Xbox Media Server

I recently installed the Amahi Home Server mainly to check out the media stream capability, it turns out to be a great solution and a great DLNA server. Here is what you need to know to get it up and running. After you install and configure your Amahi Home server simply go to the Control Panel of the server then the Apps page and install the Amahi DLNA server. It will install the server and start the service. Now here is what I found after setting the server started, you still need to do some customization to get it to work with your media center. Here is what I did:

Handbrake is a great DVD ripper. Unfortunately the version on the Handbrake website is not working. Here is a ubuntu how to  for installing Handbrake on Ubuntu 10.04.

First we need to get DVD playback enabled:

Then do and update of the Apt repos lists:

sudo apt-get update

Next you need to install the software. Use the Ubuntu Software Center to install Handbrake. Do a search for Handbrake and install the GTK GUI.

After it installs you should have Handbrake working in Ubuntu 10.04.

Now Start Ripping media for your Xbox!

Like most people I have a couple TVs in my house. One of the TVs has the MythBox on it and the other has the Xbox 360. Now I keep all my movies on the MythBox (all legal backups of course). I wanted to play these on my Xbox on the other TV. I noticed that after the Xbox 360 dashboard update the Xbox saw my shared drive and I could browse to my media directories. When I tried to Play one of these I got some cryptic Microsoft error code. So I did a little research and found out that Xbox media streaming uses the DLNA protocol to receive content from a peer on a network. Great, does Linux have a DLNA protocol server, YES, it is called uShare.

Here are the easy steps to set it up.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ushare
Configuration

Once finished, you’ll have uShare installed and ready for configuration. Out of the box, it won’t work for our purpose. You’ll need to edit /etc /ushare.conf to enable Xbox compatibility as well as define the standard port – 49200. Open /etc /ushare.conf as root and change the following lines:

USHARE_PORT=49200
USHARE_DIR=/path/to/your/media
ENABLE_XBOX=YES

Before these changes will take effect, you’ll need to restart ushare using its init script. However, an issue I’ve noticed is that the last line (’ENABLE_XBOX=YES’) does not always work. So before we restart uShare, we’ll need to make a small change to the init script that resides under /etc /init.d/ to force Xbox compatibility:

sudo vi /etc /init.d/ushare

and add the following line at the beginning of the script:

USHARE_OPTIONS=-x

This tells uShare to start with Xbox compatibility. Now restart uShare using the init script:

invoke-rc.d ushare restart

Now you are finished. You may need to restart the Xbox. Now navigate to ‘My Xbox’ and then select ‘Videos’ and finally you should see ‘uShare’ at the bottom (computer icon). Selecting that will connect to your Linux box and you’ll be able to browse your media just as you would on your PC.

When I tried to play a xvid file it said I needed a download to play this file. I sure it was the codec, but it was free and worked great. Now I have another TV with a HD feed that can Play all the movies on my MythBox .

Sitting back on the couch is definitely the preferred method for consuming video content, and while there are many different ways to get video onto a PC, users looking to sit in front of the TV instead of in front of a keyboard have had few options to stream media until relatively recently. Fortunately, there is a technology called DLNA, streaming media around the home might require less and less effort.
DLNA is short for Digital Living Network Alliance, and defines a standard for moving movies, photos, music and other media from device to device. DLNA servers can store media in one location, and, without any setup or configuration, can stream the media to DLNA compliant players, like the PS3 and Xbox 360. The big draw behind DLNA is to throw away major configuration, and create a simplistic way for consumers to get media from one device to another.
To get started with DLNA, find an appropriate server for your network. While many standard Windows Media Center computers work with the standard, we like the idea of using a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device to store all of our media in one place. Since it’s a central repository, all of your computers can access it to use and store media, and DLNA capable players can access the media from the NAS and play it back on your TV. Typically, NAS devices are slightly more expensive than comparably equipped external hard drives, but instead of simply plugging into a computer, NAS devices plug directly into the network, freeing up a computer from staying on all the time and serving media.
There are many DLNA servers that you can get the trick is picking the right one for your purpose. Here you can see a list of home media servers.
Regardless of whether you’ve set up a software or hardware server, playing back the video will definitely require some additional hardware. While we wouldn’t perhaps recommend it as the best possible game console, Sony’s PlayStation 3 is definitely one of the best home theater components around. With its DLNA capabilities alone, the console does an excellent job of streaming DLNA compatible media, not to mention the built-in Blu-ray drive for playing back high definition movies.

Other DLNA player options include Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Or, if you’re looking to skip the set top box all together, manufacturers are starting to bundle DLNA into newer HDTVs so check for a DLNA logo, and skip the set top box all together.
DLNA certainly isn’t a mainstream technology yet, but the technology behind it is only a year or two away from mass adoption. If you’ve got a massive collection of music, photos, movies or have a PC based DVR, DLNA could help get your media around your home. If you’re not ready to plunk down the cash, keep watching, as we think DLNA will be a tech item to keep an eye on.

The Xbox 360 has Windows Media Extender technology built-in, which means it can read music, pictures, video and even television from your Windows Media Center 2005 PC or music and pictures from a regular XP (Professional Edition or Home Edition) Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later machine.

To stream media from a Windows Media Center 2005 PC to a Xbox 360 you must install the Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, which is available via http://www.windowsupdate.com/ . You can find more information about the rollup athttp://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/upgrade/rollup2.mspx.

Regular XP SP2 users need to install the Windows Media Connect 2.0 software, which is available at the Windows Update site under Optional Software or you can download it at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=e93a0ba1-1206-4df5-a3e7-f076691261ef&displaylang=en.

Xbox 360 owners can go to http://www.xbox.com/en-US/pcsetup/ for an Xbox-focused setup routine, which provides a front end and additional logic for the standard Windows Media Connect (wmcsetup.exe) installation and performs additional configuration for Windows Media Center 2005 machines. After you install Windows Media Connect, you configure it via the Windows Media Connect Control Panel as the figure shows.

On the Xbox 360, you manage connections to computers via its System main menu as the figure shows. You then can play music and images by selecting the Computer as the source. Make sure the video is in a codec for the Xbox360.

If you connect the Xbox 360 to a Windows Media Center 2005 PC, you get a richer environment, including video streaming and album information as the figure at figure shows.

The Windows Firewall software will open the required ports during the installation of the Windows Media Connect software. However, if you use a different firewall be sure to open these ports:

- TCP – 2869, 10243
- UDP – 1900, 10280, 10281, 10282, 10283, 10284 Windows Media Connect can communicate with other Digital Media Receivers in your environment–not just the Xbox 360. You can find more information about Windows Media Connect at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/wmconnect/default.aspx.