I used to run a MythTV server on my network, and had MythTV installed on the XBox in the bedroom using the old MechWarrior audio hack. But of course there were a couple of problems with that setup, not least of which was the reset loop that the XBox got into when power was removed from it for a while.
Well I treated the bedroom XBox to a modchip this week, and invested in an Executer 3CE with the LCD panel and the replacement faceplate from Mr Modchips. Installation was very straightforward, and after a couple of teething problems, with me getting switches set up in the wrong position initially,I managed to flash the X3 bios, and then decided to install XBMC as a new replacement dashboard.
I’m really impressed, the media center connects directly to my samba server and has been able to play pretty much all the video that I’ve thrown at it. It also plays back music and shows photos from my samba server nicely – I’ve not yet got Mame set up on it yet, but I’m sure that can’t be too difficult. The no-tv option on the LCD is great too – you don’t have to have the TV turned on to navigate the menus, they’re shown on the LCD :-), or you can even control it from a web browser on any machine in the house.
Now I have to get another couple of mod chips for the other XBoxes, so that I can have one in every room 😉 It even had Suzy playing with it, so the wife approval appears to be there 😀 She even suggested that I should wire the house for audio so that you can have the music playing around the house.