Gaming Flashing Xbox 360 Lite-On Drive

[Livin in a box]

I've fixed my broken console so I've decided to keep it as a spare and keep it offline, primarily...I think...So I would like to flash it, and I've found a YouTube tutorial that seems pretty straightforward. My drive is a December 2008 one, so no connectivity kit for me! But if anyone's got a more recent guide than December 2009 then I'd be very grateful...and what firmware should I use? LT or 1.6? I think I'll use it online occasionally- maybe- for a game that I just want a quick game with my friends against, but other than that it'll be offline.

I also need a DL DVD burner because I don't have one. I don't know which one to buy as there are so many, and I don't want to buy then then find out it doesn't burn Wii games or 360 games or PS2 games, so what do you guys use? I preferably want a cheap-ish external one.

Thanks!

 

[FAST6191]

A "December 2008" liteon would be a 7 series (the one that could be done in sata only (8v1) appeared in June 2009) so an old style probe or lifted pin method is the only way for these. Similarly if this was one that saw a repair centre then do check they did not swap out the drive (I know they sent it back but they are tricky types in those places sometimes).

Firmware- depends what you want. If it is truly for offline then the hacked version of 1.6 called 1.6 nostealth aka 1.6NS is the superior firmware.
If you want online then it is LT or nothing.

LT also means you will have to fiddle a bit with some of your isos and indeed it is probably worth using LT compatible isos if you want online or to share with friends at some stage, we had a bit of discussion on the subject here: http://gbatemp.net/t233799-checking-games-safety-online

Burning drive- we usually just suggest you get a good one. Also why not just get a caddy and stick a regular DVD burner in that- far easier than trying to find a good external burner (which would probably just be a caddy anyway).

 

[Livin in a box]

Thanks Fast, but could you tell me what one of these probes are? I thought it was going to be simple...And how can I check if they've swapped the drive out?

And could you recommend any good burners? What brand should I be looking for?

 

[FAST6191]

Easiest way to tell is to look at the drive sticker

FW version will be 7XXXXX or something else. Something else and you have a later drive.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=668247 (it says it is old but it covers the basics very well). Commercial offerings can do it over USB but that is about it over the homebrew one I just linked, not sure what prices are but since the rise of the later models and new flashing methods I imagine the prices might have dropped a tiny bit- looking at redbox mods it has not as the base unit can be used still. If you cover shipping or pick it up in person you can use mine if you want.

As for burners I do not tend to buy burners all that often (indeed they usually follow monitors and the like when I build new systems) and as they are now somewhat old tech they are somewhat cheaper than years past.

 

[Livin in a box]

Yeah I had a look at making probes but soldering is just a no, it would be much simpler to get one myself.

I'd like to borrow yours, maybe just for the first time I flash so that I can buy one later on if I need to flash again.

But now more troubles are rising- I'm not sure if my PC hs a SATA cable. I've looked inside and they all seem to be quite thick cables...

 

[FAST6191]

I did make a liteon probe on a breadboard once but that is still heading into the realms of electronics so no more on that. I should have mentioned it earlier but several mobile phone cables can double up as serial to USB converts and have been demonstrated on many occasions to work on the 360.

While not always the case sata cables are usually red and about 20mm across (it could also be that the motherboard has sata but you have no drives that use it).
Compatible sata cards are relatively cheap though http://www.redboxmods.com/ (UK based site that have all that you need for this sort of thing) and equally amazon stock a via 6421 card for next to nothing if that is all you need (the liteon is fairly hassle free as far as such things go but as you are new to this and I presume troubleshooting is not on the cards if you can dodge it for the sake of £6).

"If you need to flash again" once you have the keys (which you should be able to dump from a flashed drive if you somehow lost them- save yourself some hassle and just don't lose them) then you only need a compatible sata chipset if you are willing to power the 360 drive from a 360*.

*If you do use a 360 to power things just remember to use a grounding strap- electrically connect the 360 case to the PC case).

On the flip side you will probably end up flashing a few 360s for associates so have at it if you want.

 

[Livin in a box]

Oh, well if I don't need it again I think it would be easier to borrow one then...I doubt I'll be flashing anyone elses any time soon.
You're one of the most helpful guys on the net, on so many other forums people get ignored but no 360 user does on here!

EDIT:

Here's my DVD drive...I decided to take a picture to show everyone just in case. Though I've looked around with that FW number and people are saying to use a probe; but where can I get one from in the UK? I looked on that site you gave me Fast and it was £32 for this kit thing, and for a spear add-on it was £6, but you need that other £32 thing to use the £6 thing, right?

I've looked on DX too but I can't see any probes...I'll have another look around, but is there a specialised shop that sells them?

 

[Livin in a box]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XBOX-360-LITEON-DVD-...=item335eb6952b

If I bought that then would that be all I need?

I have no idea where that probe goes though...in some random hole somewhere?

EDIT: Whoops, posted instead of edited- sorry...

 

[Armadillo]

It goes in r707 on the drives pcb. It's the hole labelled txd on this picture

http://img297.imageshack.us/i/dg16d2suartpy26505468.jpg/


If you get that, you'll still need a way to power the drive (you can use 360, although it can be awkward to do it that way) and a compatible sata chipset.

 

[Livin in a box]

I'm not too sure about my chipset- the PC I'm using is a Dell Dimension 1100 which is about 6 years old. Could I not just use the SATA cable from inside the 360 and plug it into my PC? I've seen some spare port on the mobo that looks like a SATA port.

As for the power, I'll just use the 360. Do I just have to unplug the power cable to the drive when I need to? I've seen some videos and it doesn't look too difficult.

 

[Livin in a box]

OK, so I've looked around the computer and looked in the device manager and I can't find any SATA references or anything, so I'll be needing either a PCI one or SATA to USB? Is that correct?

EDIT: Double posted again, sorry...

 

[Armadillo]

You'll need a pci one. You can't use sata->usb for flashing a lite-on.

 

[Livin in a box]

Okey, I think I'm pretty much set then. Probe+PCI SATA card, DL burner and DL discs is what I'll be needing then...
What type of DVD discs is best for 360? +R, -R, +RW, -RW...

 

[FAST6191]

For original xbox games and 360 ones you need DVD+R DL
If you mean burning them for DVD videos and the like (the 360 has something resembling support for video- maybe on par with the PS3 and far worse than the original xbox with XBMC) I have yet to venture far into 360 video watching and if I did I would look to streaming first of all but as a rule of thumb rewritables are pretty much a PC and DVD rerecorder only medium.

 

[Livin in a box]

I use RW's on my Wii sometimes and they work fine, but I didn't think they would work on it. I just wrote anything I could think of.

Seeing as I'm getting a new 360 too...can I just move all of my saves (it's only Alan Wake, Forza and Bad Company 2) and my gamertag stuff on my memory stick or do I need a fancy HDD transfer thing? And will I have to transfer stuff every time I want to go online with my flashed one too?

EDIT: If I bought this, would I be sorted? I know it's cheap but I don't want to be spending £15 on something I'll only use once.

EDIT2: Found this too, guessing that would burn everything fine too?
Or maybe this one? It's cheaper.

 

[FAST6191]

Sata card- fine. It looks like someone purchased it, used it and wants to ship it on. By itself the sata card is not bad either, basic (no serious hardware level RAID support for the slightly more exotic types) but not bad.

DVD- first one is fine, second is OK but you seem more trusting of ebay than I.

 

[Livin in a box]

Yeah eBay is my friend, haha.

I'll need some sort of caddy too as I don't want to have to put it inside my desktop. Hopefully all this won't cost me £40, which I think is quite good, really.

 

[FAST6191]

If you have an old external hard drive in the vast majority of cases they are caddies (a select few have the drive and controller electronics merged).

Also do yourself a favour and if you do buy one spring the extra £5 or so for a sata capable one as these things are great for ripping data from the drives of dead computers.

 

[Livin in a box]

I will have to get a SATA one for a SATA based DVD drive anyway.

 

[Livin in a box]

OK, well, another question:
If I'm going to have these 2 Xbox's, one flashed and offline (sometimes online) and the other one always online, then when should I be transferring the Gamertag stuff? If I play a game on my flashed one and get some achievements and take it online, will it mess everything up, or do I have to copy the data, put it on my un-flashed one and update...? I'm confused at what to do and I'm sure you are too, so I can't really explain it properly...