Boot Xbox Media Center on (almost ) any PC from a USB flash disk
XBMC is a media center suite that was originally designed for the original Xbox. But over the last few years XBMC has taken on a life of its own and has been ported to run on OS X and Linux. And if you don't happen to have a PC running either operating system or an Xbox lying around, now you can check XBMC out by creating a bootable flash disk version of the media center.
Theoretically, you should be able to boot XBMC on any PC no matter what operating system you're running. In practice, you'll need a PC that can boot from a flash disk and a supported graphics card (or some Linux hacking skills). NVIDIA drivers should be supported out of the box, but ATI and other graphics cards, not so much. The LiveUSB is based on Ubuntu Hardy Heron, so if you're up to the challenge, you might be able to add support on your own.
Creating the bootable media using Windows takes just a few moments. Just download the LiveXBMC image and builder files, unzip them to the same directory, insert a 1GB or larger USB flash drive (which will be reformatted), and click the LiveUSBBuilder.exe file to get started. A few moments later you should have a bootable version of XBMC. Or a flash drive that will start to load the media center suite and then crap out about halfway through the process. But definitely one or the other.
[via Lifehacker]
Theoretically, you should be able to boot XBMC on any PC no matter what operating system you're running. In practice, you'll need a PC that can boot from a flash disk and a supported graphics card (or some Linux hacking skills). NVIDIA drivers should be supported out of the box, but ATI and other graphics cards, not so much. The LiveUSB is based on Ubuntu Hardy Heron, so if you're up to the challenge, you might be able to add support on your own.
Creating the bootable media using Windows takes just a few moments. Just download the LiveXBMC image and builder files, unzip them to the same directory, insert a 1GB or larger USB flash drive (which will be reformatted), and click the LiveUSBBuilder.exe file to get started. A few moments later you should have a bootable version of XBMC. Or a flash drive that will start to load the media center suite and then crap out about halfway through the process. But definitely one or the other.
[via Lifehacker]















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-06-2008 @ 6:01PM
Dan said...
If you still have an old Xbox lying around it's free and fairly easy to mod using some of the exploits, http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=496263
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6-07-2008 @ 6:55PM
iofthestorm said...
1B? I didn't know a whole OS could fit in one byte... ;) This looks cool, but you might as well install Linux and try it out that way. By the way, how does this compare feature-wise to say Vista's Media Center?
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6-07-2008 @ 11:58PM
BrianM said...
While I've been using XBMC for a long time (from back before it was formed, and it was xbox media player that ruled), I still find it much more intuitive and easy to maneuver than Vistas media center. It's a LOT faster too (well, comparing an xbox to a top of the line HP laptop ~ maybe that makes and even larger argument for XBMC?).
It's honestly all I use my first gen Xbox for anymore. Great app. ~ not sure I'd use it on a computer though.
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6-08-2008 @ 5:53PM
Fred Thompson said...
Mythbuntu http://www.mythbuntu.org is similar but it started from the other end of video, TV tuners. LiveCD and diskless (server-based) use are pretty mature.
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6-09-2008 @ 10:18AM
James said...
Is there a liveCD version of this? I'm probably the only geek on the planet that doesn't have a stash of old flash sticks lying around, so the CD would work out better for me...
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