2010-01-03, 07:32
I have 2 modded XBOXs with XBMC. I love this solution, it is the most flexible, IMHO. The only issue with this solution going forward is HD. The XBOX is not capable of processing HD content. So I too have been looking for a new solution. I have purchased 2 WD HD Live, one as a gift (non RJ45) and one for myself (with RJ45). I spent a lot of time trying to setup the gift WD HD Live as close to XBMC as possible. I have gotten close, but there are a few short comings.
Firstly, here is my environment. I have an XP PC with 6 drives totaling 9TB of hard drive space. I have over 1600 movies on these drives that have been ripped to VOB, main movie only, using mostly DVD Shrink. I also have over 100 TV series in avi and Mpeg format, MP3 collection and family pictures. All drives are shared out.
I place VOBs in a folder such as AMERICAN_PIE, no VIDEO_TS and I used folder.jpg in the movie folder to get thumbnails. You will see why this is important in a sec.
Using XBMC, easy peasy. 4 drives contain all movies, I add 4 network locations under the heading Movies. So now when I go into this all 1600+ movies come up with thumbnails and a press of play plays them.
Series are across 3 drives combined under heading Series. So once again pressing Series all 100+ series come up. Pressing play starts selected episode.
Now when I tried to create the same setup using WD HD Live, the first issue I have is I can not combine multiple drives into one "Movie" folder. Minor issue, but it urks me. My biggest issue is I can not press play on the AMERICAN_PIE folder to start the movie. Now if I create a VIDEO_TS folder under AMERICAN_PIE and place the VOB files in there, pressing play on the AMERICAN_PIE folder now will launch folder.jpg and display the image. I tried to rename folder.jpg to FOLDER.jpg as advised in a form, this did not help. To get to the movie, you must select AMERICAN_PIE, then press play on VIDEO_TS to launch the movie. Not a big issue to some, but after being used to XBMC, this urks me. Also, now that I am able to launch the movies properly, I have noticed that movies, that I know play properly on XBMC, sometimes stop playing for a sec, or skip scenes with WD HD Live. I am using a hard wired network connection and have tried rewinding after the skip and playing again to see if it was just a random hickup. Nope the movies consistently skip or hang in the exact same spot.
Now that I have torn the WD HD Live apart, let me be fair in saying with the few shortcomings I have mentioned, I still love this box. It is small, the menus flow well and are well thought out. WD is constantly releasing new firmware with new features and fixes (which is a breeze to update especially if you have the RJ45 version).
Firstly, here is my environment. I have an XP PC with 6 drives totaling 9TB of hard drive space. I have over 1600 movies on these drives that have been ripped to VOB, main movie only, using mostly DVD Shrink. I also have over 100 TV series in avi and Mpeg format, MP3 collection and family pictures. All drives are shared out.
I place VOBs in a folder such as AMERICAN_PIE, no VIDEO_TS and I used folder.jpg in the movie folder to get thumbnails. You will see why this is important in a sec.
Using XBMC, easy peasy. 4 drives contain all movies, I add 4 network locations under the heading Movies. So now when I go into this all 1600+ movies come up with thumbnails and a press of play plays them.
Series are across 3 drives combined under heading Series. So once again pressing Series all 100+ series come up. Pressing play starts selected episode.
Now when I tried to create the same setup using WD HD Live, the first issue I have is I can not combine multiple drives into one "Movie" folder. Minor issue, but it urks me. My biggest issue is I can not press play on the AMERICAN_PIE folder to start the movie. Now if I create a VIDEO_TS folder under AMERICAN_PIE and place the VOB files in there, pressing play on the AMERICAN_PIE folder now will launch folder.jpg and display the image. I tried to rename folder.jpg to FOLDER.jpg as advised in a form, this did not help. To get to the movie, you must select AMERICAN_PIE, then press play on VIDEO_TS to launch the movie. Not a big issue to some, but after being used to XBMC, this urks me. Also, now that I am able to launch the movies properly, I have noticed that movies, that I know play properly on XBMC, sometimes stop playing for a sec, or skip scenes with WD HD Live. I am using a hard wired network connection and have tried rewinding after the skip and playing again to see if it was just a random hickup. Nope the movies consistently skip or hang in the exact same spot.
Now that I have torn the WD HD Live apart, let me be fair in saying with the few shortcomings I have mentioned, I still love this box. It is small, the menus flow well and are well thought out. WD is constantly releasing new firmware with new features and fixes (which is a breeze to update especially if you have the RJ45 version).