Original XBOX Modchip

[Blake1710]

Well, I've got an XBOX sitting in my room doing pretty much nothing, and I was wondering whether buying a modchip for it is worth it

due to extremely slow internet, downloading games wouldn't be worthwhile, so from a homebrew stand point, would it be worth it

btw, i can get a modchip for around $20

 

[bazamuffin]

Dead right!! Stick a 120gb HDD inside, reprogram with evolution-x and install shit-loads of emulators. MAME is awesome on xbox, as is U64-X (Killer instinct arcade emu). You will prob have to do some searching around for emus etc, but thats one of the most fun parts of a modding project. THe Xbox is and always will be a ground breaking console for me. Nice project and well worth the effort

 

[Blake1710]

if i was to put in a harddrive, does it need to be anything special, or just a regular 3.5" drive?

 

[FAST6191]

Worth it: the wii is catching up but the xbox is still the best homebrew console available: near flawless playback of 16 bit and earlier consoles and playable N64 and PS1 emulation too along with the ever fun XBMC media player.

I would avoid modchips purely as they have little advantage over a softmod and cost as much as an xbox these days for a half decent one. I noticed you said $20 though and that is about the price of a softmod kit (I would happily lend you mine but shipping would be kind of expensive).

If however you have a slightly older xbox (1.0 to 1.5) you may be able to bridge a couple of points on the motherboard gaining you all the benefits of a chip for the price of a softmod kit.

Hard drive: if you do a regular softmod then it needs to be "lockable" (locking is part of the spec but one rarely used so some drives do not support it), TSOP and chip can use any drive they like.
One list of drives:
http://xboxdrives.x-pec.com/?p=list
You can always try locking a drive yourself, if it does not lock it should still work fine. Just remember to lock it with a password you know or you will likely gain a brick (some drives have universal unlock codes, you will not save the data but you will save the drive).
More info:
http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Xbox_Hard_D...cking_Mechanism

Softmodding has been covered many times but largely there are two methods:
Games: Here you get a hacked save onto the xbox, run the game (spinter cell, mech assault or a 007 game, load the save and install.
http://www.xboxscene.com/xbox-tutorials.php?p=151|#151 has more.
Hotswap:
Here you wait for the drive to unlock and then load it up on a PC before sending whatever you need across.
http://www.xboxscene.com/xbox-tutorials.php?p=151|#151 also has stuff.

 

[Blake1710]

Thanks FAST, didn't even know about hotswapping.

it seems like the way to go now

EDIT:

Got a softmod kit instead. $34 for Splinter Cell and XBOX to Female USB Adapter, which i understand does the same as Action Replay.

finding the right files for a hotswap seemed confusing.

also, after i apply the softmod, will my save games still be intact?

 

[FAST6191]

Kind of steep price but OK (splinter cell, a mem card and an adapter were £5 each for me but this was some time ago and halfway around the world).

"Xbox to female USB" not quite the same but damn close, the xbox controller is a glorified USB device and you can actually make one of these by taking a USB extension cable and some part of the xbox controller (I like the breakaway sections myself) and joining like coloured wires together, there will be an extra yellow wire which you just have to leave.

Anyhow once you have that you can stick a USB flash drive in one although it should be noted not all of them work (has to match the spec exactly which quite a few do not). Now it effectively acts as a memory card would and you can use a hacked version of the datel software (should not be that hard to find a guide) to transfer the required save files.


Files: you have several softmod kits, I like krazies ndure myself.
Please note when using the save transfer do both files; the basic file transfer only copies one file and while it will be enough to launch the hack it will only do that and not install a new dash (nothing bad will come of it other than wasted time but it is annoying).


Your save games should be fine after the mod (many tools should be able to back them up for you as well) although I will say some of the more advanced hacks do format the drive (stuff like formatting the stock drive in later models to 10 gigs rather than 8).

 

[r3lay]

tsop flash it, no cost installed and very easy.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=165336

 

[Chanser]

If it's a 1.6 Xbox, he can't flash the TSOP.

 

[r3lay]

you are correct chanser,he would need to identify which v he has before doing the tsop flash
plus he'd need to load a softmod up to get at raincoat (or evox).

but having done quite a few of both methods i would go with tsop( if xbox version allows) everytime.

 

[Blake1710]

I've already hacked it. Did it quite some time ago. Used Krayzie's Splinter Cell Save. Loving my homebrew XBOX.