If you want to quickly and easily make sure your XBOX time is synchronized, this is the right guide for you! The steps needed require a chipped XBOX, and considering the many advantages of an XBOX modchip it should be something you already have or consider getting :) ! You also need a working internet-connection.

Terminology

Before you start, I will go through some basic terminology that I will use. A time server, NTP server or SNTP server is a server (usually running Linux) that is in some way or another connected to an accurate source of time. It is usually reachable simply by an IP-address or a hostname, and you have around 2000 servers to choose between as an end-user. An NTP server can either be stratum-1, stratum-2 or stratum-3 (the latter being very rare). This is an indication of how far away the server is from the most accurate measurement of time (called stratum-0). A stratum-0 server can be a GPS receiver or some other type of signal receiver – it is not accessible from the internet but instead is connected directly to a computer which acts as a stratum-1 server. A stratum-2 server is then a server that queries a stratum-1 server – a stratum-3 server queries a stratum-2 server, et cetera.
The NTP pool is a collection of people who voluntarily share their NTP servers in a big pool (currently consisting of roughly 1800 servers). These servers are perhaps not as accurate as professional NTP servers such as the NIST servers, however they are good enough for the regular user! NIST, the National Institute of Technology and Standards, is an US agency that makes measurements and sets standards for various things (such as time).

Choosing an NTP server

Choosing an NTP server is really not a big issue. Either you choose to go with pool.ntp.org or with one of the NIST servers. I suggest the pool, as this promotes a “reliable easy to use NTP service for millions of clients without putting a strain on the big popular time-servers“. There’s virtually no difference, time-wise, between the various servers, as they all in the end are connected to stratum-0 instances.

Right, now let’s dig into our settings…

I will be showing you how to enter the correct settings in the Evolution-X dashboard and the XBOX Media Center software. In both cases it involves accessing the settings-menu – therefore it seems reasonable to assume that it will work on most, if not all, dashboards.
In XBMC (XBOX Media Center), go to Settings and press Appearance. On the left-hand side, go to Region and input your chosen NTP server in the Time server host dialog. Also, make sure Enable Internet time synchronization is checked!
In Evolution-X, go to System Utilities and select Settings (depending on your menu-structure) and scroll down to Clock. Enter the IP to your chosen NTP server as Evolution-X does not support hostnames!

The IP in the picture is the IP-address to time-a.nist.gov. I chose this as I couldn’t find the IP-address pool.ntp.org resolved to.

Final remarks

Now, after either rebooting the XBOX or just waiting a couple of seconds, your dashboard should have picked up the correct, synchronized and new time. Doesn’t it feel nice :) ? Usually you only need to set your time in one dashboard and it will write the time to the BIOS – thus all dashboards and applications will use the synchronized time.
I hope this helped you!

Watching video and audio streams is a smart and free way to access media. Whether it’s a live broadcast of your favorite TV-show or an internet radio channel, streams open new ways to receive rich content. Streams can be seen and heard on nearly anything connected to the internet, including mobile phones, computers, mp3-players and gaming consoles. Thanks to XBOX Media Center, watching streams on the XBOX is now easy as pie!

To watch audio and video streams on your XBOX you will need, as mentioned previously, the XBOX Media Center suite. Thus you also need a chipped XBOX – and hey, why not get a modchip to your XBOX? The stream you would like to watch needs to stream at a codec supported by XBMC – either it works or it doesn’t, you’ll notice! And also, you will need a working internet connection ;) !

Begin by getting the URL of the stream you would like to connect to. If your stream consists of an .pls or .m3u file, simply rename the extension to .strm and you’re good to go! If you just have the URL to the stream, whether it’s with an mms://, rtsp:// or http:// protocol, copy it into an empty Notepad window and save it with an .strm extension. Copy the .strm file to a place accessible by the XBOX – it can be on a shared computer inside a shared folder, on the XBOX harddrive or somewhere else.

Now, go into the Videos or Music menu (depending on what stream you want to watch) and open the file! If you can’t find it, click Add source, browse for the correct folder or share and press OK. If the stream is online and the codec is supported by XBMC, you should be looking at (or hearing) your first streamed show on the XBOX!

Below I have compiled a list of good stream-resources for the XBOX, if you’re out of luck finding streams that work for you:

• http://code.google.com/p/xbmc-strm-collection/ – a little collection of broadband (200k+) LIVE video streams that are tested and ready to use for XBMC
• http://www.op9.net/latest/194/xbmc-tv-round-vii-slimline – 407 streaming TV feeds from 90 countries around the world
• http://xbmc.org/wiki/index.php?title=HOW-TO:_Play_Internet_Streams – on the bottom of the page are a number of BBC radio and video streams

Good luck!

In this post I will outline the main reasons for getting a chipped XBOX. These are just my personal opinions and reasons, if you have any other topics to add do feel free to comment on them!

A modchip is simply a replacement for the original Microsoft BIOS used in the XBOX. The BIOS is the code that first runs when booting a computer or XBOX, and it runs a number of checks on hardware among other things. Once these tasks are completed, it proceeds to load the operating system (the dashboard). Installing a modchip is essentially replacing the BIOS with an altered version, making a lot of things possible, as we shall see below.

Hardware-related

• The ability to successfully change the hard-drive is only made possible if one is able to boot from a custom DVD
• Native HD-resolutions inside some applications are only available through using a modchip

Network-related

• Accessing Windows networks and shares is only made possible through the use of a modchip
• The process of copying files between a computer and an XBOX through FTP is only possible with a modchip
• Alternatives to XBOX Live are made available through a modchip (although the original XBOX Live still works)

Software-related

• Running unsigned code (such as backed up or copied games) is made possible through a modchip
• Using packages such as the Auto-Installer Deluxe enables the installation of a host of different tools and applications
• Running Linux on your XBOX is possible with a modchip (although it also is possible without)

The bottom-line is that there really are not disadvantages to installing and using a modchip. As chip-installations are fairly cheap today, you can very easily send your XBOX to a company and get it chipped without having to pay a lot.
The possibilities are endless with a modchip, go get your XBOX chipped now :) !

Have you ever felt the need to connect to your XBOX in some way? Make it a part of your home network, perhaps? Or just copy files to it? I have, and that’s why I’ve written this fairly short guide to different ways of interacting with your XBOX over the internet.

This requires an XBOX with an installed modchip!

FTP servers

If you’re simply looking to copy files, view folder structure, install applications or games, FTP:ing is the way to go.

The standard FTP server – the Dashboard’s

Every dashboard, whether it’s Evolution X, Anod-X or Unleash X, will have an FTP-server built in. Trust me. Open your dashboard’s settings and browse through the options, chances are your server is already enabled. If it’s not, enable it and set an appropriate password. On my Evolution X dashboard it looks like the image to the right. If you’re not asked to specify a username, like in my case, then it is most likely hard-coded to xbox.

The other alternative – XBMC’s FTP server

If you’re using XBOX Media Center and you want the same FTP access, enter Settings and click on Network. Scroll to Servers and enable the FTP server. Here you are able to choose both username and password. Do choose wisely, please. You don’t want anyone messing with your files!

Sharing files over a Windows network

If you don’t want full access to the XBOX, but perhaps just access to certain folders, music, videos or pictures, the better and more secure way is to enable file-sharing.

File-sharing in XBMC

As XBOX Media Center is all about media, it lays focus on sharing media as a UPnP Server (its icon in Windows looks like this). Sharing media over the UPnP is very easy – it requires almost no configuration and works seamlessly over all networks. To enable the built-in UPnP server in XBMC, again go to Network inside the settings but this time choose UPnP settings and choose to autostart the client, enable the renderer and enable the server. To further choose what media is being shared, you can Manage the music, video and picture shares.

Remotely controlling XBMC through the web

As if it wasn’t enough, XBOX Media Center includes a web-server and an interface to remotely control the XBOX via the web. It’s enabled by going into the network settings, choosing Server and marking Enable webserver. The sleek web interface can now be accessed by typing the XBOX’s IP into your address bar (to find the IP, go into System info in the shutdown-menu). Cool, huh ;) ?