Connecting External Hard drives to Xbox 360

[bubs]

Hi.

Today i downloaded the Fall xbox 360 dashboard update.

I am stoked on the addition of Xvid and divx versions 5 and 6 playback.

It means all my movie needs could be taken care of via joox.net and quicksilverscreen.com for free and watched on my TV via the xbox 360 like a home media centre all in dvd quality!

The problem is:

The xbox 360 does not allow me to use my Ipod to store files on (except everything that is visible when using the ipod itself such as mp3's)

I have no usb pen drive

I have only used Cd-r's to burn xvid/divx movies and tv shows so far an dit works but is no more efficient than a divx dvd player for watching the media

What I want:

An external hard drive that I can connect via usb 2.0 in order to transfer videos to it from my pc, and then connect it to my xbox 360 and watch the videos via my xbox 360 on the tv.

However, file systems of external hard drvies vary.

FAT32 and NTFS are the 2 mainstream file systems.

Will the xbox 360 recognize either of these file systems?

will there be any storage limits/ general snags for either of the file systems, if so what are they?


thankyou very much.

[angrysasquatch]

Why bother with all that crap, just have both on your home network. Your 360 and computer are hooked up to the same router, right? Put your movie files so windows media player (10 or 11 I think) find them, then set your 360 as a sharing device in the WMP tools. If you just have a single ethernet cord, buy a router and hook both up. It'll be cheaper and easier than a hard drive.

[james2593]

just buy CD-RW or DVD-RW watch the DVD on your xbox and the erase the disk, simple. there only like £10 for 5 DVD-RW and about £6 for 5 CD-RW, not exactly a fortune

[jimmy_Bish]

However, file systems of external hard drvies vary.

FAT32 and NTFS are the 2 mainstream file systems.

Will the xbox 360 recognize either of these file systems?

will there be any storage limits/ general snags for either of the file systems, if so what are they?


thankyou very much.

The only FS the 360 supports on external media is FAT32. If you have a large HDD (bigger than 32GB) then you'll have to use a program like Gparted (free) to format your HDD, or even just create a FAT32 partition for the 360 and leave the rest NTSC for your PC.

[bubs]

I don't have enough posts to post links yet... But I tried.

[bubs]

The only FS the 360 supports on external media is FAT32. If you have a large HDD (bigger than 32GB) then you'll have to use a program like Gparted (free) to format your HDD, or even just create a FAT32 partition for the 360 and leave the rest NTSC for your PC.

cool thanks for the help.

so i could create a FAT32 partition on an external hard drive using my pc, and then dump all my movies and music onto it and use the external hard drive on my xbox 360?

and for the comments about burning cd-r's for movies, thats frankly not worth it as i already have a divx compatible dvd player and i can only fit one 700mb movie or half a 1.4 gig movie on each disc. Thats a nuisance.

Having all my movies and tv shows all in one place connected to my xbox 360 is desirable for me.

and home networking id out of the question as i cant afford to keep my pc on all the time or when i dont need it to be one, and its liable to overheat considering its basic specs.

[jimmy_Bish]

Yup, you can save all your 360-compatible movie files on the HDD and browse to them when it's plugged in.
All you need is for the drive to be FAT32 and the movie files to be supported by the 360. Since the latest update, this isn't really an issue anyway.

[Dalun]

my external hdd is NTFS. it doesnt have the option of formating to FAT32. is there any other to format to FAT32?

[jimmy_Bish]

If you boot the Gparted live CD from the link I gave above, then you should be able to select your external drive and choose Partition, Format to, then FAT32.

[XxXDj KraZXxX]

i have a 500 gb hard drive, so hopefully I can share wiht my xbox360 and hopefully be able to watch movies.