Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
Mark Knecht wrote: I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done. After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$ BIOS. I know this is getting OT, but hopefully it will help others. The DuoX2 has 2x banks of 512kB to flash a bios to. There is a switch on the chip itself to switch between banks (and the second bank should still be untouched on your Xbox assuming you haven't flicked the switch it since the mod was fitted - most likely this will contain a bootable modchip bios). Most Xbox modchips can be flashed with a 256kB size bios. The Duo is different as it requires a 512kB bios. If you try and flash a 256kB one it stops the machine from booting (this was my experience when fitting one for a friend anyway). What you need to do is open up the Xbox (using Torx 10 and Torx 20 screwdrivers), remove the HD and CD drives, then flick the switch on the chip. Put it back together and see if it boots using the modchip bios. If it does, then start from scratch with flashing the bios on it again, but this time make sure the replacement (Cromwell) bios is 512kB in size, and that you are using raincoat version 0.7 (I don't know if this is required but everyone seems to recommend it). I hope this helps a bit! Will PS. If you're still stuck, I believe there is help on the xbox-linux website on how to soft-mod your Xbox, and contact details of nearby people who can do it for you. For specific DuoX2 info, try the forums at xbox-scene.com. PPS. If you're at all handy with a soldering iron you may see that fitting the chip is not that difficult, especially as someone has already done the soldering to the Xbox motherboard for you! You could consider buying a replacement DuoX2 and fitting it yourself (ie, they cost £11 here in the UK, which is $21 ish). There should only be 2 connections to re-solder to the modchip. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
Will, Hi. Yes, pretty much everything below is exactly what I've learned over the last two days. I hope it helps folks in the future. There is one thing I will add at this point, again to help people in the future: ** Cromwell-2.40 and earlier, as supplied here: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 is not, I repeat NOT, compatble with an Xbox Ver. 1.6(b). If you have a 1.6(b) do not flash a mod chip with this BIOS. You must request a special verison of Cromwell to support this revision of the XBox or what you flash will not work even if flashed correctly. ** In my case I created a 512KB image of Cromwell and correctly flashed it to both banks. We removed the mod chip and placed it in an earlier XBox. The mod chip booted Cromwell correctly. There was nothign wrong with my technique of flashing the mod chip but rather Cromwell simply doesn't work in 1.6(b) machines. I am waiting for a new version of Cromwell to try out. I have not yet heard back from the individual that will supposedly do this build for me. Cheers, Mark On 5/5/05, Will [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Mark Knecht wrote: I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done. After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$ BIOS. I know this is getting OT, but hopefully it will help others. The DuoX2 has 2x banks of 512kB to flash a bios to. There is a switch on the chip itself to switch between banks (and the second bank should still be untouched on your Xbox assuming you haven't flicked the switch it since the mod was fitted - most likely this will contain a bootable modchip bios). Most Xbox modchips can be flashed with a 256kB size bios. The Duo is different as it requires a 512kB bios. If you try and flash a 256kB one it stops the machine from booting (this was my experience when fitting one for a friend anyway). What you need to do is open up the Xbox (using Torx 10 and Torx 20 screwdrivers), remove the HD and CD drives, then flick the switch on the chip. Put it back together and see if it boots using the modchip bios. If it does, then start from scratch with flashing the bios on it again, but this time make sure the replacement (Cromwell) bios is 512kB in size, and that you are using raincoat version 0.7 (I don't know if this is required but everyone seems to recommend it). I hope this helps a bit! Will PS. If you're still stuck, I believe there is help on the xbox-linux website on how to soft-mod your Xbox, and contact details of nearby people who can do it for you. For specific DuoX2 info, try the forums at xbox-scene.com. PPS. If you're at all handy with a soldering iron you may see that fitting the chip is not that difficult, especially as someone has already done the soldering to the Xbox motherboard for you! You could consider buying a replacement DuoX2 and fitting it yourself (ie, they cost £11 here in the UK, which is $21 ish). There should only be 2 connections to re-solder to the modchip. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. I have an old 1.0 or 1.1 vsn Xbox and have soft-modded it. I instaled Xbox Media Centre (XBMC) and the mythtv python scripts. Sadly this doesn't work because the mplayer that comes with XBMC doesn't support MPEG4 which is the format of my recordings. However, I'm soon to start using MPEG2 from a new digital TV card on my backend so this should solve that. The python scripts are good because you don't have to wait for linux to boot - you get the immediate boot ups of a normal Xbox. They're limited in functionality, however. To investigate further search for xbmcmythtv on Google. Regards, Phill ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
[mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. Calvin ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
Calvin, Please visit http://www.xbox-linux.org/ There is FAQ which discusses about various xbox version numbers. I think anything older box (pre 2003) is required. And version 1.6 is a no-no. It also tells how to do a software mod and a hardware mod. I am thinking to get xbox as frontend. I also found that the haupagge (sp?) media MVP also has good potential for a front end. Though its limited by its memory (16mb). It has h/w mpeg decoder and a nice remote. Visit http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main for more information. I just bought it, but still struggling to get my backend running (HDTV card was little flaky, getting a replacement soon). Thanks Mudit On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. Calvin ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
Calvin, I'm am currently going through XBox mod hell. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone feint of heart. There are at least 7 versions of the XBox, starting with 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, ..., 1.6. There is also (apparently) a 'sub-version' of 1.6 called 1.6b. There are also a truly scary number of possibly mod chips. Choose one carefully. I'm using the cheapest. It would likely had been OK if it came preinstalled with the Cromwell BIOS. Some of them do. I suggest looking for that. I purchased a new XBox last Friday for a Myth frontend machine. I knew it would be difficult. I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work. Here's the status so far. I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done. After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$ BIOS. So far I'm out $150 for the machine, $25 for the IR/remote, $50 for the mod chip + install and it doesn't work. That's $250. Probably I'll get it fixed and running sometime this week but it's certainly not painless so far. ;-) (Mostly my own making I'm sure.) My one comment about the XBox is that it's not silent. The fan in them makes about as much noise as an older VCR when recording. This makes me wonder if I'll leave it turned on and ready for use or whether I'll end up turning i toff and seldom using it. Based on a fairly gloomy Monday morning my thought today, knowing what little I know right now, is that I'd double the cost to $500 and build something that's both based on a standard PC architecture and BIOS as well as fanless and completely silent. So far it's an interesting (if depressing) use of time and I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy the box when I get it done. Not a great report. Go here only if you like this sort of thing. We'll see. - Mark On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. Calvin ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
RE: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
Mark, Why did you do a hardware hack for you where just going to run it as a front-end? I have 5 Xboxes running now all with Xebian, each runs very well with SD video (forget HD). My suggestion would be to pick one up used, this is how I bought mine and thus did not have to stress as much about the version. Shaun From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Mark Knecht Sent: Wed 5/4/2005 10:34 AM To: Discussion about mythtv Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Calvin, I'm am currently going through XBox mod hell. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone feint of heart. There are at least 7 versions of the XBox, starting with 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, ..., 1.6. There is also (apparently) a 'sub-version' of 1.6 called 1.6b. There are also a truly scary number of possibly mod chips. Choose one carefully. I'm using the cheapest. It would likely had been OK if it came preinstalled with the Cromwell BIOS. Some of them do. I suggest looking for that. I purchased a new XBox last Friday for a Myth frontend machine. I knew it would be difficult. I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work. Here's the status so far. I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done. After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$ BIOS. So far I'm out $150 for the machine, $25 for the IR/remote, $50 for the mod chip + install and it doesn't work. That's $250. Probably I'll get it fixed and running sometime this week but it's certainly not painless so far. ;-) (Mostly my own making I'm sure.) My one comment about the XBox is that it's not silent. The fan in them makes about as much noise as an older VCR when recording. This makes me wonder if I'll leave it turned on and ready for use or whether I'll end up turning i toff and seldom using it. Based on a fairly gloomy Monday morning my thought today, knowing what little I know right now, is that I'd double the cost to $500 and build something that's both based on a standard PC architecture and BIOS as well as fanless and completely silent. So far it's an interesting (if depressing) use of time and I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy the box when I get it done. Not a great report. Go here only if you like this sort of thing. We'll see. - Mark On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. Calvin ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users winmail.dat___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
RE: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
I'll second that Shaun. I'm running a ver 1.4 with a software hack, Xebian and myth 1.7. The hardest part was getting the software hack on the xbox for me, I ended up buying a memory card as opposed to making one. The second hardest was digesting the how to Doc on the xbox distro, I'm not a Linux user... Shaun, what's SD? AJM, From: Shaun Bryant [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org Subject: RE: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 11:18:51 -0600 Mark, Why did you do a hardware hack for you where just going to run it as a front-end? I have 5 Xboxes running now all with Xebian, each runs very well with SD video (forget HD). My suggestion would be to pick one up used, this is how I bought mine and thus did not have to stress as much about the version. Shaun From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Mark Knecht Sent: Wed 5/4/2005 10:34 AM To: Discussion about mythtv Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Calvin, I'm am currently going through XBox mod hell. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone feint of heart. There are at least 7 versions of the XBox, starting with 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, ..., 1.6. There is also (apparently) a 'sub-version' of 1.6 called 1.6b. There are also a truly scary number of possibly mod chips. Choose one carefully. I'm using the cheapest. It would likely had been OK if it came preinstalled with the Cromwell BIOS. Some of them do. I suggest looking for that. I purchased a new XBox last Friday for a Myth frontend machine. I knew it would be difficult. I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work. Here's the status so far. I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done. After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$ BIOS. So far I'm out $150 for the machine, $25 for the IR/remote, $50 for the mod chip + install and it doesn't work. That's $250. Probably I'll get it fixed and running sometime this week but it's certainly not painless so far. ;-) (Mostly my own making I'm sure.) My one comment about the XBox is that it's not silent. The fan in them makes about as much noise as an older VCR when recording. This makes me wonder if I'll leave it turned on and ready for use or whether I'll end up turning i toff and seldom using it. Based on a fairly gloomy Monday morning my thought today, knowing what little I know right now, is that I'd double the cost to $500 and build something that's both based on a standard PC architecture and BIOS as well as fanless and completely silent. So far it's an interesting (if depressing) use of time and I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy the box when I get it done. Not a great report. Go here only if you like this sort of thing. We'll see. - Mark On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. Calvin ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users winmail.dat ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users _ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
On 5/4/05, a M [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'll second that Shaun. I'm running a ver 1.4 with a software hack, Xebian and myth 1.7. The hardest part was getting the software hack on the xbox for me, I ended up buying a memory card as opposed to making one. The second hardest was digesting the how to Doc on the xbox distro, I'm not a Linux user... Shaun, what's SD? Standard Definition TV as opposed to High Definition TV ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
On 5/4/05, Mudit Wahal [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Calvin, Please visit http://www.xbox-linux.org/ There is FAQ which discusses about various xbox version numbers. I think anything older box (pre 2003) is required. And version 1.6 is a no-no. It also tells how to do a software mod and a hardware mod. I am thinking to get xbox as frontend. I also found that the haupagge (sp?) media MVP also has good potential for a front end. Though its limited by its memory (16mb). It has h/w mpeg decoder and a nice remote. Visit http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main for more information. I just bought it, but still struggling to get my backend running (HDTV card was little flaky, getting a replacement soon). Thanks Mudit On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. Calvin I have a v1.6 XBox which has been soft-modded (no mod chip). I'm running Xebian 1.0.3 and Myth 0.16. Runs just fine. Only issue is that there's no overscan support for the new video chips, so you have to use the MythTV setup to reduce the size of your GUI and adjust its placement. That being said, I later bought an older PC for another front-end, and it was: cheaper than the XBox, faster than the XBox, and easier to setup. While a new XBox is around $149 (will probably come down what with the new XBox coming), I got my PC front end at $90 on eBay. It's an HP eVectra, P3-933 MHz. The only real issue is that there's no TV-out, so you either need to be watching on a computer monitor, or you need an external VGA-to-TV converter. If I get yet another front-end, I'd definitely go for another PC like this instead of another XBox. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
On 5/4/05, Shaun Bryant [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Mark, Why did you do a hardware hack for you where just going to run it as a front-end? Because all the HOWTO's I read said you couldn't do a software hack on a 1.6b box which is what I got at Best Buy. I have 5 Xboxes running now all with Xebian, each runs very well with SD video (forget HD). My suggestion would be to pick one up used, this is how I bought mine and thus did not have to stress as much about the version. Hi Shaun, I don't understand why buying used would eliminate the need to replace the BIOS? I'm getting the message both here and privately that I must use the Cromwell BIOS if I want a Linux only box. I think I'm probably far too confused and far too frustrated at this point to understand all the info I'm getting. I probably am getting it all wrong. Mainly I just want to thrown the thing away this morning and go sleep it off somewhere but my mod chip guy said he'd try to get the DuoX2 working again so I cannot turn down such a nice offer. I hope we can get Cromwell on there. That would be nice. None the less, with $250 into the project at this point I'd like to get what I already own working. I cannot afford to go in a new direction. Money's gone. Either it works or it dies. (Or I do!) ;-) Thanks, Mark ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
SD = Standard Definition/Analog. HD = High Definition But SD can also be considered as Standard Digital which is quite notches above Standard Definition, and a few notches below HD. AJM, did you a separate remote for the xbox ? I'm in same boat, I've one HDTV and 2 analogs. For HDTV frontend, I need a beast box (p4 3ghz+). But for analog, I'd like to get a cheaper/quiter front end. I just bought the media mvp after reading some comments about it on this mailing list. Haven't plugged it in yet. Still struggling with the backend. Media MVP doesn't run a full fledge mythtv frontend, but if all you want is watch tv/recording/music (and dont care about other stuff), then the basic mvp should be fine. For under $100 bucks, it comes with a functional remote, 10/100 ethernet port, svideo output, h/w decoder, plays mpeg2 (for mythtv only) and divx (if you run their backend on windows). But someday, someone will write a on-the-fly transcoder from mpeg2 to mpeg4 running on linux. Not advocating mvp/hijacking this thread, just there are some other options if the requirements are limited. Thanks Mudit On 5/4/05, a M [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'll second that Shaun. I'm running a ver 1.4 with a software hack, Xebian and myth 1.7. The hardest part was getting the software hack on the xbox for me, I ended up buying a memory card as opposed to making one. The second hardest was digesting the how to Doc on the xbox distro, I'm not a Linux user... Shaun, what's SD? AJM, From: Shaun Bryant [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org Subject: RE: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 11:18:51 -0600 Mark, Why did you do a hardware hack for you where just going to run it as a front-end? I have 5 Xboxes running now all with Xebian, each runs very well with SD video (forget HD). My suggestion would be to pick one up used, this is how I bought mine and thus did not have to stress as much about the version. Shaun From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Mark Knecht Sent: Wed 5/4/2005 10:34 AM To: Discussion about mythtv Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Calvin, I'm am currently going through XBox mod hell. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone feint of heart. There are at least 7 versions of the XBox, starting with 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, ..., 1.6. There is also (apparently) a 'sub-version' of 1.6 called 1.6b. There are also a truly scary number of possibly mod chips. Choose one carefully. I'm using the cheapest. It would likely had been OK if it came preinstalled with the Cromwell BIOS. Some of them do. I suggest looking for that. I purchased a new XBox last Friday for a Myth frontend machine. I knew it would be difficult. I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work. Here's the status so far. I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done. After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$ BIOS. So far I'm out $150 for the machine, $25 for the IR/remote, $50 for the mod chip + install and it doesn't work. That's $250. Probably I'll get it fixed and running sometime this week but it's certainly not painless so far. ;-) (Mostly my own making I'm sure.) My one comment about the XBox is that it's not silent. The fan in them makes about as much noise as an older VCR when recording. This makes me wonder if I'll leave it turned on and ready for use or whether I'll end up turning i toff and seldom using it. Based on a fairly gloomy Monday morning my thought today, knowing what little I know right now, is that I'd double the cost to $500 and build something that's both based on a standard PC architecture and BIOS as well as fanless and completely silent. So far it's an interesting (if depressing) use of time and I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy the box when I get it done. Not a great report. Go here only if you like this sort of thing. We'll see. - Mark On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
Just to clear up a few misconceptions for those about to dip thier toes in the xbox pool Use a software hack/mod if all you want to do is run linux/mythtv. It's pretty easy to do and works across the versions. All of the xbox frontends that I've put together for myself and friends have been older ones. We shop eBay for dirty disc or disc read errors broken systems. They usually run for $40 - $75. Take it home and clean it out well. Often that will fix the DVD drive, since many users take poor care of thier systems and dirt/dust/grime builds up inside. Follow the directions at www.llamma.com on cleaning the DVD lens. Buy a decent mod chip. the X3 is very nice since you can start it up and flash it with the lastest bios without a DVD (instead it goes over http). Burn Ed's xebian 1.1.x to a CD-RW (that's important! If it's a dirty disc machine, it might not read a DVD, but it may still read a CD-RW. If not, you can use a working drive from a firends xbox. I've also heard that you can use a PC DVD-ROM drive to load Xebian, but I've never tried it. Get the MythTV installer script from the xbox mythtv page. Google it, first link. The beta 4.5 has worked well for me on v1.0, 1.1 and 1.5 systems. Currently, I'm enjoying a high WAF (wife acceptance factor) because we now have a TV in the bedroom capable of watching shows from the Myth backend, and she can still play Xbox games from the upgraded HDD I put in it, as well as all the emulators loaded on it. Xbox Linux is installed to the Game save partition (e:\apps\debian\default.xbe). Xbox: $65 (inc. shipping, eBay) Mod Chip $40 (bought from a firend who accidentally bought 2) Remote IR: $10.79 (inc. shipping, eBay) Future purchase... wireless controller and a better remote. Probably another Radio Shack 2115. Cheers! -Brian On 5/4/05, Mudit Wahal [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: SD = Standard Definition/Analog. HD = High Definition But SD can also be considered as Standard Digital which is quite notches above Standard Definition, and a few notches below HD. AJM, did you a separate remote for the xbox ? I'm in same boat, I've one HDTV and 2 analogs. For HDTV frontend, I need a beast box (p4 3ghz+). But for analog, I'd like to get a cheaper/quiter front end. I just bought the media mvp after reading some comments about it on this mailing list. Haven't plugged it in yet. Still struggling with the backend. Media MVP doesn't run a full fledge mythtv frontend, but if all you want is watch tv/recording/music (and dont care about other stuff), then the basic mvp should be fine. For under $100 bucks, it comes with a functional remote, 10/100 ethernet port, svideo output, h/w decoder, plays mpeg2 (for mythtv only) and divx (if you run their backend on windows). But someday, someone will write a on-the-fly transcoder from mpeg2 to mpeg4 running on linux. Not advocating mvp/hijacking this thread, just there are some other options if the requirements are limited. Thanks Mudit On 5/4/05, a M [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'll second that Shaun. I'm running a ver 1.4 with a software hack, Xebian and myth 1.7. The hardest part was getting the software hack on the xbox for me, I ended up buying a memory card as opposed to making one. The second hardest was digesting the how to Doc on the xbox distro, I'm not a Linux user... Shaun, what's SD? AJM, From: Shaun Bryant [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org Subject: RE: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 11:18:51 -0600 Mark, Why did you do a hardware hack for you where just going to run it as a front-end? I have 5 Xboxes running now all with Xebian, each runs very well with SD video (forget HD). My suggestion would be to pick one up used, this is how I bought mine and thus did not have to stress as much about the version. Shaun From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Mark Knecht Sent: Wed 5/4/2005 10:34 AM To: Discussion about mythtv Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Calvin, I'm am currently going through XBox mod hell. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone feint of heart. There are at least 7 versions of the XBox, starting with 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, ..., 1.6. There is also (apparently) a 'sub-version' of 1.6 called 1.6b. There are also a truly scary number of possibly mod chips. Choose one carefully. I'm using the cheapest. It would likely had been OK if it came preinstalled with the Cromwell BIOS. Some of them do. I suggest looking for that. I purchased a new XBox last Friday for a Myth frontend machine. I knew it would be difficult. I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work. Here's the status so far. I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
I have a v1.6 XBox which has been soft-modded (no mod chip). I'm running Xebian 1.0.3 and Myth 0.16. Runs just fine. Only issue is that there's no overscan support for the new video chips, so you have to use the MythTV setup to reduce the size of your GUI and adjust its placement. Hi, 1.6 or 1.6b? I haven't determined how to tell which I have. What soft mod did you do? Is your XBox still capable of running games or is it Linux only? Thanks, Mark ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. Right now i have a 1.4 XBox modded with an X-Ecuter 2.6 mod chip. From what I understand you can soft mod any of the XBoxes but the 1.0-1.5 are the easiest, so you might want to pick up a used one. Anything from before 2004 should get you a pre 1.6 XBox, and the manufacture date is on the bottom of the xbox. -- I probably still have a few (well, now a whole bunch) gmail invites. Drop me a line (off list) if you'd like an account. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
I think I'm going down the Xbox remote. It's relatively inexpensive, comes with an IR adaptor and works right away not much need for changing LIRC if my understanding is correct. I'm fairly green to Linux so the fewer changes the better off I'll be. The downside to the Xbox remote is no Power button or Volume buttons so I guess I'll need a second remote or need to break down and buy the universal remote everyone is talking about from RatShack. I'm unfamiliar with Media MVP do you have a link that I could read up on? In general I'm impressed by how relatively easy it was to sync my Xbox and my backend on Myth. I still have an Xbox that is a bit to large screenwise for the TV which is adjustable in Myth (anyone have some directions) but all in all it's compact and fairly stable. I say relatively easy because of my lack of Linux experience and knowledge. My Xbox wouldn't boot from a CD unless cromwell was running so that gave me some problems but once I got past that hump it went relatively smoothly. If there were a couple of detailed installs from some of the guru's that would definitely help some beginners. Jarrod's guide was invaluable, someone needs to do one for the Xbox. AJM, From: Mudit Wahal [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Mudit Wahal [EMAIL PROTECTED],Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 10:57:03 -0700 SD = Standard Definition/Analog. HD = High Definition But SD can also be considered as Standard Digital which is quite notches above Standard Definition, and a few notches below HD. AJM, did you a separate remote for the xbox ? I'm in same boat, I've one HDTV and 2 analogs. For HDTV frontend, I need a beast box (p4 3ghz+). But for analog, I'd like to get a cheaper/quiter front end. I just bought the media mvp after reading some comments about it on this mailing list. Haven't plugged it in yet. Still struggling with the backend. Media MVP doesn't run a full fledge mythtv frontend, but if all you want is watch tv/recording/music (and dont care about other stuff), then the basic mvp should be fine. For under $100 bucks, it comes with a functional remote, 10/100 ethernet port, svideo output, h/w decoder, plays mpeg2 (for mythtv only) and divx (if you run their backend on windows). But someday, someone will write a on-the-fly transcoder from mpeg2 to mpeg4 running on linux. Not advocating mvp/hijacking this thread, just there are some other options if the requirements are limited. Thanks Mudit On 5/4/05, a M [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'll second that Shaun. I'm running a ver 1.4 with a software hack, Xebian and myth 1.7. The hardest part was getting the software hack on the xbox for me, I ended up buying a memory card as opposed to making one. The second hardest was digesting the how to Doc on the xbox distro, I'm not a Linux user... Shaun, what's SD? AJM, From: Shaun Bryant [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org To: Discussion about mythtv mythtv-users@mythtv.org Subject: RE: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 11:18:51 -0600 Mark, Why did you do a hardware hack for you where just going to run it as a front-end? I have 5 Xboxes running now all with Xebian, each runs very well with SD video (forget HD). My suggestion would be to pick one up used, this is how I bought mine and thus did not have to stress as much about the version. Shaun From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Mark Knecht Sent: Wed 5/4/2005 10:34 AM To: Discussion about mythtv Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions Calvin, I'm am currently going through XBox mod hell. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone feint of heart. There are at least 7 versions of the XBox, starting with 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, ..., 1.6. There is also (apparently) a 'sub-version' of 1.6 called 1.6b. There are also a truly scary number of possibly mod chips. Choose one carefully. I'm using the cheapest. It would likely had been OK if it came preinstalled with the Cromwell BIOS. Some of them do. I suggest looking for that. I purchased a new XBox last Friday for a Myth frontend machine. I knew it would be difficult. I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work. Here's the status so far. I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done. After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$ BIOS. So far I'm out $150 for the machine, $25
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
Calvin, As a follow up to this morning's email here's where I am now. Apparently I was making more progress than I had thought. The Cromwell BIOs was written correctly (unfortuantely in both halves of my DuoX2 through error of my own after a long day) but the Sorceforge version of Cromwell doesn't support my version of the XBox. The good news is that there is a test version for 1.6(b) versions. I have written David Pye requesting a copy as per this page: http://www.xbox-linux.org/Version_1.6_Warning I had read this page but discounted it since I wasn't intending on doing the MechAssult stuff. In my case it's the stuff at the bottom that matters but since there's no way to know you have a 1.6(b) box without taking it apart I didn't know this effected me. I am hopeful that this will allow me to move forward and do the Gentoo-xbox install once Cromwell is up and running. I'll write back about what happens, hopefully in the next few days. Cheers, Mark On 5/4/05, Mark Knecht [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Calvin, I'm am currently going through XBox mod hell. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone feint of heart. There are at least 7 versions of the XBox, starting with 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, ..., 1.6. There is also (apparently) a 'sub-version' of 1.6 called 1.6b. There are also a truly scary number of possibly mod chips. Choose one carefully. I'm using the cheapest. It would likely had been OK if it came preinstalled with the Cromwell BIOS. Some of them do. I suggest looking for that. I purchased a new XBox last Friday for a Myth frontend machine. I knew it would be difficult. I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work. Here's the status so far. I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done. After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$ BIOS. So far I'm out $150 for the machine, $25 for the IR/remote, $50 for the mod chip + install and it doesn't work. That's $250. Probably I'll get it fixed and running sometime this week but it's certainly not painless so far. ;-) (Mostly my own making I'm sure.) My one comment about the XBox is that it's not silent. The fan in them makes about as much noise as an older VCR when recording. This makes me wonder if I'll leave it turned on and ready for use or whether I'll end up turning i toff and seldom using it. Based on a fairly gloomy Monday morning my thought today, knowing what little I know right now, is that I'd double the cost to $500 and build something that's both based on a standard PC architecture and BIOS as well as fanless and completely silent. So far it's an interesting (if depressing) use of time and I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy the box when I get it done. Not a great report. Go here only if you like this sort of thing. We'll see. - Mark On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple frontends. I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for over a year. I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a decent route. I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox. What is the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv? Does it require a hardware modification? How do the xboxes perform displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480? Any comments? Thanks for the feed back. Calvin ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Xbox Versions
On 5/4/05, Mark Knecht [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have a v1.6 XBox which has been soft-modded (no mod chip). I'm running Xebian 1.0.3 and Myth 0.16. Runs just fine. Only issue is that there's no overscan support for the new video chips, so you have to use the MythTV setup to reduce the size of your GUI and adjust its placement. Hi, 1.6 or 1.6b? I haven't determined how to tell which I have. What soft mod did you do? Is your XBox still capable of running games or is it Linux only? Thanks, Mark Sorry, don't know which 1.6 I have, since I haven't taken my box apart. My instinct is that I have v1.6, not v1.6b. But that's just a guess. If I recall correctly, I did the UDE2 mod. I can still play games. --David ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
