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

Still have to softmod it first. Glad I have the gear in spades.

 

That PSU is called a PicoPSU - hence the confusion, you werent calling it by its name.

You also dont need to softmod a xbox before flashing - you can get the game exploits to boot directly into raincoat to flash.

 

Haha, sonic- I have a feeling this XBOX of your's is about to get a lot more badass. :]

 

^ If I get the money I need that is. Hopefully sooner than later...

 

Why does everyone seem to want to recommend mod chips for the original Xbox? Unless you're working on a v1.6 box or need to repair a system with a bad BIOS flash, there are very few reasons to bother with a mod chip. It's a waste of money (and effort) to buy one for the vast majority of users.

There is also no reason (unless you're lazy) to bother with a soft mod.

The smart (and elegant) thing to do is simply reflash the onboard BIOS chip with the BIOS file of your choice. This isn't a new thing, people have been doing it for a decade now.

If you want a multi-BIOS setup, then get an older system with a larger capacity TSOP.

Install XBMC. Use a smartphone w/WiFi and a web browser as a remote on your local network. You can use it without even turning on the TV.

No, XVID is nothing like you say. Your DVD is probably a pirate copy that was burned from a file that was downloaded via a torrent years ago. The "title" you're seeing was probably put in by default by the DVD burning software. It would have just used the name of the original source file if the person who burned it didn't specify something else.

In summary:

Modchip = waste of money (unless you want to mod a 1.6 box)
Softmod = waste of time
TSOP flash = smart way to go

1) Configure the system for the TSOP flash.
2) Load exploit and flash your BIOS.
3) Load XMBC.
4) Enjoy your new media box.

 

It's what ever tools and knowledge people have. TSOP requires soldering if I'm not mistaken.

 

Yes but its a easy soldering job.

 

If you want it to be permanent, then yes, you'll want to solder.

If it doesn't need to be permanent, then you can use a conductive pen to draw the lines, or if you have a steady hand, just short the necessary connections while flashing. I knew quite a few people who did that simply because it was the fastest way to get it done.

I know modchip sellers want to push their products, but the TSOP flash is extremely well documented. Even if you assume soldering is involved, a beginner could very likely solder the necessary TSOP write points and get it reflashed more quickly than they could install a mod chip (solder or solderless). It's also an extremely reliable solution that's never going to come loose (which is great if you want on using the system somewhere that's portable, like mounted in a car) and it gives you full flexibility in case you wanted to do something like boot w/o the DVD drive installed. Honestly, even if you purchase a system with a chip pre-installed, you're probably better off removing the chip and just flashing the TSOP instead. Less complexity in a system is always more reliable.

Yes, there are a small number of cases where a modchip is useful, but most people looking to mod an original Xbox today are not going to fall into one of those situations.

 

I can solder and will go the TSOP flash method since I have a 1.1 with the 1MB chip. May even go quad BIOS with the switch system for selection. Still plan to figure out the DVD drive issues and get that working as well as install a larger HDD. Much larger than the 320GB unit I originally planned. Other junk won't be happening. I want to keep it original looking. MAy go XBMC or keep my current Unleash X dash since it does everything I need ATM. Not sure yet...

I just need to get off my lazy ass and get on it.

But then again I'm having so much fun with a few games ATM...

 

I've searched it up and found out it's pretty simple to do. I might actually do this to my 1.1, if I can't find a replacement power supply for my 1.6.

 

I'd still rather softmod. Takes 5 mins to put a game in, load the savefile exploit and click a few buttons.

 

I'd rather pay someone to do everything right. I pretty much said before if cash won't convince someone to take up a mod, I probably don't need it.

 

My XBox is modded with a mod chip, I bought the XBox (in 2003, I think) and paid the shop to fit it with a mod chip, that was switchable, in case any games was written to detect it and refuse to run. As it turned out, only XBox Live! would detect the mod chip and act on it, when a game ran offline it never cared if a mod chip was present or not. And since the XBox used standard E-IDE drives, it's as simple as a PC to physically upgrade the hard drive, but unlike a PC you can only have one hard drive, and you need to unlock/lock it (which not all E-IDE drives support, I've heard, though the ones I've put in various XBoxes all worked off the shelf), and be able to boot up the unofficial XBox utilities disc (I use Slayers now) to format the HD and put the XBox OS on it.You can run any XBox game from the (modded) XBox's hard drive, and all emulator and roms, homebrew (including ports of games like Doom 1 and 2, Quake 1, 2 and 3, Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Alien vs. Predator, Cave Story, etc, and all music/video files from the hard drive (or DVD) via XBMC.

A modded Xbox really is fantastic, and is my second favourite console after the N64. When you install an unofficial dashboard (I use Evo-X) everything is menu drive, and apart from turning the XBox on (via the front power button) you never need touch the XBox again, as you can load everything from the hard drive, press Left Trigger + Right Trigger + BACK + START to reset the XBox back to the dashboard (to reselect anything to load), and even turn off the XBox from the dashboard.Alright, so even a very cheap PC is now much more powerful than an XBox, but the XBox is easy to use, cheap, has great games, and for those of us who love convenience and gadgets, it's great to use. Very reliable too, the only thing that's gone on me was the DVD drive (which sadly is NOT a standard IDE drive...), but finding a replacement (ebay, I think) and fitting it was very easy, and since I run everything from the hard drive, the only wear and tear on the DVD drive is when I'm installing something, which is very rare now since everything I want on the HD is on there already.BTW, one thing to beware of, is that the USB is only 1.1, so it will be very slow for transferring datd to/from the XBox/PC - I use FTP which is much faster.

 

I have two XBOX consoles (1.0 and 1.1) and both have been TSOP flashed.

To achieve it I used the dash 4920 audio exploit to boot a rebooter which in turn loads some hacked BFM BIOS.

To put the exploit on the harddrive I dumped the MB eeprom using an I2C eeprom reader.

I unlocked the harddrive, put the files in then locked it again. jumpered the lines to enable flashing and used evox dash to flash.


"Easy peasy".

 

New update guys. I have had a Logitech 5.1 sound system sitting on my floor for about 2 months now. Finally decided it's time to get that puppy hooked to my box.

New stuff on order:

Xbox Advanced HD A/V pack: NIB $18 shipped

SPDIF and USD to analog 5.1 adapter: $12 shipped (Some cheap Chinese item. Hope it works OK...)

SPDIF cable 1.5 foot long: $1.65 shipped

Now I will be able to enjoy my DVD movies and games in Dolby surround sound.

...with mega bass too thanks to the massive subwoofer...

 

Hey people. Long time since I updated this thread. Been busy with life and such. But I have been messing with the Xbox off and on over the months. Got quite a bit accomplished on it. I'll just give a rundown on what I've done to it.

After searching high and low I finally figured my revision is a 1.2
It had a dead Samsung SG605B in it that refused to work even after adjusting the laser pots. I have since fixed it. See here for details.
My 320GB HDD I planned to use has since died sometime in storage. Still using the 40GB drive until I get a working SATA to IDE adapter for my newly bought 750GB drive.
I have TSOP flashed it with the IND-BIOS 5003. It is customised to look as close as possible to the stock BIOS in the boot animation for a sleeper look I plan to give the console.
I have a Xecuter 2.6CE modchip installed for alternate BIOS (Xecuter 5035) if I ever run into problems with the IND-BIOS.
Dash is still the same.
Waiting on some RAM chips to arrive for a 128MB upgrade for debug .xbe stuff and Virtua Cop 3. Both the IND-BIOS 5003 and Xecuter 5035 support 128MB so it's ready for the upgrade.
Need to see if there is a skin available for UnleashX that makes it look like the stock MS dash minus the extra options.

That's all for now. I'll try to keep you all updated with other mods as I do them.

 

Nice, look forward to seeing how the RAM upgrade goes. Take some pics during the process if you can.

 

I'll do you even better. I'm going to video the whole thing and put it up on YouTube. I can upload videos longer than 15 minutes so it might be rather lengthy.

In other news I've put the hybrid SG605B/ SD616T drive I made to the ultimate test by ripping several games to the HDD. No problems at all. It ripped all 5 games I threw at it. The closest thing I had to a problem was with my Shadow the Hedgehog disk. The disk I got was scratched pretty badly and is still a bit scratched even after having it resurfaced. The old Phillips drive I had in the box before wouldn't rip it and gameplay would stutter in certain levels due to the disk damage when I played from the game disk. The Samsung drive ripped it just fine but a few of the voice clips are missing. Not a problem for me since I find them annoying anyways. I read the text at the bottom more than listening to the character say it.

 

News flash. My RAM upgrade failed for some odd reason. Usually when it fails the console will FRAG but mine didn't. It continued to flash red and orange. I redid the solder connections 3 times with same result. So that board is getting thrown aside in favor of a 1.4 board someone in Germany did for me.

New system specs with what I have or have on order and plans:

1.4 board with 128MB RAM.
Samsung SG605B DVD drive with SD616T laser guts. (Testing showed the drive to be really damned fast compared to numbers done by others with the original laser sled.)
Seagate 2TB solid state hybrid drive. (Think it will make the console boot to the dash real fast once it caches the C drive to the 8GB of flash memory.)
ATA133 cable with known working SATA to IDE adapter. (Also rated to ATA133.)
Coolaboratory Liquid MetalPAd thermal padding for CPU, GPU, and anything else I can think of. (Currently the 3rd best thermal solution for PC heatsinks in the world right now.)
TSOP flash IND-BIOS 5003 configured to look like stock Microsoft.
THC dashboard again to look like stock Microsoft.
No XBMC. I tried it and hated it right away...
XDSL for true PC on Xbox. (Yay?)
Plenty of emulators for old consoles and games as well as tools and applications to do many things.
No case mods or modchip at all.
Will have LEDs for HDD access, DVD access, LAN, etc.
May go with a LCD for system status from the LPC port if I can find one of those things.
Component cable with 5.1 surround sound in both a big system and some true 5.1 headphones. (Need to get a second set on order since the first ones stay on the PC now...)

The name of the game at this point is to go for a "sleeper" look. Anyone who mods cars will know about this. Car comes up, looks stock or like a piece of crap, races, whips your ass into next week. Same thing with this box. For the unassuming who doesn't know much about Xbox mods but has messed with one will think it is completely stock until they start to look around the menus. I do have a light gun and my TV is CRT so I'm going to blast some bad guys in Virtual Cop 3 once I get the system together.

 

Do you know why some systems don't take the ram upgrades? And what ram is compatible with the xbox?