I am looking to upgrade the software on my modded XBox which I use primarily as a media centre via ethernet cable to PC.

Can anyone suggest the best (or what they think is the best dashboard/interface to use? I would like the dashboard I use to support as many video file formats as possible. I have seen a few that have customisable backgrounds and background music etc.

At the moment I am using an old one that is all blue and not particularly interesting. I can find out the name and version if necessary but it shouldn't really matter should it?

Anyway, what's the best one to use?

It's an XBox not a 360 btw.

vista

doesnt matter really what bios you run, just boot straight to latest version of xbmc and profit massively

do more recent XBMCs have any new bells and whistles? I'm running about a year behind I think. Does everything I want, but maybe there's cool new s*** out there worth getting?

i think the big things for XBMC have been playing .iso's out of .rars.. but that was a while ago.

unrar'ns for chumps.

trog, xbmc has improved leaps and bounds over the last year.

in answer to the OP question, just use xbmc as your dash, there's a few different methods of getting the xbox to boot straight to it but i havent looked back since.

It does everything you could really need in a dash and all your basic xbox apps. I haven't actually run a single other xbe on my box for months.

zomg the best thing about my XBMC is my modded ABC TV script.

It lets me stream video podcasts straight to my xbox such as a bunch of the abc shows
summer heights high
denton
good game
etc

and i have added other video game shows such as
1up show
IGN weekly

and i think i am going to add
game trailers and
g4 if i can.

xbmc now looks like this

http://www.248am.com/images/xbmc.jpg
im yet to play a video format that doesnt work.
you dont need any other dashboard, this s*** does it all.
you can stream youtube and google and pod casts.
you can run a magnitude of awesome scrips.
run your roms and emulators with the greatest of easy.
the file libary is f***ing spoot worthy, auto downloads covers and imdb information and sorts your s*** out f***ing tight as.

i got rid of my xbox ages ago but ran out and bought a new one as soon as i saw the new xbmc interface.
f*** its sex.

lol nice vid title scrolling across the bottom of the interface :P

My xbmc looks exactly like my 360 dashboard. You can get all sorts of skins for it but yeah what those guys up there said ^^ just make xbmc your dashboard. It's even got built in FTP servers for uploading "pictures" off your "digital camera" etc.

I love xbmc.. except for some reason, the xbmcmythtvfrontend stopped working :(

xbmc now looks like this

Aseeeef use project mayhem, download MC360 stat! so much more work has gone into it it's not funny.

the ftp client in xbmc is worth the upgrade alone

no more renaming of files before transferring!!!!!


whoopeeeeee

Thanks to all.

Will definitely be upgrading. Those interfaces make my current one look like dog's balls.

And streaming YouTube? WTF? I didn't know you could do any of that.

Time to join the 21st century methinks.

hmm haven't updated mine in 6+ months, I should do so!

I found out my dashboard is 1.1.0.
I d/l an update (XBMC-SVN_2007-12-03_rev10891-T3CH).

While I was f***ing around I thought what the hell and I changed the skin to "mayhem" to see what it looked like (i had been using the default forever. default equals blue type screen - similar to what you'd see on a Windows tree - is it called symbols? anyway it's the plain one) and Mayhem has a bunch of stuff which is great but now I can't revert back to the original or to the other skin.
What happens is I go to settings>appearance but when I press the button nothing happens. Is there another way to change the skin?

Also what is the easiest way to change XBMC to the latest version? I tried looking it up but it looks kind of complicated. Is there a straighforward way or do I have to replace filenames and copy files and all that?

I am happy to do it that way if it is essential just thought it might be easier than that.

Any help appreciated as I am bit of an XBox noob and I had m ajor issues trying to set up the network originally so I don't want to f*** with stuff and then have it not work. I am usually ok with picking stuff up but the XBox has done me wrong in the past by causing hair-ripping frustration.


last edited by IncrEdible_vEgetable at 00:23:51 14/Dec/07

just copy the new one over the top of the old one

im pretty sure theres plenty of info in the tarballs

here you go matey, the internets knows all

http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=Install_XBMC

Ok so I copied all files to ,y XBox and rebooted. Now I get a screen with the "TECH" symbol, the maker of the update. But this is all I get.

Ok no need to panic. I'll just replace the files I Just backed up. But how? If I can't see anything on the XBox and my XBox doesn't show up in my network places how do I replace the files?
I looked up the solution on xboxmediacentre.com.etc but it says delete some file or another. Great. But how can I do this from the XBox when I can't see anything?

ahah I think you f***ed up!

I run a dashboard other than xbmc and I use that to house the FTP server and xbmc is just like an addon although you can use it as your dashboard.

I find this way to be much more reliable in case I do screw up one of the other applications I can just reboot the thing and back it comes, ftp back in and delete/fix the buggered software.

If you shagged up your actual dashboard download one of the many xbox linux live cds and boot from that, they're how I managed to get the dashboard I currently run and all the software on a larger hard drive. I can't remember the exact name of the linux distro I used but just look for one that includes an ftp server.

Spook is right though, it tells you exactly what to do in the rar file you downloaded. Oddly enough it's called something along the lines of README_1ST.txt (may or may not have the .txt)

edit: xebian is the linux distro I've got for zee xbawx

last edited by whoop at 02:04:14 14/Dec/07

Thanks Whoop.
Will try that.

Damn XBOX. I knew my hair wouldn't be safe from a good pulling as soon as I started f***ing around with the innards :(

you should be using FTP to transfer or remove XBMC installs

Find out what chip you have in it as well and make sure you cant switch into a recovery bios. Last time I f***ed the upgrade of media center PIMPED on my xbox, I just switched to the next bios and booted it into an FTP server and fixed the files

eds how did you do that? switch the bios?

IV: don't bother with a linux cd, just burn an evox boot cd. Recommended http://slayer.xbox-scene.com/ but really, all you need is a basic evox cd to get ftp access to your box and fix any issues.

yup, evox boot cd is all you will need

eds how did you do that? switch the bios?

Some chips if you boot using the eject button go to a different bios, my chip has a switch on the front that lets me switch between 4 different bios's.

Really depends on what chip you have

you should be using FTP to transfer or remove XBMC installs

Ok so I installed the suggested software http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/
and now what? It's been ages since I used ftp (back then I think it was coffeecupftp or something)

So anyway am I supposed to configure ftp client so I can see xbox files on it or something? I am happy to do the reading etc just if someone could point me in the right direction...

and the evox boot disc...do I d/l this burn it to a disc and put it in my xbox or (from what i can make out) get these files and then ftp them to the xbox.

Sorry I'm a bit lost.

^^ that's why I didn't suggest evox. You have to authenticate with their forums then on irc and then log into their ftp to get the damn thing or I'm sure you can torrent it but in any case evox is ILLEGAL as it contains hacked microsoft dashboard code which is why I suggested a linux bood cd. They're free and (usually) quite legal and don't require you to be some sort of super hacker just to figure out how to download it.

edit: tutorial on making an evox boot cd if you decide you're willing to venture down that path.

All you should be installing on your computer is an ftp client such as filezilla, flashfxp, etc. That client then connects to the ftp server your xbox will create if it's set up to do so in the config file of whatever dashboard/bootcd you use to boot the thing up with.

last edited by whoop at 20:47:35 14/Dec/07

So does the xbox 360 allow you to do this s*** straight out the box (interact with pc to play vids etc on tv) or does it equal the same f*** around as the xbox?

xbox360 can play dvd's out of the box with no dvd dongle and it plays wmv movies from usb hard drives and apparently they added divx/xvid support in the latest update but since I haven't turned my 360 on in months I can't confirm how well it supports it (non standard encoding profiles etc).

No you can not play ripped or homebrew games on the 360 out of the box, no you can't ftp to it and no you can't run xbox media player on it out of the box. The only thing you can do is play shop bought games, dvd's (dunno about burned ones haven't tried) and wmv/divx files off a usb drive. Oh and yeah you can stream videos from your PC to the 360 if they're in certain formats and you have windows media center (or there's freeware programs to do the same thing)

last edited by whoop at 21:17:46 14/Dec/07

All I'd really be interested in is playing downloaded TV shows etc, that are on the computer, on the TV via a network cable (rather than burning DVD's and sticking them in the xbox). Sucks sitting at the computer desk watching TV shows when I could be stretching out in style.

As in, will a 360 allow me to plug into a router and then play videos (mostly d/l TV shows) off my pc's hard drive and display them on the TV?

I hope so because modding the thing sounds like a pain in the arse.

yes mission. x360 can do that with latest upload, buy one and then read this thread: http://qgl.ausforums.com/?agn=thread&id=2580270

I hope so because modding the thing sounds like a pain in the arse.

modding it is the easy part, you just pay someone to install the mod chip. Seriously, I'm a soldering ninja but I looked at the size of the wires they used on my mod chip and even I won't touch that s***.

Yeah, I meant connections and software etc after the thing has its hardware played with.

pssst mission, streaming

This is turning into a major f*** around.

I d/l the EvoX boot CD rar file and had a look at the tute but now I have to burn it to a CD-RW and I don't even know if evox is on my xbox. Is it pretty much standard gear or would I have had to specifically install it? See the hard part is I didn't set this up so I really have no idea what is one there in the first place.

The ftp idea sounds great, but I can't get the ftp prog to find the xbox.

I even found a shortcut that said you can ftp your xbox via explorer/firefox and tried that...nothing.
All I want to do is put the xbox back the way it was and then start again, but I can't see s*** on the xbox to replace the files that I carefully backed up.

I have now signed up to three new forums, d/l slayers blah, d/l ftp client, looked at about 7 different tutorials and posting about ten times in various places. I draw the line at irc and got the slayers off torrent, but now I am on my way back to d/l the slayers tute in the hope that it will actually have instructions that don't involve signing up to another 7 forums, d/ling some sort of prog and f***ing the cat before I start hacking the goddamn mainframe.

I <3 my XBox.

matey, yuo are making this a lot more difficult than it is;

find out what your xbox ip is (you should know)

ftp to it
user xbox
password xbox

then simply untar/unzip the new media centre over the old one;

You don't need to have any software at all on your xbox to start with. I started with a hard drive that had been formatted for use on a PC in windows. The FTP server isn't built into the mod chip, it's part of evox/xbmc dashboard software so you need to actually get THAT running before you can FTP into the xbox.

The evox bood cd contains the FTP server so if you have that follow the guide and edit the ini file as it says and then create your xiso image (note: it's not a normal iso) and then burn it to a cd. Good luck if your xbox is like mine and doesn't read cd's though, I was able to get mine to read them by tearing it to bits and increasing the power the laser puts out by being a "dirty pot twizzler" as I saw it put on another forum :) i.e. turn the power pot, test it, turn it some more, test it again, etc until it read the CD. There's more scientific ways of doing it but that way failed me.

Anyway once you've got all that s*** up and you've booted off the CD like you would windows install cd, there'll be a bunch of menus on the screen saying things like backup, install, etc some of those will back up your hard drive others will wipe it entirely so I suggest you don't touch anything and just go back to your PC and start up the FTP client. Aim it at your xbox's IP with the username/password as xbox/xbox I think (default values should be in the readme).

From there you can then stick whatever dashboard/software you desire on it either making xbmc your default dash or stick evox on it as the dash.

ftp to it
user xbox
password xbox

then simply untar/unzip the new media centre over the old one;

from what I understand is he's done that and f***ed up his xbox and now there's no ftp server running on it. FTP runs off the dashboard not off the mod chip, well at least mine does so I'm guessing his must be the same.

edit edit: Ok I think maybe I missunderstood how he actually got the software on there in the first place. Xbox not showing up in my network places? what the hell? mine's never shown up there, I've always just put stuff on it via FTP. He does seem to be doing this the hard way :p

last edited by whoop at 22:52:40 14/Dec/07

from what I understand is he's done that and f***ed up his xbox and now there's no ftp server running on it. FTP runs off the dashboard not off the mod chip, well at least mine does so I'm guessing his must be the same.

This would appear to be the case, as I am doing the ftp thing and getting nothing.
Spook I appreciate your help tho and in future I will be taking your sage advice about ftp ing stuff to XBox. It looks to be the easiest method.

The instructions still say once you install the Boot disc to ftp in and backup files - hopefully I can get that far.

I probably am doing things the long/difficult way but I am learning stuff too :)

Thanks heaps for help so far tho. I might try to grab a linux boot disc as well.

The backup files thing in the evox menu is only if you're changing your hard drive or formatting the one you've got now. If all you're doing is updating xbmc just ftp in, find your xbmc dir (mine is in c:\apps\xbmc) and delete it, then upload the new one. You're meant to save your userdata folder from your original xbmc install, then copy that back over once you've updated it but I'm guessing you probably didn't bother backing up your userdata folder.

last edited by whoop at 23:06:52 14/Dec/07

Yeah I put the software on by copying it across from PC via the XBox file tree.
ie y'know how you go into the XBox and then you can access your shared folders to stream video etc.

Dumb I know but you live and learn I spose.

Anyway, I don't have any DVD-Rs to burn onto so I am gonna try formatting an old CD-RW. Sketchy at best but may as well try I spose. Failing that I will go buy a DVD-R in the morning and burn that sucker.

Theres a lesson for ya kids. Don't take shortcuts and always read the instructions properly.

As a matter of fact I did backup the XBMC folder ...to my PC...via the XBOX...by copying and moving.

If I could use ftp and find the xbox I would be able to replace the new dash with the original and this horrible nightmare would be over.

Alas it is escaping me atm.

ie y'know how you go into the XBox and then you can access your shared folders to stream video etc

nope my xbox has never shown up in my network places. The only networking thing I've ever made use of is in xbmc where you can play videos stored on a upnp media server or network drive.

If I could use ftp and find the xbox I would be able to replace the new dash with the original and this horrible nightmare would be over.

then burn evox to a cd, yes they work from cds you don't need to use a dvd-r, and boot off that with ftp enabled in evox.ini

e y'know how you go into the XBox and then you can access your shared folders to stream video etc

Nah sorry I meant when you are looking at your files on the XBox, you can navigate to your shared PC folders via the XBox interface.

Will try the evox thing now.

some drives can't use Cdrw's only dvd

make sure you pad out the start of the disk, my xbox wouldn't boot off a cdrw with just evo-x or xbmc on it... need to prefill with about 150mb

Yeah I read that. After burning two CD-R I conclude they don't work. Unless I have to do some ISO trickery with Xiso or somesuch fancy XBox ISO burning prog...

Instructions say Nero or similar so maybe I need CD-RW or better still DVD-R.

Thwarted at every turn.

yes you need to make an xiso, not a normal iso it has to be in xbox format. like I said, you might need to actually alter your hardware to get it to read cd-r's. I did. I twizzled a little tiny potentiometer on the laser control and after a bit of fiddling with the twizzle stick I got it to read cd-r's just fine. I did this but I probably wouldn't recomend you doing it to yours :p

edit: we should just add each other to msn or hit up irc or something, look at all the spam in this thread :(

last edited by whoop at 01:30:35 15/Dec/07

whoopsie, should have added that ive had issues with various ftp clients and the xbox (namely cuteftp, doesnt like my xbox)

so ive always used flashfxp and never had any issue;

also, ive done the mapping a drive to the xbox, but its pretty flaky, so abandoned doing it that way

If he downloaded slayers then he already has an xbox format iso. Just burn that to a cdrw or a dvd-r pop it in and boot up.

From there, you should be able to load evox and spec the ip for your xbox's ftp server.

Then connect to the xbox's ip with filezilla default username/pass is just xbox/xbox and you'll have access to your box's entire file system and can make any software repairs you need to.

Thanks Dan.

Yeah that's what I thought too. I tried burning to a CD-R but I read that this usually doesn't work - and it didn't.

I then tried burning to a CD-RW, but I am guessing that because it was an old one which I had to format/erase, it may not have been suitable (I read that you are supposed to use a new CD-RW, but preferably a DVD-R.

So my next step is to go and buy a DVD-R, burn the Slayer's ISO and whack that in the XBox. I swear to god if the friggin "TECH" splash screen comes up and not the evox software I am gonna karate chop my XBox in half and hurl it onto the neighbours roof.

Seriously though, even though it has been frustrating I have learnt a lot and now I know the wrong way to update a dashboard! So that's something...

learning is good!

if u have problems with some clients it's probably because of passive mode.. xbox either requires it or doesn't like it.. can't remember which.. some clients default to the mode it doesn't like disable/enable and it is then fine.