Hardware Pre NXE Xbox 360

JFalcon

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Just purchased a Pre NXE xbox 360 (has the original dashboard) and was wondering if it's possible to play recent titles without updating the firmware?

I have other 360's so if it isn't possible I can just use those instead.
 

FAST6191

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If you really wanted there are blades themed versions of freestyle dash.


That said if it is that old it is likely to RRoD before too long* and the earlier DVD drives are not as pleasant as some lot the later drives to flash so I don't think I would put the effort into even a JTAG hack.

*if NXE dropped in November 2008 you stand some chance it might be a Jasper (I don't know who would shelve their less than 3 month old console for this many years but we have been surprised in the past) and in that case things change.

If you want a piece of history there is the option to remove the efuse line and back up the NAND just in case you suffer the little brother effect at some point, though at that point you might as well do the JTAG bit.
 

JFalcon

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If you really wanted there are blades themed versions of freestyle dash.


That said if it is that old it is likely to RRoD before too long* and the earlier DVD drives are not as pleasant as some lot the later drives to flash so I don't think I would put the effort into even a JTAG hack.

*if NXE dropped in November 2008 you stand some chance it might be a Jasper (I don't know who would shelve their less than 3 month old console for this many years but we have been surprised in the past) and in that case things change.

If you want a piece of history there is the option to remove the efuse line and back up the NAND just in case you suffer the little brother effect at some point, though at that point you might as well do the JTAG bit.

Sorry for such a late reply been busy with work. I'm pretty sure the board is a Xenon as the consoles manufacture year is 2005. Won't have to worry about siblings updating it so I'm not worried much about that happening. Is there a way I can go about keeping it from RROD? I've looked into reballing but I wouldn't know where to look for such a service.
 

JFalcon

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Sorry for such a late reply been busy with work. I'm pretty sure the board is a Xenon as the consoles manufacture year is 2005. Won't have to worry about siblings updating it so I'm not worried much about that happening. Is there a way I can go about keeping it from RROD? I've looked into reballing but I wouldn't know where to look for such a service.
The console is in mint condition by the way it's hardly been used at all.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

not worth it. a lot of people, including myself, wouldn't even bother with a xenon.
If it's destined to fail then I'll keep it as a collectors piece after it fails. This dashboard is the best IMO and I really like it. :P
 
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FAST6191

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I am not sure how this plays out here.

The really bad RRoD we are concerned with here (so not bad updates or dead hard drives) is caused by two main things troubling the CPU and GPU.
1) Nasty lead free solder having fun with creep, oxidation, possibly some whiskers, and whatever else.
2) Bond wires breaking within chips. Said chips are usually tied to the device (or at least the image on the NAND) as well which means having a line on replacement won't do too much for you unless you have the NAND to go with it, and said CPU is on old enough efuses itself to continue allowing NXE dashboards (or you slap it hard enough to use hacks).

In both cases more heat is not good for it and will raise the likelihood of it happening sooner. Less heat and less usage both helping matters here, though there is nothing like "reinforce this, keep it below 60 and it will outlive you" here. Amusingly a higher dose of heat, aka reflow, might allow it to reform a connection in both 1) and 2) to get it working for a little while longer, though such things are seldom permanent.

You could pre-emptively reball it but... lipstick on a pig, paper over the cracks, polish a turd, plaster on a gunshot wound, silk purse out of a sow's ear; pick your favourite there.

At the same time if this is some 14 years (possibly 14 years in a nice hot garage or attic heating and cooling cycles) then that is enough for long term effects to take hold as well. I haven't dealt with enough stuff like this to know what goes here -- car stuff is one thing and I see bad joints there all the time but they are usually used, higher current, subject to force, and larger joints, also possibly still lead based in some cases.
 

DinohScene

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I fully agree with FAST tho.
It's a Xenon, you could pre-emptively reball it but fact is, it's a space heater..
If it was a limited edition like the Halo 3, I'd reball it.
 
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JFalcon

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I fully agree with FAST tho.
It's a Xenon, you could pre-emptively reball it but fact is, it's a space heater..
If it was a limited edition like the Halo 3, I'd reball it.
So reballing is only a temporary fix. If it's more trouble than it's worth I'll enjoy it for as long as I can until it fails.
 

DinohScene

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The CPU and GPU make a lot of heat, reballing pretty much permanently solves it but you'd have to reball the CPU, GPU, HANA and RAM chips.

It would cost you more then what a RGH'd Slim would set you back, unless you can do it yourself/have access to a reball machine.
So yeh, it's more trouble then it's worth.

If you just want to enjoy the system then flash the drive/ Xkey it and play backups on it.
Or JTAG it cus old enough dash, you know : D
 
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digipimp75

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I'd upgrade the heatsink, change the thermal paste, 12v fan mod it, and JTAG that bad boy! But yeah the Xenons are pretty much ticking time bombs
 

reddragon105

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The only way you can play games that require a later dash is to update the dash, so you would lose the blades.

Although I would definitely want to JTAG it if it's on a dash that old, even if it is a Xenon. But then you would also lose the blades unless, as someone else already said, you installed a custom dash with a blade-like theme, but it still wouldn't quite be the same. At least if it was JTAG'ed you could go back to the original stock blades dash if you wanted to.

I don't quite agree with other people about Xenons being ticking time bombs - I still get a lot of Xbox 360s in and, yes, there are a lot of faulty Xenons, but I also see quite a lot that amazingly still work. I had a launch console that came down with RROD after about 18 months and it was the first console I did an X-Clamp replacement on and it still works 12 years later. Shortly after that I did my first JTAG on another Xenon and that one also still works and has never needed repair, even though I've used it more over the last 12 years.

So I would say either keep it as a collector's item so you can boot it up and look at the old dash occasionally, or JTAG it to get the most out of it.
 

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