# Original XBOX = Media Center?



## SeanoRLY? (Jul 20, 2008)

So I was watching the broken earlier on (awesome underground series made a few years ago), and in episode 3 they modded the original xbox and showed a few things it could do. One of the things that stood out for me was that someone made a media center type program for it, and it streamed video files from the HD. I was wondering if anyone knew more about it, as in, what file types the xbox could run.

I was thinking that modding/soft modding an original xbox would be a great and very cheap solution to a media center. I'd probably only use it for anime/movies/tv-shows, etc and the majority of those are in AVI which I'm guessing it can run, but a lot of new groups are now encoding in MKV and for dual audio files, OGM. Does anyone know if the Xbox could handle MKV/OGM files?

So yeah, I can pick up an original Xbox for like 20 quid, so it'd be great for backing media onto the HD for streaming to a nice big TV. Does anyone have any good links to explaining how to do that? 

I'll go check on Xbox Scene, but their Original Xbox tutorial section is HUGE so it might take a while to cive though.

Thanks guys!


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## martin88 (Jul 20, 2008)

That's the XBMC. It basically plays everything you downloads from the Internet.

You need to mod your Xbox to install XBMC, I recommend softmodding.


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## chuckstudios (Jul 20, 2008)

Use this guide to softmod your Xbox (it costs nothing, no materials to buy).

XBMC is available here.

Also, XBMC supports everything. No joke. AVI, MKV, OGM, VOB, MOV, etc...


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## fischju (Jul 20, 2008)

It will not stream HD content.


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## SeanoRLY? (Jul 20, 2008)

Thanks a lot for the quick feedback guys! I'll check out the tutorial. Guess it's time for me to buy a xbox ;D

Guess it's a no go for MKV files then. That's OK though, AVI should be enough and I can always convert the files for the Xbox.

Thanks once again guys!


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## chuckstudios (Jul 20, 2008)

SeanoRLY? said:
			
		

> Thanks a lot for the quick feedback guys! I'll check out the tutorial. Guess it's time for me to buy a xbox ;D
> 
> Guess it's a no go for MKV files then. That's OK though, AVI should be enough and I can always convert the files for the Xbox.
> 
> Thanks once again guys!



MKV works, as MKV is just a container. It's just more likely to have (non-working) HD content inside.


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## matriculated (Jul 20, 2008)

Yeah it won't do HD but it upconverts to 1024i very nicely - beats the hell out of my DVD player.


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## Corizzle (Jul 20, 2008)

MKV will work fine, I have watched plenty of Anime that was in MKV (with duel audio/subs).  As mentioned if it's in HD it won't play though.

The XBOX is probably the best media centre you can get other then an actual Media Centre PC.  Especially given how easy it is to mod.  I have 3 in 3 different rooms and they all are barely used for games anymore.


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## Linkiboy (Jul 20, 2008)

This thread is relevant to my interests...

Does the xbox come with a HD? How big? What form-factor HD does it use?

What the max resolution it can play? Can it play 1280x720?


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## AshuraZro (Jul 20, 2008)

Linkiboy said:
			
		

> This thread is relevant to my interests...
> 
> Does the xbox come with a HD? How big? What form-factor HD does it use?
> 
> What the max resolution it can play? Can it play 1280x720?


Generally an 8GB hard drive but it's not difficult to swap it out with a larger one. It's a standard 3.5'' IDE hard drive. I still maintain that it is one of the cheapest media center solutions out there for standard definition content.


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## chuckstudios (Jul 21, 2008)

Linkiboy said:
			
		

> This thread is relevant to my interests...
> 
> Does the xbox come with a HD? How big? What form-factor HD does it use?
> 
> What the max resolution it can play? Can it play 1280x720?



It's actually 10GB most of the time, but the other 2GB is unpartitioned by default. I have a 500GB in mine, putting in a new drive simply consists of getting a key off the original and applying the key to the new one (locking) with a special Linux live CD. Also, 1280x720 qualifies as HD. Standard definition is usually around 700 pixels horizontally and 500 pixels vertically.


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## Harsky (Jul 21, 2008)

Just thought I might chip in over how awesome XBMC is. I installed it a few months ago and the updates kept coming in within weeks. Didn't even need to update it that often.

It was a pain at first to learn about FTP but now I look back and think how stupid could I be to not even know FTP.

Swapping HDD is easy. The inside of the Xbox is essentially just a PC in a console so you just swap cables and that's it. The Xbox as a games machine was okay but with XBMC it was what made me NOT sell the Xbox. Just a shame that there's nothing like it for the 360... yet


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## Linkiboy (Jul 21, 2008)

chuckstudios said:
			
		

> Linkiboy said:
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> ...


Ah, its just that its a celeron that around 700mhz, which is I think a similar one on my old PC, which can run 720p/i video...


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## Scathraax (Jul 21, 2008)

chuckstudios said:
			
		

> Use this guide to softmod your Xbox (it costs nothing, no materials to buy).
> 
> XBMC is available here.
> 
> Also, XBMC supports everything. No joke. AVI, MKV, OGM, VOB, MOV, etc...


Holy crap.. hotswapping seems so very complicated. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





I think I'll continue to look for a copy of one the 3 softmod enabling games.


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## matriculated (Jul 21, 2008)

You're better off just putting the XBOX on your network using SMB and streaming video off your PC.


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## Prime (Jul 21, 2008)

chuckstudios said:
			
		

> Use this guide to softmod your Xbox (it costs nothing, no materials to buy)



You need to buy a screwdriver


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## chuckstudios (Jul 22, 2008)

ZML said:
			
		

> chuckstudios said:
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> 
> ...



It's really not that bad. Besides, you have to do it (partially at least) in order to upgrade the HDD.


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## pika3000 (Jul 22, 2008)

ZML said:
			
		

> Holy crap.. hotswapping seems so very complicated.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You should check EBgames for a copy of splinter cell (even platinum copies work), a friend told me that he saw it there for a dollar. If you need a Datel USB to Xbox device then you should check out this manual http://www.instructables.com/id/Better-Usb-Adapter-for-XBox/ on how to make your own and if you have a PSP you can use that to transfer the save data but back up the memory stick pro duo first.


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## sunnytimes (Jul 22, 2008)

XBMC rules!! if you have HI-def this skin is awesome.. www.aeonproject.com .. also i highly recommend keeping your XBMC up to date with new versions , and if you haven't updated in a long time it gets better everyday :]

for more skins this is the best app .. http://s205077464.onlinehome.fr/ .. super easy to get alot of up to date skins right from the official skin project SVN ..


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## rscarrab (Jul 23, 2008)

Definetely get your xbox modded. I have mine hard modded (its a v1.0) with the Xecuter 3 chip and i can vouch for it, hasn't given me a prob (not that IT should). Getting my xbox modded was well worth it, id recommend you get it hard modded with a chip and then get a hard drive installed, the bigger the better. Im using a 120gb HDD and i always find myself wishing i had more space!! If your PC is nearby, Hook it up with an ethernet cable and FTP all your media/ISO's/roms onto the xbox. If anything the xbox is by far the best console for homebrew and emulators. As another poster pointed out xbox-scene.com has all the information.
One thing though that annoyed me when i first started FTP'ing to the xbox; Filenames have to be 80 characters or less. As opposed to 128 characters. All files on xbox cant exceed 80 characters, remember that. Renaming rom sets took ages, not as long as trying to figure out why they wont FTP in the first place...


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## rscarrab (Jul 23, 2008)

sunnytimes said:
			
		

> XBMC rules!! if you have HI-def this skin is awesome.. www.aeonproject.com .. also i highly recommend keeping your XBMC up to date with new versions , and if you haven't updated in a long time it gets better everyday :]
> 
> for more skins this is the best app .. http://s205077464.onlinehome.fr/ .. super easy to get alot of up to date skins right from the official skin project SVN ..



What adapter or cable are you using to get Hi-def on your xbox? Im still running through Scart, doesnt bother me too much, but ive ordered the component cable for the wii and i figure i might as well get my xbox to follow suit. So, any suggestions?


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## lukereeve (Jul 23, 2008)

Use the component cables. With these if you change your video reason using "Enigmah Video Changer" to chang into NTSC you can run XBMC and a few games in 480p and some even in 720p. Both THUGs are examples of 720p. Well worth the buy if you can find them.


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## sunnytimes (Jul 23, 2008)

i have 2 sets of cables, one for each TV :] .. i have some originals...

http://www.kanection.co.uk/images/xbox/hig...ck-contents.jpg

my other ones are monster cables which i got lucky and got for $5.

http://www.onecall.com/ImageCache/Monster%...0_300x250_s.jpg
i think that image is a knockoff monster cable but they look like that.

a few of my friends have this one .. 

http://i4.ebayimg.com/03/i/04/06/71/9e_1_b.JPG

cause it was on sale at walmart one day .. seems to work ok .. 

if your using XBMC than getting the HD cables is worth it for sure.


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## fischju (Jul 23, 2008)

Monster cables are an extreme waste of money, and the Xbox will only be able to play low bitrate 1280x720.


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## rscarrab (Jul 23, 2008)

@lukereeve, sunnytimes & fischju;
Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated.


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## stonefry (Jul 23, 2008)

fischju said:
			
		

> Monster cables are an extreme waste of money, and the Xbox will only be able to play low bitrate 1280x720.



He did say that he only spent $5 on it.


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## Pici (Jul 25, 2008)

modded xbox is really a cool thing. Nowadays, it costs 40€ with 2 games, a controller and a remote.
There are loads of homebrew. i manly use emulators that are very well made and XMC really read everything.

I see just one con. my xbox has trouble while reading hi-res .mov files.


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