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[InflatableMouse]

Dunno who else got it to work, but I just did. Took me all night but it's working great.

Note that Media Center itself is NOT working in the VMWare session, but it allows me to stream video and audio to my XBOX. That was my only goal.

I hated the fact that MCE can't join a domain without loosing XBOX connectivity so I thought I'd give it a try.

I installed VMWare 5.5, installed MCE 2005 with SP2. I tried installing the Extender right away and it failed. I downloaded the Extender for Update 2 and that installed. Xbox still wasn't connecting though.

I then ran Windows Update and ran the all the security fixes, and all Framework 1.1 fixes. I then installed the update 2 from Additional updates. Done that I ran the Extender install again and it popped up a message for the 8-digit code .... it was working!

Few minutes later I was streaming video from the VMWare/MCE2005 to my XBOX. This is some cool stuff!

[kezor]

MCE also works with virtual pc

[babanoosh]

QUOTE(InflatableMouse @ Dec 7 2005, 04:15 PM)

Dunno who else got it to work, but I just did. Took me all night but it's working great.

Note that Media Center itself is NOT working in the VMWare session, but it allows me to stream video and audio to my XBOX. That was my only goal.

I hated the fact that MCE can't join a domain without loosing XBOX connectivity so I thought I'd give it a try.

I installed VMWare 5.5, installed MCE 2005 with SP2. I tried installing the Extender right away and it failed. I downloaded the Extender for Update 2 and that installed. Xbox still wasn't connecting though.

I then ran Windows Update and ran the all the security fixes, and all Framework 1.1 fixes. I then installed the update 2 from Additional updates. Done that I ran the Extender install again and it popped up a message for the 8-digit code .... it was working!

Few minutes later I was streaming video from the VMWare/MCE2005 to my XBOX. This is some cool stuff!

MCE 2005 can't join an active directory AT ALL, isn't that right? So if I understand it, you're emulating MCE via VMWare (while running XP Pro at the same time)? The benefit being, not needing to reboot into MCE? You still can only play wmvs, mpeg1/2 though right?

Thanks for the info in advance.

[Junglist_Refugee]

cant wait to try this!

[InflatableMouse]

QUOTE(babanoosh @ Dec 12 2005, 11:52 PM)

MCE 2005 can't join an active directory AT ALL, isn't that right? So if I understand it, you're emulating MCE via VMWare (while running XP Pro at the same time)? The benefit being, not needing to reboot into MCE? You still can only play wmvs, mpeg1/2 though right?

Thanks for the info in advance.

Not quite.

MCE can join a domain. If your network adapter is detected during the install you can change the defaults for network settings and join a domain. After the installation the option is greyed out, but with a little reg hack using the recovery console you can activate the option again and join a domain.

The problem with the xbox however is is that it uses a remote desktop connection to the pc running mce and for that to work, you need to have fast user switching enabled. Fast user switching cannot be enabled while being a member of a domain. So for the xbox, joining a domain is not an option.

On the second part of your question, you can run MCE2005 in VMWare (I don't think 'emulate' is a proper word, but I understand what you mean), but it won't be able to play any kind of video in the VMWare session itself. It will stream to the xbox however and quite well (which was my point to prove in the first place). I only had a problem with 1080i WMV_HD file. Regular WMV, DVD MPEG2 and 720p WMV-HD files streamed just fine.

So to scoop it all up, if you want to stream video to your xbox and don't care about using MCE2005 on the box itself and you don't need to join a domain, VMWare will be just fine to do just that.

Hope that helps.

[babanoosh]

QUOTE(InflatableMouse @ Dec 14 2005, 01:12 PM)

Not quite.

MCE can join a domain. If your network adapter is detected during the install you can change the defaults for network settings and join a domain. After the installation the option is greyed out, but with a little reg hack using the recovery console you can activate the option again and join a domain.

The problem with the xbox however is is that it uses a remote desktop connection to the pc running mce and for that to work, you need to have fast user switching enabled. Fast user switching cannot be enabled while being a member of a domain. So for the xbox, joining a domain is not an option.

On the second part of your question, you can run MCE2005 in VMWare (I don't think 'emulate' is a proper word, but I understand what you mean), but it won't be able to play any kind of video in the VMWare session itself. It will stream to the xbox however and quite well (which was my point to prove in the first place). I only had a problem with 1080i WMV_HD file. Regular WMV, DVD MPEG2 and 720p WMV-HD files streamed just fine.

So to scoop it all up, if you want to stream video to your xbox and don't care about using MCE2005 on the box itself and you don't need to join a domain, VMWare will be just fine to do just that.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, very informative. And yes, emulate was a poor taste in wording since you're actually running it. But I'm glad you understood. I guess I meant that since the VMWare session is a sort of virtual desktop (physically) that it's an emulation (for my own lack of a better word). Nice to hear about that hack for domain membership, but as you've stated, it won't work in RDP without first logging out your primary, which hosts the VMSession no? Just want to make sure I understood the dillemma. So I might pursue that since I have both VMWare, MCE 05, and no domain set up in my home. Only think I'm missing is the obscure WMV_HD files. Tell me though, Running MCE atop XP via VMWare; how resource intensive is that?

Also, when you say it can't play in the session itself, were you referring to the host MCE machine or the 360? In either case, why not?


Thanks again.

[InflatableMouse]

QUOTE(babanoosh @ Dec 14 2005, 10:00 PM)

Thanks, very informative. And yes, emulate was a poor taste in wording since you're actually running it. But I'm glad you understood. I guess I meant that since the VMWare session is a sort of virtual desktop (physically) that it's an emulation (for my own lack of a better word). Nice to hear about that hack for domain membership, but as you've stated, it won't work in RDP without first logging out your primary, which hosts the VMSession no? Just want to make sure I understood the dillemma. So I might pursue that since I have both VMWare, MCE 05, and no domain set up in my home. Only think I'm missing is the obscure WMV_HD files. Tell me though, Running MCE atop XP via VMWare; how resource intensive is that?

Also, when you say it can't play in the session itself, were you referring to the host MCE machine or the 360? In either case, why not?
Thanks again.

Joining a domain, regardless if its MCE or XP in or outside of VMWare disables the welcome screen (blue Teletubby style in which you can click your name) and the Fast User Switching feature (which is the most important one since that is the service that enables RDP in XP. It allows a new user to login without logging another one out). This is necessary for XP/MCE to enable the CTRL-ALT-DEL screen which cannot work with the other two. Since you don't have a domain don't worry about it.

For the WMV-HD files, google for WMV hdtv trailers. Plenty of theatrical trailers to download that will blow you away.

here are some pics. The teletubby style dialogs are MCE in VMWare. To confuse you I dragged the "Windows Task Manager" from the host running VMWare over the VMWare session (in default Windows Style). Actually, I did that to make the screen dumps smaller ...  
First Picture of VMWare Resources MCE 2005 Streaming 720p
Second Picture of VMWare Resources MCE 2005 Streaming 720p
Third Picture of VMWare Resources MCE 2005 Streaming 720p
Fourth Picture of VMWare Resources MCE 2005 Streaming 720p
Fifth Picture of network throughput with MCE 2005 Streaming 720p

The host running VMWare GSX 3.2 is a Windows Server 2003, Athlon XP 2500+ with nForce2 chipset, 1500MB RAM (CAS3, single channel setup), 120Gb & 60Gb regular ATA disks. The VMWare session has got 256Mb of memory.  It ran slightly better with VMWare Workstation 5.5 but I need to run them under system account which is not possible with that version.

if you have one pc and have a videocard that is MCE compatible, I'd install and use MCE directly instead of XP hosting it in VMWare. Why? You need to leave the machine alone once it is streaming or it will start skipping or run videos kinda sluggish. VMWare is quite resource intensive. Most if not all of your programs will run under MCE2005 if I'm not mistaken so why not?

On your last question, you cannot watch TV or play a video in MCE when it is running in VMWare. This is because the video driver that is installed in the VMWare session isn't MCE compatible. Windows Media Player will play anything it can, but it won't be smooth because VMWare simply isn't optimized to do such a thing. Your videos will play in slow motion. Now MCE will start and you will be able to configure it, organize your music collection etc etc. It just won't play videos that's all. Not a big deal if you're gonna use it to stream to the xbox.

[babanoosh]

QUOTE(InflatableMouse @ Dec 15 2005, 11:32 AM)

Joining a domain, regardless if its MCE or XP in or outside of VMWare disables the welcome screen (blue Teletubby style in which you can click your name) and the Fast User Switching feature (which is the most important one since that is the service that enables RDP in XP. It allows a new user to login without logging another one out). This is necessary for XP/MCE to enable the CTRL-ALT-DEL screen which cannot work with the other two. Since you don't have a domain don't worry about it.

Yes, I understand totally. With the teletubby screen (as you call it), one couldn't switch between local and network which would be a major problem in a domain, so uhh... therein lies a problem. My fuzziness was more to do with the rdp session. Has Terminal Services always required Fast user switching? It wouldn't seem no, since fast user just came about with XP.Since remote desktop is nothing more then a revision of TS as a whole, I'm curious how desktop sharing was handled before... I never playing around doing it with a NT or 2k machine so I wouldn't know.

Anyway, I'm curious about the domain side because I'm also thinking of running an AD server at home. a little VPN with IPSec, granular control over objects, you know... the works!

QUOTE(InflatableMouse @ Dec 15 2005, 11:32 AM)

For the WMV-HD files, google for WMV hdtv trailers. Plenty of theatrical trailers to download that will blow you away.

Hehe, yes I'm familiar with WMV HDTV trailers, but I partake in H.264 vids a whole lot more. I just think Apple streamlines the whole experience better, and h.264  seems to be getting (a lot) more support from the studios and likely further down the road with next gen optical.

Hence, I don't see a lot of value in WMV-HD down the road.

QUOTE(InflatableMouse @ Dec 15 2005, 11:32 AM)

if you have one pc and have a videocard that is MCE compatible, I'd install and use MCE directly instead of XP hosting it in VMWare.

MCE compatible? Like HDCP enabled or something? Or are you referring to some more general hardware incompatibilities. I've heard some ATI cards do not work with MCE, but I think there is a hack driver no?

I have a Nividia 6800.

QUOTE(InflatableMouse @ Dec 15 2005, 11:32 AM)

On your last question, you cannot watch TV or play a video in MCE when it is running in VMWare. This is because the video driver that is installed in the VMWare session isn't MCE compatible. Windows Media Player will play anything it can, but it won't be smooth because VMWare simply isn't optimized to do such a thing. Your videos will play in slow motion. Now MCE will start and you will be able to configure it, organize your music collection etc etc. It just won't play videos that's all. Not a big deal if you're gonna use it to stream to the xbox.

Oh, I understand now. Thanks for explaining that.

I don't know if MCE is really what I'm looking for right now. I'm thinking of getting a pretty good OTA HDTV card that I found which allows to even transcode to mpeg 4 or burn to .ts to dvd (with no DRM) on the host pc. I don't have a HDTV in the living room yet so.... just doing a little nosin' around, seeing what looks best for me...

Thanks man.

[Junglist_Refugee]

thanks guys,

got it working tonight.


xp & vmware to xp MCE to xbox 360,

over linksys wireless network.

be sure to open all the ports needed within router.

see xbox pc setup for full list of ports that have to be opened.



thanks

[InflatableMouse]

QUOTE(babanoosh @ Dec 17 2005, 06:18 AM)

Yes, I understand totally. With the teletubby screen (as you call it), one couldn't switch between local and network which would be a major problem in a domain, so uhh... therein lies a problem. My fuzziness was more to do with the rdp session. Has Terminal Services always required Fast user switching? It wouldn't seem no, since fast user just came about with XP.Since remote desktop is nothing more then a revision of TS as a whole, I'm curious how desktop sharing was handled before... I never playing around doing it with a NT or 2k machine so I wouldn't know.

Anyway, I'm curious about the domain side because I'm also thinking of running an AD server at home. a little VPN with IPSec, granular control over objects, you know... the works!
Hehe, yes I'm familiar with WMV HDTV trailers, but I partake in H.264 vids a whole lot more. I just think Apple streamlines the whole experience better, and h.264  seems to be getting (a lot) more support from the studios and likely further down the road with next gen optical.

Hence, I don't see a lot of value in WMV-HD down the road.
MCE compatible? Like HDCP enabled or something? Or are you referring to some more general hardware incompatibilities. I've heard some ATI cards do not work with MCE, but I think there is a hack driver no?

I have a Nividia 6800.
Oh, I understand now. Thanks for explaining that.

I don't know if MCE is really what I'm looking for right now. I'm thinking of getting a pretty good OTA HDTV card that I found which allows to even transcode to mpeg 4 or burn to .ts to dvd (with no DRM) on the host pc. I don't have a HDTV in the living room yet so.... just doing a little nosin' around, seeing what looks best for me...

Thanks man.

I am interested in how the xbox connects, because the chopped down version of terminal services in xp didn't allow 2 simultanous users. Whatever was logged into the console would log out when an admin logged in remotely. The help screen and fast user switching were introduced with xp and made part of how xp handles TS. Other than that I don't know much about TS functionality in XP other than how to use it. ;-)

With compatibility I meant the drivers actually. I'm sure the 6800 has MCE compatible drivers. My 6600gt has 'em too.

[babanoosh]

QUOTE(InflatableMouse @ Dec 18 2005, 05:01 AM)

I am interested in how the xbox connects, because the chopped down version of terminal services in xp didn't allow 2 simultanous users. Whatever was logged into the console would log out when an admin logged in remotely. The help screen and fast user switching were introduced with xp and made part of how xp handles TS. Other than that I don't know much about TS functionality in XP other than how to use it. ;-)

With compatibility I meant the drivers actually. I'm sure the 6800 has MCE compatible drivers. My 6600gt has 'em too.

But XP does allow 2 sim. users... via fast user switching. Or does home ed. (chopped edition?) not do that? My idea was that maybe there is a way to be part of a domain and run MCE in a VMWare session and login remotely (xbox). A computer RDP session (in earlier incarnations) would log out the user and login into whatever account the user would like to log into because there was no FUS and remote desktop has been around.... Hmmm....