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[digitalsatan]

is there any program to set up a webcam server on the xbox? with the intension to stream online.
without using linux.

[KaMaKaZiEs]

That would be the BIGGEST PROJECT EVER or at least equal to XBMC and it would require many people and likely wouldn't work. But keep up the ideas.

[torne]

You would have to implement the USB video driver as a modification to the MS Xbox kernel - the standard kernel only supports USB joysticks, USB mass storage devices, the IR receiver, and the Communicator. This would be very hard as there is no infrastructure at all in the kernel for that kind of device.

If you did manage that, then making it serve over the network would be trivial. But, hey.

[sibrdav]

i don't think it's that far fetched.  you wouldnt really have to patch the kernel, it could just be a standalone homebrew program.  I could write a usb driver for a webcam, I wrote a driver for the xpad without using the kernel drivers.  as far as servers, maybe it could be tunneled through xbconnect.  Do they allow homebrew programs through their server?  seems interesting to me, i think it would get a lot of attention.

[torne]

QUOTE(sibrdav @ Jul 19 2006, 05:06 AM)

i don't think it's that far fetched.  you wouldnt really have to patch the kernel, it could just be a standalone homebrew program.  I could write a usb driver for a webcam, I wrote a driver for the xpad without using the kernel drivers.

You wrote a driver for the xpad for what, exactly? The PC?

Were you going to explain how to get raw access to a USB device on the Xbox when the kernel is controlling the USB controller? The Xbox kernel doesn't support loading new drivers, and having both the kernel and your 'standalone homebrew program' talking to the USB controller at once is not going to work - you have to go via the kernel's USB stack, and as far as I'm aware, there's no way to access this at the required level without modifying the kernel. If you know a way, please, tell us the details, but until then I'll have to assume you don't know what you're talking about.

[sibrdav]

Ok smarty pants.  I'll explain.  Look at xbdev.net's xpad example in the non-xdk tutorials which basically just pokes memory registers.  You don't use the kernel drivers, which by the way don't have control of the host controller unless you load them.  So you don't access the kernel's usb stack, you create your own.  I modified that driver in a homebrew program that I wrote for a usb to serial adapter so I could communicate with a basic stamp.  If you need to see some source code for proof, I will show you.  But you shouldn't be so pessimistic.  I spent almost a year learning the usb specification and how to program it just so I could write this driver, so thats why I think I know enough to write a driver for another usb device.

[sibrdav]

Ok, I've had 24 hours to contemplate and I've decided to start this project.  Look for new topic "Official webcam project".

[torne]

Yah, sure, you can write your own USB stack. That just seems like rather a lot of effort to go to, when there's one there already. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Hadn't expected anyone would go to that kind of effort, and have been spending too much time in the Windows forum to assume someone means anything other than the usual Windows sense of 'driver'.

It's not actually that tricky to find the bus enumeration stuff, I had a quick peek around the other day after posting. Working out the required structure for a driver would take me somewhat longer, but it might be more feasible than I expected (and would be easier if I hadn't sold off my windows internals books on amazon, but hey).

This post has been edited by torne: Jul 20 2006, 05:27 PM

[sibrdav]

Well I've already written the usb stack, it just has to be modified for whatever particular device you are trying to connect.  You're right, it was a lot of work to figure it all out but you wouldn't believe how easy it is now that I know how.  The area I would have trouble with is the tunneling, only because I've never even attempted to understand how it works.  This is where yourself of other programmers on the scene may be able to help me - when the time comes.

[torne]

Why do you need 'tunneling'? You just open a listening socket with normal Winsock functions (that subset that exist in the XDK network library, at least) and listen for connections, like you would to serve up any other network protocol.

[sibrdav]

Yeah, I guess I could do it that way too.  I was thinking tunneling for system link...  I'll have to decide which way will work best.

[torne]

QUOTE(sibrdav @ Jul 20 2006, 11:15 PM)

Yeah, I guess I could do it that way too.  I was thinking tunneling for system link...  I'll have to decide which way will work best.

I still don't understand what you're talking about. Were you planning on writing a client application as well? I assumed you were going to serve the images via HTTP, or some standard protocol, which I can't see how it has any connection to system link or other Xbox-specific stuff.

[d0wnlab]

1: To make it system-link compatable for Xbox-Connect and XLink Kai all you need to do is have all communication on port 3074 (iirc).

2: The OpenXDK contains a port of the linux USB stack.. so it wouldn't be hard to get a linux USB webcam driver working on top of that.  There's no network support for the OpenXDK but it's being actively developed as we speak.

[sibrdav]

QUOTE

I still don't understand what you're talking about. Were you planning on writing a client application as well?

I started a topic called Official webcam project.  I assume you've seen it.  It describes the goal of this project - to be able to connect one or more xboxes together with realtime video chat.  It will be an original xbox homebrew application, not a port or linux or win32.  Its intent is to be included in some other homebrew application, or just standalone if you want to video chat with a friend or something.

[torne]

I assumed you were just going to write a webcam server that a normal web browser could connect to. This would probably be desirable functionality anyway