XBOX XBMC Home Theater...?

I figured this is the best spot to put this. I'm looking into doing a home theater pc setup, but was wondering if you guys thought it would be better to mod a PS2 or an XBOX for starters? I'm not a fan of the xbox controller, but i plan on usin it for just movies. Eventually maybe I'll play some games on it, but not my main priority.

Say I wanted to mod an XBOX, would that be a better, less power sucking option than running a pc or laprop as my movie storage device?
How big of a HDD can I attach to he XBOX?

 

Also, any links to upgrading the processor and RAM to allow high-def playback?
Thanks again!
Happy New Year !

 

power consumption of the xbox is less then a modern pc.

upgrading a xbox is not economically worthwhile in general, but (although possible) completely useless (you can update to a 1000 mhz cpu and upgrade the ram with 64 mb but you need a chip to use the full power of the update. on the other hand, i believe that xbmc does not use this 'upgrade'. so xbmc will only use 64mb and 733 mhz i believe). in that case use a modern pc or buy a pc mediacentre. the xbox has a 733 cpu and 64 mb ram, so you have an idea what it will (divx, avi, mp3, vob, dvd's etc.) and will not run (bleuray, hdtv etc.)

 

Thanks for the reply. As for right now, I just want to be able to put my movies on it(200-300) so that my GF doesn't have to keep searching thru my big aluminum case for them. I want to make it easy for her-turn on XBOX, locate movie, hit play. So, if someone can link me to some of the the things I would need, that would be great. I'm not worried about HD or Blu-Ray. I know to fit 200 movies(in iso. format on a dvd copy as I have them now-unless someone can tell me another way to make them smaller)I will need a TB of HDD space, but did I read correctly that the XBOX will only handle a 750GB?

Anyone do something like this with a PS2? Would be nice to have the PS2 games to play as well, especially since I prefer the PS2 controller over XBOX.

BTW-just looking to do it this way until I decide what i want to do and learn how to build a HTPC/NAS setup.

 

Found this to give me more room as well:

http://www.consoleshop.com/product.php?productid=16386

 

Which chip should i get and why?
The Executor3 CE or the SmartXX 3.....or any other suggestions.

 

an xbox is perfect for movies i have a 500 hd in my xbox an i am still pretty amazedfor for the things this old ,machine can do:

play mp3s
play dvds
play karaokes mp3+G
view youtube videos
and many other things

an all of this without dealing with discs

 

you dont need any chip .softmodding is much easier .and inexpensive

just go to the tutorials post in here.

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/536595#3246424

 

bt i've heardi can do more wit the hard mod an can easily repair the xbox. don't remeber exactly what all i've read, but was pretty sure i wanted to hard mod....

 

Why would someone want a chip like you've posted mainly for LEDs or an lcd on the front of the xbox,for what you want to do all you need is an duoX2,i got 2 smartxxx last year waste of money,i spent 160 more than i needed too,so the other two boxes i have will get the duo's put into them,plus the duo's are cheaper to fit,then it's a matter of what size hdd you want it can be IDE or SATA,tho with SATA you'll need the slim adaptor,or you could go my route & use extender kits which allow fitting of two more hdd's so 3 in total,if the electronics in the extenders stuff out it's no biggie,you just fit your own knob switch or whatever as they're pretty basic (you can make your own extenders also),yes the duo will run the extenders ok,as not all 3 hdd's run at the same time,it's great games on the first two hdd's & movies on the last,gotta luv that dvd2xbox hehehe.


1 tetrabyte is the max in hdd size so with an extender kit you could put 3 x 1 tet hdd's in,actually not sure why only 1 tet per bay but that's the rule from what i've seen on my travels,Samsung drives seem dirt cheap they're quite as well must be low power types or something

 

Then why is the hard mod even listed here over and over again? I will take the word from you few and try the softy first. I'm definitely interested in putting in a TB drive. Looks like the cheapest I've seen was $89 or $99 after rebate. Anyone have a link to a nicely priced Samsung?
WOW! Quick look for DUOX2-$10!!! Is the best one to get the DUOX2 GS? Plus, if I'm soldering, wouldn't that make it a hard mod anyway?

Oh, just got a used XBOX. Was told the cd drive loads games, but will not load cd's. I've yet to try it, but I think I remember reading that there is a way to repair the drive....? Or should I just buy another one?
Time to start modding.....need the right game, action replay, and the DUOX2, correct? Plus some software.

 

It's down to preference hard vs soft,me personally i prefer hard mods just set & forget,then again i've never looked into soft modding & whether it can do what a chip does even then i'd go the hard mod way as it's only 40 nz to get a chip fitted the software is free
i.e
xbmc
dvd2xbox
evolution etc
emulators for sega games etc,even got defender on the xbox..lol..jeez that's bloody old now

 

you can try softmod first because is free and easy (not solderin needed) if you dont like it then you can take the risk and pay for the chip and pay to someone to solder if you dont know how to do it.

note: i wont say i havent had any problems but none of them were hard to solve.

 

Am i right, the DUO is a hard mod..?<--since I have to solder it(not afraid to)Should i get the white or the blue chip?

Here is what i referred to about easier to upgrade HDD and repair XBOX's:
http://my.afterdawn.com/thereturn/blog_entry.cfm/457/modchip

Anyone know something about the U.S.A listed here?:
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=products&catid=36

 

Yeah a chip is a hardmod,geez at those prices i'd go 2 more smartxx's,Tommy you've just become my newest bestist friend..lmao..
Anyway i think the blue,i can't see the pictures as the BB has reached it's cap so i'm on 56k,but hey that stuff is pretty cheap,it might pay to look around & get some more advice for which chip but yeah the 3 i'd choose from would be the duo,executer or smart,only reason i went smart v2.0 was it could do the same as executer & was later at the time,now i see they have a v3.0

coreduo
http://www.modz.co.nz/index.php?pag...facturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26

EDIT:
Holy crap modz have increased the xtender to 140 now,bloody xchange rate sux bad,at that price i'd have to home made route,what a bloody rip off,chances are they're made in china so would cost only a few dollars to make someones creaming it

 

why someone who want to use a xbox as a mediacentee would ever consider buying a modchip is a great mystery to me!

just do a softmod and then make a backup of the bios and eeprom.bin files using f.i. configmagic. with the eeprom.bin you can always repair any software error or messed op harddrive.

for those who really, really, really want the xbox to boot from a modified bios, go the cheap way. just do tsop flash. flash a executor 2 or m8+ bios over the original (MS) cromwell bios and you are done. you will get banned when you go onto xbox live and play a original game using xbox live, but who uses it anyway? you can always play online (even copies) using similar services that are free (kai-link or something with kai in de name...) who actually got a paid subscription to xbox live (is it still supported and offered by microsoft?

a tsop flash does the same as a chip, it lets you boot unsigned code directly (f.i. boot discs like slayer discs etc.). if you really concerned not being able to boot the original ms bios, go buy yourself a v1.0 or v1.1 xbox. they have a 1 mb bios chip. since the ms bios and m8+ / executer2 bios are both 256 kb, you can put a selector switch in your xbox so that you can boot 4 different (256 *4 = 1 mb) bios. put the switch into the desired position, and boot either the ms bios, or one of the modified bios.

if you are handy with the soldering iron, then my opinion is:
go buy a version 1.1 or v1.1 xbox and do a tsop flash and put 2 -4 bios together to make it a 1 mb file. then do a tsop flash and buy a little selector from radio shack (which has 2-4 positions, depending how many different bios files you merged). then you have a tsop that can boot different bios files, amongst the original ms bios

you don't care that you cannot get onto xbox live (the paid ms service), then just get a modified bios (i use both m8+ and executer2 (i prefer the evox m8+!)) and do a tsop flash. then your ms bios is gone and it will always boot from the modified bios.

or do a softmod, and no hassle at all. make a backup of your eeprom.bin file and you can always repair your harddrive.

if you do a softmod, you have to get a harddrive that is lockable!! for the original bios to boot a harddrive (which is the case with the softmod, it boots from the original ms bios!!) the drive has to be locked. if you boot from a modified bios (chip, tsop flash) the drive does not have to be locked. i tsop flashed it (1 bios only), and run my hdd unlocked

don't spend money on useless things like a modchip and little leds and that sort of stuff, just buy a large hdd put it in and put your xbox in a place where nobody can see it (in the case you don't like the way it looks...). not sure why someone would ever need 3 *
1 terabyte drives in their xbox though, 1 would be enough in my opinion to store all the stuff (things you play/watch, as well as things you never play/watch...

 

Choice is why or preference as for more than 1 tet drive,if i had the money i would've installed 3 as it happens they're only 320,400 & 500's,why would one install more than i tet,simple need the space,my avi movie collection alone is in excess off 800GB,my personal xbox game collection excluding the arcade emulator thingy's,numbers over 200 (i own not ripped or downloaded) & then there's my music collection that numbers round the 200gb 1/2 i own the other 1/2 by torrent & i have no idea how much space my new project of getting tv shows will take up..lol..& i'll tell ya now i'm at the lower end of the scale basicly a noob,plus it's no good just having one copy of anything you need a backup so make that 6 tet drives
yeah but seriously a 1 tet is pretty small once you've reached it's capacity & it ain't hard to do,you'll come across others eventually who will say they need more gb

 

SCORPZ/DENNIV9-OK, there was a good amount of reading there, but thank you. I think I will definitely try the softmod route, especially since you say I can make a "backup" disc. I may need help understanding how to create/move/modify/backup the software, but I believe I have the capability.

As I stated before, I hate the XBOX controller and am really a die hard Playstation fan(though I haven't had mine hooked up or really sat and played a game in @6yrs!)so I'm not too concerned about playing games, but if I do it won't be live anyway. Also, if I change my mind I can modify the box to suit my needs and you say I can go somewhere other than XBL to play.
I'm not sure about the whole BIOS thing. What would you start from a modified BIOS for?
Do i need the TSOP for emulators to play psx or nintendo games?
I don't recall, are AVi files smaller than ISO's?

Gotta go order a new HDD and get the right game disc to softmod now.

 

Alright it's time for me to post here.. which i haven't been avoiding it but yeah... this has been answered way too many times and searching just doesn't seem to be on the to-do list for anyone.

Have you guys forgotten about the ability to access shared files and folders though the network on xbmc? You can have several hard drives shared on your computer and access them with xbmc.

My setup i have a 100 gig drive for the os, i have a 1tb drive for movies, games , ect..., a 320 gig external drive i keep more multimedia related things on, and an external 60 gig that i keep backups of all my computers, major windows updates, system files and apps on.

Now i have 3 folder shares created in xbmc so i can click that link and it will go to the certain directory on the network to the drive. You can make these by adding a source and then browsing for a source (i think you press the clear button and it will bring up the menu).

I have my downloads shared with movies and music. I have another one shared with just my car videos and my personal music collection, and i have another one shared with nothing but pictures, projects, and work related things. If i wanted to share anything else i could just enable it in windows and i could then access it from my xbox.

I really don't see why anyone is putting more than a 500gig drive in their xbox, maybe they don't understand it's overkill...who knows? The point is why spend all that money and extra time when you can just enable sharing on a pc and access the files from xbmc? This way it doesn't matter what size the xbox's hdd is, you can access all this information with a softmodded stock 8gig drive.

So i'm just letting you know, before you go throwing a 500gig, 750gig, 1tb, 2tb.......in the xbox, just try this way and see how it works out for you. There are more than enough tutorials to help you.

 

thats a great idea having a shared network that way you dont have to upgrade your xbox hard drive.....but you will have to have your computer on while using the xbox.