lifehacker.com — Don't ditch your classic Xbox just because you can't play Halo 3 on it: now it's easier than ever to transform that old neglected console into a Unix-based media command center. A simple software exploit lets you replace Microsoft's crippled dashboard and run the incredible, open source Xbox Media Center (XBMC) software
Sep 14, 2007 View in Crawl 4
ebenizSep 15, 2007
no downside??? Tell me how do you softmod an XBOX with a broken DVD drive? you can't
zbeastSep 15, 2007
This was a great hack in this time and I do love XBMC... but the time for this hack has passed.The Xbox 1 is too slow to play well some divx movies.Its only a 700mhz processor with 64megs of ram. you can only put a 120 meg hd in it.Because the system board only support ATA100.it's not a hard mod.. but it more of a hassle than its worth now.You can now buy motherboards with all the nice things you need right on the motherboard.Like s-video, hdmi, DVI, etc... So I would not bother doing this mod at this point in time.Just build yourself a standard computer
evi1d33dSep 15, 2007
The old box runs lower bitrate 720P divx's suprisingly well. Just avoid H264 and X264.
magiccakeSep 15, 2007
Once you've ripped the VOB with DVD Decrypter you can just rename the file extension to .mpg and it'll play over XBMC as well as the Xbox 360 and PS3. No converting necessary, and of course it's full quality. There is one downside though, and that is that the length of the video will almost never show up correctly, and thus you often can't rewind it or seek to the time you want. Still, it's quick and easy, so something to consider.
sv650touringSep 15, 2007
I tried MC360, and I was impressed. But since my Xbox is in my living room and not on the bridge of the starship Enterprise, I stuck with PM3. It is just so easy on the eyes and also less jarring when I transition between XBMC and whatever I'm watching.
johnlennon64Mar 30, 2008
This is an awsome article, I was about to sell my original xbox until I found this