sirius logo large 300x225 How to Stream Sirius on XBOX Media Center and Windows MobileI spend a couple hours a day commuting in my car for work. If I’m not listening to NPR, I love listening to Sirius satellite radio while I’m driving . No commercials, pretty good song selection, decent sound quality.  Works great in my car. Unfortunately, I can’t get good reception in my house due to the location of our windows and where the stereo system sits – so I can’t hook the Sirius receiver up to my home sound system without running wires all over the place.  Thankfully I found a python script for streaming Sirius through your Xbox Media Center.   Unfortunately it had fallen out of development and no longer worked.  I recently updated this script and below you’ll find directions for installing it on your Xbox Media Center.  There’s also a killer app for Windows Mobile devices that allows you to stream Sirius while you’re on the go. I use it on my BlackJack II when I’m jogging or sitting at the park with the kids. There are instructions for getting that going too.  Remember, you must have a valid Sirius account for these to work. Test your account on the Sirius website and be sure you can stream successfully on your PC first. Also, not all Sirius stations are available for online streaming.

xbmc2 728737 300x199 How to Stream Sirius on XBOX Media Center and Windows MobileInstalling XBMC Sirius Script

You’ll need an original Xbox running Xbox Media Center for this. I haven’t tested this on any other XBMC platforms.

  • Download the python script here:
  • In the Sirius folder, edit RunSirius.py. Look for this snippet of code and enter your Sirius username and password in quotes:

# SET ME!  SET ME!  SET ME!
USERNAME = “USERNAME”
PASSWORD = “PASSWORD”

Save the file.

  • If you’ve got Xbox Media Center running on your modded Xbox, I assume you already know how to initiate an FTP connection to your Xbox.  Go ahead and connect and upload the entire Sirius directory to your SCRIPTS directory. On my Xbox this is on the Q: drive.
  • Back in the XBMC gui, navigate to Scripts, and run the RunSirius.py script. If you like you can rename this file later to default.py, and then when you click on the Sirius Folder it will run automatically.
  • If all goes well, you should be greeted by a list of categories. Work your way through the menu and click on the station you want to stream. You should see the media player kick in and give you a message about caching the content.  Then your sweet digital music should begin to play.

A few notes:

  1. You can pay a few Sirius a few bucks more a month and increase your bitrate to 128 mb/s, which sounds as good as the satellite receiver.  Supposedly they are changing this pricing structure in the near future, so its possible this script may break.
  2. If the caching is taking too long before your tunes start playing, go into your XBMC center settings and decrease the cache size for “Unknown type Cache – Internet”. You can drop this down to 256K or whatever figure works best for you.
  3. Since it’s caching audio and the song title lookup is live, often it will display the next song’s title

winmo How to Stream Sirius on XBOX Media Center and Windows MobileInstalling SiriusWM5 on Windows Mobile

  • Install TCPMP for for your device. Here’s a link to smartphone edition for Windows Mobile 6.1. This works on the BlackJackII. Download the file, transfer it over to your device via ActiveSync.  In file explorer on your mobile device, click on the cab file to install it.
  • Download the wmv9 codecs for TCPMP here
  • Unzip the files and place both .DLLs and copy them to your /WINDOWS folder on your mobile device via ActiveSync.
  • Download and install via ActiveSync SiriusWm5 cab file here
  • Open SiriusWM5 on your Windows Mobile Device
  • Go to File > Settings.
  • Enter your Sirius Account information. Check USE TCPMP and, if its installed to your memory card, choose “TCPMP on MemCard”. Additionally, if you’ve anted up for higher quality stream, select “CD Quality Stream”. (CD Quality works great over Wifi or 3G, but will probably fail on Edge or lower). Save your settings.
  • Choose your station, and click Connect. You should be prompted to enter some CAPTCHA info, then TCPMP should start playing your stream.

note: Song Titles won’t display.