Jan 18
Update: Please read all the comments before sending me a question! You can find my FreeNAS posts/Tutorials here:
- FreeNAS - switching back. About my decision to move back to FreeNAS from Windows Home Server.
- FreeNAS Tutorial for Windows Users - Part One - Installation - installing the FreeNAS server onto a PC.
- FreeNAS Tutorial for Windows Users - Part Two - Configuration - configuring FreeNAS and Windows File Sharing.
- FreeNAS Tutorial for Windows Users - Part Three - Upgrading - Upgrading your FreeNAS Server.
- Using Microsoft SyncToy 2 with FreeNAS - Automating your backups - for free.
- FreeNAS Tutorial for Windows Users - Part Five - XBOX 360 - Using FreeNAS with your XBOX 360 (this post)
- FreeNAS Tutorial for Windows Users - Part 6 - Adding another drive
Very quick one here - but since I get a lot of hits looking or this information, I thought I would post it. Enabling the XBOX 360 to see the FreeNAS server is very simple.
- On your FreeNAS admin page, select UPnP under Services.
- Click Enable on the UPnP page.
- Give it a name that you will recognize when browsing via the XBOX.
- Set the network interface (should be set if you only have one network card.
- Select the FreeNAS share you want the XOX 360 to use - in this case I am sharing my Movies folder with my XBOX - I could also add music, pictures, etc.
- I left the port blank to use the defaults.
- Under Profile just select XBOX 360.
- You can enable the Control web page or not.
- Click Save and Restart.
That’s it - on your XBOX 360 you should be able to go to the media blade, select Video, then browse for computers and see the FreeNAS server (you may have to press the blue “X” button on the XBOX remote to change the source of the movies, music, whatever. Below is the UPnP screen shot from my FreeNAS server.
*** Random Post ***
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:42 am
[...] Want to enable your Xbox 360 to see your FreeNAS server? Easy! [...]
February 13th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Are there any new instructions for the release of FreeNAS 0.686.1 beta revision 2728? (Feb. 8, 2008)
I installed this upgrade and it seems that the conection to the XBOX 360 is broken now and it will only work with the PS3 and 3 other clients.
February 13th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
@happyshow - after you upgrade you will probably have to go to the videos selection on the Media Blade on the XBOX and select the “X” button on your XBOX remote to “Change Video Source” - then reselect your FreeNAS server.
At least that is all I had to do.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Freenas version 0.686.1 replaced the uShare UPnP Media Server with MediaTomb 0.10.0 which killed Xbox support.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
@Teranoize - why did you do that? I am on the distro of 0.686.1 of FreeNAS and my XBOX still works fine. Of course, I don’t add anything to the FreeNAS release.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
@rob - Did you upgrade from an older version or install from scratch? I would love to get this to work even if I have to go that route.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:09 am
@Teranoize - Yes, mine was an upgrade.
February 29th, 2008 at 9:41 am
@Teranoize - I suggest you stay with 0.686 (available on the FreeNAS download page). Until they enable the MediaTomb XBOX support, 0.686 is the last version to fully support the XBOX 360. BTW - you CAN downgrade from 0.686.1 to 0.686.0 without issue.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
That is good to hear. Hopefully the Mediatomb contributors find the time to implement support for Xbox360.
April 12th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Hi Rob, I know this article is over a month old, but I was wondering how do you have everything hooked up. Between the FreeNAS server, your main computer and your 360. Whats going through what in terms of routers/switches/etc.
Thanks in advance.
April 12th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
@Scott - it may be a relatively old post, but it gets a great deal of views - so I imagine I’ll pay attention to it for some time!
My current network is a Time Warner Turbo cable modem hooked to a Linksys WRT-54G Wireless Router running Tomato (Linux, open source) firmware.
This is a four port Router that also handled Firewall, QoS, etc (I highly recommend it - search my blog for Tomato and you’ll find my post on it).
The FreeNAS server is connected directly to this Router. I have a couple of Ethernet Switches hooked to the Router to service the rest of my network. The XBOX 360 is wired directly to the WRT-54G (well one XBOX 360 is - the other one is connected via wireless).
I also have a Cisco 1200 Enterprise Access Point with external antennas wired directly to the Router. This is my main wireless, even though the WRT-54G also does WLAN. I use the Cisco because of it’s better range and reliability. I have the Linksys set to only route to the Internet - so I can let guests on that wireless without worrying about access to my internal network.
I have two TiVo Gen 2 boxes connected over Wireless, 8 computers on the wired network, and 6 that are wireless only.
My main computer is a dual-proc, dual core system that usually runs Vista 32 Ultimate (but also runs Vista 64 Ultimate and Windows Server 2008, depending on my needs that day). It has 8GB of RAM and 4 750GB drives. This is also my Media Center PC - it has two Digital/Analog HD tuners in it. For graphics I use two NVidia Geoforce 8800’s powering for LCD monitors (2 24 inch wide screens and two 17 inch standard format.
Sounds like a lot to manage, but I really only spend a small amount of time working on the network. I don’t upgrade firmware just because I get an update - only if it fixes a problem or adds a feature I really need - and that is rare! The PCs are pretty static, except for my main machine. Most of the other machines are used to RDP into the main machine depending on which room I am in.
Rob
April 12th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
That was perfect, I am planning on setting up a similar setup once I get my FreeNAS box up and running. Is the transfer speed sufficient with the FreeNAS box without using any gigabit?
Thanks Again,
Scott
April 12th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
@Scott - I have never been worried about the speed of my wired network. Every machine I have is backed up to FreeNAS while I sleep, and my main download directory is replicated to my FreeNAS server every hour. Documents every 4. Videos/Music and Pictures every day. Using MS SyncToy 2.
I don’t notice any speed hits when I am using my machines (after the initial sync, of course.
Rob
April 12th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Thats great to hear.
One final question, as far as the WRT-54G and Tomato go, how difficult is the setup? I like to consider myself fairly knowledgeable. But as far as networking goes I am quite the novice at this point.
April 12th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
@Scott - I bought the Router new for about $45.00 and downloaded Tomato as soon as I have the router plugged in. Literally took <5 minutes to install the Tomato FW (which sounds scary, since you void your warranty, and you overwrite the Linksys code).
But it was SO easy I didn’t even do a tutorial on it.
Tell you what - buy the router - if you have trouble getting it set up, call me, no charge. Either you’ll find it is so simple you don;t need to call me, or I’ll help you and then write a tutorial on it. This series gets 100-300 hits per day, so another popular post would be nice
I’m just not convinced that setting this Router up requires a tutorial
Rob
April 12th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Sounds excellent Rob, you definitely got yourself a new reader here.
Thanks for all the help!
April 12th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
@Scott. Very happy you like it here, and I am always happy to help. If you use Twitter, that’s the best way to find me about 20 hours a day
Now back to my offer - I don;t expect you to call me to explain what QoS is - but if you try to get QoS to work and it won;t, call me. In other words, try Google first
But seriously, call me if you need to. If I am busy I will tell you, get your number, and call you back.
Glad we met.
Rob