Xbox Media Center, The new (ad)venture

[Gamester17]

xboxmediacenter (xbmc (http://sourceforge.net/projects/xbmc)) is a new free open source (gpl) multimedia player for microsoft's xbox (http://www.xbox.com). xboxmediacenter is still in beta stage but can currently be used to play and view most video/audio/picture formats such as mpeg/mpg, vob, avi, ogm, divx, xvid, mp3, ogg, jpg, gif and many more direct from a cd/dvd in the dvd-rom or of the xbox build-in hard disk drive, it can also play files over a network (lan) from a pc via an "xstream server" application or from a windows (smb) share. it has playlist + slideshow functions as well as the ability to function as a full replacement xbox dashboard. these and more features enables the xbox running xboxmediacenter to fully function as a multi-media jukebox. xboxmediacenter also known as "xbox media center" or simply "xbmc".

this project is what the active official xbox media player (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de) developers have been working on in secret for the last 4-6 months. this does not mean the xbox media player (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de) is dead, official and unofficial developers will still be adding new code and maintain it but the lead developers will be focusing on xbmc (http://sourceforge.net/projects/xbmc). remember that xbmc and xbmp are hobby projects and are only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free.

new and big differences compared to xboxmediaplayer:
- entire new fully skinnable gui engine
- easy switching between skins (if exist)
- dynamic loader for multiple cores/engines
- music database with search feature
- sort files/folders by name, size or date
- file manager for dvd-rom/hdd/network
- virtual keyboard
- cddb and album cover/info lookup
- movie calibration per resolution
- ui calibration

things that are not supported in xbmc yet:
- dvd-movie playback
- audio visualization
- matroska file container
- windows dll's (wmv/wma 9)
- ftp-server
- shoutcast
- tv-guide

note! normal retail xboxes require a modchip with hacked a bios for xboxmediacenter to run.

official website: www.xboxmediacenter.com (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com)
official mirror: www.xboxmediacenter.de (http://www.xboxmediacenter.de)
offical xbmc forums: xbmc forums (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.pl)
sourceforge project site: xbmc (http://sourceforge.net/projects/xbmc)

[glyndwr]

i'm sure i speak for everyone reading this when i say:

woohoo!

can't wait to get home and play with this!

[deltop]

hehe no wonder development has been slow on xbmp for a while.

looking forward to the future. now i'm off to see if i can build this thing :lol:

[Mental Block]

i guessing this means it is basically a complete rewrite of xbmp?

was there anyother reason for the name change?

just wondering :)

love the app and it might have just got better :d

[Frodo]

i guessing this means it is basically a complete rewrite of xbmp?

yes it is. but we're not done yet. xbmp still holds many things which are not present in xbmc yet. dont worry, we're working on it and hopefully xbmc will contains all xbmp's features

was there anyother reason for the name change
we dont want any confusion. so we decided it was better to create an entire new website and offcourse give it a new new which became xbox media center or xbmc for short

frodo

[Rui]

would the new xbox media center be compatible with source/features from the old xbmp?
or would it be totaly separately development?

rui

[LiGhTfasT]

can't wait to grab this, you guys are amazing :d

the name sounds cooler, is it anything like the new wmce 2004?

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_mce2004.asp
the gui looks like it has transistions which would look quite sexy

[Frodo]

xbmc is an entirely new development.


frodo

[LoL]

you sneaky basterds http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

great going can't wait to check it out, thx!!


lol ;)

[Frodo]

the name sounds cooler, is it anything like the new wmce 2004?

as you can understand wmce 2004 wasnt available when developing xbmc. however we took a good look at windows media center, freevo, mythtv etc and xbmp offcourse.
however now that wmce2004 is released, we will offcourse look @ it

frodo

[LoL]

xbmc is an entirely new development.


frodo
better?? :)

[carazy]

hey there i've been playing with my xbox and making great use of the amazing you people have been able to put together.
xbmp is a damn brilliant program and i don't like to leach.
so....
what can i do to help out with the development of this program? i have some photo shop skills so i could make up some cool skins or icons and optimise any graphics in nearly any format.
i'm not looking for anything but the opportunity to contribute to such a useful application!
cheers.

[Frodo]

you can help us in several ways:

1. create new skins for xbmc (yes its fully skinnable)
all the different skins can be found under the skin/
subdirectory. at the moment there's only 1 skin called mediacenter so its placed in skin/mediacenter
to create a new skin just create a new directory under /skin and copy all files/directories from /skin/mediacenter in it. the start editting/changing the .xml files and/or the graphics...

2. donate money to the devs via paypal (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/info_contrib.htm)

3. help other ppl. many ppl got questions and unfortunaly the devs cant answer everybody. pls help out in the forums. we were all newbies once...

4. testing
test, send in (good) bugreports. tell us how we can improve xbmc

frodo

[Frodo]

better??
i think it is. its still beta offcourse and not all of xbmp features are present in xbmc.
but see for yourselves and let us know!

frodo

[san9jay]

great. look forward to testing out the new baby...

[carazy]

consider it done mate.
i'm shopping with aussie dollars so they are not worth much but hopefully i can help with the next packet of chips and a drink you buy!
right! well i've just skip off the "usual places" and go searching for this new gem

[oDD]

just out of curiosity. why?

what was wrong with xbmp? why couldn't you add these features to xbmp?

im not complaining, just curious :p keep up the great work guys!

[Gamester17]

let the skinning begin http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif hehe ...suggest that all skinners make a corresponding dvd-cover for their skin

[deltop]

i presume it was because of a problem which is quite common in software. xbmp probably wasn't designed initially to encompass the vast number of features and capabilities that it has today. without a complete re-write from the ground up it eventually becomes more and more difficult to implement new features and keep it bug free. they now have the benefit of hindsight and can avoid any problems which cropped up in xbmp.

plus there is the implementation of new core features which wouldn't be possible in xbmp without some major re-writes anyway. now they can start with a clean slate knowing pretty much exactly where they want to go and how they are going to get there. this should eventually result in a much faster, less resource hungry and more stable app with far fewer bugs. it also makes it easier for the devs to maintain, which is good for us since it means bugs get fixed much faster :d

[elinenbe]

wonderful program! i love it. thanks frodo and team.

-eric

[Rui]

thanks for the answare frodo.
i realy look forward to test xbmc.

are you still working with usb support for hauppauge win tv?

rui

[Skates]

i definately beleive the project should have been started over into something like this, looking at the old xbox media player it was a massive merge of two code bases, what we needed was a clean streamlined player written from scratch, since xbmp resembles more of a hack job then anything right now.

hopefully some of the non-official devs move over to this project and help contribute to it!

[ravemax]

just curious: is it still based on mplayer ?

[Baptizt]

great to see xbox development improving.

:d

[boo_se]

just wanted to wish you good luck! it looks really promising.

and that irritating green/purple line when playing movies with illigal resolutions are totally gone! http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

thank you guys!

[Bateman]

it looks very nice.
i'm really seeing forward to follow the development of xbmc.

great work guys!!

[Gamester17]

just curious: is it still based on mplayer ?
hope i get this right as frodo explained it to me; xbmc is multi core/engine capable with dynamic loading, what this means is that in theory almost any core/engine would be ported and used and xbmc could switch between them on-the-fly, xbmc could for exampel use the mplayer engine to play divx & xvid but use the xine engine to play mp3 and mpeg (just an exampel). but currenly only the mplayer core/engine has been ported (to mplayer.dll), a xine core/engine is also planed (as xine.dll), no eta on it though.

ps! the gui is not based on mplayer or anything else, it is written from scratch.

[StoneRoses]

i wanna thanks all xbmp/xbmc dev team, your've created a very good application that i hardly believed it is just a hobbist's software project.

[lir]

you guys are the sh*%&!!!!!

__
lir

[Gamester17]

xbmc supports multiple decoder engines
at the moment mplayer is the first engine for xbmc,
but the architecture/design can handle others as well
for example we want to port xine also so you can choose
between the 2 based on filenames, file extensions,.....

no we dont have a general winamp/xmms style plugin system
why not? because the xbox doesnt support dynamic dll loading from the box.
this may seem like a small thing for you, but i assure you its not. until somebody writes a complete functional and good dll loader you wont see a plugin system.

yes there's a dlloader in xbmc which loads the mplayer.dll
but this is not a generic and full functional dll loader.
its only supports 1 dll at the time.
if someone wants to extends this for multiple dlls, then that would b great. cause only then we can have a true plugin system

frodo
think this also means the active engine must support both playing video & audio stream codec/format.
ex. if test.avi has ac3 audio & xvid video mplayer.dll must support both if it is suppose to be used.

[thejaff]

i have yet to install the xbmc, i was wondering how far off it is until it has the same functionality and stability (if you can call it that) of xbmp? what features are still lacking in comparison?

thanks.
the jaff

[Frodo]

- no matroska container support
- no windows dll support (wmv9 / wma9,realmedia)
- no shoutcast
- no screensaver
- no music visualisations
- no ftp server
- no webserver

yet
frodo

[thejaff]

thanks for the info, sometimes its better have things stated the opposite way.. i don't want to know what i can't eat, i want to know what i can eat... i guess i'm just wired backwards.. hehe

it was a big help though, i use mediaplayer as my os, so having no ftp is kind of a big deal..

thanks again

the jaff

[Gamester17]

remember that xbox media center is still in early alpha stage and contains much experimental code so it will be very buggy.
it's not meant for normal users yet, but for more other devs + advanced testers to help us add to & troubleshoot the code.

i recommend normal day-to-day users still with xbmp at least until after a bug bash & a point release has been set in xbmp.
please do not ask when this will happen or when it will be set. in the meantime you can follow the progress in these forums.

[whynot_doit]

well i have both xbmp 2.4 and the oct 8th release of xbmc running on my box and i have a few problems with the xbmc first i know that it doesn't fully support .rm files but xbmp would give me video no sound playing files using some of their codecs the others it simpily wouldn't open at all. xbmc will give me both video and sound for those same files but the ones the other player wouldn't play this one tries to open and completely locks up forcing me to power off the console :angry: also where did all the options go for example changing the volume and or the audio sync

[tslayer]

please do remember that xbmc is alpha software. it is going to contain bugs and it will be missing some features.

as time goes on, there will be less bugs and more features.

but, until then, xbmc is alpha and will contain bugs and lack features.

take care,

ts

[Northernlight]

thank you for this great program!!!!! * * :d

[rdperalta]

man thanks for a great software... i guess i just like this much more than xbmp coz i can play quicktime files with it (watching the jade empire trailer right now) now if only i could play real madia files.... hehehehehehe

keep up the good work guys

[PolishKid]

yeah dude, xbmc is completely rewritten. if you just look at the files and features you can tell how much cleaner the code must be. xbmp was just more one way if you know what i mean. xbmc has sooo many more options to do such as button mapping and plugins. it also has a file browser which is nice and even a built in ftp server. xbmc is semi-functional and will continue to be until it is in a final release.

[Hullebulle]

... xbmc has sooo many more options to do such as button mapping and plugins. it also has a file browser which is nice and even a built in ftp server. ...
to be correct, there is no ftp server in xbmc atm. :)

[jimcat]

what an awsome job.
admire//

i wonder whether it makes sense to make xbmc simple and solid. it might not be necessary to have xbmc to support tv guide, cdda and dvd playback .

[thejaff]

i asked this question when the first xbmc was released and found the answer insightful, hopefully other people will also benefit from the question being posed in this way..

how does the current state of xbmc compare to the current state of xbmp?

what features are still missing? how close is it to being a worthy replacement? etc.. any info that can be provided along these lines would be appreciated..

i am not in a rush or anything, i just think its a good indication of how things are progressing. thanks a lot, and keep up the fantastic work.

the jaff

[joe_user]

why do you want to compare a product to its successor, which is under heavy development?

this should say everything imho.

[Shadow_Mx]

best reply is still this:
use both, test them for a while, and stick to the one that suits your needs.

xbmc is currently under development, and getting better than xbmp, but some people like the feel of the old player (full osd, control panel, etc)

try both, stick to the one you like the best.

[zordon]

i got a mate to convert to xbmc from xbmp today, the version of xbmp he had must be about a year old, and was installed when i chipped his xbox, do you think he will notice any difference :d

[thejaff]

well my reason for asking is simple.. last time i asked i was told that it was a ways off before xbmc would function at the level that xbmp was at.. ftp had not yet been implemented, etc.. at that point it basically non functional, and not something you could replace xbmp with.. that is basically what i was wondering.. is it to the point where the functionality of xbmp has been reached?

[Nickman]

the latest build made me delete xbmp :d

so if you don't think the ff/rw feature is a must right now change today http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Gamester17]

i'm just back from three week holiday/sickness, this was the list i had before so it is not quite up-to-date, but almost :)

features/functions in xbmp that are not yet in xbmc:

- control panel
- osd (on screen display)
- matroska file container
- screensaver (black screen) on configurable timer
- ftp-server (maybe use filiezilla or better if get avalaunch code)
- webserver
- ttf gui fonts, (why not skip mplayer fonts and only use ttf fonts?)
- ttf subtitle fonts, (why not skip mplayer fonts and only use ttf fonts?)
- vobsub subtitles (un-compressed), need to be improved (hdd cached and read in smaller portions?)
- compressed (rar) vobsub subtitles, need to be improved (hdd cached and read in smaller portions?)
- video bookmarking (so can resume a movie later, even after reboot)
- switch between multiple audio streams/tracks in avi, ogm, and mkv
- stack multi-file videos option, plays files ending with _cdx & -cdx & .cdx as one
- post-processing filters for better video quality
- de-interlace filter (for interlaced video) implemented
- auto clipping/cropping filter (for video with black letterboxes)
- audio amplifying filter
- audio normalization filter
- "output to all speakers", option to output mono or stereo to all 4.1(?) and/or 5.1 surround speakers
* (maybe best to create separate "output to all speakers" for 'my videos' and 'my music, it's a fr)
- ffwd/rwd seeking and pause during audio visualization, also on normal music playback whithout visualization (so in menu only)
- tv-guide *(xmltv show listings)
- full dashboard replacement mode (launch other applications and games)
- command line option available when launch a xbe via shortcut (.cut)
- option to auto-launch other application on audio-cd insert (maybe make this fully configurable from gui in xbmc?)
- option to auto-launch other application on dvd-movie insert (maybe make this fully configurable from gui in xbmc?)
- iso 9660 option to cache the whole file to harddrive before play (and option to select which drive to cache to)
- audio cue sheets (.cue) support (should work with all xbmc supported audio codecs)
- bi-directional (right to left) subtitle support (hebrew, etc. languages)
- option to display title/album information during audio visualization
- option to display album cover/tumbnail during audio visualization
- xbox front led control
- change video settings (read/write to eeprom) big warning here!!! (more than one confim/cancel option with info?)
- streaming video from a tivo over network (requires hacked tivo running ccxstream), to be ported by duo later?
- dvd-movie playback w menu (has to wait until xine has been ported?, btw who is porting xine to xbox/xbmc?)

[thejaff]

now thats what i'm talking about!! :)

the reason i asked for the comparison is that i am familiar with xmbp, and its important to know if i am going to loose functionality by upgrading.. seeing a list like that lets me really weigh the options and make a good decision. for me, i really like the option of running the medial player as a dashboard replacement. without ftp, that is my answer right there i suppose.. but some of the other great things i have been hearing about media center make me consider going back to running another dash..

thanks for your detailed list, it was exactly what i was looking for, and i hope it was useful to more than just me..

[burriko]

@thejaff. you don't have to 'upgrade' though. xbmc and xbmp will happilly co-exist on the same xbox, so you can try xbmc without messing up your install of xbmp.

[Nickman]

features/functions in xbmp that are not yet in xbmc:

- osd (on screen display)
- ftp-server (maybe use filiezilla or better if get avalaunch code)
- webserver
- switch between multiple audio streams/tracks in avi, ogm, and mkv
- post-processing filters for better video quality
- de-interlace filter (for interlaced video) implemented
- auto clipping/cropping filter (for video with black letterboxes)
- audio amplifying filter
- "output to all speakers", option to output mono or stereo to all 4.1(?) and/or 5.1 surround speakers
* (maybe best to create separate "output to all speakers" for 'my videos' and 'my music, it's a fr)
- full dashboard replacement mode (launch other applications and games)
- option to auto-launch other application on audio-cd insert (maybe make this fully configurable from gui in xbmc?)
- option to auto-launch other application on dvd-movie insert (maybe make this fully configurable from gui in xbmc?)
- option to display title/album information during audio visualization
- option to display album cover/tumbnail during audio visualization

all the above is implemented already in the latest cvs release. *:)

[NEI]

full dashboard replacement is already in?
installation like with xbmp (.cut and so on)?

could somebody confirm this, before i mess up my dash? :-)

[Hullebulle]

full dashboard replacement is already in?
installation like with xbmp (.cut and so on)?

could somebody confirm this, before i mess up my dash? :-)
nope just put all iles in the root of your boot partition like any other dash atm.

[thejaff]

i just had to come back to let you know... i am never going back either!!! i do have it running as a dash replacement, ftp working great.. and it all seems a whole lot more stable than xbmp did.. thanks a lot..

[deoch]

xbmc in its current state is working quite nicely for me as well. *i was never able to get samba to work in xbmp, but after the 3.0.1 implementation it has been working fine for the most part. *

i think the main thing i'm waiting for is ff/rw or at least the ability to more selectively choose where to move ahead/back in a video (actually, this is probably better since i think ff/rw might choke when i do it through a wireless connection).

[PolishKid]

when will there be a non-beta version of xbmc. its working pretty well now, except it just seems a bit buggy. when can we expect to see a very stable and final version out? thanks and love xbmc. awesome work out there and really appreciate it.

[Hullebulle]

hehe "final version". i think there never will be a final version. there are always things to add. and where is the difference between stabel and beta in such a project?

[MrMario64]

i'm curious on what you mean by "it seems buggy" ?
do you say this by your own experience?
if so, what do you think is so buggy?

ofcourse there are bugs, but i do not think xbmp has less bugs.

i ask this cause i spoke to a person who did not try xbmc cause it was alpha and thus in his opinion buggy (wich is not essentially true)

anyway, when the day is right, the mood is good, most wanted features are in, version is stable. who knows, the odds may be right for releasing a 1.0 then :).
in short, it's hard to tell. why not use it now? why the magic 1.0 number needs to be attached? won't make it play better than it is now :)

have fun! and enjoy.

[PolishKid]

hullebulle: with a project that is good such as this one, i know that there will always be things to add. beta's seem to have a great chance of bugs and a regular version number without the word beta should be stable and not crash and be quick and play 99% of the files correctly.

mrmario64: i have experienced a bug that occurs very often and xbmc freezes and others have posted some things too so i am not the only one. i do use xbmc and have come across some of these things with files not playing and xbmc crashing when i try to play them.

thanks for the responses.

[Morien]

to the developers,

i write to you to humbly appologise to my lack of enthusiasm about xbox media center.
up until now i did not concieve why xbox media player would be abandoned in favour of a new player. every time i found out about a new release of xbmc i would download it when i got around to it and test it to see if it was any good or not. i would use it for a minute or two and then it would never be used again until a new release came out. i would post feature requests but in secret i would long for those feature requests to be implemented into xbmp and not xbmc. i would launch xbmc and see the noodle skin, only to miss xbmp and go back to that.

however, today after trying the impossible of making the xbmp subs just as readable as those directvobsub on windows makes, i decided to look at xbmc a little closer.
i looked at the features and thought "hmm, this is actually pretty nifty" but still longed for the appearance and *feel* of my beloved xbmp. on my quest for coolness, i stumbled upon the general settings, and thought i would take a look at some of the alternative skins available. who knows? perhaps the default xbmp skin will be there. i looked through 2 or 3, and no, it wasn't. i was about to look through the rest when i stumbled upon the hi-fi skin. i was awe-stricken, and i don't mind telling you that as soon as i layed eyes upon that skin, something happened which hadn't happened since i started going through puberty. nuff said.

so, in conclusion, i will be going back to xbmp, but will often rendezvous with my new secret lover, xbmc. what will make me leave xbmp for xbmc? nothing much really. and nothing that hasn't been mentioned over and over before. rw/ff (i'll take this opportunity to cast my vote for one similar to xbmp's 2x, 4x, etc), the option to change the audio track, a much nicer subtitle font (truetype, arial will do, however with border as well as shadow(xbmp only had shadow)), and the ability to disable hdd auto-off (scared the hell out of me first time it did it).

so, i say to you, developers of xbmc, thankyou, i would never have even thought about getting an xbox if not for you.
i'd say i love you all, but that may be taking it too far.

sincerley
morien

[Frodo]

hehe glad you fell in love with xbmc!
about your points:
ff/rw: 2x, 4x etc, well we're hoping to get it in xbmc also

the option to change the audio track
its already there in the latest xbmc release

a much nicer subtitle font
again, look @ the latest xbmc. it got a very nice subtitle font

disable hdd auto-off
also already implemented in xbmc (set the timeout to 0)

frodo

[Morien]

really? awesome!
well then, i guess the next public release will take over my xbox. ah, if only i had a dual bios modchip, then i'd set up an xdk and compile myself. oh well.
regarding changing the audio track, i've posted this in the feature suggestions with a bunch of other features however it was quickly sent to the third page, and i'm not sure how the mplayer core works, but is it possible to alter this depending on the file format? for example, i have many vcds which are dual audio, but as vcds only allow for one actual audio track, how this works is one language is on the left channel and the other on the right. is it possible for the function to show 3 audio tracks? mixed, right channel and left channel?

once again, thanks for all your work. can't wait to get my hands on it (and then can't wait to get my hands on one with the rw/ff implemented).

morien

[Hullebulle]

ah, if only i had a dual bios modchip, then i'd set up an xdk and compile myself.
you don't need a debug bios on your xbox to compile xbmc. well you don't need a xbox at all to do it.

compiling tutorial (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.pl?act=st;f=5;t=2)

[Larry007]

how about setting up a xbox with either media center as your dashboard, and then let it be your file/media server in the house?

the box isn't noisy and it wouldn't require a pc to be switched on to access any media - for me it will be brilliant, especially with two wireless laptops in the house. i can download the files using ftp on my pc's, but that defeats the purpose, i want to set up shares for streaming purposes. if you stick in say a 200/300gb hdd, you'll be set for a long time. *since it will be running non-stop (to serve) it will really become your media center.

i tried searching everywhere, but couldn't come up with much - everything seemed to be focussed for the xbox to connect to a pc (it flabberghasts me - mine works with simple windows shares....)

i can't think that i am the first one to come up with this idea. i noticed something about samba, but that seemed to have died as well because of illegal compilers or something. *

does something like this exist out there, or is the team planning to create something like this? *somebody please enlighten me...

ps - i don't want my xbox running linux to achieve this feat, as i don't want to deal with the whole media codecs issue.

[Morien]

ah, if only i had a dual bios modchip, then i'd set up an xdk and compile myself.
you don't need a debug bios on your xbox to compile xbmc. well you don't need a xbox at all to do it.

compiling tutorial (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.pl?act=st;f=5;t=2)
o ok. i'll get all the neccesary tools when i have fast internet (i don't think i have much hope at 3k/sec :( ) and start compiling :d

thanks
morien

[Frodo]

i have experienced a bug that occurs very often and xbmc freezes

1. xbmc is still alpha software. so dont expect a final release soon. hell we're working towards v1.0 and you can bet that v1.0 wont be the final version

2. if you find bugs, then pls report them

frodo

[MrMario64]

as frodo said, please report what you r doing to get it to crash.
there are situation i know of you can get xbmc to hang, but these issues are when i use xbmc not as i supposed to.

anyway, when you report what you are doing the devs can look at the problem and fix it perhaps, or when it is something you r doing wrong we can tell you so.

a win win situation when you report the bug.......

[vicviper74]

ok i know you guys herd the the question but i have to ask.
first what is the difference between the two?? xbmc/xbmp?

and why make another of the same player?? are they made by different developers??
is one officially dead so another was started up?

yes, i have used both and they seem the same. the only difference i've seen was that one has a widows media player little contoller at the bottom. you know the little volume and all that (very cool i might add)

an answer would be really be appreciated

[cyberplague]

i am not one of the developers but i believe it has to do with alot of the backend stuff in xbmp being hard to include new features....and with everything else they learned while coding xbmp they took that knowledge and created xbmc from the ground up...

that is what i got from the whole switch, please someone tell me if i am incorrect.

cp

[Hullebulle]

i am not one of the developers but i believe it has to do with alot of the backend stuff in xbmp being hard to include new features....and with everything else they learned while coding xbmp they took that knowledge and created xbmc from the ground up...

that is what i got from the whole switch, please someone tell me if i am incorrect.

cp
this is correct. :)

[Gamester17]

ok i know you guys herd the *the question but i have to ask.
first what is the difference between the two?? xbmc/xbmp?

and why make another of the same player?? are they made by different developers??
is one officially dead so another was started up?

yes, i have used both and they seem the same. the only difference i've seen was that one has a *widows media player *little contoller at the bottom. you know the little volume and all that (very cool i might add)

an answer would be really be appreciated
how about you read through this topic thread (link) (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.pl?act=st;f=1;t=3) from first to last post?, you're not the first to ask and we already answered there

[Morien]

i was wondering where my post went http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif
yeah, i'll try reproducing the crash and write a bug report.

morien

[blue]

y a-t'il des gens qui parlent français dans ces forums :(

[Gamester17]

y a-t'il des gens qui parlent français dans ces forums :(
no, we don't speak french in these forums (it's in english only unless you address an issue in a specific language file), sorry

[lip]

why did xbmc choose to use mplayer instead of what they used in xbmp. from where i stand, the lack of basic features that work (ff/rew, etc...) in mplayer make xbmc that little bit below being perfect...

thanks in advance,
lip

[burriko]

xbmp used mplayer too.

[Gamester17]

mplayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu) was at the time (and still is) the most developed open source media player core. but in case you missed it xbmc has a dynamic core loading system so if a would like to port any other media player core they want (like xine, videolan, etc.) and xbmc could easialy be made to switch between the different cores on-the-fly, *...of course it's very, very tidious work porting an entire new core to xbox/xbmc, even for a skilled programmer, noone that i know of is currently planning on doing it, but still it is possible

mplayer make xbmc that little bit below being perfect"little bit below being perfect", can we still take that as a compliment? hehe http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[lip]

xbmc is fantastic...don't get me wrong!

my only complaints are:
- normal controls for video do not work very well
- dvd playback with my samsung drive do not work at all for most dvd's

cheers and thanks for the info...i didn't know that.

thanks,

lip

[thebeast]

does videolan do anything mplayer can learn from? or xbmc can learn from?

[Hullebulle]

does videolan do anything mplayer can learn from? or xbmc can learn from?
well videolan plays mostly everthing you throw at it (at leat the windows version do). i use it to verify a video while i am downloading it. even if the file is called *.dat and main parts of it are missing videolan will play it most of the time. dunno if there are any big advantages for xbmc.

[Tmpj]

i've wondering for some what the difference between xbmp and xbmc is. i know what they basicly do, but in more detailed explanation.

i'm sure this question has been answered a million times before, but i havn't been able to find the answer by searching.

[Hullebulle]

may i help a bit? :)

http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin....f=1;t=3 (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.pl?act=st;f=1;t=3)

[groucho]

sirs,

good job!

what will happens with evox interface? will dead?

g

[Hullebulle]

sirs,

good job!

what will happens with evox interface? will dead?

g
evox interface? ???

[NeoBladeFX]

hi all. kudo's to the developers for the work on xbmc ^_^ the latest point release (2004-04-19, waiting for the 2004-04-27 to be on the servers) was a seriously good update to the gui and features. nice to see .mkv fully supported too even though the rwd/fwd is a bit buggy... not that i mind though.

i was using xbmp a fair bit before but now xbmc has easily surpassed it in terms of performance and features. great to see onboard brightness, gamma and contrast settings too as that was badly needed. support for high definition is also a huge plus.

just a quote question though... on my previous install (2004-03-09) the osd that displayed the figures for brightness, gamma etc were aligned correctly above the sliders. on the 2004-04-19 release the figures are now mis-aligned, pretty much merged with the slider buttons so you cannot see what the number is. its not a huge problem but thats the only thing i've found out about it so far... its not really a huge bug for me to write a report but if you'd like me to i could.

keep up the great work though ^_^

[Gamester17]

hi all. kudo's to the developers for the work on xbmc ^_^ the latest point release (2004-04-19, waiting for the 2004-04-27 to be on the servers) was a seriously good update to the gui and features. nice to see .mkv fully supported too even though the rwd/fwd is a bit buggy... not that i mind though.

i was using xbmp a fair bit before but now xbmc has easily surpassed it in terms of performance and features. great to see onboard brightness, gamma and contrast settings too as that was badly needed. support for high definition is also a huge plus.

just a quote question though... on my previous install (2004-03-09) the osd that displayed the figures for brightness, gamma etc were aligned correctly above the sliders. on the 2004-04-19 release the figures are now mis-aligned, pretty much merged with the slider buttons so you cannot see what the number is. its not a huge problem but thats the only thing i've found out about it so far... its not really a huge bug for me to write a report but if you'd like me to i could.

keep up the great work though ^_^
wrong place, please post a new post in the bug forum instead, thanks

[NeoBladeFX]

would be the wrong place if my post was only about the "bug" though ^_^ my main point was to say kudos to the developers for the work and effort on xbmc.

my apologies if i have made my post sound like it was moaning about a bug though.

[hermie_herpies]

i'm sure i speak for everyone reading this when i say:

woohoo!

can't wait to get home and play with this!
gota lve that xbmc :bowdown:

[KAOS]

kudos to the labor of love that is xbmc! i'm impress with
what i can do with it even while not being hooked up
directly with a computer.

[yngvebn]

xbmc made me stop looking for barebones to use as mediamachines.. i now have a full mediacenter with 5.1 and the whole nine yards. you guys are all geniouses! can't thank you enough. xbmc rocks! :thumbsup:

[fiction916]

i got media player right now, and i'm wondering if it is really worth upgrading to center? i'm about to stream (using either relax or xstream [btw which is better?]) so i want the least amount of problems. what are the primary benefits of the center over the player (i don't want to use it as my dashboard)?

[senergy]

dude.. do some searching before asking such a vague question. im sure it has been discussed a lot of times on this board.

xbmp isnt getting updated and has not been supported for a long time. xbmc can do soo much more then xbmp could ever think of. plus the dev's are constantly upgrading so more and more can be done. for instance... python scripting, weather reporting, apple trailers, internet streaming video and audio, movie database connected to imdb, samba support (which is much more reliable and easier to setup then relax etc), profile support for different audio setups, blah blah blah.. its just soo much better now and it continues to be more powerful.