Multimedia Xbox?

MorningStar

I was told by somebody that you can mod an Xbox so it can play mp3s and various media files that are stored on you PC. Anybody know the products that do this I had a search but I am not sure what to search by.

Basq

XBMC (XBox Media Center)..

Phenomenal piece of software! Though i've found it does have hassle playing 1 or 2 DVD's... starts playing one of the special features instead of going to the main menu.

XboxMediaCenter is a free open source (GPL) multimedia player for the Xbox™ from Microsoft. Currently XboxMediaCenter can be used to play/view most common video/audio/picture formats such as MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD, MP3, AAC, JPG, GIF plus many more less known formats directly from a CD/DVD in Xbox DVD-ROM drive or of Xbox hard-drive, XBMC can also stream files from a PC over a local network and even stream media streams directly from the internet. XBMC has playlist and slideshow functions, a weather forecast and many audio visualizations. All these features enable the Xbox™ running XboxMediaCenter to fully function as a multimedia jukebox. XBMC is easy to install and use, it's very convenient and flexible plus offers a great price/performance ratio. XBMC is of also course completely free of any adware or spyware. (This, The XboxMediaCenter Project is also known as "Xbox Media Center" or simply "XBMC"). Note! XBMC is a hobby project that is only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free. (Remember that XboxMediaCenter does require a modded Xbox to run on or it will not function)

mukki

if you got broadband, search for the evolutionx autoinstaller torrent, it has all the xbox software you'll ever need. all you'll need then is the hardware (modchip) and a soldering iron,

dont bother with the softmods, or solderless mods, i think soldering is something that every modder should learn.

GrumPy

lol, softmods are the way forward, trying to get the softmod on a memory card is almost as tricky as soldering, for a n0ob, only thing chips are good for is repairing xboxes, softmods, try to find "Krayzies Ndure installer"

mukki

good point - but if its tricky your wasting time learning how to do something that will be useless in about 3 months, xbox360 anyone?

soldering is a skill you can use on anything electrical

GrumPy

true, but at the end of the day, softmods aree the cheapest, and quickiest way to mod your xbox, and all you need in a usb stick, or a memory unit, which you can pick up for €15, rather then €40+ for a mod chip. Softmods are safer too, my xbox with a chip got banned from live, but my softmodded one didnt.

mukki

do you not need a way to plug the chip into both the pc and the xbox



and can you play your backed up games on a softmodded box, in case the originals get scratched

ps thats cool that you can still use live!

silverlining

mukki wrote:

do you not need a way to plug the chip into both the pc and the xbox



and can you play your backed up games on a softmodded box, in case the originals get scratched

ps thats cool that you can still use live!

You can do everything that a modchip can do and more like mounting DVD iso images so you can read long filenames off them etc. You do need a gizmo like the action replay (€20) for transferring the hacked gamesave (krayzie's autoinstaller) from the PC to xbox or you can very easily make a connector for attaching USB drives to the xbox. you also need an original exploitable game like mechassault, splinter cell and 007:agent under fire to boot the hack.

Modchips dont require you to know much about what's going on in the xbox and you wont have to read up on them as much so they are better for the DIY beginner. Both methods work just as well if they are installed properly by someone who knows what they are doing.

mukki

sounds brilliant i might try it tonight.

i'd still prefer a chip thought

axel90

media centre rocks it means u don't need a remote to control dvds also

Talisman

This is exactly what I've been looking for - the little terrorist at home has a nasty habit of scratching discs and coating things in stickieness.

My plan has been to buy an xbox, chip it and stick all his dvds on the hard drive in a manageable format: divx/xvid. Stage 1 is complete, I've bought a console for €80 and I'm waiting for it to be delivered.

Presumably I should have no problem taking out the hard drive and replacing it with something more roomy. (I was thinking of getting the Maxtor 300GB IDE drive.)

I'm not familiar with the xbox though and I have a few questions.

What is the best modchip to get to create a media center?
Will this transformation still allow him to play games if he wants to?

silverlining

modded xbox + XBMC (xbox media centre) is ideal for that. I wont go into too much detail suffice to say you wont be dissapointed.
You can play all your xbox games off the HD, Xvid/divx + nearly every media format you can think of and emulators for amiga, arcade, sega, nintendo64, psone, etc
If you have broadband then the scripts for xbmc allow you to connect to streaming and archived music and video websites such as BBC radio, warp records, Launchcast videos and news stations all controlled from the remote or controller.

if you have one of the following games: mechassault, splinter cell or james bond:AUF then consider softmodding as it's really quick and easy. A modchip is just as good though

MrVestek

Hrm, anybody got one of those USB - Xbox converter thingies so that I can plug in my USB pen drive to the Xbox for this softmod hack? Also, am I right in thinking that the Xbox has one normal USB port soldered onto the mobo?

GrumPy

Xbox has no usb on the mobo, but does have 4 usb ports, in the form of the controller ports, there shape is different, bu they are usb, u can either make a usb dongle dealy for your usb memory stick from scratch (like me) or buy a cheap xbox pad extender and splice that.

MrVestek

I have a xbox to usb converter already but it's male usb to female xbox so that won't really work. How cheap are we talking and does it just show up as a memory card or something?

silverlining

Game sell the action replay for xbox for €20 (I think). You get an 8MB xbox memory card and a USB cradle for plugging it into your PC. Thats the easiest way to guarantee it will work.

You could take a chance and grab an xbox controller extender from game (€6-€7), cut it and attach a female USB port (cut it off a USB extender cable (€5)) on the other end. The wires are coloured the same so it's easy. You may have a problem with the USB pendrive though so check here first: xbox USB compatibility

kaisersose77

Ye the xbox is a great multimedia center. I have about 100 xvid films on mine atm plus too much music and every old console game there is that is playable. And if u connect your xbox to the net you can get thumbnails for all your music and movies which makes it look a lot better. I rarely play an xbox game on it tbh. Cant go wrong with a secondhand xbox ( with a samsung drive of course ), an xecuter chip and a 250 gb HD from aldi ( 99 euros ). Ppl are amazed when they see a modded xbox with xbox media center and lots of movies etc.

GrumPy

xecuter chips are great, i have one in one of my box's, but softmods these days are brilliant, my LIVE xbox (no upgraded hdd) is softmodded, works a treat. In fact, i only use the chip to repair xbox's or upgrade hard drives, handy as feck but if you aint got the cash try "krayzies ndure installer" class;)

po0k

Irish GrumPy wrote:

true, but at the end of the day, softmods aree the cheapest, and quickiest way to mod your xbox, and all you need in a usb stick, or a memory unit, which you can pick up for €15, rather then €40+ for a mod chip. Softmods are safer too, my xbox with a chip got banned from live, but my softmodded one didnt.

That's because you didn't a) do a stealth install b) lock your hard0drive c) hold off using your xbox on Live! before you modded it and d) turn off the modchip.

Soldered modchips are a far better option.

And Live sucks anyways.

GrumPy

it is solderless, the xbox is fine, i have 2 for a reason, softmods are better anywayz and LIVE is good. if you upgrade hdd on live (it was locked, it needs to be locked to even boot unmodded) you get banned regarless of what mod you used, if its on or off, live can tell if the hdd is new or not without mod being on etc... the chipped one i dont use for games, it holds all my avi/divx files so i can watch **** on that one, and play stuff on the softmodded one.

fatherdougalmag

Looking to softmod my (younfella's) Xbox this weekend. Don't have the torc screwdrivers (as I was going to hotswap the drive) so I'm hunting down an Action Replay kit. Game in The Square doesn't have any. Next plan is to try Game and PC World in Liffey Valley. Price to beat is €30 on eBay. I see that Argos have a Max pack version for €50. Anyone know where Action Replay can be bought on Dublin southside?

Talisman

You won't receive it before the weekend but Action Replay is £17.99 (~€24.00) on play.com

CiaranC

You'll need an orginal copy of MechAssault, James Bond or Splinter Cell to run the gamesave exploit also.

fatherdougalmag

Cheers guys. I went took the Play.com route Talisman. Thanks for that tip. Never thought to look at Play. I'm going to try Krayzie's Nuke installer using Splinter Cell CiaranC. Getting a loan of the original.

fatherdougalmag

Just noticed this too on Play which is slightly cheaper and less messy.

fatherdougalmag

Well the Replay kit arrived yesterday morning and I eventually got around to applying the mod last night. Terrific stuff. Very powerful. Looking forward to getting every Mame ROM from my misspent childhood over the weekend. And all those Python scripts. Considering getting a second 'box for dedicated XBMC usage.