Topic: Personnal Video Recorder For Xbox! (Read 531 times)

uvoodoo · « **Reply #45 on:** August 11, 2004, 12:24:00 PM »

What an IDEA! What is the status of this project? What kind of input device would be required? I'm excited about this. Please keep us updated...

s1w · « **Reply #46 on:** November 24, 2004, 03:09:00 PM »

Hello!

I was reading your post on another site. I have been wondering the exactly same thing only I have a different approach to it.

What about writing a client similiar to Set Top Box software that could connect to servers and display guide information and stream video to the xbox from the internet, like IPTV?

It would be something similiar to XBMC's My Weather..

. Would this be possible? That way we could eliminate the PC component, having to write drivers for external USB hubs or capture devices. One of the hardest parts of the client would be the video encoding directly to HD for recording functionality.

Basically what I was looking to do is build a software client that would act as a Set Top Box through XBMC. That way they could add a menu item such as XTV, ITV or whatever that would take you directly to a TV guide and you can choose channels, eg: ImagicTV, iTTV or VideoLan, etc...

This post has been edited by s1w: Nov 24 2004, 11:10 PM

almirf · « **Reply #47 on:** December 09, 2004, 03:19:00 PM »

goathunter · « **Reply #48 on:** December 11, 2004, 08:33:00 PM »

flashfreak · « **Reply #49 on:** December 12, 2004, 04:37:00 PM »

this sounds like a gr8 idea. when i first read it, i just thought it was some dodgy idea that would never work, but u have a lot of backup on this and now i know u can do it!

i can't wait to see it done!

Flu · « **Reply #50 on:** December 23, 2004, 04:35:00 PM »

A lazy solution:

TV signal -> VCR (tuner) -> USB video digitizer (someone posted a photo in this thread) -> USB to Ethernet adaptor (off the shelf) -> XBMC video streaming

And of course you need a box to put them together

Perhaps not bad for proof of concept.

Flu

scottw67 · « **Reply #51 on:** December 31, 2004, 09:24:00 AM »

Ive been thinking about this myself but from another angle ....

im not interested in a PVR system as i already have one but
i'd liked to be able to stream live tv over my network to my xbox

I have a number of hardware based tunner solutiuon each with ethernet connections

i) My first is DVB card in one of my pc. I use progdvb to view and stream live tv pictures over my network.

The other solution maybe the superb open source linux based VDR software.
this also has streaming capabilities.

ii) Is a tivo, again there are i think there are ways of streaming live tv from the tivo to a pc

So im thinking would it be possble to write xbox based client software to handle the streamed data

just a few ideas / thoughts hope they help

cheers

s1w · « **Reply #52 on:** January 08, 2005, 04:20:00 PM »

More Ideas,

Well we know some things already work. We have the TV Guide python script which can read a xml file from an internet address. I will have a internet based TV service installed next week. I have the windows xmltv app on a web server updating the listing.xml every day in 2 day blocks for this particular service . So I added a tvguide option to the button on menu that runs the tvguide script and it loads the listing from IP on the net.

So, technically what I'm looking to do is link the xmltv guide to the channels of the iptv service and have it stream directly into xbmc. Then recording functionality could be added later. That way you could record the direct stream instead having to capture it from a external tuner.

If I could have xbmc directly connect to the providers server it would even better.

Basically I want my xbox to behave as a set top box through xbmc. it's nice to have one device do everything rather than a clutter of devices for multimedia content.

Completing this project would open the door to port this same functionality to work with other IPTV services directly on the xbox.

Anybody interested ?

This post has been edited by s1w: Jan 9 2005, 12:23 AM

s1w · « **Reply #53 on:** January 08, 2005, 11:51:00 PM »

Another idea would be to port the video lan client to interface with xbmc like how mplayer does.

I have verifed due to the original research done by other user that changing the mac of a nic to match the STB will allow the chanel to be directly streamed by the video lan client app if you know the ip and port number.

Can anyone verify if mplayer has the same capability to stream udp/rtp multicast streams directly?

desi01 · « **Reply #54 on:** March 04, 2005, 04:05:00 PM »

Just wondering what is the current status on this?

timandbj · « **Reply #55 on:** September 07, 2005, 08:21:00 AM »

I recently read an article about modding and turning the Xbox into a media centre using Gentoox. I personally didn't think it would be worth the hassle unless i could actually watch digital TV through the Xbox and/or record digital analogue TV on the Xbox itself. I could then by pass my DVD/VCR combo entirely.

I have read the postings here with great interest, and there seems to be a stall in replies. Perhaps I can throw in a few cents worth. to get it going again.

1. Are we wanting to design a piece of hardware or software that bypasses the need for extra TV tuners, encoders and decoders etc? I.e a box that simply goes between the aerial/wall socket and Xbox.

2. Or are we wanting a device to taking advantage of TV tuners (i.e. USB) that people might already own. (such as myself)

3. I own an Xbox, and a USB digital TV Tuner (V-Gear Pocket DTV, tuner itself inside is made by Panasonic) - I have been unable to sleep over the past few weeks because I have been thinking about ways to connect the TV Tuner to the Xbox.

4. As far as I know, there are only 3 standard interfaces inside the Xbox. The 4 USB1.1 ports at the front, the 10/100Mbps ethernet port at the back, and the 2 IDE connectors inside connecting the DVD ROM and HDD.

5. So far, I cannot think of any conceLantronix's UBoxivable way to use the IDE connectors to talk to a USB TV Tuner.

6. I think its settled that the USB1.1 ports are simply not fast enough to handle the amount of data from a TV Tuner. (anyone is welcome to refute that - anyway to turn a USB1.1 into a USB2? - Another hard mod?)

6a. I think its fair to say that it is impossible to convert an ethernet port into a USB2 port. Therefore we are left with 'converting' a USB device into a TCP/IP 'device'.

7. So then we are left with a 10/100 Mbps ethernet port - and 100Mbps sounds like a good start. Therefore, its seems this is why we have the TV2Lan idea, some way to get TV signals and turn them into something that can be sent via TCP/IP. It just so happens that I own a USB Tuner, therefore I am wanting to convert a USB device to start talking TCP/IP.

8. The TV2Lan idea seems to want to get the TV signal (be it analogue or digital) and convert it directly into TCP/IP. Thereby by-passing the need for the USB TV Tuner altogether (*sobs*).

9. This device may assist in converting the USB TV Tuner into TCP/IP - the UboxLantronix UBox.

10. However, there may be some problems with this idea:
10a - Can it handle the data required of a TV Tuner?
10b - My understanding is that such USB servers are really designed for printers and multifunction devices, and are therefore unable to handle 'isosynchronous' devices.
10c - I have no idea what isosynchronous means, or if a TV Tuner is such. I only read it from a review of a Silex USB Serversimilar product.
10d - The cost of a USB TV Tuner (btw, i got mine for free, but they usually cost a pretty penny) plus the cost of a USB Server (about US$150) makes this a costly and iimpractical solution to what would otherwise be a nice-Xbox-tinkering-project.
10e - I'm in Australia, and US$150 is A LOT more expensive because of the exchange rate.

11. I'm stuck for ideas folks, and until someone comes up with a reasonably priced and practical solution - or can categorically say that it CANNOT BE DONE AND THEREFORE SHOULD GIVE UP, I'm afraid I will be cursed with many more sleepless nights.

12. Anyway to add some sort of PCI connectivity to an Xbox - so people might be able to use PCI TV Tuners they might already own?

tastyratz · « **Reply #56 on:** December 28, 2005, 02:19:00 PM »

bump from the dead because a sweet project like this doesnt deserve to die...

JayDee · « **Reply #57 on:** December 29, 2005, 02:17:00 PM »

QUOTE(tastyratz @ Dec 28 2005, 10:26 PM)

bump from the dead because a sweet project like this doesnt deserve to die...

i´s not only dead, it is decomposed and recycled...

modthebox.tk · « **Reply #58 on:** December 29, 2005, 07:27:00 PM »

this would be sweet. I have always wanted a PVR app that goes onto my Xbox. I have no idea of how to programm but have a good sense of what has been discussed. Looks promising, I just hope that if it is a software thing that it will be opensource and free if not I'd buy it (if it wasn't over 100 bucks).

pinny121 · « **Reply #59 on:** December 30, 2005, 06:17:00 AM »

What has happend to this project ?
at the moment i have to launch
xbox media pc extender from xbmc to schedule recordings on my mce2005 pc
and stream live tv to xbox. I then watch recorded tv from xbmc through a shared SMB folder.

I am looking at the mytv script to maybe shedule recordings in pc mce 2005
but dont think it is as robust as xbox extender eg checking for recording confilcts.

i have in the past steamed live tv to xbmc from TSREADER but you couldnot change to a chanel
on a different mux (no good).

i have also used media portal and a script which shedules recordings from xbmc which has great potential but not yet stable enough.

any good ideas would be greatly recieved

Author Topic: Personnal Video Recorder For Xbox! (Read 531 times)