The Xbox, mods changing HDD etc etc..

perry · Post by **perry** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 6:52 pm

How hard is it to chip a 'box. bare in mind I've yet to even see the inside of one. I need a chip firstly, Iw as hoping to get a wireless one...are they easy to install...Can I then add the correct dash, whichever it may be, and do a HDD swap ? How hard is the HDD swap ? What do I need to do to the drive ? Im guessing it needs naming the same the the Xbox original one etc. Does the 'box use a differant file-format...so many questions...tell me everything you know about the inside of an Xbox..

Jeeba Jabba · Post by **Jeeba Jabba** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 7:06 pm

You don't need a chip

EDIT: And..moved.

Covar · Post by **Covar** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 7:10 pm

they could answer your questions better over in the hardware mod forum, but from what i've heard on the hardware side its like changing a hdd on a PC (easy).
On the software sides I don't remember exactly but there are plenty of guides out there on doing this sort of thing(techTV) just google it.

hearld500 · Post by **hearld500** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 8:17 pm

I take it you didnt watch the programs on TECH Tv about 2 weeks ago, you might want to check out their site. The had a whole weeks show devoted to xbox mods.

syphon00 · Post by **syphon00** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 9:31 pm

alrighty...yep...techtv.com..somewhere in there it has something about modding Xbox. Its cool, I dont like Xbox much, but knowing of its hardware specifications and how to h4x0r it makes it fun. I know for the hard drive swap you have to first copy the partition from the Xbox Hard Drive. Well lets take a step backwards, shall'st we? There are 2 partitions on the Xbox Hard Drive. One with the neccesary files to boot up (like any computer), those are crucial, you have to transfer those to your hard drive, then there is another partition the rest of the size of the 7Gb or so hard drive where you save game files, music and other such non-sensical thingys. Then you have to lock the hard drive. Not sure how to do that, find that techtv article or just search it on yahoo or whatever search engine. I have heard only the Maxtor hard drives are the most compatible if you want to do this. People say that if you mod your Xbox, if you go on Xbox Live, you'll be banned for life. My noob friend believes that when if you copy over that Xbox Boot Partition correctly and lock the hard drive and such (search engine more info), you wont have a problem at all and will be able to sucessfully have more than 7Gb. Don't know why you'd need more than that...I suppose if you have a lot of music or use your Xbox for Internet. OH also...there is another thing from that TechTV story..you can copy any Xbox game onto your hard drive. THATS why a bigger HD would be good, it not only reads faster, it also makes back-ups of your current games (or what will BECOME your games; IE: Blockbuster Rentals, muwhahah!) I mean...yep...read more about it.

Agent21KGB · Post by **Agent21KGB** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 2:17 am

Lets see here a 29f040 is about 7.50 shipped from this llama dude (really fast). LPC progger about $11 in parts shipped from mouser.com. Bios easily found on usenet many colors of the rainbow. Satisfaction of doing the way easy solder mods on the xbox by yourself......as always priceless. And final points 1. you can have the box with a dual bioses so MS can do nothing to you and 2. xbox can only handle up to a 140 GB hard drive.

perry · Post by **perry** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 11:12 am

It's up to a 138Gig

.

I didn't knwo I could mod the HD without chipping it. Ima go look for some tutorials now. I may also chip it though, for the sake of the game ripping...Not sure yet. How much as a mod-chip, with the Non-Solder addon, roughly ?

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 11:59 am

There is one called apple and theres a new vrsion which only requires one wire!! Its only $20

but it'll probably be outa date tomorrow

perry · Post by **perry** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 5:49 pm

mattthemodder wrote:There is one called apple and theres a new vrsion which only requires one wire!! Its only $20 but it'll probably be outa date tomorrow

Yeah but I don't wanna solder really. That's why I wanted a wireless one. I've never installed any chips before so I wanna make this as easy as poss.

Agent21KGB · Post by **Agent21KGB** » Thu May 01, 2003 1:46 am

I am telling you chipping the xbox is ultra easy. 9 points. If you have a v1 that points are ready to go. The D0 is a little hard. If you want good info go to xboxhacker.net theyare the people to consult on the whole 007 deal but really a good chip is a soldered chip the ps2 solderless wreck the ps2 and I think the xbox solderless get very picky.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Thu May 01, 2003 10:59 am

I think that apple thing will be the easier, the one wire to solder isn't on a chip or anything.
But if you really wanna pay $30 to get it done by some guy then I know a URL

BlackAura · Post by **BlackAura** » Thu May 01, 2003 11:21 am

Doesn't that one-wire thing actually replace the MS BIOS, instead of having a second one? If I remember correctly, it allows you to re-flash the original BIOS chip with your own software. That would kill any chances you have of using Xbox Live.

The best thing would be to have a second BIOS chip, containing the hacked/replacement BIOS, and have the ability to switch between them. That way, you can run whatever you like, but if you want to use Live, or you find a game that detects modified 'boxes, you can just switch back to the old BIOS. And a bigger hard drive would be useful too.

perry · Post by **perry** » Thu May 01, 2003 5:53 pm

BlackAura wrote:Doesn't that one-wire thing actually replace the MS BIOS, instead of having a second one? If I remember correctly, it allows you to re-flash the original BIOS chip with your own software. That would kill any chances you have of using Xbox Live.

The best thing would be to have a second BIOS chip, containing the hacked/replacement BIOS, and have the ability to switch between them. That way, you can run whatever you like, but if you want to use Live, or you find a game that detects modified 'boxes, you can just switch back to the old BIOS. And a bigger hard drive would be useful too.

There we go. How hard would a switch be to install. I guess that wouldn't be difficult, im just bothered about ballsing up the 'Box that's all. A switch would be sweet, along with big HD and EASY to install chip. Exactly what chip should I go for then ?

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Fri May 02, 2003 11:08 am

Well the connections should be easy and with a bit of common sense you could work out how to do it for a chip that dosen't have switch contacts......The second decision you will have to make will be.................Do you want to drill a hole in the xbox case or mount it behind a vent so you can stick something in there to switch it or last but not least have the wires coming out of a vent to the switch you'd need to put a knot in it so it won't snap but to be honest I can still see it snapping

az_bont · Post by **az_bont** » Fri May 02, 2003 11:26 am

perry2175 wrote:
BlackAura wrote:Doesn't that one-wire thing actually replace the MS BIOS, instead of having a second one? If I remember correctly, it allows you to re-flash the original BIOS chip with your own software. That would kill any chances you have of using Xbox Live.

The best thing would be to have a second BIOS chip, containing the hacked/replacement BIOS, and have the ability to switch between them. That way, you can run whatever you like, but if you want to use Live, or you find a game that detects modified 'boxes, you can just switch back to the old BIOS. And a bigger hard drive would be useful too.
There we go. How hard would a switch be to install. I guess that wouldn't be difficult, im just bothered about ballsing up the 'Box that's all. A switch would be sweet, along with big HD and EASY to install chip. Exactly what chip should I go for then ?

You know perry, I can give you a link to the site where I got my chipped Xbox from - they'll collect the Xbox from your house, fit it with a chip with an EvolutionX Dashboard, and install a Live switch-chip for ?75, then deliver it back to your door for ?75.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Fri May 02, 2003 12:21 pm

That isn't that bad really

riva16 · Post by **riva16** » Fri May 02, 2003 3:42 pm

I like TechTV. I still haven't seen Yoshi's new computer game system dealy.

perry · Post by **perry** » Fri May 02, 2003 7:04 pm

az_bont wrote:
perry2175 wrote:
BlackAura wrote:Doesn't that one-wire thing actually replace the MS BIOS, instead of having a second one? If I remember correctly, it allows you to re-flash the original BIOS chip with your own software. That would kill any chances you have of using Xbox Live.

The best thing would be to have a second BIOS chip, containing the hacked/replacement BIOS, and have the ability to switch between them. That way, you can run whatever you like, but if you want to use Live, or you find a game that detects modified 'boxes, you can just switch back to the old BIOS. And a bigger hard drive would be useful too.
There we go. How hard would a switch be to install. I guess that wouldn't be difficult, im just bothered about ballsing up the 'Box that's all. A switch would be sweet, along with big HD and EASY to install chip. Exactly what chip should I go for then ?
You know perry, I can give you a link to the site where I got my chipped Xbox from - they'll collect the Xbox from your house, fit it with a chip with an EvolutionX Dashboard, and install a Live switch-chip for ?75, then deliver it back to your door for ?75.

Thats seems my best option!

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Sat May 03, 2003 3:42 am

Yoshi's new computer game system dealy.

Its great I downloaded it, not cheap but it looks really good

Gmc · Post by **Gmc** » Sat May 03, 2003 9:23 am

Go for the matrix modchip. Its no-solder and you can turn it off for when you want to use Xbox Live.