Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

[Rivals]

I never saw this discussion followed up on. Is it possible to stream an mp3 playlist from an external hard drive via the USB port as long as you have the playlist files on the drive as well? I'm so over dealing with that 360 interface to name playlists etc. And now we're docked 100 slots of events on top of it. I'm looking for a way to stream on a Mac. Doesn't have to be wireless because I have my mp3 files on an external drive that very mobile.

The only alternative I've seen is Connect360 and Rivet for about $20. I have no reference for either software so I'm wary of how well it works for this specific task and how legit the companies are who sell it. Any feedback? The Rivet program seems highly recommended for at least getting music on your console, but I want to make sure I can stream whole playlists right off my G Drive.

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

Don't all answer at once. Man, no one here uses a Mac for Stadium Sounds?

[SECElit3]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

you absolutely can stream with an external hard drive. Although, I am not familiar with Macs nor know how to stream to an XBox from them.

Can you at least stream to your 360?

[lightmanbp]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

I have connect 360 and stream music from Mac to 360. I have not tried to do Stadium Sounds yet. Maybe someone will be able to answer your question before I have a chance to test it, but if they do not I will let you know if it works. Maybe late tonight or tomorrow before I have a chance to try it.

The Connect 360 software is from a legit company, I think they even sell it in the Mac appstore now.

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

I've only been able to play mp3 off of external devices. Without burning that music to the XBOX HDD, it won't show up in the game. Or at least I haven't been able to get it to stream right to Stadium Sounds.

Thus, I'm thinking of going the way of Rivet, which is like Windows Media Center for Mac. In theory, it is suppose to stream the m3u playlist files right from my computer to my console.

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

I have connect 360 and stream music from Mac to 360. I have not tried to do Stadium Sounds yet. Maybe someone will be able to answer your question before I have a chance to test it, but if they do not I will let you know if it works. Maybe late tonight or tomorrow before I have a chance to try it.

The Connect 360 software is from a legit company, I think they even sell it in the Mac appstore now.

You're going to have to create a playlist file for each song/event you have on your computer. Otherwise, the mp3 file will be playable on your XBOX, but not in the actual game. It should work as long as the m3u files are set up right. That's another bridge yet to cross.

[orangee]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

I use Rivet and much prefer it to Connect360, but I'm sure it is good too. Rivet is very nice and easy to set up, you just tell it which folders to share and that's it. Occasionally my Xbox (or PS3) won't connect to it so I have to Quit Rivet on my MBP and then re-open it and it works fine.

Not sure how it would work with regards to stadium sounds, just wanted to provide feedback for Rivet.

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

Appreciated. I think I'm gonna free trial and see if I can use it for streaming Stadium Sounds. I'll let you guys know how it works.

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

I already see a problem doing this with Rivet. Unfortunately, the program does not allow you to choose folders for sharing music. It just patches you in to iTunes by default. I have to play with it, but it looks like you have to make your iTunes Library your directory for Stadium Sounds, which I don't really want because of the sheer number of playlists I'll have listed. Remember, the files only show in the game if they are playlist (m3u) files, so that's a playlist for every school times every event for that school.

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

Created an alias folder of my Stadium Sounds and put it in my iTunes Library folder and it still did not show in Rivet. Does Connect360 allow you to freely choose any folder you want for playlist files? The issue I'm having with Rivet is that it will only associate music files with iTunes.

[SECElit3]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

rivals, hit me up on PM

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

Got you Elite.

Still no luck with Rivet. I changed my iTunes library and everything, but this just doesn't seem to wanna work like it does for Windows. Everything has to go through iTunes so way or another and that's just too cumbersome.

[lightmanbp]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

As someone posted earlier, with Connect 360 you would have to create a separate playlist for each song/event. Too time consuming to do this

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

Yes and maybe not. I created separate playlists by just copying and pasting the mp3 files I had in Pages. Command F > Replace All .mp3 with m3u. From there you just create a bunch of one line text files and save them a m3u extensions. I actually didn't mind that too much.

I just can't get Rivet (in my case) to find each playlist on my external hard drive. It's tied at the hip with iTunes, and I don't want hundreds of playlists coming up in iTunes every time I use it.

[Rivals]

Re: Streaming via external hard drive (Alt for Mac)

Downloaded Connect360 as well. Same thing. To stream playlists, you have to create each in iTunes, which sucks. The iTunes interface just isn't made to handle 200 playlists. I don't know why these programs are committed to filtering all your music filed through iTunes. Very restrictive.