I successfully modified my XBox

[imported_FishTaco]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
K great guys thanks alot... Im very hardware literate was just worried about the soldiering job.. Ive heard they can be a bitch on mod chips..
once you do this you can put in a jumbo HD right?
what about a better DVD or is the drive proprietary?

I got a 200 GB Seagate in mine. Make sure the BIOS you pick supports LBA48.

The DVD has a proprietary power connector and firmware. You can replace with a regular DVD but it won't be able to read xbox discs.

 

[rh71]

I really need to mod my xbox with the switch, but I'm all thumbs when it comes to electronics' insides. How much does it cost to get it done for me ?

 

[phray]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
K great guys thanks alot... Im very hardware literate was just worried about the soldiering job.. Ive heard they can be a bitch on mod chips..
once you do this you can put in a jumbo HD right?
what about a better DVD or is the drive proprietary?

yes, the mod allows for bigger hard drives, but i've never tried dvd drives. i'd check xboxscene for the answer.

and if you really don't like the soldering option, the xecuter 2.3lite+ requires no soldering, and works exactally the same as the 2.3lite. i've used both, and the soldering isn't all that hard, but it's a little more effort for nothing extra. it all just comes down to what you want to spend. $30 + soldering or $50 w/o soldering.

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: FishTaco

Originally posted by: CVSiN
K great guys thanks alot... Im very hardware literate was just worried about the soldiering job.. Ive heard they can be a bitch on mod chips..
once you do this you can put in a jumbo HD right?
what about a better DVD or is the drive proprietary?

I got a 200 GB Seagate in mine. Make sure the BIOS you pick supports LBA48.

The DVD has a proprietary power connector and firmware. You can replace with a regular DVD but it won't be able to read xbox discs.

Ah darn.. I think my Xbox dvd drive might be on the way out is why I was asking..
it seems to lock up alot these days... i hear the DVD make a noise and then I get the Xbox disk you are using might be dirty etc.... and lose my game
oh well maybe should just get a brand new one and mod it instead...

 

[thawolfman]

Originally posted by: CVSiN

Originally posted by: FishTaco

Originally posted by: CVSiN
K great guys thanks alot... Im very hardware literate was just worried about the soldiering job.. Ive heard they can be a bitch on mod chips..
once you do this you can put in a jumbo HD right?
what about a better DVD or is the drive proprietary?

I got a 200 GB Seagate in mine. Make sure the BIOS you pick supports LBA48.

The DVD has a proprietary power connector and firmware. You can replace with a regular DVD but it won't be able to read xbox discs.

Ah darn.. I think my Xbox dvd drive might be on the way out is why I was asking..
it seems to lock up alot these days... i hear the DVD make a noise and then I get the Xbox disk you are using might be dirty etc.... and lose my game
oh well maybe should just get a brand new one and mod it instead...

What DVD drive do you have? http://s87573135.onlinehome.us/xboxdvddrives.jpg

Check that out and then go from there, because I'm sure you can get a replacement laser or drive for it~

 

[imported_FishTaco]

Originally posted by: CVSiN

Originally posted by: FishTaco

Originally posted by: CVSiN
K great guys thanks alot... Im very hardware literate was just worried about the soldiering job.. Ive heard they can be a bitch on mod chips..
once you do this you can put in a jumbo HD right?
what about a better DVD or is the drive proprietary?

I got a 200 GB Seagate in mine. Make sure the BIOS you pick supports LBA48.

The DVD has a proprietary power connector and firmware. You can replace with a regular DVD but it won't be able to read xbox discs.

Ah darn.. I think my Xbox dvd drive might be on the way out is why I was asking..
it seems to lock up alot these days... i hear the DVD make a noise and then I get the Xbox disk you are using might be dirty etc.... and lose my game
oh well maybe should just get a brand new one and mod it instead...

Go to ebay and look for a Phillips DVD drive for your xbox. Search for xbox phillips, they go for around $50. It's simple to replace too, just open the box, unplug the old DVD and plug in the new one.

There are 3 types of DVD drives for xbox, Thomson, Phillips and Samsung. Samsung is the best as far as reading different kinds of media but they cost the most. Thomson is probably what you have, they're known to crap out, Phillips is a good drive and not too expensive, reads some burnable material and no problems like Thomson drives.

 

[thawolfman]

@FishTaco: That's actually funny because I have a Thomson that reads just about everything I slap in it, and my buddy's Phillips didn't read anything but a CD-RW~

 

[imported_FishTaco]

Originally posted by: thawolfman
@FishTaco: That's actually funny because I have a Thomson that reads just about everything I slap in it, and my buddy's Phillips didn't read anything but a CD-RW~

Actually my phiilips reads everything, even cheapie no name cd-r. I guess it just goes to show each drive is going to be different.

Doesn't really matter to me, since my xbox is networked and I play the bulk of my movies off a window's share. I never really need to stick a disc in my xbox.

 

[Nocturnal]

My Phillips reads cdrs like cake.

 

[Nocturnal]

Just be sure if you guys buy a new Xbox to mod that it was made pre-March of 04. Otherwise you are stuck with a version 1.6 which is a little harder to mod. You just have to solder a few more spots but I think it would be just a tad bit harder than if you were to get an older version 1.0-1.5.

 

[mitchafi]

A friend of mine modded his xbox with the xeniumICE solderless chip and really likes it, so i'm interested in doing the same. I do recall though that he said the chip will only work for certain versions of xbox. On xbox-scene I found this information:

"Compatible in v1.0-v1.6 version consoles (v1.6 requires some soldering)"

I don't want to solder, and I don't have the xbox yet either, so if I were to be using this chip what date would I need the xbox to be manufactured prior to in order for the chip to work without soldering. Also, are there any other solderless chips that are better than the XeniumICE? I want to be able to easily swap out the stock HDD for a bigger one as well as stream media from my PC to the xbox with xbox media player, so the chip must be able to do those things. Lastly, what are your opinions on preowned/refurbished xbox consoles from EB/Gamestop? I wouldn't mind saving $20-30 if possible.

 

[Kelemvor]

Just get a used one. I'm in the same boat. I bought a new one from BB to play with for a month before I take it back. I'll then be getting one from EBGames or something similar for their $120 or so price. You can get the approximate version just from the manufacture date on the box so print out that info from xbox-scene and take it with you when you buy one. Pretty much anything prior to a 1.6 will mod just fine.

And Slayers just came out with a new auto-setup disk a week or so ago which should make things pretty easy.

And you can check out the Xecuter solderless chip. 2.3b lite I think is the most popular. Cheaper but I don't know the specific differences.

 

[royaldank]

If you use the XeniumICE and use the harddrive wizard included, you might have problems running some games. There is a slight bug in the harddrive wizard that messes up the E partition information. This is easily solved with 2 simple raw FTP commands and takes 20 seconds to correct. I'd still recommend using the HD wizard since it copies everything over and sets up everything. Just remember you'll have to execture these two commands before all games will work properly.

1. "Formatpath \Device\Harddisk0\Partition1"
You will receive a [key] reply from the Xbox that will appear in your FTP client
2. "Formatdrive [key]" (obviously you?d enter the actual key that you received, not [key])