[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
To the community at large looking for an inexpensive 'server' Anyone looking over this thread or searching on 'Xbox' for information on putting slimserver on the Xbox... It works _great_ provided some considerations are addressed. I highly recommend visiting the xbox linux project home page: http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page and following the link to the Step by Step Guide. This will guide you through the perils and pitfalls of converting the box to Linux-only status and gives all the basic (and detailed if necessary) requirements, hardware and skills to do the work. The project is a challenge and very educational. I will say that a trip to your local automotive parts store to get rear window defogger repair paint or a conductive trace repair pen is the ONLY missing hint on the site...it makes the conversion discussed SO much easier. That said, I considered the Xbox ideal because it is basically a (relatively) low power consumption, legacy x86 PC, with much more CPU power than the NAS slugs out there and can be attached to a TV for parties for visualization apps. Transcoding is a non-issue for this box in my experience so FLAC to MP3 on the fly is fine. You can swap out the hard drive and DVD for better units if you are so inclined, so storage becomes a non-issue. The greatest case is cost. A used laptop can run several hundred dollar to acquire. The Mini-itx solution with a MoBo, power supply, case and hard drive is several hundred dollars. However, the Xbox can be acquired used in North America for under US$125 currently. The cost of the conversion is about $10 for the conductive pen or paint plus your time. A 40 GB hard drive is under $85. The game and parts needed for the conversion total less than $50. You get a box that is quiet, reliable and can run 24/7 for less than 20 cents per day (in Canada anyway). I see this as a great solution. Since there exists a very small Damn Small Linux variant specifically designed and built for the Xbox, adding the slimserver pieces and some tools for management and file movement (e.g. ssh and samba), and you are all set. Nice project, something to consider. - Squiff A: You got a warface? B: Sir? A: A! That's a warface. B: Aaarggghhh! A: Work on it, you don't scare me. -- squiffy squiffy's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3173 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
RE: [slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Squiffy, I have been reading your mails with interest as I have just acquired a 2nd hand xbox on ebay. The one thing I don't understand clearly yet is that if I wish to: A) retain the ability to play xbox games (not interested in xbox live), B) run Linux (including replacing the hard drive) - the only option is to get a mod chip fitted? The xbox-linux site seems keen to steer you away from that choice, but it seems the only one that allows for changing the hard drive? James NOTICE: If received in error, please destroy and notify sender. Sender does not waive confidentiality or privilege, and use is prohibited. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Craig, James (IT) Wrote: Squiffy, I have been reading your mails with interest as I have just acquired a 2nd hand xbox on ebay. Congratulations...hope you got a good price ;-) Craig, James (IT) Wrote: The one thing I don't understand clearly yet is that if I wish to: A) retain the ability to play xbox games (not interested in xbox live), B) run Linux (including replacing the hard drive) - the only option is to get a mod chip fitted? The xbox-linux site seems keen to steer you away from that choice, but it seems the only one that allows for changing the hard drive? James, the answer is _yes_ --- IF you wish to continue playing games (less Xbox Live) AND have Linux AND have a large drive, then you can ONLY use a Modchip. However, IF you are VERY brave and have a version 1.0 or 1.1 Xbox, you can solder in a switch on the TSOP (i.e. BIOS chip) and since it has 1 MB of flashable space that is addressable, flash the second two quadrants (i.e. last two 256 kB of flash) with Cromwell BIOS (the Linuxy kind) and leave the Xbox BIOS in the first two quads. That said, since modchips are [relatively] cheap, go that route, MUCH safer and much easier. The soldering requires the dexterity of a brain surgeon, the eyes of an eagle, really good temperature controlled soldering tools and the cojones of a bonobo chimp to pull off successfully. Since this is a bit off-topic, and I use a dedicated Xbox as a low-power x86 server, which includes my MP3 collection and some server tools, perhaps I can personal message you and we can continue on the Xbox-linux forums, where this should probably be. Squiff -- squiffy squiffy's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3173 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
mherger Wrote: I know you can install Linux on modded XBOX, but have anyone also tried to put slimserver on top of it, if that works, how about putting the AlienBBC plugin also, any info will be greatly appreciated. I think there was once a guy who wanted to remaster SlimCD to install it on a xbox... -- Michael --- Help translate SlimServer by using the StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) I'm that guy...reading this thread through shows you the relative difficulty of getting Linux on the Xbox (http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki) IMHO you should be willing to do the hardware preparation spoken about on xbox-linux, since the Xbox will become a dedicated music server. The Xbox Linux project has links to people willing to do the conversion for you for free and return the box unharmed (read the caveats _carefully_ through) I chose the Xbox becuase it has much more processing power compared to a NAS slug or the LinkStation, so I can do transcoding on the fly and streaming is better. The hardware preparation allows you to swap out the hard drive to a larger one and dedicate it to music storage, playlists, album art and lyrics, etc. Specs. are readily available on the internet, but the Xbox Linux project website has a great convince me page as to why one might choose an Xbox. At command line running status (e.g. runlevel 2 or 3), again Michael's idea, the limitation of 64 MB of RAM (actually 60 MB since 4 MB is reserved for video), a GUI is overhead you don't need. Essentially, I keyed on Michael's LiveCD idea as the _starting_ point only. The Xbox does not have enough power to run as a LiveCD only. I used it as the trainer to get the system up and running the software. The final arrangement is as follows: 1) Xbox (v 1.0 unit) with hardware preparation 2) X-DSL 0.5 (http://x-dsl.org) remastered to include perl source, Michael Herger's perl 5.8.6 build binary and SaMBa build for Windows file sharing 3) Debian startup script 2 4) Running at runlevel 2 (NO GUI or Xwindows) 5) ssh daemon allowing remote system management tasks 6) cron daemon allowing automated system management tasks 7) ntpdate for system time update The unit is still in development because it was inherited as junk and I had to patch in an ATX power supply and voltage regulation homemade circuit to get it to run. Once I have it up and running, I will likely take my notes and compile a HOWTO. Overall, my recommendation would be to take a close look at Damn Small Linux for the Xbox (x-dsl) and use that as the starting point. Ultimately, I wanted to have an install CD prepared that would do all the work for me, but my scripting skills are zero. Remastering for Xbox booting is not that hard once you learn it. Making an install CD is somewhat harder because of the variability and offering some user choices. Stay tuned Xbox fans. -- squiffy squiffy's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3173 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
mherger Wrote: I know you can install Linux on modded XBOX, but have anyone also tried to put slimserver on top of it, if that works, how about putting the AlienBBC plugin also, any info will be greatly appreciated. I think there was once a guy who wanted to remaster SlimCD to install it on a xbox... -- Michael --- Help translate SlimServer by using the StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) I'm that guy...reading this thread through shows you the relative difficulty of getting Linux on the Xbox (http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki) IMHO you should be willing to do the hardware preparation spoken about on xbox-linux, since the Xbox will become a dedicated music server. The Xbox Linux project has links to people willing to do the conversion for you for free and return the box unharmed (read the caveats _carefully_ through) I chose the Xbox becuase it has much more processing power compared to a NAS slug or the LinkStation, so I can do transcoding on the fly and streaming is better. The hardware preparation allows you to swap out the hard drive to a larger one and dedicate it to music storage, playlists, album art and lyrics, etc. Specs. are readily available on the internet, but the Xbox Linux project website has a great convince me page as to why one might choose an Xbox. At command line running status (e.g. runlevel 2 or 3), again Michael's idea, the limitation of 64 MB of RAM (actually 60 MB since 4 MB is reserved for video), a GUI is overhead you don't need. Essentially, I keyed on Michael's LiveCD idea as the _starting_ point only. The Xbox does not have enough power to run as a LiveCD only. I used it as the trainer to get the system up and running the software. The final arrangement is as follows: 1) Xbox (v 1.0 unit) with hardware preparation 2) X-DSL 0.5 (http://x-dsl.org) remastered to include perl source, Michael Herger's perl 5.8.6 build binary and SaMBa build for Windows file sharing 3) Debian startup script 2 4) Running at runlevel 2 (NO GUI or Xwindows) 5) ssh daemon allowing remote system management tasks 6) cron daemon allowing automated system management tasks 7) ntpdate for system time update The unit is still in development because it was inherited as junk and I had to patch in an ATX power supply and voltage regulation homemade circuit to get it to run. Once I have it up and running, I will likely take my notes and compile a HOWTO. Overall, my recommendation would be to take a close look at Damn Small Linux for the Xbox (x-dsl) and use that as the starting point. Ultimately, I wanted to have an install CD prepared that would do all the work for me, but my scripting skills are zero. Remastering for Xbox booting is not that hard once you learn it. Making an install CD is somewhat harder because of the variability and offering some user choices. Stay tuned Xbox fans. -- squiffy squiffy's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3173 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Merry Christmas all! Nice thread, I have been looking for a low cost NAS solution for a while now, perhpas using an Xbox could be the solution. Having read Toms Xbox to Nas article http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article150.php It seems fairly easy to install linux, on an Xbox. But has anyone managed to install slimserver on it yet? -- NigelMMIII NigelMMIII's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2992 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Just a update, I successfully installed slim server on my xbox with Gentoox, it runs perfectly on one 300G hard drive now, now my xbox truely becomes my home media center, I am so joyful. -- jackyhan jackyhan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1957 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
RE: [slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
I am just curious to know what this actually means. I assume from your post that your Xbox hardware is now running Linux (and hence SlimServer) - how does this work for all the games etc. Do you have to select a different mode of operation at startup or something like that? How would this work for 'a friend of mine' who has upgraded his xbox hard disk and modded the bios so that games can be saved on that disk (or so I am informed)? Richard -Original Message- From: jackyhan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 25 November 2005 06:08 To: discuss@lists.slimdevices.com Subject: [slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ? Just a update, I successfully installed slim server on my xbox with Gentoox, it runs perfectly on one 300G hard drive now, now my xbox truely becomes my home media center, I am so joyful. -- jackyhan jackyhan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1957 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
yes, I only installed linux on one partition (which can be accessed from a menu item on evox),all other partitions are untouched so I still can play games and save games to other partitions, it even runs xbmc as well. -- jackyhan jackyhan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1957 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Thanks for the update Jacky! Now I'm really gonna have to get a big HD and hack the XBOX... Just wondering, how fast is the music search and does it take long to start up with the 733MHz Xbox Celeron? Regards, Arch -- Archimago Archimago's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2207 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
here is an interesting article I found, looks like installing linux on xbox is not that hard althrough I havn't tried yet. http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Getting_Started -- jackyhan jackyhan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1957 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Thanks Jacky... Looks like an interesting Christmas project when my Live! account dies! -- Archimago Archimago's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2207 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
jackyhan Wrote: Thank you for the replies, but have anyone actually got it done before, is there any issues during the whole process? I want to hear a definite answer before I get into it, thanks! I did the software hack on the xbox some time ago. This only works on xbox version 1.6 and there were quite some obstacles to overcome. 1) You need the original version of the game MechAssault 2) You have to solder an USB-Xbox adaptor 3) You need a usb stick to copy the hijacked save game to 4) Your usb stick must be recognised by the xbox (only one of three that I own actually worked) If you do the software hack you can still play xbox games but you cannot exchange any hardware. I have no experience with other xbox modifications and have never run slimserver on it (and probably never will). So I cannot comment on performance and the like. S. -- slimpy slimpy's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1524 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Thank you for the info,slimpy, but I believe it is much easier to do soft mod now as long as you get right game and tool, actually it only took me 10 minutes to mod two xbox this afternoon, but that is another story, what I am really concerning about is how to put slimserver on top of it. -- jackyhan jackyhan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1957 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
I agree that the XBOX makes an interesting media server! The HD can easily be upgraded, it's relatively quiet so it won't drown out soft musical passages (unlike some of the loud PC fans), it's got the built-in ethernet. Also, may be able to use it to play AVI/DiVX's off the HD. Since the Squeezebox becomes the user interface, there's also no need to turn on the TV to select songs... Hmmm, I already have my XBOX hacked and since my XBOX Live is about to go dead, sounds like an interesting project to do over next couple months... Anyone do this and has pointers on which Linux and how to install, etc...? Regards, Arch -- Archimago Archimago's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2207 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Thank you for the replies, but have anyone actually got it done before, is there any issues during the whole process? I want to hear a definite answer before I get into it, thanks! -- jackyhan jackyhan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1957 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
I'm just curious why you want slimserver specifically. XboxMediaCenter might work pretty well for you for AlienBBC formats. -- jth jth's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=48 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
basically I intend to use xbox as my media storage center which allows my squeezebox connect to it anywhere at my home, pc is not a option for me, linkstation is also too limited. -- jackyhan jackyhan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1957 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
[slim] Re: SlimServer on XBOX ?
Once you have linux running on your xbox it should be an easy task. Xbox linux is debian based as far as I can remember. You want to upgrade the stock hd if you have the mod chip installed unless you use some external NAS or USB storage. Probably memory will be a bit on the low sidebut otherwise you should be fine. S. -- slimpy slimpy's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1524 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=18107 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
