yep i'm sure tried a platinum 52x cd-r, a phillips 10x cd-rw, a platinum 8x dvd+r, a princo 8x dvd-r and a phillips 2,4x dvd-rw and all could be read(always burned on full speed).. just used the diagram which was posted before in here for soldering.. dont see any problems with that drive.. works fine..

greets

Wich firmware did you use?

Thanks.

Excellent work everyone. These last few post force me to ask this question. Is the 8050 media challenged as a result of the firmware or the hardware? From what akzim_inahurry would have us believe an 8163 moded reads cd-rs without trouble. Which means the hardware of the 8050 is the problem. But I had always believed the firmware was the trouble. This should be investigated. Who else has moded an 8163? Could you guys report any cd-rs that work? I guess, if it is the firmware, I think it would be convenient if there was developed a firmware to patch the 8050 so soft moders like myself could avoid opening the xbox in order to get cdrs to work correctly. Somehow attempting to maintain the ability to return or replace the xbox through warranty or whatever. (Electronics will often die on me.)

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?p=161779#161779

Hi there!
I don't want to be a pain in the a** but what about the spindown issue when pausing a video DVD during a few minutes.
If someone who has a modified 8163 doesn't have this problem can post a scematic of the soldering as well as the firmare used, I'd be gratefull

I have the points soldered and the drive flashed with the correct firmware. (Unless there was a problem with flashing the correct firmware over the originally posted firmware.)
(does not read CDRs -btw)
The drive freezes up after (about) a half an hour. Then it won't start at all. If I mess with the connections a little, (unplug and replug the cables) it works again. (but only for a half an hour) It could also be the 10 to 15 minute delay that makes it work.

The wire i used is pretty thin, 30AWG. Could this be the problem?
Also, my soldering isn't the finest. Could too much solder cause this malfunction?

I might want to flash the drive back to its original firmware. (I think Maxamillion posted a way... not sure)
Has anybody else had problems like this?

OK, I can confirm that TruBB's last instruction post (Page 49) does work.

I originally used the mod instructions found on about page 35. It was working, but intermittently.

I had re-modded mine according to page 49 and everything is working as intended. This involved moving two wires and re-flashing.

Now that I know it works I will be ordering another drive, because the head alignment on my current one is off. It has a difficult time recognizing DVDs, it finds CDs without a problem. Too much disassembly and re-assembly I guess.

Thanks for all the great development work!

I followed all of wenid instructions (Page 35) and everything is working fine. I have two drives and neither have a spin down problem, I paused a movie for an hour and I played paused a game for 1 hour also to test. I haven't tried cd-r's yet but I doubt they work.

Not everything!!!! Because the CD-Rs don't work !!!!

Thanks everybody for the work that you done for all of us.I have an xbox 1.0 and for the past few weeks my thomson started to give his spirit away.

On friday i bought a DVD ROM LG 16X52 (GDR-8163BB) Bulk with software for 20EYRO (about 30 dollars).

A friend of mine which i thank him very much came on Saturday and after 1 hour we had a working 8050.

Thank you very to everyone and especially TruBB.Also thanks for the firmware on Xbins.

Everything works like a charm.Every game.3 different types of DVD-R TY02,Princo,TYG02.DVD-RW also and cd-rw.

I didn't try cd-r.

Evox status ok , Open , Close, Init Correct display status.

Also Avalaunch report the DVD as 8050

So again THANK YOU guys

P.S. I will try the DVD movie spin down problem and report on evening

I tried CD's and worked fine

Also no problem with DVD movie spindown.

My installation besed on Truebb instructions on page 49

I just want to know before i carry out this mod ,if a resistor is not used will this mod still work and will it short out the drive if it is not present

also whats the purpose of the resistor

Well i have just bought 10 drives GDR-8163B , JANUARY 2005 , ROM VER.:0L23

I have flashed them with "8050L_FW_Flasher_FIXED" and used the points from page 49 that TruBB post , and i used 3 1K resistors ,
Well the drives work fine they read copies , originals no problem with spindown or "init" but they cannot read CD-Rs , i dont know why ace1774 that i also made reads CD-Rs?

Will do more test...

The resistors are not necessary, but if you want to replicate the original 8050L xdrive, then install them. They are there so that you don't fry your xbox or dvdrom if you hook it up wrong. Hooking these lines up to 12VDC could cause latent defects in the uC of the dvdrom drive.
I suggest for everyone to install them, just to make the mod as similiar to the 8050L as possible.

Sorry my mistake.Doesnt read CD-R.

Everything else works perfect

Sorry Pano.....

The firmware prevents the use cd-rs.

Why didn't M$ also prevent the use of dvd-rs?

Hi all
I have been following your developments with great interest. Here are some interesting obsevations that have been made in my experience in modding 616e running dual f/w. Some modded drives will nolonger read cd in emulation mode; however if the drive is switched to native there are no problems. The major difference between the f/w operation is the the spindle speed. The slower the spin the greater the return laser signal from the disc. CDs inherently have higher return signals than DVDs. Therefore, with CD discs running at slow speed produce laser return signals which are too strong, as result saturating the DSP circuit.
Here are some interesting specs to consider

Max xbox ROM spin is X4 to X5
max pc ROM spin dvd X16 and for cd X32 or X48

Basically there two options to solve this effect is to patch either the native f/w or the xbox one. The method that I choose was to run dual f/w as being the most expedient solution.

Keep up the excellent work!

Hi!
Can you please tell me what firmware you used?

This is not exactly true. I have two cd-rs that constantly work perfectly. They work on the original 8050L and the 8163b. Strangely enough I have other samsung cd-rs that do not work.

on the asthetics side of things, has anyone mounted the ex pc drive into an xbox, and what bezel did they use?

like all other xbox drives that dont read cd-r, its the laser, not the firmware (which is why some cd-r work, but most dont)

If it's really a laser problem, the Stitch_626's theory is confirmed !

currently it cant be the laser! because if you use the 8163 in a pc it reads every cd-r! so i have also no problems reading cd-r's in my xbox. currently just tried my platinum's but never have others so i think that problem will not happen to me.

Great work guys, I really appreciate the ability to replace my dying xbox drive.

I have purchased all the bits and I am ready to do some modding.

I have one newbie question that I hope somebody could answer please.

I have bought 3 1k resistors but they do not look like the ones on page 49. Mine are the stripey kind, I believe they are called commom resistors. Will these be just as good as truBB's little rectangular jobbies.

Thanks very much.

sorry.. again.. it cant be the laser.. if you limit the drive speed in windows(using cd-bremse(german prog)) it also can read every cd-r.(just tried out) so the other way.. in my xbox the 8163/now8050 spins up as loud as in the pc.. i dont think of speed limitation there. if there's a problem i think its because of the firmware. but as i told there's no problem to me...

greets

i just desoldert some from my phillips drive.. worked fine try that..(just follow the lines from the contacts).. why spend more money when old drive is trash?! =)

@akzim_inahurry
Thanks for the reply and I hear what your're saying. Maybe I was being a bit melodramatic when I said my old drive was dying. What I should have said was that it has become much fussier reading recordable media. It still works fine on original pressed disks and because of that I don't really want to trash it.

Therefore my question still stands

I have bought 3 1k resistors but they do not look like the ones on page 49. Mine are the stripey kind, I believe they are called commom resistors. Will these be just as good as truBB's little rectangular jobbies.

Thanks everyone.

But your 8163b it is modded? And what is the firmware?

Thanks.

Hi,
I have also 1K common resistors (the resistors on the photo are CMS, right ?).
If there is no electrical differences between them (actually don't know), then is it possible to solder them on the audio connector side vs. board side (easiest way for me) ?
thanks

i got the fixed firmware from the usual place. how i said a lot of times now.. the drive works fine to me.. and its modded yes.. but can still use it in my pc..

greets

from xbins a suppose! but it is the last ?


you're lucky ! because a lot a people can't read cdrs !

cheers !

can this thread die already? 778 REPLIES?

no it cannot! as you see a lot of people are still thinking bout the cd-r problem.. let them discuss about it.. maybe they can solve their problem together..

@akzim

(Using the newer/correct firmware)
When you use it in your pc, does it read all types of cd-r?

I can assure that my GDR-8163B (firmware ver. 0L23) before flashing with the 8050L firmware (8050L_FW_Flasher_FIXED.rar), read CD-R,s.

After flashing it, no longer read those same ones CD-R,s.

i also went to buy some 1krisistors but when i went they ask what wattage 1/4 ,1/2 i didnt know what wattage to buy help me

Forgot to mention...

I did not use any resistors when I re-modded my drive to Page 49 instructions. Also I use the XBOX bezel that came with the original drive. Use a file or dremel to shave the inside hooks on the bezel down a little and also on the drive tray. Try to take even amounts from all four areas or the tray will get hung up on the xbox case.

1/4 watt 1k resistors are good enough.

I used SMD (surface mounted device) resistors, 1k each. These are all low current lines, so any wattage will do, 1/8 or 1/4 but these get bigger in size and maybe harder to mount underneath the board. Use a hot glue gun to fix these into position once you get it all soldered up.

You can solder these lines to the uC controller directly (audio connector size), but its much much harder. Tray_out would go to uC pin 49 shown in orange below, for instance. If you use a microscope and solder to this side, you'll still want to run the wires thru the holes in the board and out the back. The cover has a small bend that is somewhat sharp, and could cut through those wires if you run them on the top side.


These radio shack 1k resistorswill work:

Could you post some photos please ?

AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!!

Please can anybody help or offer assistance. I was carrying out the mod and the tray-in point has lifted from the board.

Is there anything I can do to rectify this problem?

Thanks in advance.

Perhaps... I had the same trouble, and I am trying to repair, the only way I found is to follow the track and solder a strap between the nearest holes (first removing the isolation layer (I don't have the english for "vernis" ?) around the hole). My first try didn't work, but I think this is due to my incompetence in soldering rather than the method itself. If you're not a pro in soldering, give it to a friend (at least that's what I did).
Good luck.

Hi All!
Sorry for too bad english.
I'm Turho from Hungary.
Help me.
Please link to my good work:
Good firmware for 4083B /can read cd-r/
Good schematic diagram and soldering pictures
Good bios and bios flasher.
Very Thanks, regard Turho from Hungary, Martfu City
Ps: My Xbox /My son xbox /: ver. 1.6, LG drive /i can't replace, please these helps me!/

tiberius05 i did the same thing

what i did to fix it was - scraped a small amount of the coating away from the trace leading to the solder pad you lifted, until you see the copper,
tin the trace and the end of the wire you want to solder,
lay the tinned wire on the trace and touch the soldering iron to the wire
the wire should be soldered to the trace.
i hope that makes sense.
it worked fine for me

maybe someone could post a pic showing what to do?

good luck
Bninja

@Igranie

Yes, I will post some pictures of the bezel and drive tray hopefully by tommorrow.

I once opened up an xbox that was supposed to have a thompson drive in it but to my suprise there was a samsung drive in its place.

Model number on mine is GDR-8050L

Good morning Modders!
Help me please. I like a good work for LG8163b.
My son's xbox i like the modding work today.
I like: read 16x for games, read cd-r's, and fully functionally eject switch.
Where are the good firmware?
Thanks.

Regards from Hungary, Martfu City

PS: Sorry, I don't know good english.

Here the hole with the coating removed

Here the lifted solder pad with the trace (red circled), and the repaired point (blue circle)

Finally it works for me.

Guys,

Thanks for all your help I'm pleased to announce that I too now have a fully working xbox drive that reads everything apart from cd-r.

I'm just going through the process of getting it to fit with a nicely aligned xbox bezel.

Thanks once again.

Please help me!
This:
Turho, this is a good soldering picture. This is a good bios file. This is a good bios flasher. This is a good work.

/I searching LG8163b mod 2 months . I'm 30 years old, and not speaking english. And my son's 10'th birthday is may. 26. I like give modded xbox for you.
Please help me for correct tutorial, firmware and flasher programs. Please./

Tiberius, you can help me for complete tutorial? I'm not good speaking english. I very like modding my LG8163b. Please.

Turho,

I will try to assist by summarising the steps you need to take in order to complete
this mod. I must start off by saying that my first attempt was less than successful, so please take your time. All the information I used was obtained from this thread and that I would not have been able to carry out this mod if it wasn't for the people who contributed and came up with a solution. So big thanks to them.

Firstly look at page 49 of this thread. truBB (May 4 2005, 07:37 AM ).
This is basically all I needed to complete the mod.

Step 1 get the xbox firmware.

The file you are after is called 8050L_FW_Flasher_FIXED.rar
This can be obtained from the usual source i.e. xbins. Please refer to the following tutorial if you do not know how to get files from xbins.
http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/xbins.php

Step 2. Flashing the drive.

Connect the dvd drive to your PC. I followed truBB's advise (page 49) and connected my drive on the secondary master ide channel and set the jumper to cable select.

I had problems flashing the drive with windows xp so I created a dos 6 boot disk.
www.bootdisk.com is a good site to use.
I copied the firmware onto the boot disk as I have NTFS partitions.

I booted the PC from the dos boot disk and typed in the following command:
SF8163.exe 8050L.dld 2 /p /c /f /o /i

Step 3. soldering.

Open the DVD drive case and remove the board. Carefully remove the 3 ribbon cables. 1 of the cables is stuck to the underside of the board so you will need to flip the board over and carefully remove this.

The board is only held in by a small clip.

If I can please refer you back to page 49 all the solder points are clearly shown.

I used 1k common resistors (with the stripes), truBB has used surface mountable resistors. I have been informed that both types are fine.

I used desolder braid as suggested on page 49 to remove the solder from the audio connector. I then carefully levered them up with a small screwdriver and needle nose pliers.

I also found that by scratching the pads on the board a little with a needle and applying a little liquid flux helped the soldering. I then tinned the resistor. Finally I put the component on the board and the soldering iron on the component. I did not touch the board directly with the iron, I let the liquid flux do the work.If you apply to much heat to the pads they will lift off as I have discovered so please be careful.

When you put the drive back together you will notice that the board won't go back in because of the the straightened audio pins. You will need to cut out a small piece of plastic to allow the board to go back down.

step 3 Making a cable.

You need a cable to send the Eject, Ready, CD tray in, and CD tray out signals that you have routed through the audio connection of the DVD drive to your xbox. This is made from a standard dvd audio lead (comes with most dvd drives) and the yellow lead that normally goes between the xbox mother board and original drive.

Please refer to page 49.

Basically you have 4 wires going from the dvd drive to the xbox motherboard
I found that doing each cable one at a time and labelling each cable helped.

Step 4 Making it fit

You will need a y-pair molex connector which connects to the lead that normally goes into the back of your hard drive. It the splits allowing you to supply power to the hard drive and the dvd drive.

Remove the bezel and the surrounding black face plate.

If you put the drive into the plastic dvd tray you will notice that the cylindrical upright (at the front on the left needs to be cut. I chopped mine straight down the middle.

You should now be able to make the drive fit into the xbox.

When you put the lid on you will notice there is another cylindrical piece of plastic coming downwards. The easiest thing to do is cut this bit off. I've got a green xbox and am not so keen in doing this so I will probably make a hole in the dvd drive case.

Hope this helps, best of luck.

Hi,
I used the indications of trubb, but I still have the following problem :
The tr-out is always at 3.3V (except xbox off ) and the cdready is always 0V. The eject and the tr-in both work fine.
I didn't used SMD, but classic 1k resistor and for facility I soldered them at the audio connector side instead of directlly on the board.

Thanks