[mythtv-users] Xbox Versions

[Mark Knecht]

Calvin,
   As a follow up to this morning's email here's where I am now.
Apparently I was making more progress than I had thought. The Cromwell
BIOs was written correctly (unfortuantely in both halves of my DuoX2
through error of my own after a long day) but the Sorceforge version
of Cromwell doesn't support my version of the XBox. The good news is
that there is a test version for 1.6(b) versions. I have written David
Pye requesting a copy as per this page:

http://www.xbox-linux.org/Version_1.6_Warning

I had read this page but discounted it since I wasn't intending on
doing the MechAssult stuff. In my case it's the stuff at the bottom
that matters but since there's no way to know you have a 1.6(b) box
without taking it apart I didn't know this effected me.

   I am hopeful that this will allow me to move forward and do the
Gentoo-xbox install once Cromwell is up and running. I'll write back
about what happens, hopefully in the next few days.

Cheers,
Mark

On 5/4/05, Mark Knecht <markknecht at gmail.com> wrote:
> Calvin,
>    I'm am currently going through XBox mod hell. I wouldn't recommend
> this to anyone feint of heart.
> 
>    There are at least 7 versions of the XBox, starting with 1.0, 1.1,
> 1.2, ..., 1.6. There is also (apparently) a 'sub-version' of 1.6
> called 1.6b. There are also a truly scary number of possibly mod
> chips. Choose one carefully. I'm using the cheapest. It would likely
> had been OK if it came preinstalled with the Cromwell BIOS. Some of
> them do. I suggest looking for that.
> 
>    I purchased a new XBox last Friday for a Myth frontend machine. I
> knew it would be difficult. I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work.
> Here's the status so far.
> 
>    I got the XBox modified by a nice guy here in San Jose. He
> installed a DuoX2 chip and put some sort of bootable BIOS on it. I had
> been able to boot GentooX and Gentoo-XBox after that work was done.
> After looking at Xebian, GentooX, Gentoo-xbox I finally decided that
> since I use Gentoo elsewhere I'd go with Gentoo-Xbox. All the
> instructions said I needed the Cromwell BIOS so I tried doing that
> with raincoat. Raincoat loaded the Cromwell BIOS, but then the machine
> wouldn't boot from the DuoX2 anymore. It will still boot with the M$
> BIOS.
> 
>    So far I'm out $150 for the machine, $25 for the IR/remote, $50 for
> the mod chip + install and it doesn't work. That's $250. Probably I'll
> get it fixed and running sometime this week but it's certainly not
> painless so far. ;-) (Mostly my own making I'm sure.)
> 
>    My one comment about the XBox is that it's not silent. The fan in
> them makes about as much noise as an older VCR when recording. This
> makes me wonder if I'll leave it turned on and ready for use or
> whether I'll end up turning i toff and seldom using it.
> 
>    Based on a fairly gloomy Monday morning my thought today, knowing
> what little I know right now, is that I'd double the cost to $500 and
> build something that's both based on a standard PC architecture and
> BIOS as well as fanless and completely silent.
> 
>    So far it's an interesting (if depressing) use of time and I'm not
> sure I'm going to enjoy the box when I get it done. Not a great
> report. Go here only if you like this sort of thing.
> 
>    We'll see.
> 
> - Mark
> 
> On 5/4/05, Calvin Harrigan <charriglists at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> >     I've been looking for an economical way of setting up a couple
> > frontends.  I currently run a combo be/fe which has served me well for
> > over a year.  I though perhaps getting a couple used XBoxes would be a
> > decent route.  I've been skimming the archives and one thing that keeps
> > popping up is a discussion/mention of versioning on the XBox.  What is
> > the easiest version of the XBox to mod to allow it to run mythtv?  Does
> > it require a hardware modification?  How do the xboxes perform
> > displaying SD TV encoded at 480x480?  Any comments?  Thanks for the feed
> > back.
> >
> > Calvin
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