DVD Server using XBOX Media Center (XBMC), DVD Profiler, and IMDB (Pictures galore) - Page 4

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.

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

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


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...

What's a movie with this problem?

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 )

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. 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.

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/showt...ix#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

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

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

Yes, so I've heard but some people 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 performed the extra steps using additional software, were the rips finally smooth.

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

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?