Anyone for hacking Hauppauge MediaMVP?

[wen-king]

We heard a lot about XBox hacking, but what about the MediaMVP for
people who do not care about playing games or DVDs (I don't mind go
sticking a DVD into a computer if I can get MediaMVP to stream from it
remotely), or having an internal hard drive to store files. It seems
this device is less expensive than an XBox, and is easier to hack. It
runs a power pc version of Linux that is booted over the network. From
the little I have gathered, some people already have created server
that runs on non-Windows platform, have compiled their own mediaMVP OS,
and have made the MediaMVP play PES mpeg from DVB sources (this is in
UK, I believe). Wouldn't be too hard to make it stream from Replay
directly, I would guess. Has anybody been into this?

[MIS-Man]

According to this from Hauppage's site (the spelling error is theirs too):

Plays MEPG-1 and MPEG-2 recordings made with the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR's. Will also play most other MPEG-1/2 standard video files. With MediaMVP’s remote control, you can pause, rewind and fast forward through your recorded videos.


I am sure that a relatively knowledgable person could figure out how to either masquerade a Replay as a Hauppauge PVR unit, or something similar. Knowing it has the features natively makes it all the easier.

Also, you can find these for less than $80 so it would be a decent solution.

[Slack]

betaing a dead horse...

I can get a new XBOX down the street at a GameStop for 119 bucks. TSOP flash it using a rented copy of 007. AV cable & remote kit = 50 bucks. So 170 bucks + a day of time to flash. For this option.

Or, I can get a pre-modded DreamX-733 lite for 200 bucks from friendtech.com (which is ready to go, includes AV cable, just need to install XBMC, and buy a remote kit) So 230 bucks total for this option.

I'm leaning towards the second option as I don't really wanna fiddle with another mod chip install.

My point being. In this case, you get what you pay for. XBMC is a smart, stable, great looking GUI for a great number of home theater activites. Well worth the price premium over the MediaMVP & the time you'll invest in locating or creating a hack to make it your 'thin client'

[Clay Schneider]

except for the fact that the media mvp is about the size of two packs of smokes and sits quite nice on top of my tv...

[wg21]

Originally posted by Clay Schneider
except for the fact that the media mvp is about the size of two packs of smokes and sits quite nice on top of my tv...

I used to worry about losing the rtv guides, but since than I went the combo route.

I still use my rtv's but rarely for streaming, instead the rtv's are used strictly as a source for encoding, scheduling and watching contents.

The pc with beyondtv on it also performs the same function.

I maintain a seperate 24/7 server with lots of harddisk space on external firewire drives.

This pc has the following servers running on it.

tomcat application server
Feeds http streams to vlc, so I can view them on my powerbook g4.

d5 digital media server - feeds streams to my three gate connected dvd players.

d-link media server - feeds streams to my d-link media player.

dvarchive - for achiving from the replaytv's.

Now I admit a lot of this is just because I am a developer and like to play with cutting edge tech, and streaming media is simply my latest interest. I really don't get that much time to watch a lot of it. Ironic.

But

I find it also useful for archiving media such as homemovies and photos, its really nice to have those available from a menu on the tv whenever I want it.

Point of all this, if anyone of the encoding points is unavailble I still have 90% of the functionality. If Dnna stoped providing the guide for instance.

[wen-king]

I have located a forum where people into this MediaMVP hacking stuff have gathered.
Someone even have written a Java based server. Now, the prospect of wedding it
to DVArchive seems very interesting. :-)

http://www.shspvr.com

[waynethedvrguy]

Originally posted by wg21
Point of all this, if anyone of the encoding points is unavailble I still have 90% of the functionality. If Dnna stoped providing the guide for instance.

wg21:

You should look into kjac's WiRNS as a RTV guide solution.

Regards,

Wayne

[dvasco]

I am also interested in using a hacked MediaMVP for watching my ReplayTV. I would rather save the $100. Middle income people or lower with families do not have a lot of extra money. I have spent all of mine already. That is why the wife has to work now. LOL. I can get the MediaMVP for less that $90 TOTAL at Buy.com or NewEgg.com. All the other options are more expensive. BeyondTV means building another computer. Yeah give me a worthy computer for $80. The Xbox is (170 + 007 rental) x 8.5% = $189. Thank you wen-king for looking into this.

[krkaufman]

Hacking of the Hauppauge MediaMVP is growing, and has even sprung a ReplayTV integration branch.

See here...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=458363

[rkramer]

i've used my mvmpc for about 2 months now, it works great!!! sometimes it is a little picky about detecting the dva server, but it picks the replay up every time. streaming works great, absolutely no complains. (CA isn't implemented yet though...)

setting it up is fairly easy, the mvmpc doesn't have any onboard firmware, so you don't have to risk flashing it. it picks up a dhcp address, along with some extra info about where to pick up the firmware, from your dhcp server, and then goes out and downloads the firmware whenever it is powered up.

anyway, if you want a thin replay client, this will cost you less then half of ready to go xbox, and works great!

[replayrob]

I've had mine up and running for almost a month now. It has been 100% perfect! Not a single reboot. I've even changed out my router since the MVP was last booted..... and it still works perfectly. I'm thrilled with it's performance. Couldn't ask for a more stable client.

[Scyber]

Any particular reason a 9 month old thread was ressurected to tell us about a 1 month old thread?

[BaysideBas]

That's a direct result of pushing visitors to search the forum before posting. ;)

[krkaufman]

Originally posted by Scyber
Any particular reason a 9 month old thread was ressurected to tell us about a 1 month old thread?
Yes.

Because those who'd participated in and perhaps subscribed to this original thread may not have been aware of the work being done.

Now then, let's go back and forth for the next week and a half, keeping this thread kicked to the top, rather than letting it drift slowly back down.

[AndrewF]

Originally posted by Slack
betaing a dead horse...

I can get a new XBOX down the street at a GameStop for 119 bucks. TSOP flash it using a rented copy of 007. AV cable & remote kit = 50 bucks. So 170 bucks + a day of time to flash. For this option.

Or, I can get a pre-modded DreamX-733 lite for 200 bucks from friendtech.com (which is ready to go, includes AV cable, just need to install XBMC, and buy a remote kit) So 230 bucks total for this option.

I'm leaning towards the second option as I don't really wanna fiddle with another mod chip install.

My point being. In this case, you get what you pay for. XBMC is a smart, stable, great looking GUI for a great number of home theater activites. Well worth the price premium over the MediaMVP & the time you'll invest in locating or creating a hack to make it your 'thin client'

That might have been true when you posted it, but now the refurbished units at local stores are 1.6b's (1.6 and 1.6b are not flashable). Even though I love the TSOP flash, if it aint my xbox I'm not going to bother hunting down a 1.0-1.5 refurb (so $45 for modchip instead). Tsop flash is a beautiful thing, on 1.4 and 1.5 xboxes there is no need to remove the motherboard, only 2 solder bridges (no wires) needed on top.

Just FYI. Don't feel bad if you have to buy a modchip nowadays.

[krkaufman]

Originally posted by AndrewF
Don't feel bad if you have to buy a modchip nowadays. Can I feel bad for not yet modding my XBOX to XBMC? I made an attempt at the software mod ages ago but never got beyond booting UNIX, and haven't made the time to get back to it.

Are there any start-to-finish tutorials available nowadays, or is it still akin to a scavenger hunt?

[AndrewF]

Sounds like you have a 1.0 to 1.5 xbox. Best way is to TSOP flash, particularly because there is an all-in-one guide (http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/~xbox/xbox-scene/tutorials/Flashing_TSOP_With_ANY_Version_XBOX_By_SLuSHIE.rar). You'll need to learn how to get xbox files from xbins (http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/xbins.php) ftp server. You'll have to load files onto an xbox memory card (easy if you have a friend with a hacked xbox), or get an adapter to a usb key (there is a usb key compatibility list somewhere). There are people on the net that will load your memory card for free if you pay shipping to/from them. You'll need an original 007 Agent Under Fire or MechAssault (non-platinum version of either). I got mine used for $7.

There are all-in-one CD iso's on xbins that allow you to load the hard drive automatically once the bios is flashed. Don't forget to use CD-RW (unless your DVD drive tray has 3 holes in it, that one can read CD-R's).

Alternatively you can buy a modchip, there are different guides depending on your xbox version at http://www.xbox-scene.com (even a step-by-step guide to figure out which version you have). Don't forget, you won't be able to play xbox-live with a hacked bios (you can set up a virtual private network to play against your friends as if they were on your LAN though).

Coolest thing about xbox media center is that you can watch a show while browsing your replay guide.

Good luck!