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Xbox Media Player Contest
mliu writes "Xbox Media Player, the GPL application that turns everyone's favorite hackable console (the Xbox) into a set-top-Divx/Xvid-playing-
Shoutcast-radio-streaming-
lean-mean-Mp3/Ogg-music-playing-all-while- sporting-a-pretty-user-interface-machine is holding a contest. They're in desperate need of help in terms of more developers and are holding a giveaway of 25 top of the line X2 Pro modchips for the 25 best patch submissions between now and March 31. If you don't know what Xbox Media Player is and/or feel the need to ask why bother hacking the Xbox, you have definitely gotta check it out. It turns the Xbox from Bill Gates' insidious plot to get into the living room into a set top box that can play practically everything even while sporting a sleek black look that won't stick out in your home theater system, and a user interface that your grandmother could use. And you can even run Linux on it in your spare time. It's no $100,000 but it's for a cause that is both more practical and useful if you ask me." The X-Box has proven itself an entertaining platform for hackers, and the XBMP is really excellent.
When it has visualization plug-ins, I think it'll be a great way to put MP3s in your stereo.
The XBox would be a nice media player, yes, but wouldn't this sort of take sales away from MS Media Center machines?
Conglom-O: We Own You (TM).
given that you need a mod-chip in order to run your own code on an Xbox, wouldn't the Xbox hackers that are interested in the contest have chips already?
Maybe but if it turns out the developers of XBMP are making a product that the public want, without all that DRM crap, then why shouldn't they take sales away from MS?
I use XBMP daily and it absolutely rocks - the only thing missing is MPC audio support but divx/xvid/mp3/jpg playback is nearly flawless and everyone who sees it is amazed (I even have my home videos I took with my DVCAM on there converted to XVid and its so much nicer than whipping out a VHS videotape)
seany
I would help but I just can't... stop... playing Halo.
Is it just me who thinks that visualizations are completely unneccessary? When I am listening to music, I don't want some annoying repetitive picture flickering away in the background. They are an interesting toy, but add nothing to the experience.
Its a real shame that there isn't a team developing cool stuff like this for the Playstation 2 Linux.
Because it now comes with a 20gb drive.
Because it has a 10/100 ethernet port and FTP support.
Because it comes with ALL xvid/divx variants unlike that new Kiss xvid/dvd player which doesn't support qpel and gmc from the latest divx builds.
Because it lets you listen to shoutcast stations.
Because it can stream from smb shares on a pc or linux server
Should I go on?
How ironic the the banner I get this morning on the slashdot site is for Microsoft SBS2000 preloaded on an HP. Which technically means the advertising for the XBox contest is funded by M$. Man, they do have their hands in everything.
Wow, such an agonizingly clear statement of my character. I bow down to you and your thoughtful commentary.
Conglom-O: We Own You (TM).
It seems as if mictosoft made a good move with the xbox. It seems to attract a great deal of the people that don't want to use windows. But for some reason a restricted computer by microsoft sounds good to the same people here. What's the catch here, could someone tell me?
Microsoft would be doing themselves a favor if they would release a downloadable dashboard update over live that adds support for VCD's and other Media functions. Official support always seems to work out better than community support.
Personally, I'd rather stick to my guns and go ahead with a Linux jewkbox than to give in to the massive Microsoft histerea surrounding there X-BOX gaming system.
Why would we line the pockets of MSs's corporate bottom dollar when we could simply utilize the foundation of Linux upon traditional X-86 hardware components like soundcards and high-speed motherboards??
The answer is also the question, and the question in this case is LINUX.
Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
If you want a low-cost system for playing music and videos, get yourself a Mini-ITX system; they start at around $200. For gaming, pay a little bit more and get yourself a real PC with a high-end graphics card.
"Tt turns the Xbox from Bill Gates' insidious plot to get into the living room into a set top box that can play practically everything even while sporting a sleek black look that won't stick out in your home theater system, and a user interface that your grandmother could use."
;)
How does this turn Gates' plot into anything else? Seems to be furthering his cause - more Xboxes in the living room for him to make software profits off of.
smd4985
You forgot that its also a damn fine games machine
None of the xboxes come with a 20gb hard drive. When they see the LBA size on the hard drive start with a "20" they think that is the disk size, which it is not. The only hard drives shipping are 10gb.
Why bother? The whole reason most people getting in to hacking and fiddling with computers. Because it's FUN.
Getting there is the interesting part.
Escape Pod Films: Sketch Comedy and Web Series
Oh yeah, I forgot that the average DVD player from Wal-Mart can stream divx over my PC's SMB shares on my network at home.
See here for a post in the dicussion. I haven't kept up with more (such as if they have fullfilled the terms of the gpl by releaseing source).
The newer ones do, my friend chips a lot of xboxes and he opened one up on friday fresh from the shop with a 20gb drive. Though to be fair it's irrelevent because you can stream from a PC share anyway making the HD size a non issue.
When it has visualization plug-ins, I think it'll be a great way to put MP3s in your stereo.
I'm working on a dll interface for the viz api. This is one feature that I'm very interested in finding some talented viz programmers, so if you're interested, please feel free to contact me on the xbmp forums.
Thanks
" turns everyone's favorite hackable console (the Xbox) "
Hey! The Dreamcast Scene is just as hot right now, especially now that SDL has been ported!
Last time I looked, I got the impression you could only compile XBMP using a warezed copy of the Xbox SDK. This was going to be the case until the OpenSDK project reached some maturity. This is why the XBMP website only supplies source and I have to scavenge binaries from Usenet or IRC.
Assuming I was right in the first place, is this still the case? Be kind of a bummer if the only way to test your patch for this competition is via an illegally ripped MS SDK.
You win again, gravity!
>It turns the Xbox from Bill Gates' insidious plot to get into the living room into a set top box that can play practically everything even while sporting a sleek black look that won't stick out in your home theater system, and a user interface that your grandmother could use.
How about just making a Linux box like that?
Get one of those tiny MiniATX motherboards/cases, pick and choose other hardware and install Linux.
Much more easier than modding an Xbox.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Good point and it's also a good example of open source in action - xvid decoder fixes are usually implemented in a day or two by frodo, duo or runtime and they're using lots of open source projects like mplayer. So it would be nice if the platform zealots who spell Microsoft with a '$' would give credit to a project that lots of people find useful.
How it this article any more than a barely-disguised advert for X boxes?
Let me make this perfectly clear - every X Box sold (no matter what you use it for) is used as propoganda to convince developers to write for it, which puts more developers under the thumb of MS, and makes money for MS so they can oppress and harass free software developers.
If anything, you should be buying systems from MICROSOFT'S COMPETITORS. BUY A NINTENDO GAMECUBE, A SONY PLAYSTATION, A PALMOS-BASED HANDHELD and A SYMBIANOS-BASED PHONE.
Does my bum look big in this?
Although slightly off topic, if you are interested in something like this for your PS2, check out the broadq QCast Tuner for PS2. It too plays MP3s, OGG Vorbis, DiVX/xvid, MPEG-1, etc. It doesn't require a mod chip, which is nice, but it does requre the ~$40 PS2 network adapter. The developers are also extremely active on the forum, making it simple to get help.
And no, I'm not a broadq employee, I'm just a really satisfied customer.
-Steve
It should compile on any x86 I would think. Since the Xbox is just a pentium 3. I guess it depends on what code you're working on for it.
-- taking over the world, we are.
No, they do not. It has been confirmed over and over, unless you want to take a picture to show it, then it is not true. All of the people that have claimed this have taken a picture and it sure enough was a 10gb hard drive. That is, unless you friend replaced the hard drive with a larger one.
and you don't have to mod the xbox to run it. http://www.zdnet.com.au/gamespot/news/story/0,2000 011229,20271141,00.htm
Last time I looked, I got the impression you could only compile XBMP using a warezed copy of the Xbox SDK.
At the risk of sounding like an AOLer, I'll chime in with my "me too!".
I agree the XBMP certainly looks neat, and an inexpensive box that can play DivX movies would kick mucho ass, but I don't have the paitence to hunt down a mod chip from a respectable seller, find the proper "warezed" BIOS image I need and then find the binaries so I can burn an XBMP CD.
The mod chips I have seen are also priced a far cry from the original $8 bucks or so I paid for my PS1 modchip back in the day. All costs considered, I could ALMOST buy a PC with TV-out for just about the same price.
Not that this project isn't cool... It's just not really that cost effective.
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
Fair point i'll ask him but he's not the sort of person to get his LBAs mixed up with his GBs.
more Xboxes in the living room for him to make software profits off of.
umm, but isnt' the point to buy the Xbox at a loss from M$, then install XBMP and load up the hard drive with media, avoiding buying any more software and giving M$ a profit? hell, the only Xbox game I'd waste my money on is Halo anyway..
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
NEWS FLASH: If you visit the page enough times, you can get any ad to come up.
Seeing a Microsoft ad come up randomly means nothing. Oh, and using "M$" makes you ub3r l337. No, really, it does.
*prepares asbestos shield*
Thank you, kind madame.
Was there some sort of malfunction on Slashdot which caused 1000 words to appear where there should have been a summary?
Getting the linux media players sorted out. mplayer may be able to support every codec out there, it its gui is teh sux0r.
My one minor complaint about XBMP doesn't really have to do with any serious bug in the code. It's really an excellent piece of software, and I'm really thankful that someone did take the time to put it together. However, and maybe I'm missing a setting here, I do wish I could get the menus to fit on my tv. It seems to be set for PAL displays, which isn't a problem in movies because it allows the setting of the playback field, but does mean information like the current song title is cut off in the menu. Again, terribly minor, and trivial (especially if you're in the UK), but aside from the normal developmental strides that will no doubt take place it's the only thing I would really like a "fix" for.
Hey just because Linux is cheap doesn't mean we should start using ethic stereotypes to describe it. ;)
I think it'll be a great way to put MP3s in your stereo.
Since when has this been a problem? Is the minijack to rca converter plugged into the line in of your stereo that shoddy of a setup? Does the numerous articles on putting a computer in your home entertainment center seem "too hard" or "not as cool" ??? As far as mp3's with a set top box, my DVD player, dreamcast, and laptop (which are all hooked up to the entertainment "glop" in my room) all have the ability to play mp3's I don't need another solution.
I'm not bashing the article I'm all about hacking, but the constant fucking comments about "my home entertainment center needs something to play mp3's" has been solved!! I don't know of any reason why anyone would need another solution??
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I like this solution a whole lot better, philosophically. It's cheap too.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Your mom agrees too and sends her regards. She also sais that the dildo is in the refrigerator if you're looking for it.
> Because it can stream from smb shares on a pc or linux server
:)
If you think of XBMP while saying that, it isn't entirely true (yet). XBMP can only play from windows smb shares at the moment, but I'm sure linux shares will be supported very soon too.
If you thought of Linux running on the xbox using mplayer, it is supported playing over NFS/SMB shares running on whatever OS.
Truth is, as soon as I have my keyboard connected to the xbox, I won't use XBMP anymore, because I just love to use the original - and the terminal.
BTW, I think it would be really cool, if there would be a X based dashboard, which starts instead of xdm or whatever after booting - and by pressing ALT+F1 you always can login and do things the console-way
If we can release a userfriendly xbox-Linux distribution, booting without modchip, M$ has released a console wich will massivley distract users from their own OS. *grin*
If you're developing for the Xbox, isn't it pretty much assumed that you HAVE a modchip already? Why would they be giving out modchips to people that are guaranteed to have one? Why not just give out cases of beer or something that the coders really need?
I have been thinking (and I certainly am going to) about building a system out of PC/Linux/Pinnacle DC10 compresor card.
But if I can get a working system for only 300 Euros That'l be cheaper..
My question to anyone who actually has a XBox : Does it make a lot of noise ? A friend lent me his PS2 for a week and it was the loudest piece of hardware in the appartment .. I.e. (IMNSHO) unusable as a movie player.
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
Slave.
You're so easily bought.
MS could easily withstand "selling" all their X Boxes at $0. They're not looking to turn a profit, like normal companies. All they care about is the "sales" numbers, so they can win over developers they can't otherwise buy.
Why not wait for them to drop the price to $0 before you "buy" your X Box?
Does my bum look big in this?
Sony has the PS2 Linux Kit, why doesn't Microsoft something comparable? Oh wait, it has to do with actually making money off the hardware! ;-)
That's what I don't understand: If Microsoft had designed the XBox so that they could of made a slight profit just selling the hardware (instead of a massive loss), and allowed anyone to hack on it, they WOULD have a lot more developers - both Amateur and Professional. More developers = More software. Plain and simple.
Interestingly enough, MS and nVidia just recently settled a dispute over pricing of parts!
Cheers
--
#30794h SYSEVAL
ASF files are just butchered AVI files and can be easily converted. You fail it.
ASF files are not butchered AVI's at all. However, libavi has been able to demux an ASF stream for well over three years or so now, so its not like ASFs are a big deal. MPlayer can also handle WMV and WMA files without any trouble. Windows Media? Wassat?
Mmmm....perhaps the 'free market of developers' is telling them something?
for the 25 best patch submissions...
So they want help for patches, but not for the actual design, building of new features etc? What, no one wants to clean up the messy stuff?
No offense intended, I just thought it was interesting that no one had commented on the community aspects of this story.
So does Anonymous Coward have good karma?
XBMP plays files over Linux Samba shares just fine. I do it myself.
A sentence you'll never see on an Internet discussion board: "You know what? You're right."
Umm, actually, NOT buying an Xbox and no games is their worst nightmare.
Insightful: 76, Off-Topic: 379, Flamebait: 24, Funny: 152, Interesting: 201, Underrated: 55, Troll: 9, Total: 896
xBox kille media would be to run linux on xBox and then gt quicktime to run on it alos and really piss Bill Gates!
Don't Tread on OpenSource
This is the best way to play mp3s on
your home stereo. It's called stereo link.
Quality Hi-Fi equipment and costs less
than most high end sound cards.
http://www.stereo-link.com/
This is the best way to play mp3s on your
home stereo. Quality Hi-Fi equipment and
costs less than many high end sound cards.
http://www.stereo-link.com/
Lets say i could factor that big number on the SF xbox linux project page. (I'm assuming it is a product of only two primes) How would you get the private key from the factors? and is the exact signing method known?
'It turns the Xbox from Bill Gates' insidious plot to get into the living room into a set top box that can play practically everything even while sporting a sleek black look that won't stick out in your home theater system, and a user interface that your grandmother could use.'
I don't get this. XBMP obviously provides an excellent reason to buy an Xbox, and in doing so can only further "Bill Gates' insidious plot to get into the living room". Also, last time I checked the Xbox had the same "sleek black look" before and after running XBMP.
Wario78
Which version are you using? A week ago, I didn't find anyone who got it working with Samba. For instance here.
This solution isn't really a solution, because I need security=user in my LAN.
Microsoft doesn't want any small or hobby developers for XBox, otherwise they would release a free development kit and a way to run the binaries on devices without MS signature. They do have free VC++ for CE.NET devices. I say we comply by not buying any XBoxes and games, instead of doing all the work for Bill Gates.
And by the way, my PalmOS-based handheld does play MP3s and video clips. With a G4, PS2 and a CLIE I am proud to have a Microsoft-free (TM) home.
the .plan of justin frankel reveals that some boys at nullsoft seem to port winamp to xbox or write an all new player for it.
Too bad the manuals are distributed in a format that requires a shareware program to decompress. Does anyone know of a free program that can handle these things?
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
For all those people out there that say you should go get a system xyz and run abc on it, you are totally underestimating the primary advantage that homebrew console scenes have:
Everybody is developing on the exact same system.
This has tremendous implications in the development and testing of the software. You only have to develop for one platform, test for one platform, and support one platform. The software that anybody else out there writes for it will work for my box too. This is a tremendous advantage over getting some software that has some bugs/quirks with your slightly different "open" system.
For instance, on my PC (standard Dell Box), I encounter a pretty nasty bug in Mame where it will kill my video card until I did a hard reset.
I slapped the xbox version of Mame on my modded xbox and was running with no problems.
You do have other limitations with using a proprietary console, but you must realize that the same "feature" that makes console games cheaper and more reliable than PC games can pay off for opensource developers as well.
while sporting a sleek black look that won't stick out in your home theater system
*cough* *splutter*
This is the same Xbox we're talking about here right? The fug ugly great plastic lump with green crap all over it? Oh please, if by some miracle you didn't see the thing you'd hear it's fans from the other side of the house!
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
It's hard to take anything Slashdot posts about Microsoft seriously.
xbox.. xbox... xbox...
Because it comes with Component video output.
Because it comes with SPDIF out.
checkout GDAM, you can mix mp3's in real-time etc....
thank God the internet isn't a human right.