Upgrading the X-box and tapping into its true power...
 

I just got a X-box, 50 bucks used, about 2 weeks ago. My co-worker started having some disc read error problems and heard they would get worse, so he bought a second one a long time ago and had this one just sitting around.

So far its been great, we got one error on the second night and that was it for awhile...until we rented Fable that is. Now I am getting pissed off and I went in search of way to fix it.

It turns out that part of my problem may be because of the drive in my X-box. I have a Thompson drive and they are notorious for screwing up. If you don't know which one you have look at this picture below:

http://s87573135.onlinehome.us/xboxdvddrives.jpg

So I Called Microsoft, they said they would take care of just about anything for 79.99. Sounds good, but a little on the expensive side if you ask me. So I started digging deeper. At this point I found a great article on Tech TV:

Linky to article

This shows you how you can mod your X-box and not only for playing burned games. It pretty much turns your x-box into a computer. It also allows you to install a new hardrive so that you can save games to it and play them directly off the harddrive.

To my main point, there is also a way to install a new DVD drive that will basically elminate load times and disc read errors.

The best source for information I have found on the above is at:

X-box scene

To mod my x-box and get a new hardrive I am looking at about the same price I would be paying (most likely more) to have MS fix it, but by doing it this way I can practically turn my X-box into a seond computer.

Either way, I thought a few people out there who are in the same boat as me may find this interesting and educational. Still debating on doing it, I may just order one of these instead:

Link

http://www.divineo.com/divineo/image...ts/xb-616t.jpg

"Get the ultimate DVD drive for your Xbox! Even if your original Xbox drive is working today, it will fail as all the others do! Slow game loading and freezing is a common problem on the Xbox console. However, we got a limited quantity of the best drive on the market to solve this problem. Our replacement Samsung SD-616 drive is the best upgrade DVD drive! This modified Samsung drive reads games at 16X and support CD/DVD-R -RW. We did custom mods to make sure that you get the best drive and that you can install it in 5 minutes!
 the drive work like an original XBOX Drive. Nothing else is required (not a chip, nothing)."

Main problem with the above is that it costs 124.99, not including S&H :crazy:

I plan on calling MS to get an exact price on having it fixed, including S&H. I'm still not really sure of which route to take, but some of the features of modding are drawing me to the darkside.

My brother did this with his. He rents games with Gamefly and copies them to this Xbox HD and now has something like 100 games on there. I'll probably do the same when I get mine.

No XBox Live when you do that. At least for Halo 2.

I don't even use the dvdrom drive on my xbox anymore. Order yourself an Xecuter chip, install a new hard drive (around 120gb), and download the latest dashboard (Evolution-X is the one I run) to run the games straight off your new hard drive and you're set.

Everything you need to know is here:

Makers of the chips- http://teamxecuter.com/index.php?name=FAQ&id_cat=5
Dashboard - http://www.evolutionx.info/
Installing your games - http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/i...apps-to-hd.php or http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/evoguide2.php

..and be sure to read up on the xbox-scene.com forums and their tutorials.

It's well worth the time and money to mod your xbox. Probably the best part though is that you can install emulators onto the hard drive to play NES, SNES, Genesis, Arcade, Neo-Geo, ... just about any older system you can think of. You just need to find the ROMS on the web, which isn't difficult.

At this point I have about 30 Xbox games, the complete set of NES and SNES games, and I'm working on the entire Arcade or "MAME" collection. All on a 200 gig hard drive (and it isn't even half full.) Like I said, it's well worth it. Just make sure you have plenty of free time.

There is a special switch when you put the mod chip in. It shuts off the mod chip and MS can't detect it. So just flick the switch when you want to play online :thumbsup:

As I understand it, when you connect to X-Box Live using Halo 2 they don't check for mod-chips or replaced DVD drives, they check the size of the hard drive. If it's a different size from the 8 & 10 GB drives that originally came with the machine you'll probably have some trouble.

So, yeah, you could replace the DVD drive and install a mod-chip and Microsoft would be none the wiser. However, if you install a monster hard drive it's going to catch it and subsequently ban you.

As far as I know, these new security measures only concern Halo 2 online. I don't know if effects all x-box Live games across the board.

Why couldn't you just keep the original hard drive and put the monster sized one in a pc and just rotate games in and out of the x-box? You have access to the box and it's on the network, right? What's to stop you from putting a couple of games on the box and storing the rest on a pc?

I haven't been on x-box live with my own modded x-box (when I do play online it's at a friends house), but I still have my original x-box drive. It wouldn't be a big hassle to re-install it, if it meant I could play Halo 2 online without fear of being banned. What's to stop you? How would they know?

yeah, MS makes you download software that scans your system for any changes before you can play online. like stated above, it scans for bigger hd's.

I know nothing about X-Boxes but couldn't you just partition the larger (100+ GB) HDD so that it has a 8 or 10 GB partition?

Isn't there some rule on this forum about not posting specific methods with which to carry out illegal activities? Renting games from Gamefly and pirating them to your hacked Xbox is certainly illegal :P

I currently have no problems w/ my modded Xbox.
*Can still play xbox Live w/o a problem*

-120Gig HD
-Xecutor 2.6 chip (has an external switch)
-Evolution X & Avalaunch dashboards

I prefer Avalaunch, it seems to be a much cleaner dashboard. i dont use GameFly (well i won a month free from the Mcdonald's monopoly game) because their delivery of the games takes to long. I go to Blockbusters and rent games play them for a while and then burn them.

Only downside is u cant play the games from ur HD on XBL

have u played halo2 on xbox live?
i think thats the only game so far that checks your system.

of course halo would check your system. It's Microsofts only trademark game, and Microsoft is notorious for spying on people's systems.

I would buy an XBox just to mod it. Seems like fun and I wouldnt have to buy games.

I have a friend who's crown king of X Box modding... has a site with a bunch of different pricing plans (he does this stuff as a side job) and includes emulators, media players, packaged games, etc. He's been finding ways to emulate PSOne games on X Box recently, which I've gotta say is pretty nice. I'd go for it, he could prolly do mine for free, but I don't wanna lose Halo 2 online. Damn, is that fun.

Could we get some linkage?

Well, they check and see if your modchip is on. But if it's installed and off, you should be fine. I just leave the screws off my xbox and swap in the old hd when I want to play on Live. Some people are on with a bigger hd, but I don't feel like taking a chance at getting banned as it's still not certain why people are getting banned. And this new Live security is for all Live games.

And installing a modchip is fairly simple. If you've ever soldered wires before, it's not too hard. Or if you don't install the chip yourself, at least learn how to put the programs and stuff onto the xbox. That way if you ever want to put a movie or new version of software onto your xbox, you'll know how to do it and won't have to rely on someone else to do it for you.

EDIT: If you get a modchip installed, continue buying games. It's wrong to just buy one of those game passes from Blockbuster, where you rent as many games as you want for one month, and copy them to your harddrive. A modchip lets you do much more than pirate games.

Since the new Halo 2 security features only check the size of the hard drive, you could probably have him install the chip and such and it would still work fine.

There is some speculation that Live checks the serial number of the HD when it authenticates you on their servers and determines if it matches the serial it collected when you originally signed up. I would imagine as long as you don't switch out the HD then you'd still be able to play.

That's just my personal theory though, I've yet to try it out.

I have a modded box and I love it. Started playing Super Mario 64 Yesterday since I never owned an N64 :thumbsup:
About the halo 2 Live thing, I believe they check something inside of it, not the serial or the size, but some code. I have read about people being able to just rearange this code and be available to Halo 2 Live.

Not sure if you should be bragging about this, bro... I work at a video game store and we actually have a stockpile of used N64's in the back for cheap. If you wanna play an N64 game, go buy a system and the game for $25!

Yep and never had a problem. i play halo2,madden05,live05,crimson skies and a bunch of other games online. its great console to mod.

that is true...but for the time being its a much used feature.

um the thing with that is that no matter what most people download games that they would not buy if buying the game was the only option. Most people would also buy a game that they really like even if they had the option to download. This is just like the music piracy. I would never buy a game like Crimson Skies in the first place, but if the chance arose to download it, why not? The company is not losing any money whatsoever but the game is getting more play and maybe getting more recognition. I would buy a game like Dead or Alive 3 though even if the opportunity to download it was there because I support companies I really like and that is how most people are.

Sorry bout the thread hijack...

I have had my XBOX for a year now and still no problems.


But its good to know they got replacments CD drives out there :thumbsup:

Some people just suck all the fun from forums, like some kind of fun forum parasite or something. :hmm:

Actually they check your eeprom and then your hard drive to see if they match the first time you sign onto xbox live and link them. once one appear without the other, you're banned. Also, it's not just Halo 2, it's every XBOX live yourself. Also it seems they are checking to see if your xboxdash.xbe is modified, i'm not exactly sure when this gets modded, but it may happen when you load evox (most popular xbox dash).

Also, I don't think you should rely on any method of avoiding ban on XBOX live. Sooner or later, they'll get to you and unless you have unliimited time and money to reload new eeprom and everything you'll be banned for good.

Only REAL solution is two boxes, which is what I have. Well worth it in my opinion.

www.xbox-scene.com is 100% the best xbox modding site. for all the XBOX live info go to the forums. I haven't checked in a bit, so not sure what the situation is.

O, one last thing. Not sure what's so special about that drive. As far as I know, xbox already reads cd-rw and DVD-r's. So........ yah.

Anyways, the best solution, if you dont want to deal with the modding and shit is to just get a premodded box w/ hard drive online. there are decent deals for them and it's definitely worth the price and trouble over ordering the chip and installing it if you don't konw what you are doing.

I have a modded xbox with an 80gb hd and I can play Halo 2 online just fine. However it might be because I signed up for xbox live after I got the hd.

i've read about that also.. if you want xbox live, get it after u install a bigger hd.

Just get a modchip, and forget buying a dvd drive,

Next rip the legally owned game to your pc, and ftp it to your xbox.