Why I love a Modded Xbox

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TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
5,479
14
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Originally posted by: duragezic
Xbox > HTPC IMO, unless you want some PVR deal

Xbox games, movies/music (streamed, hard drive, or from discs), and emulators. In a small, less-power hungry, and quiet box. For much cheaper than a decent HTPC would be. And there's useless stuff like the web browser, and linux. :D

I had an old build of XBMC and I couldn't get it to stream good from my PC. With the newest build I just got it works now.

Yes, I agree that a HTPC>* but a Xbox is cheaper, quieter, easier to build, etc.

I'm not just saying "my xbox plays anime". My xbox plays Anime, DVD's, Xbox Games, NES games, SNES games, *instert old system of choice* games, etc.

Originally posted by: purbeast0
Welcome to 2002!!

:p :D

Yea I know. It's kinda sad I created this thread :p
 

TheSiege

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2004
3,918
14
81
i will keep my xbox forever, the controller works great for all your needs, navigation and emulators alike, it plays videos, and connects to the TV HASSLE FREE, its a plug and play HTPC that is cheap and versitile. i love mine
 

Xyclone

Lifer
Aug 24, 2004
10,312
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Originally posted by: notfred
Awesome, you have a machine in your house that plays videos. That's so cool, I wish I had one.

oh maw gawd liek mee 2oo!!!111oneoneeleven
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
6,404
0
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I love my Modded XBox. Let me tell you my experiences. It's quite a story.

Believe it or not, I had absolutely no interest in an XBox at all for quite some time. I'd heard there were some really good games -- Halo, Ninja Gaiden, etc. -- but I really didn't feel like shelling out a bunch of cash for a system I'd probably play very little. Then I heard about the "solderless modchips" and I was intrigued. I started poking a bit more, and then I found out about all the wonderful things XBMC could do. It was really, really interesting, and I was tempted to do it, but I just couldn't justify the $200 cost for an XBox I very well might butcher in the process of attempting to mod it.

A few months later an ATOTer and I briefly discussed how he had, miracle of miracles, actually managed to get something from what would ostensably appear to be an online rewards system more challenging than squeezing blood from a stone. I will not, of course, mention the name as it would get me banned, just that the address for it contained the words "games", "free" and "video", and that it no longer is effectively possible to get anything out of it. Anyway, I did a little investigating of my own, laid out a plan and started completing offers, keeping obsessive-compulsive track of the deadlines associated with the "free" offers. 4 months and $40 later I had acquired enough credits to order an XBox. I added it to my cart, hit order and prayed it would work. "Oh well," I thought, "even if it's a scam at least I got all these dog treats (I own a cat), dietary suppliments (tasted like crap and half had stuff I'm allergic to in 'em), and the free Video Professor CD." (Speaks for itself why that was useless) But imagine my surprise when maybe 2 weeks later a large package arrives at my door containing an XBox! Huzzah! Excelsior! Et Cetera!

Anyway, I modded it with an Xecuter 2.3+ with Puyo-Pin adaptor, and it's been my best media buddy ever since. (I honestly don't know why people hate Puyo-Pins so much, because I've NEVER had a problem with my chip) First I had XBox Media Center as my dashboard, but once I discovered how to get a hold of some of the better games for XBox I switched to EvoX and started installing them to the hard drive. I've upgrade the drive 3 times, and filled it several times more than that.

As far as performance I really have to say the XBox can't be beat. For versatility anyway. It may only have a 733Mhz CPU and an anemic 64mb shared GeForce, but it outperforms any of my ghetto-HTPCs (laptops) with just as much video memory and faster CPUs. And now that I've acquired my Ghetto-HDTV (a 90s-era 29" Professional Display Monitor) I've discovered the joy of watching PAL movies and DVDs in native, raw, unconverted 25fps glory. Being able to play PAL game releases is also damn nice.

Now I won't say that the XBox isn't without its limitations. The build of XBMC I have installed is somewhat lacking on DVD-Video navigation, and there are some kinds of files it just doesn't really like. (Some MKVs, which I use for any of my encodes, screw it up hardcore or at least won't play with the overridden Aspect Ratio) If you're planning on playing back any 720p or 1080i content that's not in MPEG-2 format you might as well just give up now, because the processor AND the GPU can't handle it. For that you really want a true HTPC. Other than that though, I'm really happy with it. I have a feeling my XBox, much like my Dreamcast, is going to stay in the front of the entertainment center for years after its supposed era has ended.


On a related note, anybody know where I can get a good release of XBMC that I can use to upgrade my existing version without overwriting all my installed games/etc.? I used FF's X-Disk in the past but last I checked it can only reformat/reinstall, not upgrade.
 

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,234
4
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Well, my roommate who has the Xbox upgrades/changes his XBMC fairly often. Everything else is kept untouched.

Though he uses Avalaunch as his boot-to dashboard. I always wondered why he used Avalaunch when it's just extra steps to get to XBMC that is used 95% of the time by everyone. AFAIK XBMC can do everything Avalaunch does. But maybe the upgrading is why he keeps Avalaunch as the dashboard? Cause his XBMC upgrades are simple and quick. But then again he did that a while ago, he must've upgraded Avalaunch during that time as well.

Maybe you have a different setup and partitions than my roommate's does?

From what I've seen and messed with, most things like that are quite painless on the Xbox. Another reason its one of the best choices instead of a HTPC. You just don't gotta deal with as much crap as a full-blown PC.
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
6,404
0
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XBox Media Center didn't have as convenient access to utilities like Complex Tools (game installer) and the Videomode Switchdisc (PAL<=>NTSC) as EvoX does. Besides, now that I have Ninja Gaiden, Halo, KotOR and KotOR II on the hard drive I use it for games just a little less than I do for video.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,298
7,088
136
Is the wireless controller any good? Either MS or Logitech...I don't like the wireless controllers for GameCube at all.
 

TheSiege

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2004
3,918
14
81
i go straight to XBMC and i can also run linux woot woot, i use a wireless keyboard and mouse combo from newegg and it works great
 

TheSiege

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2004
3,918
14
81
Originally posted by: yukichigai
XBox Media Center didn't have as convenient access to utilities like Complex Tools (game installer) and the Videomode Switchdisc (PAL<=>NTSC) as EvoX does. Besides, now that I have Ninja Gaiden, Halo, KotOR and KotOR II on the hard drive I use it for games just a little less than I do for video.

with the newest version of XBMC you can set it up the same way as evo x, basically browse this dir and and sub dirs for an xbe file and add it to the menu, same goes for games

 

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,234
4
81
Ehh, we dumped EvoX a couple months after modding it. My cousin said he wouldn't help us with something until we got rid of it. :) Didn't like it anyway. Avalaunch and later XBMC seemed better.

Installing games is simple. I use Qwix on my PC which extracts the ISO and FTPs it to the box. Since the Xbox has an FTP always running when its in a dashboard, I just wait for it to complete, reset Xbox with the sweet button presse and its there in the lists of games. If its a backup game coming from the game disc, I forgot the name of it, but basically you load that app from any dashboard, hit start and it rips and installs it with a button press (and a restart). My roommate has a Mac and just FTPs the contents over, restarts, and it's there.

As far as Videomode Switchdisc, I have never heard of it. My roommate plays PAL releases from time-to-time and I never really understood the difference. To him/end-user, it requires nothing different to play a Pal game or movie rather than NTSC.

But that's what I mean. XBMC has the Applications,Games,Music,Movies,etc lists. You can launch any of those straight from XBMC. Avalaunch for example has Apps and Games lists. So you can load an app or game, but if you want a movie you need to load XBMC then load the movie.
 

MDE

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
13,199
1
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Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: MDE
Originally posted by: mugs
How did you mod it? Modchip or softmod? I'm thinking about buying an Xbox to use basically as a media player.

I softmodded mine, plays everything I have on my PC (over the network) with no issues. Just installed XBMC and everything worked, couldn't have been much easier.

What are the disadvantages of softmodding?

You need to get a hacked game save file onto your Xbox, and a copy of one of three games (MechAssault, the Platinum Hits version won't work, and a couple others). All in all, it was cheaper than a modchip for me, and no risk of mis-soldering anything. I'd re-softmod mine in a heartbeat, and friends are beating down my door to softmod theirs.
 

Tobolo

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
3,697
0
0
Originally posted by: mugs
How did you mod it? Modchip or softmod? I'm thinking about buying an Xbox to use basically as a media player.

Contact Bulls On Parade. He can mod them and he does a great job. Done mine and all my friends.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,298
7,088
136
So with a mod chip and being able to save games to your hard drive and all, do you need a memory card? Picking up my first Xbox (old-school) tomorrow :D
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
6,404
0
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Originally posted by: Kaido
So with a mod chip and being able to save games to your hard drive and all, do you need a memory card? Picking up my first Xbox (old-school) tomorrow :D
Even without a modchip you don't need a memory card. Hell, I can't even figure out how to transfer game saves from the hard drive to the memory card, even in the official XBox dashboard.