Media Playback from External Drive?

[measureless]

I was recently gifted an old (unreliable but I'll take what I can get) 360 from a family member who bought a new one. Since I am currently using my PS3 on a computer monitor away from the main room I thought it would be great to use the Xbox as my DVD/media player in the living room.

But... how? I have AVI files that I know will play on an external hard drive but I keep getting an error message that I need to download an update to play them. Which is a problem because I don't have the wifi adapter so you can imagine the criss cross of wires people already generally have and then add a 20ft ethernet cord to the mix and just... no.

Do I have to be online to play my media? And if so, do I need an Xbox Live account? And if so does it have to be gold?

I'm getting a headache just thinking about it.

 

[csidegamer]

No you do not.

Just hook it up, let it update, then disconnect.

Don't think you need gold at all.
Worst case is Silver which is free.

But I think it will update without either. Been a while for me.

 

[MillerTime2523]

You need to go online and download the optional media update. It's a file, I think it's on the game marketplace. I play all my movies and TV shows off my 2TB external HD. Once you get it downloaded you're set to play the files both online and off.

You'll need a silver membership for the download. You can make one quickly on xbox.com and then import it.. I'm sure this all sounds like a hassle but like I said, it's basically a one time download and you won't have to worry about it anymore.