do this? Transfered all the music file to the SMB network last night. Still trying to figure it out. Any problems?


Jonathan

Both of these titles have reportedly been ripped. Not quite as easy as normal, but doable with some basic online instruction.
Yes, so I've heard :rolleyes: but some people :rolleyes: were successfully ripping these just with dvd decrypter with warnings (in the log) and then were getting mysterious playback issues (audio-video not sync by many seconds, etc.). Until they :rolleyes: performed the extra steps using additional software, were the rips finally smooth.

I was reading on one of the sites out there that you can't softmod the newer generation of xbox consoles (NOT 360). Is this true?

I was going to pick up a new xbox (classic?) and softmod it myself, but if that's not possible, i'll head to e-bay!




Anyone? Anyone?

Thanks!

Anyone? Anyone?

Thanks!

According to xbox-scene it works no problem... no first hand experience with it though...

Depends on which softmod you use - some of them work on any xbox though......go ahead and get xbmc you wont look back !!!

ok, so which softmod do i need? Sorry, i'm new to xbmc... sounds (& looks) promising... and with the price of xbox originals, it's worth trying!

Jeff

DCypher,

I soft-modded an xbox recently, installed XBMC and it literally blows all the other media players I've tried out of the water. The one thing it *doesn't* do well is High Definition - the xbox 1 just isn't powerful enough to play these reliably. But softmodding is cheap and relatively easy now if most of your video needs are standard definition. I even got brave enough to upgrade the hard drive in my xbox to a cheap 120 GB just this past weekend! I had never opened up the box before this.

I used Krayzie's NDure installer to apply the softmod. I cannot post a link to it here because I think it might violate forum rules, but if you search, you'll be able to find it. A new version of the installer just came out a few days ago. It is VERY noob-friendly and guides you through the whole process of the softmod. If you go to www.xbox-scene.com, you'll see a lot of discussion about it in the forums.

In addition to the installer, I needed a copy of the original version of MechAssault (which I got used from a local Gamestop) and an Action Replay MAX gave saves/memory card pack.

Once you've softmodded the box, you'll want to establish network connectivity between the xbox and your PC so you can FTP apps/files to the xbox. One of the first apps you'll want to put there is none other than XBMC.

READ, READ, READ! There is a lot of information out there and many guides that will help you set up FTP, XBMC, and network shares so you can use SMB to stream videos, pictures, and music to your xbox. There is a wiki on the XBMC site that serves as a manual, and you can get a lot more information from other sites like xbox-scene. I am learning every day and still consider myself a noob. I won't tell you that it's incredibly easy to set up, but I will tell you that the effort is absolutely worth it. If you don't have patience, or don't like to tinker a bit, XBMC is likely not for you, or you may want to ask a friend to set it up for you.

XBMC has many features and it is being updated almost daily. Take the time to read the documentation, because it is very customizable and you have a lot of power to tweak it as you like. You can install scripts contributed by the community that can stream video and music from over the web, read RSS feeds, and much, much more.

Finally, as wonderful as XBMC is, don't forget that another very popular use for a modded xbox is to run emulators for other game systems, many of which are no longer in production, like the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. The MAME arcade emulator is available for the xbox as well. Depending on your age, it might take you back to warm and fuzzy memories of your childhood. :)

Julie

Wow! Julie, thanks for the info!

I actually am looking for something to play my hi-def MPEG files (recorded with SageTV - OTA HD feeds).

What's going to happen when i try to play these back? Skipping?
I take it there's a way to downconvert these - what's the maximum bitrate that the xbox can handle?

Thanks!

Unfortunately, the original xbox just doesn't play high definition files well. I have gotten a (very) few high def files to play, and if you search around there are a few people who claim to have the perfect encoding settings to get HD files to play on XBMC, but in my experience it generally doesn't work. You'll get lots of maddening stuttering, freezing, and skipping.

You can always re-encode to DVD resolution, but that sort of defeats the purpose of getting one of these devices - so you can enjoy your videos as they are without having to re-encode. Especially when we are talking about high-definition video goodness.

While XBMC can't be beat for standard def, don't depend on it for high def.

If HD is very important to you (and it sounds like it is), you may want to consider another device. There are huge threads in the DVD section of this forum devoted to the IO Data LinkPlayer, the Snazio Net Cinema HD, the Zensonic Z500 and the Buffalo LinkTheater that all will play high definition files with varying degrees of competence if you want something that can play DVDs in addition to media files. Lots of people in this section are anticipating devices like the TVix and the Pixelmagic device that will do HD files.

The Xbox360 won't be hacked for quite a while. It will only stream video from a Media Center 2005 PC, and even then the codecs allowed are limited to MPEG1, MPEG2, and WMV. No DivX, XViD, or mp4 variants can be played. It can do high definition, but unless you really want the 360 as a game console in addition to streaming I'd choose something else that plays more types of files.

Julie

The xbox will play 720p TS it does drops frames but the clips I've tested are watchable. Divx HD plays better at 720p, dropped a few frames only during fast scenes. It also depends on bitrate, and I hear 6000kbps is playable by the xbox.

There's a link on videohelp.com for the divxtest cd that contains a variety of video samples for many video and audio files. It's a good test for compatibility.

The xbox will play 720p TS it does drops frames but the clips I've tested are watchable. Divx HD plays better at 720p, dropped a few frames only during fast scenes. It also depends on bitrate, and I hear 6000kbps is playable by the xbox.

I just realized that technically my home movies are all in HD (720p). Watching home movies conveniently was a major part of the WAF in building a NAS and an Xbox client. So I may just have to do the tweaking. I can watch the home movies, but they are just choppy enough to make me think a headache could ensue.

So if I tweak numerous video settings will I be able to retain them through the inevitable XBMC upgrades?

I just attempted to watch a DVD on my XBMC system and I'm fed up. I cannot get through a full movie without it freezing, skipping video, skipping audio, becoming choppy, etc etc. What the heck is wrong? I've updated to the latest XBMC and cannot get rid of this problem. I LOVE XBMC but cannot deal with its video portion anymore. I'm tired of getting halfway through a movie and having to mess with it for half an hour to get it to play the rest!!!

I just attempted to watch a DVD on my XBMC system and I'm fed up. I cannot get through a full movie without it freezing, skipping video, skipping audio, becoming choppy, etc etc. What the heck is wrong? I've updated to the latest XBMC and cannot get rid of this problem. I LOVE XBMC but cannot deal with its video portion anymore. I'm tired of getting halfway through a movie and having to mess with it for half an hour to get it to play the rest!!!

Original DVD or Copy?
Softmod or chip mod?
What softmod or chip mod did you do?

Original DVD on the disc, though I've had similar results using a ripped one on the network or locally on the XBox. Softmod - UDE2 with an updated bios for the loader to allow for my 250GB hard drive to be installed into the xbox.

Original DVD on the disc, though I've had similar results using a ripped one on the network or locally on the XBox. Softmod - UDE2 with an updated bios for the loader to allow for my 250GB hard drive to be installed into the xbox.

Did you check your caching settings? Could they be too low?

I turned all my cache settings down to 0 recently to try to fix the problem. ;) It was suggested on the XBMC support forums. Evidently the choppy behavior on the new built-in DVD player is a known bug that is not fixed yet... so I supposed I'm out of luck for now. Maybe I'll bring my cache settings back up again and see if that works for DVD playback.

I turned all my cache settings down to 0 recently to try to fix the problem. ;) It was suggested on the XBMC support forums. Evidently the choppy behavior on the new built-in DVD player is a known bug that is not fixed yet... so I supposed I'm out of luck for now. Maybe I'll bring my cache settings back up again and see if that works for DVD playback.

Or you could grab an old build.

Hey everyone:

Since most of us are HT enthusiasts, what are some of your setting as far as Video settings, output and resolution for playing back dvd .iso's and .vob's in XBMC? Still trying to get the picture right. Still seems alil grainy or soft on a few of the dvd's I've transfered to my SMB. Do you let the display upconvert or the xbox?

I have a Jvc hd-52g786, motorola Moxi, and Panny S-77, so maybe I'm expecting too much from the Xbox output. It almost seems XBMC has too many settings, lol. Interlaced, post processing, filters, gamma etc. I've setup DVE already on my regular player. What are some of the defaults you guys are using.

By the way if you have XBMC from a build around 01/24/06........your not going crazy, the IMDB script has a problem w/ it. I was pulling my hair out a couple days trying to get the images. http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=484714

And what settings should we have the cache at? You have a link on this thericky?

Thanks all.

Jonathan

I ran DVE with XBMC and arrived at 54 brightness and 49 contrast. I turn on deinterlace when watching dvds. None for everything else.

When I'm playing My Music off of the network, it first lets me pick the genre to display. After I pick the genre, I no longer can change the genre without rebooting. Am I missing something? Is it possible to get back to the genre selection w/o rebooting?

I ran DVE with XBMC and arrived at 54 brightness and 49 contrast. I turn on deinterlace when watching dvds. None for everything else.

Thanks Ja Phule:

Do you have the resolution at automatic, 1080i or 720p? Did you mess w/ that gamma setting? Was the xbox ouput close to your stand alone player in quality?

By the way saw your post on xbox scene, they might not be interested your lil program, but we are. Keep us posted.

Jonathan

XBMC does not compare to my Oppo dvd player. I use the xbox for casual viewing of dvd and networked media. I use my Oppo for most dvds. XBMC's deinterlacing and scaling is not very good compared to the Oppo. Even with deinterlacing on, I see some interlacing in some of the dvds I've tested.

I'm only running XBMC at 480p right now, for some reason, I can't get 720p to show up correctly (which is probably a problem with my cheap scaler I'm feeding it into). I didn't touch gamma. My 4805 is only 854x480 native res so this isn't a big deal but I would like to get it to 720p eventually.

I must add, I'm using a 3rd party hdtv component adapter with the xbox, and its not that great, my scaler helps improve the connection to my surprise. I'm using the 3rd party adapter because it lets me easily switch between component and svideo/composite (it will only output one at a time) with a simple switch. This is so I can run the xbox to either my projector or my regular sdtv display.

If HD is very important to you (and it sounds like it is), you may want to consider another device. There are huge threads in the DVD section of this forum devoted to the IO Data LinkPlayer, the Snazio Net Cinema HD, the Zensonic Z500 and the Buffalo LinkTheater that all will play high definition files with varying degrees of competence if you want something that can play DVDs in addition to media files. Lots of people in this section are anticipating devices like the TVix and the Pixelmagic device that will do HD files.

Julie

Yeah, i've looked at those players quite a bit, and actually purchased the buffalo LT, but quickly returned it b/c it really didn't work well for me (had sync problems with my panny HDTV) - also, i didn't care much for the interface, but perhaps Wizd could fix that.... all of these content streamers look good on paper, but reality is a completely different story - lots of promise, but never quite living up to their potential (sounds like me in high school! lol!)

Anyway, I'm actually leaning towards just building an inexpensive SFF PC, putting the sage client on it and using that. SageTV w/ MCE16x9 interface is pretty sweet looking - and it will stream anything you want... I was just trying to avoid the price tag of purchasing a PC if xbox could do it for $100! Guess not!

Thanks for all your input - it's very much appreciated.

Jeff

XBMC does not compare to my Oppo dvd player. I use the xbox for casual viewing of dvd and networked media. I use my Oppo for most dvds. XBMC's deinterlacing and scaling is not very good compared to the Oppo. Even with deinterlacing on, I see some interlacing in some of the dvds I've tested.

I'm only running XBMC at 480p right now, for some reason, I can't get 720p to show up correctly (which is probably a problem with my cheap scaler I'm feeding it into). I didn't touch gamma. My 4805 is only 854x480 native res so this isn't a big deal but I would like to get it to 720p eventually.

I must add, I'm using a 3rd party hdtv component adapter with the xbox, and its not that great, my scaler helps improve the connection to my surprise. I'm using the 3rd party adapter because it lets me easily switch between component and svideo/composite (it will only output one at a time) with a simple switch. This is so I can run the xbox to either my projector or my regular sdtv display.


JaPhule,

That is really interesting about running 720P on the Xbox through the 4805. I have had problems at time running 720P also but no problem running 1080i. I am running my Xbox, 360, and HD Cable through a Radio Shack Component adapter. I don't know if that is the problem. It is a great adapter.

I know you have a HTPC, why are you using an OPPO? Is the PQ that much noticeable or difference? I am considering get one but trying to justify the fact of buying one when I think I get this our of my HTPC. I know many people buy a stand alone also but I just wanted to hear your reasons for buying it.

I have been using XBMC since it came out. Great interface. Anyone considering should just get it especially since you can get an used Xbox dirt cheap. I wish they were able to do Live TV through it. That would have made it ELITE. Hopefully they will figure out how to adapt it to the 360 and that will be bliss. I may get several for extenders for different rooms in the house. I may never leave home. LOL!

JaPhule,

That is really interesting about running 720P on the Xbox through the 4805. I have had problems at time running 720P also but no problem running 1080i. I am running my Xbox, 360, and HD Cable through a Radio Shack Component adapter. I don't know if that is the problem. It is a great adapter.

I know you have a HTPC, why are you using an OPPO? Is the PQ that much noticeable or difference? I am considering get one but trying to justify the fact of buying one when I think I get this our of my HTPC. I know many people buy a stand alone also but I just wanted to hear your reasons for buying it.

I have been using XBMC since it came out. Great interface. Anyone considering should just get it especially since you can get an used Xbox dirt cheap. I wish they were able to do Live TV through it. That would have made it ELITE. Hopefully they will figure out how to adapt it to the 360 and that will be bliss. I may get several for extenders for different rooms in the house. I may never leave home. LOL!

I've fiddled with pixel mapping on the 4805 with my regular pc as a test, I never really put together a real HTPC (not yet at least). The Oppo is my main player for the time being. The picture quality is pretty good, though it probably isn't as good as a well tweaked htpc, but its a great unit for $200. I got it because it is region free, plays divx, and plays my backups well.

Sorry to change topics, but I have a quick XBMC question that I want to get in front of the experts here. I just got XBMC up and running and its playing MP3s, ISOs, and AVIs like a champ and I'm absolutely loving it. The only problem I'm having is with the IMDB info that it pulls. It'll pull all the correct movie info, plot summary, cast, etc but the cover never shows up. Does anyone have any ideas of how to fix this?

Thanks for your help!
Justin

I believe IMDB changed their website slightly so IMDB covers are not working right now.

Supposedly the latest build fixes the imdb thing...

The T3CH 1-29-06 build resolves the issue with IMDB images. It can be found in the usual places.

I appreciate the help guys. I'm downloading the new version as I type this.

Thanks!
Justin

Hey all:

Is there a way in XBMC to re-arrange the main menus? In other words have it it list (1) My Music, (2) My Videos, (3) My pictures, ..etc.......having programs show up last? Would this be in the xml file?

Also, anyone using Itunes and XBMC together. I have the entire library on a SMB. When I rip or download off my laptop it automatically saves in the SMB library. But still having trouble getting the playlist to even show up laptop. Would like to be able to select My music in the main menu then automatically show all my itunes playlists.

Also what are the lastest skins that will work w/ the 01/29/06 build, tried a few but seems like PMIII & 360 french are the only ones. Anyone replace the startup .wav or navigations sounds? Thanks for any help.

Jonathan

Yeah, you can change the menu order in the xml. The XBMC online manual has instructions on how to do that. Not sure about itunes, I don't use it. I haven't upgraded to the new build yet, but I need to.

Question. I was playing music through XBMC today. I have a digital audio connection, but the music I was playing was simply stereo. However, it was processed into some sort of surround mode (DPLII?) - the bulk of the music was coming out of my center channel. I selected the audio option of sending stereo to all speakers, but that was worse as the rears started pumping out full level audio.

Any thoughts on set-up?

I just changed pre-amps and I noticed my new preamp sometimes does the same thing. Try manually selecting 2 channel stereo mode on your preamp/receiver. That works for me. This is with a mondial ACT-3 preamp. My old marantz preamp always seem to sense the switching of formats from 2 ch PCM to DPL II to Dolby Digital. Also make sure you have the passtrough dolby and DTS (if applicable checked in the Audio Setup on XBMC). MY el cheapo receiver onkyo seems to always detect correctly also....

Sean

Hey all:

Is there a way in XBMC to re-arrange the main menus? In other words have it it list (1) My Music, (2) My Videos, (3) My pictures, ..etc.......having programs show up last? Would this be in the xml file?

Also, anyone using Itunes and XBMC together. I have the entire library on a SMB. When I rip or download off my laptop it automatically saves in the SMB library. But still having trouble getting the playlist to even show up laptop. Would like to be able to select My music in the main menu then automatically show all my itunes playlists.

Also what are the lastest skins that will work w/ the 01/29/06 build, tried a few but seems like PMIII & 360 french are the only ones. Anyone replace the startup .wav or navigations sounds? Thanks for any help.

Jonathan

There are two ways to access itunes.

1. via SMB share that you mentioned.
2. You can also turn on the Itunes server on a PC/MAC running itunes and XBMC can talk the native itunes protocol. I know I can access play lists that way.

I don't use itunes but have played around with it. I never tried playing playlists via option 1 but 2 seemed to work fine.

Hey guys, I just upgraded to the T3CH 1-29-06 version and it did fix my thumbnail problem on videos. However, it seems to be hanging whenever I load a picture up now. Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks!
Justin

Just FYI, I went back to the T3CH 1-24-06 version and then replaced the htmlscraper.dll with the one from T3CH 1-29-06 and both pictures and thumbnails are working fine. Just out of curiousity, did anyone else have problems with the 1-29-06 version?

Thanks,
Justin

If you enter your Xbox'es IP address in the address bar of your web browser you can connect and modify the menu items.

I just changed pre-amps and I noticed my new preamp sometimes does the same thing. Try manually selecting 2 channel stereo mode on your preamp/receiver. That works for me. This is with a mondial ACT-3 preamp. My old marantz preamp always seem to sense the switching of formats from 2 ch PCM to DPL II to Dolby Digital. Also make sure you have the passtrough dolby and DTS (if applicable checked in the Audio Setup on XBMC). MY el cheapo receiver onkyo seems to always detect correctly also....

Thanks, Sean. I am able to get a good 2-channel sound this way. Fairly annoying so hopefully my receiver somehow "learns" how to switch correctly. :)

I just realized that technically my home movies are all in HD (720p). Watching home movies conveniently was a major part of the WAF in building a NAS and an Xbox client. So I may just have to do the tweaking. I can watch the home movies, but they are just choppy enough to make me think a headache could ensue.

So if I tweak numerous video settings will I be able to retain them through the inevitable XBMC upgrades?

Anyone have recommendations about settings that allowed successful viewing of HD home movies? Mine are recorded with a Sony HD camera - not sure of the model - just a a "typical" camera.

Anyway, I'd sure like to avoid transcoding videos and edited video to something more watchable. Just a "drag and drop" solution sure would be nice.

Thanks!

Just FYI, I went back to the T3CH 1-24-06 version and then replaced the htmlscraper.dll with the one from T3CH 1-29-06 and both pictures and thumbnails are working fine. Just out of curiousity, did anyone else have problems with the 1-29-06 version?

I seem to have a lot more crashes than necessary. 1-29-06 is the first version I have experience with, though. I can view pictures and run random slideshows and such.

However, if I just want to quickly flip through the pictures in one of my albums, well, it's not possible because it takes about 5 seconds to load each picture. I'd say the pictures are about 1MB and are stored on a NAS. The network transfer should take a max of about 160 milliseconds and possibly be as fast as 80 milliseconds, so I suspect it either has something to do with an Xbox hardware limitation or an XBMC issue.

Was picture browsing quicker in past builds?

Though XBMC can playback HD files, it's playback is still limited, so if this is an important feature, I'd want to look into other options (or wait for better options). There is a group who are selling modified xbox's with a faster processor and more ram, I'm guessing HD playback may work better but that's something you can look into.

There are a few drag and drop programs that would convert files for you like dr divx and videora, maybe give those a try at different and settings and see how they turn out.

Great thread, lots of info.
I'm running the Oct build of XBMC - guess I'd better update mine to 1-24-6. I have just started my setup of the XBMC xml file.
My question concerns the DVD Image/CD Image that is displayed on the XBMC. Is the info downloaded from IMDB into a file on the Xbox? I have put CD images labeled "folder" in the CD album directory, but they do not show up on XBMC. Nor does XBMC retain the artist/album info after I retrieved it. Soooo I'm feeling inept here -- any clues?

Though XBMC can playback HD files, it's playback is still limited, so if this is an important feature, I'd want to look into other options (or wait for better options). There is a group who are selling modified xbox's with a faster processor and more ram, I'm guessing HD playback may work better but that's something you can look into.

There are a few drag and drop programs that would convert files for you like dr divx and videora, maybe give those a try at different and settings and see how they turn out.

That's unfortunate. I realized that HD was not a possibility with this configuration but I failed to realize that, duh, my home movie content is in HD. It will be inconvenient, but I think the only way for me to do this will be to store:

a) a full copy of the original video content and edited videos. This serves as a backup to my tapes and also a source of editing.
b) a transcoded copy of original video content and edited videos. This serves as a point to view the content via Xbox/XBMC. Ideally, this process of transcoding would double as a transcoding process to enable video content (home movies and other content) to my Archos Multimedia.

Thanks for the software advice!

Great thread, lots of info.
I'm running the Oct build of XBMC - guess I'd better update mine to 1-24-6. I have just started my setup of the XBMC xml file.
My question concerns the DVD Image/CD Image that is displayed on the XBMC. Is the info downloaded from IMDB into a file on the Xbox? I have put CD images labeled "folder" in the CD album directory, but they do not show up on XBMC. Nor does XBMC retain the artist/album info after I retrieved it. Soooo I'm feeling inept here -- any clues?

I haven't tested a ton, but I think I'm seeing a similar situation with lack of retention WRT artist/album info. I believe my "folder.jpg" files are showing up in XBMC, however.

By Ja Phule: "Thanks. I'm working on fixing up the program so that other people can use it easily. Right now it just takes the movie title and cover from dvd profiler and it will get the movie info from IMDB. I will post it up here whenever it is ready."

Is it ready yet? Thanks

By Ja Phule: "Thanks. I'm working on fixing up the program so that other people can use it easily. Right now it just takes the movie title and cover from dvd profiler and it will get the movie info from IMDB. I will post it up here whenever it is ready."

Is it ready yet? Thanks

Almost. :)

I'm gonna put a website up for it and will update here as soon as it's ready.

Does anyone want the bash script that I've been using to rip dvds? (not transcode them, just a straight iso rip).

Also, I'm using abcde and lame to rip my audio cds... It's pretty simple.

Does anyone want the bash script that I've been using to rip dvds? (not transcode them, just a straight iso rip).

Also, I'm using abcde and lame to rip my audio cds... It's pretty simple.

Sure. Mine's something like:

#! /bin/bash
movieName=$1
targetDrive=$2

# Should probably ping $targetDrive before beginning
dvdbackup -i /dev/dvd -o ~/riptemp/ -n $movieName -F
mkisofs -dvd-video -o /mnt/mediawrite/$targetDrive/movies/$movieName.iso ~/riptemp/$movieName
rm -rf ~/riptemp/$movieName

Still debugging, though. Mine is used to create ISO's. Two input parameters, one for the name of the final iso (minus the "iso") and one for the target hard drive on my NAS (e.g. hda4, hdd1, etc). As it is above it creates just the feature and chooses 16x9 over 4x3 if both exist on the disc.

I think my "issues" have to do with testing on my limited-space laptop and filling the thing up. If not, then there are issues with creating an ISO with mkisofs from feature-only VOB's created by dvdbackup. Anyway, I just need to get time to square it away - but currently I'm more focussed on a script for my NAS symlink farm.

I'll need to find an audio option for ripping to FLAC later. I like grip, but bash scripts are so convenient.

And then a script for transcoding those home movies...

Mine's a little more sophsticated... and I've got one for two disk dvd sets.

A couple things I'd recommend to you is put double quotes around your $movieName (and any paths that have it in there) because if the movie name has spaces you'll get issues. Also, if you screw up like me, you can end up passing no parameters and delete your boot partition with an rm -rf (doh!)

I'll post it when I get off the vpn (can't ssh into the server while vpned to work).

A couple things I'd recommend to you is put double quotes around your $movieName (and any paths that have it in there) because if the movie name has spaces you'll get issues. Also, if you screw up like me, you can end up passing no parameters and delete your boot partition with an rm -rf (doh!)


Good points. Although to pass in a movieName parameter with spaces, I would think it would need to come in with double quotes in the first place otherwise the parameter list would be parsed incorrectly. Unless, of course, the double quotes are pulled off when the variable is brought into the script.

With the remove, I should probably just throw a conditional around it.

Look forward to seeing your script.

Good points. Although to pass in a movieName parameter with spaces, I would think it would need to come in with double quotes in the first place otherwise the parameter list would be parsed incorrectly. Unless, of course, the double quotes are pulled off when the variable is brought into the script.


Yeah, your command line would looks something like:

./rip "The Fast and the Furious"

then in your script to make a directory would be (this is from my script):

mkdir "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1"

Of course, all the above aside since I'm working with Linux I'd prefer not to deal with spaces at all. But it's a good tip I'll implement to keep things a little more robust.

I use spaces, since in XBMC, the spaces look nicer... plus most of the clients are seeing the files over Samba and are newb's so spaces look nicer for them :D

Also, these are ripping the entire disk (-M) rather than just the title set...

I rip to ~/dvdbackup and then mkisofs to my raid, mounted in /mnt/raid. All my dvds are in /mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD in their own folder. I go back in later and add the folder.jpg for them to show up in xbmc.

Here's my rip script:

#!/bin/bash
if [ "$1" = "" ]
then
echo "DVD Name is required"
exit
fi
if [ "$2" != "" ]
then
echo "There are no 2nd parameters. Did you need to use quotes?"
exit
fi
cd dvdbackup
startdate=`date`
dvdbackup -M -i /dev/hdc -o ./ -n "$1"
# beep when dvdbackup is done
eject /dev/hdc
echo -e "\a"
echo $startdate
date
mkdir "$1/AUDIO_TS"
mkdir "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1"
mkisofs -quiet -dvd-video -V"$1" -o "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1/$1.iso" "$1/"
# make it so I can write over samba (for images)
chmod -R 777 "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1"
rm -rf "$1"
echo $startdate
date
echo -e "\a"


And my rip a 2 disk set:

#!/bin/bash
if [ "$1" = "" ]
then
echo "DVD Name is required"
exit
fi
if [ "$2" != "" ]
then
echo "There are no 2nd parameters. Did you need to use quotes?"
exit
fi
cd dvdbackup
startdate=`date`
dvdbackup -M -i /dev/hdc -o ./ -n "$1D1"
echo -e "\a"
echo $startdate
date
mkdir "$1D1/AUDIO_TS"
mkdir "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1"
mkdir "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1/Disk1"
mkisofs -quiet -dvd-video -V"$1D1" -o "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1/Disk1/$1D1.iso" "$1D1/"
date
echo "Please insert disk 2 and press enter"
eject /dev/hdc
read text
dvdbackup -M -i /dev/hdc -o ./ -n "$1D2"
echo -e "\a"
date
mkdir "$1D2/AUDIO_TS"
mkdir "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1/Disk2"
mkisofs -quiet -dvd-video -V"$1D2" -o "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1/Disk2/$1D2.iso" "$1D2/"
chmod -R 777 "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1"
rm -rf "$1D1"
rm -rf "$1D2"
echo $startdate
date
echo -e "\a"
eject /dev/hdc



I tried to get the return value from dvdbackup, but my shell scripting skills are weak... I've ripped 40+ disks using these scripts and have been pretty happy so far.

Edit: there was a bug in the scripts

Original Xbox - check
Modchip installed - check (Xecutor3)
BIOS updated - check
Evox Dashboard installed - check
X3 comes up OK - check
Can boot to MS Dash - check
Can boot to Evox Dash - check
Games still play OK - check

OK now I'm getting ready to tackle XBMC and have what may be a silly question or 2 (or 3)

1) Do I install XBMC as a dashboard and launch to it when I want to do vids, music, etc?
2) Is there a better way to do this and still be able to play games?
3) Does installing XBMC mess anything up relative to playing games?

Guidance is appreciated and yes I've been to XMBC and Xbox-scene websites. I'm having some trouble figuring the next step out.

thx,

You can load XBMC from your Evox dashboard if you want. You can also set it up to have XBMC be your main dashboard if you want. XBMC has a My Programs section, where you can load your games, emulators, and applications. Installing XBMC should not mess up your ability to play games.

You can load XBMC from your Evox dashboard if you want. You can also set it up to have XBMC be your main dashboard if you want. XBMC has a My Programs section, where you can load your games, emulators, and applications. Installing XBMC should not mess up your ability to play games.

Thanks Ja Phule.

If I make XBMC my main dashboard:

1) Most of my games are on DVD (did not put in a larger hard drive). Do I have a parameter to set them to autostart like with Evox in the evox.ini?

2) How about getting to the master settings of the modchip. Right now that's what comes up and then I boot to the other dashboard(s)

thx

Thanks Ja Phule.

If I make XBMC my main dashboard:

1) Most of my games are on DVD (did not put in a larger hard drive). Do I have a parameter to set them to autostart like with Evox in the evox.ini?

2) How about getting to the master settings of the modchip. Right now that's what comes up and then I boot to the other dashboard(s)

thx

1) Yes, I believe there's an option to set AutoStart settings in XBMC should you put a disc in. If you put a disc in as soon as you start up your xbox, I believe the mod chip will load the game first before any dashboard.

2) Basically, within XBMC, you can access any xbe (xbox executable file) within the My Programs menu (after setting it up correctly). When you turn on your xbox, the mod chip knows to load a certain xbe file first, which is usually your default dashboard. When you set XBMC to be your main dashboard, you're basically renaming the XBMC xbe file tot he file that your modchip loads up first so that it will load XBMC first. The XBMC manual goes into detail on how to make XBMC your default dash, but you should create a bootdisc (as recommended in the manual) with your original mod dash just in case something messes up.

Original Xbox - check
Modchip installed - check (Xecutor3)
BIOS updated - check
Evox Dashboard installed - check
X3 comes up OK - check
Can boot to MS Dash - check
Can boot to Evox Dash - check
Games still play OK - check

OK now I'm getting ready to tackle XBMC and have what may be a silly question or 2 (or 3)

1) Do I install XBMC as a dashboard and launch to it when I want to do vids, music, etc?
2) Is there a better way to do this and still be able to play games?
3) Does installing XBMC mess anything up relative to playing games?

Guidance is appreciated and yes I've been to XMBC and Xbox-scene websites. I'm having some trouble figuring the next step out.

thx,


I would recommend loading XBMC as a secondary app launched off you existing dashboard at first. Get familiar with it but once you do I have all my xboxx booting straight into XBMC. Make sure you have FTP enabled boot CD incase you mess something up. XBMC is great as a dash and with xlink-kai has some unique features for online gaming....

Good Luck,
Sean

Still Need some help setting up my 7,000 tracks on itunes (its library & playlists) via SMB on XBMC.

Ok I can access my music files easily but no playlists or library info. I usually go (in XBMC) to ..... My Music.....WORKGROUP (SMB) NETWORK ....RAIDERS....Public....Our Music....Itunes, then from there I see the 100's of folders of artists. Then open each to play thier albums. But I want to be able to access the Itunes library file.....took weeks to put together.

I have my all music files along w/ the itunes music library.xml file and itunes library database file located here on my SMB Network drive (comp is off) ...............

smb://RAIDERS/Public/Our Music/Itunes/

According to the XBMC itunes share you can use.......

<bookmark>
<name>iTunes Network Share (DAAP)</name>
<!-- only use an IP address here !-->
<path>daap://192.168.1.100</path>
</bookmark>

No how would I tell XBMC to look in my path? And read the playlists and library info stored there and use it as its main library and playlists? According to the DAAP your only supposed to use an IP address, enabling sharing getting the shared files off an IP comp.

Thanks for anyhelp.

Jonathan

Jonathan, I found this in the XBMC manual, maybe it would help:

daap://itunes.ip.address allows you to access iTunes. You can currently only use an IP address here (e.g. 192.168.1.1) and this IP address should be that of a PC/Mac running the iTunes software. You will need to share your music collection in iTunes for this function to work correctly; in iTunes selectEdit/Preferences and select the Sharing tab, check the box marked 'Share My Music' and make sure the 'Share entire library' option is selected.

I also read a comment from someone stating that they can only get itunes to work with XBMC 1.0 and not 1.1. YMMV.

Thanks Ja Phule:


Maybe right now I can ony do it by reading the shared itunes info off a connected comp. Seems like it would be a good option to be able to do it off a SMB, playlist, library and all w/o having a comp on all the time. I'll try tapping into and use the ip address & path of the SMB tonight, maybe it might work. Who knows.


Jonathan

Thanks Ja Phule:


Maybe right now I can ony do it by reading the shared itunes info off a connected comp. Seems like it would be a good option to be able to do it off a SMB, playlist, library and all w/o having a comp on all the time. I'll try tapping into and use the ip address & path of the SMB tonight, maybe it might work. Who knows.


Jonathan

Yeah, it seems like you will need your comp running as XBMC is probably communicating with the itunes software.

I've managed to get iTunes working through DAAP with a recent build (< a month old). Keep in mind that in order for this to work, you need iTunes open on the computer that you point XBMC to. It works well. The only thing that annoyed me was the pause between tracks.

SCRIPT POST

Thanks for sharing, goofygrin. I will definitely borrow some of your ideas. A couple issues I've been having.

1) mkisofs doesn't seem to be able to handle any rip that doesn't contain a VIDEO_TS.IFO file. Since a feature-only rip with dvdbackup will not create this file, but only the IFO file for the Title that was ripped, I'm a bit annoyed. You ever have any luck creating feature-only ISO's with mkisofs? If not I will probably just give in and backup whole DVD's, but really I almost think feature-only would be the way to go because 90% of the time I just want to watch a movie and digging through annoying previews, etc, is, well, annoying.

2) My OS install is on a pretty small partition and since /home isn't a mount-point for some larger partition, I'm pretty limited in my user directory. Unfortunately, full user read-write access is necessary for this scripting to work reasonably conveniently. Is there a way I could define a all-user read-write access to a folder on a larger partition so I can easily store my temp files there during this process? Or if I ran the script with "sudo" would that cover any needed access for the entire script execution?

Thanks for your time!

Thanks Bohbot16:

Yeah I was trying to access everything of a network drive, connected ethernet to the xbox, have the playlist, library, everything show up. Maybe just have to wait till they add that feature.

Hey by the way found out a lil cool customizing feature.....

Go to F:/Apps/XBCM/Language/English/strings.xml

You can change the Text on the main Menus and orders they're layed out.....( My Music to Tracks, Albums) .....whatever. Before hand I thought you had to do this in the xboxmediacenter.xml. But after altering it noting changed. Going to play w/ it alil later.


Jonathan

Thanks for sharing, goofygrin. I will definitely borrow some of your ideas. A couple issues I've been having.

1) mkisofs doesn't seem to be able to handle any rip that doesn't contain a VIDEO_TS.IFO file. Since a feature-only rip with dvdbackup will not create this file, but only the IFO file for the Title that was ripped, I'm a bit annoyed. You ever have any luck creating feature-only ISO's with mkisofs? If not I will probably just give in and backup whole DVD's, but really I almost think feature-only would be the way to go because 90% of the time I just want to watch a movie and digging through annoying previews, etc, is, well, annoying.

2) My OS install is on a pretty small partition and since /home isn't a mount-point for some larger partition, I'm pretty limited in my user directory. Unfortunately, full user read-write access is necessary for this scripting to work reasonably conveniently. Is there a way I could define a all-user read-write access to a folder on a larger partition so I can easily store my temp files there during this process? Or if I ran the script with "sudo" would that cover any needed access for the entire script execution?

Thanks for your time!

And the most major problem. mkisofs will only create an ISO of 2.0 GB for me. No larger. I've tried about four DVD's now. I get a "File size limit exceeded" error. It's a reiserfs partition and I'm not aware of any file size limits there. I can find old posts on the Internet about Samba having a limit of 2GB (the output of mkisofs is a samba share for me), but I just assumed this limit had been overcome. Perhaps I'll need to go to XFS? And if I leave for a Windows ripping machine I'll be SOL.

Thanks for sharing, goofygrin. I will definitely borrow some of your ideas. A couple issues I've been having.

1) mkisofs doesn't seem to be able to handle any rip that doesn't contain a VIDEO_TS.IFO file. Since a feature-only rip with dvdbackup will not create this file, but only the IFO file for the Title that was ripped, I'm a bit annoyed. You ever have any luck creating feature-only ISO's with mkisofs? If not I will probably just give in and backup whole DVD's, but really I almost think feature-only would be the way to go because 90% of the time I just want to watch a movie and digging through annoying previews, etc, is, well, annoying.


Dunno... I've got enough space (for now) that I'm just ripping the whole thing...


2) My OS install is on a pretty small partition and since /home isn't a mount-point for some larger partition, I'm pretty limited in my user directory. Unfortunately, full user read-write access is necessary for this scripting to work reasonably conveniently. Is there a way I could define a all-user read-write access to a folder on a larger partition so I can easily store my temp files there during this process? Or if I ran the script with "sudo" would that cover any needed access for the entire script execution?

Thanks for your time!

you can always just chmod 777 -R /dirname and that'll give everyone rights to that directory to do anything.

And the most major problem. mkisofs will only create an ISO of 2.0 GB for me. No larger. I've tried about four DVD's now. I get a "File size limit exceeded" error. It's a reiserfs partition and I'm not aware of any file size limits there. I can find old posts on the Internet about Samba having a limit of 2GB (the output of mkisofs is a samba share for me), but I just assumed this limit had been overcome. Perhaps I'll need to go to XFS? And if I leave for a Windows ripping machine I'll be SOL.

I'm using ext3 for my boot/root and xfs for my raid... not sure if it makes a difference.

A quick google show there to be some chatter about reiserfs having a 2/4 gb limit depending on what version you're running.

I'm using ext3 for my boot/root and xfs for my raid... not sure if it makes a difference.

A quick google show there to be some chatter about reiserfs having a 2/4 gb limit depending on what version you're running.

When I said "xfs" I should have said "nfs" as in "maybe I'll need to use nfs rather than smbfs for my Linux-to-Linux activity." I was hoping to avoid duplicate permissions, but...whatever. :)

Anyway, I just ran the entire process on my isolated machine and I have no problems with size limits. Across the network seems to be an issue. To save time I'm probably going to have to try to write directly across the network, though.

Thanks for your help!

Here is a little tutorial I wrote for softmodding an Xbox. I don't do hard drive upgrades because I don't like console gaming and I would not use an Xbox to store any files that were not backed up as if the Xbox ever crashes the hard drive will not be accessable. Feel free to comment on this tutorial and advise changes if needed. Thanks


As far as being able to stream music, videos, photos, and movie trailers (and lots of other stuff using the built in download plug-in installer) a soft-modded Xbox is ideal. If you want to add a large hard drive to play games (including just about every emulated console game ever made) then you would have to either go to more extremes or buy a chip. Playing games is really the only reason to use a mod chip to hack an Xbox as a softmod is identical in nearly every way to a chipped Xbox mod. This tutorial is for the installation of the softmod only and does not cover adding a bigger hard drive. Actually, there is enough room on the original Xbox's hard drive so that once the soft modding is complete you can load one Xbox game at a time and when you tire of that game you can delete it and load another.

The softmod we will be using is Krayzie's nDure Installer. This is a small software package that is in the form of a game save. The Xbox has, on it's game pad controller, a place to put in a memory card for game saves. This is how we get the Xbox to run our little modding package.

Tools Needed for a Softmod
1. An exploitable game. Mech Assault works great. Buy a used one so there is less chance of getting one that may have been fixed, I do not think that they ever bothered to fix it. Alternately you could just rent it as you only need it for an hour.
2. An Xbox memory card with a USB cable. Despite the rumours, the Action Replay cheat memory card available at Wal Mart and Circuit City plus many other retailers will work fine, you just have to "fix" it in the middle of the procedure. The Action Replay does corrupt the file but there is an easy workaround for that.
3. An FTP program. FlashFXP is the perfect FTP program for Xbox use. Just Google it to download a trial version or pay $25 for it, it is worth it.
-If you want to know "What is FTP?", it is simply a way to see the files on your hard drive in a list on one side of the screen and see the files on your Xbox on the other side. Then you just click on any file you wish to transfer from your computer to your Xbox and click the transfer button. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.
4. A computer with a network. You don't have to have a home network. You can buy a network cable that says "Crossover" on the package. Then just connect the crossover cable to the computer and the Xbox. There may be more to it but really, a home network is easy to set up and very useful so I won't go into it any further here.
5. A copy of Krayzie's nDure Installer. This is not a legal product so it could be a little hard to find it. However, if you bought the Action Replay memory card and installed the software CD-ROM that came with it, you can use that software to see a list of downloadable gamesaves from other users. The Krayzie's nDure Installer can be found in that list of downloadable cheat game saves. However it may be called "Run Linux". There will be many copies of "Run Linux" under the Mech Assault game saves, try to find the one that is the biggest. But you still might get a bad copy, just be prepared to download another in case the first one doesn't work.

A note about UnleashX: UnleashX is a Xbox Dashboard. (A Dashboard is what you see when you turn on the Xbox. The Xbox's original dashboard shows up when you turn on an unmodded Xbox with no game in the CD drive. There are several dashboards for modded Xboxes) a modified version of UnleashX is contained within the Installer and is used automatically at one point for backing up certain vital files that are on the Xbox. UnleashX happily includes an FTP server so once it loads you have the wonderful ability to access the Xbox via FlashFXP FTP even though the Installer has not completed the modding process yet and in fact has made no changes to the Xbox yet at all.


Once you have assembled the tools and have an hour to spare you are ready to go. I am going to assume you are using a home network. Find out the "IP" addresses your network uses. This will be a string of numbers. Usually it is 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. The last number (the 1) usually is the address of the router itself. Every device (computer, Xbox, or anything else that connects to your network) is assigned a number (usually starting at 2 then 3 etc.) automatically by the router The first three numbers (the 192.168.0) will stay the same. Only the last number will be different for every attached device. The router will keep up with these numbers for you and if you type the routers numbers into your web browser's address bar you can go to a little web site looking page that belongs to your router. There are many options there but don't mess with any settings unless you know what you are doing. There should be an option to see all the devices connected to the router with their corrisponding IP address listed. This is very useful information.

Ok, if you have read all the above info and are now prepared to start here are the steps.
1. Get the Krayzie's nDure Installer (also known as "Run Linux") copied to the memory card by using the cable that came with it to transfer it to the card from your computer.
2. Before inserting the memory card into the Xbox's game pad, first start your Xbox with no game in the CD drive. Then go to the Memory section and delete any and all Mech Assault game saves. You do not want any there when we start or the installer may not load. Turn off the Xbox.
3. Put the Action Replay memory card into the Xbox's game pad. Turn on the Xbox (still with no game in the CD drive) and go to the Memory section. Now figure out how to copy the "Run Linux" game save (which is really our copy of Krayzie's nDure Installer) from the memory card to the Xbox's internal hard drive. Once it is done copying open the CD drive and insert the Mech Assault game. Then turn off the Xbox and remove the memory card. Keep it handy in case you downloaded a bad copy of the Krayzie's nDure Installer and need to get a different one.
4. Now turn on the Xbox with the Mech Assault game inside. Wait for the game to start and take you to the selection screen. Here you will click on "Campaign" Now select "Run Linux". This will load the Krayzie's nDure Installer. The first thing it will have you do is make a back up. IMPORTANT: this will be the part where we "fix" the Installer itself that was corrupted by the action Replay memory card. Even though the AR memory card corrupts Krayzie's nDure Installer, the installer will still start up and get us where we need to go.
5. Select the first option to back up the "eeprom" this is where we fix the corrupted file. At this point the installer program will actually exit and load a program called UnleashX. See above for info about UnleashX. When UnleashX is running open FlashFXP on your computer and find the Xbox on one side of the program. On the other side, on your computer, find your saved copy (uncorrupted by Action Replay) of the Krayzie's nDure Installer for Mech Assault. It will be in the folder heirarchy MA Save->UDATA->4d530017. It is the 4d530017 folder that we want. Go to the Xboxes side of the screen and go to the E drive. Look in the UDATA for the 4d530017 folder and delete it. Now transfer the 4d530017 folder from your compurter over to the UDATA folder on your Xbox. Now you have an uncorrupted copy of the nDure installer on your Xbox. On the Xbox, after backing up, select the Return to Main Menu or some such that takes you back to the Krayzie's Installer. Now turn off and restart the Xbox. Do the Back Up step again, this time omitting the copying of the Installer over to the Xbox.
6. After that it is easy to just follow the steps as they are listed in the installer. When complete you have a modded Xbox.

Ready to install Xbox Media Center? That will have to be another tutorial.

Qooop, excellent guide!

The only notes that I would add:

I used Krayzie's Ndure Installer with Mechassault as well to softmod my xbox, and it worked extremely well, though you can also use an original copy of 007 Agent under fire or the ORIGINAL Splinter Cell game (with slightly different version of the installer). If you have a Gamestop near you, you can find these games for very cheap - I saw used copies of Mechassault recently on sale for less than five dollars.

You can find this installer (as well as many other very cool homebrew apps) on xbins. This guide will show you how to use xbins:

http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/xbins.php

Krayzie's installer allows you to set up a dual boot configuration between the Xbox's retail dashboard and either Evox or UnleashX (I use Evox myself). You can always load the MS dashboard from Evox or UnleashX if you need it. I don't play games on Xbox live so I am not sure whether this mod is safe for xbox live or not, but I would think that if you boot into the retail dash before starting the game you want to play you should be OK.

I should also note for those who may be interested that you CAN upgrade your Xbox hard drive if your Xbox is only softmodded (I just did this successfully the other weekend). Here are some links that can show you how to do that...

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/lofiversion/index.php/t244043.html

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/203286

One advantage to upgrading your hard drive is that you can put your original drive in a safe place - that way if the new drive fails, you can always just put back the original or use the original to prepare a replacement hard drive.

Just remember that if you choose to upgrade your hard drive you must select a LOCKABLE hard drive so it can be used in the Xbox.

Hope that helps...

Julie

I have to thank Ja Phule, jlilies and Qooop for all their great information. I upgraded my Xbox last night finally with 100% success, as long as the tweaks I do in the future dont mess it up :rolleyes:

Yesterday I bought an original of Mech Assault (used) for $5, Action Replay 8MB card and usb dock for $30 and the Intech HD AV pack for $20. I didn't need the HD pack (though I wanted to see if the HD AV pack would give me better output and I wanted optical digital output), so the upgrade essentially cost me $35.

The process could not have been easier thanks to Krazie's nDure installer. Anyone even considering a media player should highly consider an Xbox with XBMC and I am upset I didnt go this route sooner. XBMC is such a powerful app and unbelievably customizable...you need to visit http://manual.xboxmediacenter.de/wakka.php?wakka=Index to see just what can be tweaked.

I started the upgrade process at 10 pm last night, had the softmod done at 11pm, and had installed XBMC by midnight. I was so amazed by the features, I was up until 6am tweaking and messing with XBMC!

FYI: I am using XBMC to play ISO rips along with MP3s for 95% of my collection. I also tried replaytv files, Divx files, and other compressed formats and it handled all of them beautifully. If anyone is messing with media players and are getting frustrated by the lack of features or are disappointed by the lack of recent players to the market, there is no reason to wait. XBMC r0xx0rs! :D

Playing games is really the only reason to use a mod chip to hack an Xbox as a softmod is identical in nearly every way to a chipped Xbox mod.

Not necessarily true.

Softmods do not have alternate OSs built in. So that if you bork your dash, or BIOS you have a major problem. Or at best you have to fiddle with creating bootable media.

With a good chip, you can boot to the chip's OS no matter how badly you have scrambled files on the hard drive. Enable FTP, and you can repair what you have wrought.

That's a safety net I am willing to pay for.

Also, a big honking drive in the box is a plus when you desire to take the box and the content with you. XBMC always wows the other family members when I take it & the immidiate family on vacation.

mkisofs -quiet -dvd-video -V"$1" -o "/mnt/raid/media/Video/DVD/$1/$1.iso" "$1/"



goofygrin,

Have you ever had any issues with certain DVD's? I just tried to run my script (finally got over the file size limits by going to NFS - which had its own hurdles) on Blue Crush and Toy Story 2 and I received errors.

Blue Crush's error was from dvdbackup:

Error reading BUP for title set 1

I can play Blue Crush through Totem on this computer 1 out of 4 times, I'd say.

Toy Story 2's error was from mkisofs:

No such file or directory. Failed to open Toy_Story_2//VIDEO_TS/VTS_05_0.IFO

But strangely I ran the same script again a couple hours later and it worked. Do you ever have inconsistencies or hiccups?

Edit:

Just tried Blue Crush again. dvdbackup grabbed the VTS_01_* files but skipped the VTS_02_* through VTS_10_*files. No clue considering I set dvdbackup to grab the whole disc.

Grrr...

I've got a question that I haven't been able to figure out. I have two (and soon to have more) hard drives on my network connected through a Windows XP box. I'd like to have the listing in XBMC's SMB for both drives in a single place. In other words, I'd like to go to a single location, and see all of my network videos.

Has anyone dealt with this, or does anyone have a solution?

Thanks in advance.

Hey all:

Is it common for photos to be slow loading in XBMC. My jpegs are about 2 to 2.5 megs in size. Just seem like it hangs for a lonnnnnnnng time, even if I reduce the transition time. Just selecting a photo is taking 5-10 seconds......and to go to the next photo is taking anywhere between 10 seconds and up.... is there anyway around this? Thanks.


Jonathan
Cali

Hi guys,

after seeing so many positive remarks about using the XBOX 360 as a media streamer I am looking into getting one. First question though, does it have to be the Premium 360 or can it be the Core 360.

bout1,

Depend on which file sharing protocol you are using on your network. If you are using XNS or a server application it may have some functions to do what you are looking for. If you are setting up the drives as a SMB share, the only way to do it is to scan the drives and then put XBMC into a different view mode.

For example to see all of the dvds I have on the network, I put XBMC into Big Icons, and sort by title. That way I see the cover art of all my movies no matter where they are on the network.

If you prefer list mode, there is nothing within XBMC to combine shares.

Hi guys,

after seeing so many positive remarks about using the XBOX 360 as a media streamer I am looking into getting one. First question though, does it have to be the Premium 360 or can it be the Core 360.


The discussion in this thread is related to the original Xbox, and not the 360. The 360 requires Windows Media Center and is limited in its functions. I you are looking for a media streamer, the 360 may not be your best solution.

Hey all:

Is it common for photos to be slow loading in XBMC. My jpegs are about 2 to 2.5 megs in size. Just seem like it hangs for a lonnnnnnnng time, even if I reduce the transition time. Just selecting a photo is taking 5-10 seconds......and to go to the next photo is taking anywhere between 10 seconds and up.... is there anyway around this? Thanks.

I have the same problem. I wonder if it is the recent build that I am using. I calculated a bad case scenario of 50Mbps transfer speed and the wire time still should cause barely noticeable slow-down on large photos. So it must be a processing issue in XBMC, and hopefully only in certain builds meaning we could see improvement in the future.

Anyone else have more info on this?

I've got a question that I haven't been able to figure out. I have two (and soon to have more) hard drives on my network connected through a Windows XP box. I'd like to have the listing in XBMC's SMB for both drives in a single place. In other words, I'd like to go to a single location, and see all of my network videos.

Has anyone dealt with this, or does anyone have a solution?

Sounds to me like the one response you received above is going to be the best option for your case.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not using RAID, but I am using Linux with Samba sharing. What I'll be doing is creating a symlink farm which will put a centralized read-only "cover" on the multiple drives contained on my Linux NAS server. I will share, via Samba, the consolidated read-only media symlink farm for client reading purposes. This way browsing from any client (Xbox, PC, etc) wishing to consume media will result in a single location to find movies, music, etc. I will be writing a Perl script to make this all happen.

I did have issues, but they stopped when I got rid of ivman. Before that, I had to reboot with the disk in the drive to rip it. (what distro are you running? I'm using gentoo. Try (as root) /etc/init.d/ivman stop and try it again.

I've got a small stack of dvds here that I've not been able to rip using the linux box (6 so far). For the most part what happens with those is that the disk never is recognized by the dvdrom drive (light never goes off).

goofygrin,

Have you ever had any issues with certain DVD's? I just tried to run my script (finally got over the file size limits by going to NFS - which had its own hurdles) on Blue Crush and Toy Story 2 and I received errors.

Blue Crush's error was from dvdbackup:



I can play Blue Crush through Totem on this computer 1 out of 4 times, I'd say.

Toy Story 2's error was from mkisofs:



But strangely I ran the same script again a couple hours later and it worked. Do you ever have inconsistencies or hiccups?

Edit:

Just tried Blue Crush again. dvdbackup grabbed the VTS_01_* files but skipped the VTS_02_* through VTS_10_*files. No clue considering I set dvdbackup to grab the whole disc.

Grrr...

Look for a tool called 'junction' It's either source forge or winternals. It supposedly allows you join seperate network locations into a single share.

I think it's windows only.

I downloaded it once, but it was bit above my head, in the end I didn't need it because I consolodated all my content to a ReadyNAS




I've got a question that I haven't been able to figure out. I have two (and soon to have more) hard drives on my network connected through a Windows XP box. I'd like to have the listing in XBMC's SMB for both drives in a single place. In other words, I'd like to go to a single location, and see all of my network videos.

Has anyone dealt with this, or does anyone have a solution?

Thanks in advance.

I have 5 drives with movies. I handled this by listing separate paths to each drive on the share. I'll have to look at my XML when I get home to see the syntax.

You can also use the library view instead of the files view to unify multiple paths....

Sean

Another Note....

Craigslist seems to be a good source of local modders. I just picked up another xbox with duox chip, advanced av pack, controller, cords, samsung DVD drive and a new Seagate 160G drive for $270. So far so good...

This one is going on the bedroom stereo where there is no TV so I also picked up one of these for $62 shipped. I'll let everyone know how it works out...

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=651981

Sean

Does XBMC have the capability to extract a DVD ISO file to a hard drive from the internal dvd drive; can it rip CD's? I haven't seen this feature discussed, but it seems like it would be a useful feature.

Drew

PS: I saw a site about a year ago where the guy had different external shells for the Xbox that looked more like a component home theater system. Anyone have any suggestions?

Does XBMC have the capability to extract a DVD ISO file to a hard drive from the internal dvd drive; can it rip CD's? I haven't seen this feature discussed, but it seems like it would be a useful feature.

dvd2xbox - Great program.

I saw some mp3 encoder settings in xbmc, I'm sure the function is there somewhere....

dvd2xbox - Great program.

yeah sure, but it doesn't do what the guy asked.

Unless teh iso image is less than 4 gigs. Which is the file size limit of FATX.

Not to worry tho, I think dvd2xbox lets you rip to a share. But I've never used that feature because the xbox optical drive is slow compared to my PCs.

I've got a question that I haven't been able to figure out. I have two (and soon to have more) hard drives on my network connected through a Windows XP box. I'd like to have the listing in XBMC's SMB for both drives in a single place. In other words, I'd like to go to a single location, and see all of my network videos.

Has anyone dealt with this, or does anyone have a solution?

Thanks in advance.

Bout01,
Here's how I connect to my 5 hard drives:
<bookmark>
<name>Movies</name>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video1</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video 2</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video3</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video4</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video5</path>
</bookmark>

Hope this helps.

Chris

Quote:
Here's how I connect to my 5 hard drives:
<bookmark>
<name>Movies</name>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video1</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video 2</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video3</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video4</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video5</path>
</bookmark>


Chris,
Do you put these in the xbox or windows xp and what file? Can you explain a little more? 192.168.1.3 is the XP computer right?
Thanks

Chris,
Do you put these in the xbox or windows xp and what file? Can you explain a little more? 192.168.1.3 is the XP computer right?
Thanks


This goes in the xboxmediacenter.xml that controls how xbmc works. The xml file is in E:/apps/xbmc/ on the xbox itself.

These tags go in your xboxmediacenter.xml file on the xbox. See the following for more info....

http://manual.xboxmediacenter.de/wakka.php?wakka=XBMCconfigFile&v=9l8

Sean

Onstar,
Yes, this is a snippet of the video portion of my xboxmediacenter.xml file like goofy said. 192.168.1.3 is my XP machine. You would sub your own IP/name and share names instead,

Hey all:

Is it common for photos to be slow loading in XBMC. My jpegs are about 2 to 2.5 megs in size. Just seem like it hangs for a lonnnnnnnng time, even if I reduce the transition time. Just selecting a photo is taking 5-10 seconds......and to go to the next photo is taking anywhere between 10 seconds and up.... is there anyway around this? Thanks.


Jonathan
Cali

I viewed some photos today off my network, it took about 2 sec to load a picture for me.

Thank Chris, Sean, and Goofy

I viewed some photos today off my network, it took about 2 sec to load a picture for me.


Definetely to me seems to be related to image size. The cpu has to load the image and then scale it to your TV res. my 5mp images take much longer to load than the old 1.6 MP Images... The whole pic viewer keeps getting better. Creating icons in the old days was tedious. Now its automatic. Slide show features are much better. A little pipelining might help or a fater jpeg algorithm. PC apps like ACDSee manage to do this very well.

Sean

Definetely to me seems to be related to image size. The cpu has to load the image and then scale it to your TV res. my 5mp images take much longer to load than the old 1.6 MP Images... The whole pic viewer keeps getting better. Creating icons in the old days was tedious. Now its automatic. Slide show features are much better. A little pipelining might help or a fater jpeg algorithm. PC apps like ACDSee manage to do this very well.

Sean

I was just about to post this.

Pics from the web were really fast, from my 2.1mp camera were ok, and from my 7mp camera were really slow to load.

From reading about the hp available to the xbox, it's not a big surprise that it's slow (see the anandtech beowulf cluster experiment). These are stripped down P3 733's after all (with 1/2 the L2 cache on a real P3).

I don't remember the size of my pictures, but I usually use the max res for a 3.1mp camera for my photos.

In other news, I updated to 2-16 T3CH build last night with no problems as of yet. FF seems to work for dvd images now (didn't work in the 12-25 build).

For those interested in my dvdprofiler to xbmc program, I hope to have it ready during the coming weekend, if not earlier.

EDIT: 2-12 T3CH build. :)

In other news, I updated to 2-16 T3CH build last night with no problems as of yet. FF seems to work for dvd images now (didn't work in the 12-25 build).


you been to the future? you mean 2-12?

Yeah, 2-12 build.

What scripts are you guys using? The xbmcscripts site was down last night so I couldn't update my scripts. I use the Apple, Launch, and CNN scripts a lot. I have the Autolaunch script playing movie trailers when xbmc starts up. No we just need an ESPN script.

I've been trying to get myTV to work but it keeps crashing on me. I'm using it to connect to zap2it to get tv listings and it would freeze at some point. I need to test it with the latest build to see if it works any better.

PS: I saw a site about a year ago where the guy had different external shells for the Xbox that looked more like a component home theater system. Anyone have any suggestions?

Here's a homebrew solution, but it looks like a lot of work:
http://photobucket.com/albums/c188/sCAPe_XBOX/XBOX_Hifi_Media_Center/

Bout01,
Here's how I connect to my 5 hard drives:
<bookmark>
<name>Movies</name>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video1</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video 2</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video3</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video4</path>
<path>smb://192.168.1.3/Video5</path>
</bookmark>

Hope this helps.

Chris

Perfect! Thanks a ton.

My music volume is much much louder than the volume I have when playing videos/dvd. Is there a setting I can change to keep both equal? Right now, I'm constantly lowering and increasing my volume depending on my source and I'm wondering if I'm missing some setting that could easily solve my volume problems.

My music volume is much much louder than the volume I have when playing videos/dvd. Is there a setting I can change to keep both equal? Right now, I'm constantly lowering and increasing my volume depending on my source and I'm wondering if I'm missing some setting that could easily solve my volume problems.

I'm at work so I can't say for sure, but I think I remember a volume amplification setting within the My Videos settings as opposed to a global system setting. It's possible that was in a previous build, however.

Sorry I have never seen such a setting. There is a volume normalization setting but as an audiophile I would never consider using such a thing but the feature is there. I doubt there is a real difference here other than the recording levels on different content is drastically different. That issue is an age old problem. But of course I could be wrong...

second thought I wonder is mplayer versus paplayer versus dvd player are providing different output levels. you could test this by trying different players on the same audio track and measuring with a DB meter whether the volume is different.

Also is this using analog or digital output?

Sean

I also noticed that the xbmc dvd digital audio output is louder than my dvd player's digital output.

Anyway, bravo890 is correct. Volume amplication is there in the Audio/Subtitle settings menu and it does seem to help somewhat to keep video volume closer to audio levels. I can't go beyond +10 though as anything higher will cause distortion.

Yeah I watch my pvr at like 30-50 on my receiver (lower being louder) and I have to watch the stuff on the xbmc at like 60-70 or it's hella loud.

I have something to throw out for everyone. Just ran up against this...

I put Zathura on my SMB drive (de-CSS'd). I'm able to play it through the XBOX over ethernet link, for the most part, just fine. HOWEVER, at specific points in the movie, there is a video hiccup.

It doesn't occur randomly, the problems are at consistent points in the movie. I am also able to play the movie on a PC using MSMC. Using this, there are no hiccups.

I'm guessing that this is a shortcoming in the video codec. Can anyone shed any light on this, or has anyone had similar situations?

I would be more concerned that it is in my settings somewhere if it would be happening at inconsistent places. This is at specific places...

Thanks!

How did you rip it?

If ISO I'd guess maybe file bondaries (1gig files are the standard on DVD media).

I should have been more specific. This movie is .vob format, and is broken at 1gb boundaries. However, these hiccups are not along the boundaries (there are more hiccups than boundaries, for one.)

deleted

Sorry to keep dragging this out. I just want to make sure that I have everything in order before I invest the time in ripping all of my movies to harddrive storage.

With this particular movie (Zathura), it does have 22 Vobs on the main movie. In an earlier post, when I said there were far fewer Vobs than chops, I meant Vob files (I have it cut to four (4) .vob files.)

It turns out that the chops ARE on the VobId breaks (22 of them). I tried making an .iso file, and have the same result (as the VobId breaks still exist I believe).

Again, the MSMC on my PC has no problem with these breaks. This is why I'm thinking it is an issue with the player in XBMC. If anyone has any insight on this, I'd really appreciate it.

I think this XBMC is really nice. It has a great UI & would be really great (save for the HD shortcomings) as an interface for my media on my entertainment center. HOWEVER, if I'm going to be stuck with a chop whenever there is a VobId change, it is going to be very annoying.

HELP!! :)

What method are you using to rip your DVD's. I personally use DVD Shrink and rip straight to ISO. (I do not shrink/compress the movies at all). Using this program I have never noticed a skip....

I'm buying my xbox tomorrow. It has the DVD player kit and remote, 4 games and 2 controllers. 125 used. Not too bad. I've got the Roku for HD playback but its shortcomings for almost everything are frustrating. I think the xboxmc/roku combination might be the best compromise for now. I'm interested in the PixelMagic device but I'll wait ang get some reviews on that first.

In addition to the media capabilities, I'm also interested in installing the MAME application. I'm pretty confident that I can get xbmc center up and running thanks to the good folks on this forum, but I really haven't seen and good writeups on how to get the mame application up and running. Any idea on how difficult this is to do?

Thanks

Drew

Sorry to keep dragging this out. I just want to make sure that I have everything in order before I invest the time in ripping all of my movies to harddrive storage.

With this particular movie (Zathura), it does have 22 Vobs on the main movie. In an earlier post, when I said there were far fewer Vobs than chops, I meant Vob files (I have it cut to four (4) .vob files.)

It turns out that the chops ARE on the VobId breaks (22 of them). I tried making an .iso file, and have the same result (as the VobId breaks still exist I believe).

Again, the MSMC on my PC has no problem with these breaks. This is why I'm thinking it is an issue with the player in XBMC. If anyone has any insight on this, I'd really appreciate it.

I think this XBMC is really nice. It has a great UI & would be really great (save for the HD shortcomings) as an interface for my media on my entertainment center. HOWEVER, if I'm going to be stuck with a chop whenever there is a VobId change, it is going to be very annoying.

HELP!! :)

I noticed in the xbox-scene.com forum that some users had a similar problem where the dvd would begin to studder. It seems like it is an XBMC issue and I'm not sure if it's fixed in the latest build or not or if there is a setting you need to change. I haven't had a chance to watch a full dvd image through xbmc yet.

I'm buying my xbox tomorrow. It has the DVD player kit and remote, 4 games and 2 controllers. 125 used. Not too bad. I've got the Roku for HD playback but its shortcomings for almost everything are frustrating. I think the xboxmc/roku combination might be the best compromise for now. I'm interested in the PixelMagic device but I'll wait ang get some reviews on that first.

In addition to the media capabilities, I'm also interested in installing the MAME application. I'm pretty confident that I can get xbmc center up and running thanks to the good folks on this forum, but I really haven't seen and good writeups on how to get the mame application up and running. Any idea on how difficult this is to do?

Thanks

Drew

I don't think it would be a problem to install mame. You basically just drag the mame directory to the xbox and run the app that way. You'll need to tweak xbmc or your dashboard to see mame though. Or you can just run the application through the file browser.

What method are you using to rip your DVD's. I personally use DVD Shrink and rip straight to ISO. (I do not shrink/compress the movies at all). Using this program I have never noticed a skip....

I'm using DVD Decrypter to rip the movies. No compression. It's a straight image. The thing that makes me think it is probably something to do with XBOX's player is the fact that if I play it through Microsoft Media Center on my PC, it works perfectly, or if I burn to a new DVD, it works perfectly.

I hope XBMC can get it worked out. I really like XBMC! It has a terrific UI!

I'm buying my xbox tomorrow. It has the DVD player kit and remote, 4 games and 2 controllers. 125 used. Not too bad. I've got the Roku for HD playback but its shortcomings for almost everything are frustrating. I think the xboxmc/roku combination might be the best compromise for now. I'm interested in the PixelMagic device but I'll wait ang get some reviews on that first.

In addition to the media capabilities, I'm also interested in installing the MAME application. I'm pretty confident that I can get xbmc center up and running thanks to the good folks on this forum, but I really haven't seen and good writeups on how to get the mame application up and running. Any idea on how difficult this is to do?

Thanks

Drew

MAME is a piece of cake. It is as easy as Ja Phule suggests.

The only shortcoming I've encountered is that you can't play ALL available MAME images. I have my fingers crossed that this will change.

I have a Buster Bros. image that I'd really like to play over the XBOX! :)

Quote:
For those interested in my dvdprofiler to xbmc program, I hope to have it ready during the coming weekend, if not earlier.


It's Monday.

Quote:
For those interested in my dvdprofiler to xbmc program, I hope to have it ready during the coming weekend, if not earlier.


It's Monday.

Yeah... wasn't able to work on it this weekend as much as I hoped. I hope I can get it out asap. My apologies...

I'm using DVD Decrypter to rip the movies. No compression. It's a straight image. The thing that makes me think it is probably something to do with XBOX's player is the fact that if I play it through Microsoft Media Center on my PC, it works perfectly, or if I burn to a new DVD, it works perfectly.

I hope XBMC can get it worked out. I really like XBMC! It has a terrific UI!


You might try the Quick Stream fix in VideoRedo. The Buffalo Link Theater has this issue and it solved it. I was seeing skipped frames in Star Wars IV and Matrix that didn't occur on the PC or on a DVD player that this fixed.

Thanks Goofygrin:


Yes I have the dvd kit, going add the IR function to my 520 tonight. The mod installer said there supposed to be an IR on/off device coming out next month. Adding that would be nice, instead of having to turn the box off and on all the time. I'll practice working w/ the ftp programs. By the way what are your iso averaging in size? Are you retaining the menus and everything, just the movie, or extracting out all the spanish,french audios, annoying trailers, advertising, etc from your iso's? Used Clonedvd from slysoft......to remove what you don't want, VERY EASY and straight forward. Worked pretty good so far, I'll try a sony disc later. Whats everyone else using?

Going to check w/ maxtor see if there's a way to connect via usb2 to my laptop usb2 port. The back of the Maxtor unit though only has a ethernet port, and (2) usb2 (INPUTS), not an output (printer example)....."sorry if I have the terms wrong". Not sure if they make a cord for matching a laptop USB2 (IN) to a external drive (IN).


Jonathan

do you have any further details about an on/off IR mod? i've seen a solution that looked like a huge pain in the butt, so I didn't pursue it, but if there is something easier, that would be great.

After reading through this thread, I had my Xbox modded by a guy in the LA/OC area. Now I need to buy a HDTV.

BTW, did Microsoft discontinue their HD Pack? I can't find it ANYWHERE.

Thanks for the posts, Ja Phule. I wouldn't have made the step to the modded Xbox without the comfort level provided by reading through your (and other's) posts.

After reading through this thread, I had my Xbox modded by a guy in the LA/OC area. Now I need to buy a HDTV.

BTW, did Microsoft discontinue their HD Pack? I can't find it ANYWHERE.

Thanks for the posts, Ja Phule. I wouldn't have made the step to the modded Xbox without the comfort level provided by reading through your (and other's) posts.

I bought my hd pack from EBGames ($13 used). Check there and GameStop before heading to Ebay.

I'm curious as to why people have other people mod their xbox? It takes me < 30 minutes to softmod one now...

I bought my hd pack from EBGames ($13 used). Check there and GameStop before heading to Ebay.

I'm curious as to why people have other people mod their xbox? It takes me < 30 minutes to softmod one now...

Personally, while it's a somewhat novel concept on this forum, I still play games on my xbox and I play them on xbox live sometimes. So a modchip allows you to boot an xbox with the modchip disabled, so you don't run the risk of getting banned from xbox live. I don't think the softmod gives you that flexibility, correct? There are some people who aren't experienced with a soldering iron and don't want to futz with opening their xbox, so this is where the modchip installers come into fill that need.

Also, while I don't have one, I think some of the modchips out there allow you to do cool stuff like wire up an LCD front panel to display a song's ID3 tag info, etc., etc.

Personally, while it's a somewhat novel concept on this forum, I still play games on my xbox and I play them on xbox live sometimes. So a modchip allows you to boot an xbox with the modchip disabled, so you don't run the risk of getting banned from xbox live. I don't think the softmod gives you that flexibility, correct? There are some people who aren't experienced with a soldering iron and don't want to futz with opening their xbox, so this is where the modchip installers come into fill that need.

Also, while I don't have one, I think some of the modchips out there allow you to do cool stuff like wire up an LCD front panel to display a song's ID3 tag info, etc., etc.

You can do the multiboot with the soft mod.

I use the power button to boot to the soft mod and the eject button to boot to a "safe" dashboard so I can play live games.

After reading through this thread, I had my Xbox modded by a guy in the LA/OC area. Now I need to buy a HDTV.

BTW, did Microsoft discontinue their HD Pack? I can't find it ANYWHERE.

Thanks for the posts, Ja Phule. I wouldn't have made the step to the modded Xbox without the comfort level provided by reading through your (and other's) posts.

Which is why I started this thread. I've known of XBMC for awhile and knew there were people on the board using it, but I never knew how great it was until I saw it in action myself.

I can personally verify that Goofygrin can SoftMod an Xbox in 30 minutes!

Thanks again Goofygrin!

I'm about to purchase another Xbox and give it a shot my self.....

Also, while I don't have one, I think some of the modchips out there allow you to do cool stuff like wire up an LCD front panel to display a song's ID3 tag info, etc., etc.

I have the LCD. I did up the modchip just cause it looked fun and my neighbor loves futzing with stuff.

And as a general FYI I installe MAMEoX the other night and it was truly simple. Though I don't have a Rastan ROM for it yet and I'm not sure if it'll work... :)

Reply to something from long ago (square bracket stuff added for clarity).

I did have issues [with ripping DVDs], but they stopped when I got rid of ivman. Before that, I had to reboot with the disk in the drive to rip it. (what distro are you running? I'm using gentoo. Try (as root) /etc/init.d/ivman stop and try it again.

I've got a small stack of dvds here that I've not been able to rip using the linux box (6 so far). For the most part what happens with those is that the disk never is recognized by the dvdrom drive (light never goes off).

I'm using Ubuntu/gnome. According to synaptic package manager I don't have ivman installed. Naturally the command you described above wasn't found on my system, either. So, maybe I just happened on the wrong DVD's in my test group. I'll keep trying...

For those not keeping track, a new XBMC Build just came out. T3CH 2-20 CVS Build. More info from www.xbox-scene.com.

Hmm... a new "Party mode" was added...

Wonder how that works...

To continue to keep up with all the new upgrades and not have to rebuild all my files over again with IMDB and cover art, what part do I need to replace to just get the changes each time.

Thanks for any help,

Tim

You ever notice there are alot of us Texans in this thread?

I Deliver: Not sure but if no one has the answer here you can go here:

http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/index.php

and post the question in their forum.... Another pretty good XBMC forum is here....

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showforum=62

I'm using DVD Decrypter to rip the movies. No compression. It's a straight image. The thing that makes me think it is probably something to do with XBOX's player is the fact that if I play it through Microsoft Media Center on my PC, it works perfectly, or if I burn to a new DVD, it works perfectly.

I hope XBMC can get it worked out. I really like XBMC! It has a terrific UI!

So you don't feel so alone, I'm having the same issue on two xboxes.

We watched Million Dollar Baby last weekend and I noticed freezes/dropped frames every 20 minutes or so. One happens around the 39:45 mark (right at the end of a sparring match between her and some other chick, when they go to tap gloves, it stutters). Happens every time, without fail.

Changing the DVD - local network cache settings has no effect. On a HDTV and on a regular tv (so scaling and no scaling). I rip everything to an iso using dvdbackup and mkisofs in the linux world... so it seems this is cross rip. I think it does have to do with the dvdplayer in xbmc.

To continue to keep up with all the new upgrades and not have to rebuild all my files over again with IMDB and cover art, what part do I need to replace to just get the changes each time.

Thanks for any help,

Tim

Copy over the files in the xbmc\album directory, myvideo##.db and the imdb folder. Be sure to backup everything just in case.

Quick Question. I've had the XBMC set-up for a long time with a 250GB harddrive, but after seeing everyone elses setup with a NAS I think I would like to go that route and build one. Do any of ya'll have any good website to help unnderstand how they work a little better?

I'm looking at learning everything from what type of OS to what type of components.

Thanks in advnance

I decided last night that I am going to run XBMC at 480i for the time being. The CUE (chroma upsampling error) and poor deinterlacing on XBMC at 480p/720p/1080i began to bother me too much. At 480i, I can let the Faroudja deinterlacer/scaler in my Infocus 4805 process the video.