Connecting External Harddrive to Xbox-xbmc

[BaconMunch]

And before you all tell me it's not possible, I'm actually looking for a cheap router/hub with USB connectivity. I've got a bunch of karaoke files on an external harddrive that I'm looking to stream to the xbox. The harddrive only has USB output at the moment. Playback over this mini network should not be choppy right?

I am unsure if the usb would give the unit an IP address to share. Can anyone confirm this setup should technically work?

[shrugs*]

Which device are you planning on plugging into USB?

If you're looking for a temp setup, using a crossover cable with both machines having manually assigned IPs will work.

[BaconMunch]

Thanks that would have been great except my external harddrive has USB out only. If the external device had NAS with an ethernet out, would the crossover cable theoretically work (since I wouldn't be manually seeing IPs or anything like that)?

We bought the 500gig harddrive during one of Dell's deal for $149 or else I would have alot more options. I am trying to avoid another hard-drive purchase. Also I am trying to avoid using our existing wireless router setup because the stupid router disconnects every hour or 4 so that would be a hassle in the middle of using the xbox for this to happen.

Edit: This looks like my cheapest option assuming crossover work. Definitely very interested in how well it would work. Having the option to throw in another 500gig harddrive is perfect for my situation as well.
http://canadacomputers.com/index.php...41&cid=516.690

[shrugs*]

If it's an external running USB.. just plug it in However the videos will have to be a format playable by the 360.

I'm a little confused, do you want a network connection from your computer to the hard drive, or a direct connection from USB to the 360?

[silva95teg]

Sounds like a reg xbox not a 360.

[BaconMunch]

Exactly it's a regular xbox, hence the mini work around.

I'm looking at the cheapest reliable way to stream the contents of an external hard drive directly to the XBOX. I want this to be independent of the external environment since the unit may move from one location to another.

I want to avoid the use of a computer because the computer may not always be around.

[lead]

Usb to ethernet won't work regardless of adapter, requires drivers on both ends.

For yours or any typical external drive to work it would take a second computer period! Unless your external drive was a nas drive that was compatible with xbox xbmc. Then you could access it thru the network. But I would research the nas drive first because its pretty picky on what nas works with xbmc and what doesn't.

You want it to work as a second drive to the xbox you would need to use it with a toggle switch and go thru the ide port, and forget the usb altogether.

You've got 3 options to meet your needs:

Compatible nas drive with crossover cable

new ide hard drive to house right inside the xbox(check to see if your existing enclosures drive is ide if so it should work)

if its only mp3's your concerned with. Then a typical controller port can read upto 4gig drives(flashdrives), when using an xbox to usb adapter(like a mem card). If you don't have a library over 4 gigs you could try that. You could possibly try running 2 or 3 of them maybe I never reseached that myself.

You should mention what size of internal drive you have in your xbox right now.Probably cheaper to just get a bigger one. Since a decent nas is very pricey. That netgear I don't know about with xbmc.Seems a little to good to be true kinda price.

[balou911]

upgrade the hdd size of your xbox.
whenever needed, ftp files over, or copy from dvd->xbox hdd.

[LeeBear]

What you're looking for is something like this http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php...tail&id=349351 You will have to flash it with a 3rd party firmware like DD-WRT. The official DD-WRT firmware doesn't support USB functionality but there's instructions in the Wiki on how to enable it and how to setup a Samba share (what you're probably looking for to stream to the xbox). If you're comfortable with Linux or good at following instructions you shouldn't have a problem getting it setup. Just be aware you may need to reformat your USB Hard Drive before everything is setup properly.

-LeeBear

[BaconMunch]

Thanks guys, I'll do the necessary readup when I have time, I'm at school now. Putting in a larger hard-drive would have been the easy way out but since we have about 800Gig of our karaoke discs backups in avi files, it's more convenient to somehow keep our external harddrive independent of the Xbox system.

[rock hard]

Not sure the Asus 500GU has the ability for reg USB support - I read its a USB print server?? maybe something to research a bit more.
Where as the Asus 500G Premium has 2 USB 2.0 inputs and no mention of restriction of printing... http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php...tail&id=352085

[LeeBear]

Not sure the Asus 500GU has the ability for reg USB support - I read its a USB print server?? maybe something to research a bit more.
Where as the Asus 500G Premium has 2 USB 2.0 inputs and no mention of restriction of printing... http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php...tail&id=352085

You are half correct. The asus firmware out of the box only supports USB printer but once you install DD-WRT firmware (+ the proper packages) it can be used for USB storage, Printer Sharing, even remote webcam.

BTW I have the Asus WL-500G Premium and it would be the one I recommend as well to the original poster but he was looking for the cheapest solution and the 520GU is it.

-LeeBear

[edgedamage]

Do what I did. I got a cheap mini-itx board installed win-xp pro and hooked up a external usb vantec enclosure to it. I have all my DVD's ripped into uncompressed ISO's and are stored on one folder on the external drive. I called the folder "movies" and made the folder shared. With XMBC I scoured my network and found the movies folder and now XMBC only points to that folder when I go to the video tab. Now when I rip a DVD with any computer on my network I just push the ISO to the movie folder. Every time XBMC starts it sees the new ISO's. The thing I like about the enclosure, when the comp shuts down the drive spins down. The only reason I use the external is because I was using a super small case which had no space for a full HDD.

[Gee]

Edgedamage has the best solution

Plug your USB drive into your computer, share the drive. Plug your XBOX into the network and then browse your workgroup folders until you find the shared drive.

[BaconMunch]

Thanks guys, I will probably go with the sharing via USB on the network option, it seems the most simple and it's something I've done in the past. I actually have an interesting unit I purchased from Canada Computers, I think if I set it up as a wireless device enabler, it'll basically be like a wireless network adapter. This unit has turned out to be a mini swiss army knife of networking for me.
http://canadacomputers.com/index.php...498&cid=NT.489

Anyways my xbox is on hold because I was messing with the latest Auto-Installer Deluxe DVD, formatted my hard-drive using their function because my emulators and file structure were a mess, tried to use the softmod install on the AID DVD and it froze, now I have an error 13. Retail games work fine but i have no dash AT ALL, I'm looking to pop in Halo 2 and hopefully it will rebuild MS Dash from scratch because currently I have a formatted hard-drive and that's it Otherwise XBMC was working great before.