Original XBox as a media player

fergual2

Jumped on this late - but now up to speed

Now have XUNLEASH on my XBOX and will be transferring XBMC via ftp soon.

Rough guide & Method used:
1. Pre owned XBOX - Gamestation £19.99
2. MadKatz Controller Extension cable Currys digital (Clearance basket) £0.49
3. USB extension cable (free - had spare)
4. Preowned DVD remote - Gamestation £1.99
5. Preowned Splinter Cell Classics version £.99 Game
6. USB stick - Barcardi freebie received a few weeks back through post
=Total cost = £23.46:T

7 Built USB female <> Controller input cable - chopped up and paired wires
8 Formatted Barcardi USB stick in XBOX attached to built usb <> controller cable

9 On XP PC, Used USBVIEW.exe then modified USB driver information,
10 On XP PC, used Action Replay software - to copy splinter cell - linux profile, and linux installer to usb stick
11 Connected Barcardi USB stick back to XBOX - played splinter game - loaded profile (checkpoint)- copied "splinter cell - linux profile" and linux installer V4 (SID4) to XBOX C:\ drive
12 Switch off XBOX - removed game - Start XBOX - XUnleash loaded in place of MS Dash
13. Backed up MS Dashboard, Backed up XBOX, Backed up EEPROM
14. Ran Softmod upgrade from XUnleash - rebooted - thet it did an EEPROM update to finalise.

Now all set for XBMC update via ftp.

Also would be grateful to hear of any bargains for wireless bridges (so I can stream content/use XBMC web features)

pepsi_max2k

Does anyone know much about running Xebian with a mythtv frontend? I'm having a few problems getting it to behave - slow response, skipping video, poor interlacing support, modeline/overscan/res settings (i think it defaults to 640*480 upscaled to 720*576?).

or if anyone knows how to dull the video image in XBMC a little, me whites are brighter than a daz advert. no really, they're glowing, and gamma/contrast/brightness settings aren't helping much

>> Also would be grateful to hear of any bargains for wireless bridges (so I can
>> stream content/use XBMC web features)

La Fonera. probably under £10 shipped (i'm not sure exactly how much they charge for shipping, but it's €5.99 not inc) when reffered (pm me with your name, email and country). If you flash it with the dd-wrt firmware it makes a perfect small one port wireless bridge.
http://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/La_Fonera
http://www.fon.com

EDIT: should be around £7.65 ish, or about £9.15 in you buy a La Fontenna at the same time (directional antenna, not great but easily worth £1.50).

jembie

I finally got XBMC up and running on my Xbox! I am so excited because I have been trying for months and kept having problem after problem.
It is going to be fantastic now to be able to stream videos from my PC straight to my TV.
Only thing is I can't view anything without having to turn off the firewall on the PC first and this isn't really a desirable situation. Anyone know of a free firewall that has easy workable network options?

custardy

what FW are you running?

jembie

custardy wrote: »

what FW are you running?

I was running sygate free personal firewall which I have used for years and is great apart from the fact it won't allow the other computers on my network to see my shared files.
So I tried PCtools free firewall but still that wouldn't let me share either. So now I am just using Windows firewall until I can find one that I can work with. Even windows firewall won't allow me to share although I have all the right options ticked/unticked.
I know that I have set up sharing right as it works when I disable the firewall

pepsi_max2k

there should be some kind of option to put the xbox's ip into a "safe" zone on some firewalls, though i had problems even when trying that with zonealarm. i've long given up on them and just use hardware firewalls in my router(s).

pepsi_max2k

Xebian with (or without) MythTV install guide:

http://mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Xbox_Frontend_on_Xebian_stable

wip but the main install's done. It's faster than using the E images and good enough for basic useage, though i'm still trying to figure out how to optimize the display (modeline, colour filters etc).

janoflan

Can someone be so kind is pointing out a suitable (and relatively cheap!) hard drive to use with this? My PC is chock a block full with movies and it would be nice to be able to store films direct on my xbox. 160 or 250 gig I think would be nice

thanks in advance!

ian

custardy

nearly an IDE 3.5" form HD would do
main issue is HD lockability
http://xboxdrives.x-pec.com/?p=list
personally always fitted maxtor to my xboxs
however why not fit it to the PC and stream straight over?

fergual2

Finally got round to Loading up XMBC latest version last night - ftp'd some avi videos and a flac album. They just worked straight off- So very impressed!!
1st used Standard XBOX Scart lead - XMBC looked horrible - text all fuzzy.
Thanks to my local Currys Digital - had already picked up a Madcatz S-AV cable for just .49p - plugged in to tv and now everything is crystal clear. So recommend switching to this if anyone has same issue - as long as your tv supports s-AV input.

Next stage is to go wireless.

I see a recent posting on HDUK has gone hot now 180 degrees - so if your on the lookout for the £19.99 XBOX game deal be quick!
Al