Movie Library on Windows Media Center Extender

Question

I have a share setup on a NAS server with ripped versions of my DVDs. I pointed the Windows 7 version of the Windows Media Center Movie Library feature to the network share and it's able to find and play all my movies when running Windows Media Center from the local computer.

When I try this on my Xbox 360 extender it never discovers any of my movies. Anyone able to get this to work?

Solution 1

Maybe the XBOX 360 cant read the codec that the video file contain.

Solution 2

I have the solution posted in my blog.

Long story short, you need to set up the library from the 360:

You just need to add the folder FROM the xbox 360. You would think it would pull the settings directly from the media center PC just like it does for music and pictures library, but it does not. Anyways, just go to settings, Media Libraries and add a movie library to the share (or folder) where you have your videos.

Solution 3

As far a I know, extenders still don't support ripped dvds out the box. It could be slightly different for Win7, but here are the instruction to enable dvds on your extenders for Vista and hopefully Win7 too.

DVD Library on Extenders - How To

And since your movies are on a NAS you cannot create sybolic links. But of all the luck, the same people also have instructions on how to use a NAS or WHS.

(Not allowed to post two links. Look in the comments.)

Solution 4

Going back over this, have you thought of dumping media center and using the video library instead?

The video library is more flexible than Media Center (although not as pretty). There is also a chance you can get your NAS to run as a host on it's own - many NAS devices support DLNA out of the box - this would remove the need for having your computer, NAS and 360 all running.

If you're just ripping DVDs as VOB files, you'll probably still have issues - transcoding the videos will save you space, and fix your issues.

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Comments

[Chuck]

Can you explain the connections better? You've added media on the NAS to your library on your desktop (through media center). Then your 360 is set as a Media Center extender of your Windows machine. Is this correct? I tried doing something similar to this with music, but found that only local files would be available through the 360 in this type of setup.

[salmonmoose]

What format are the videos encoded in? WMP is more flexible than the 360.

[ctzdev]

I dont know but he could easily play them with an AVI codec.

[McAravey]

Creating Sybolic Links for Unsupported Devices: nedmug.com/Default.aspx?tabid=169

[Shawn Miller]

Yes, I'm running the Windows 7 RTM

[mtaskopru]

this answer is not technically correct. The XBOX can play DVDs just fine, so why it can't play a ripped copy on a network share has nothing to do with codecs.

[deresh]

I have a Windows 7 MCE, and I use Xbox 360's as my extenders. The solution worked, but it is worth noting that I had to do that same process from each of my Xbox's to get each of them to see the files. Thanks for the help.