I just got a refurbished 360S for almost free, and I feel like messing around and modding it. It's a Trinity, Lite-On drive, and Dash: 2.0.17511.0
I haven't taken it apart yet, so I don't know the specific version of the drive. I see flashing will be the easiest process. Will it also allow me to play out of region games? Are there any methods that allow me to use the internal hard drive, or are my only options burning backup disks, or having backups on an external drive if I use an ODDE?
Same here. You must of gotten in on the GameStop Rebate 11/22-11/23 deal (Just paying taxes for the X360). Congrats.
Do you plan to do the soldering yourself. I don't solder at all so I am looking for the best 3rd party option available in the US.
You've got 2 options for flashing. Either buy a new drive board or attempt the kamikaze hack. The drive is a 16D4s, and the SPI is unlocked by drilling into the IC chip on the PCB. Or you can buy an already unlocked board. You can also RGH it. You'd need a flashing device like a JR Programmer, and a glitch chip like an Ace V3 or a Coolrunner Rev C. Only RGH will allow you to store on the internal HDD. There is also an option called an Xkey, however I never bothered with that.
@DinohScene knows a lot more about that than I do.
I use to have a Zepher/Jasper RGH CoolRunner 2 X360 but the GPU died all of a sudden. Tried to get it re-balled but they said it failed. Still have it just in case it is fixable. But prefer to invest on my two newer Trinity X360's for now.
You have 3 options
1) Flash DVD drive - Some models require replacement pcb with temporary rgh to grab keys
2)RGH - Play everything from internal or USB drives
3)ODDE and play games from USB drives
Guess the best of both worlds might be:
Dual Nand RGH with Flash DVD drive (Although not sure how best to divide up the HDD so safe XBL usage)
or
Dual Nand RGH with XK3Y (Costlier of the two options. Seems impossible to find new XK3Y USB remote & Wifi Dongle. Which seem to be a must for safe XBL usage)
Still researching both options...
Out of region games (they exist but in small quantities), homebrew and HDD loading requires a RGH.
Flashing a Trinity... you likely need to drill a hole in your drive PCB or use sputnik on it, latter involves some soldering.
ODDE, it's a good option if you want to keep Live.
You'll be able to play retail backups from an external drive but you cannot play out of region games nor can you load backupped DLC/XBLA titles, that's only possible on RGH boxes.
Personally, I'd say RGH it if you don't care about live.
It's the best out of the three.
You can setup a Dual NAND system if you'd like.
Just make sure that you unplug the HDD and any memory units that contain homebrew when switching to the Live state.
That way you got the best of both worlds.
I wanted to finally be able to play XBL games so was looking into the XK3Y. But it seems those are not being sold without (and the extra parts are hard to find) the USB Controller (Which is is a must for stealth XBL playing) & without the Wifi dongle. I've found XK3Y sets for around $50-$60 but have not found any XK3Y USB controllers or XK3Y Wifi dongles. Which are a must to keep us from having to use the ISO or DVD menu which seems to be detectable by XBL ??? Or is the main set all you need ? Seen a video of a install from Feb 2018 where the ISO games are played thru the Mix Media Disc method. Is that XBL detectable ?
I would prefer to give XK3Y a try but it seems more costly (Requires temp RGH to get info) & other then XBL it is more restricted. Specially with what I mention above. Plus if it is the type of X360 that needs to be RGH to be able to pull the info needed. Or if the DVD drive needs special handling. Then it would be crazy expensive just to be able to play the few XBL only games. So RGH seems to be the best overall. Unless I am incorrect.
I myself can't solder. So I will need to find a local or very likely ship (although I live in a very big city) it to one of the few modders left here in the states. I think a couple of them I used in the past are retired now.
My 2 X360's are very likely both TRINITY's:
So I bought two XBox 360 Slim (S) 4GB which seem to be in good shape. Nice & quite & not overheating, etc.
Both on Dashboard: 2.0.17511.0
One with Service Day of: 2012-09
One with MFW Date of: 2011-03.
Both with LiteOn DVD drives. No idea which revision though.
Both with the 10,83A Power Sockets.
So it seems they are both TRINITY X360's. The only thing that worries me is the DVD drive in the X360 with a Service Date of 2012.
At first I thought both my X360's where Corona's V4 or V6 but it seems I was wrong. I don't think I need to take them apart to be sure.
So after some long research. It seems for now two best choices are:
1. Just a regular RGH. Add an internal HDD. And then play my disc backups from the HDD. And just buy Stealth Server time if I ever want to give XBL a go. (I've never XBL so no idea what I might be missing or how long the X360 games might still be support on XBL)
2. A Dual Nand RGH (Probably the Viper Dual Nand). Also have the DVD drive Flashed. And also get a Trinity Memory Add-on QSB (to add a separate internal RGH USB Drive). And leave the current 4GB (Actual 3GB) just for the XBL Nand.
Now the cost of the parts for the 2nd option are not expensive. The trick is finding an experience modder to do all three at a reasonable price is the trick. Sucks that one of the modders that was doing both XK3Y's & Dual Nand installs at a reasonable price decided to take a long break in September. Will try to ask to see if he might be back in the game early next year.
Am I missing anything. Or did I skip or state anything incorrectly ? Any guidance would be appreciated. PM me if needed.