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

Xvid is still in use by the scene. There has been a shift to x264 for sd tv, but there are still rules for uploading in xvid

 

I mean the extension sorry, they use .MP4 now. For TV shows/series.

 

MP4 is x264 - like I said, its the way things are going (which is a good thing). But xvid can still be used, especially for movies.

 

i do the same with the fan, might do some kind of cooling upgrade if i do get a crystal one, i forgot all about silent scope, i vaguely remember it being in the stores now thinking back. i dont count starsky n hutch though

i was going to pick up HOTD 3 on xbox when i was in town the other day but decided not to as i've already got in in wii form and dont have an xbox gun

 

Man $300 US
I could have done that build for wayyy less without the softmod

 

40 gb in a modded Xbox sucks, you just look at it and its already half full.

Iirc you cant use a bigger than 137gb Hdd on a softmodded xbox, you need replacement bios to have support for larger drives and i dont think you can change bios without an actual mod chip.

Ive softmodded about 8 xbox and used 80 or 120gb hdd, all of the em worked, but i also used the Xbox hard drive compatibility chart, to make sure i had compatible drives.
http://xboxdrives.x-pec.com/?p=list

 

i have a 200gb drive in my xbox which is softmodded, im pretty sure its recognising more than 137 gb, although i might be wrong i'll go and check

oooh great now the piece of crap wont boot, the hdd was a bit dodgy anyway it'll fire up eventually if it knows whats good for it

 

Have you considered installing additional 64 MB of RAM and replacing your DVD drive with something decent like a modified 8163B?

 

I've got a 500Gb in mine and so far its not had any problems. Been a few years since I installed it but I remember researching at the time that if you use bigger than a certain size (say 200Gb) then you have to format/partition it a particular way with a particular cluster size otherwise the data gets corrupted towards the end. I think mine is about 300-350Gb full.

 

Using a Modchip is a way easier route, too bad you can't find Xexcuter 3's anymore. Best modchip ever.

 

I know the 40 GB sucks but I was getting pissed and just (quite literally...) slapped it in. So I need a replacement BIOS most likely huh? I think I have a tool somewhere to do that from the dash. No mod chip needed.

The Samsung SD-616T is the best option for that. I have one but need to troubleshoot it since it won't work right. As for the 128 MB upgrade, that's why I went with the 1.1 over the 1.6 despite the heat issues I'm having.

Didn't you see all this in the previous posts and video? Guess not. It's all there...

 

Evo X will let you flash a bios and will also let you back up your hdd key and eeprom, older xbox models have 1mb flash chip for the bios so you could have more than 1 bios theres tutorials on the web for this

edit for 2:20 am brainfart

 

TSOP flash if its not a 1.6 would work the same as a modchip if you need kinks hit me up

 

My Xbox is a 1.1 so it should have the 1MB TSOP. I may see about getting 2 or more BIOS files on there. 1 for VGA + larger HDD support + remove need for HDD locking. Another for Linux. And maybe 2 more for other shit I'll think up eventually...

While I like the idea of a mod chip to simplify things, I also like to have the least amount of crap possible cluttering up my Xbox. So if I can get away with no mod chip,then I have a system that looks original from outside, has less stuff to go wrong, and less clutter on inside. My ATA 133 IDE cable is like 4" shorter than original one. Tight fit but it works and games load at blazing speeds from HDD. Conker Live & Reloaded took like 15 seconds or longer to load levels from original disk on the shitty Thompson drive. Now they load in 3 or less.

The only real mod I want to do inside it is to ditch the PSU in favor of a DC to DC ATX model for PC to run off 12 volt DC. I just need to get the ATX adapter from somewhere or build the +5V SB to +3.3V SB adapter. Might be something out there I can use since the only REAL difference between Xbox PSU and PC in terms of voltage values is that standby line. ATX= 5V. Xbox= 3.3V.

I just did some Google searching and found this: http://www.ti.com/product/lm3940

It takes 5 volt and drops it to 3.3 volt. No heat sink needed and the output is a stable 3.3 volt at 1 amp. Think this will work to get my SB line to 3.3 volt? If more amps are needed just double or triple them up. Stupid simple to use. only need 2 capacitors, 5 volt supply, and ground to run and output 3.3 volt.

 

you could probably just use the original xbox connector by using a pinout to match he wires from the ATX psu, i'd also consider installing better cooling, especially if you do this as the new atx psu may generate more heat than the xbox's one fan can deal with

atx PSU's will put out 3.3v 5v and 12v

some info and a pinout

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX

 

Uh dude, you missed what I'm talking bout completely. I know the pin-out for ATX, I know the color codes and voltages. I was talking about the standby line that is powered even when the PSU is in an off state. That is what gives a PC and the Xbox the ability to power up from a simple switch on the motherboard. IT has a little power going to certain points even when powered down. Difference between Xbox and normal ATX is Xbox has a 3.3 volt standby line whereas ATX is 5 volt. Need to cut it down to use ATX in Xbox.

As for the cooling problem of ATX PSU, you must not know about how cool running and small DC to DC ATX PSU is. Allow me to show some pictures.
This thing is a 120 watt model that runs off of 12 volt DC.





I don't think this will be getting too hot.

 

aah i missunderstood what you were going for there lol. although better cooling is probably still worth it.

standard xbox fans are loud when working hard and also pretty old in most cases

 

Dat be true. My 1.1 fan is quit loud since I run it at 5x speed. Since they are standard 80mm units I can replace it easily enough. Got plenty of 12V units in my computer crap.

 

Fan will be one of the first things to do if I end up requesting mod service. Not that it matters for someone who doesn't particularly enjoy the Xbox.

 

Hmm, nice to know you can flash Xbox bios without modchip, I may use this knowledge in the future.