[How To] Install Media Center X on a Mac

[Colin]

This tutorial will help your install Media Center X (MCX) on a Mac that is running OS X.

Requirements:

• Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) or newer
• Java 1.5

Unfortunately at the moment MCX requires the Java 1.5 (5.0) runtime environment (JRE) or newer to run. As of right now Apple has only released the Java 1.5 for OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and according to their Java FAQ “There are no plans to release J2SE 5.0 for earlier releases of Mac OS X”.

If you have managed to successfully run MCX on a version of OSX 1.4 please let us know what version of Java you are running and any modifications you made.

In the future we hope to release a version of MCX that officially supports older versions of OS X (JRE 1.4.2).

Installation Steps:

1. Unzip the mediacenterX_Jar.zip to your desktop.
2. Open a terminal

   • Click Applications->Utilities->Terminal.app

3. Change directories to mediacenterx_jar folder on your desktop

   • cd ~/Desktop/mediacenterx_jar/

4. Run MCX

   • java -jar MediaCenter.jar
   • If you see errors or warnings on the terminal screen read the Troubleshooting section bellow.

5. Test MCX from your computer

   When MCX starts it will inform you what Internet Address and Port the server is running on, write this address down.
   
   Example: Media Center Web Address: http://x.x.x.x:8192
   
   Open a web browser and open the MCX address you wrote down. If you do not see the MCX screen you should check your terminal screen for errors and read the Troubleshooting section of this document.

6. Run MCX from your console

   Using your console’s web browser open the web address you wrote down in step 5. At this point you should see the MCX screen and your all done. Check out the Red Kawa Forums for Skins and other MCX information.
   
   If you do not see the MCX screen proceed to Step 7 to update your firewall settings.

7. Updating your firewall settings

   If you can use MCX on your computer but not on your console you need to configure your computer’s firewall to allow connects to the MCX server.

   1. Open the System Preferences
   2. Click the Sharing Icon in the Internet & Network section
   3. Click on Firewall and in that section, click the New Button
   4. Click the Port Name dropdown and select Other
   5. Type in 8192 (if you changed the default port to something else use that here) for both TCP and UDP Port Number fields and give it a description like Media Center X
   6. Click Ok and Reload the MCX webpage on your console.

Troubleshooting:

A. Failed SocketConnector

MCX is a small web server and it needs a free TCP port to listen on. The default port for MCX is 8192 but there is a possibility that another application is already using this port. To get around this error you will need to change the default port number to one that is not being used.

1. Stop MCX if it is running
2. Edit webserver.prop located inside the mediacenterx_jar folder on your desktop using a text editor.
3. Change the 8192 to 8196
4. Save webserver.prop
5. Run MCX --> java -jar MediaCenter.jar
6. If you still get this error try different port numbers, examples: 8250, 8257, etc. Anything above > 1024!

B. UnsupportedClassVersionError

Unfortunately at the moment MCX requires OS X 1.4 or newer and the Java 1.5 runtime environment. We hope to release a version in the future that supports older version of OS X / Java.

Credits:

The Red Kawa development team would like to thank the following Red Kawa Forum members for their help troubleshooting MCX on OS X.

msgyrd, ExtraLars, artist25, Bluearmy, forcaca, babywriter, jackcheng, and everyone else who reported problems using MCX on OS X.

Feedback:
If you notice any mistakes or feel that something was left out of this tutorial please let us know.

Thanks for using our software!
- The Red Kawa Development Team

[bugsy1234]

followed instructions to install media centre folder ran terminal with Installation Instructions

1. Unzip the "mediacenterX_Jar.zip"
2. Run MediaCenter.jar from a terminal window using the following
command: "java -jar MediaCenter.jar"

result :

-bash: /Users/davesmith/Desktop/mediacenterx_jar/MediaCenter.jar: cannot execute binary file

can anyone help please - running tiger macosx 10.4.8 java J2SE 5.0 (and have tried 1,42 version ) safari browser 2.0.4

[alosii]

type:

java -version to make sure you have java correctly installed on your Mac

[betovarg]

hi,
i have managed to install mediacenterx with no problem. I didnt put the mediacenterx folder in the desktop, but inside the "users/MYACCOUNT/mediacenterx_jar". i can stream videos, but i cant seem to stream music. i grab some mp3s ripped from a cd and that were in my itunes library. what could be the problem? i removed the lock from mediacenterx´s information, and i still cant manage to stream. please help.
thanx in advance

details: firewall disabled, windows and file sharing on.

[betovarg]

one more thing. sorry i didnt write it before. Why do i view the videos as rectangular? i downloaded 2 from youtube as a test and i dont see them in their real format, i see them rectangular. what are the dimensions of the player in mediacenterx?

thanx

[acidliam]

This is great, but do I have to copy everything I want to be viewable by my Wii into the MCX folders?

[phattrix]

Thanks for the tutorial! I got it to work.

Now, a QUESTION: after running java -jar MediaCenter.jar, does that install the app somewhere on my comp? or do i have to leave terminal open, and run java -jar MediaCenter.jar every time i restart my computer?

thanks again!

[lamo]

hi...

thanks for those information.....

[yitty]

Hi.....
The information provided was really useful.....
Thanks man.....

[EduardoDickerson]

hi...

thanks + question
Thanks for the tutorial! I got it to work.

Now, a QUESTION: after running java -jar MediaCenter.jar, does that install the app somewhere on my comp? or do i have to leave terminal open, and run java -jar MediaCenter.jar every time i restart my computer?

thanks again!