USB TV-Turner adapters to Xbox/XBMC? [Archive]

syntaxx_error

2003-10-01, 16:07

hi,

xbox would be perfect if we could have a video recording feature ! i already use linux on my xbox and i've got usb cables switched on my xbox game ports....so with linux i can use usb hardware on my xbox...

but using an os is very boaring and not "user friendly" on tv...

so what about a soft which could work via a chip as xbmc and which would be able to record video via an usb tv tuner switched on the xbox's game ports ?

just imagine your xbox transformed into a video recorder !!!

i hope it would give you some ideas for the futur !!!

Frodo

2003-10-01, 16:57

i would love it 2, but i lack the skills to write lowlevel usb sourcecode to control the usb bus
so if someone wants to help?

frodo

Zealot

2003-10-03, 20:51

would this even be possible?

i thought that the xbox only supported usb1.. wouldn't that have too slow a transfer rate for usb wintv support?

joe_user

2003-10-05, 13:51

syntaxx_error

2003-10-10, 15:00

imho we should stick to feature which are available without additional hardware (except modchip). and for the cool stuff, time shift recording, you would need more cpu power anyway.

it would be a nice feature, but more for xbmc on xbox 2 ;)

just my 2 cents
yes the xbox 2 should have more power, but if in a first step we could have an usb support in xmc for an external usb tv tuner it should be grate !

usb tv tuner already exist in 1.1 usb, so i imagine that it provides enought performances to record video....so it should work on xbox.... :) ...just have to buy an usb adapter and voila ! :

http://www.play-asia.com/paos-1a-78-9q-70-1xz-91--77-3.jpg

i've already plug my usb logitech keyboard + my usb mouse (ms optical mouse) with this adapter under gentoox (linux for xbox) without any problem !

http://www.hauppauge.com/html/images/wintv-pvr-usb2_plastic.jpg

http://www.hauppauge.com/html/wintvpvrusb2_datasheet.htm

mpeg capture specifications :

mpeg2 capture rates: 2mbit/sec, 4mbit/sec, 6mbit/sec, 8mbit/sec and 12mbit/sec at full d1, plus s-vcd (standard play, long play, extra long play). note: 8mbit/sec and 12mbit/sec are available using usb 2.0 only.
mpeg1 capture at 1150 kbits/sec (video cd data rate)
audio sampling: 44.1 khz
chroma sampling: yuv 4:2:0
video file format: .mpg
mpeg file tested compatible with: mediastudio 6.0, ulead dvd moviefactory 2.0

system requirements :

processor requirements: pentium® ii processor 733mhz or faster for tv watching, recording and pause
windows®xp, 98se (second edition), windows® millennium edition, windows2000
usb 2.0 port (or usb hub). usb 1.1 port will limit record to 6mbits/sec.
sound card
dvd or cd writer for burning dvd's or cd's (optional)
vga card (pci or agp) which supports video overlay (nvidia, s3, ati, etc

spec of the win tv usb are exactly what can support an xbox !

xmc team needs help to developp usb support for xmc !

without video recording, xmc is not a real media center like windows media center !

Frodo

2003-10-10, 15:23

nice, but there's one problem and thats we dont know the protocol used to communicate with the wintv usb box.

frodo

syntaxx_error

2003-10-10, 15:34

nice, but there's one problem and thats we dont know the protocol used to communicate with the wintv usb box.

frodo
hi ! *:)

maybe there's someone on the xbox scene who will be able to help you ? on sourceforge.net for exemple ?

an what about talking with the creator of gentoox (linux xbox) ? gentoox uses xbox's usb ports....maybe he could help you to understand how to use usb features on xbox....

Gamester17

2003-10-10, 15:49

syntaxx_error

2003-10-10, 16:02

an what about talking with the creator of gentoox (linux xbox) ? gentoox uses xbox's usb ports....maybe he could help you to understand how to use usb features on xbox....
you cannot compare linux running on a xbox with a native xbox software like xbmc, linux is a complete operating system
ok....i'm just trying to understand how it could work... :( ...i'm not an expert...:/

that has no real link with the subject but i know that the xbox game phantasy star online use an official ms usb keyboard....perhaps if you have a look to the files of this game you could find a little piece of information....

san9jay

2003-10-10, 16:17

i think the point frodo is making is that they do not know the protocol used to talk to the wintv box.

getting the usb port working is one hurdle, which is probably surmountable with some hard work since that is a standard. getting the protocol details of the wintv pvr box is not likely to be easy since that is proprietary and it is unlikely that the protocol details would be published by hauppauge so someone would have to try to reverse engineer the details.

XBOX War3z

2003-10-11, 16:24

http://www.grooveyardfunk.com/projects/xid/

this is a better project anyway, xboxhid is dead

Gamester17

2003-10-11, 18:39

windragz

2003-10-11, 22:30

i spent one day of investigation. gamester17 is right. huge work and little gain... better wait...

syntaxx_error

2003-10-12, 16:11

http://www.grooveyardfunk.com/projects/xid/

this is a better project anyway, xboxhid is dead
it's the same thing, both those are not at all related to getting a normal usb device working on the xbox.

ps! i realisticly do not see this ever happening on the xbox 1, with xdk ever, it's too much work, sorry.
ok but it won't be more easy to find a solution for usb support on xbox 2....that could only be worse with xbox 2 because ms will make xbox 2 with high level protection contrary to xbox1...

arfff... :( have to use linux on xbox to have video recording, that's the only way... :)

Gamester17

2003-10-12, 17:53

ok but it won't be more easy to find a solution for usb support on xbox 2i'm willing to bet that ms will have pvr support in the xbox2 or at least a optional add-on adapter for it,
(i'm also willing to bet that ms will not ever come out with a such add-on adapter for the xbox1).

ps! please try to understand and remember that xbmc is not an operating-system!!!!!!!!
(xbmc is 'just' a application that is programmed with xdk and functions just like any native xbox game).

joe_user

2003-10-12, 22:50

i agree, they will include it in the next xbox. just look at the psx sony is releasing in the next months. just another ps2 with a few multimedia stuff. and very expensive!

PYSKOYLY

2003-10-13, 04:01

i would love to see this features but realisticly if it cant happen then oh well life goes on... because xbmc does everything else a media center should do and it will (sometimes in the future)... so if it happens great but if it dont oh well...

Gamester17

2003-10-13, 12:12

a more realistic alternative to a usb adapter is to stream recoded video to xbmc over the network direct from a (hacked) tivo (http://www.tivo.com) or replaytv (http://www.replaytv.com) standalone box, sure this is a much expensive alternative but there is already other open source projects (coded in c/c++) that can do this from a pc with linux or win32 so porting that code, there are even applications that can take full control over all tivo (http://www.tivo.com) or replaytv (http://www.replaytv.com) functions. duo is already working on getting xbmp to stream recorded video from a tivo, once he got the streaming part working he will probebly move over to remote contreol of the same tivo from xbmp's gui. i' sure that if works fine in xbmp duo will port that feature over to xbmc, ...i do not however think that anyone of the developers in the official xbmp/xbmc team own a replaytv (http://www.replaytv.com) box so someone else would have to code that (or buy the xbmc dev/s one.)

syntaxx_error

2003-10-13, 14:57

ok but it won't be more easy to find a solution for usb support on xbox 2
i'm willing to bet that ms will have pvr support in the xbox2 or at least a optional add-on adapter for it,
i'm also willing to bet that ms will not ever come out with a such add-on adapter for the xbox2.
i've just discovered that there is already a pvr project on xbox !!!

http://dreamix.sourceforge.net/

but there's no news since april 2003...

Frodo

2003-10-13, 16:00

dreamix, guess thats vapourware
didnt hear from those guys in a looooong time

frodo

Gamester17

2003-10-13, 16:04

i've just discovered that there is already a pvr project on xbox !!!
http://dreamix.sourceforge.net/
but there's no news since april 2003...
i read that they gave up on the xbox idea (too expensive or too hard) and moved on to other hardware.
but in any case dreamix was supporse to run on xbox-linux and not on the xbox native os (xdk build).

d7o3g4q

2003-10-14, 18:40

some points to add to the discussion:

1) tivo streaming of prerecorded video to xbmp is working although it has some seeking bugs. i just checked it into cvs yesterday. xbmc support will soon come.

2) i'm working on streaming live continuous video from tivo to xbox. this is still in the early stages.

3) i've reverse engineered the usb stuff on the xbox to the point that i'm confident that creating a driver is possible. that said, there is, or at least used to be, a linux project for the hauppauge usb pvr. however it didn't support the tuner iirc. just input through composite. so its theoretically possible to add such support to the xbox. is the quality on the usb pvr good enough?

4) its also possible to have the video capture and processing on a pc which is completely controlled by the xbox. this has the benefit that you aren't limited to usb pvrs and support would be much better since you're using the native drivers. you also have more processing power as well.

there are pros and cons to all approaches.

duo

Gamester17

2003-10-19, 22:51

3) i've reverse engineered the usb stuff on the xbox to the point that i'm confident that creating a driver is possible. *that said, there is, or at least used to be, a linux project for the hauppauge usb pvr. *however it didn't support the tuner iirc. *just input through composite. *so its theoretically possible to add such support to the xbox. *is the quality on the usb pvr good enough?
i'm not a programmer or hw driver guru so i'm be a bit vague but this is partialy quoted from other dev, a techical overview:

to get any usb device to work on the xbox you will need to code 3 pieces of software.

1) usb driver for the xbox (open source)

2) driver for the specific usb device(open source)

3) control library for the specific device (hooks xbox sw would need to send/recieve data) (open source)

the first one as far as i know doesn't exist. the xbox only supports certain hardware on it's usb port(the gameport). being the game controllers & memory cards. that's it.

so, first off someone would have to code either a full usb driver for the xbox or a driver that adds support for just that specific device to the xbox. this is why everyone says it will be so hard. very few people have the expertise necesary to code such hardware drivers.

the second two pieces of software could maybe be found on the net, but maybe only for linux and then it would have to be ported to win32/xbox first, hopefully this opensource driver for the specific device would come from the manufacturer(one can hope)

maybe someone could as of the assistanse from the low-level guys at openxdk, teamassembly, xecuter, evox and/or avalaunch

crashtron

2003-10-23, 09:51

i found a very interessting project "freevo"

freevo is an open-source digital video jukebox (pvr, dvr) based on linux in addition to a number of open-source audio/video tools. mplayer is used to play audio and video files. mplayer is an excellent media player that can play most popular file formats. freevo can be used both for a standalone pvr computer with a tv+remote, as well as on a regular desktop computer using the monitor and keyboard.

freevo is easy to download and install for new users. most hardware is supported (graphic boards, sound cards and video capture devices).

the freevo core is under heavy development. it is mostly written in the python programming language which is very well suited for high-level control applications like freevo.

http://freevo.sourceforge.net

++ edit: ++
here are two more very interessting projects
http://www.mythtv.org
http://mms.sunsite.dk

perhaps this help to get pvr to the xbox. :-)

Gamester17

2003-10-23, 13:50

i found a very interessting project "freevo"
perhaps this help to get pvr to the xbox. :-)
no sorry, freevo runs under linux & thus uses linux device drives & api, a dev would still have to write/code all things i've mentioned above

mastafunk

2003-11-13, 18:05

the quality of the hauppage usb wintv's is pretty good.

two points i would like to make.

1) if support for these device is included in the linux kernel or as modules then the information is out there to write the drivers for xbox.

2) this would be a huge undertaking. with little gains.
(the xbox is not powerfull enough to record and play at the same time without hardware encoding decoding which is only available on pci models of the pvr.

on a seperate note if tivo is now funtional it would be simple to add replaytv support (old 5040 models can be had for as little as $200 same price as a pvr card.) it streams video natively via http:// function calls. check http://www.darkwoods.net/mirrors....pfs.htm (http://www.darkwoods.net/mirrors/replaytv/websites/replay%20_%20httpfs.htm) for details on the httpfs protocol {readfile} is the command of interest. but using these command you could generate alist of available programs.

pixeljunkie

2003-11-16, 16:45

i think the point frodo is making is that they do not know the protocol used to talk to the wintv box.
hmmm... there is a working linux driver for hauppage wintv pvr usb devices.
http://pvrusb.sourceforge.net/
so it should be no big problem to get gentoox and freevo to work with this device. if i would have the money left over to buy such a device i would try it. maybe there is someone out there who wants to try it.
by the way... got a creative usb webcam to work under gentoox linux. linux usb support should not be the problem at all...

sven

derekz

2003-11-16, 22:27

try to contact wintv developers ....
i believe both them interest to make to work this thing. (they would increase the sales)

Hullebulle

2003-11-17, 02:24

try to contact wintv developers ....
i believe both them interest to make to work this thing. (they would increase the sales)
hehe yeah and they would support a "half illegal" project. http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Gamester17

2003-11-17, 16:12

try to contact wintv developers ....
i already done this long time ago (actually they contated me about advertisement) and they where not interested in helping out

Fredynight

2003-11-18, 20:59

gilsas

2003-11-25, 01:18

snoop244

2003-11-25, 06:33

i'm gonna reply to d7o3g4q's four options (see his post up this thread). *i think his questions put it pretty clearly. *i feel strongly that option 4 is the right way to go. *streaming from a pc makes a lot more sense. *it assumes we all have pcs, which is a safe assumption. *there is an effort underway under the xbmp project to capture a windows media 9 stream and redirect it through xns to the xbox. *i'm not sure how far along they are, but it's worth watching. *while i think mpeg 2 would be a better choice over windows media 9, i think this project is headed in the right direction.

i don't favor having the xbox capture through the usb because it just doesn't have the horsepower. *i don't have the hauppauge usb capture device, but if memory serves, it gets pretty poor ratings on http://www.dvdrhelp.com . *a couple gentooxers have got freevo running with usb 1.1 capture devices. *i know it runs on linux in this case, but if you want to get their input on performance, hop over to their forum and ask around. *i got a mythtv pvr running on the xbox on top of gentoox; very cool. *worked pretty good, but the os was a bit heavy and it dropped a few frames. *mythtv, unlike freevo, works with a linux backend capture server. *i much prefer this approach as it doesn't limit you to usb 1.1. *if xbmc along with a streaming server on a pc can function as a more efficient layer than gentoox/mythtv, then i think this can work pretty well.

by the way, if you have a linux box running, and want to pick up a cheap tv capture card, mythtv already has an xbox pvr frontend that apparently runs pretty well on top of a very lightweight linux kernel. *you will need to run mythtv backend on the linux box.

snoop

gilsas

2003-11-26, 19:06

hi,

i'm not that sure that the xbox is not powerfull enough... specially if you're using a pvr card which encodes the video stream in real time... in this case recording just consist in forwarding the mpeg2 stream from usb to the hdd. as far as i known, those cards only send mpegx stream to the pc(xbox), even when watching tv so a mpegx decompression is needed. talking about mpeg2 decompression (from the usb pvr card), does the nvidia chip have a hardwired motion compensation unit ?

despite using a stream server on a local pc could constitute an interesting solution, it cancels the main interest of having a xbox as to say : you don't have to switch on your pc, to run the streaming application... and so on, and so on.

syntaxx_error

2003-11-27, 22:22

hi,

good news: freevo has already been ported to the xbox. it's just a first try, but usable anyway. it already supports the xbox controller and the dvd remote. a lot of usb tv card are already supported. they're preparing a distribution only featuring what's needed for freevo, as to say some kind of stand-alone distribution, based on a linux kernek though. in addition, the pvr features provided by some cards (hauppauge wintv pvr usb) are also supported... this should allow to connect the xbox to any video output like sat. receiver or so ! ...gonna consider buying one of those for xmas !

http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/docs/multimedia.html
http://www.gueux.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1744 (in french, sorry...)
http://freevo.sourceforge.net/
great !!!!! the dream comes true ! *:) ..just have to buy a hauppauge win tv pvr usb (with mpeg2 hardware compression systems) and voilà !

but for the moment you need to install a linux distri on your xbox to run it.

it seems that the xbox freevo team plan to make a stand alone .xbe application to run freevo :

- create a lightweight distribution on cd or as mechassault savegame.

- people who have never worked with linux before (a large part of the xbox-linux audience) should be able to use it without support

http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/docs/multimedia.html

wait & see

ToeCutter

2004-03-23, 01:49

it would be great if you could record the videos and tv you stream to the xbox's harddrive, like recording as its playing!
or, you could copy them over ftp in a mere fraction of actual play time?

nah, this will never happen. i sure don't want to see frodo working on a feature that would offer only minimal functionality. usb 1.1 is too slow for high quality video capture. most usb 1.1 cap cards only capture at 320x240, 30 fps anyway.

with it's limited hardware resources, xbmc is looking more and more like a client application that uses a pc server for most of the heavy lifting. let you pc do all the tricky work, while xbmc just plays it back for you...

poing

2004-04-11, 18:39

i think this idea is a waste of time. it would require an external tuner box as many have pointed out, which could only deliver mpeg-1 vcd quality (that's 320x240 or 320x288 resolution) at best because of the limited bandwidth of usb 1.0. also, there would have to be custom support for different capturing devices in order to support changing channels and other operations. you would end up with a lame hackish solution consisting of two boxes connected by wires when you could just go buy a pvr which is made for exactly this task and would do it so much better. it would require a huge amount of development effort which would result in a solution inferior to the cheapest pvr in terms of capabilities and ease of use. the xbox is well suited to being a networked video player (xbmc can play tivo files and replaytv streams), but it cannot make a good video recorder.

Butcher

2004-05-01, 18:57

not going to be possible. the disk is too slow.

bin_jackson

2004-05-01, 19:11

a 7200 rpm disk to slow? ??? if you first capture it full size and after you stopped recording it goes compressing http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

Butcher

2004-05-01, 19:37

720x480 video at 30 fps requires 41mb/s of bandwidth. xboxes only have udma-33 as standard. so that's more speed than the disk can deliver.

Butcher

2004-05-01, 19:38

not to mention we'd also have to use more memory to hold the data while it was copied to disk.

bin_jackson

2004-05-01, 19:59

2 bad :( thankz for the replay :)

Gamester17

2004-05-04, 15:27

anyway, tv-recording from where?, the xbox has no video-in (even though the label on the back of it sais so), do you mean internet?

SMSOne

2004-06-01, 20:51

hi there,

are there any libraries available that allow you to hook up a usb tv/sat tuner device to the xbox? if so could this support be included into xbmc so then i could use the xbox to watch tv and sat, freeing up my pc for other tasks, etc. the output from the xbox should also be better than that provided by a pc - component over svhs/scart, etc.

plus it would increase the uses of the tv guide - use it for selecting tv/sat channel and also hopefully implement pvr features, etc.

thanks

james

majo2000

2004-06-02, 23:54

i also wish to see that feature !

Gamester17

2004-06-03, 12:47

don't hold your breath, ....you'll die! :p

heraldoffailure

2004-07-05, 11:56

if you really appreciated the work the xbmc team has done for you you wouldn't ask them to take on sucha headache for such low quality video. are you kidding me? usb 1.1? pci ports barely handle the bandwidth for encoding quality video. and the xbox could never dream of handling it even if it had pci ports, everything about the box is too slow, it's made for running games and solely that purpose, xbmc has brought it so far, but they aren't miracle workers, you want pvc buy a tivo and crack it to stream to your box.

sportmankid

2004-07-20, 22:34

is there any chance that xbmp will support usb tv capture devices, like the pinnicle usb pctv deluxe (rewired to xbox controller end) so you could have a feature like tivo built into xbmp?

thanks,
* * * * * john b.

email at islanderfan2000@juno.com

gasparo

2004-07-21, 15:41

i am having a new ideia, maybe it work. and about put a computer like a server that send the stream to the xbox. and the xbox send the command to the computer to record, change a channel or view a recorded movie.

we should use 2 softwares. 1 for the computer (server) and another for the xbox (cliente).

it is only a ideia.... :rolleyes:

Gamester17

2004-07-21, 16:37

a computer like a server that send the stream to the xbox. and the xbox send the command to the computer to record, change a channel or view a recorded movie.sorry but your post is off-topic for this specific thread which is only for "usb tv-turners". believe there's already a other thread for your idea.

Slickdesign

2004-10-08, 23:06

wouldn't be great to view or record digital live tv on the xbox?
i know the hd is a bit limited but still good enough for a few hours then transfer the mpeg 2 to your pc and burn it on a dvd.

there is already usb adaptors for the xbox and usb dvb devices like the hauppauge dec2000-t or nova usb.

i think this would be a great idea.

hauppauge do have sdk for developers too. and the dec2000-t works on linux too.

what do you think? this is the alternative to not having a pci slot on the xbox for a tv card. and much better than to rely on a stream from a pc.

Gamester17

2004-10-09, 12:15

wouldn't be great to view or record digital live tv on the xbox?
there is already usb adaptors for the xbox and usb dvb devices like the hauppauge dec2000-t or nova usb.if you just made an effort in searching (a forum rule! (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.pl?act=sr;f=4)) or even just read our faq (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/info_faq.htm#dvd_menus) you would have found the answer right away.
i'm so sick of people creating new forums topics just to ask this question before looking so i'm going to you an official warning!
this is only the second warning we ever given to someone for not following the forum rules, not reading the faq or searched.
ps! i'm now merging your post into the exready existing thread about this feature (which is impossible to miss if you searched).

MPauley73

2004-11-11, 21:22

<sarcasm>
this is the best idea i've ever read! i've never seen such a great idea here before.
</sarcasm>

macsat

2004-11-16, 12:11

hi

i was wondering if it would be possible to add support for usb tv/fm adaptors, and in that way make the xbox into a hd-recorder ? :-)

would be a cool feature to add...!

mvoosten

2004-11-16, 12:24

please do a search before posting.. shy.. :hmm:

Gamester17

2004-11-16, 15:47

how can you honestly believe that you're the first person who ever thought/asked about it :bomb:

z421

2004-11-23, 21:50

hello!

first at all:
maybe sorry for my bad english ;)

my idea was to connect to the xbox the usb nova-s card, and include in the xbmc a pvr system.
theoretical no problem, and working under linux on the xbox
(i heard about a working vdr (pvr programm for linux) in combination with the gentoox)

here ist the datasheet to the hauppauge/technotrend nova-s usb card:
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_novasusb.html (it seems
that the englisch datasheet is outdated, because in the german there is the note
of the usb 1.1 port - take a look here http://213.221.87.83/pages/products/data_nova-s-usb.html,
please take a look at the "freature" part.)

opensource drivers for this card's are available, but only under linux (www.linuxtv.org).

the xbmc project is very fine, but this freature is really missing.
and it would be fine, to use this card under xbmc,
but it's maybe a litte bit tricky to add this freature in the xbmc.

the problem is that i'm not able to programm.
but it could be a real help to look at the vdr's source, and the source of the nova-s usb driver, in the linux kernel/drivers.

i hope that there are more interessts in that freature :)

mfg z421 :joker:

jb_here

2004-11-25, 07:47

:fixed:

here is the sourcecode for wintv-pvr usb drivers for linux
http://pvrusb.sourceforge.net/

tia jb :kickass:

Gamester17

2004-11-25, 13:45

here is the sourcecode for wintv-pvr usb drivers for linux *http://pvrusb.sourceforge.net/suggest you actually read all the posts in this thread from the beginning, been linked before. (xbmc is not linux nor running on linux!)

Xaime16

2004-12-20, 11:00

without any idea how it would be done, but how unrealistic is it to wish for support for a (specific) usb-videocapture unit? say, if there was a manufacturer who open sources his drivers?

deadontheradio

2005-05-16, 10:38

hey
i was wondering is theres any way to integrate real cable feeds into xbmc(not illegaly, obviously it would be via a subscription to a cable service provider such as direct tv or adelphia) for viewing in the same sense that you can view saved avi's?

now understand me when i dont mean channel changeing functionality, or a guide, i know that would be insanely complex and 99% impossible.

i just mean, will there ever be a way for somone to plug a cable cord(or rgb) into the back of there xbox(aka in the same way i run my xbox through my dvd home theater system) and run the feed through the xbox, wich then could be viewed on xbmc(i guess as a script at first, but eventualy implemented when more stable) in the same way a you view video files on xbmc, except there would be no rewind or fast forward controls, and obviously it would have to be a digital subscription service that your running cable through(and running into the xbox) to be able to change the channel(useing the remote provided by the company).
eventualy turning xbmc to a pvr or something as well.

i know im explaining this messy, but you guys are smart and i think you understand what im trying to say.

i know this is probably a chip/hardware issue, but it would eventualy be run off an application(xboxmediacenter,cause any other application for running it would be pointless, since it would take away from the integration conveniance :) ) so i figured this would be the best place to ask if theres ever been any discussion or is any talk of someone attempting something like this.

thanks for any info..

btw sorry sorry sorry if this is the wrong thread, but logic told me this would fit best here.

Tomkun

2005-05-16, 10:52

i have seen this topic before and i think the general concensus was that it would be impossible (at least under xbmc).

firstly, the xbox has no video input at all. unless you can find a cable box that would output to rj45 (i've never heard of that), then it isn't gonna happen.

secondly, to run a tv card through xbmc would require:
1) a usb tv card that would work with the xbox comtrol ports (only usb 1, or 1.1 i think) which has a very low transfer rate.

2) someone porting the drivers to xbmc, which would be an incredibly hard task anyway, plus the fact it would have to be done from open-source drivers.

i think honestly, you will never see this feature in xbmc, although i guess you should never say never. don't hold your breath though.

i guess your best bet would be to see if anyone has done a similar thing with linux on the xbox.

regards, tomkun

deadontheradio

2005-05-16, 11:50

yea i figured it'd be a bit farfetched, but i guess linux would be the way to go first...

thanks for the info

Staach

2005-07-05, 16:00

hi
i´m new here. have been searching for a topic regarding connection tv tuners to xbox, but couldn´t find any. so here goes: is it in anyway possible to connect any kind of tv tuner to a xbox, and there by the ability to see/record tv on xbmc?

Livin

2005-07-09, 07:04

seriously... read the freak'n thread and use search too!

uh, and no.

lordsludge

2005-11-28, 22:55

i'm currently using a tivo for tv and xbmc for everything else -- music and video files. between the two, they make a great media center solution.

but then a friend turned me on to this neat usb tuner by plextor (www.plextor.com/english/products/tv402u.htm). it does hardware divx compression, too, so the resulting files are nice & tiny.

:idea:

wouldn't it be cool if xbmc supported an external usb tuner such as this? that'd be the missing link needed to make xbmc a total media solution and finally put the tivo to rest...

...that is, with xbmc ir blaster support (for control of satellite/cable boxes), scheduling software (ala tivo interface), and an available (free) source of tv guide data. did i mention this feature request is a long-shot??

well, maybe it'll get some wheels a-turnin'...

fwiw, most of the pc-based media center solutions (sagetv, beyondtv, msmc, etc.) support this.

Loto_Bak

2005-11-28, 23:40

1, this has been brought up many times before please search

2nd, any futher usb device support would require an entire rewrite of the usb driver interface. see the usb mass storage device thread for more info

marksoccer105

2005-12-16, 02:56

with xbmc is it possible to use the xbox as a dvr? is it possible to install a tv-tuner card in the xbox? is it possible to view tv-streams from the internet?

althoralthor

2005-12-17, 05:20

did you search any of the forums for your question at all? if you had, you would have seen close to 100 posts on this subject.

vgs

2006-04-08, 21:53

i know it is possible to use a usb to tv on a pc to record video from tv to pc - can it be done on the xbmc ? this would make the xbmc the ultimate media center - it would even be bossible to capture video and pcitures from a digital camera to the xbox ...

2501

2006-08-18, 22:20

From what I've seen, the xbmc seems to be restricted to only being able to view and fetch files from the net, or the hdd. Is there some way that something like a hauppauge USB TV Tuner could be developed and coded so it could become a frontend PVR like Myth, without the need for an additional linux box?

Jezz_X

2006-08-18, 22:29

This has been flogged to death and wont happen due to drivers and bandwitdh of USB1
Least thats what I read

SleepyP

2006-08-18, 22:52

well it is open source, so feel free to somehow hack together some drivers for that device which work on Xbox and then somehow make that work :)

coffee_bean

2006-08-27, 03:39

Hi guys,

I was wondering whether it was possible to connect a USB Digital TV tuner and use it with XBMC? Someone must have explored this idea, only I can only find versions that sync your PC into doing the work instead.

Just think, being able to decode and record live TV as well as all the other XBMC features would mean being able to throw away all of your other boxes under the TV!

SleepyP

2006-08-27, 05:17

well, this would be very easy if the manufacturer of the hardware made drivers for the Xbox. but since none of this kind exist, you would need to find open source drivers and then port them over. also the XBox only has USB 1.1, which means your image quality will be pretty low due to the limited bandwidth involved.

if you can find a USB tuner will open source drivers and you can get it to a developer some how then maybe someone may be able to actually work on this. if this is not the case then this will not happen.

telmnstr

2006-12-22, 18:38

Hello,

One thing I would find handy is the ability to access a USB connected FM tuner. DLink made a number of these. The USB handles the channel selection, and audio is provided over a standard analog feed, which can be mixed (AFAIK). There may be some that hand off audio in a PCM stream or something, but who cares.

I haven't looked at the linux driver, but with any luck the line level output volume could also be controlled, so it would be possible to control volume via xbox.

A python accessable handoff to set frequency should be straight forward.

I'm using my Xbox in a car, and FM reception is the only reason to keep the standard car stereo. I'm going to dump mine anyways, putting the composite fed LCD in the dash.

There is linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD support for the dlink USB FM tuner and perhaps others. I don't use or own the dlink, I'm just aware they are cheap.

I'm not sure how many others use their xboxes as their car stereos, though.