Xbox 360 hard drive

[KentState]

I recently ran out of space on my 20GB drive and have been looking for a 120GB replacement. I noticed that Amazon, Newegg, and even Gamestop doesn't have them available at this time. Is MS getting rid of the inventory before bringing out the 250GB or is demand really high?

 

[gorcorps]

It's not even listed on best buy's website anymore. Odd... guess they might be done for.

 

[Queasy]

They just announced that the 250GB HDD was going to be released in Japan soon so I would expect it to be released here soon too.

 

[mindcycle]

Grab a WD drive formatted for the 360. It's cheaper and works just as good.

You can find them preinstalled in a case on ebay for around $60-$80 depending on who you get it from. Search for: WD1200BEVS

 

[AstroManLuca]

I got a 120 GB drive from eBay for around $70. Works great. Two caveats, though:

1. In order to transfer all your data properly, you'll need a transfer cable. You can get one for $8 or something from Microsoft. Do NOT buy one from eBay; I made that mistake and it was not the official MS cable and did not come with the data CD that is required to make it work. I just called Xbox Live Support and they were able to help me.

2. I didn't find this out until a couple weeks ago when I got a couple of original Xbox games, but the new drive I got doesn't have backwards compatibility. It might be possible to add BC support, but the guides I came across were a bit complex and required even more gear I didn't have. Turns out it works just fine if you just swap out the new hard drive for your original one when you want to play an older Xbox game. So hold onto your old drive if you go the eBay route.

 

[DaveSimmons]

^ 2. is because it's not really an MS drive. Besides the loss of BC there's also a chance your console will be banned at some point.

KentState you might want to just clean stuff off of the 20 GB for now until you see what the price is on the 250GB. Now that Sony is competing better against the 360 in the US there's always a chance MS will price it reasonably, though they are still charging $100 for a $15 wifi adapter.

 

[mindcycle]

^ 2. is because it's not really an MS drive. Besides the loss of BC there's also a chance your console will be banned at some point.

Wrong. No one has ever been banned for using a WD drive. I've used my WD drive for over a year now and connect to live every time I play my 360.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You're claiming to know with 100% certainty MS will never be able to detect these drives and ban the owners like they did recently for other mods?

It's true they haven't banned anyone for replacement HDs yet but the risk is there.

Edit: it's also possible they'll just lock out the HD and make it useless like they did with unlicensed memory units, which is less serious but still something to consider when deciding between a real MS drive or a cheaper eBay special.

 

[mindcycle]

You're claiming to know with 100% certainty MS will never be able to detect these drives and ban the owners like they did recently for other mods?

It's true they haven't banned anyone for replacement HDs yet but the risk is there.

Edit: it's also possible they'll just lock out the HD and make it useless like they did with unlicensed memory units, which is less serious but still something to consider when deciding between a real MS drive or a cheaper eBay special.

The WD1200BEVS uses the same IO interface and cylinder design as the proprietary 360 120G hard drive. The firmware from an official HD is used to replace the firmware in the WD HD which then reads as an exact replica of the original. Could M$ detect an unofficial drive? Possibly.. but people have been using the WD drives for years without a single documented case of someone being banned from it, so i'd say there's a good chance they can't actually detect it or they simply don't care.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/150970/upgrade_your_xbox_360s_hard_drive_on_the_cheap.html

 

[erwos]

Edit: it's also possible they'll just lock out the HD and make it useless like they did with unlicensed memory units, which is less serious but still something to consider when deciding between a real MS drive or a cheaper eBay special.

IMHO, this is the more likely scenario.

 

[KentState]

They just announced that the 250GB HDD was going to be released in Japan soon so I would expect it to be released here soon too.

I was hoping that was the case. I can get by for a little longer until the 250GB HDD is released here.

 

[mindcycle]

IMHO, this is the more likely scenario.

Considering the fact that people have been using WD drives on their 360's for what.. around 3 years or so now, i'd say it's not likely at all.

 

[gorcorps]

Considering the fact that people have been using WD drives on their 360's for what.. around 3 years or so now, i'd say it's not likely at all.

Considering the explosion of reports over the last several months of peoples hacked hard drives locked out, I say it's very likely. Gaming forums everywhere have had a swell in reports. MS has really cracked down on it, and while they may not get everybody it's no longer worth the trouble.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Well I'll let you guys know if my eBay hard drive stops working. Hopefully mindcycle is right.

 

[mindcycle]

Considering the explosion of reports over the last several months of peoples hacked hard drives locked out, I say it's very likely. Gaming forums everywhere have had a swell in reports. MS has really cracked down on it, and while they may not get everybody it's no longer worth the trouble.

I think you're confusing the actual situation. If you are running hacked firmware on the console itself (not the HD) and are banned from live, M$ sends an update to your Xbox 360 that "corrupts" the data on your HD. Essentially locks it down so that it can't be used on any other console than the one it's currently locked to until you format it. They also take away the ability to load games to the HD on the banned machine. This only affects the banned console though and they aren't banning people over hard drives, only for detected hacked firmware on the DVD drive. You can format the HD on the banned console and use it in an unbanned machine and it will work just fine.