Hiya guys,

After sorting out the soft mod for my Wii, I'm looking to turn the old xbox into a media center.

I've been reading up on a method to soft mod an xbox that requires doing a hotswap using the xbox hard drive. That is to say, unplug it while running from an Xbox and plugging it into a PC that is switched on and booted up via a CD. Then you basically format the xbox hard drive with a modded hard drive image, plug it all back in and away you go.

Has anyone here tried that method? I know hotswapping the hard drive is a little risky for both the Xbox and the PC. However I don't have access to the 3 games needed for the other method and I'm not going to go hunting for them.

yer, operator that posts here occasionly has done stax of them, using the hotswapping method:

theres a new method that doesnt require hotswapping though:

I have done it a few times and works well. Just unplug the HDD power and reconnect to the PC power once you see the red ring on the xbox.

What new method is this?

i found softmodding via Mech Assualt (original not value pack version) exploit to be FAR easier then having to open the box up and mess around with HD.
You can get Xbox -> USB convertors for Swf off ebay now. and bonus u can then use xbox controller on pc.
most video stores have mech assualt. but getting the right version is the hard part.

copy files to flash -> run game -> load save game exploit -> install softmod/minimal linux/xbmc :beer:

ive done the HDD way, and it was not a good experience.

the bonus is once you get the game the usb convertor etc, you can softmod an xbox in around 5mins then.









last edited by 3x0dus at 20:58:33 09/Jun/08

If you're going to go to all the trouble to open up the box why not just get a mod chip? I'm assuming this is an original xbox? I don't think they handle HD media too well either so not sure how well it'll go as a media center unless you just plan to watch SD stuff and listen to music

last edited by whoop at 21:39:47 09/Jun/08

executor 2.0

xbox1 is way old now, who gives a s*** about it

I'm a tight ass and if I can do it for free then I will.

Finding the right version of mech assault/spliter cell/whatever-the-other-one-is could possibly prove difficult. I'm going to have a squiz in my local EB that has HEAPS of xbox games on sale. If that doesn't turn up something up, I'll just do the hotswap deal.

I eagerly await the thread asking for anyone who has spare xbox parts because you fried your hard drive/psu/cpu/whatever trying to hot swap a part :)

I've got a copy of the game.. i think.. its on a shelf at my parents house at this very moment.. with a memory card with the required files on it, problem is im in london and the bits are in brisbane..

if you're mega stuck and *really* want to get a hold of it i can see if i can wrangle something up with my parents.. I'll see if i can explain to them what you're after.. chances are they've moved the bits around but they might be able to find it..

old mate uses splintercell now to do his xboxes

I am with whoop. Hotswap ... good way to fry stuff if you aren't very very careful.

well, operator probably did 30+ xboxes hotswapping

so unless he was really lucky i cant see it being too much of an issue

Spook, guess you missed the bit where tollazor said he was going to do it himself ?

I'm a tight ass and if I can do it for free then I will.

no, im saying that hotswapping is fine for him to do it himself:

unlike you and whoop who were saying hes sure to wreck everything

operator just told me after doing 30 or so xboxes, nothing was damaged on his pc

so there you go:

also, old xboxes are still awesome for using:

i take mine anytime i go anywhere i wont have my pc:

perfect for trips away, when you will want moofies/tunage or even gaming:

last edited by Spook at 12:48:47 10/Jun/08

I didn't say he was sure to wreck it, I was more being sarcastic and hoping he did post a thread because I have spare xbox bits :p

If I go ahead with the hotswap method I wont fry the harddrive or my computer. I'll take the necessary grounding precautions and move the hard drive as little as possible. Asif you wouldn't be careful.

Not to derail toll's thread, but - I have a (soft)modded Xbox and I think the HDD is about to die; it's making some bad noises. Can I somehow clone the drive that's in there onto another new/bigger HDD?

Yes you can, well I think you can with XboxHDM (Xbox Hard Drive Manager). It should be pretty straight forward since your xbox is already modded. There should be tutorials on the intertron.

When I changed HDD sizes (actually went down a size since I wanted the bigger drive for my PC) all I did was backup everything via FTP, chuck in the fresh drive, boot from a Slayers Boot CD to format it then copied everything back to where it needed to be. Pretty quick if you don't care about the non-application data on there. Mine is chipped not softmodded though and lets you use an unlocked harddrive so ymmv (can't remember if softmods let you run a HDD unlocked).

EDIT: oh, just remembered that there's cmd line apps that let you lock/unlock an xbox hdd and mount it in linux etc as long as you have the key from your console (obtained easily by running the evox 'backup' function). I imagine the app Toll's referring to functions similarly.

last edited by Dan at 21:25:57 10/Jun/08

Well, I went ahead with the hotswap method...
Anyone got some spare X-box components?

Actually, it all went well. I had a little trouble unlocking the harddrive, on my 4th attempt I caught it unlocked. After that it was a very simple press a few keys wait a few mins and BAM! instant Softmod.

Can anyone recommend some good homebrew for ye oldie Xbox? I've got XBMC installed and it is working fine. My next step is buying a linksys WRT54G cheap arse router and flash the firmware with DD-WRT and use that for my wireless interwebs.

Trog: Mine with an unlocked hard drive throws up some error in japanese if I turn off the mod chip but I'm also missing the stock ms dash but since the error is in japanese I can't tell whether it's the missing dashboard or unlocked hard drive giving me the error. I don't know how you tell before purchase but you can lock some hard drives but not others or so the internet tells me (mine isn't lockable) so the xbox doesn't know the difference.

toll: some sort of emulator to play your favourite old nintendo/sega/arcade games?

I just wish mine still read cds, all mine is good for now is playing divx stuff and I'm not quite so keen as to try putting a PC dvd drive in there with all the solder-fu requierd.

last edited by whoop at 22:18:02 13/Jun/08

You can add another DVD-drive to your xbox without soldering, it is ugly though. You have to keep your original dvd-drive in your xbox and sit the replacement on top of the uncovered xbox, unless you cut a hole in the case for the IDE cable and power supply.

There is a compatibility list of lockable hard drives on the web somewhere, I was looking over it a couple of days ago.

EDIT: Found it: List of Lockable HDD

Western Digital 160g at Umart Lockable

last edited by Tollaz0r! at 22:54:35 13/Jun/08

That's where you plug the yellow power cable into the xbox drive and a molex splitter from the hard drive to the pc cd drive and ide into the pc drive yeah? I tried that and it didn't work. You have to flash the pc drive with some hax firmware or some crap and I don't have the drive they specify. Screw it though I've got an xbox 360 if I want to play games, someone gave me this xbox for free so I tried to make the most out of it. At first it wouldn't even read CD-r's but a quick fiddle with the laser power fixed its little red wagon (dirty pot twizzler). It's weird though, it'll partly read a disc then just kind of give up & go nah screw it I can't read this s***. Not the disc though coz my 360 can read it.

it is ugly though.

I'm not against that :)
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm190/pointyfork/qgl/IMG_1910_640.jpg
yes that's masking tape holding the cd on there.

You know, you could might be able to flog off that dvd-drive as spare parts to someone haha.

xbmc is all i need/use