Can I run MAME/Emulators off a modded XBOX?

[Alexinedh]

A coworker at work today told me a friend of his used a modded XBOX 1 (not an XBOX 360) to run retro arcade games, as well as emulators all the way up to N64 games. Is there truth to this? If so, does anyone know any potential drawbacks to using a modded XBOX? Are there guides or threads about doing this?

[stpcore]

I think that a modded original XBOX is a great way to run emulators.  You may want to look into "CoinOps" as it's an unbelievable program to install and the "CoinOps LITE" version fits on the original stock drive.  If you google search you will find all the info you need.  If I can help please let me know. I've done a few XBOXs this way.

[Alexinedh]

were there any downsides to using an xbox?

[sharpfork]

+1 for Coinops and now Vision if you want a hyperspin like vibe.

were there any downsides to using an xbox?

I used windows, mac, and linux for 10+ years in my cabs before moving to xBox as my primary cabinet "brains."  If you are happy with it running most games from before 1995, you are good to go.  Babysitting a full OS and waiting a minute + for a system to boot blows.
There are strengths and weaknesses to using the xBox.  Tell us a bit about what you are wanting to do and we will argue about it, I mean try to guide you.

[Alexinedh]

Well I want it to be able to run any kind of arcade rom i throw at it. I'd be very sad if I go to play Galaga and it doesnt work =(  Emulators would be cool, too. I want to be able to play mainly SNES because my favorite game, Zombies Ate My Neighbors is on it, so that's a must. I was hoping to have a system that can run emulators all the way up to PS2, but if not that high, N64. Also, since it will be inside my cabinet and hooked up to a smart power strip, i want an easy way to turn it on. If I can open it up and solder a wire to a button on the side, that'd be good enough. How hard is it to put ROMs onto it? I know how to solder a custom made arcade control panel to a gutted keyboard, is it any more difficult for an xbox controller (which i assume you use)?

edit: also, i would like to have a functional coin mech, is that possible for an xbox? Also plan on using a PC monitor as a screen, so I assume XBOX helps with that.

[paigeoliver]

The downsides is that it costs quite a bit more than using a PC and your whole setup is tied to a relatively antique piece of hardware.

[degenatrons]

The downsides is that it costs quite a bit more than using a PC and your whole setup is tied to a relatively antique piece of hardware.

Not sure that it costs more!  I grabbed 5 xboxes for £20 recently.  If you shop around,  you'll find folks almost giving them away.
Antique hardware comes with the hobby and I'm all for using the old consoles.
 
I find that xbox emulates the classic games really really well.  Much credit to the CoinOPS developer (BP) who keeps pushing boundaries and developing this software on the original Xbox.  I'm looking forward to seeing what this old box is still capable of.

[sharpfork]

Well I want it to be able to run any kind of arcade rom i throw at it. I'd be very sad if I go to play Galaga and it doesnt work =(  Emulators would be cool, too...
edit: also, i would like to have a functional coin mech, is that possible for an xbox? Also plan on using a PC monitor as a screen, so I assume XBOX helps with that.

The coin mech is just a switch like any other so that doesn't matter- it can be PC or Xbox.  One of the things folks like about coinops is that is comes as a package with everything you need= minimal configuration.  Emus are the same, easy as hell.  It runs older systems fine but can be a bit clunky with N64 and Playstation 1.  There is not playstation 2 or dreamcast or anything newer.

If you mean old CRT when you say old monitor, that isn't where the xBox shines.  Were is shines is on an old CRT TV.  I have been using component (red, green, blue RCA- not yellow) in on 480i CRT TVs I get for free on freecycle or craigslist.  These feel more like old skool arcade monitors than a higher resolution computer monitor.  component video on TVs from the xBox is plug and play.  it is a huge pain in the ass to do on a PC.
I have modded xBoxes to run on VGA but that is more complicated than using a PC for sure.

The downsides is that it costs quite a bit more than using a PC and your whole setup is tied to a relatively antique piece of hardware.

As I said, we will argue.  I have been picking up classic xBoxes for $10-$15 lately.  The only thing that is going to be any less than this is a super duper "antique" PC with an old ass OS.  I use the KADE for encoding (I'm a part of the team that develops it) and I'm in no way tied to the xbox.  I use the same KADE hardware on xBox, computers, android, Playstation 1/2, and others.

If you have some extra $$$ to spend or already have a PC that can manage Playstation 2 emulation (very CPU intensive) and you don't mind maintaining and tweaking many many components of the OS, frontend, and emulators, go for the PC.  It is much more flexible and can be much more powerful.  If you want to see what you can do with an xBox, look for one and a TV with component video in and give coinops or Vision a try. 
Give this series by Degenatrons a watch for some background:

[Alexinedh]

I was planning to use a computer monitor, a flat screen LCD or plasma. Since an XBOX can't play anything hi-res, should I just go for a component TV? Playing PS2 isn't a deal breaker to me.

I'm just trying to decide which way would be simpler for me. I found a beat to all hell centipede cabinet that i'm personalizing. I think I have 26" width to play with, and was trying to aim for something lightweight so I can transport my cabinet to my friends house for gaming parties we sometimes have. I have a computer that a computer store donated to me (512mb ram, some unknown ---smurfy--- processor, no sound card, and 20GB HDD) that is giving me all sorts of problems by not loading the MAME software or ROMs into Hyperspin. If I go that route, I'd have to pay the money to get the computer running again, and buy an ipac because I don't like the idea of having a keyboard PCB soldering inside (seems too delicate for me). I had planned on flat screen LCD display only because I was going to use the computer monitor, which would (could) have been cheaper and much easier to configure to the PC, and so I wouldn't have to purchase a 15 hertz output graphics card if I went with something other than an LCD monitor.

As far as I can understand, my only costs for using an XBOX would be 1) XBOX 2) Cheap $50 TV 3) Software/hardware for mobbing. Am I about right on what I understand? Would you still advise an XBOX in this situation?

[Alexinedh]

Give this series by Degenatrons a watch for some background:

Very cool, I just watched the entire series. It looks a lot simpler while still giving me the options of computer monitor or arcade monitor. Are there any videos how to hard mod the xbox like that? I assume he's hard modding since he disconnected the optical drive.

[FritzsCorner]

In one of the first couple videos Degenetrons shows you how he powers it all on without the optical drive.  I think he said he used the soft-mod method on the xbox itself though to run coinops.  I would watch all the videos like Sharpfork recommends.  They are very informative not only in using the xbox in an arcade cabinet, but on the actual construction of a cabinet itself.  Even if you don't plan on building your own cab, at least watch the first few that cover the xbox portion. 

[degenatrons]

Give this series by Degenatrons a watch for some background:

Very cool, I just watched the entire series. It looks a lot simpler while still giving me the options of computer monitor or arcade monitor. Are there any videos how to hard mod the xbox like that? I assume he's hard modding since he disconnected the optical drive.

It's a soft-modded xbox in my video.  I removed the PCB from the optical drive and connected that to the xbox mobo so xbox believes the drive is still there.  This is an optional step,  but useful if you want to free up some space in a bartop.

[Alexinedh]

Wow, couldn't ask for a better reply than an answer from the video creator, thanks man. For some reason I thought softmod meant running from a disc, not software on the hard drive. Thanks for the info, I'll be modding my XBOX tonight. So standby for more questions 

Thanks everyone!

[CoryBee]

Wow, couldn't ask for a better reply than an answer from the video creator, thanks man. For some reason I thought softmod meant running from a disc, not software on the hard drive. Thanks for the info, I'll be modding my XBOX tonight. So standby for more questions 

Thanks everyone!

Good Luck!!

I hated soft-modding the dozen XBOXs back in the day

[Alexinedh]

UPDATE:

I've purchased a "Datel Max XBOX Action Replay" kit for $63.00 on Amazon. Guess it has everything I need to softmod my xbox. I found an original copy of splinter cell (nonplatinum) in the break room at work, I'm sure nobody will mind me *borrowing* it. I've started downloading 'CoinOPS 5 Full-"CoinOPS 5.part140.rar"' on UseNeXT for a total download size of 51.3 GB. Should be done some time... this weekend... I'm stopping by a computer component store to pick up a 100GB HDD with a 40-pin connector since all I have is SATA HDDs.

Does it sound like I'm on the right track?

[Drnick]

Yes, but you could have saved yourself the $63.00 and just made a usb/xbox convertor and found the right software to make it think its an action replay.

Also to swap out the hdd for a larger hdd (Stock was about 8gb) you can follow the guide below.  It looks like as long as you have the xbox softmodded you don't need a pc with ide controllers anymore Yay I may upgrade my xbox drives now 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Original-XBOX-Hard-Drive-Upgrade/

[degenatrons]

I use the hot-swap method (with ndure and xboxhdm tools) for soft-modding and can upgrade xbox HDD at the same time.   For this you need a PC with IDE drive.   It seems a little complex at first,  but it gets really easy after you've done it a few times.

Some instructions on how this is done at:
http://daleswanson.org/stuff/xbox.htm