2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) Was given a Crystal original Xbox for free, disc drive doesn’t read games. What should I do with it? I happen to have a crack case black console. Edited March 17, 2020 by 2600Ibarelyknewher Correction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamemoose Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 While I don't know if the drive is special to the Crystal Xbox, I'd say if you want to play it, swap the drives if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 (edited) I’ve read online that you can just swap the drives. The main reason I asked this is because I believe the board in the crystal Xbox is 1.6 or 1.6b variation and thought it be the best board to keep in the crystal Xbox. The guy who gave me the Xbox told me it was outside in a shed for 8 years. Luckily it still turns on and works normally it seems besides not reading discs. Is it really as easy as just a drive swap? No daughter board to swap over with it? Just looking for advice. This thing was in a shed for 8 years and looks a bit crusty. I thought it be really cool to somehow restore this Gem, new caps, new thermal paste, drive swap (from my other Xbox), swap the RF shields due to rust, somehow de-yellow the case ect. Thoughts? Edited March 18, 2020 by 2600Ibarelyknewher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 Bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamemoose Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 The easiest would be to get one of the four Original Xbox drives (Thomson, Philips, Samsung in order of preference. There's also a Hitachi drive, though it's rare) and swap it with your bad one. As long as the drive is an Original Xbox drive, you're good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 8 minutes ago, Gamemoose said: The easiest would be to get one of the four Original Xbox drives (Thomson, Philips, Samsung in order of preference. There's also a Hitachi drive, though it's rare) and swap it with your bad one. As long as the drive is an Original Xbox drive, you're good to go. I’ll swap the drive in from my cracked case one (the drive works fine in this console), I’m looking to make this thing reliable and better looking. The case seems to be somewhat yellowed. I also wanted to change the caps if need be and thermal paste on the CPU and GPU. Should I do these things? Any other suggestions for looks and reliability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 BUMP- I’m just looking to see if anyone’s done this kinda restoration to an original Xbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 26, 2020 Author Share Posted March 26, 2020 Bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamemoose Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 Do a search on AA for blainelocklair. He's done some videos on YouTube on Xbox restoration. I personally haven't gotten that deep with restoring mine. I have the last revision of the motherboard, so I don't need to worry about leaky batteries. I replaced the fan, rejuvenated the belt on my DVD drive so the tray would work, soft modded and upgraded the hard drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 27, 2020 Author Share Posted March 27, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Gamemoose said: Do a search on AA for blainelocklair. He's done some videos on YouTube on Xbox restoration. I personally haven't gotten that deep with restoring mine. I have the last revision of the motherboard, so I don't need to worry about leaky batteries. I replaced the fan, rejuvenated the belt on my DVD drive so the tray would work, soft modded and upgraded the hard drive. Being this is a crystal Xbox which has a ton of nostalgia factor since I could never afford one of these new. I’d like this one at its prime. I’ve just been making a list of items to update or restore to give this puppy another 20 years of strong life! I’ve watched a youtuber named “odd tinkering” restore one of these. When I picked this one up out of the shed I thought why not. Here’s a link to his video on an Xbox restoration. I’m just not sure how to get this yellowing out of the case. Or what thermal paste to use. I’m very new to this and haven’t even cracked the console open yet to see what board I have. I’m just in the process of deciding what to do and what I need to order parts wise to make this thing a tank. I will look up blainelocklair on Atari Age forums for some more ideas. Edited March 27, 2020 by 2600Ibarelyknewher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamemoose Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 I'm partial to Artic Silver for thermal paste. I've used it for, oh man, 18 years since it was first recommended to me. The Xbox is basically a PC, so if the stuff is good for a desktop, IMO it should be fine for the Xbox. Now clearing the yellowing...that I'm not sure. Retrobrite tends to get mentioned. A Reddit post mentions taking the system apart and soaking it in a tub of 3% hydrogen peroxide amongst other things. Are you trying to keep it "stock" (all original Xbox parts as much as possible) or just wanting, as you say, to make it a "tank" for long term play? If the latter, replace the fan at the back. Blaine has a link in his fan replacement video for one and it works well. With my softmodded box, the original fan sounded like a jet. I replaced it with what Blaine suggested and you can hardly tell the machine is on. Another thing would be, after your DVD drive is replaced, is to soft mod it and put a new, bigger hard drive in it. IDE is probably the simplest method (IMO, others may say get a setup for SATA). You can rip your games directly to the hard drive for play, never needing the DVD again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 Replace the power and clock caps, if they aren't dead they soon will be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 On 3/27/2020 at 9:05 AM, Gamemoose said: I'm partial to Artic Silver for thermal paste. I've used it for, oh man, 18 years since it was first recommended to me. The Xbox is basically a PC, so if the stuff is good for a desktop, IMO it should be fine for the Xbox. Now clearing the yellowing...that I'm not sure. Retrobrite tends to get mentioned. A Reddit post mentions taking the system apart and soaking it in a tub of 3% hydrogen peroxide amongst other things. Are you trying to keep it "stock" (all original Xbox parts as much as possible) or just wanting, as you say, to make it a "tank" for long term play? If the latter, replace the fan at the back. Blaine has a link in his fan replacement video for one and it works well. With my softmodded box, the original fan sounded like a jet. I replaced it with what Blaine suggested and you can hardly tell the machine is on. Another thing would be, after your DVD drive is replaced, is to soft mod it and put a new, bigger hard drive in it. IDE is probably the simplest method (IMO, others may say get a setup for SATA). You can rip your games directly to the hard drive for play, never needing the DVD again. On 3/28/2020 at 12:59 PM, mimo said: Replace the power and clock caps, if they aren't dead they soon will be I like the ideas, I’m going to figure out a way to keep my seals from Microsoft intact and get started on this Xbox. I need to see what type of board I have to order some caps and see about a fan upgrade. I’m just scared to break it lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 Crystals are all 1.6b I believe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 2 hours ago, mimo said: Crystals are all 1.6b I believe It is a 1.6B it has the Hynix chip everyone talks about on the 1.6b revision. It also has the updated Nichicon 3300uf-6.3volt caps that don’t have the leaking issue. Boy was it was dirty in there, I’ve got it all disassembled now. I successfully took it apart without anything breaking and man does it look so much better after a soak in the sink like no more yellowing at all. I’ve gone ahead and cleaned up the original heat sinks and chips so I can apply some thermal grizzly kryonaut I got on amazon. The original thermal paste was hard as a rock. I’ve also cleaned up the fan and swapped disc drives over from the other parts Xbox. I’d like to soft mod this 1.6b but I’ve heard that can be tougher than other models. I’ve also heard this is the quickest and most reliable version of the original Xbox boards. So untimely I decided to leave the stock fan for now and not change over the capacitors just yet, although I did order replacements in case i change my mind. What do you guys think of soft modding this? Or even hard modding? Would it kill its value or make it a powerful fun little machine? I’d like to know your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 45 minutes ago, 2600Ibarelyknewher said: It is a 1.6B it has the Hynix chip everyone talks about on the 1.6b revision. It also has the updated Nichicon 3300uf-6.3volt caps that don’t have the leaking issue. Boy was it was dirty in there, I’ve got it all disassembled now. I successfully took it apart without anything breaking and man does it look so much better after a soak in the sink like no more yellowing at all. I’ve gone ahead and cleaned up the original heat sinks and chips so I can apply some thermal grizzly kryonaut I got on amazon. The original thermal paste was hard as a rock. I’ve also cleaned up the fan and swapped disc drives over from the other parts Xbox. I’d like to soft mod this 1.6b but I’ve heard that can be tougher than other models. I’ve also heard this is the quickest and most reliable version of the original Xbox boards. So untimely I decided to leave the stock fan for now and not change over the capacitors just yet, although I did order replacements in case i change my mind. What do you guys think of soft modding this? Or even hard modding? Would it kill its value or make it a powerful fun little machine? I’d like to know your thoughts. My 1.6b blew 4 of the 5 caps when I turned it on at the beginning of the month. I mod chipped mine years ago and have no regrets. I also changed the fan for one that doesn't sound like a fighter jet taking off. As for value? I'm just going to keep using mine as an excellent emulation system and have no care about what it is worth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 I don’t see any signs of bursting in the caps on my board, and did you use a kit to mod your Xbox? Would soft or hard modding be more effective? Which would be effective? 3 minutes ago, mimo said: My 1.6b blew 4 of the 5 caps when I turned it on at the beginning of the month. I mod chipped mine years ago and have no regrets. I also changed the fan for one that doesn't sound like a fighter jet taking off. As for value? I'm just going to keep using mine as an excellent emulation system and have no care about what it is worth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 Things have moved on in the last decade since I modded mine, but I never really liked soft mods. I fitted a duo X2 chip which included the lpt rebuild kit. If I had an older revision I would do one of the more recent flash mods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 I went ahead and bought one of these https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07Z3FGXZC/ref=pe_3034960_233709270_TE_item I’m going to purchase some solid 30 gauge wire to instal it with. The chip was cheap only 11 CAD shipped. My understanding of these chips is very limited. I do know I can play burnt games and upgrade my hard drive. I’d also like to instal my games on a hard dive to save my laser and disc drive. I’d also assume the installation of emulators and fan speed mods is possible with this chip. I’ll half to rebuild the LPC because my board is a 1.6b. I just need to make sure is older this thing correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 1 minute ago, 2600Ibarelyknewher said: I went ahead and bought one of these https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07Z3FGXZC/ref=pe_3034960_233709270_TE_item I’m going to purchase some solid 30 gauge wire to instal it with. The chip was cheap only 11 CAD shipped. My understanding of these chips is very limited. I do know I can play burnt games and upgrade my hard drive. I’d also like to instal my games on a hard dive to save my laser and disc drive. I’d also assume the installation of emulators and fan speed mods is possible with this chip. I’ll half to rebuild the LPC because my board is a 1.6b. I just need to make sure is older this thing correctly. 2 hours ago, mimo said: Things have moved on in the last decade since I modded mine, but I never really liked soft mods. I fitted a duo X2 chip which included the lpt rebuild kit. If I had an older revision I would do one of the more recent flash mods I feel like I’m on the right track with this Alladin chip, I’m just such a noob at this who knows lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 (edited) On 3/30/2020 at 1:48 PM, mimo said: Things have moved on in the last decade since I modded mine, but I never really liked soft mods. I fitted a duo X2 chip which included the lpt rebuild kit. If I had an older revision I would do one of the more recent flash mods I attempted to instal the chip and totally messed my poor board lol, that’s okay I swapped in a 1.4 or possible a 1.5 motherboard so I could soft mod it now. Face palm. On a positive note I swapped out the three 6.3v 3300uf caps and changed the “super cap”. The chips were also given new heat sink silicone. Edited April 24, 2020 by 2600Ibarelyknewher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 It's a shame that you messed up your install. Hope the softmod goes ok, I'm planning on modding my PS3 soon ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 2 hours ago, mimo said: It's a shame that you messed up your install. Hope the softmod goes ok, I'm planning on modding my PS3 soon ? I just didn’t use the right tools or guide that’s where this thing went so wrong. If I could offer anyone else advice it be try and find the right wire and a detailed guide before you even attempt it. At least the below 1.6 models can be more easily soft modded. Are you going to be running hen on your ps3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 2 minutes ago, 2600Ibarelyknewher said: I just didn’t use the right tools or guide that’s where this thing went so wrong. If I could offer anyone else advice it be try and find the right wire and a detailed guide before you even attempt it. At least the below 1.6 models can be more easily soft modded. Are you going to be running hen on your ps3? CFW I think, depends on what I can do with my PS3, I've not checked compatability yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Ibarelyknewher Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 3 minutes ago, mimo said: CFW I think, depends on what I can do with my PS3, I've not checked compatability yet If it’s any of the phats your fine or a couple models of the slim. Anything else your SOL lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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