modify xbox into hifi media player

[raaboy]

ive been looking at a way to make a hifi stack component which takes mp3s from a lan and plays them over the hifi.

after lots of looking around, the xbox appears like a pretty decent solution as its already been software modified to take lan and also play back from large HDD's and cdrs. It also costs far less than building a chip based player from individual components.

but i would like to add these features to make it more like an A/V machine rather than a games console:

a)an lcd screen, maybe through the usb joypad ports on it? could mediaplayer be modified to output to this?

b)dedicated controls: easy. rip apart a joypad and wire up to dedicated transport buttons.

c)put the xox in a more attractive hifi stack or 19" rack box that would accomodate the lcd and buttons(sorry, but im not a fan of the xbox design).

d)a remote would be nice too maybe via another joystick port? edit: lol just remembered.. ms make one already ....

using media player the machine could also play divx and a whole bunch of other audio / video formats.


so has anybody tried this before? the only bit im unsure about being possble is the lcd screen. Anybody able to advise me here?

cheers, rob

[EvilBoB]

This is a really good idea. I for one would like to have some transport buttons and an LCD on the box.

If you pick up last months T3 magazine they have a nice round up of what you are looking for and I seem to remember that one had LAN streaming capabilities. The only downside was that at the moment they are only hi-end makes and cost SEVERAL thousand pounds

I see a DF project here... Dunno if I want to go ripping my XBox up though. I am still having far too much fun playing games!

Mounting the XBOX into a component shouldn't be too difficult and could possibly allow easy replacement of the DVD unit for a decent one (ie. not bought from the local Kwik-e-mart)

There is no reason you couldn't do the LCD part either. Basically the ports on the front are USB so it should be quite simple to develop a device that displays text/gfx etc. check out some of the car MPeg player designs on the net like empeg.com. I remember finding one a while ago that not only detailed how to do this but also had the circuit diagrams for the connects AND the source code for the software required. The only problem(?) was that it required Linux. Not a problem anymore as you can run Mandrake on SuSe on the XBox to take care of that.

If we are talking about convergence howabout a cordless keyboard and mouse as well - for browsing the web on your TV whilst listening to the tunes off the HD.

Basically put, none of this is out of the realms of possibility. Coupled with the fact that XBox Media Player's source code is now GPL so you can tinker to hearts content with it I could see this being done. The problem arises with the hardware modifications required. The software is not a problem.

UPDATE : http://mcascar.tripod.com/download.htm Check that site out for the car MP3 player. Contains source code to control an LCD!

[raaboy]

man, thanks for the helpful reply.

yeah. i might just try this one (if i can afford it!!).

i think i might start by taking a look at the media player code. see if i can understand it and mod it to output to lcd. bearing in mind my programing knowledge is pretty basic i might be shouting for help on that one!

then if i find i can manage that, ill wire up an lcd see what i can do with it. If im lucky enough to get a useful output on the lcd then ill be a happy bunny

beyond that point, things should be fairly straight forward.

edit:
Just found this in xboxhacker forums http://www.xboxhacker.net/forums/ind...da0c243cf0c10b

someone else is attempting to output to lcd... and theyve found http://www.usblcd.de/ ... this is looking hopeful!