With exception of the Mister, all consoles have either been modded or repaired. Bonus, everything is automated through Home Assistant so it will turn on the TV, switch inputs, and turn on the console, all via voiced controlled.
With exception of the Mister, all consoles have either been modded or repaired. Bonus, everything is automated through Home Assistant so it will turn on the TV, switch inputs, and turn on the console, all via voiced controlled.
Really hope you’re not running the Xbox sideways like that. They’re not designed to do that and it can cause severe damage. Any tiny little bump or shake of that dresser can end its life forever if it isn’t modded to be always unlocked. Even then, it will take time to repair the disc drive or HDD.
I don’t use discs, I run off an SSD. That one has a stellar and XboxHD mod. Also that shelf isn’t going anywhere. It’s solid wood with a slate top, it takes two people to lift it just enough to get furniture sliders under it and the stand is very stable.
Edit: it also has the ram upgrade and an externally powered relay to control the power switch.
Did you do the modding yourself or buy it that way? I’ve been looking for an OG Xbox for sometime now and really want one. I was thinking with the cost of the console getting the ability to run backups from an ssd was non negotiable.
Yes I do all the modding and repairs myself. The OG Xbox needs a lot of TLC, multiple caps need to be replaced depending on the model (clock cap needs to be removed on all of them). You don’t really need Project Stellar, though I do like it’s modern interface on the console. A Aladin chip flashed with Cerbios (which does require soldering) along with a Startech IDE Sata adapter and 80pin ide cable.
Is there a resource or community you can recommend for someone who is interested in learning more about the console nodding scene?
Thanks in advance!
Of course!
RetroRgb- great retro content in general, his weekly round ups and questions are incredibly useful. He also has a discord for patreon supporters which has a pretty chill group.
Voultar His videos are the best soldering tutorials on YouTube for consoles. Also his snes and N64 RGB mods are super simple to install for beginners. His video on the N64Digital really helped me install my own.
Macho Nacho He does pretty good coverage of newer mods and explains the features in pretty simple terms.
My Life In Gaming These guys have to be most in depth and unbiased reviewers of retro hardware.
Console Mods Wiki a pretty good site that covers a lot of information on retro consoles, still a work in progress
Console Repair Community this one is not too active (I’m most of the posts) but hopefully we can get more questions there.
And finally any of the individual communities on Lemmy for individual consoles. They aren’t the most active but if you post questions hopefully there are people to help answer (I subscribe to many of them and try to help when I can). The important thing is to ask detailed questions and provide pictures when it would help.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
RetroRgb
Voultar
Macho Nacho
My Life In Gaming
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Thanks for the great list! Cheers!
Oh wow I think that level of modding is way beyond my means.
Well wanting an OG Xbox is a good motivation to learn! I got into this hobby because I wanted an HDMI mod for the N64 but didn’t want to pay over $600 for a premodded one.
You don’t need to hardmod it to be able to play backups. There’s some softmod methods that work well and removing the clock capacitor that has a habit of leaking and eating through the board is as easy as opening up the console and wiggling it out. You don’t need to replace it on most models.
Whole process can be done in an afternoon. I’d check out MrMario2011’s video to see how challenging it is though to get a feel for it
That is true, I just prefer the hardmod methods for their reliability. Only the 1.6v needs either a replacement or another mod to keep it out. Some of the 1.0 and 1.1 have a habit of CPU caps going as well.
Totally get it. The biggest reason I would encourage someone to hardmod is a failing disc drive can cause the console not to boot. You don’t need a disc drive with a hardmod and buying an additional console is cheaper typically then buying just a replacement disc drive.
Well I just found one at a thrift store for 30 bucks. Feels like our conversation may have been great timing.
Very cool! If open that system up and try to identify the revision, if its not a 1.6 cut out the clock cap and clean the area with ipa. If you want to try going the softmod route, take a look at this tool https://github.com/Rocky5/Xbox-Softmodding-Tool (eg guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW6QsGXTrFQ)
Thanks so much. I will definitely be doing this when I can.
I wish there was an active OG Xbox community on Lemmy. The subreddit helped me get through my journey of doing a hardmod (TSOP flash) on my 1.0 version; I had an unfortunate disk drive failure at the EXACT wrong time (after the softmod), and it made things a LOT more complicated lol. But I also learned wayyy more than I anticipated, and have flashed 3 more since then without any issue (except for finding a roach infestation inside one of the cases, but I still salvaged the hardware and flashed it)
But regardless, you can message me too with any questions. I’ve never installed a chip to hardmod, but I can TSOP flash the hell outta them now. And if you’re able to hardmod, I highly suggest it mainly because of how much more stable it becomes
Edit: This wiki also has pretty much anything you’d want to know about modding the Xbox https://consolemods.org/wiki/Xbox:Original_Xbox_Mods_Wiki
Man you’re so helpful I really appreciate it. I’m definitely intimidated by the steps to Tsop but soft modding looks incredibly easy.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=lW6QsGXTrFQ
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Even still, most of the people that see this image are not using mods that you are, probably have a default Xbox with the clock cap still (only okay for a 1.6), and will only look and this and say: “Hey, I didn’t know I could put the Xbox sideways like that, I can save some space,” and before you know it this picture has indirectly contributed to the shrinking number of functional Xbox consoles.
I get where you’re coming from and thats why I up voted the comment but I’m not too concerned about that. I printed the stand myself but the listing for it even gives a warning https://stoneagegamer.com/vertical-stand-for-xbox-retro-frog.html .