Recommended mods for my Xbox

[darkinsanity]

Hi,

first of all, I hope this is the right place to ask these questions, if it's not, please just tell me. Also, I did a lot of searching (via google, primarily) on the topics I'm asking about, but not only is it hard to find information about the original Xbox these days, it's even harder to find up-to-date and reliable information. That's why I'm posting here, because I hope that some experienced members of the community can help me out.

So, a few weeks ago, I bought myself an Xbox off eBay. Since I live in Germany, it's a PAL-version, and, as far as I can tell, it's a 1.0 Xbox (single row power connector + extra USB-PCB, also used that version checking utility whose name I can't remember). Now, I'd like to get my Xbox "fit for the 21st century", so to speak. Here's what I did to it already:

1. Soldered a USB-cable to fourth controller port. I wanted to use it for softmodding, but that didn't work out (see below). It seems to work though, I should verify that maybe.
2. Softmodded it. The Xbox already had the required dashboard version, so it was ready to go. Since it seems to be impossible to find a compatible USB flash drive these days, I hotswapped the HDD into an old PC running xboxhdm. Then I copied the SID 5.11 installer and the Splinter Cell savegame to the HDD, turned both systems off, plugged the HDD into the Xbox again, fired up Splinter Cell, and installed the softmod (multiboot option + UnleashX, did backup first).

Apart from moving some applications over to the Xbox via FTP, that's basically the current state of my Xbox. But I'm not done yet, here's a list of my thoughts:

1. The clock capacitor. I read a lot about it, reportedly it likes to leak when you least expect it and destroys a part of your mainboard (never heard of a capacitor containing such an aggressive fluid before). The consent seems to be to remove it, but then what? I don't want my Xbox to forget the time all the time (it already seems to forget it when unplugged for a few hours), so I think these are my options:
   1. Remove the capacitor and just live with it.
   2. Replace the capacitor with a newer one. I heard that newer capacitors aren't that harmful to the mainboard anymore (I really don't want to risk killing my Xbox). Although I'd need to make sure to get a good one. Would it be a good idea to use one with more capacity, so that it lasts longer?
   3. Desolder the capacitor, put it in some kind of safe enclosure, and attach wires to the capacitor and the place on the board where it used to sit to prevent it from leaking its fluid somewhere important.
   4. I heard someone replaced the capacitor with a NiMh-battery. Is the Xbox really compatible to this, is it able to sucessfully decharge and charge the battery? How long will the battery last compared to the capacitor? I heard that NiMh-batteries are quite dangerous, too.
   That's all I can think of at the moment. If you have a better idea, please let me know!
2. TSOP flashing. As far as I understand, this simply is the act of overwriting the original BIOS with a modified one (after bridging the required solder points to get write access). What additional benefits do I get, compared to the softmod, exactly? I heard that after a TSOP flash it's possible to use an HDD that doesn't support locking (that would be interesting for me). If I do a TSOP flash, and my DVD drive dies, will I be able to boot without it? Also, which BIOS would I use, there seem to be a lot out there, and a lot of people recommend different ones.
3. Bigger HDD. My Xbox contains a very small drive (8GB I think). I want to be able to play my Xbox games from HDD, and use homebrew software, too. So I think it's inevitable to replace it with a larger drive (I also don't really want long boot times or other problems).
   1. ATA HDDs are small and expensive, so I'd like to use a SATA HDD with an adapter
   2. On my list I currently hava a IDE-SATA adapter (link) that looks similar to some of the adapters I saw in the forums. I looked at some of the recommended ebay links, but they didn't ship to Germany, or it was ridiculously expensive.
   3. The HDD I have on my list is a Western Digital Green WD10EZRX 1TB drive. I currently have two 3TB versions of this drive in use (one in my PC with a high idle3-timer, one in my server/NAS with idle3 turned off) and so far they work fine. Does anyone have experience with this drive in an Xbox?
   4. The third item on my list is an 80-wire ATA cable, to make sure everything works well and fast (especially the SATA adapter). These 80-wire cables do have a special plug that's meant to go into the mainboard socket, but I've seen people using it the other way around in the Xbox, since it's hard to reach the HDD otherwise. Can this lead to problems, or does the Xbox simply not care about the special plug?
   5. Is a TSOP flash required/recommended for this?
4. HDMI output. I don't own a TV, and I lack both space and money to buy one. I do have a PC monitor with HDMI input, though, so I'd like to attach my Xbox via HDMI. Afaik there aren't any native solutions, but I've seen people integrating Component-to-HDMI adapters into their Xbox case, and I think that's the route I want to go.
   1. Any recommendations on how to get started? Someone in this forum did it and wanted to write a tutorial about it, but never reported back.
   2. I'd like to have the sound transmitted via HDMI, too.
   3. Where would I get such an adapter, should I buy an external one and simply rip it apart?
   4. What are the prerequisites to do this to a PAL Xbox? Would I still be able to use the normal composite output (just in case)?
5. Cooling. The original fans (one big one in the back, and a small one on the CPU) are quite loud. Should I replace them, and if yes, with which fan? I do want a quiet Xbox, but I also don't want to risk overheating.
6. Would you recommend anything else?

That's all I can think of at the moment, I hope you guys can help me out a bit

[professor_jonny]

basically it seems to me you know all the answers and just want to be sure.

tsop will allow you to boot if there is any problem and you wont end up with a brick if the soft mod goes wrong but you still need to soft mod to tsop the xbox.

bridging the write enable points and a tool like xblast os will allow you to flash the tsop you can only flash the source bios you boot from be aware.

x2 is what you want on a v1.0 xbox as it has a 1mb flash chip, al others evox m8+ works across all xbox consoles it is really user preference.

the correct bios it will allow you to run with an unlocked hdd and with out a dvd connected if you wish.

a tsop or chip is more reliable than a softmod in my opinion as you have recovery options if you don't have an eeprom image.

remove the clock cap it will cause no issuies on your version apart from clock errors and an old softmod and missing dash files could render your xbox in a brick situation.

component to hdmi is a possibility but all the ones I have with digital audio lack mounting holes and are all in extruded aluminium cases I got my ones from ebay.

an 8cm fan mod and some fancy heat past is all you will usually need for the cooling department there are tutorials on here on just about everything.

the 80 wire conductor from a pc is not the same wiring as a xbox ide cable and the plugs are usually not in a suitable position without mixing up the plugs they work but can be problematic with sata to ide adaptors so some say some say they wont work with out the 80 core cable in reality you are braking the ide spec and requirements for cabling, I have ye to see a bench mark program confirm they actually work better it is really all anecdotal evidence on user experience.





This may be of intrest it shows the adaptor I used and it has digital audio:
http://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/forum/viewt ... =13&t=3644

[asbo]

it's a PAL-version

You can switch between PAL and NTSC with a program called Enigmah. Hardware wise they're the same, its just the software telling the hardware which video region to output. You will want to switch to NTSC so you can output HD video.

The clock capacitor.

Keep your xbox plugged into the network and it will grab the correct time when its turned on
Either de-solder or wiggle the capacitor until it breaks free. I recommend not removing it until you've flashed your TSOP to avoid potential clock problems which your softmod.

If I do a TSOP flash, and my DVD drive dies, will I be able to boot without it?

Yes, as long as you use a 'no DVD BIOS'. Choose that option when you edit the BIOS before flashing.

Also, which BIOS would I use

User preference. Personally I use the M8+ BIOS.

Bigger HDD.

I've always stuck to good ol' PATA/IDE hard drives. SATA adaptors seem too much hassle. Bigish, 80GB+, IDE drives for a few games and apps, then all your TV, films, photos etc on a server/NAS is the way to go IMO

Is a TSOP flash required/recommended for this?

Yes, it simplifies everything and saves massive headaches. With a custom BIOS you just plug in your new HDD and format. No hotswapping etc involved.

HDMI output.

Assuming your monitor has a VGA port I suggest you first check if it supports Sync On Green. If it does then you can flash your xbox with a VGA BIOS and connect it with a DIY xbox VGA cable or a xbox component cable and component to VGA cable/adapter. Note that some monitors support SOG but don't list it as supported in the manual/spec sheets. My BENQ G2222HDL does support it but the only way to find out was by testing it.

What are the prerequisites to do this to a PAL Xbox? Would I still be able to use the normal composite output (just in case)?

Xboxes in PAL mode can't output an HD signal, so you first have to switch to NTSC. It can still output composite but once in HD you'll never want to see composite video again!
If you do internalise an HDMI converter it was all depend on how you wire it.

Cooling. The original fans (one big one in the back, and a small one on the CPU) are quite loud. Should I replace them, and if yes, with which fan? I do want a quiet Xbox, but I also don't want to risk overheating.

The small one is actually on the GPU and is not needed if you change the thermal paste.
I suggest replacing the thermal paste with something like arctic silver 5, remove the small fan and leave the big one. Set the fan speed to auto in XBMC and you're good to go

[darkinsanity]

Ok, so I read through more stuff, watched Youtube videos etc., and this is my current state of mind:

First of all, I decided to make some purchases:
1. "Noctua NF-A8 FLX 80x80x25mm 2000 U/min" fan. I want to replace the big fan in the back with this one.
2. "1000GB WD Green WD10EZRX 64MB 3.5"" HDD
3. "Manhattan 158282" SATA to ATA adapter. I originally planned to use a different one, but this one seems to work well with the Xbox and was available at mindfactory, so I just ordered it with the rest.
4. "Arctic Silver 5" for CPU and GPU
5. An 80-wire ATA cable

I think I'm not going to use that stuff until after the tsop-flash, though.
Which leads me to the next point, the tsop flash. Your information has helped a lot already, but the are still some questions remaining. As far as I understand, I need to flash a modded BIOS which has the exact same version number as the one currently on the Xbox. How do I find out which BIOS version I have? I read that I can use "XBTool" to modify the BIOS before I flash it, and it seems that this is the place to disable the DVD drive check (I assume it just removes the check, but that the drive will still be working). I'd like to disable the check, just to be on the safe side if the drive breaks in the future, are there any disadvantages from this? Also, you can edit which executable gets started. Does that mean that I can simply enter the path to UnleashX there, and that I don't need the softmod anymore when I have done the flash?

Also, since I want to install a big HDD, I seem to need LBA48 support. How do I make sure I get this? There seems to be a related checkbox in the later versions of XBTool.

Keep your xbox plugged into the network and it will grab the correct time when its turned on
Either de-solder or wiggle the capacitor until it breaks free. I recommend not removing it until you've flashed your TSOP to avoid potential clock problems which your softmod.

I think that's what I'm going to do. Just for curiosity, how is the Xbox fetching the correct time? Does it use an external NTP server, and is this a feature of the BIOS, the Dashboard, XBMC, or something else?

Assuming your monitor has a VGA port I suggest you first check if it supports Sync On Green. If it does then you can flash your xbox with a VGA BIOS and connect it with a DIY xbox VGA cable or a xbox component cable and component to VGA cable/adapter. Note that some monitors support SOG but don't list it as supported in the manual/spec sheets. My BENQ G2222HDL does support it but the only way to find out was by testing it.

Good point. I heard of this option before but decided against it, not only because I don't know whether my monitor is compatible, but also because my VGA port is already occupied. Also, VGA doesn't transport sound, and it isn't very futureproof either
I thought about postponing my HDMI-idea and instead grabbing a cheap Xbox Component-cable and maybe an external adapter (I'm currently looking on the Ligawo YPbPr HDMI Konverter, it even has an SPDIF port). That way I can try it out first, and then decide whether I want to rip apart the adapter and install it in the Xbox. By the way, is it recommended to use an adapter with an upscaler, or one that keeps the resolution?

The small one is actually on the GPU and is not needed if you change the thermal paste.
I suggest replacing the thermal paste with something like arctic silver 5, remove the small fan and leave the big one. Set the fan speed to auto in XBMC and you're good to go

Hmm. I do plan to replace the thermal paste, but I just have a bad feeling about removing the fan. The Xboxes without this small fan did have a bigger heatspreader, but it seems impossible to find one of them, or even a finding an aftermarket one.

This may be of intrest it shows the adaptor I used and it has digital audio:
http://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/forum/viewt ... =13&t=3644

You seemed to have some serious problems with your converter in this thread. Were you able to get them sorted out?

[Rocky5]

Just use Ind-Bios 5003 or 5004 & place it's config file on the root of C.
(You edit the config file to change features, means you don't need to re-flash the bios)

That bios will do everything you need & more.

It's the best (feature wise & in my opinion) bios for TSOPs, I use it on all my systems.

Also you don't need LBA48 support, if you use XBPartitioner 1.3 to format your new 1TB HDD it will write a partition table to the HDD & the ind-bios will use that.

Disabling the DVD check, won't effect the DVD functionality.

[asbo]

As far as I understand, I need to flash a modded BIOS which has the exact same version number as the one currently on the Xbox.

Not really. V1.6 xboxes need a different BIOS, but since you can't flash their TSOP chip you have to use a modchip. The only difference, in terms of BIOS, between the pre V.16 xboxes is the size of their TSOP chip. V1.0s and 1.1s have 1MB(1024 KB), and the rest have a 256KB chip. This means you can only flash the larger BIOSes to v1.0 and 1.1 xboxes. You can also flash the 256KB BIOSes to them, it actually puts it on there 4 times to fill up the space.

I read that I can use "XBTool" to modify the BIOS before I flash it

Or EVtool for the evox M8/M8+ etc BIOSes, or as Rocky5 wrote some use a config file so you don't have to reflash the BIOS each time you change something. NB once its set up I never find the need to change it again.

disable the DVD drive check... are there any disadvantages from this?

Nope

Also, you can edit which executable gets started. Does that mean that I can simply enter the path to UnleashX there, and that I don't need the softmod anymore when I have done the flash?

Yeah pretty much. Personally I set mine up like this:

Just FTP everything over to the locations you choose, flash the TSOP then boot and delete all the softmod stuff. Its a good idea to have three dashboards on there like that, that way if you accidentally delete the primary dash you have two backups it can boot from instead.

Just for curiosity, how is the Xbox fetching the correct time?

Pretty sure all the dashboards grab it from a time server, although since XBMC is the only dash that's kept up to date I wouldn't like to say if the others default settings still work.

is it recommended to use an adapter with an upscaler, or one that keeps the resolution?

I don't know. Before I had a SOG monitor an adapter similar to the one you linked, but component to VGA instead. Never had any problems with it

I just have a bad feeling about removing the fan. The Xboxes without this small fan did have a bigger heatspreader, but it seems impossible to find one of them, or even a finding an aftermarket one.

I've ran mine for about 8 years without the little fan and have zero problems
If you really want the slightly bigger heatsink I've probably got one I can send you if you're in the UK.

[darkinsanity]

Hi,

sorry for not replying for a long time, I have been quite busy lately. I did mod my Xbox now, so here's a rough description of what I did:

First I took it apart and bridged the write unlock points. Those are quite tiny and the solder didn't want to stick properly at first, but I succeeded eventually. Next I took of the heatsinks and cleaned of the old thermal compound. That stuff is really nasty, like old chewing gum. I replaced it with the Arctic Silver 5 and reinstalled the heatsinks. I thought about simply leaving out the small (and loud) fan, but decided against it. Instead, I used the Ultra-low-noise-adapter which came with the Noctua fan. The Xbox isn't completely silent now, but at least it's nowhere as loud as before.

Then it was time to flash the BIOS. I chose iND-BIOS 5004.67 because it seems to support everything I want. To flash it, I used FTP to copy EvolutionX to my Xbox (I removed the pre-delivered BIOS files and replaced them with the iND-BIOS file) and launched it via UnleashX's file manager. After using EvolutionX to flash the tsop and rebooting, the Xbox hung. After the initial oh-my-god-I-just-killed-my-Xbox shock moment, I figured that this might be caused by the Softmod on the HDD, so I used "SlaYer's Hybrid Auto-Installer" to reset the HDD to stock state (my Xbox did boot from DVD flawlessly). Another reboot, and it worked!

So, now I had an Xbox with iND-BIOS and a stock HDD. The next step was to install the 1TB drive, so I used "SlaYer's Hybrid Auto-Installer" once again to copy over the stock HDD files and integrate them into an XboxHDM CD. I then booted an old PC with the 1TB drive attached via the adapter I bought and used XboxHDM to build a working Xbox HDD. After that, I swapped out the original Xbox drive with the new drive+adapter, started up my Xbox - and it hung again. Nothing I did was able to convince the Xbox to boot, until I realized I still used the original 40-wire IDE cable. After swapping it with the new 80-wire one, my Xbox successfully booted off a 1TB SATA HDD!

Now it was time to install UnleashX, and this was where the really fun part began (yes, that's sarcasm). Copying over the files via SlaYer's was no problem, but the tool used to generate a config file for the iND-BIOS was written in an old version of Visual Basic (*sigh*), and not only did it of course NOT work on Windows 7 out of the box, there's also no sourcecode available to make it run. I ended up running the tool under wine on my Linux-notebook, because that was less of a pain in the ass than getting it to run on Windows. Finally, I was able to generate a config file, transfered it via FTP, and of course, the BIOS ignored my config file. After fiddling around and reading the iND-BIOS NFO-file (which wasn't included in the package I downloaded), I realized that the config tool used the wrong filename. It suggested "ind-config.cfg" as the file name, but the BIOS expected "ind-bios.cfg". After fixing that, it worked and the BIOS started the UnleashX dashboard.

Now that everything worked, I carefully removed the clock capacitor. There was some sticky stuff on the board around it, so I suppose it did leak a bit already. I just cleaned it with isopropanol until the sticky stuff was gone.

I'm basically done with modding my Xbox now. I did not use the Noctua fan though, because even after modifying it it somehow didn't want to fit and I gave up trying. Maybe I'll retry someday, but for now, my Xbox works fine and is silent enough

If you really want the slightly bigger heatsink I've probably got one I can send you if you're in the UK.

I live in Germany, but thanks anyway

Thanks to everyone for helping me out

[Nextelhalo]

Well done sir. As a note for next time, after you flash the bios and are ready install a new hard drive (blank lets say)there is no need to install it into a PC and run XBOXHDM. You simply install the drive into the XBOX and run the Slayers disc or Hexen to set it all up, much easier than dealing with another PC and what not. Now that you've gotten everything settled I would recommend looking into XBPartitioner and making sure that partitions on the hard drive are set up correctly. When you get some time please let us know how the hard drive is partitioned out i.e., F is 500GB's, G is 250GB's etc. that way we can help make sure all of your content wont disappear one day.

[hawsey]

Thanks for sharing