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clebin · Dec 3, 2005, 05:24 PM

Is there any way to access my XBox 360's hard disk through OS X?

I want to copy some music over, but my Rev.2 iPod doesn't have USB 2.

Could you do it with the previous XBox without modding/chipping it?

Cheers,
Chris

mduell · Dec 3, 2005, 06:11 PM

Even if your iPod had USB, I don't think it would be able to connect. From the news I read, MS approached Apple about it and Apple said no.

mudzilla · Dec 3, 2005, 06:47 PM

clebin, if you put both your xbox 360 and mac on the same network, and set up your music folder to be shared via Samba, then your xbox360 should see the mac as a PC drive on the network and mount it. My mate is doing this at the moment with his PC.

with regards to the iPod on the xbox360, mduell, you're very wrong.
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000373068936/

The iPod should work with the xbox360 even with USB1.1 as USB2 is backwards compatible. Clebin, have you tried the iPod on the xbox360?

mud

SirCastor · Dec 3, 2005, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by mudzilla

The iPod should work with the xbox360 even with USB1.1 as USB2 is backwards compatible. Clebin, have you tried the iPod on the xbox360?

mud

2nd gen iPods were Firewire straight

mudzilla · Dec 3, 2005, 07:22 PM

doh! forgot about that!

then err, yeah, it won't work! but the samba drive share should be fine.

plastiqueusa · 09:21 PM

I was interested in this very topic before the 360 was released, and came out disappointed. Microsoft has engineered iPod integration because it wants the cool factor by association. However, when it comes to networking, which is more standardized than MP3 players, they require a software patch to XP to make the 360 see it on the network. Because of this, no Mac/Linux etc. compatibility--they want to use the Xbox to solidify Windows' position in the home rather than allow for easy integration based on standards. Great bunch of guys they are.

Edit: Here's the page from Xbox.com which asks you which computer you want to use with the Xbox 360. There are only a few choices, and once you choose then you download the patch for 360 access. As far as I know, there's no other way to make the 360 see any shares on a local network.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/pcsetup/alldownloads.htm

clebin · Dec 3, 2005, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by mudzilla

clebin, if you put both your xbox 360 and mac on the same network, and set up your music folder to be shared via Samba, then your xbox360 should see the mac as a PC drive on the network and mount it. My mate is doing this at the moment with his PC.

with regards to the iPod on the xbox360, mduell, you're very wrong.
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000373068936/

The iPod should work with the xbox360 even with USB1.1 as USB2 is backwards compatible. Clebin, have you tried the iPod on the xbox360?

mud

Ah, it seems that you need to install Media Center or Media Center Extender on the PC. They'd obviously cottoned onto the fact that everything supports Samba, and went for something super-proprietary. Hopefully someone will reverse-engineer it sooner or later.

Chris

mudzilla · Dec 3, 2005, 09:42 PM

uber stupid m$. twas too good to be true.

clebin · Dec 3, 2005, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by plastiqueusa

they want to use the Xbox to solidify Windows' position in the home rather than allow for easy integration based on standards. Great bunch of guys they are.

Can't blame them I suppose - Apple would be the same. In fact they are exactly the same with FairPlay.

It was up to the American courts to stop it happening though, and sadly for everyone they shyed away from splitting up MS.

Chris

mduell · Dec 3, 2005, 10:19 PM

Originally Posted by mudzilla

with regards to the iPod on the xbox360, mduell, you're very wrong.
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000373068936/

The iPod should work with the xbox360 even with USB1.1 as USB2 is backwards compatible. Clebin, have you tried the iPod on the xbox360?

Indeed you're correct. What I was thinking of was Apple turning MS down for was the ability for the Xbox to play Digital Restriction Managed songs copied from iPods. You can only play unprotected files from an iPod (which is said to be about 90% of them).

Deestar · Dec 4, 2005, 06:27 PM

Is it not possible to copy over files from a burnt CD or DVD?

clebin · Dec 7, 2005, 06:52 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

Indeed you're correct. What I was thinking of was Apple turning MS down for was the ability for the Xbox to play Digital Restriction Managed songs copied from iPods. You can only play unprotected files from an iPod (which is said to be about 90% of them).

You were right first time, mduell. There's no USB of any description on the Rev.2 iPod.

clebin · Dec 7, 2005, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by Deestar

Is it not possible to copy over files from a burnt CD or DVD?

Good idea - I'll try burning an DVD. The hard disk only has 12gb free, so I can't store that many MP3s anyway.

Chris

Dark Helmet · Dec 7, 2005, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by clebin

Good idea - I'll try burning an DVD. The hard disk only has 12gb free, so I can't store that many MP3s anyway.

Chris

I don't think the 360 allows you to copy any MP3's from anywhere so that won't work.

concavelab · Dec 11, 2005, 05:39 AM

Is this the issue of M$ locking it down to Windows only or some mac developers can make this actually work.
I would love to see a system preference pane called "Xbox 360 media Sharing".

Common mac developers!..is this possible ?!!

concavelab · Dec 11, 2005, 05:40 AM

Also, anyone tried VirtualPC running XP ?

dazzla · Dec 11, 2005, 02:09 PM

Yeah, I've tried that. It works, but not in the way I want to.

If you copy media actually into virtual PC it works fine, what I tried doing was mapping my actual Music and Pictures folder via virtual PC. That gave the actual Virtual PC access to the files, then I tried sharing those files via Media Connect. Again, that worked fine. But the 360 didn't pick up any files in those mapped shares.

The only way was to actually copy the media files from my mac into the virtual PC, then you could share it.

It really needs a mac app written for it, but with it being as closed as it is I can't see it happening any time soon

Phil333 · Dec 12, 2005, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by dazzla

Yeah, I've tried that. It works, but not in the way I want to.

If you copy media actually into virtual PC it works fine, what I tried doing was mapping my actual Music and Pictures folder via virtual PC. That gave the actual Virtual PC access to the files, then I tried sharing those files via Media Connect. Again, that worked fine. But the 360 didn't pick up any files in those mapped shares.

The only way was to actually copy the media files from my mac into the virtual PC, then you could share it.

It really needs a mac app written for it, but with it being as closed as it is I can't see it happening any time soon

Can't you just copy files to your Ipod then connect your Ipod?

dazzla · Dec 15, 2005, 06:50 PM

Of course, but I don't want that hassle. I wanna be able to stream over the LAN. Besides, the 360 has crap navigation of pictures, you browse the folder structure as opposed to the proper library meaning they're in meaningless folders with ._blah.jpg filenames all over the place. Annoying.

iomatic · Dec 26, 2005, 06:39 PM

OK. I turned on Windows file sharing on the Mac (and though I have my music in /Users/Shared/ i can change that); what next?

I can't figure out the Dashboard/Win.MC-requirement screens, etc.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by mudzilla

clebin, if you put both your xbox 360 and mac on the same network, and set up your music folder to be shared via Samba, then your xbox360 should see the mac as a PC drive on the network and mount it. My mate is doing this at the moment with his PC.

with regards to the iPod on the xbox360, mduell, you're very wrong.
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000373068936/

The iPod should work with the xbox360 even with USB1.1 as USB2 is backwards compatible. Clebin, have you tried the iPod on the xbox360?

mud

iomatic · Dec 26, 2005, 06:40 PM

burp

nelliott · Dec 28, 2005, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by iomatic

OK. I turned on Windows file sharing on the Mac (and though I have my music in /Users/Shared/ i can change that); what next?

I can't figure out the Dashboard/Win.MC-requirement screens, etc.

Thanks.

This won't work.

Currently the only ways to stream music / photos are:

With a pc running Windows XP Media Center Edition
With a pc running Windows XP using the free Windows Media Connect software
With a mac using TwonkyVision Media Server (costs €20)

dazzla · Dec 28, 2005, 11:32 AM

I tried Twonky Media, worked perfectly. Apart from the fact that it wouldn't stream m4a files to the 360 even though the 360 will play them from the iPod. If that works then I'll be buying it.

NeilCharter · Dec 28, 2005, 01:12 PM

Can anyone explain to me why you want to copy over music to the Xbox, when you can just play music via your computer anyway? Since there doesn't appear to be much disk space available on the Xbox it isn't even a very good storage device.

dazzla · Dec 28, 2005, 02:10 PM

We're not talking about copying, we're talking about streaming. To stream media you'd normally need Windows and Windows Media Connect. That's just to stream music and pictures. There's no software on the Mac that can stream to the 360 apart from (the just updated) Twonky Media.

Dark Helmet · Dec 28, 2005, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by dazzla

I tried Twonky Media, worked perfectly. Apart from the fact that it wouldn't stream m4a files to the 360 even though the 360 will play them from the iPod. If that works then I'll be buying it.

Can you give any tips for setting it up. I tried it and I couldn't get it to work.

slffl · Jan 25, 2006, 03:30 PM

I'm having trouble figuring out how to set this up as well.

Frumpy · Feb 10, 2006, 01:17 AM

Just saw this one pop up too...http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/connect360

Unfortunately, I can't get that one to work either. PB 12" hooked up to an Airport Express which is then hooked into a Linksys router which has a connection to my 360. What's up with this? Any one have a step by step on how to get this to work?

viruscool · Feb 10, 2006, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by Frumpy

Just saw this one pop up too...http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/connect360

Unfortunately, I can't get that one to work either. PB 12" hooked up to an Airport Express which is then hooked into a Linksys router which has a connection to my 360. What's up with this? Any one have a step by step on how to get this to work?

I've just tried the connect360 and I have managed to get it to work fine, just make sure you forward those ports (the ones mentioned in the ReadMe file) in your firewall settings in System Preferences.

Frumpy · Feb 10, 2006, 08:18 AM

I'm not too familiar with forwarding ports. My setup has the 360 wired into my linksys router, my PB is linked into an Airport Express which is then linked into the router. Can I get a step by step on how to make this work? Thanks.

Diggory Laycock · Feb 10, 2006, 08:31 AM

Here's how I got the TwonkyVision server to work -

1 - download the demo package.
2 - install the 'mac os x setup' package.
3 - reboot - fix the permissions on the startup item when it asks - and reboot again when it tells you to.
4 - download the 'runtime only' package
5 - use that executable instead of the demo one.
6 - configure by going to http://localhost:9000

Diggory Laycock · Feb 10, 2006, 08:38 AM

Hmm - Just tried Connect360 - (no firewall enabled) - first attempt failed, rebooted the 360 and restarted the app - second attempt to connect worked fine.

SWFan · Feb 10, 2006, 08:10 PM

I too tried Connect360 and for me it worked right from the start. I'm using a G5 PM and the XBox360 is connected via hardware to an Airport Extreme that is part of a WDS I have with an AEBS at the center of it. I don't have DHCP turned on on any of my wireless access points, they all just pass DHCP requests from a centralized Firewall/router server I have.

My guess for those that are having problems in a combo wired/wireless network is that they have DHCP turned on on the wireless portion, so the IP's on the wired computers are in a different IP range from the devices connected to the wireless routers/access points.

MichiganRich · Feb 10, 2006, 08:23 PM

I'm currently trying to get Connect360 to work, and can't get it. I've got a Belkin router, my G5 and my Xbox both wired (not wireless). The Connect360 app fires up and sees the Xbox, but when I try to log on from the Xbox side it says nothing found. Dammit.

iomatic · Feb 10, 2006, 10:10 PM

Works great. Except some playlists don't show properly.

SWFan · Feb 11, 2006, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by MichiganRich

I'm currently trying to get Connect360 to work, and can't get it. I've got a Belkin router, my G5 and my Xbox both wired (not wireless). The Connect360 app fires up and sees the Xbox, but when I try to log on from the Xbox side it says nothing found. Dammit.

Have you verified if you have the software firewall turned on on your Mac? That would be one reason why the XBox360 can't connect yet the Connect360 could see the Xbox360.

SWFan · Feb 11, 2006, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by iomatic

Works great. Except some playlists don't show properly.

After playing with it for a night I too noticed that some of my playlists don't show any content on the XBox360. The playlist will show in the playlist list, but when going into it the content of the playlist will be empty. For me it appears to be more a problem with the Smart Playlists.

MichiganRich · Feb 11, 2006, 04:30 PM

Hey SWFan, yeah I tried with OSX software firewall turned off and also turned on with the TCP/UDP ports opened. No dice. I'm thinking that maybe my router is plugging up those ports, but I can't see where to change port settings for the LAN, just the WAN internet port calls (which I don't really want to open up). I also tried (very quickly) putting the G5 in the DMZ of the router, leaving it pretty much wide open. Still nothing. Dammit, I repeat! :-)

dazzla · Feb 12, 2006, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by SWFan

After playing with it for a night I too noticed that some of my playlists don't show any content on the XBox360. The playlist will show in the playlist list, but when going into it the content of the playlist will be empty. For me it appears to be more a problem with the Smart Playlists.

One of my playlists is like that as well, the title of the playlist isn't english. It's showing the Kanji characters on the 360 (a step up from TwonkyMedia) but no songs present. It'd be good if you can change the name of the Mac (as it appears on the 360) so it's a bit more pleasing to look at.

SWFan · Feb 12, 2006, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by MichiganRich

Hey SWFan, yeah I tried with OSX software firewall turned off and also turned on with the TCP/UDP ports opened. No dice. I'm thinking that maybe my router is plugging up those ports, but I can't see where to change port settings for the LAN, just the WAN internet port calls (which I don't really want to open up). I also tried (very quickly) putting the G5 in the DMZ of the router, leaving it pretty much wide open. Still nothing. Dammit, I repeat! :-)

Okay, you shouldn't have to do any of that stuff. Any computers on the LAN side of your router are just passing packets freely, the router shouldn't be blocking or re-directing any of that. It should only affect WAN to LAN traffic.

What I would do is check the IP address your Mac is using and then go to your XBox360 and check the IP address its using. Make sure they are both in the same IP range, ie. your Mac might be 192.168.1.100 and your XBox would be 192.168.1.101. If its something completely different between the two, then that is likely the problem, though honestly I don't know why that would happen unless you've overridden one of the devices with a manual IP address.

SWFan · Feb 12, 2006, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by dazzla

One of my playlists is like that as well, the title of the playlist isn't english. It's showing the Kanji characters on the 360 (a step up from TwonkyMedia) but no songs present. It'd be good if you can change the name of the Mac (as it appears on the 360) so it's a bit more pleasing to look at.

Fortunately I haven't seen this on my installation. I did see that Nullriver released v1.0 yesterday. I installed it and restarted the service. Now all my playlists show their content correctly whereas before a couple playlists came through as empty. I would say make sure you're using v1.0, if not, it may solve your issue.

dazzla · Feb 12, 2006, 01:44 PM

Yeah, I'm using 1.0. Everything is fine except that playlist.

Riddler · Feb 13, 2006, 10:58 AM

Connect360 ain't working for me either - xbox360 is connect over ethernet to a Netgear DG834G router, PowerBook connecting over WiFi to the same router. Both in the same IP range, and no Firewall on the Mac.

I get lots of Rainbow spinney wheeling in the Connect360, xbox can't see anything on the network although according to Console my PowerBook is recieving some kind of requests of the network (can't remember what they were off the top of my head, will check when I get home.)

I Bent My Wookiee · Feb 13, 2006, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Riddler

Connect360 ain't working for me either

Strange, works perfectly for me.

Macpilot · Sep 25, 2006, 04:25 PM

Just bought Connect360 and it works flawlessly! Very impressive software for $20.

The only tweaks I had to do was turn off my firewall, otherwise my setup is an iMac Core Duo on an Airport Express network, and the 360 on wireless too.

The 360 interface is quite nice too, especially for the photos. What is cool is you can listen to your music while you have it run slideshows of your photos.

Screw the iTV!

Dark Helmet · Sep 25, 2006, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by Macpilot

Screw the iTV!

Ya screw airport express also as I use the 360 to stream my MP3's and radio stations.

Eug Wanker · Sep 25, 2006, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by Macpilot

The only tweaks I had to do was turn off my firewall

Can't you configure it to allow Connect360 traffic?

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Ya screw airport express also as I use the 360 to stream my MP3's and radio stations.

No video, which is of course the main point of iTV.