Cancel Your Cable/Satellite Television Today - Part 2

This is part 2 of a 2 part series on how to ditch your cable or satellite subscription and download your television shows for free. I can't wait for IPTV to arrive at least what some would describe what IPTV is too be. Television strait to your TV via an internet connection. I know some of you have an Apple TV and this is a great little devise to do just that. But, some of us out there are looking for something different, or free.

So we have our server setup and it is auto-downloading our television shows and podcasts. Now we need a good set-top box for streaming our media to. This is a tough call since there are some good options out there. The easy decision goes to the cheapest for me. This also happens to be the strongest for me. One problem... Microsoft doesn't want you to do this. I am talking about modding your old Xbox.

Now, if you happen to have an old xbox sitting around then you are half the way there. If not, check your local craigslist, garage sales or ebay. You should have no problem getting a hold of one for under $80.

I would recommend getting an Xbox DVD remote as well. This will make it easier to control and more like a set-top box.

The next thing is to get a mod chip. I recommend the Xecuter 2 chip. It has great support and works very well. The price is a little more, at $45, then some other chips out there but, you will appreciate the quality when flashing the chip set.

A few things you need to know about modding an xbox. The process is interesting and I have to be vague for legal reasons but, the information is easy to find with a little searching.
1. Installing the chip and larger HDD, (I have an 80gb and this is plenty considering most of the media will be on the server)
2. Flashing the chip with the Xecuter bios, (This is grey area that MS doesn't want you to have so, you will have to read up on the Xecuter forums for location and instructions)
3. Installing a new OS on your Xbox, (I recommend using Auto-Installer Deluxe and installing XBMC OS)

This is a somewhat breezing past the installing of the Xbox but, there are links to help you below.

Team-Xecuter
Auto-Installer Deluxe
Xbox-scene
XBMC - XBox Media Center

Once you have installed and setup your set-top box, we need to link it to the server. This is a simple process.
1. Under the settings menu, go to the network icon and then on the left side go to the --- tab. Change the network to match the one your server is on. We reference calling it "HomeNet" in the previous article. Also, while in here, make sure the xbox is automatically receiving a network address. (This will require a restart)
2. Once we are up an running on the proper network, we will connect to the server. From the main menu, select "Videos", then click "add source". A menu will pop-up and you will need to click "Browse". Connect to network, you should be able to fin your server from here. If you like you can make the new link you added as the default for the "Videos" button. This is done by hitting the "info" button while on the network link.

Finally, test out that your network is strong enough to stream the videos over. I recommend at least 100mb network for standard definition content and 1gb network for HD content. Enjoy the free content that is out there and say goodbye to that cable or satellite bill.

Cancel Your Cable/Satellite Television Today - Part 1

This is part 1 of a 2 part series on how to ditch your cable or satellite subscription and download your television shows for free. I can't wait for IPTV to arrive at least what some would describe what IPTV is too be. Television strait to your TV via an internet connection. I know some of you have an Apple TV and this is a great little devise to do just that. But, some of us out there are looking for something different, or free.

I came up with a two-machine setup. Basically, I have a server that is auto-downloading my TV show and podcast for me. This computer also stores all my other media such as music and ripped movies.

My server PC is a relativity simple setup. I do have a windows system but, you can easily do this with a Linux OS as well. I have installed 2 500gb drives and striped them together using RAID 0. Get a couple of cheap HDD's here:

PriceWatch - 500gb SATA

The reasoning for this is A: it's faster as far as access time and B: it will appear as one large drive. This is done through the Administrative tools in the control panel.

So once we have our formatted drive we need to share it on our network. This is assuming you already have a home network setup. Let's call our home network "HomeNet". This can be done through "System" under the control panel. So make a directory or the entire drive shared as "Media" or a name of your choice. My directory is setup by media types i.e. Videos and Music. Then each show has it's own directory under videos.

Next we need to get the media downloading. First thing we need is software. Because my server is Win XP based, I use uTorrent for most of my downloads and Ted for easy scheduling of torrent downloads. The links to each of these wares is below.

uTorrent

Ted

You can also use uTorrent's RSS downloader to auto download. Instructions can be found through EZTV's website. This is so you can add torrent RSS feeds from podcasts and other internet television sites.

Now we need a set-top box to stream the media to. Stay tuned for part two of this series.

Why Tivo when there is MythTV?

You could spend $300 on a Tivo and $13 a month subscription fees, or turn your old PC into a HD-DVR for a lot less.
Turning my old PC into a new HD-DVR we need to establish what I want.

1. High Definition
2. Dual tuners (so I can record and watch TV at the same time)
3. Plenty of storage
   

I have most of the items below, but have added links and prices so you can start from scratch.
Barebones P4 3.4ghz w/ case - $145.97
1GB DDR2 RAM - $19.98
GeForce 6200 PCI-E - $19.99
Internal 16x DVD-R - $17.99
pcHDTV hd-5500 (x2) - $129.00 (each)
250GB SATA HDD - $49.99
Total Cost = $511.92
My actual cost with existing parts is $277.98

Now that we have our PC and parts we need to install an OS. Mythdora is my recommendation. It's an OS and DVR package that is totally free and it is very simple to install.
Download the Mythdora ISO(s) here.
This may take a while, so now is a good time to put together our computer. Also, note that we will need a monitor for the install of the software.

After you download the ISO file you will need to burn a DVD using a program like Nero Burning ROM or Roxio Easy CD creator. Once you have the DVD burned and you new PC built it is time to install Mythdora. Fire up your new PC and put the DVD in the drive. This should begin the installation process. Follow along with the videos below.


Part 2

Part 3


Or if you would rather read a detailed instruction click here

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