Xbox mod advice

Post by **rattboi** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:21 pm

Racketboy,

for media centers, there is nothing better than xbox, this is a FACT. I use it with Xbox Media Center as my dash, and I can't say enough about it. Yes, it will run your xvid movies from the hd, a dvd, or any samba shares you have set up. It will also play mov, realmedia, actual dvds, mkv files, basically anything you can think of, with basically any feature you can think of.

Oh, here's a killer feature: It plays movies that are still split into rars. So I can download a movie, it's still on my pc, just finished, and i don't even have to unrar it to watch. Just go to the folder w/ XBMC and it shows up as 1 movie, it takes like 5 seconds to buffer at start, and that's it. That is awesome.

I also agree Softmod is the way to go. It's a bit technical, but I figured it out in a day or two. For the record, I used UXE /w XboxHDM Linux and a 120gb harddrive. It probably took about 3 hours to get it all set up.

Post by **Jubal** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:50 pm

devilmyarse wrote:BTW will you be using Xbox live by any chance? If you are you will need to install a mod chip that supports a button switch. (basically use the eject and power buttons to disable to the chip so that you can play live games without microsoft snooping your chip out :P) If you aren't gonna even dream of using Live then just go n get the chip you were thinking about getting. At that price sounds quite reasonable. Would be great if it supported flashing of newer bios as well. That isn't really necesary though really.

I am not using Xbox live atm, cause i dont have highspeed. I would never want to remove the capability tho, I had highspeed before and I will have it again heh.

the Duo X2 costs $15 guessing thats about £8 *shrug*
it does support switching it on and off depending which button you turn on your console with.
this chip happens to have 2 bios banks, so you can try out new things without screwing up your safe stable setup heh

All that said. I havent used this chip and i dont want to talk others out of another option if they are considering that... if your gonna do this, do your research... it pays off!

-Jubal-

Post by **racketboy** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:51 pm

Ok, I'm seriously thinking about doing this now.
I'd like to have a media box like this so I can get my main PC out of the living room. (I currently use it for my xvid collection)

I don't have an Xbox yet, so here are some beginner questions...

1) What should I look for when shopping for a used XBox? Certain model #s, Features, etc?
2) What places are the best for shopping for chips. Especially ones that will explain in plain English what the benefits of the different chips are
3) Can I put any IDE hard drive in a modded XBox, or just certain ones?
4) Do I have to use Samba shares on the Network, or will regular XP shares work?

Post by **rattboi** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:39 pm

1) I don't think the model should matter. Actually, do you plan on chipping it, and if so, do you have a definite reason why?
2) I don't know about chips, since I softmodded.
3) Most IDE drives will work, but a few don't work. There are compatibility lists online, so you might want to check those out. I have used 3 different harddrives so far, and they all worked.
4) Samba shares are XP shares. Samba stands for SMB, which is windows sharing protocol.

Post by **Jubal** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:09 am

1) as far as ease of modding, look for a version 1.0 thru 1.5 these can be done with solderless chips (if your worried about soldering skill) the 1.6, 1.6b or 1.7 all have beefed up antimod stuff that microsoft tried.

it failed ofcource, the mod community have figured ways around all that.

also when looking to buy an Xbox, i would recommend getting a previously unmodded box, less likely to have been banned on Xbox live.

heres a link to figure out xbox version numbers
http://www.xbox-scene.com/versions.php

after dinner i'll post some other xbox mod links =)

-Jubal-

Post by **Jubal** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 3:49 am

nother thing to be aware of for buing an xbox is the make of the DVD drive. there are 3 kind, but samsung appears to have the best combatability.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php? ... 23&t=17216

mod chip comparisons lists
http://www.xbox-scene.com/modchips.php

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=89346
(very valuable read, it won't all make sense at first, but it will get you the right keywords for effective searching)

http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox-tutorials.php
http://www.xbox100.com/tutorials/xbox.html
http://www.web-nine.com/projects/xbox/

-Jubal-

Post by **rattboi** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:41 am

I've never used a chipped xbox, so I really don't understand the advantages. We just modded my roommate's little brother's xbox in 10 minutes using Splinter Cell memory hack and an xbox->usb cable with his digital camera.

We used Krayzie's NDURE installer 2.0, and it was smooth as silk.

Post by **Jubal** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:07 pm

I dont know much about softmods, the advantages im looking to use are...

install a large hard drive, 300 gig. For movies, game roms and emulators of retro systems

be able to disable the mod to get on xbox live

store my xbox games on the hard drive, saves em from getting damaged and makes loading times much faster.

I guess the real advantage to a chip mod is it alows you to replace the BIOS on your xbox with another, giving you full control of what your xbox is capable of.

what are you able to do with the memory hack?

-jubal-

Post by **rattboi** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 5:30 am

All of that...

I guess I should be more specific.

Yes, you can softmod a bigger harddrive, lock it to the xbox, and it works. I'm using a 120GB hd, and my friend has a 200gb one.

Yes, you can play on Xbox Live using a softmod. The same rules apply as with a chipped box though. If you ever signed on with the smaller harddrive, XBL knows your hd's serial, and if you change to a bigger drive, they will kick you. Some of the older softmods would get you banned, but the most recent, NDURE, has been out for months and no banning. In fact, it basically won't allow you to use XBL if it is unsafe, such as playing off the harddrive, etc.

You can load different bioses using something like PBL, the Phoenix Bios Loader. Also, there is NKPatcher, and this allows many possibilities, such as dualboot or triboot, different color LEDs at startup, or Reset from controller (IGR).

Post by **Jubal** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:17 pm

nice, i didnt know softmods were that versitile.
are there any good sites with info/tutorials?

I did already order my chip, so i know i will install it, but would be nice to know all the options =)

-jubal-