harpie Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Interesting products - Anyone use or have opnions on either? Zensonic z400 around $309 http://www.zensonic.com/press_20040621.php doesnt look like it can do HD or progressive scan and this Neuston $340 http://www.scorptec.com.au/index.php?prdid=00010742 DVI output, progressive scan Doesnt have inbuilt wireless, but does have PCMCIA slot to allow this. Can also use USB drives and has a web browser, internet radio.
glenncol Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Interesting products -Anyone use or have opnions on either? Zensonic z400 around $309 http://www.zensonic.com/press_20040621.php doesnt look like it can do HD or progressive scan and this Neuston $340 http://www.scorptec.com.au/index.php?prdid=00010742 DVI output, progressive scan Doesnt have inbuilt wireless, but does have PCMCIA slot to allow this. Can also use USB drives and has a web browser, internet radio. I have the Neuston and can tell you it is a fantastic little unit
alessiman Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Why do peoplle ther with these Media Servers when for the same price you can get a modified XBOX with XBOX Media Center (XBMC) installed Not only does it do more (and some!) that any other media server out there. There are also front ends for mythtv and Tivo for all those PVR owners. i.e like me ;-) IMDB and CDDB support. Full EPG (for me anyway), DVD and CD Backup and HD support upto 1080i Mine was bought and modifed for less than $400 Oh and if you have kids. It plays xbox games and MAME!! Henry
ritesh Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Why do peoplle ther with these Media Servers when for the same price you can get a modified XBOX with XBOX Media Center (XBMC) installedNot only does it do more (and some!) that any other media server out there. There are also front ends for mythtv and Tivo for all those PVR owners. i.e like me ;-) IMDB and CDDB support. Full EPG (for me anyway), DVD and CD Backup and HD support upto 1080i Mine was bought and modifed for less than $400 Oh and if you have kids. It plays xbox games and MAME!! Henry What outputs does XBox have? Does it work at 60hz or 50hz or both? Is there a web-page with more info. regarding various XBox mods? thanx, Ritesh
glenncol Posted September 22, 2004 Posted September 22, 2004 Why do peoplle ther with these Media Servers when for the same price you can get a modified XBOX with XBOX Media Center (XBMC) installedNot only does it do more (and some!) that any other media server out there. There are also front ends for mythtv and Tivo for all those PVR owners. i.e like me ;-) IMDB and CDDB support. Full EPG (for me anyway), DVD and CD Backup and HD support upto 1080i Mine was bought and modifed for less than $400 Oh and if you have kids. It plays xbox games and MAME!! Henry What outputs does XBox have? Does it work at 60hz or 50hz or both? Is there a web-page with more info. regarding various XBox mods? thanx, Ritesh You will have ot buy the HD out package for the unit to get component out and i dont think it is avaiable in Oz
alessiman Posted September 22, 2004 Posted September 22, 2004 Glenn, There is a guy in Perth (Funny Enough) that sells the HD packs for about $23. And yes it does 60 and 50hz. Henry
glenncol Posted September 22, 2004 Posted September 22, 2004 Glenn,There is a guy in Perth (Funny Enough) that sells the HD packs for about $23. And yes it does 60 and 50hz. Henry Ta dude this maybe my next little project
astroboydivx Posted September 22, 2004 Posted September 22, 2004 http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=...oducts_id=1742& HD AV kit for xbox. $AU42 + shipping
Raeandy1503559596 Posted September 22, 2004 Posted September 22, 2004 Yes, and $8.60 on e-bay (Although slightly different design). EDIT: To clarify, this is only for YPbPr and does not have the other features such as the original design. PS: I am no way associated with this product sale.
harpie Posted September 23, 2004 Author Posted September 23, 2004 The ebay one, I beleive, misses out on the digital sound, only analogue.
comfort1503559810 Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 IMDB and CDDB support. Full EPG (for me anyway), DVD and CD Backup and HD support upto 1080i I have a modded xbox as well and they beat any standard media servers out there. What I don't have though is an EPG on it !!!! What program are you using to do that ?? Cheers
alessiman Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 IMDB and CDDB support. Full EPG (for me anyway), DVD and CD Backup and HD support upto 1080i I have a modded xbox as well and they beat any standard media servers out there. What I don't have though is an EPG on it !!!! What program are you using to do that ?? Cheers There are actually quite a few python scripts around that will let you have TV-Guides thru the XBOX I have the Tivo modules loaded to get mine Here are some screenshoots for potential Media Server Buyers :-) http://homepage.mac.com/hlouey/PhotoAlbum51.html Henry
comfort1503559810 Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 There are actually quite a few python scripts around that will let you have TV-Guides thru the XBOXI have the Tivo modules loaded to get mine Ok, there are 4 tv guides that I can see in the download area for XMBC. One is a French TV Guide. One is a Tivo Guide which is obviously the one you are using. This obviously seems to be working fine, but you have to have a tivo dont you. From what I can make out it is not XBMC or the python script that is creating the TV guide but it is your Tivio and all the XBMC PY script is doing is reading the data from the TIVO. There are two left. Do you know if somebody has got either of these working in Australia ???
ccspack Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 How do i get XBMC onto my exbox that is already modded x-box, cam someone send me a disc to save onto the hard drive? i live in queensland.
comfort1503559810 Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 how technical are you with the xbox ??? Because you are going to have to have some pc and network knowlege to install the program yourself. You can download a copy of the latest version of XBMC from www.suprnova.org
Paul1503559514 Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 Hi guys, I'm extremely interested in modding my v1.0 Xbox. What chips are you all using? I plan to use the Xbox to run XBMC, swap the hard disk and if possible, a PVR. Would a basic mod chip satisfy these needs or would I need something more options? alessiman, how do you video in to the Xbox and what sort of connection is it? (composite, s-video, component etc)
alessiman Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 Hi guys, I'm extremely interested in modding my v1.0 Xbox. What chips are you all using? I plan to use the Xbox to run XBMC, swap the hard disk and if possible, a PVR. Would a basic mod chip satisfy these needs or would I need something more options?alessiman, how do you video in to the Xbox and what sort of connection is it? (composite, s-video, component etc) Paul, Cheapest chips for modding are the Aladdin series though people do like Xeniums if you want to run Linux etc. You cannot video into the xbox. The xbox is just the front end to my Tivo Its what media servers are designed for :-) But... The Tivo will output video in 566p, 480p, 720p or 1080i Its all quite good really Henry
comfort1503559810 Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 alessiman, how do you video in to the Xbox and what sort of connection is it? (composite, s-video, component etc) The xbox can be run as a media server, that is to view media already created. It cannot be run as a PVR AFAIK. Interesting with the latest software available for the Nebula DVB-t cards. It would not suprise me to find that somebody has created a network client frontend for that software to suit the xbox. If you have enough HDD space on your network you dont really need to upgrade the xbox's HDD unless you want them for games. XBMC will happly play video files across the LAN using standard windows SMB file shares. I keep hardly any video or audio on the Xbox hdd unless I want to take it somewhere or play stuff in the bedroom (no network connection in there). Of course if you want a stack of games a good size hdd is great. You can keep all your main games on the HDD and use other network storage once thats full to hold xbox iso game files which you can install automatically across the network. If I want to swap games, I make some space using boxplorer and delete a few games that I dont want to play anymore then I use complex tools to install new games across the network from the ISO files.
ccspack Posted September 25, 2004 Posted September 25, 2004 Ok I got XBMC working, but what program do I use to get the XBMC to play files off my PC, and how do i set XBMC to see it? Thanks
comfort1503559810 Posted September 27, 2004 Posted September 27, 2004 Ok I got XBMC working, but what program do I use to get the XBMC to play files off my PC, and how do i set XBMC to see it?Thanks <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You dont need any program to play files off your pc. What operating system are you running ?? If its XP you just need to share the folder that has the media in you want the xbox to access.. OK Quick Tutorial with Assumptions at the end. Lets assume your computer name is "ccspack-home" and the files you want to share are in the folders c:\Video, c:\Music and c:\Pictures You would share each of these folders by right clicking on each of the folders and selecting properties, then select the sharing tab. If you have never shared anything before it may give you a wizard or some such thing and warn you about the dangers of sharing your files. Just skip that until you can select the box marked "share this folder on the network". It will default the name of the folder as its share name which is fine. There is no need to select the "Allow network users to change my files" as the xbox only reads the files and does not need to write into the directory or delete files. If you share each of the above examples you will have three shares called "Video", "Music" and "Pictures" If you want to access the video share from another computer on the network you could type \\ccspack-home\video in an explorer or internet explorer address bar. You could even map that drive to a share by selecting "map network drive" in my computer or explorers "Tools" menu. For the xbox to access you are doing the same thing, just not quite so easily. You have to map access to that share so XBMC can acess the files. To do this you will need to edit the XboxMediaCenter.xml file. The xml file is divided into different sections and you really should read the online manual (www.xboxmediacenter.com) to explain each different section as it is way beyond this post to explain all the details. To add the music share scroll to through the xml file until you will find the music section which has the header <!-- my music shares !--> Find the following entry <bookmark> <name>WORKGROUPS (SMB)</name> <path>smb://</path> </bookmark> and change it to <bookmark> <name>Music on Network</name> <path>smb://ccspack-home/music</path> </bookmark> Following the same thinking you just need to enter the smb commands under <!-- my pictures shares !--> and <!-- my video shares !--> to be : <bookmark> <name>Music on Network</name> <path>smb://ccspack-home/pictures</path> </bookmark> and <bookmark> <name>Music on Network</name> <path>smb://ccspack-home/video</path> </bookmark> in their respective sections. Whilst you are editing the XboxMediaCenter.xml file you might as well remove the entries you dont need under each section. So if you have no use for itunes, XBMSP shares, XNS shares or MS Soundtracks you can remove each of their entires. It will remove these entries in your XBMC menu making it much cleaner and easier to get to the resources you have. When you do this though remember each entrey starts with a <bookmark> and finishs with a </bookmark> so you need to delete everything inclusive. Always remember to take a copy of XboxMediaCenter.xml before you start editing it, just in case. With a bit of networking knowledge already you can be up and running in only 10 mins. If you have to learn and do a bit of trial and error along the way, stick with it as the end is worth it. Assumptions: To get this working you should have the network and dns setup on XBMC. If you dont alter the XBMC settings in the XboxMediaCenter.xml file it will use whatever settings you have in your dashboard so it is important for you dashboard to be set up correctly. The easiest way to do this is to have a dhcp server on the network and let the xbox get the information from it. Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) does the same thing. If you copied XBMC onto the xbox yourself, chances are you did it with FTP therefore you would have a valid network setup already in place. If you do not have the dns (nameserver) set in XBMC you can use your Ip address instead of your computers name... ie. <path>smb://192.168.0.1/music</path> You have to have simple sharing mode on your computer for the above examples to work. If you have disabled "simple sharing mode" on your pc you will need to do a bit more work and setup user account for the xbox to use (you can setup an account and not have it appear on the welcome screen quite easily). With simple sharing mode on (which is the default for xp) all shares allow guest access. The method I have explained above will login to the share using the guest account. Disabling simple fire sharing and setting up an account for the Xbox to use to access files is defintely more secure, but increases the complexity of the setup somewhat. A good overview of the features and abilities of XBMC are at: http://www6.tomshardware.com/consumer/20040511/index.html XBMC has an online manual and great user forums at: http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/
ccspack Posted September 27, 2004 Posted September 27, 2004 Thank you so much for your help, i will try these things tonight & see if i can get it working, Thanks again,
ccspack Posted September 27, 2004 Posted September 27, 2004 Well i have followed all instructions, as i have windows XP home it is always in in simple sharing mode, but when i try to connect to the computer i get access is denied, What is going on? all help would be nice. Thanks
Paul1503559514 Posted September 27, 2004 Posted September 27, 2004 Just had my XBox modded, it's fantastic! The amount of extra functionality the thing now has with XBMC makes it SO much more useful - with a 160GB HD. Is there a decent web browser for a modded XBox? Quick question regarding the High Definition pack before I rush out and get one. I understand it does 1080i but is this only at 60Hz in NTSC mode? The reason I ask is that my Pana 86cm 200a will only resolve @ 50Hz. If I run the Xbox in PAL mode with the HD pack, will it output 576p or is it still interlaced? Sorry for all the questions! Hopefully they will help out someone else as well.
gusangora Posted September 27, 2004 Posted September 27, 2004 Well i have followed all instructions, as i have windows XP home it is always in in simple sharing mode, but when i try to connect to the computer i get access is denied, What is going on? all help would be nice.Thanks <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Do you use a firewall? Is it Zone Alarm? If so, trying turning it off temporarily and see what happens. If you connect okay with firewall turned off then try changing the settings or try a different firewall.
comfort1503559810 Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 Well i have followed all instructions, as i have windows XP home it is always in in simple sharing mode, but when i try to connect to the computer i get access is denied, What is going on? all help would be nice.Thanks <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If you have followed everything your problem will only be something minor.. something you missed, skipped or stuffed up.. Dont worry.. There are two solutions.. 1/ Send me an email (click on card at the bottom of my post) with a copy of your XBMC config file (cut and paste it into the message window in the browser). Please also confirm your the IP address, Subnet mask DNS Address and Default Gateway of your computer. Also send me the IP address, subnet mask, dns address and default gateway of your xbox. If you are using Evox then you can get this in the setup menu. 2/ Send me an email with your account name for messenger and you can send me a remote assistance request. I dont know if you have used it before but it allows me to view your screen so I can see what is going on and allows us to chat at the same time. You can also give me the ability to control your computer, but I dont think that is really going to be necessary. If you dont have messenger you can send me a request via email Can you also let me know the answer to the following 1/ Did you try the manual at all ? 2/ How many computers do you have on the network? 3/ How does XMBC gets its Network setup ? 4/ Can you get into the shares from your computer .. ie.. type the address into the address bar in my computer (as per the example in my last post type in \\ccspack-home\video ). You should be able to browse to your shares from your computer without issues. Cheers
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