XBox Media Centre

**tetsujin1979** · 08/05/2008, 2:37 PM

There was a short discussion on this in the GTA IV thread, but it was waay off topic so it died.
Thought it deserved a thread of it's own. Game and GameStop are selling off cheap second hand original XBox.
With a little technical know-how, you can replace the standard XBox operating system with XBox MediaCentre (aka XBMC) and use it to watch movies/TV shows you've download "legally" on your TV, or to stream audio and video around your home network
There's a fairly long thread on boards.ie which explains what needs to be done to get it installed here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2055256404
And another about replacing the standard HD here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2055265739

I followed these, and now I have a 500GB media centre sitting under my TV, for just over 100 euros, which is fantastic value.

Sure beats watching Heroes on a laptop screen!

**anto1208** · 08/05/2008, 5:50 PM

I had a look at doing this and got lost pretty quickly , they named some cable ide cable or something like that but i havent a clue about any of that stuff , ive no problem ripping open the xbox as its just sitting there.

Im sure if i sat with the xbox open and the web page open id get through it.

**Boo_Boy** · 08/05/2008, 6:05 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Sure beats watching Heroes on a laptop screen!

eh,

get a US itunes account, tv shows are cheaper.

i play all my tv shows from itunes on my 42 inch samsung, all you need is a video s cable...

**tetsujin1979** · 08/05/2008, 7:20 PM

Originally Posted by anto1208

I had a look at doing this and got lost pretty quickly , they named some cable ide cable or something like that but i havent a clue about any of that stuff , ive no problem ripping open the xbox as its just sitting there.

Im sure if i sat with the xbox open and the web page open id get through it.

Where do you live? I've done 5 of them now, I could have it ready for you in a few hours

Originally Posted by Boo_Boy

eh,

get a US itunes account, tv shows are cheaper.

i play all my tv shows from itunes on my 42 inch samsung, all you need is a video s cable...

My PC or laptop doesn't have a TV out, so this is the next best thing. Plus I loath iTunes.
I think this is actually better, the hard drive is far bigger than anything else I have, and I kept having to burn stuff off to DVD when my HD started filling up.

**Boo_Boy** · 08/05/2008, 9:58 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Where do you live? I've done 5 of them now, I could have it ready for you in a few hours

My PC or laptop doesn't have a TV out, so this is the next best thing. Plus I loath iTunes.
I think this is actually better, the hard drive is far bigger than anything else I have, and I kept having to burn stuff off to DVD when my HD started filling up.

im in the same situation

ive only got 4.24GB free space, and 38GB of itunes tv shows

i dont think i'd be able to do take an xBox apart and install the XBMC but i might try it as one of the projects that you never complete!

**anto1208** · 08/05/2008, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Where do you live? I've done 5 of them now, I could have it ready for you in a few hours

.

Im in limerick if you are back down that would be class if not ill try to give it ago myself,

**tetsujin1979** · 09/05/2008, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by Boo_Boy

im in the same situation

ive only got 4.24GB free space, and 38GB of itunes tv shows

i dont think i'd be able to do take an xBox apart and install the XBMC but i might try it as one of the projects that you never complete!

External HDs are getting cheap now, komplett sell a 500GB Seagate drive for €89, there's a terabyte (1000 GB) one for €179
see more here: http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.aspx?bn=10098

Originally Posted by anto1208

Im in limerick if you are back down that would be class if not ill try to give it ago myself,

Won't be back down again in Limerick until the 16th, and you really need a PC to do it. If you lend me the XBox, I could have it for you on the June Bank Holiday weekend?

**Boo_Boy** · 10/05/2008, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

External HDs are getting cheap now, komplett sell a 500GB Seagate drive for �89, there's a terabyte (1000 GB) one for �179
see more here: http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.aspx?bn=10098

i might pick one of those up, is it like a big USB memory stick?

2.26GB free space now, im running low...HELP!!!!

**tetsujin1979** · 11/05/2008, 4:49 PM

Originally Posted by Boo_Boy

i might pick one of those up, is it like a big USB memory stick?

2.26GB free space now, im running low...HELP!!!!

Yeah, pretty much. Just plugs into the USB connection and registers as another hard drive.
Some need their own power source to run, whereas a USB key runs off the power in the connection

**anto1208** · 11/05/2008, 11:06 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Won't be back down again in Limerick until the 16th, and you really need a PC to do it. If you lend me the XBox, I could have it for you on the June Bank Holiday weekend?

Sounds good

**anto1208** · 15/05/2008, 12:53 PM

tetsujin you down this weekend ? you sort that xbox for me ? Do you need any cable or controllers or just the box ? Does all this cost anymoney ?

**tetsujin1979** · 15/05/2008, 1:09 PM

Originally Posted by anto1208

tetsujin you down this weekend ?

yep

Originally Posted by anto1208

you sort that xbox for me ?

double yep

Originally Posted by anto1208

Do you need any cable or controllers or just the box ?

nope

Originally Posted by anto1208

Does all this cost anymoney ?

double nope. unless you want to add in something like a new hard drive

**anto1208** · 15/05/2008, 3:21 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

yepdouble yepnopedouble nope. unless you want to add in something like a new hard drive

Brilliant !

I can plug my external HD straight into it and play my stuff off that yea?
i dont really need to add a HD.

What side of the city you on? when suits for me to drop it off ?

**tetsujin1979** · 15/05/2008, 3:31 PM

Originally Posted by anto1208

Brilliant !

I can plug my external HD straight into it and play my stuff off that yea?
i dont really need to add a HD.

What side of the city you on? when suits for me to drop it off ?

hmmmm, probably better to copy whatever you want to watch onto the XBox's hard drive, then watch it
you can use something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Xbox-Controller-...QQcmdZViewItem
to connect any USB device to the XBox
If you have a network in the house, it's probably better to connect the drive to a PC, then stream it to the XBox

I live near the parkway. I'm back in Limerick on friday night, and will be in Cork most of saturday, but I'm available all day sunday

**anto1208** · 15/05/2008, 3:57 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

hmmmm, probably better to copy whatever you want to watch onto the XBox's hard drive, then watch it
you can use something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Xbox-Controller-...QQcmdZViewItem
to connect any USB device to the XBox
If you have a network in the house, it's probably better to connect the drive to a PC, then stream it to the XBox

I live near the parkway. I'm back in Limerick on friday night, and will be in Cork most of saturday, but I'm available all day sunday

Ah your only 2mins away from me so , ive a match friday so i think Sunday is the best option ill pm you my mobile No. and you can give me a shout sunday ill drop it over.

ive a network set up all right but i reckon the copying option looks the best

**lofty9** · 16/05/2008, 11:05 AM

Can you still play games on it or does this just turn it into a media player? My wee lad plays away at the old modded xbox more than any other console, so wouldn't want to mess about with it if it takes that away from him

**tetsujin1979** · 16/05/2008, 11:15 AM

Yeah, you can still play games on it, you can copy the XBMC files over to a directory, and run it as a normal application

**anto1208** · 14/08/2008, 9:06 AM

Need a little help with this i Have it set up on the network and i can stream to it using Twonky vision but i can't figure out how to link it directly to the movies folder on the network or copy anything onto the xbox's hard drive,

I tried burning a data dvd with AVI's but it couldnt read it just kept saying audio disk empty. I cant get anything to copy onto the xbox HD.

**tetsujin1979** · 14/08/2008, 9:41 AM

Originally Posted by anto1208

Need a little help with this i Have it set up on the network and i can stream to it using Twonky vision but i can't figure out how to link it directly to the movies folder on the network or copy anything onto the xbox's hard drive,

I tried burning a data dvd with AVI's but it couldnt read it just kept saying audio disk empty. I cant get anything to copy onto the xbox HD.

I ftp files across, rather than copying them from the CD drive. There's an FTP server set up on the XBox when you install XBMC. The username and password is xbox/xbox, if you highlight Settings in the main menu screen, the IP address should appear in the bottom right of the screen. I use FileZilla to copy the files, but any FTP client should do the trick

**anto1208** · 14/08/2008, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

I ftp files across, rather than copying them from the CD drive. There's an FTP server set up on the XBox when you install XBMC. The username and password is xbox/xbox, if you highlight Settings in the main menu screen, the IP address should appear in the bottom right of the screen. I use FileZilla to copy the files, but any FTP client should do the trick

Cheers ill try that failing that ill have to start drilling holes through the floor to pass a LAN down .