360 file quesiton

evad_lhorg

just curious. is it possible to put avi files on the 360 from and external source and watch them?


also does anyone know if the 360 plays dvd-r?

Ronan

nope, I am pretty sure it is WMV only and you need to be streaming from Windows Media Server.

KTRIC

Do a search for Transcode360, this plugin for MC2005 lets you stream DivX and VOB files.

I'm going to try it when my Xb360 comes back from MS.

danbhala

transcode360 works a treat!

get it here:

http://www.runtime360.com/projects/transcode-360/

Ciaran500

Is there any way to stream without MCE?

EDIT: How does MCE fair when using it as a standard OS?

GrumPy

Ciaran500 wrote:

Is there any way to stream without MCE?

EDIT: How does MCE fair when using it as a standard OS?

It's the EXACT same as XP, but with better 360 connectivity.

Julez

Has anyone had many/any problems with MCE as far as comatibility is concerned, like with your sond card or graphics cards or anything?! I'm gonna get a new pc withing the next month, probably with MCE and just wondering if I should be weary of what parts I'm buying?!

StickyMcGinty

so theres abs no way to stream video without XP MCE??

Alnilam

Julez: if yer building your own MCE box have a look through the green button forums and for your wallets sake make sure you don't buy anything that's not on microsofts compatibility list interms of motherboard, video or sound cards if it ain't on the list it won't work in my "expensive" experience. (I built my own MCE box so I speak the truth if you want any more pointers for building PM me:))

VinnyL: as far as I'm aware the only way to stream video of any sort to the 360 is with MCE, but it's a really nice interface and if you set your internet explorer region to the US you get lots of extra's on "Online spotlight"

wayne040576

VinnyL wrote:

so theres abs no way to stream video without XP MCE??

None that I'm aware of. It only acts as a media centre extender.
Media centre lets you stream mpeg as well as WMV. I've never got that transcode 360 to work and from reading its messageboard, I'm not the only one. It's not very stable and crashes all the time while trying to encode.

StickyMcGinty

i know but i cant upgrade to media edition as it says you require special hardware for it to work!

wayne040576

VinnyL wrote:

i know but i cant upgrade to media edition as it says you require special hardware for it to work!

No you don't. It expects you to have a tuner card in the machine but it isn't necessary. Also if you are trying to upgrade a previous version of windows, it won't let you. It has to be installed separately. You can save all of your data and install it instead of XP or just partition the hard disc and set up a dual boot system. I installed in on another hard drive that I put into the pc. Now I multi boot between linux, XP and media centre. Microsoft didn't want it to be sold separately so that is why they say you need a special machine set up, and also prevent upgrades. Once you have enough cpu power\ram you should be ok.

Alnilam

OK... here's the thing wayne, your WRONG! :P MCE does have specific hardware requirements and it will not run even remotly stable unless there met I'm gonna stick a few links here so peeps don't think "aha I just buy MCE and fire it on my machine" and end up really p***ed off

first the MCE Hardware compatibility list can be downloaded from here http://oem.microsoft.com/downloads/MCEReadinessCenter/MCE_Approved_Components_for_MOSB.xls
thankfully the components are all readily available and may even be in your pc to start with if your lucky

The most helpful threads thread on the green button
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/47112.aspx

IF you want the DVR functions then read this
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/11463.aspx

and lastly 10 Things to know before BUILDING a MCE machine.
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/45174.aspx

If your thinking of building your own MCE machine read these first. You will regret it if you don't.

Just incase anyones wondering how I know these things I have built about 5 MCE 2005 systems in the last 12 months and I have been building media centres for my own use for over 3 years and not all MCE boxes either but I have to say overall it's by far the best option, especially if you have a 360

GrumPy

wayne040576 wrote:

None that I'm aware of. It only acts as a media centre extender.
Media centre lets you stream mpeg as well as WMV. I've never got that transcode 360 to work and from reading its messageboard, I'm not the only one. It's not very stable and crashes all the time while trying to encode.

it crashing has alot to do with your pc's spec, you need a decent processor, and a good bit of RAM to make the stream work correctly.

wayne040576

Irish GrumPy wrote:

it crashing has alot to do with your pc's spec, you need a decent processor, and a good bit of RAM to make the stream work correctly.

I have an AMD64-fx55 processor, one of athlon's newest at the moment, with 2 gig of ram.

wayne040576

Alnilam wrote:

OK... here's the thing wayne, your WRONG! :P MCE does have specific hardware requirements and it will not run even remotly stable unless there met I'm gonna stick a few links here so peeps don't think "aha I just buy MCE and fire it on my machine" and end up really p***ed off

first the MCE Hardware compatibility list can be downloaded from here http://oem.microsoft.com/downloads/MCEReadinessCenter/MCE_Approved_Components_for_MOSB.xls
thankfully the components are all readily available and may even be in your pc to start with if your lucky

The most helpful threads thread on the green button
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/47112.aspx

IF you want the DVR functions then read this
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/11463.aspx

and lastly 10 Things to know before BUILDING a MCE machine.
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/45174.aspx

If your thinking of building your own MCE machine read these first. You will regret it if you don't.

Just incase anyones wondering how I know these things I have built about 5 MCE 2005 systems in the last 12 months and I have been building media centres for my own use for over 3 years and not all MCE boxes either but I have to say overall it's by far the best option, especially if you have a 360

That's a fairly big list of Compatible hardware. I would suggest that before anyone installs any type of software, they check the requirements list. I'll agree if you're not that experienced using computers then it isn't a good idea to try it yourself. But I'd also say if you're that inexperienced you shouldn't be even thinking of buying the full media machine. They are being sold as something that sits in your sitting room like a dvd player but the fact is, they're not. They are pcs that will require a certain amount of knowledge to use whether you built it yourself or not. Problems will occur with them and you should learn how to deal with them yourself.

Most of the problems with it are codec related because MS are too stingy to provide mpeg decoder. I found that the mpeg codec that is used for streaming to the xbox is optimised for that task alone. So even when you have your system working for months then decide to install a new app that replaces the standard mpeg decoder resulting in poor playback. This type of stuff can happen whether you built the machine yourself or bought it.

Doing this type of stuff has a learning curve. If you are willing to put the time in and learn how to do it, you'll get the benefits. You might make mistakes but that's what pcs are about.