Hardware I was just given an XBOX 360 for free. Can anyone tell me about it?

[MSearles]

As I was walking down the street, a college student who was moving out stopped me and asked if I wanted his video game console for free. He said if I didn't take it, he was going to throw it out. It came with two wireless controllers. It's an older 360. I don't believe it's been banned from XBOX Live. It makes a grinding noise when playing the game that was stored inside of the console. You can hear the fan inside when it's running a game, but it's not that loud. Is this console worth anything? Is it worth hacking, or should I just purchase some cheap $5.00 games for it and expect it to die out soon? I guess it definitely needs a hard drive. It only has 512 MB of storage. I've never owned an XBOX 360. I'm unfamiliar with it. I've only ever owned an original XBOX, and have never used XBOX Live. I've read that Microsoft gives away free games via XBOX Live.

Manufacturing Date: 04/22/2009
Dashboard: 2.0.17489.0

 

[DinohScene]

It's a Jasper unit, their quite reliable.
DVD drive might be shot tho, seeing you said it made a grinding noise.

Yes, only if you get XBLive gold.
Then MS gives out 2 games for free per month (also for Xbone you can get some games)

Harddrives can be bought from Tmart or ebay (mind that some won't come with the original Xbox emulator partition but that's fixable) for cheap.

 

[MSearles]

It's a Jasper unit, their quite reliable.
DVD drive might be shot tho, seeing you said it made a grinding noise.

Yes, only if you get XBLive gold.
Then MS gives out 2 games for free per month (also for Xbone you can get some games)

Harddrives can be bought from Tmart or ebay (mind that some won't come with the original Xbox emulator partition but that's fixable) for cheap.

Is the grinding noise coming from the DVD drive a serious issue? It played the game that was in the DVD drive when I selected it. I've read online that you can play games off from your hard drive, and will no longer make it an issue. Do I have to worry about any overheating issues? Or any issues relating to the GPU failing? I've skimmed information about the GPU failing and having to reball the XBOX.

I'm a brand new user to the XBOX scene, only ever owning the original XBOX and never using XBOX Live, so any information will be helpful and appreciated.

 

[leerz]

if you have a low version dash you can get it jtagged / rgh/2

 

[MSearles]

if you have a low version dash you can get it jtagged / rgh/2

What would a low version dashboard be? My dashboard is 2.0.17489.0. I'm not sure if that's low or not.

 

[DinohScene]

If it's heavy grinding then yes.
If it's just spinning noises and audible seek noises of the laser assembly then you got nothing to worry about.
Yes, games can be installed to the HDD but they do require the disc for verification.

GPU/CPU overheating or RROD shouldn't really be an issue on yours.
If it's been handled properly and not overly dusty then it won't occur (chance exists that it will in the future but this is true for every electronic device, they eventually just stop working)

if you have a low version dash you can get it jtagged / rgh/2

JTAG has been dead since 8199.
RGH doesn't care about dash version.

What would a low version dashboard be? My dashboard is 2.0.17489.0. I'm not sure if that's low or not.

You will lose access to XBLive unless you invest serious money.
a Dual NAND and separate Live HDD etc.

You could RGH it, if you know how to solder.

 

[MSearles]

It's asking me to update my XBOX before I can connect to XBOX Live or sign in with a profile. Should I just go ahead and update? Will updating it make it impossible to RGH this console in the future?

 

[DinohScene]

You can update without any issues.
RGH is pretty much unpatchable, not to mention that MS barely releases updates anymore and if they do, it's for the growth of the Live service.
Nothing AP or functionality wise.

 

[MSearles]

You can update without any issues.
RGH is pretty much unpatchable, not to mention that MS barely releases updates anymore and if they do, it's for the growth of the Live service.
Nothing AP or functionality wise.

I don't know how to solder. If I wanted someone to RGH this console for me, is there anyone that could do it for me? How much would the cost be? Thank you for all of the helpful information.

 

[DinohScene]

I'd say check your local craigslist.
Sending it to me isn't an option seeing you'd need to send it to Europe.

I'd say... 60 or 70 quid?
I honestly wouldn't know.
It's above 40 for sure (seeing the CR4 chip costs ~30 quid)

 

[MSearles]

And if I wanted to use this console for emulators, free games, and all of the other stuff Microsoft doesn't allow, hacking it would be the only way to do so right?

 

[DinohScene]

Yep.
The only way is to RGH it.

 

[MSearles]

If I wanted to RGH this console, would I still need to purchase an official XBOX hard drive that attaches to the console, or could I use an external hard drive that connects via the USB? If I don't RGH this console, what's the best hard drive size to purchase that I could get good a good amount of gaming play in that I don't have to worry about storage being filled up?

 

[DinohScene]

Best is to get a hdd caddy and insert a 1 or 2 TB 9mm thick 2.5 inch HDD in there (the one you put on top of the 360) or get a cheap 20 GB HDD and replace it with a bigger HDD.
RGH'd consoles don't look for the security sector so they can be any sized.

I got a 500 GB in mine and I'd say that if you've got a small collection of games, a 1TB drive would be perfect.

You could go with externals but they tend to corrupt quicker (due to shoddy USB connections, user error etc) then internal HDDs.
Besides, an ugly external HDD next to a console that also eats up a wallplug, no thanks.

 

[MSearles]

Best is to get a hdd caddy and insert a 1 or 2 TB 9mm thick 2.5 inch HDD in there (the one you put on top of the 360) or get a cheap 20 GB HDD and replace it with a bigger HDD.
RGH'd consoles don't look for the security sector so they can be any sized.

I got a 500 GB in mine and I'd say that if you've got a small collection of games, a 1TB drive would be perfect.

You could go with externals but they tend to corrupt quicker (due to shoddy USB connections, user error etc) then internal HDDs.
Besides, an ugly external HDD next to a console that also eats up a wallplug, no thanks.

You're referring to one of these, right? The largest size I see possible is 500 GB. Are you saying that I can purchase one of these and then open it up and insert a 3rd party hard drive and use that?

 

[DinohScene]

Yep those things.
Those caddies can be opened and can come without a HDD.
Meaning that you can insert a HDD yourself.

Again, RGH consoles don't look at the security sector in the HDD so you can place any sized 2.5 inch 9mm thick HDD into it.
Be it a 160 gig or a 2TB one.
The RGH console will accept it and will read all the space.

 

[MSearles]

Yep those things.
Those caddies can be opened and can come without a HDD.
Meaning that you can insert a HDD yourself.

Again, RGH consoles don't look at the security sector in the HDD so you can place any sized 2.5 inch 9mm thick HDD into it.
Be it a 160 gig or a 2TB one.
The RGH console will accept it and will read all the space.

Oh, so that only applies to consoles with the RGH hack? Otherwise, if the console is not hacked, I have to use an official 500 GB XBOX hard drive?

 

[DinohScene]

Yep.
Unmodified, they can only accept 20,60,120,250,320 and 500 GB.
Officially licensed by MS or 3rd party.