Hacking the XBox 360’s HD-DVD for the PC
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UPDATE: Did you know we are giving an HD-DVD drive away?
Double Double toil and trouble, well more accurately it’s Torx 5 Torx 7 toil and lots trouble. Enticed by the $199 price, we set ourselves on a mission to find out if the Microsoft’s XBox 360 HD-DVD player could work on a normal PC. Now, this can’t be an easy task, can it?
Knowing there was already software available for Windows XP to play HD-DVD’s, could simply plugging the HD-DVD drive into a PC work? Well, no Windows needs drivers.
If Windows wants drivers, drivers it will get. After installing these drivers magic started to happen. The HD-DVD drive was now recognized in Windows XP. Now we needed a piece of software to actually play the HD-DVD. And after some hard work we managed to find a version of WinDVD 8 that was able to play an HD-DVD movie even on my low end hardware (Granted with some stuttering).
Not satisfied with that result and being a geeks that we are, we decided to crack open the external HD-DVD drive to find out the manufacturer, and model of the drive Microsoft was using (It’s a Toshiba HD-DVD OEM drive – by the way, pictures of the compete take apart are after the jump).
When we easily dissembled the beast, where we were encountered by the strangest plug on the back of the Toshiba OEM drive we have ever seen. Obviously, we can’t connect the HD-DVD drive directly into a tower computer, and must work with the USB case that Microsoft provided, so long as it works does it matter?
Then for a laugh, we decided to plug the drive into a Mac to see what would happen.
Interestingly, the MacOS automatically recognized the drive when we plugged it in, and when a DVD disc was inserted the “DVD Player” application included in the OS started doing its thing. Experimenting further and just for kicks, we decided to insert the HD-DVD. Again, as expected the HD-DVD wouldn’t play due to the fact that there is no player for the MacOS that supports that format.
Seems like Microsoft has unwilling created a cheap HD-DVD drive, for any Windows user.
UPDATE: Thanks also go Blippy for letting us post pictures of the Batman Begins HD-DVD, to prove the application works! (Click on the image for a larger version)
Again, after the jump are pictures of the XBox 360’s HD-DVD drive being town apart
Want to share my experience – the drive works beautifully on my XP box and plays HD DVDs.
What I did was:
1) Purchased PowerDVD 7.2 deluxe
2) Purchased Xbox 360 HD DVD drive
3) Downloaded drivers for XP (the device is recognized as Toshiba DVD drive)
5) Put King Kong HD DVD in the drive (come with the drive)
That’s it. It started to play. the picture quality is outstanding even compared to HD cable.
It plays through my Sharp Z2000 and My CRT monitor without any problems.
Heed to have a fairly fast PC – mine is AMD 64 X2 3800+, 1 GB, 7600 GT video. It used about 80% of the CPU while playing, so any slower PC would produce a jerky picture.
Best of luck to you all. HD DVD rules!
PS. Step 6. Switched my Netflix to HD DVDs!!!
Wired mag (feb 07, pg 60) says that the HD DVD drive can be “hacked” to work directly with a TV. Is this true? I have a Samsung HD CRT which has a USB plug in back, and an Optoma HR-77 projector which HDMI and component inputs. Is there a way to use it with these WITHOUT a PC in the middle?
Nick,
Got a few questions for you.
Thanks for sharing!
PDVD Deluxe has funny comparison stats on the Cyberlink website when comparing versions of PDVD. It states they play a number of HD content types, but not HD DVD’s. Interesting you got deluxe to work. Have you any way of knowing if the disks you played are H.264, MPEG 2, MPEG 4 or even VC-1? I have know idea how you’d learn that. Just currious what Deluxe can’t play and why Cyberlink is saying it won’t play HD-DVD when it lists formats that are clearly used to encode HDDVD.
Also, could you please let us know:
1. Your graphics card
2. The type connection you used from your card to the Z2000 (HDMI, DVI, VGA, etc.)
3. The type of connection made to your CRT.
4. To your knowledge, is your graphics card, Z2000 and CRT (doubtful) HDCP compliant?
Thanks!!
He already told you his graphics cant you read?
“Heed to have a fairly fast PC – mine is AMD 64 X2 3800+, 1 GB, *******7600 GT video*****. It used about 80% of the CPU while playing, so any slower PC would produce a jerky picture.”
That is a pretty slow card so if it can run HD dvd and yours is a 7900 you should be fine.
Also only digital connection is HDCP enabled analouge such as component/VGA arnt but for some reason it will still allow playback which is good.
CRT connection is almosrt always VGA somtimes DVI.
You need to research encoding, the type of encoding is on the disk if you explore it and i think powerDVD playes all of them including BD.
Im using powerdvd 7.1 Hd dvd and i can almost playback dvd’s but i need a new monitor which im hopefuly gettin in the next few days.
Ok no need for new monitor just get this software anydvd hd (edition)
http://sandbox.slysoft.com/beta/SetupAnyDVDhd6121.exe
http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=1375
follow this; or what bits you need to
1) Purchase PowerDVD 7.2 deluxe
2) Purchase Xbox 360 HD DVD drive
3) Downloaded drivers for XP (the device is recognized as Toshiba DVD drive) use windows update. install anydvd and run it keep it open. then open cyberlink!
4) Put King Kong HD DVD in the drive (come with the drive)
Should start playing with HDCP hardware!!! saves me alot of money.
enjoy¬!
I did some testing with Superman returns and only powerdvd 7.2, and used about 75% of the CPU. Next i tried it with nvidia pure video installed, and powerdvd for playback and got it down to 50%. apparently you need the nvidia codec for hardware decodeing.
My system is a AMD x2 3800+, 2GB and a 7800GT. The core on the 7800GT only run at a speed of 400MHz, So it is slow to decode, you should do better with a 7600GT (560MHz), or a 7300GS (550MHz).
Does anyone have a Geforce 8800GTX running with the 360 HD drive? Which drivers do I need for playback? What is the nvidia pure video codec?
yes i do use the latest drivers and enable nvidiapurevideo in the menu. Im not sure but it works at least
I can see on nvidia’s homepage that from driver version 93.71, they support purevidio. Apparently you dont have to install it or buy it. dang waste of money.
I’m now using my Geforce 8800GTX with a Dell 2407WFP and the Xbox 360 HD-Drive, but when I’m playing a HD-DVD with PowerDVD 7.1 Ultra, there’s a green colour fault.
What can I do?
Regards
Dose anyone know if you can hook the XBOX 360 hd Dvd Drive into a ps3 so you can play hd dvd movies onto that
Master;
ive got same hardware as you. have you looked at which revisoin of the monitor you have A04 is latest i belive. Although i still have banding problems in certian places. Which OS are you using powerdvd wont wont with vista X64 for me i get a black screen. havent tried XP since i got the screen.
Just wanted to say thanks for whomever wrote the article. I never even thought to try to do this. I’m sure its already been mentioned but Vista found all the drivers for me and I didn’t have to do any extra work to get the player to work. Anyways, I am going to subscribe to this blog. Keep up the awesome work!
I’ve installed the 360 hddvd drive on my computer running cyberlinks power dvd 6.5v
It plays for 3 secs nd then tells me that the content is protected and the system is unable to play it.. any idea how i can overcome this problem..
Thanks
Tony
Never mind I hooked up my lcd using VGA cord instead of DVI and solved the issue.
but now theres another problem… I have 4 hddvd movies and 1 of them plays the intro and then stops.. the other 3 play no problem. I played the same movie on a actual Toshiba HD DVD AX-1 Player and it works fine.. very puzzling anyone???
ok, so ive got the drive installed on win xp pro system, but it wont read the king kong disk, says its not in the drive. reads/plays standard dvd’s fine. dell 24″ hdcp monitor, core 2 duo, got purevideo installed, nvidia 93.71 driver, only thing is my 7900gs isnt hdcp. that shouldnt stop it from reading the disk, just playing it right? another other suggestions?
Thanks all for info.
Any conparsion of systems what work or not?
My experience:
The xbox drive work okay with usb on any Xp system with drivers, data can be read.
I havent yet tried with atapi connector, I have it too.
PoverDVD ultra works with HDCP, but not without it, no analog out put with such cards, why?
On dell M90 it doesn’t work since Nvidia have no proper driver for this chipset, not even newest drivers.
I tested to run from hard disk without HDCP card , no success, PowerDVD shows error.
Should I choose another player?
Mike
For all here who think 1080P is a big selling point, all I can say is go look at the HD threads on the AVS or After Dawn forums and you will learn why at this point its pretty much useless and will mort likely be that way for a long time to come.
Its also inferior to 720P when it comes to movies.. Dont believe me ?
Go read and learn why
I have to say that Fanboys are probably the most ignorant people on the face of the planet and it usually shows : )
MIKE/pigliiit : you need all HDCP hardware otherwise powerdvd wont play. You can use anyDVD HD to remove the protection system see my post above
And apparntley theres no point taking it apart as its more complicated than it looks as it needs external power etc, + it doesnt have standard drive mountings i hear drilling new ones would be risky.
Candy your probabley right.
1080p_is_overhyped- sorry m8 your wrong (as are quite a few people in this thread) full hd (1080p, the P means progressive scan) requires a HDMI port/cable to carry/send the signal. the current 360 port cannot do this so theyre magic update is meaningless. also the update (i just looked) doesnt give 360 full 1080p capabilitly at all and basically is a plug-in (if you will) to UPSCALE the 1080i signal (HENSE “FAKE 1080 in previous comment). tbh both i and p are very similar and i cant actually tell the difference at all (watching assassin’s creed trailers anyway :P). im not gonna stick up for sum1 on the net cuz that has to be the geekyest thing ever but i do agree 100% with jumpmancerros23 and the guy is on my wavelength (dude add me! reece198921@hotmail.com) im not as “punctual” as some of you here but i dont give a shit! – if you cant understand my typing then at least you have nothing to complain about. i get my ps3 2morro at midnight (not happy at all, that my bed time) and hopefully 360 will just slowly dissappear off the sleves (and am i the only person on the planet to notice theyre cream and not fucking white? :S)
im not a fanboy, i just know sony has made me sum gr8 consoles so ill buy the next one…its not like im gonna put my knob in the slot-loader :S ps3 heaven? u freak!
thanks for the black screen tip. and ive tried a m8’s hd dvd player..as far as i can tell this thread is a lame hoax. the only reason i looked was because i thought the possability od HD-DVD on PS3 is just plain funny.. :)
*theres no chance ill look back here as my ps3 shoud keep me pre-occupied till the end of time, so just add me if u have summit to say*
-dan (www.myspace.com/daniel_reece)
learn how to speak english you fucking redneck dumbass!!!
and who gives a fuck that you’re getting a ps3, i hope it blows up in your hillbilly face.
now go fuck your mamma some more.
Wow… Finally the Elite version of the 360 will be released late april…
I cannot wait to try out my drive with HDMI 1080P!!! My sweet new 60″ XBR2 should display everything pretty nicely in FULL HD!
has any software come out that that will officaly play hd dvds?
has any offical software come out yet that will play hd dvds? Thanks
I am running ati raedon x1950 pro as my video card for the xbox hd dvd player, but in terms of audio out, through optical, whats a good sound card asuming ive got a high end reciever? Thanks
Seems like a lot of people are saying they bought “paperweights” when they bought the X-Box add-on without a HDCP compliant monitor/video card… But can’t you just use the drive and BackupHDDVD to rip the contents of the disc to your harddisk and play the movie from the hard disk to a non-HDCP monitor (since BackupHDDVD removes the AACS protection, and so the HDCP protection as well)?
JumpManceros23 or whatever your name is and all those who are rising to this tittle tattle of “my opinion is better than yours” – Grow up and stop being so insecure, please. This forum was an opportunity for those who are interested in hacking the 360 HD DVDdrive not to squabble. Christ – I’m sure the very informative writers are shaking their beads in dissappointment and wondering why they bothered.
I personally have enjoyed reading the first third of the psts and responses from the more intelligent readers and would suggest you guys hand over phone numbers to argue in your own time or perhaps arrange some fisticuffs or perhaps a duel to the death over something so vital to the species – your species ……I’ll help you with this one thing – I’m laughing at you children because I’m just waiting for roast lamb at my mothers on easter which will be really nice and will know that you are going to post loads of replies that noone is going to read because they stopped reading this forum when you guys ruied it. But my lamb will taste jolly good and you wasted 2 minutes reading this. Which surprises me – I’m astounded you can read, write or opperate microtechnology and feel that education might have been better afforded and appreciated by others good bye.
PS xbox 360 IS best.
I need help. Is there anyway to break the region coding on the hd dvd drive. I bought a us one which is fine.But after watching a few uk films first on it because nothing was out in the states it has locked like my old pc dvd player i.e six tries and your locked out. I now have 600 us films and no player can anyone help.
cheers
MCRSOOTIE
ps3 funny. bly ray discs can only be used a number of times before they are useless. no protection. hahahah funny for the product of the future. If any one does invest in the over priced two game console make sueyou have a good back-up electricty supply because if you do not shut the machine down fromthe front button then it is bust “source computer and video games magazine” they turned the machine of from the rear and it would not work again so beware the power cut my friends.
laters.
p.s. if you want to play my gamer tag is as above.
live rocks
I got this working recently, but had to buy CyberLink DVD Ultra for $99 to get things working as the shareware version of WinDVD 8 was not working at all.. I have to say, the image quality is breaktaking. I am running over USB to my PC which is a 3.2ghz core2duo with 8800GTX graphics cards, 2gb memory, and a Westinghouse LVM-37w3 (over DVI –to–> DVI to DVI2 port on the Westy, which is the HDCP compliant port).. I was amazed how well this worked and am very happy with it. the image quality up close it just stunning.. but I do have a fairly powerful machine running this also, so ymmv depending on hardware used. but one thing is for sure, the USB 2.0 connection seems to be enough BW for this to work just fine. The CyberLink DVD Ultra software is a little pricy, but it works flawlessly.. and if you consider the total of about $300 invested, it still is the cheapest way to get HD DVD playback capability..
have any1 better pictures (INSIDE THE CASE ) from the HD DVD Drive from xbox i need help! Got a Broken HD DVD From EBAY driv is okay!
the CASE was broken , and the cables inside the case ( for USB ) a missing i need pictures inside the case to Build my own cable.
the pictures form here a to small i cant see all cables !
PLS ANY 1
acidsound@gmx.net
thx in advance!
Revenant,
after you have tested all nice stuff, the TV you use is only aviable in your country?
I will be soon in Chicago and gould pick up something if it’s worth to do so.
I purchased a LG 24 inch computer screen with HDMI, I will test it with my equipment and wiht the brand new BLUray player I bought in Hong Kong (PSP3). The player was 50% cheaper there than in Finland. Most stuff I pickup on businees trips.
I will cover more when I tested all.
Just got the Xbox drive mounted internally in my PC. It was fun
http://achernob.blogspot.com/2007/04/mounting-xbbox-360-hd-drive-into-my-pc.html
Hey anyone know another location for those drivers. The link does not work anymore.
just wondering if anyone can help me with a question:
would the xbox 360 hd dvd drive work with a laptop? from what i can tell, vista recognises the drive no problems, so im sure that the drive will install correctly. i have a geforce go7400, which doesnt support hdcp (as far as im aware, no laptop cards do). but, if im planning to watch hd content on my laptop, will the hdcp come into play, as i dont think a laptop display uses DVI. 1080P is not an issue for me, as my monitor doesnt support that res.
would performance take a hit? i have a core duo 1.67ghz, 2gb ram, 256mb ram geforce go7400.
thanks. love how microsoft built support for the drive into vista. they must really be into their idea of converging the pc and xbox together
Slysoft have recently produced AnyDVD-HD which allows you to watch HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies at full res on non HDCP compliant equipment. Also a new version of CyberLink Power DVD Ultra (v7.3) will play both HD and Blu-Ray movies. Neither are cheap but it works and it works very well indeed.
dabm
I tested XBOX 360 drive with USB 2.0 connection to DELL M90, the drive works and PowerDVD works fine alone,
BUT without AnyDVD no success, Nvidia driver doesn’t work for this machine, since newest for this QuadroFX isn’t compactible.
Downlod BDadvisor from Cyberlinks homepage.
Don’t try Nero, since it will not allow any playback if min.req. are achieved.
Quite nice jungle for new tech?
MIKE
I personally think that microsoft have their hands in too many pies (so to speak)
give me an Apple Mac and a PS3 any day thank you!
ANT
I was hoping you meant it wouold work without. Your summary did say:
“Should start playing with HDCP hardware!!! “
I am trying to run my 360 add-on with a GeForce 6600GTX and a 2.6GHz P4HT with XP SP2 installed. My vid card is not HDCP, but my monitor may be (Samsung 930B). Either way, I am using anydvd which is supposed to get around the HDCP protection, and I have PowerDVD 7.3 Deluxe–my monitor is running through DVI->DVI.
The HDDVD starts to play, but after 2 or 3 seconds the app (PowerDVD) crashes. I can see the menu start to come up, but then it crashes. Anyone know if this is because my hardware is not powerful enough? I am trying to figure out the problem.
-tom
Toys R Us in Canada has the Xbox 360 HD-DVD on sale for $159.99. On sale until May 8
I also read a Message from another forum: that Nero 7 with the Blu Ray/ HD-DVD Plugin is working. You might need AnyDVD to watch at full 1080p resolution
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874103051
I just bought one to see if it works
Just picked up a Slim cd-rom to IDE adapter from halted.com. This should work perfect for the conversion to my pc. It has the floppy power connector for power, for only $5.95
Thanks for the tip Tim, picked up 360 HD DVD at Toys R us in Calgary for $159.
Connected it to my Windows Vista Ultimate x64 using Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra.
No problem. This rocks!
Question for Canuck or any one who can help
I haven’t been able to watch any movies yet, I was wondering if you could describe what you did and what applications and drivers you used. My problem is that I am using Windows XP prof. and although the operating system recognizes the drive, I can not see the directories or files in windows explorer. I have been able to rip the files off the drive using AnyDVDHD but not view the files directly. My other problem is that I purchased Nero Ultra Edition with the blu-ray/HD-DVD plugin and this software does not even recognize the files on the Xbox drive or ripped files on the hard drive.
Thanks.
Microsoft HD DVD Player Xbox 360
Can i use the HD DVD 360 Player without having a xbox 360?
Hi Patttttttty
Some people have had good luck in using the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive to play movies on their PC’s. For me I have been successful in connecting the drive to my computer and being able to see and rip the files to the hard drive on an Windows XP prof. Get the driver from the link at the beginning to allow you to read the UDF directory information. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen one movie yet because the player software i purchased did not work as advertized. The software I purchased was Nero 7 Ultra edition enhanced. Don’t even consider this software because they have terrible product support. Also don’t even consider doing this if you don’t have one of the latest and fastest computers on the market. Both in Processing and in Video capabilities. You can download a utility from Nero and Cyberlink to test your computer is capable of playing HD content.. It looks like Cyberlink Power DVD Ultra is the only solution so far. Good luck
I got the xbox 360 hd dvd drive to work using power dvd with no problems but now my pc will not boot with it plugged in i am using vista 32 bit ulita any answers?
…Common, guys: All you need to do is a clean installation starting from the system, because when the register gets dirty with all the installing, de-installing, installing… it has entries that make everything to malfunction.
I’ve used it with my Xbox 360 and works like silk, BUT, after all your posts mentioning that with very well hardwared PCs you were unable to make the 360 HD-DVD work correctly, I put myself the little homework to try something with an old Media Center I have -well, not sooo old, but compared with your hardware this is a blender or a toaster:
It has a Pentium D 915 2.8Ghz, only 1Gb DDR2, a RAID of 240Gb, Creative Audigy and the Nvidia 7300GS (one of the slowest and cheapest ones!)…… So I installed the system, then new drivers and immediately connected the 360 HD-DVD reader, I left the system to install the drivers by itself. After that, I installed AnyDVD HD 6.1.4.3, and PowerDVD Ultra 7.3 y tadaaaaaaaaaa, everything was displaying perfectly on the 42” LCD Viewsonic Screen that I have on my living room.
I guess you MUST have a better experience with this hardware!
I got this working fine last night.
For those of you without a HDCP compliant card or LCD, just download\buy Slysoft’s AnyDVD HD. It decrypts the HD-DVD key so you don’t need HDCP equipment over HDMI.
I’m using:
XP SP2
Core 2 6700
ATI X1900XTX (non-HDCP)
Aquos 46″ LCD
PowerDVD 7.3
I didn’t install the “hack” driver because I don’t need to see data, just play movies.
It works great :)
you can open a HD movie with the 360 HD-drive connected to the Mac os x , the Mac DVD Player can do that.. in prefrences you can configure the High defenition options to be able to view HD content
It is cool that someone was able to get this device to
work on a PC. Personally, though, I can’t see the why Microsoft would
release a device to play HD-DVD’s. There are very few around and there
is a competing format that might win the formate war.
Hello,
What do I need to plug the toshiba SD-S802A drive to my computer ?
thanks
IF YOU HAVE A FULLY UPDATED VERSION OF WINDOWS, THEN THE XBOX 360 HD DVD PLAYER SHOULD WORK AFTER YOU USE THE DRIVER FILE, JUST CLICK ON UPDATE FROM WINDOWS AND THE MEMORY UNITS WILL BE RECOGNIZED. BUT FOR SOME REASON ON WINDVD 8 I ONLY GET AUDIO, AND POWER DVD 6.5 HD GIVES ME VIDEO BUT NO AUDIO.
I figured out a way to play HD DVD “Red Dragon” my favorite movie to date. I have installed Windows XP SP2 and fully updated it. Then you need to install your XBOX 360 HD DVD drivers provided by Blueprint. Second reboot your PC and plug in your HD DVD addon. When plugged in you will get the message about your hardware, and then it will ask you to search for the drivers for the “XBOX 360 USB Memory Unit” using Windows Update will install the drivers needed, and since you installed the UDF 2.5 driver into you computer the device manager will tell you to reboot.
Steps:
1) Get a copy of PowerDVD 6.5 HD
2) AnyDVD HD
3) A coffee.
Use AnyDVD HD to copy YOUR MOVIE THAT YOU OWN to your HDD, I use C:\”Name” . Then once all that is said and done you can play it with Cyberlink’s PowerDVD 6.5 HD. Here are my specs:
Asrock Conroe945-DVI
Intel Core2Duo 1.86Ghz 2MB Cache
2GB 667Mhz DDR2
80GB ATA HDD
HD DVD Addon
Onboard Intel GMA 950 128MB Fixed via BIOS
Here is the trick you need to disable any services like antivirus, and the internet connection so that you don’t get hit while enjoying your movie. And then open the task manager and you will see “PDVDSrvc.exe” enable its system resources to “realtime” and then using the latest Intel GMA drivers look for “igfxsrvc.exe” and enable the system use to “high” . My Asrock motherboard came with a DVI adapter I used a DVI to HDMI cable and played “Red Dragon” from the HDD and it went all smooth. Very beautiful video, and sound. Thats How I did it. I don’t use AnyDVD to play the movie with PowerDVD 6.5 HD because the program cannot keep up with the software to play HD DVD.
Hello,
I plugged the drive to my computer using a slim ide adapter and when I eject the drive opens but if I insert a DVD and I close the drive nothing much happen… the DVD should turn but nothing. Windows see the driver but I can’t read anything… by the way I well installed the driver file
help me please ! thankss !!!
sorry for my english .. I’m french
To do this hack and mount internal you have to have a mini ATA to IDE adapter. Anybody know where to get one of these?
I have this kind of adapter : http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=290123723125&rd=1&rd=1
and it doesn’t work. I can eject the drive and insert a DVD but after that nothing happen. The DVD doesn’t turn into the player. Windows see the player
You need Power DVD Ultra or Nero 7 ultra and then get the hd-dvd plugin for 25 bucks.. Not sure if the plugin comes with nero 7 ultra or not. I do know power dvd ultra plays hd-dvd and blu-ray. Microsoft did this on purpose. Which is why you can find a driver for it.
HEy im trying to hook up my xbox HD dvd player to my windows based pc, but in the process they tell u to go to rapid share and do some bs can someone explain me the prcess..please
I’m just thinking if there is any way to connect this Xbox 360 HD DVD player to PS3.
I subscribed to your feed with my favorite feed reader (igoogle)
I tried to connect the drive using the JAE 50 – IDE converter. I think the problem is that when you just connect this drive to the PC power supply it kills the drive… I have a feeling it needs a 3.3V source and not a 12V / 5V source, and that is why we are seeing people lose drives. NEC has an internal HD-DVD drive for around $220… its a lot better to just go and buy that then to buy a 360 drive, break it, and then give up and go buy the NEC :)
LG and TOSHIBA are coming out with combo HD-DVD and Blu Ray drives, however so far I have read quite a few negative things about these drives, and they do not support a lot of interactive features of the formats.
What model is the NEC HD-DVD you mentioned for $220?
The Xbox 360 will play the Blu-Ray disks created with Pinnacle Studio Pro 11. I was surprised, but it doesn’t play the Blu-Ray movies from Blockbuster. The quality is great, and the throughput is head and shoulders above the regular DVD players which will only attempt to play the Blu-Ray home movies
David
I just got Xbox 360 HD DVD for my computer , , I have XP media center and Windvd platium , the windows XP install the driver no problem . But The xbox360 Drive can only play the standard dvd not HD dvd , Why ? I need help . THANKS !
my vaio comes with WinDVD BD for blu-ray discs. can i use this to play back HD dvds with my xbox 360 hd dvd drive connected to my pc?
Hello,
Do you think it is possible to play Blu Ray DVDs on 360 HD DVD player connected to a computer ?
From what I know HD DVD and BLU RAY are very similar. Since most of the processing is done by my CPU and Video Card GPU, I think there may be a possibility to play BLU RAY titles using XBOX HD DVD player and special software.
Please let me know what you think about it.
Thanks
Greg,
Blu Ray and HD DVD are similar as far as codec specifications, but that’s where it ends. The physical media is really not that similar and a standard HD-DVD drive will not read a Blu Ray. There are some manufacturers who have worked on creating multi format players, but it requires alot of work because it takes multiple lasers in the same drive (different laser for different format).
-Jeremy
the new version of dvd player, 6.5.0 i think it is can play an hd-dvd on a mac. it just has to be the most updated version
I’ve read with great interest the articals about using the xbox 360 HD_DVD drive to play HD movies, In the UK Blockbusters where I live only seem to stock BD, but we have a Xbox so HD it is.
I managed to get get/download the toshiba HD driver, the PowerDvd 6.5, and even WinDvd for good measure, try as I may nothing seemed to be showing up on screen, I was begining to think my system was @ fault, no sound and deffinately no picture, all I got from powerDvd was green pixilated screen when paused, but @ least I could read the disk files in explorer.
I then happened to stumble across a prog called Slysoft AnyDVD & AnyDVD HD 6.1.7.5.
“BINGO” even on my mid to low spec machine (Athalon 2.4ghz, 2 gig ram, 533 bus, GF7300 Graphics card) im getting staggeringly sharp colourfull pictures on an analouge display running @ 1800×1440.
There is one thing however…… I cant get any sound to play can somebody help me..!!
P.S. I’m in the UK not the US. !
Rikki
hello
I just managed to connect drive using mini atapi to ide converter (with small modification)
and its working ! :) , the problem is missing 12 volt.
after I put 12 volt on two pins of the mini atapi its alive.
in the top row of the connector first two pins = 12 V , next two =5 V and next three = ground
originally pin 1 was free and second was connected to 5 V , all you need to do is to break that connection and put 12 V on pin 1 and 2
I hope that will help :)
Hi there!
@ Twotonerikki
The PowerDvd 6.5 is known to have problems with HD DVD playback and may cause problems as YOU mentioned.. My advice is to download / buy the latest version of PowerDvd and try again.. I have the 7.3 version and everything works just fine!
Hope this helps you out…
/ The Answer Guy
Hi there
@The Answer Guy,
Perfuse apologies for not getting back to you earlier,
I’ve been offline for a few days, Thankyou for the info. I’m on it right now. !!
Thx a million.
Twotonerikki. :-)
I have just bought one these, got it working with my Vista PC.
Two questions thou
1) Is it safe to remove the fan from the drive, the noise is really annoying when watching movies. I cant imagine the drive gets that hot, plus the PSU is outside the casing.
2) Is it possible to get the xbox media remote to work directly with Vista (I already have the Windows media remote and keyboard for my pc, and would like to use the Xbox remote as second remote)
Hi all,
Just got the xbox hd dvd drive recently and everything works fine, i’m using amd x2 4200 1gb ram, 6600gt vidcard. xp pro, powerdvd 7.3, anydvd hd.
I would recommend anyone thinking about getting the drive and don’t have vidcard with purevideo support, make sure you have a dual core cpu, it helps a lot, no stuttering whatsoever, i had to change my cpu from singlecore 2ghz cuz i would get some stuttering every now and then, now my cpu load barely gets above 50% during playback.
Kinda sucks that you can’t access the disc menu with the mouse in powerdvd, guess i’ll have to use my keyboard. Also, if you install anydvd hd, be warned that you won’t be able to watch netflix instantviewing anymore, wmplayer drm gets screwed up.
being the owner of both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, I have the following pro’s / con’s
Xbox 360
Pro’s Wider gaming experience, cheaper console hardware, ability to use HD-DVD on standard PC’s. More advanced software / developer and user communities.
Con’s
Sounds like a Hurricane in your back room, External power supply, External HD DVD.
Small HD (Excepting the new Ultimate edition). Additional Cost for Wireless system
PS3
Pro’s
Single Hardware unit covering all requirements, HD, Power etc
Supposedly more advanced graphics processing, not yet proven in the field.
Ability to tie in your PSP, Play PS1 and PS2 games (on the higher level versions)
Ability to donate your processing time to folding@home distributed computing
Does not sound like a Hurriance in your back room
Larger Hard Drive (Excepting the new 360 Ultimate edition)
Ability to install any 2.5″ hard drive into the system, user upgradeable.
Built in Wireless and Bluetooth.
Con’s
Far more expensive than the other consoles on the market, not as good a performer when linked into Windows Media Centre.
Currently not as well supported on the game front and missing several key players in the movie industry due to not supporting HD DVD.
Hmmm.
Apples and Oranges I believe.
There is no direct comparison system v system, they are sold to completely different demographics, although Sony seem to be wishing to enter the mainstream market now with the revised console, Microsoft also seem to be re-evaluating their position by the release of new models with larger disk space.
Maybe they will reach a mediun line somewhere, but until then, you probably wouldn’t want to buy one or the other. Buy both :D
Keep Capitalism strong, even if only for imports from China. LOL
TTFN
Zuru
OK, I go the xbox360 drive like the rest of you, and powerdvd ultra. I have an ATI 1650 that provides dual link DVI to a 30′ HP monitor, the LP3065. Both card and monitor are SUPPOSED to support HDCP but PowerDVD is returning a “failure to enable HDCP” message. There diagnostic says the video connection is nonHDCP.
So, has anyone gotten HD-DVDs to play over any dual-link DVI connectors, like with the HP 30″ monitor or perhaps Dell’s, which is similar? I can only guess that HP has falsely advertised the HDCP compliance of their monitor, unless I need some sort of special dual-link cable to initiate it.
hey just had a question i have a 50inch plazma and just got a new HP computer with NVIDIA Geforce 8400 Gs graphics card and runs on windows vista with a intel core 2 quad processor … was thinking of geting an HD DVD player and was wondering if its worth geting the xbox hd dvd player and connnecting it to my comp and geting a wire to go from the comp to the tv ??
I successfully got the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive working on my PC yesterday.
I upgraded my PC from XP Mulitmedia to Windows VISTA Home Premium and also installed Cyberlink Power DVD Ultra, and added an ATI HD 2400 Pro video card.
When I plugged in the box to my PC it automatically downloaded and installed all the necessary drivers and I successfully played HD-DVD’s on my monitor (Sony 60″ SXRD)connected via DVI.
I was limited to using 720p resolution for display as that was all that the HD2400 pro seemed to be able to cope without causing the picture judder.
ET
All of this talk about Blu Ray being better than HD DVD. By specs, it might be. But all of you have to remember, like someone posted on here before, most people that will be watching HD DVD’s or Blu Ray will not be able to visually see the difference.
Now, before I get 28 posts stating the difference between the 2 formats, I already know the specs. Again, on paper, I understand. The specs speak for themselves.
The reality is that most people will be watching movies on an LCD, Plasma or DLP and as long as the movies look the same quality as their HD content they are used to seeing on Sundays when watching football, then they will be happy.
Again, I understand that there is technically a difference. But the majority of people across the world, will not be able to see this difference.
I have watched movies in HD DVD and Blu Ray and both look good.
So us arguing on here about which one is better and which one will win or lose is like competing in the special olympics, even if you win, you are still retarded….lol.
As someone else posted, Sony has tried some proprietary things and they have failed. But they also have been involved in some things like CD technology and others that have made it across the universe successfully.
I applaud both companies of Sony and Microsoft for being the leaders in this High Definition realm.
I appreciate the ability to watch movies in the comfort of my own home in High Definition quality without having to tell other people to shut up as I am trying to watch movies in a movie theater or sit in disgustingly dirty seats and listen to idiots that refuse to turn off their cellphones.
I have an HD DVD and a Blu Ray player, but I cannot wait until the LG Super player is available at a reasonable price so that everyone can enjoy both types of movies regardless of what type they are.
I have seen game systems come and go, from the Atari 2600 to the PSX.
So stacked up against a half way decent PC, all game systems are doomed
to failure, point being you can upgrade a PC but you can’t upgrade an Xbox
or any other game system. Why would I even want to waste my money on
a game console when I can just download an emulator and play Xbox or
Playstation games on my PC, in such cases when there isn’t a better
version of the same game for windows.
That being the case, my only concern is, “Can my DVD drive read it with the
right software installed?”
Just wondering where i can get these drivers for the HD dvd player. I hooked mine up and it will play normal DVD’s but not HD DVD’s, i have the 14 day trail version of intervideo WIN DVD 8 premium. NO PLAY!
I have tryed to download these drivers from your article and it brings me to rapidshare and i only get the window popping up saying file not. any direction to point me in to get these drivers would be awesome thanks.
cheers
Any word on where to get these drivers? The link in the original article leads to rapidshare where a file not available dialog is displayed.
Well if you go to newegg.com there is an internal hd-dvd drive for PCs that costs $100, so the 360 drive costs more.
How about playing XBox 360 discs on PC?
Hello guys,
so now, what are things up in linux? Does SCSI emulation starts?
greetings
surf2me
Well, everyone BUT newegg has it for $50, and you get one free movie with it, plus you can mail in for five more.
You need an UDF driver for your O/S. Be careful, a lot of the online, downloadable, UDF drivers are from BEFORE XP, and don’t work well with XP.
$49 at Bestbuy now.
I just got one for hacking!
Your Wrong, the 360 HD-DVD Drive is now only $50
Well with the Xbox add-on now only $50 sounds like a great bargain if you need an external drive for a PC.
Can you get 1080P out of it on a PC (obviously with the right hardware in the PC, i.e. a HDMI output)?
Or how easy is it to copy the movies to a MediaDrive?
Local K-Mart has these XBox 360 drives for $50.
Ok so it’s March 7th and HD is going bye bye….their selling the player at Micro Center near me in Saint Davids PA for $49. Makes it a much more affordable option even if you want to use it as a standard dvd player on the Xbox to avoid burning out the system laser playing movies.
Is there any other place or anyone that is willing to share the drivers? Now with HD Dvd dead, we need to take the content from it and move to the PC or a Blue Ray disk ?? Thanks
I tried the Windvd 8 with no luck. I then bought Powerdvd Ultra off the Ebay for about $6 and It plays Hd dvd Flawlessly. I Only paid $8 for the Windvd 8 Platnum
from ebay so I am not out a lot of money. I will probably install it on another PC
just for standard DVD’s. $56 dollars for a Hd dvd player that works on my 100″
projection Home Theater is great. I do have a Nvidia 8600gt Graphics card with HDMI out for my projector. I just Watched Planet Earth That my sister gave me for my birthday and it was unbelievable.
Hello all,
One question
Is it possible to connect this drive internally to the PC?
Via SATA connection?
Any walkthroughs would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
To all the noobs that put money into HD DVD…Toshiba and Microsoft would like to thank you for the b*%^ job!
Now you’re left with c|_|m on your faces and nothing to watch in full-HD! haha
hey question would u know it u buy a blu ray drive for ur pc would it work in a xbox360 hddvd housing? and maybe play with the xbox 360?
if it is possible. to use your xbox 360 componets modded, streaming through your pc ( to fit the needs of this project) unit with mods like a m360 board redone. we are interested. if it has been tesed on live multi and has been beta tested. we are very interested including xbx 36 software mods as well. a complete package makes live happy if this is service of yours please email and you can get started price is always an object but if you have the obility and resources its a what ever. if this is not a service of yours and can give a referral to someone that does we have more then one order if its complete.
thank you,
a family of gamers forever