Running an Xbox with XBMC 24/7?
#1
Hello, just joined the community, been reading threads for a while but havent run into this type of question.

Im looking at running an xbox running 24/7 serving streams from my pc to my tv (via xbmc), has anyone had experience with that? Whats the longest youve run this type of setup?

Thanks in advance for any info. Smile
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#2
you can set it up with low power mode and harddisk spin down and the system idle keeps the xbox temps resonable low in xbmc mode so as long as smoke doesnt start pouring out of it you should be okay. i have a similar setup where i leave xbmc running for long stretches but not 24/7 more like up to 8-12 hours at a time for streaming
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#3
Ahh, that sounds interesting. Will look for info on running it on low power mode. Thanks for the heads up mate. Smile
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#4
I have some limited experience, as follows.

I have found that xbmc can serve as a reliable permanent internet radio (shoutcast) stream. The first time I tried it with my v1.6 box, the stream disappeared after two days (not an xbmc problem). The second time it lasted more than a week and would have gone longer. Recently I got a second xbox, modded it (x3), and put IR mods and Vantech Stealth fan mods in both. The v1.0 box has now been streaming audio for over a week. I noticed recently that its video signal appeared to have stopped, i.e. when I switched the tv to it, there was no picture and I couldn't get one back without restarting the xbox.

Thanks for the HD spin-down tip. Here is the xbm manual page:
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/inde...m_Settings
I wasn't able to figure out how one configures a low-power mode - advice?

Now about temperature. The stock xbox fan is loud. At turn-on, it starts at about 20% which is very quiet. But at 100%, which it does get to eventually, it is loud. The Vantech stealth fans (http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/stealth-case.php)
are still fairly quiet at 100%. At constant 100%, the v1.0 box as cpu about 118 degrees and gpu about 105 degs F. Depends on ambient temp, of course - I am referring to room temp about 70 degrees. I did replace the thermal compound on both cpu and gpu in this box (arctic silver, $3 at radio shack).

The vantech stealth mod tut instructions result in the fan going 100% all the time, powered off the hard disk cable. But I found that the power/control cable provided with the fan can simply be plugged into the motherboard and then one has full motherboard control.

I did not replace the thermal compound in my v1.6 box. I set it to vary fan speed to keep the temp at 118 degs. It goes to 100% most of the time, but does frequently go down to below 50%. I am considering letting the box go to, say, 125 degs to lower fan noise. The box shuts down automatically at 170 degs F, from what I have read.

Below I append some info on power consumption. Though the author provides unfavorable comparisons, it won't keep me from running my xbox. I am the kind of pc owner who never turns them off. The gateway I bought in 1997 has basically been running for ten years with no failures. The dell I bought three years ago recently started having howling-fan problems, but not frequently, just a couple of times. No HD or any other failures. They only go down with local power outages, which happen 3-4 time per year here. I suppose many would advise UPS's, but I have't bothered. I do have good surge protection.

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http://digg.com/linux_unix/XBMC_recruiti...Linux_port

by Erkan on 05/30/2007
I read in this thread someone claimed XBOX is a low power system. Sad I have to shock you but it is by no means a low power system!

When playing games XBOX consumes over 100 watt. When idle in XBMC XBOX still hovers around 100 watt. That is a lot of watt for a celeron based system. No doubt it is probably the GPU that is constantly on that is consuming the majority of watt. As a reference my P4 2.4 GHz system with 120 GB harddrive and Radeon 9600 hovers around 60-75 watt while working in XP. A Sega Saturn uses 25 watt. An Amiga 1200 15 watt. A 32 inch flat screen Sony CRT TV, 100 watt.

Another fun thing, when in stand by XBOX consumes over 10 watt. That is the same amount as a low energy lamp these days running 24/7.

The XBOX was modeled after the Hummer booth in style and energy consumption.
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#5
Now this is interesting. Noob myself and looking to build an XBMC and concerned about power usage. I found these which may be of interest!
http://review.zdnet.com/consoles/microso...53769.html and
http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-356-2.htm
and
http://www.dxgaming.com/2006/06/17/game-...on/?page=3

Contradictory a bit...Shocked
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#6
As an update, have been running several xbmc's 24/7 with just minor problems. Had to switch one from music to video, but other than that they have been running pretty good. Turning off the hard drives seems to have been a good tip. Thanks Op. Smile
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#7
epicstruggle Wrote:As an update, have been running several xbmc's 24/7 with just minor problems. Had to switch one from music to video, but other than that they have been running pretty good. Turning off the hard drives seems to have been a good tip. Thanks Op. Smile
How did you turn off the hard drives? And what was the effect of turning them off? I set the spindown time to 5 minutes, but did not notice any change in the temperature over
the long term. I also set the music visualization to NONE, which reduced the cpu from about 70% to 30%, but this also did not affect the long-term temperature.
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