SUPERXBOX: 1+TB custom crystal slim-box - LOTS of pics

Hi mate i have some xboxes i want to use sata hard drives but dont want to make it a slim xbox http://www.dealextreme.com/p/sata-to-ide-hard-disk-mini-vertical-bridge-adapt...
But was rev 1.0 and does not work.
I would like to still use a dvd drive.

 

Hey, not following your question / concern...

Here's the latest:

Used my newly purchased file to get a perfectly square USB port cutout. I then proceded to use superglue the ports in.

Cut the front shielding to get more room for the LCD & Controller ports

Trimmed up the front plastic so i have room to mount the LCD controller board

 

You're getting somewhere now

I always wanted to mod one of those scrrens in one of my Xbox'es but never get around doing it....mostly because I never found a Hip Pad for a reasonable price whenver I wanted to work on it.

 

Another Brief update:

Spent lots of time filling and sanding the front panel. Time is key since the front is the focal point of the whole project




Decided to move the power / eject board since obviously it wont be going in the center (its where the LCD screen is going)



Extended the power eject board and swapped the functionality. Eject button is now power...



Front panel sanded



Second coat sanded down



Removed the main fan from molex adapter, I just soldered in the fan connector for a direct connection to the motherboard. This will allow for less wire clutter and more juice to the hard drives and just a better electrical situation



Soldered down the LAN and HDD LED wires for X3




To do this weekend:

-Install X3IR & infrared eye inside case

-Fill low spots on front panel

-Final fill & sand on custom HDD tray

-Mount front LCD protector screen to front panel

-Prime / Paint front panel

-Install PCB board

-Attempt #3 w/ no-dvd hardware hack

-Wire LCD screen and its respective switch.

Hopefully finish the damn thing!!!
At the latest, I hope to be finished by July 8th

 

You're tempting me to get an old Xbox with this project. Good work man. Keep it up! Still say "epic win"!

 

Thanks! Whats stopping you? You can get an xbox for less than 40$ to your door!

 

pftt! go to a swap meet and pick up 3 or 4 for $10 each! thats what i did last weekend and also picked up a 500gb hdd (sata), 400gb hdd (sata) an 80gb hdd (ide), and a 250gb hdd (ide) all working and for $5 each!

 

Wish there were more swap meets in Melbourne.

 

As promised:

X3 IR installed
Bodywork bodywork...

I installed the LCD protector screen which still has tape on it to protect it from scratches. I managed to spill a little bondo onto it so im not to happy about that. This front panel has already gotten 12+ hours of bodywork and you can see that its shape is really smooth and looks factory. I even had to lower the center of the panel which is the last part requiring bodywork. But the front panel is almost complete.



Look for the IR receiver!



Look for the IR receiver!



Bodywork!

 

Got some serious fabrication done today. Sorry again for the crappy cell phone pictures!

I ditched the DVD tray w/ bondo it was a mess and very fragile, not to mention it did not use the available space to its fullest potential. So I made this custom tray to hold all of the hardware.

I'm concerned about the tray being 1mm above the GPU...any input on this? I think i may cross-drill in some parts of the tray to allow for better airflow.





Prep for trimming


Had to trim the lid a little to make clearnace for the LCD screen


Testing the Tray w/ screw clearance...Thinking of doing a cross drilled pattern in the tray to aid in airflow. I suspect heat will be my biggest enemy since I have a ton of hardware crammed inside a smaller xbox.






Mockup...I may mount the Laptop HDD and LCD adjustment board upside down & underneath the tray instead of ontop (current setup)


Less than 1MM clearance between GPU and wooden tray, this is one concern i have...Will this be okay?





Nearing completion! I have also included a special video update in the bottom of my post

Only a few things need to be done prior to official completion

- Cross drill holes in custom tray for GPU ventillation
- Mount 2.5' HDD underneath custom tray
- Wetsand Front panel
- Wetsand front LCD screen protector to remove scratches
- Final paint on front panel
- Clean up wiring

Progress:

Wired up pin jumps (so Xbox boots w/o AV connections). The 2 blue wires are essentially pin jumps, but these two wires connect to a switch in the rear. This switch enables / disables the video signal to the LCD...Will also let me toggle HDTV support.



Added the video and video groung connections to the AV pins, they are VERY small and just a general pain in my ass.



Front panel primed, needs a wetsand since the surface still has scratches and uneven


And finally the super awesome video of first boot-up after hard wiring in the LCD !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfg01a7cAWQ&feature=plcp

 

Looking good!!

 

Awesome job! I had a lot of these mods done about five years ago. We put in a mod chip, a faster IDE cable (it actually makes a pretty big difference), 400 GB hard drive, and an optical TOSLINK output. We tried the RAM upgrade, but no go. Can't wait to see the final product, and I hope you have a lot of fun doing this

 

Nice Mod

 

So the project is 95% Complete! If you want a really clean & complete work log with all the photo's and captions check it out here: http://davidmuth.com/?page_id=50. It's pretty much from start to finish with more pictures than i posted in this thread.

I've also posted a video since all that remains is touch up / bodywork, and some fitment adjustments. Anyhow here are a few pics:











http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lO4yuvKQkw&feature=youtu.be

 

Holy shit this is cool.

Amazing work!
I tried working with bondo once. I learned from that that I am not a modding kind of person.

 

Wow, just wow that's amazing! Nice work man!

 

I finally did. Got one for $30 and spent another $250 for accessories and upgrades. When finished it will have Linux, a 320 GB HDD that's rated at ATA133, ATA133 80 wire cable, soft mod, IR receiver for power switch, USB hubs and ports, (not sure how I'm gonna rig those up yet), and an adapter for PS2 keyboard and mouse (will be using a custom mini keyboard and touch pad combo unit I found on eBay for $25 each). Will be doing more eventually but that's a good start methinks. Pictures to come once my junk arrives.

 

Thanks! This was my first time using bondo as well. It could have turned out better, but i just kept on applying and re-sanding until it looked right. You gotta keep on trying!

Very nice! I'm stoked to see someone else take up another project. It's very rewarding. USB ports are pretty easy actually. Check out these tutorials:

http://xbox-scene.com/articles/usb-port.php
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/~xbox/xbox-scene/tutorials/XBOX2PC_USB_Wiring_Guide.pdf

Feel free to reach out if you need any help on your project! Look forward to seeing the work-log

 

Nah it was what I planned on using it for that didn't work. A plastic filler putty was more like what I needed. Bondo was too much of a liquid, and I was looking for something like a plastic clay.