Using TVersity to stream to your Xbox 360
Following on from my previous post on the 360 and Conor’s suggestion, I thought that I would write a short post on how-to setup streaming of DivX etc onto your Xbox using TVersity. The guide is written for users running Windows XP.
Step 1
Make sure you have your Xbox 360 connected to your home/office network. Point your browser over to TVersity’s website and download the latest edition of TVersity. Whilst that is downloading, if you dont already have Windows Media Player 11, download the new install from here.
Step 2
Install both TVersity and WMP11. Run TVersity. Once installed, configure your personal firewall so that the Media Server component of this software can accept incoming connections from external software. To do this add a rule for MediaServer.exe (C:\Program Files\TVersity\Media Server) which uses port 41952. For Windows Firewall add the same file under Control Panel -> Windows Firewall -> Exceptions.
Step 3
If you already had your Xbox connected to your other computers you will need to disable sharing in Windows Media Player 11. If TVersity is running, point your browser to http://localhost:41952/ to use the GUI, you can also use the executable in your taskbar to open the same GUI.
Step 4
The next step is to share your media. Click the Green Plus button in the TVersity GUI to open a list of options to add media. Choose “Add Folder” and browse to the folder you wish to share. TVersity will then pause while it adds your media to your “Library” tab. Click into the Library tab and select your media type, the videos/pictures/music you added should be there.
Step 5
The final step is to get your Xbox to connect to your computer. On your Xbox, make sure you disconnect any previous computers in the System blade. Once this is done, navigate to the “Media” blade and select video. This will prompt for Console or Computer, choose Computer. The 360 should search and then find the TVersity server, add this and it should load your local library you shared on your computer.
That should be it, here are some extra tips:
- If you cant connect your 360 to your computer, try turning off your Windows Firewall.
- To increase the picture quality, in your TVersity GUI, click Settings and then Transcoder. Change your Connection Speed and Quality to Wired and Quality to Excellent if you are on a Wired LAN and change your Video Resolution to 1024×768 or higher (mine is 1600×1200). This will stop the picture from being pixelated.
Hopefully that helps, if it doesnt, head over to the TVersity Support Page and their Forums.
Thanks man, good guide *cheers*
Yeah that’s all good bro. thanx for the walk-through, but now what??? now that i got it hooked up, how do i get new content to watch over tversity on my xbox instead of streaming all the old-school video content i’ve already watched on my PC? tversity does a HORRIBLE job of telling you what the possibilities are. i want to know how to take advantage of all free episodes from CBS, NBC, ABC, etc.
Yea, I feel the same way sEAn. It's good software and it offers lots of promises of streaming video.. and then.. leaves you completely in the dark as to how to go about watching the streaming video.
What I have noticed is that RSS feeds that point directly to video files on the internet will work, but the RSS points to webpages for each video, tvsity doesn't work. With hulu, it actually displays the flash video player, not the direct movie. I'm thinking that the support for video from places like NBC, Hulu, etc, depends on the way the webpages are coded. If the code changes, tversity loses it's ability to display the video. Perhaps it had the capability at one point for NBC.com, CBC.com, etc. but now has lost it due to those webpages changing format and tversity is not being updated for continued support nor is the information on the website reflecting this loss of support. If this were true, it would explain why not even one person has posted any information anywhere on the internet to demonstrate how to display steaming tv from these supposedly supported sites. I have been searching for days and have not found a single helpful post, blog, tutorial, or anything.