buying an XBOX but want to ask a few questions

[jeffreygoldfish]

I'm interested in getting an original XBOX. it goes for cheap on Amazon and i really like the sounds of the homebrew available for it, even if there's not many real games i want MAME would be enough to satisfy me. i just want to know a few things before i plan to go ahead with it.

1) how hard is it to mod or chip an XBOX? i've only modded my WII (twilight hack + homebrew channel) and PS2 (tape and tissue mod + installing memory card loader tool with swap magic), so i've never actually done soldering or anything like that. i've heard of various ways to mod an XBOX, but does the likes of the game exploit offer less convenience/options than a more advanced method?

2) How hard is it to get a larger hard drive for the XBOX? 8gb sounds good, but i'm just curious. does the XBOX support external hard drives?

3) related to the previous question: is it worth using the XBOX as a media center? i've got a lot of videos but i'm running out of space on my computer and burning them to DVD is a bitch, so would it be worth storing them on the XBOX? what formats are supported, and does it support stuff like subtitles?

thanks for the help!

 

[godsakes]

1) the soft mod is easy - you need a copy of splinter cell (orginal old copy) & memcard with hacked save - you can buy an action replay to transfer the save but you can just buy a memcard from ebay with the splinter cell hack preinstalled.

copy the save to the xbox and run splinter cell and it'll work it's magic - when you get to the menu make some backups of your various xbox settings then install the softmod

i would also recommend you download the AID disc (it's an easy installer) and run it after the softmod has been installed - it can install the various emulators for you and i would also recommend you install XBMC as your new softmod

(also if in doubt, when asked install to e

2) don't know myself, i understand you can do somekind of hot swap, but to be honest so long as you only stick emulators and retro roms on the hard drive it should be enough for you (use DVD for burnt xbox games and stream your vids)

3) as a media centre the XBOX (with XBMC) is hands down thee best media centre ever made!!! - i've got 2 in the house (and got another 2 for family) and stream to them from my 1tb hard drive i swear by them. It's plays every format i've ever thrown at it, yes it support subtitles, it can even pull film/tv info from online sources like IMDB so you've got plot info and images

it's only shortcoming is it's not powerful enough to do HD content (but i never download HD stuff anyway) - also make sure you buy a remote for the xbox and get yourself some component cables for 720p output (the xbox sometimes struggles at 1080i) - i would recommend buying a larger hard drive for your computer and streaming to the xbox over installing a larger hard drive to the xbox and running the vids from there (no sense in FTPing files to your xbox if you don't have to) but i suppose it depends how easy you can connect your xbox to the router (my downstairs xbox is connected to teh router and my upstairs one is connected to a powerline adapter which in turn is connected to the downstaris router)

 

[jeffreygoldfish]

thanks a lot for the info! (and thanks kobykaan for the tips in your PM!) i just realised there's probably some other things I should'ved asked though.

1) the three games used for softmodding, do they work in all regions or is it only the NTSC versions with the softmod exploit? i'm in a PAL region (didn't realise my profile said america, mustn't have paid attention to it). i haven't heard anything about it not working in PAL but just thought i'd ask first.

2) i assume i can't play backups unless i get the console properly chipped? i'm not too fussed on backups but it doesn't hurt to ask.

3) how do i actually put homebrew apps onto the console? a stupid question to ask, but I know the WII stores its stuff on the SD card and the PS2 you can get things across by a USB memory stick. i've heard of sending stuff to the XBOX by FTP. is that the only way or are there others?

 

[bubbleboy]

Wonder if we will ever see homebrew on the 360.. imagine the possibilities!!!

 

[godsakes]

thanks a lot for the info! (and thanks kobykaan for the tips in your PM!) i just realised there's probably some other things I should'ved asked though.

1) the three games used for softmodding, do they work in all regions or is it only the NTSC versions with the softmod exploit? i'm in a PAL region (didn't realise my profile said america, mustn't have paid attention to it). i haven't heard anything about it not working in PAL but just thought i'd ask first.

2) i assume i can't play backups unless i get the console properly chipped? i'm not too fussed on backups but it doesn't hurt to ask.

3) how do i actually put homebrew apps onto the console? a stupid question to ask, but I know the WII stores its stuff on the SD card and the PS2 you can get things across by a USB memory stick. i've heard of sending stuff to the XBOX by FTP. is that the only way or are there others?

1) pal is fine, you just need to make sure it's the orginal version (in the case of splinter cell, not the sliver/platium edition) - you can probably buy a copy from gamestation for a £1

2) actually you CAN play backups with the softmod, great eh? even better it becomes region free so you can use backups (or orginals) from US or JAP

on a side note you can even make the games play in 480p mode (for best quality) if you get component cables and patch your video settings to NTSC mode

3) the AID disc i talked about will install most of the homebrew to your xbox, via the DVD drive but in the case of emulators you'll still need to FTP over the roms (some emulators will read roms in the DVD tray but you're best off FTPing them IMHO)

 

[Soplox]

Wonder if we will ever see homebrew on the 360.. imagine the possibilities!!!

That will be AWESOME! but too bad this will never happen in a long time


antway you can even play MUGEN on the original XBOX

 

[jeffreygoldfish]

i got a XBOX, two contollers and 14 games on ebay for £44, Splinter CEll included and it should be arriving soon.

i'm now looking for a memory card. Amazon has a Action Replay and 8MB memory card for £20. is this good? i can't imagine having any interest in the Action Replay after i'm done with it though, but i don't know where to find memory cards with the hacked save already put on.

 

[godsakes]

i got a XBOX, two contollers and 14 games on ebay for £44, Splinter CEll included and it should be arriving soon.

i'm now looking for a memory card. Amazon has a Action Replay and 8MB memory card for £20. is this good? i can't imagine having any interest in the Action Replay after i'm done with it though, but i don't know where to find memory cards with the hacked save already put on.

sounds fine: it's the memory card and the usb caddy which is important as it allows you to connect the memory card to the PC to copy over the hacked save...

CEX is selling action replays for the xbox for £10 but i would advise you to ring up to check it comes with the mem card & usb caddy

http://www.cex.co.uk/products/Gaming/Conso...ay&mode=buy

(edit: seems to be instore only but might be worthwhile ring to see if they'll send it to you)

 

[coedshowers]

dont buy a old xbox buy a new xbox 360!!!!!!!!!( about the same price with my method )
go to a pawn shop ask for the bad 360s.... buy it!!!! it will have red rings ( if it doesn't its ok this doesn't matter as much as people think )
anyways buy it call 18004myxbox and get the serial registered to your name and tell them u see 3 red lights when it turns on.. now they will send you a shipping label u box it up send it in and they will pretty much send you back a new 360.. new board new heatsink design so it wont red ring of death in the future and a new liteon drive that is faster and more reliable than the older drives... its great ive sent 20+ in.. and its cheap most pawn shops let them go for 20$ with no cords ( cords cost 30$ on ebay ) and sometime pawn shops let them go for 50-75$ with everything.. so its a good way to get into a 360 cheap.. and ive send a tone in without it rally showing the red ring of death just say it does because they don't have time to check and on alot of 360s its intermittent and only happens after an hr or two of play.. they just send u new stuff to save on time.

 

[jeffreygoldfish]

my XBOX arrived today as well as the Action Replay, so all i need is for the Auto-Installer-Deluxe torrent to finish and i can get softmodding!

one last question: i imagine online gaming is out of the question once I've softmodded, yeah? i can't imagine using it very much but it'd be good to know.

 

[FAST6191]

Yes and no.

Yes: xbox live can not be used from a softmod. There was a way with earlier versions of softmods but it is disabled now (banning reasons mainly).

No: you can still use xlink kai (XBMC has nice stuff built in for it): http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/

Yes/No: you have the option when softmodding to dual boot and use an original menu (online play via xbox live is why this exists). Naturally this means you need an original game for this.

Also for the record while I love AID/auto installer the initial softmod installer is but a few megs and that includes a basic custom dash which is more than enough to play games and homebrew with.
Xbins is also available and with the auto xbins/easy xbins it is trivial to grab a few little apps:
http://360mods.net/index.php?name=Download...tails&id=29