Ever since I started watching DIVX / XVID versions of my favourite TV shows from the States I’ve always wanted to run them through my TV, instead of watching them on my PC.
Media Centre PC’s have been available for some time, plus streaming set-top boxes that read the files from over the Wifi. However these require extra money.
I had noticed that my DVD player would play DIVX files from disc, however only from a CD and not a DVD which meant only 2 episodes per disc, and I had no choice over which one it picked first.
However today I’ve installed some stuff on my Wii which allows me to watch files from either a USB stick in the back, or on the SD card.
The software also makes it possible to stream files over Wifi, however at the moment it’s just running a bit too slow, and it doesn’t have a browser for this option, all files names need to be hard written into a config file.
So what do you need to start watching the files:
- A Nintendo Wii
- A copy of Zelda, Twilight Princess (you can borrow from a mate or rental store for a day)
- An SD card (2gb max for some reason)
- A PC to download files
- A memory card reader to put files onto the memory card via your PC
Now once you have the above, visit this site to download all the Wii Homebrew Software.
The boxes you need to tick are:
- Homebrew Channel
- Twilight Hack (correct for your region)
- MPlayerWii (a newer version although can be found here)
You may have noticed some emulators, I’m not talking about those here, but feel free to tick the boxes to download them as well.
Once you’ve ticked all the boxes you want, hit the Create my custom pack button.
You will now have a ZIP file on your PC. You will need to extract this to the ROOT of your SD card.
Now pop Zelda and the SD card into your Wii. If you have never played Zelda on this Wii, start it up, and exit as soon as possible.
Have a watch of this video to see how you install the HomeBrew channel on to your Wii.
Once installed you no longer need Zelda, so put it back on the shelf or return it to whoever was kind enough to lend it to you.
Now open up the HomeBrew channel, run the MPlayerWii app and you should be able to select the SD Card or the USB Stick.
Dude, I dunno if this is just me, BUT!
Why not just get yourself a video card on your pc with a tv-out port(you can get a good one for about £30 from OCuk)?
Plug the cable from the Tv-Out port to the scart plug on the back of the TV(you may also, if you desire plug the audio cables into the stereo for a decent sound).
Which is a lot cheaper than getting a Wii with zelda and easier than the faffing about you propose.
But TV out would require both the computer and the TV being near each other and at the moment they are on different floors and opposite sides of the house, whilst the Wii, Zelda and the SD have been siting next to my TV for 6 months.
I use XBMC. I got two xboxes on ebay cheap (one even has a knackered DVD drive I don’t need) and stuck a solderless xecuter 3 chip in each. XBMC rocks with divx/xvid etc.