Microsoft Windows® Media Center Extender for Xbox, (not XBMC)

[rdperalta]

microsoft unveils windows media center extender for pc and xbox
*
microsoft chairman bill gates announces the company's new integrated media software for the pc and xbox at ces.

at the ces convention in las vegas, microsoft chairman bill gates revealed the company's new integrated digital media software and hardware plans. the new technology essentially lets users share media, such as image files, movie files, and sound files from any computer with windows xp media center edition, in any room of the house, regardless of whether someone else is currently using that computer, and regardless of the computer's location within the house. the new technology allows digital media to be shared on either a television set (which can be fitted with a set-top box to receive the signal, or with tv sets that are integrated with this technology), or using an xbox console.

the xbox media center extender kit will consist of an xbox dvd disc and a dedicated remote control, and will also allow users to view digital media from any room in the house. the media center edition 2004 software development kit was actually released last september, and since then, over 8,500 developers have downloaded the software in order to use it to build media applications. these applications include the media-player application on the web site of the popular sports broadcasting network, espn; that site's "espn motion" application lets users view sports clips on either their computer or on a tv screen.


gates went on to explain that the media center format is also being supported by numerous partners. microsoft announced 16 new films in windows media high-definition video (wmvhd) format from such studios as artisan entertainment, imax corp., and national geographic. the company has also partnered with hardware manufacturers such as gateway, creative labs, samsung, and sanyo to product portable media center-compatible devices that will let users view digital media from a handheld device, which will support the windows media video and audio 9 series of media player software. microsoft also announced that digital entertainment companies cinemanow and napster llc will now support the portable media center platform.

by staff, gamespot *[posted: 01/07/04 07:39 pm]

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/news/news_6086199.html

guys.. saw this at bill gates' interview on cnn and it relly looked like the current (default) xbmc skin and interface hehehehe

sorry mods... didnt know where else to post this news/topic
:)

[msniper]

pics and product details at http://www.microsoft.com/windows....ult.asp (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/evaluation/devices/default.asp)

[windragz]

guys.. saw this at bill gates' interview on cnn and it relly looked like the current (default) xbmc skin and interface hehehehe
eheheh well, actually we "stolen" the interface to xp media center that comes from m$ http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[webMASTER_P]

just saw the news post over at xbox-scene about the windows media center extender for xbox
http://www.xbox.com/en-us/hardware/xboxmediacenterextender and it begs the question.
how does our favorite xbmc compare to it? i am sure that it's better in terms of media playback. the only things that's lacking is recording tv.
anyone bought the product?

[Gamester17]

would be a bit comical to see a latest xbmc cvs (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/info_project.htm) vs. ms mce extender comparision chart similar to our xbmc vs. xbmp chart (link) (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/xbmc_vs_xbmp.htm)
....especially i the price of setup was added too ;) (however i don't feel like taking the time to put one together myself :p )

quote microsoft windows media center extender for xbox (http://www.xbox.com/en-us/hardware/xboxmediacenterextender): "connection to the media center pc (sold separately)" *:lol: lol!!!

ps! someday xbmc + mediaportal (http://mediaportal.sf.net) will be able to do all that ms windows media center extender for xbox (http://www.xbox.com/en-us/hardware/xboxmediacenterextender) with a mce pc (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/default.mspx) can do

[webMASTER_P]

yup, that's the chart i had in mind
don't you need like a very beefy pc to run the media center pc anyway? it's probably cheaper to just buy and xbox and chip it rather then buy both pieces of software. well, i am sure that someone would make a chart.

[jmarshall]

you can't buy media center pc version. you buy the hardware and software at the same time (at highly inflated prices).

the cost of ownership i'd say would be at least us$1000.

[webMASTER_P]

i think you can get "microsoft windows xp media center edition" but i don't know if that's the same thing as buying a mc pc.

[Gamester17]

i think you can get "microsoft windows xp media center edition" but i don't know if that's the same thing as buying a mc pc.yes it is, you can't only buy the software, it comes as a package with the mce pc, cheapest mce pc today cost around $1,000 :hmm:

[cerbero]

i would love to have the remote that comes with the media center extender package though, it would be ideal for xbmc use :)

[clayd333]

so if you have a multiple tuner wmce pc you can watch live tv/record on the second tuner on the xbox? now that is a killer feature!

[jmarshall]

not on the xbox. you can tell the mce pc to record, or to send the tv to the xbox.

it's just a front end to the mce pc through which the mce pc can send the video signal for display. that is all.

yes, it's nice if you already have a mce pc. that is the market to which this application is aimed.

[MortUK]

one of the great features of the xbox extender is that it can stream live tv over a network connection easily from a pc. that would be a feature i'd love to see in xbmc.

[webMASTER_P]

maybe when media portal is more mature, you will be able to (like gamester suggested)

i only have media portal installed, but i don't really have use for it so i am not sure what the status of the project is.

[rob.schroeder@mindspring.com]

yes you can buy mce2005. its available from a number of sources i got mine from www.pcalchemy.com. was about $125.00, the remote was 35.00 more...

[SupaDawg]

^^ he's right. only prob is the mce has very very very limited driver support.

i have a few oem versions in the warehouse as wel as some remotes... it is an official oem product from ms now... same rules apply as purchasing other oem product.


worth it? nope. get an xbox damnit. haha!

[Gamester17]

yes you can buy mce2005. its available from a number of sources.... ...about $125.00, the remote was 35.00 more...i heard that too now, microsoft have dicided to go mainstream and sell shrinkwrapped mce 2005, (while mce 2002/2003 was oem only)
(fyi; shrinkwrap means the software is sold as standalone, just like windows oses, and oem means it is officialy only sold with hardware)

ps! updated our xbmc vs xbmp comparision chart (link) (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/xbmc_vs_xbmp.htm), if anyone want to use it as a base to show xbmc vs mce please go ahead ;)

[tommyb1]

:nuts:
note: very new to all this and got very little knowledge but am learning fast!

just had upgrade to xbox: chip, bigger hard drive, new front with lcd and usb ports and built in switching with operating system xbmc and find it to be grrrrreeeeaaat! and easy to follow and use.

question friend has xbox with microsoft media centre installed and swears it's far better than xbmc.

i have not seen nor used his unit but does he have a point as he has offered me to try/use his system to prove his point and said he would buy me legit. software.

should i listen to him and does microsoft offer anything better than i have if so will i do anything to harm system setup or hard drive!?

regards
tommyb1

[deltop]

not sure about setting up ms media center.

but how anyone could believe it's better than xbmc is beyond me.

from ms own faq.

q.what audio and video file formats are supported by media center extender devices?

audio file formats supported:

windows media audio standard 7 through 9
wma standard audio may be windows media drm-protected
windows media audio pro and wma lossless
mp3

video file formats supported:

windows media video 9 main profile
wma standard audio
max resolution 720x480
max bit-rate 4mbps
wmv content may be windows media drm-protected
mpeg-1 and mpeg-2 standard definition
mpeg-1 layers i and ii audio
standard definition dvr_ms (recorded tv) at all quality settings (fair through best)


xbmc supports:

supported file/container formats:
- audio-cd (cdda) playback for normal audio cd's
- vcd and svcd (video cd) (svcd/vcd menu's are not supported yet)
- dvd-video directly from xbox dvd-rom (no dvd-menu's support yet)*
- mpeg, mpg, m2v formats (inc. vcd's .dat and .bin and dvd's .vob)
- mpeg-4, mp4 (mpeg-4 video) (including divx video containers)
- riff avi (avi 1.0) container
- opendml avi (avi 2.0) container*
- bivx (avi with several audio streams) container
- microsoft asf/asx/wmv/wma containers *****
- quicktime qt/mov containers (inc. those with raw audio) *****
- theora video (vp3) format
- nullsoft steaming video (nsv) containers*
- nullsoft steaming audio (nsa) containers
- mpa, mp2, mp3 and wav containers
- aac, m4a, mp4 (mpeg-4 audio) unprotected containers *****
- raw .ac3 and .dts audio files, plus dts with wav-header*
- realmedia (real video/audio) rm/ram/ra/rv/rmvb containers
- ogg and ogm containers
- matroska (матрёшка) mkv containers
- vivo (viv) containers
- pva containers
- nuppelvideo containers
- fli and flc containers
- tracker mods (18 formats supported) audio
- m3u, pls and strm* audio/video playlists

supported video/audio codecs and picture formats:
- mpeg-1 (vcd/mpg/dat) and mpeg-2 (mpeg/svcd/dvd/vob/dv/ty) video
- mpeg-4 asp: divx;-) 3.11, opendivx 4.0, divx 5.x (pro), and xvid 1.0.x video
- mpeg-4 avc - advanced video coding (h.264): nero digital avc video codec
- windows media video v7, v8 and v9 (msmpeg4/wmv v1, v2 & v3) (wmv9 via dll's)
- realvideo: 1.0, 2.0 (realplayer g2), 3.0 (realplayer 8) and 4.0 (realplayer 9)
- realaudio codecs: 1.0 (14.4), 2.0 (28.8), sipro, cook, dnet and atrac3
- quicktime 5.0, 6.0, 6.3 video and audio codecs (qdmc / qdm2) (via qt dll's)*
- 3ivx d4 / 3vi1 mpeg-4 video (inc. mszh/zlib compressed-header containers)*
- sorenson v1/v3 (svq1/svq3) quicktime video
- apple graphics (smc) video
- theora video (vp3) video
- on2 technologies vp4 (vp4.0), vp5 (vp5.0), and vp6 (vp6.2) (all via on2 dll's)*
- on2 technologies vp3 (vp3.0 and vp3.2) video
- intel indeo 3.1/3.2 (indeo3)
- nuppelvideo (nuv)
- vivo 1.0 and 2.0 (viv)
- itu h.261 video
- creative labs yuv (cyuv) video
- supermac cinepak (cvid) video
- asus v1 (asv1) and asus v2 (asv2) video
- autodesk fli and flc animation
- wav and pcm audio format
- mpeg-audio layer 1, 2, and 3 (mp1, mp2 and mp3)
- ogg (ogg vorbis audio codec)
- wma - windows media audio v1 and v2 (wma1/2 / divx audio v1/v2)
- wma - windows media audio v9 (wma9) (via wma9 dll's)
- ac3 (dolby digital) 2.0, 5.1 and 7.1 audio in video ac3 pass-through (s/pdif-out)
- ac3 (dolby digital) 2.0 and 5.1 audio in video software decoded to stereo analog-out
- dts (digital theater sound) 48khz audio in dvd-video (dts digital pass-through)
- dts (dts and dts-wav) 44.1khz/48khz audio in dvd-video (software decoded)*
- aac - advanced audio coding (profiles: he, main, lc, ltp & ld, + er)
- m4a and mp4 (mpeg-4 audio) (including nero digital mp4) *****
- flac (free lossless audio codec) audio
- bmp picture/image
- jpg/jpeg picture/image
- gif picture/image
- png picture/image
- tif/tiff picture/image
- tga picture/image
- pcx picture/image
- ico picture/image
- sid (commodore 64 tunes) audio
- tracker mod's audio, see list bellow:
(mod/amf/669/dmf/dsm/far/gdm/imf/it/m15/med/okt/s3m/stm/sfx/ult/uni/xm)

that also looks out of date since we now have a dedicated audio player for flac/ape/mp3/ogg/mpc etc. can ms software playback lossless audio and mp3 with gapless playback? including ape and flac?

can it playback mkv and ogm containers with subtitle and audio switching?

can it play avi with ac3 with direct ac3 output?

media center extender is just a joke compared to xbmc.

i hope you do get the media extender up and running and tell your friend exactly how much it sucks ;)

[Hullebulle]

and the worst thing... it is only a frontend to windows mediacenter edition. you need a pc running mce to access the files .

[BaRTiMuS]

i originally bought the media center extender just for the remote.. i used the remote for a few months and then that extender cd started calling my name.. so i decided to take the plunge and do a clean mce 2005 install. i thought it wouldnt cost me too much money to get this going but if you plan on watching tv on more than one television, multiple tuner cards are definetely suggested. so i have two tv tuner cards installed in my pc.

if you dont currently own a pvr like i never did before i started using my extender you will be absolutely amazed at the possibilities. scheduling recordings, making priority lists so if all of your tuners are recording only the top priority ones get recorded. i really can't see myself watching tv any other way now.

now to xbmc...
you cannot in any way compare the extender to xbmc.. besides pvr and fm radio the extender is absolutely useless i tried setting up picture and music shares and its slow and sucky man.

i am 200% happy with my decision to install the extender and cannot imagine living without it (never having used a pvr before) but you have to use it in conjunction with xbmc as the main media center.

i just copied the contents of the extender disc to both of my xbox's set them both up and mapped the "my tv" button on my media center extender remote to launch the extender disc. this setup works flawlessly.. death to the vcr!!!

[kazaaboy]

"i just copied the contents of the extender disc to both of my xbox's set them both up and mapped the "my tv" button on my media center extender remote to launch the extender disc. this setup works flawlessly.. death to the vcr!!! "

...once you leave xbmc and enter the media center extender world via "my tv", you must turn off and on x-box to re-enter xbmc.

i have "my tv" as one of my script shortcuts!

[BaRTiMuS]

kazaaboy:

thats right since the extender was meant to be used off the disc it is no different than any other xbox game you have to reboot into xbmc.

[DonJ]

do i get this right:
lets say i have a windows media center server with 3 tuner cards. and i have 3 xboxes over the house. could i simultanously watch tv via every xbox streamed over lan?

does anyone know where i can get the extender in europe?

thx

[BaRTiMuS]

correct, technically you can do it with one tv tuner card but you have to watch the same thing on each tv if they are on at the same time.

the extender is not available in europe but im sure you can find one on ebay. im assuming that you, being in xbmc forums, have a modded xbox so it will have no problems playing a ntsc disc.

check out this thread it might shed some light into some european television compatibility issues.

media center extender in europe (http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=58&messageid=90784)

[BaRTiMuS]

kazaboy:

i have "my tv" as one of my script shortcuts!

so then are you saying that with the xbe being a script shortcut you can exit the extender without rebooting?

[kazaaboy]

"so then are you saying that with the xbe being a script shortcut you can exit the extender without rebooting?"

no...i wish....just that with other script programs you can exit back to xbmc thru their menus...that would be nice if someone can figure out how to exit back to xbmc from within mce(that is an mce installed on the hd)without having to reboot the xbox...it would feel more integrated!! :d

i, too, love my xbmc\mce hybrid setup! :thumbsup:

[WreckGar]

"so then are you saying that with the xbe being a script shortcut you can exit the extender without rebooting?"



no, i'm saying that when the time comes.... you won't have to.



no...i wish....just that with other script programs you can exit back to xbmc thru their menus...that would be nice if someone can figure out how to exit back to xbmc from within mce(that is an mce installed on the hd)without having to reboot the xbox...it would feel more integrated!! :d

i, too, love my xbmc\mce hybrid setup! :thumbsup:

there is a way to get back to the xmbc from the xbmce!!!!!!

:)

this is the old way: does not require any cleverness:
press the "xbox live" button on your xmbce remote & press ok. it will go to the xbox live screen. press back, and it will return to your dashboard. (which you did set to xmbc, right?)

:idea: this is the new way: sweet juice of the gods:

i work with the xbmce installed to the hard disk on the e drive.

inside the directory are three files.

dashupdate.xbe
default.xbe
update.xbe


i renamed dashupdate.xbe and update.xbe out of the way, and copied in the xbmc.xbe into each of their places, and copied the xboxmediacenter.xml file into the directory:

dashupdate.xbe.old
default.xbe
update.xbe.old
xboxmediacenter.xml
dashupdate.xbe <- actually the xbmc executable
update.xbe <- actually the xbmc executable


when you press the xboxlive button, and hit ok, it runs xbmc!

i also did this to the c:\xodash directory (which pretty much completely disables the xboxlive dash i guess) :

update.xbe.old
xonlinedash.xbe.old
xboxmediacenter.xml
xonlinedash.xbe <- actually the xbmc executable
update.xbe <- actually the xbmc executable


sweet mercy me. this is wife friendly.


and, of course by using the mce-like skin, it works pretty damn nice.

[BaRTiMuS]

great scotts!! you did it..

:kickass:

nice work this is a great trick.. i will program the "xbox live, ok" button combo into my universal and it will be a one button process!

[Basje]

hi there,

is there anyone who knows where i could buy this ms extender for xbox (i really like the remote) in europe and preferably in the netherlands. i checked amazon.com but they don't ship the electronic stuff to europe.

thanks,

bas

[jaz]

"i just copied the contents of the extender disc to both of my xbox's set them both up and mapped the "my tv" button on my media center extender remote to launch the extender disc. this setup works flawlessly.. death to the vcr!!! "
could you tell me how you did this? can't seem to get it to work. thanks in advance

jaz

[Alatar]

i won a windows media center enabled hp entertainment center in a competition. i know it has a dvd writer and the ability to record tv to hard disk but what i don't know is if it will do what my xbmc does? can it play divx, xvid, realmedia, quicktime etc?

thanks.

alatar

[wrreisen]

hi,

i have a modded xbox. i am setting up a pc with xp media center edition (mce) that can receive and record broadcast tv on it which i am going to network with my xbox. i am going to set up my xbox (original not 360) with "media center extender for xbox" so that i can watch and record broadcast tv through my xbox which gets it by *communicating with the xp mce pc. is it possible to set up this xbox to also run the xbmc on the same xbox to play divx and xvid movies down the network from the pc? would this be the best way of being able to play & record broadcast tv through the xbox and also being able to playback all the file formats that xbmc allows you to play. thanks for any suggestions.

[spiff]

yes. xbmc is a xbox application, mce is a xbox application.

your question is the same is; can i run two different games on my xbox, or can i just run one....

[wrreisen]

hi,

i live in the uk and want to watch digital terrestrial broadcast tv
through my original xbox which is networked to a mce xp 2005 pc.
i have a modded (cheapmod) pal uk xbox (not 360) with a 100mbit wired
connection to a 2005 xp media center edition pc 2.8ghz p4, 1gb ram, 2x
hauppauge nova-t 909 tuner cards, asus p4s800 motherboard, i have the
windvd installed for the mpeg2 decoder. i have got the media center
extender kit which was only sold in the us. when i watch live tv
through the xbox it is jerky. has anyone got the pal uk xbox to work
with this media center extender software without jerking watching live
tv or recorded tv? it jumps every 3-5 seconds. it shows more when there
is a zoom movement or a lot of movement in the tv camera's picture.
when the picture is more static you don't notice it. thanks. i have the
mce patched right up to date with the most up to date rollup and have
put the roll up 1 on the xbox hard drive. i have xbmc as my dashboard with the mce extender as one of my programs.(tv is fine when played back
through the pc)


is this an unsolvable pal ntsc incompatibility?

might it work if i switched the xbox's output to ntsc with the "enigmah mode changer"


or may my 2.8ghz pc not be quite powerful enough to deliver smooth
video to an extender?


or does the fact that it jerks when there is more camera movement
onscreen point to the fact that it may just be my network not keeping
up when the data rate of the tv video through the network not being
able to keep up. i did find that the network adapter on the asus
motherboard wouldn't work with certain switches i plugged it into.
seems to work okay with the one i've got it plugged into for normal pc
to pc file access (i'm not sending files whilst testing the tv though).


thanks for any advice.

[wrreisen]

switching to ntsc output on the xbox didn't help.

i've tried switching to the pvr 150 mce hauppage card. as you say this works without stuttering. unfortunately this only gives me 5 analogue channels as with the nova-t digital broadcast cards i got 20. with the nova-t the itv channels didn't seem to stutter but the bbc ones did. is there a digital tv card out there that doesn't give this stuttering with the xbox extender or is it just the way that the individual tv companies choose to encode their signals. the analogue card perhaps works because it is encoding the analogue to mpeg2 itself which the digital cards don't.

[ThugRamsey]

any one know if they are still making this? or if i just have the cd can i load this on my xbox and it still run or is there more needed then just the software?

[dborup]

i i have search and search but cant find a answer, can i use the Xbox Windows Media Center Extender remote control with XBMC? i can see with the new TECH release the is a key_map for it?

[kraqh3d]

yes, you can use the media center extender remote.

[dborup]

yes, you can use the media center extender remote.



cool thx, so now the last ? where do i get it? i live in denmark and cant find it :( and does it have to be that one with the m$ media center

[prulleman]

this is something I'm also interested in.
I was looking at the mytv scipt in combination of a hauppage card, but i think that's a bit tricky. if i could run the mce extender software next to xmbc, and switch between the 2 to acces either all my shares or the MCE functionality, that would be great!!

questions:
- if I get the extender software from the internet, can I just install this as any other app and start it from XBMC
- can I control this with my dvd kit remote?
- does the extender software control and do everything you can do on a MCE PC? (like time shift..)
- does is work correctly on a europe PAL Xbox?

Thanks

[Gamester17]

Note! This is not a support/help forum for "Microsoft Windows® Media Center Extender for Xbox", for that go to www.xbox.com (http://www.xbox.com) or www.microsoft.com (http://www.microsoft.com)

[MacBurp]

there is a way to get back to the xmbc from the xbmce!!!!!!

:idea: this is the new way: sweet juice of the gods:

i work with the xbmce installed to the hard disk on the e drive.

inside the directory are three files.


i renamed dashupdate.xbe and update.xbe out of the way, and copied in the xbmc.xbe into each of their places, and copied the xboxmediacenter.xml file into the directory:


when you press the xboxlive button, and hit ok, it runs xbmc!

i also did this to the c:\xodash directory (which pretty much completely disables the xboxlive dash i guess) :


sweet mercy me. this is wife friendly.


and, of course by using the mce-like skin, it works pretty damn nice.

OK, I now want to upgrade to XBMC 2.0, and I'd like to know how the above shortcut would work with 2.0.

As xboxmediacenter.xml no longer exists in 2.0, I presume that I would need to follow a process similar to setting XBMC 2.0 as dash as described in http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=As_a_Dashboard;

- copy the xbmc shortcut file (default.xbe) to replace dashupdate.xbe and update.xbe in the MCX directory
- create text files called dashupdate.cfg and update.cfg, pointing back to the XBMC folder
- repeat the process in c:\xodash

Anyone care to comment? I have the XBMC/MCX hybrid as described in this thread working perfectly, and I don't want to mess it up during the upgrade.

regards,
Paul

[MacBurp]

OK, I now want to upgrade to XBMC 2.0, and I'd like to know how the above shortcut would work with 2.0.

As xboxmediacenter.xml no longer exists in 2.0, I presume that I would need to follow a process similar to setting XBMC 2.0 as dash as described in http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=As_a_Dashboard;

- copy the xbmc shortcut file (default.xbe) to replace dashupdate.xbe and update.xbe in the MCX directory
- create text files called dashupdate.cfg and update.cfg, pointing back to the XBMC folder
- repeat the process in c:\xodash

Anyone care to comment? I have the XBMC/MCX hybrid as described in this thread working perfectly, and I don't want to mess it up during the upgrade.

regards,
Paul

Bit surprised at the lack of comment - but anyway, this process works fine.

regards,
Paul

[anywonder]

^ thanks--I was wondering how to accomplish this with the new XBMC too. I was even thinking of duplicating the entire folder there..

Boo no symbolic links for fatx >:|

[mrhammer]

Can someone walk me through how to make the My TV button on my MCE remote start the Media Center app?

[anywonder]

Can someone walk me through how to make the My TV button on my MCE remote start the Media Center app?

E:\Dashboard\UserData\Keymap.xml

<remote>
<mytv>XBMC.RunXBE(E:\Apps\Media Center Extender for Xbox\default.xbe)</mytv>
</remote>

make sure the paths are right for your xbox, just add the <mytv> part under <remote>

[sidneysides]

I am running XBMC 2.01 and am loving it. I would like to try the Micro$oft Media Extender though, purely for scheduling recordings. I have read though that Vista Media Center will only work with Extnder on 360, not on Xbox 1 - is this correct?

[anywonder]

yes only with the XBox 360 and other v2 extenders (there's only one other announced anyways).

Don't feel bad, because the 500 dollar Linksys and HP extenders that people bought are locked out too..(and they don't have the option of xbmc!)

If you're looking for a good pvr software that you can schedule from XBMC, Mediaportal is a port of XBMC that's really good now. There's a plugin for xbmc on their website

[anywonder]

and of course the mythtv frontend for linux

[MartinJHayes]

Hi all,

I am looking into hooking up my media centre PC to my Xbox (its the old one - NOT a fancy 360)
I have been reading around this website and it seems that I need my Xbox chipped - I CANT do this as it is not my Xbox subsequently I happened upon xsled as shown in the review bellow

http://www.xbox365.com/news/news.cgi/article/EEpVVZVukuIPvhvFBC5424

It looks ok and I want to try it BUT I can’t find it anywhere nor can I seem to find the software on download sites :-(

If anyone knows where I can get a copy I would be most grateful or alternatively any method of connecting a pc and Xbox without the need of ANY hardware mods on the Xbox.

Thanks LOTS
Martin :-)

[dailydisco]

You should not have to chip your Xbox for XBMC to work. I performed the mod as outlined here:

http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft_xbox/article/how_to_go_from_xbox_to_xbox_media_center_in_30_min utes.html

and did not need to chip it... I have never even cracked it open. You do, however, need to get a copy of one of the games listed in the guide, get a copy of the Ndure exploit, make sure your dashboard is up-to-date (you can do this by dl'ing via Xbox live or renting Halo2 (from what I have read), and either buying, borrowing, or making the memory card reader. I actually made one using some instructions on the web. If you are handy with a soldering iron and have a spare Xbox adapter (I used the bit left over from when I bought controller extensions) and a USB extension cable, it is not too difficult. The hardest part about that was getting a USB drive that would work. It turned out that a 256mb thumbdrive from Dane Electric worked for me, while two others did not. You could try to buy the used game someplace or rent it... just make sure it is the old version (as listed in the wiki page above).

From what everyone on the board here says, it doesn't matter which original Xbox you have (1.4, 1.5, 1.6)... you can softmod. Just read the directions several times and gather the bits and pieces you need. It is well worth the effort. These developers did a fantastic job.