Even though I am a Mac fan and love me my video podcasts, I have been hesitant to want an AppleTV. Why should I? I have a Windows XP Media Center as my primary DVR serving up recorded shows to my Xbox 360 connected to the living room TV. Besides for the noise the 360 generates, it works great. Even the wife loves it. I can stream WMV and mpeg-2 files with ease. It only makes sense that I should be able to watch podcasts on my TV.
Most - I won’t say all - video podcasts are in one of the following formats: Quicktime, mpeg-4, or h.264. This means up till this point, I couldn’t stream them from the XP MCE to the 360. That is, until Microsoft released support for mpeg-4 and h.264 with their 360 Dashboard update that just hit.
Last night, I upgraded the Dashboard - thanks Microsoft for asking rather then just forcing it. I opened up iTunes on the MCE and subscribed to four video podcasts. I set iTunes to download them to one of the shared directories so the 360 would see them. At this point, I’m almost giddy with excitement. I just saved $300 on an AppleTV.
And boy was I disappointed…not a single one of them would play. They all said invalid file format or unsupported codec when I tried to play through the MCE Extender software or didn’t even show up when I tried to play them through the Dashboard software.
I didn’t expect any quicktime encoded videos to work, so I looked for podcasts that were in mpeg-4 format. The only way I could tell was by file extension, which probably isn’t the best way. The point isn’t whether or not I can find podcasts that will work. The point is that I want to be able to watch the podcasts I want to watch. Maybe I will have to get an AppleTV after all.
UPDATE: Microsoft posted a handy FAQ on the new video features available from the update. First, the new video formats are not supported through Windows Media Center Extender which explains why that didn’t work. Second, the new video formats are not supported via Windows Media Connect, which would explain why trying to play the software through the Dashboard didn’t work. You have to either use a removable media or optical media (i.e. CD or DVD) since Windows Media Player 11 won’t stream either mpeg-4 or h.264 to the 360 from another computer. So while I can now watch the content on my 360, I have to use a thumb drive or disk to transfer it. Arg!
5 responses so far ↓
1 zebwinz // May 13, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I am watching video podcasts with the new dashboard update with no problem! In Windows Media Player 11, go to the sharing menu and allow sharing with the 360. Next, tell the library to watch the podcast folder for changes. (ex. music/itunes/itunesmusic/podcasts)
On the 360, set up the windows media connect. Go to the video blade, then computer, select your pc, and you should see the folder with your podcasts there. I have watched diggnation, geekbrief, and the 1upshow with absolutely no problem.
2 Josh Kenzer // May 14, 2007 at 6:24 am
I will give that a shot. Thanks.
3 Ray // Oct 13, 2007 at 2:56 pm
How is this working for you? I am able to download podcasts with “juice” and the 360 sees the wmv casts fine (after a scheduled “server” reboot), but the m4v and mov podcasts just don’t show up at all in the dashboard menu. p.s. I don’t run MCE anymore and haven’t for some time now.
4 Josh Kenzer // Oct 15, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Ray,
I stopped trying. I couldn’t get any mp4 or mov’s to play through the dashboard or MCE. I’m sure there are some reasons for this, but I gave up trying to figure them out.
5 admin_papa // Aug 30, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Good Day
Just wanted to share my new experience.
If your Windows XP denies to run due to an error corresponding to missing HAL.DLL, invalid Boot.ini or any other important system boot files you can repair this by using the XP installation CD. Just boot from your XP Setup CD and enter the Recovery Console. Then run “attrib -H -R -S” on the C:\Boot.ini file and delete it. Launch “Bootcfg /Rebuild” and then Fixboot
Regards,
Carl
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