How to set up an Xbox 360 as Media Center Extender
January 31st, 2008Windows Media Center is great, but its usefulness can be limited if it can’t be viewed on a large screen, like a TV. Luckily, it is not only possible, but really easy to extend the Windows Media Center experience to a TV. That’s where Media Center Extenders come in. Aren’t those guys at Microsoft creative?
There are standalone extenders, and there are extenders built into TVs, but I’m going to use the Media Center Extender functionality that is built into built into my Xbox 360.
There are a few ways to initiate the setup, but the easiest way it to start Media Center on the computer which you want to extend, and then turn on the Xbox. Again, this is more of a demo than a tutorial, since the setup process borders on stupid simple.
The next step is to go to the "Media" blade in the Xbox dashboard and select "Media Center".
Then you see this message. And like it says, select "Windows Media Center" by pressing A on the controller or OK on a Media Center Remote. 
Next, write down this pass key and select continue. 
When you see this screen go over to your Media Center computer. 
Since you already opened Media Center, on the Media Center computer, you will see a message like this. Select yes. 
Select Next. 
Enter the setup key. 
Select Next. 
Select Next. 
Select Yes, unless you only want to allow the extender to be used for TV and online media, in which case select no. 
Select Next. 
If you have User Account Control enabled, which you should, select OK on the UAC window that pops up. Then wait for a moment as the settings are applied. At this point you can go sit in front of the TV. 
After a loading screen, of which I didn’t get a picture, Media Center will appear on the TV just as it does on the computer, introduction animation and all. 
I’m not going to go into the features now, as 95% of the features available on the computer’s Media Center are available through the extender. The transitions are the same and everything.
Next is tuning the network. Tuning the network gives you an idea of how fast the connection between the computer and extender is. If you go back to your computer you will notice this. Select Yes and click Next. Alternatively you can access the network tuner from the Xbox by going down to "Settings" and selecting "Tune Network". 
Wait a few seconds as it tests the performance of the network. 
It will give you a simplified explanation of what the network can handle. Click Next. 
Next it will let your visualize the network performance by either a bar or graph view. The graph view shows you more information. Select "Graph View" and select next. 
For the graph view, information flows in from the right, like the CPU monitor in the Task Manager. Here you can get a good idea of what your network can handle. When you’re done with that click Next. 
Now you get some options. Select Exit. 
Select Next. 
Select Finish to be brought back to the Media Center start menu. 
You’re done!
In case you were curious, here’s what the bar view looks like: 
And if you ever want to change the extender connection settings, you can find all of the associated Media Center Extenders by going to Settings under Tasks in Media Center, and then selecting Extenders. You’ll see something like this: 
Even though the tuning wizard says that the network won’t be able to handle HDTV, I have tried high-definition WMV files at 1080p, and they worked just fine. I assume this is because the HDTV streams are completely or nearly uncompressed, while WMV files are compact by comparison.
Something else notable is that the Xbox does not have DivX support through the Media Center Extender, so if you want to play any DivX movies, you’ll have to do it though the video option in the media blade.
You can have up to 5 extenders hooked up to one computer, and they all operate independently, so multiple people can use each one at the same time.
Finally, if you want to get back to Media Center on your Xbox, you can either go to the Media blade on the dashboard and select Media Center, or you can press the Media Center button on a Media Center remote.
Have fun!
DIY Wired Network
January 26th, 2008My Xbox had a wireless connection to the home network through a wireless network bridge for a while, but somehow the connection was just lacking, especially when I used the thing as an extender for Windows Media Center. I needed to get a direct connection between my Xbox in the basement and the home router in the family room, but I wasn’t about to pay someone to install cables in the wall for me. The family room is right above the TV room in the basement, so I figured it would be pretty easy to rig something up. First I thought I could just follow the TV cables around, because I when I unscrewed a receptacle in my room, it looked like empty space in the wall. 
It must have been the only one in the house like that. An unused cable in the basement was pretty tightly-packed. 
There was also a receptacle in the family room that had three cables in it, likely for some old cable system. There was just no working with it. The two black cables seemed to go up, while the only cable going down was white. 
Enter a new idea! We have speakers in the family room that are fed from a stereo in the basement. Their cables go through holes where the wall and floor meet (hidden by the baseboards), into the ceiling of the basement, and on top of the ceiling tiles of the basement to the stereo.
I knew what to do. 
Yeah, well my mom drilled the hole, but I could have done it myself! 
So then I fed the cable through the hole . . . 
. . . and then removed some ceiling tiles in the basement and fearlessly dug around for it blindly in the insulation in the top of the basement wall. 
Remember the unused black cable I was talking about? It was at this point that my dad and I discovered that we could find it at the top of the ceiling. The plan was to attach a string to the end of the black cable where it comes out the wall, pull it out from the top of the ceiling, and then attach the Ethernet cable to the string at the top of the wall and pull the string out from the wall until the Ethernet cable popped through. Great plan, except that the string came undone halfway through. After a good 30 minutes of fussing around, trying to make the cable go through the insulation (make the sharp turns that the old cable took down to the hole) we decided on another solution.
I routed the cable along the top of the wall, which would be out of sight when the ceiling tiles were put back into place. 
I brought it down right above the TV. 
It wasn’t the best solution, but it worked! I hooked the cable up to an old 4-port network hub, and brought one cable to the Xbox, and another one to my dad’s computer, so that he could use a wired connection instead of wireless. 
Even though my desktop computer’s connection to the network is still wireless, since I made the one segment of the data trail for Media Center wired, the performance of the Xbox as an extender for Windows Media Center has increased noticeably.
This is me excited. 
Setting up a TV Tuner card in Windows Media Center
January 25th, 2008Tivo? Don’t make my laugh! If you have a Windows Vista computer, chances are that you can get a more premium experience, with even more features, for less money. Windows Media Center comes with Windows Vista Home Premium, and of course Ultimate, so if you are looking for a little more out of your system, it could cost as little as $60. I bought the Hauppauge Win-TV PVR 150, $75 with shipping off NewEgg.
The setup process was so easy, that this post is more a demo than a tutorial. "The next step" is always obvious.
The first thing I did was install the card in my computer. That was just like installing any other PCI card. Then, of course, I hooked the card up to a standard co-axial cable so that it could have a signal to work with.
Next, I turned on my computer and saw this: 
Then I clicked on it just to see what was going on. 
Then Windows asked me to restart. Even though I doubt I really needed to, I did anyway. 
Next I opened Windows Media Center. 
Then I scrolled over to "set up tv". 
I’m going to describe the proceeding steps, but honestly the next step is always apparent.
I clicked next. 
I selected yes. 
I selected next. 
I waited for a few seconds. 
I selected automatically. 
I selected next. 
I waited for a few seconds. 
I selected yes. 
I selected next. 
I selected next. 
I selected yes. 
I selected next. 
I selected I agree. 
I selected next. 
I entered my ZIP code. 
I selected next. (note: I edited my ZIP code out.)
I waited for a few seconds. 
I chose the right provider. (Note: I edited the first part of the names out.)
I selected next.
I waited for a few seconds. 
I clicked next. 
I scrolled over to "live tv". 
I selected "live tv". 
I channel surfed! 
I’d say the whole process took under 30 minutes, though I can’t be sure because I didn’t do it all at the same time. Features I can now use include pausing live TV, rewinding live TV, easily skipping past commercials, using the guide, schedule recording single episodes or whole seasons, watching TV recordings that are currently recording, burning recordings to DVD, copying the recording files directly to my laptop, and syncing recordings with my Zune. Best of all, like always I can bring this whole experience down to my TV through my Xbox. All of that is on top of the Media Center functionality that I could already use!
w00t!
Internet on the road for "free" with a Razr
January 24th, 2008On long car rides (where I am not driving myself!) it’s really nice to take out my laptop and check my email, IM with friends, read some blogs, web comics, etc. I can do that, but I didn’t buy one of those expensive cards that require a $60 per month service. Using hacktherazr.com (which is down at the time of this blog post), I deciphered how to use my Motorola Razr V3m and my Verizon service to get “free” internet on the road. This is “free” (with quotes), because it can be free if I use it wisely. In truth connecting to the Internet through this “back door” costs minutes, just like a regular phone call, but that means that nights and weekends are free. Also, if I have a lot of minutes to spare, which I usually do, it is irrelevant how many minutes I burn as long as I never go over.
The speeds aren’t blazing fast or anything, but it’s just fine for the things I mentioned, especially when the alternative is boredom. I did a speed test on speedtest.net, and came up with these results:
I broke this post up into chunks to organize it and separate the different parts. For example, I know that the first step only works on Razr v3m’s, but if you have a different phone from Verizon you could probably figure out how to do that step elsewhere, and then come back here and continue to the next step, which is likely the same on most Verizon phones.
F.Y.I. I have found that while connected I can receive calls and answer them no problem, but curiously I can not initiate a call.
Enable Dial-up Networking
First, you need to enable the dial up networking service on the phone, which is locked off by Verizon when you get the phone. You can do this by following my tutorial on how to unlock the Razr V3m.
Disable EVDO
Next, you must disable EVDO and enable CDMA. This doesn’t work if the phone is connected to the cell towers with EVDO. You can do this by following my tutorial on how to disable EVDO.
Now that the phone is unlocked and EVDO is disabled, I assume the instructions should be just about the same for a lot of Verizon phones.
Connect the phone to the computer
Now you need to get the phone connected to the computer. I will use Bluetooth in this example, though using a USB cable works just fine.
The first step is go get the phone connected to the computer via Bluetooth. I need to qualify these instructions, though, and say that I am using a weird Bluetooth dongle that has it’s own separate system apart from how it is supposed to be implemented in Vista. That said, the instructions will probably be similar. If my instructions for Bluetooth are no help, try Microsoft’s.
First set the phone as discoverable. On the Razr you can press the down button from the home screen, which brings up a Bluetooth menu. Then go down to Setup, make sure the “Power” is set to “On”, and select “Find Me”.
On the computer side, find the phone through the Bluetooth software and connect to it.
You will probably have to enter a security key, which you can make up yourself. If you aren’t feeling creative and aren’t in a public place, you can use “0000″. You will have to accept the connection on the phone by typing in the security key. Once that’s set up
 
Now that the computer and phone are aquatinted, connect the computer to the phone’s dial-up service.
OK, that’s how it for the Bluetooth. If you want to get to this point with USB, you should be able to find this dial-up dialog by going to the Network and Sharing Center, clicking on “Manage network connections”, and double-clicking on something that looks like it might be the phone.
The rest of the instructions apply even if you connect the phone to the computer through USB.
Put in the right information and change some settings
Now that the dial-up dialog box is open, you need to put in some information and change some settings. The username is your cell phone number @vzw3g.com. So, if your number is (123) 456-7890 then your username would be 1234567890@vzw3g.com. (I have blocked out the phone number part of my username.) The password is “vzw”, and the number to call is #777. Type those three things in, check “save this username and password for the following users”, and click “properties. If you want, select “Anyone who uses this computer”.Â
A new window will open. Click on the “Security” tab.Â
In the “Security” tab, click “Settings”.Â
A new window will open.Â
Uncheck “Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) and “Microsoft CHAP Version 2 (MS-CHAP v2)”. Make sure that “Unencrypted password (PAP)” remains checked.Â
Click on the “Options” tab.
Here’s what the Options tab should look like:
Uncheck everything except for “Display progress while connecting” and click “OK”.
Click “dial” and wait for it to connect.
Now you have internet access. A window will open asking what kind of network connection this is. It shouldn’t matter what you select, but choose Public Location just to be safe.
Close the window.
Make it a little nicer
Now that everything is up and running, the next step is to rename the modem so something nicer, like “Razr Net Access”.
First, click on the network icon in the system tray, and then click on “Network and Sharing Center”
Now that the Network and Sharing Center is open, click “Manage Network Connections”.
A new window will open. Find the network connection that seems like the Razr’s connection, and rename it to whatever you want. You rename it just like you would a file. I tend to do two single-clicks, which has the same effect as right-clicking on it and clicking “Rename”.
Connecting in the future
Chances are that you’ll want to connect to the internet again later. To do that, obviously have your phone connected to the computer. If you’re using Bluetooth, just make sure that the phone is on and somewhere near you. After that, just go to the same place you go to connect to wireless networks. (Click on the network icon in the system tray, and then click “Connect or Disconnect”) You should see this:
Double-click on the “Razr Net Access” item, and you’ll see this
That’s it! To disconnect just go back to that “Connect to a network” window and double-click on the “Razr Net Access” item. For the sake of documentation, the disconnecting screen looks like this:
Like I said, now that everything is all set up, connecting and disconnecting is the same process as connecting or disconnecting to a wireless network. Neat, huh?
Remember:Â Nights and weekends are 100% free. Happy surfing!
Disabling EVDO on a Motorola Razr V3m from Verizon
January 19th, 2008If you don’t know what EVDO or CDMA are, my basic understanding is that they are wireless protocols used to transfer data between cell towers and cell phones. EVDO is the higher-speed, but higher power-consuming option. There are two reasons someone would want to disable EVDO: to save a little battery life, and as one of the steps to getting effectively free Internet on a laptop through their phone.
You know to which infrastructure your phone is connected by a symbol at the top of the screen. "EV" means EVDO, while "1X" means CDMA. (I think the 1 also implies the version of CDMA, but that’s over my head.) By default the phone connects to EVDO if it is available, otherwise it will connect to CDMA. The goal of this tutorial is to make the phone prefer CDMA over EVDO. Doing so shouldn’t have any effect on the performance of calls, though downloads through Get it Now would probably be slower.
So let’s get to it!
First, you need to put your phone in debug mode. This is done by typing "##DEBUG" ("##33284") into the phone as if you were making a call. You have to be quick about it. You know that it worked if the final digit, 4, isn’t displayed. Upon typing "##DEBUG", the phone should look like this: 
Now you can get in to the FTS menu. I don’t know what "FTS" stands for, but it allows you to change some settings in the phone that aren’t usually accessible.
To get into the FTS menu, now that you are in debug mode, press "CLR" and then the left soft button. Pressing that combination at any time will get you in and out of the FTS menu. Note that you do not hold "CRL" while pressing the left soft button.
Now press the right soft button ("NEXT") until you arrive at the screen that lists "HDR Pref" on it. 
Now press the down button until "HDR Pref" is selected. Notice that "PREV" and "NEXT" have changed to "EXIT" and "CHANGE". 
Press the right soft button ("CHANGE") until "HDR Pref" is set to "cdma". 
Press the left soft button ("EXIT"). The phone will be unresponsive for about 15 seconds. Eventually the screen will show the FTS screen briefly, display another screen, and then then settle on a final screen. I can only assume this is the phone restarting. 
Now you just have to get out of the FTS menu and disable debug mode.
To get out of the FTS menu, press "CLR" and then the left soft button. Now that you’re back at the home screen, notice that the "EV" symbol at the top of the screen changed to "1X".
The way you get out of debug mode is the same way you got in. Just type ##DEBUG from the home screen. Make sure that debug mode is disabled by pressing "CLR" and then the left soft button. If you don’t see the FTS screen, you’ve done it right.
You’re done.
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