XBMC - Turning an old XBOX in to a media player...

[matt]

Following on from the other thread about media tanks etc... I'm going to have a go at converting an old XBOX using XBMC. Depending on how it goes there is could be a risk that I'll just throw my hands up and jack it in but, if not, is there any value (to other forum members) of me collating the instructions (probably a list of URL's) that I use?

In the meantime... I need to lay my hands on Action Replay for the original XBOX. Seemingly quite hard to get hold of these days.

I have the XBOX and a copy of Splinter Cell.

 

[yo_chuci]

i got hold of action replay avforums xbox section... there was a free one that got sent all over the country for everyone to use...

now you don't need it tho there is an installer that you burn to dvd and pop away you go...

or if you know someone who has already done their box you can tranfer the save exploits to an xbox memory card and copy them across...

think it takes about 3 cards (haven't done it for a year or 2)

will have a look and see if i can find the info on the installer

 

[yo_chuci]

http://aidtracker.com/

thats for the program but read in here
to find out how to do it... tho i think it is easy

and a quick google and viola http://www.se7ensins.com/forums/xbox-tutorials/31328-use-auto-installer-deluxe.html

let me know how you get on...

also which version you install as mine is old (i aint updated it for ages) so dunno if newer versions have more stuff
use ours every week when the little one wants to watch his films...
stored on pc so he doesn't ever get near the dvd's and scratch them...

 

[matt]

Got there eventually. Spent more time reading stuff on-line than actually doing the hack and installing XBMC. Now I just need to have a play and see what it does.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Got there eventually. Spent more time reading stuff on-line than actually doing the hack and installing XBMC. Now I just need to have a play and see what it does.

Cool, post it up matt, i would be interested to see.

I got an appleTV for christmas and have the jailbreak for it to add Boxee and XBMC too so will be doing that when I get the tuit.

 

[wizer]

do you need a Mac for AppleTV?

 

[TrimTheKing]

do you need a Mac for AppleTV?

Nope, it's effectively a Media Centre that sits under your TV. Pretty much an iPod in a slightly bigger box with a menu system built in, which links to itunes and you wifi.

Out of the box it will only play itunes based stuff but with a simple crack it can play any and almost all formats.

Menu system is extremely wife friendly too, as you would expect from Apple...

 

[matt]

OK, here goes... I had a lot of to'ing and fro'ing so this is a summarised version of the instructions I eventually used and found actually worked (notwithstanding some comments included below too).
need:

The following links etc basically describe the following process:

Hacking the XBOX - A Pre-Cursor to being able to install XBMC
Essentially this installs a new interface on your XBOX and allows you to open it up to FTP files from your PC via your network (or by simply plugging it in to your PC's ethernet port using a crossover network cable).
1. Make an Action Replay device.
2. Download and install Action Replay software.
3. Get your home-made Action Replay working with the correct driver.
4. Getting hold of the hack files.
5. Hacking the XBOX.
6. Opening up the network on the XBOX.

Installing XBMC
1. Sourcing the XBMC program files.
2. Connecting via FTP on your PC to your XBOX.
3. Moving the XBMC files on to the XBOX.
4. Job done!

A memory device to get the Hack Files on to the XBOX
First I followed these instructions to make a an Action Replay device. I bought this card for £3.41 (I specifically sourced an original MS card because I suspected it may be the only type where the back was screwed on (and therefore removable) but I may be wrong).

Now I download and installed the latest version of the Action Replay software from here.

I then plugged the memory device in to my PC and Windows 7 took over and (unhelpfully) installed a default driver. I spent a while sussing this one out... Windows recognised the device as a disk drive but would not let me update the driver (Windows kept telling me that it had already installed the best driver). However... I then spotted that it also recognised the device under USB devices too. I updated this driver, browsing manually to "C:\Program Files\Datel\Action Replay XBOX\Drivers".

Launch the Action Replay software and the big "AR" logo in the middle of the screen should turn green if you have successfully set up your memory card. If not it will remain grey. I noticed it sometimes took a few seconds to change colour (but no more than 15 seconds tops).

Getting the Hack Files on to your XBOX
These are the best instructions I found covering the whole process through to installing XBMC. However, I referred to these instructions for specifics about mIRC and FTP software, albeit the mIRC software interface and therefore instructions are old so require a little intepretation... Also, the instruction to type “/msg xbins !list” is no longer valid. You simply type "!list" (without the quotes). Final comment on this area... The aforementioned (linked) Lifehacker instructions tell you to get XMBC from the second XBINs FTP server (and the message back from XBINs that you get when you type "!list" suggests the same. However... I could not get the second server to connect so tried the first server for XBMC and found it under XBOX Applications.

Specific comments aside, this is more or less what I did to hack the XBOX and install XBMC.

 

[yo_chuci]

that was how i did mine although i had an orig action reply so didn't need to hack a memory card..

now tho most people do it by auto installer delux thing i linked to before. basically because getting hold of the action reply stuff is difficult.

funny thing is once you've one its easy to do the next as you can just copy the files across from the soft modded box onto std memory card over to an un modded box (tho it takes three saves due to size of files and the card)

now that your there what version of XBMC did you install.

 

[matt]

...now that your there what version of XBMC did you install.

I've no idea :?

Once I've established how useful it is I may install a larger hard disk or network is to my NAS. The one thing I had forgotten about is how noisy the XBOX is when it's running :shock:

 

[yo_chuci]

i use mine networked. works great. hope you have fun and find a use..

 

[SimonB]

The one thing I had forgotten about is how noisy the XBOX is when it's running :shock:

I tried a cooling mod on mine, found it on one of the xbox hack forums. Involved dremeling out parts around the fan to fit a larger quieter fan, and then replacing the cheap paste on the chips with something alot better. I also went further and dremeled alot of the inside, relocated the HDD etc to improve airflow. Unfortunately I found that once the heatsink on the GPU had been removed it didn't fit back tightly enough. I faffed around with it for a bit but think I ended up frying something, so it went in the bin.

If the new AppleTV can be hacked and the HD card is easily available I think I'll go down that route. Of all the reasonable budget options I find XBMC to be by far and away the best media player.

 

[matt]

One thing I have found is a remote control for the iPhone that controls the box via the network so I could hide it away somewhere and use an exceptionally long AV cable to get the signal to the TV.