I’m a big proponent of having some kind of “Media Center” device hooked up to home entertainment systems–being able to view digital photos, movies stored on computers & network attached storage (NAS) devices has been a big part of my digital lifestyle for a long time.

The problem is that all the existing solutions out there are deficient in some way–lets be honest, they all pretty much suck.  I have been working a round-up review of about 10-15 so-called “Media Center” solutions that I’ve tried, and pretty much all have their flaws.  Most of the vendor provided solutions were too locked-down, with limited codec or network protocol support.  Most software-based solutions had overscan, UI and reliability issues.  XMBC (Xbox Media Center) was by far the runaway best solution (excellent file format & codec support, great UI), but it only ran on first generation Xboxes–and only hacked ones (soldering required).  Frankly I still use my original Xbox more than my 360 because XBMC is pure genius!

A while back they started working on a Windows/Mac/Linux port.  Today they announced Atlantis Beta 2 version, which is a fantastic, if buggy, product.

Lets change gears for a second and talk about the AppleTV.  The AppleTV is an interesting, but short-sighted and deeply flawed device.  If you were to be perfectly honest, the right name for the device would be iTunesTV, and the right price would be about $100.  It is essentially desiged to be a hardware interface to the content you view and purchase from the iTunes Store, period.  If you want to watch a video you created on your Mac, you’re pretty much out of luck.

Come to find out that earlier this month some guys were able to get the XMBC running on the AppleTV, which converts essentialy converts an overpriced iTunes to TV adapter into a really slick Media Center (which is what Apple should have created from day one).

How To Install XBMC On AppleTV

The problem in the past with doing custom stuff on the AppleTV is that it is somewhat difficult to build a ‘patchstick’ that will unlock the device.  Enter ATVUSB-Creator, a Mac application that takes all the difficulty out of making your own USB patchstick.

• Download AppleTV USB Creator
• Plug in USB Thubdrive/Memory Card
• Launch AppleTV USB Creator
• Select the additional software you’d like to install (SSH, bin tools, XBMC and Boxee)
• Select your USB Target Device (typically default).
• Click “Create Using”.

Took me 4:02 to do on my iMac.  Now it is time to update your AppleTV:

• Plug the USB drive into the back of the Apple TV
• Reboot AppleTV
• Wait for patch to be applied
• Reboot AppleTV again

When AppleTV is booted back up, you should see an XBMC menu item–this is the XMBC/Boxee launcher.  We need to update the launcher and then install XBMC

• Select the XBMC -> Update -> XBMC Launcher, which will download and install the latest version of the launcher tool.  This enables the support of the Apple IR Remote.
• Select XBMC / Boxee -> Update -> XBMC to download and install XBMC onto your AppleTV.

You can also install Boxee if you’d like by

• Select XBMC / Boxee -> Update -> Boxee

Launch XBMC and go to Settings -> Apperance -> Screen to change the screen resolution.  Once you pick your resolution (1280×1080 for me), go down to ‘test resolution’ to make sure it works.  If it looks good (not to blurry or flickering), but looks like it is cropped–no big deal, just go to “Video Calibration” on same screen to adjust your overscan settings to match your TV.

That’s it.  Whole process takes about 10 minutes.

I got Rock Band for XBox 360 last night, and started playing it tonight. Its a lot of fun playing the drum set, but I realized almost immediately that it seems to be missing a ‘freestyle mode’ that would let you just wail.

The drum controller is a wired USB device, so I figured I would try getting it to work on my Mac with Garage Band. Turned out to be pretty easy. To get it working you’ll need:

• A Mac
• Garage Band
• Rock Band for XBox 360
• XBox 360 Controller Driver - Open Source & GPL
• Gamepad Companion (makes it so you can map the keys on your controllers) - Proprietary / Shareware

First step is to leave your drum set unplugged from your Mac (if you plugged it in you’ll realize it is recognized as a Harmonix Drum Kit for Xbox 360). Install the Xbox 360 Controller Driver and Gamepad Companion. The 360 Controller Driver installer will say you need to reboot–but it worked for me without rebooting.

If you launch System Preferences you’ll notice a few new panes at the bottom.

Click on XBox 360 Controllers first. Plug in your drum kit, and it should locate the controller immediately. Go ahead and belt out a few hits to make sure that the buttons are lighting up as they should.

Once satisified, go ahead and click “Show All” to get back to System Preferences. The controller is working and recognized, but we need to map the buttons to keys that Garage Band can recognize. To do that we’re going to click on Gamepad Companion.

The driver maps the buttons like so:

• Button 1 = Green
• Button 2 = Red
• Button 3 = Blue
• Button 4 = Yellow
• Button 5 = Kick/Pedal

When we set up the keyboard interface in Garage Band later, certain keys will activate certain instruments. Here is a good key-mapping setup that works for most of the drum kits in Garage Band that features a bass/kick drum, a snare, two toms and a cymbal.

• Button 1 Map to U
• Button 2 Map to S
• Button 3 Map to J
• Button 4 Map to F
• Button 5 Map to A

There are tons of other instruments and configurations you can use, but this will get you started. Once you’re done mapping the buttons, go ahead and click “Start” to enable Gamepad Companion.

Just to make sure everything is working, I’d recommend opening up TextEdit or some other editor and wail a bit on the drums, to make sure that it is mapping the keys properly. If it is, you should see a bunch of letters typing across the screen. The repeat rate seems like it would be a problem in Garage Band, but it works fine the way it is.

Now it is time to launch Garage Band. Start a new song, which will have a default instrument of “Grand Piano”. Double-click “Grand Piano” to show the Information/Instrument drawer. Browse to “Drum Kit” and then select “Rock Kit”.

We now have to configure the keyboard. Hit Command-K or Window->Keyboard to bring up the keyboard interface. Basically the Mac keyboard is just to small for all the musician’s keys. So we need to select the C1 octave range either by dragging the blue selected keys, or hitting the plus/minus octive buttons (either on-screen or by hitting Z / X). Once you have C1 selected, you’re ready to rock!

Added note: It is possible to get the Rock Band Drums working with software on the Windows Platform as well, and apparently the PS3 controller works in a similar fashion.