A version 1 XBOX is a cakewalk to solder a modchip in. I had zero experience the first time I did it and it went swimmingly. The only challenging part was the "D0" point. It's a very small point on the board that you have to solder to. I would say that if you're confident in your soldering skills (which you obviously are) and the softmodding stuff is getting your knickers in a twist then you should definitely go with the chip.
No knickers in a twist...just listening to the voice of experience. Tightwad is having trouble and it does sound like he is using similar stuff to what I have. Just in my case I was fortunate that I didn't get the cable as of yet. I been dupped on the game. Lets just say I am pretty good at listening to a bad vibe and as they say all the time in Star Wars, "I get a bad feeling about this".
As for the D0 point, I looked at it...no problem, the trace is wider than the ic next to it and I HAVE soldered #30 wire to a lead that size before. So D0 should be a cake walk.
As for the link you provided for the chip... I have no experience with them but like DillonFoulds said, "10 bucks plus shipping for a DuoX" is pretty much the norm and for the "no frills" type of thing you're going for you don't need whatever extras might come with a chip that cost more.
So far I have not seen it for that price, but $20 is still fine.
You should look for a DuoX 2.
Ok, so the DuoX 2 is better than the DuoX 3? I see the '3' more often though.
Here's a guy that's selling them for $13 shipped to the Con-US. Seems to have many a happy customer. It does say on the first post "my old thread...MODS, PLEASE CLOSE." but that posting was from 2008 and if you go to the last page you'll see he's still selling them.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=666376
Yes, I just was looking over the site and so far the pricing is good. I will give him an EM for $13, can't beat that. I certainly seems cheaper than the current soft mod route I am on. Good thing I didn't cut into the Xbox extension cable I bought!
I contacted him to order one....for $13 it can't hurt, and I checked about a SATA-IDE adapter...I have a spare 200GB HD that won't be much use for upgrades as I would prefer a bigger drive.
LOL! I guess you saw that price too and jumped. However, you mentioned you had a version 1.6 box. That one is harder to get a chip into (from what I read). For me I am basically using the older version to my advantage and that is why I feel at this point I think it probably would be easier to get the mod chip. The directions to install it are just a few paragraphs long...sure beats that mile long document that was posted earlier.
There's divineo you could try out, i think they're got them for 9.99 plus tax and shipping.
Do you have a link?
Look up the alternate D0 point, and it will be a cakewalk. It's on the bottom of the motherboard, so there's a few extra screws, but it'll save you the hassle of scraping resin and risking a trace lift (doubtful you will if you're experienced soldering).
http://www.x-elixis.com/final/installation/do-point.htm - First google result of "alternate d0".
Is that the alternate point in that link? But I have repaired pretty fine traces before. I fix digital pianos and many times a customer spills something into the keybed and then all of a sudden a section of keys stops playing. What I find is that cola had seeped down onto the key matrix board and eaten away a trace or two. So I do end up scraping the fine traces and soldering a #30 wire in place to jump the gap. So I think I should be good with D0.
The risk to your pc is the same as the risk to you xbox, if something were to blow, it'd be a 50-50% chance it'd be one of the other. Any hotswap guide will give you the same chances of frying something, it's just in the nature of the swap. Linking the shielding/grounding will increase your chances of success.
Yeah, that isn't good. If I had a spare PC around (well actually I do but they are all Windows 98, I only have two XP machines and I am not risking them)
If you guys would like, I'll bust open one of my xboxes and snap a few pictures for you all. Would you guys like me to repost my above post in a new thread, and maybe we'll flesh it out to a more definitive guide, perhaps?
That does sound like a plan. What would be good is too is for the those that still want to do the soft mod is to try to condense that behemoth that Crash posted. Your post did well to give us the 'abridged' version. So it would be cool if there was a good thread on the mods.
Since it is clear that both Tightwad and myself are going to go the hard mod route and it does seem like that is the easiest one to write up, lets start with that one. I think it would be cool if you started with the cover of the Xbox off and then "zoom" in to the connection points to where the mod chip will be installed. Anyway, not telling you what to do, I am sure you can do great writing it up your own way...it's just a suggestion.
I think the guide that Ginsu, crashwg, and I've linked to is fine. The first post covers all of the details. Yes it gets long and convoluted, but the first and only first post gives you everything you need to do it.
Oh yeah, I am not saying it isn't fine or 'bad', however, I am just looking for the 'condensed' or abridged version because I just don't have the patience to read through all of that.
The Q&A after it may be beneficial if and only if someone encounters a problem. I don't mean to sound like an ass though.
Oh, not at all, I would never think that. I know you guys are helping out and trust me I tremendously appreciate it. It is just me though. I saw what Tightwad was going through, I saw the length of that guide and I thought to myself, if I am going to invest all the time to read that, pay good money to get all the materials and then something still doesn't go right...I would be mighty pissed to the max. Given that the mod chips isn't like $40 or more, I think it would be the better and more then likely cheaper bet.
I'm not good at soldering so the hotswap was the easiest method for me. Literally, the first time I did it, it took 20 minutes. No mess, no problems.
That is understandable. While I wasn't born with the silver soldering iron in my mouth, I came damn close. I was soldering and kit building when I was 9 years old. And I haven't put down the soldering iron yet. So in terms of installing a chip, I have the advantage over some here. I have more confidence in my soldering ability than trying to switch a hard drive while everything is turned on.
I know initially I was a bit leary about doing the chip mod because I HAD a version 1.6 unit, and many are complaining that it is very difficult to solder in that version. BUT now that doesn't apply anymore because I have a version 1 unit.
So I guess it is a go for the hard mod. I will contact the fellow that is selling those chips and place an order for one.
Once again thanx for the info guys!
Oh! Almost forgot, I changed the subject title around a bit so it starts with "Xbox mod" first. Also in the context of that title, once I get the mod going I would like to take it all the way up to installing Mame.
Tightwad, are you going the XBMC route to Mame or are you more interested in putting your console in a cabinet like I am? If it is the latter then perhaps we should both use CoinOps Ignite for Mame.
Here is what it looks like:
Geo
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Topic: X-box mod for Mame help (Also Best Console Game Ports) (Read 87366 times)
