My attempt at making a cool useful and fun original Xbox system.

OK people. I have been wanting an original Xbox system for like 2 years now. A little info on my ways first off. I typically only go after gaming systems that are around 10 years or older in age from release. The original Xbox was released 2001 so it fits my criteria. That and I liked the original "Conker's Bad Fur Day" for the N64 so much that I just had to play the Microsoft "Conker: Live and Reloaded" version. Not to mention all the other cool stuff an original Xbox can do.

Here's a list of my plans:
Original Xbox system.
Soft mod.
USB ports.
Linux.
XBMC.
Larger faster HDD.
many emulators for older systems and full ROM sets.
My favorite Nintendo game: "Conker's Bad Fur Day" as well as the Xbox "Conker: Live and Reloaded" edition.

So to that extent, I have got this stuff solely for the Xbox:
320 GB IDE/ATA 133 HDD
ATA/IDE 133 80 wire cable.
3 quad port USB adapters.
A 4 and 8 GB USB flash drive.
2 controllers.
Game Shark.
PS2 keyboard and mouse to Xbox port adapter with a memory card slot.
2 custom made mini keyboard/ touch pad mouse combination keyboards with PS2 plugs. (1 for Xbox, other for keeping on hand.)
DVD remote.
Component cable.
Xbox port to USB port cable. (To make the soft mod exploit a little easier if I use a USB drive for it.)
Xbox link up cable 2 pack for console to console and console to network.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell game for the soft mod exploit.
And lastly, an original Xbox system.

Total cost of everything: close to if not over $300 USD.

I think most of you get what's going on with all this stuff so I'll keep it short and sweet.

Soft mod for loading of all that unsigned code up using the "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell" method.
Larger HDD for obvious reasons.
replacement HDD and DVD cable for faster access of HDD.
Keyboard, mouse, and adapter for use with Linux. (Turn this thing into a good little PC.)
Network cables for obvious reasons.
Gameshark for the soft mod to make it easier.
USB stuff for larger memory cards from USB drives and other USB items.
DVD remote for movies and music.
XBMC for the obvious reason.
Component cable for best possible video since my set has it for 480I video.

Here's a picture of what I got today:



IDE cable, 1 of the controllers, DVD remote, and CONKER! YAAA!

More updates to come as more junk shows up and I can get started.

EDIT: Now that you know what I have planned, got a good name for the system in mind? Do share.

 

That is one mammoth of a project! I'd call it The Ultimate Xbox, or something alluding to it's mutation. Are you going to customize the case, too?

 

I don't think you need al that stuff.
Me personally I have 2 XBOX1 with DuoX2 GS. I have a 1.0 motherboard (the only one that Linux for xbox fully supports due to a fairly documented video encoder) and a 1.4 (still well supported but not as much as 1.0/1.1), try to avoid 1.6 if Linux is your goal, it works but then again limited video modes.

You don't need much in the way of USB things, one adapter XBOX to USB is more than enough as you can then plug in a hub and you're good to go as Linux works just fine in that config. The only issue was booting thru cromwell, it had issue with the hub, but with a long cable it's easy to plug the mouse, click, unplug and plug the hub and linux would recognize mouse keyboard and whatnot is attached to the hub.
I didn't care about the 80PIN IDE cable as the difference was minimal. I didn't care either for gigantic harddrives as I didn't need tons of games available all the time.

I spent around 35$ per XBOX + 15$ each for the Duo X2 GS (I did my own soldering of course). The hardrrives were old 80GB so no sweat there aither (15$ each or so). I also made sure my XBOX had Samsung DVD reader or better but I really never had much of an issue anyway. Most of the dashboards come with FTP so having big hardrives is not that important and you can RIP your games thru the dashboards and the XBOX hack tools.

I think you can achieve most of what you want to do with less than 100$ and be fairly happy.

BTW Linux on XBOX is more for the bragging right than anything else. In the end it's a pentium 3, so no fancy CPU, and with only 64MB of RAM good luck surfing the web. XBMC is not bad but the CPU/GPU is not powerful enough for modern HD videos so not much of a point in spending your hard earned cash there.

Emulation is not bad at all but then again the real hardware is better although it requires more resources and space and time but at least no weird emu issues. Again it's worth a try but I woulnd't use it to replace real consoles.

My suggestion is keep it simple and cheap and you'll enjoy, remember that 300$ can buy you 10+ raspberry PI and build your own private 10 nodes networked mini cluster .... and that is probably more fun.

 

I like that name. I'll call it that. "Project: Ultimate Easy Xbox". The "Easy" because most of the mods will be simple and "bolt on". As for case customization, best I may do will be a decal kit and possibly LED lights in the top logo and controller ports.

Where to start...

The USB is for support of many devices since I will be swapping out files and software quite often so having a few ports on hand will make my life easier. Easier than doing everything through FTP. No Cromwell BIOS here. Just good old fashioned soft mod. Remember that my hub is PS2 and not USB for my keyboard/ mouse setup. Maybe that will make support easier. I like my access times to be as fast as possible so having the faster cable and HDD even if I just save a few milliseconds will make me happy. I need the larger size for all those games and what not I plan to have put on it.

I know Linux will be rather slow but for simple things it should work for me. I'm one of those guys who go with the thinking "the more PCs I have running, the better". So Xbox Linux will help me there by having another backup machine if everything else craps out and my network goes down. I don't care about HD video anyways. regular 480I works for me.

As for the emulators, my thought there is to have as many machines in one as possible so with the number of good ones available for the Xbox I can simplify my setup and save the other real consoles for my collection. Not to mention it is easier than sorting out all the cables and what not to get then all hooked up and running.

I know I could have saved lotsa money with this, but I wanted a good multipurpose machine and all these items should fit into what I will be using the system for. Not sure as to what revision machine I'm getting since it is still in transit. It should suffice for me as long as it is revision 1.5 or older. The DVD drive, not gonna sweat it unless it is a constant problem.

And finally, CONKER!!! The main reason for getting the Xbox in the first place. Now I need to get a Live headset to play it with the software for playing "Live" games online against other people since the original Xbox Live went belly up mid 2010.

 

@phoenixdownita wheres the creativity? No big hard drives? Cromwell BIOS? No creativity = no bragging rights

sonicdude10 if i were you I'd go nuts with the LED's, thats rather inexpensive but you can light your Xbox up like a christmas tree Either way, looking forward to this project.

 

Think I will do just that. Go extreme with some RGB LEDs, an Arduino for control, and have it plugged into the 'box so I can control then when running Linux. The Arduino RGB idea is a pretty big MAYBE. But LEDs are a definate go for launch. May even pick up a clear case just for that.

 

Hard mod allows for far more interesting things to happen. Soft mods are a cop out.

 

Care to explain a little more? Many guides I've read said that with how far the soft mod has come, it can do virtually everything a hard mod would.

 

Hard mods make it extremely easy to upgrade the HDD and boot from install disks like XBMC. It also comes in serious help if you happen to wipe your HDD on the xbox (I would know)

Plus there's all the cool little features like front mounted LCD's that display system info.

 

Hmmmmm...

Tempting. I'll have to sleep on it.

New updates on plans:
Gonna use a clear case. Specifically this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/31032411864...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_1797wt_1163

Also a decal kit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/33075194304...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_4260wt_1397

Also gonna use a crap load of UV LEDs everywhere. UV LEDs are really just black light LEDs.

 

You know it might be worthwhile checking around locally for a premodded system.
I got a crystal edition xbox, hard modded with a 250GB HDD, XBMC and a ton of games installed, etc etc for $27. Plus I like the crystal edition case because it's "kinda" clear- more like a crystal than a sheet of glass.

 

I can guarantee that there won't be a premodded system around where I live. And no hope at getting one from the big city I go visit once a month. Too busy with getting the monthly supplies to do anything like that. Besides, half the fun of a cool device like this is the joys and tribulations of building it yourself. Makes it more meaningful than a cheap one with all the mods done already. And who's to say it will be modded the way you want it to be anyways?

 

I got lucky

Non-the-less, good luck! I'd like to see this turn out!

 

Steer clear from GhostCase.

 

Care to tell me why?

 

Ahh i remember these days....

Softmodded my xbox and rebuilt the hard drive from scratch, still one of my favorite modded systems. Good luck!

 

Ghost cases, if they are what I think he is talking about, are cheap, brittle, and overall, pieces of crap. They are the cheapest of materials and won't hold up to any sort of use

 

Thanks for the info. With that said, got any recommendations for a good clear case anyone?

 

Not to mention they are so cheap, you don't even get a bottom portion of the case. All you get is the lid and front panel lol. If your looking for cases XCM is the only alternative, and they are very high quality. Or you can always paint your console

 

Thanks man. Reason for replacement case is because I want it clear for my black light LED setup I plan to build at some point. Also plan to paint the inside of casing a translucent black. Maybe add a few green LED and green paint into the mix to keep it original colors but more futuristic looking.