Softmod Depot

I've been searching all over the internet and have succeeded in further confusing myself. Soft mods are great, but I'd prefer something more tangible. That being said, with regards to hard mods, which mod chip should I purchase which will allow the 360 to play backed up games which has a good lifespan?

I saw this online (LINK) (http://team-xecuter.com/blaster360/installblaster360.htm) and it brought out a few "oohs" and "aahs" but i still dont know exactly what it does. all i need is something that allows backed up game play-ability, preferably something I DON'T have to solder.

P.S. I'm assuming that the only other method of modding is that whole flashing business. I still can't figure that one out...

well first off, you will want to get this (http://team-xecuter.com/blaster360/installblaster360ne.htm) instead (its a newer version)

but second...... this wont let you play backed up games...... you have to flash the firmware (ITS FREE DO THAT) or solder a chip to the drive to override the firmware

the have quicksolderchips (melt the solder into a hole, much eaiser) and also non-solder ones but they dont last very long at all cuase the are held by preasure so that preasure fails and then your out a modchip even though nothing "broke"

I think Real Man go Soft  ;)

Hard mods are just a wast of time and Money.

many thnaks for clearing that up. so no hardware required just firmware flashing... alright. i think i saw a flashing tutorial around here... thanks a bunch.

now is where it gets tricky. I was doing some reading as as per this book*** my drive is a Hitachi v79, and in order to flash it, i have to purchase and install (solder) a v79 key. now me being at a soldering skill level that barely surpasses soldering USB cables together, i am pretty sure that micro-soldering is lightyears away. i even told myself "you can do it, you really can" ..... NO, i cant. and the soldering is just to get it into MODE B so that it CAN be flashed, i still have to flash it and for that i must purchase a SATA raid PCI card. see, i'd be fine if i just had to flash it, but the whole intermediate step... i don't think so. the way i see it, the whole procedure is gonne run me around $50, not to mention the nerves. wouldn't it be more practical to hard mod the 360? i mean i figure either way the case comes off and there's gonna be some internal work, i just want to keep the work and the risk to a minimum, and in the end achieve the same result... playing backed up disks. any ideas? thanks.

*** oh heres the book im talking about
(http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5896/booknm0.th.png) (http://www.downarchive.com/ebooks/10388-hacking-the-xbox-360-for-noobs.html)

P.S. what about purchasing an already flashed DVD drive, perhaps a BenQ, Lite-on, Samsung... could i just plug in the xbox 360 SATA into that and would my xbox be modded?

Well that sucks that you have one of the drives that has to be hard modded with a chip to be able to flash it. Personally i would hard mod it with a board chip or get a flashable drive, thats just my ideas.

yeah im considering getting a flashable drive on ebay...

@ skip:

im not sure what you are reading but here is the quick and dirty laydown

open your 360 and youll see your drive has a strange cable and a standard SATA cable
youll need to power on the 360 but only after you connect the SATA cable from the xbox to your computer
this way the drive has power and the computer can use it
run special software flash drive and put 360 back together


thats it
NO SOLDERING REQUIRED
so idk what youre reading but.....

look here to get started (http://www.360-hq.com/xbox-tutorials-24.html) you may need tofind other guides to but its simple and solderfree to do this

Well i dont really know whether you need that chip or not but, i think you may, im not sure, but i think maybe you need it for the hitachi drive i really have no clue ive only flashed a few samsung drives.

ur right, most DVD drives are no solder flashable, but the hitachi ROM v79 isnt one of em. it needs a key in the form of a soldered PCB. im gonna see if i can find a RRoD'ed xb360 online with another DVD and switch it with mine.

Thats a good idea.

ahhhh understood
well good news about the RRoD if you do get one with a good drive, you can fix the RRoD and have a flashed xbox and a clean one that you an resell ;)

yeah, thats what im hoping for. and if i can find a RRoD'ed one thats still under the 3 year warranty, i can switch the drives (keep seals intact), mod mine, and send in the RRoD'ed one to M$. thus minimal work...

good in theory, bad in application
even if you managed to keep the stickers intact swatching the drive is a dead give away as all XB SN's indicate the parts used in them, they even indicate the factory and assembly line that xbox came from

so M$ will know somethings amuck

you could send in the xbox FIRST then switch the drives

yeah thats a better idea, lol. how long does it usually take XB to repair a RRoD, a month maybe?

Roughly about a month, but dont send it in at this time if you do find one cause itll take like 6-8 weeks my friends still waiting for his, he sent it in on november 28th and still is waiting for it but they sent him his game back so he knows they have it.

I agree with softmod. In some shape or form, your probably going to have to muck around with some code, whether it's pre-written or not. The simplest form right now is the firmware update, and the most complicated is installing a chip and then messing with dashboards.

i took ur advice, and also factored in a little realism. turns out there's a bunch on dudes on the mod circuit ready to do some "surgery" that's quite affordable. now i know taking ur box to a mod shop goes against everything this forum stands for, lol, but i know when to admit that i can't do it by myself. so i took mine to a store and they did their little thing and kept the warranty seal and all intact. cost me CDN$30 and overall, im very pleased. ive been using no name brand disks and they've been working very well for backed up games. the only problem is that i need an HDD cuz replaying all the levels from Prince of Persia is getting a little too much, hehe. i figure when funds permit, ill get myself some other toys to mess around with but for now, experience is the way to go. too bad zzK doesn't live in my hood.

Nah. Follow my guide here: http://www.smdepot.net/forum/index.php?topic=2672.0

You don't really need any experience... just google and some sense.