Boot Xbox with Compact Flash (CF) Card/Drive?

[skovgaard]

hi

i have no idea whether the following suggestion would be possible, but i like it:

1) remove the xbox hd and replace this by a compact flash drive via usb (or by using a cf-to-ide adapter)
2) prepare the cf-drive, in order that an xbox boot-up will enter xbmc directly
3) stream av-files from networked pc's, internet, dvd-drive, etc.
4) case-mod the xbox to complete noise-less operation

anyone who knows if this is done already or possible to do at all?

[Gamester17]

Originally Posted by (skovgaard @ may 20 2004,14:54)

1) remove the xbox hd and replace this by a compact flash drive via usb

that is certainely not possible, usb harddrives are not supported much less booting from one. besides, topic not really only xbmc related.

[dancingmonkey]

you can probably do it with this.
cf->ide adapter
although im not sure if it would work.

[jcee]

i am really interested in this too..
of course i know if it works.. it works via cf/ide

[nimbles]

huh? this is never gonna happen surely?, the c: and e: partitions at very least have to be correct, e.g. 4 and bit gb for e: (there also has to be the e:\tdata and e:\udata\ folders present) plus the aorund 700mb-800mb for c: and similar sized amounts for the cache partitions x, y, z- so you'd need a 8gb cf card surely, and access times would be slow.

this would never work, can a cf card even be formatted in fatx?

[Gamester17]

Originally Posted by (nimbles @ may 20 2004,20:45)

this would never work, can a cf card even be formatted in fatx?

well, in theory if a cf => ide/eide adapter really makes a 8gb size cf card apper as a standard ata harddrive then it should be possible(?)

[nimbles]

microdrive has a sustained data rate of 3.5mb/sec (average), fast cf "40x" delivers 6mb/sec and "80x" delivers 12mb/sec. because the new 60x and 80x cf cards are on the verge of shipping the 40x cards have plummeted in price in the last few weeks from over 230 ukp to less than 160.

this was a taken from a reasonably old article as a 1gb cf card costs at minimum £100 in the uk, although the 2.2gb (40x) can be had for £120.

currently 4gb is the max and the prices i've seen are around $499, and there has been announcements of 8gb cf cards coming out soon so i guess the size issue isn't a problem but the read/write speed (and i assume it is half duplex type- e.g. reading and writing can't be done simultanoeusly- not sure how much gets written by xbmc) and the price would make it prohibitive

forget any other flash media, most of them are just getting to the 1gb mark and are even more expensive

[vtbone]

it is very possible to use the ide to cf adapter... it is currently being used in the ipod linux project as a hard drive replacement as the ipod 1.8" drives are too expensive. although the read/write speed of compact flash is still very slow in comparison it would still be ok for software loads. i think most of you have missed the original point to the post. there would be no need for gb cf cards as it would simply be holding the xbox os as xbmc. not more than a couple hundred megs for everything. everything else would stream via the network. you could even use a slimline aftermarket dvd-rom if you didn't care about reading original xbox discs and get the size of your xbox down. i bet you could build a custom xbox case at an inch thick or less... your limiting factor would probably be the cpu heatsink or the caps on the power supply!

[simonmcc]

i have googled and searched the forums, and found one thread here.

i use my xbox soley for xbmc, and wonder if it is possible to remove the hard disk, and replace it with a compact flash card, connected through a cf to ide adaptor.

i stream all my media from a networked server, so storage on the xbox is not an issue. is access speed an issue?

has anyone managed this? is it possible? what is the smallest amount of space you would need on a disk?

[telmnstr]

Hello,

I'm looking into the possibility of moving to a Compact Flash card in my XBOX. I'm thinking that XBMC doesn't execute too many writes to disk, so I shouldn't have to worry too much about wear. By the time the card errors out (they have wear leveling), they will be a few bucks to replace.

The issue will be the ATA locking commands that the XBOX uses. Has anyone attempted to do such a thing? The CF card is IDE and will appear like a standard IDE drive to the host, and I believe they generally follow most of the ATA specification so it should have the password protection.

My goal is to reduce power consumption as I move to run the xbox on a 65 watt power supply straight from 12vdc. The CF will also be less shock prone. I will keep the DVD-ROM to satisfy the Xbox, and to have another removable storage medium. I currently use USB key fob storage as my primary removable storage.

XBMC has a huge future as a mobile platform.