Cutting the Cord: Part 4 – Original Xbox

Xbox Softmod

XBMC was what first drove me to get all of our DVDs onto a computer and it also drove me to softmod our Xbox following a guide on Lifehacker. When the DVD drive stopped working in our Xbox, I decided to repurpose it as a device that would play movies and TV episodes, and it does a great job at that. After we finally bought a DVD remote for five bucks, it worked really well. This setup doesn’t do everything, but it’s pretty good at playing back DVDs.

Goals:

  • Play back our media collection – Check.
  • Ability to watch and record TV – Nope.
  • Watch Netflix from any TV – Sort of, through PlayOn

Other Parts of Cutting the Cord:

Cutting the Cord: Introduction
Backend: Desktop Computer (acting as file server) and TV Tuner
Master Bedroom: Roku streaming
Living Room: HTPC and TV w/ built-in Netflix
Basement: Original Xbox with XBMC