How do i mod original xbox for xbmc?

[Nvidiaguy07]

So ive been looking around for a guide to mod the original xbox to make it into a media center for my mom and the only guides i can find are from 2 or more years ago. In almost every guide it requires you to have the action replay kit and i thought i read somewhere that it isnt necessary anymore.

Does anyone know of an updated guide that can show me what to do?

(i want to soft-mod BTW)

 

[Pheran]

You need the Action Replay kit, otherwise you have no way to get one of the hacked save games onto a memory card so you can load it into the Xbox.

I recommend Auto Installer Deluxe.

 

[hans030390]

I soft modded mine with the hot swap mod. No extra games or accessories needed.

 

[RaiderJ]

If you want to save yourself the trouble, I have a modded Xbox with I think a 120GB or 250GB hard drive already installed. Component cables, controllers, remote - everything you need. If you're interested drop me a line! I just ended up building an HTPC, but XBMC is awesome for games and non-HD movies.

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: hans030390
I soft modded mine with the hot swap mod. No extra games or accessories needed.

Ah, I didn't realize they came up with a way to just swap out the hard drive - I guess that could work too, sorry. If you have Action Replay you can do it without ever opening the Xbox though.

I used XBMC for a while and I agree with RaiderJ, it's pretty awesome but the limitations of the original Xbox hardware hold it back. Too bad there is no XBMC for the 360 (last time I looked anyway).

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: hans030390
I soft modded mine with the hot swap mod. No extra games or accessories needed.

Same here but the info out there was badly out-dated and the latest "packs" had issues which required fixing.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: Pheran

Originally posted by: hans030390
I soft modded mine with the hot swap mod. No extra games or accessories needed.

Ah, I didn't realize they came up with a way to just swap out the hard drive - I guess that could work too, sorry. If you have Action Replay you can do it without ever opening the Xbox though.

I used XBMC for a while and I agree with RaiderJ, it's pretty awesome but the limitations of the original Xbox hardware hold it back. Too bad there is no XBMC for the 360 (last time I looked anyway).

You aren't swapping it out. You are letting the XBOX provide the unlock key then switching it to an IDE PC while it's still powered up. From there you can copy files onto it which can run an EEPROM emulator for mod BIOSes, but if something goes wrong before you get it back connected to the still powered on XBOX, it will be forever "unlocked" and, thus, "broken" without a modchip.

 

[RaiderJ]

It's fairly complicated to get a "clean" system to the point where you can install a new OS onto the Xbox. I personally prefer to use a chip, gives you more space that the original BIOS. They do require some soldering, but it's minimal. Once you do get it prepared, you can basically do everything else from FTP.

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: RaiderJ
It's fairly complicated to get a "clean" system to the point where you can install a new OS onto the Xbox.

I have to disagree with this one. If you've got an Action Replay and a hackable game (e.g. Splinter Cell), then all you have to do is copy the hacked save and installer from Softmod Installer Deluxe onto the memory card, boot up Splinter Cell, load the save game from the memory card and boom - you've got a softmod. No opening up the Xbox or mucking around with hard drives. Of course this method assumes that you don't need additional storage space on the Xbox - I never cared about the drive size because I stream over the network from a file share.

 

[RaiderJ]

I looked at doing the Action Replay method, and once you get those items it is easy, but when I looked it was more expensive than getting a chip to solder. That might have changed.

Even with the added effort of a chip I liked the results better - more flexibility with the end product. Kind of a pain to track down the proper BIOS and dashboard, but worth it in the end. Mostly there was a lack of proper instructions on the web (and I had trouble getting my DVD drive to work).

Still, lots of fun, and XBMC is totally worth it.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: RaiderJ

Still, lots of fun, and XBMC is totally worth it.

totally agree. i have two chipped xboxes to stream movies thru wifi from my computer.

i wish my ps3 can work half as well as xbmc but i really haven't looked into it too much

 

[OVerLoRDI]

XBMC is awesome. I did a lot of modding back in the day, but I did only hardware, TSOP flashes, chips, etc. I was never a fan of softmods.

I actually use the windows version of XBMC on a HTPC since the original xbox doesn't have the power to handle high def.

The other thing you can do to avoid needing action replay is create a xbox usb to computer usb adapter. The xbox uses a standard usb cable, just with a different connector at the end. You can take the detachable end, cut it in half, strip the wires back and grab a standard usb wire you want to sacrifice, cut it open, strip the wires back, match the colors, twist them together and boom, you xbox controller plugs into your computer. You can then take a standard xbox memory card, plug it in to the controller and it should show up under windows as a flash drive. You may need drivers for the xbox controller, just google something called XBCD and install the latest. If you still can't see the card, it might require special drivers, I don't remember as it has been so long since I done this, but I think it should work right out of the box like any flash drive. Copy your hacked files and go on your merry way.

Also with that adapter and drivers you can use your xbox controller to play games on your computer, which is great for things like racing games, platformers, and emulators where a controller is more natural to use than a keyboard.

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: RaiderJ
It's fairly complicated to get a "clean" system to the point where you can install a new OS onto the Xbox. I personally prefer to use a chip, gives you more space that the original BIOS. They do require some soldering, but it's minimal. Once you do get it prepared, you can basically do everything else from FTP.

I've soft modded several Xboxen using the Action Replay method and Krayzes installer with Splinter Cell. I can do it in about fifteen minutes. For a hard drive swap add another hour to disassemble, build the new image, reimage the new drive, reassemble.

Unless you really have some good reason to chip it, soft mod is far superior in my eyes.

 

[RaiderJ]

Originally posted by: BoberFett

Originally posted by: RaiderJ
It's fairly complicated to get a "clean" system to the point where you can install a new OS onto the Xbox. I personally prefer to use a chip, gives you more space that the original BIOS. They do require some soldering, but it's minimal. Once you do get it prepared, you can basically do everything else from FTP.

I've soft modded several Xboxen using the Action Replay method and Krayzes installer with Splinter Cell. I can do it in about fifteen minutes. For a hard drive swap add another hour to disassemble, build the new image, reimage the new drive, reassemble.

Unless you really have some good reason to chip it, soft mod is far superior in my eyes.

I'm a hardware guy, so I prefer that route in general. I would use both BIOS banks on my chip for different setups (forget what exactly those were at this point), and I also kept the original Xbox dashboard around in case I ever wanted to go online (never did).

Lots of BIOS require 1MB banks, versus the 512KB that's on the Xbox, although the usefulness of those BIOS over the smaller ones is debatable.

 

[RESmonkey]

I modded mine without buying anything except renting a copy of Mech Assault (original, not platinum hits).
Requires a memory card, though.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: hans030390
I soft modded mine with the hot swap mod. No extra games or accessories needed.

Same here but the info out there was badly out-dated and the latest "packs" had issues which required fixing.

I found a pretty good up-to-date guide, though some of the download links were broken. So, I had to do some digging and researching until I found everything (and all updated).

I don't even use it anymore, and I just recently bought one to mod it.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
I modded mine without buying anything except renting a copy of Mech Assault (original, not platinum hits).
Requires a [special] memory card, though [or access to another moded XBOX with a standard memory card].

That's still asking a lot considering that the average user uses the HDD instead and modders are even less likely to care about transferring game saves (XBMC, Linux, etc) and want a memory card. IOW, the memory card isn't "free" for the vast majority of potential softmod users.

Originally posted by: RaiderJ

Originally posted by: BoberFett

Originally posted by: RaiderJ
It's fairly complicated to get a "clean" system to the point where you can install a new OS onto the Xbox. I personally prefer to use a chip, gives you more space that the original BIOS. They do require some soldering, but it's minimal. Once you do get it prepared, you can basically do everything else from FTP.

I've soft modded several Xboxen using the Action Replay method and Krayzes installer with Splinter Cell. I can do it in about fifteen minutes. For a hard drive swap add another hour to disassemble, build the new image, reimage the new drive, reassemble.

Unless you really have some good reason to chip it, soft mod is far superior in my eyes.

I'm a hardware guy, so I prefer that route in general. I would use both BIOS banks on my chip for different setups (forget what exactly those were at this point), and I also kept the original Xbox dashboard around in case I ever wanted to go online (never did).

Lots of BIOS require 1MB banks, versus the 512KB that's on the Xbox, although the usefulness of those BIOS over the smaller ones is debatable.

My launch unit had a larger TSOP with the BIOS duplicated extra times.

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: hans030390
I soft modded mine with the hot swap mod. No extra games or accessories needed.

Same here but the info out there was badly out-dated and the latest "packs" had issues which required fixing.

I found a pretty good up-to-date guide, though some of the download links were broken. So, I had to do some digging and researching until I found everything (and all updated).

I don't even use it anymore, and I just recently bought one to mod it.

Link in case I need it anymore? Thanks.