Ok guys,

i have no testers yes but modded a few drives with this mod. it seems that this mod makes it possible to read every media you put into. i only have a abslutely minimal performance loss for dvds - drive didnt find one of my games on the first attempt, but on the second. moreover i dont know anythig of long term damages etc, but i dont believe it hurts your xbox or your drive.
i've written the first real tutorial about it - report me any errors etc.

btw, dont start flaming around....if you find a bug just post it.

mitschnacker@gmx.net

here you go, its kinda christmas or?:

http://www.paccforce.de/tutorial/Tutorial_GDR-8163B.pdf


Mod EDIT: New URL since the one above is 404'ing - http://www.xbox100.com/tutorials/Tutorial_GDR-8163B.pdf

Overall I'd say 8/10
Good work, one typo:


Shouldn't that be resistors?
-nB

huh, how did that typo come in? thx

Wow! This is a HUUUGE breakthrough in xbox mods! I can't wait to try it!!

Thank you so much for your contribution!

at last one who thinks like me....i donnt wanna sound arrogant, also because i only added the cd support,but the major problem which we had since the xbox came out was the bad drive. every drive had its disadvantages, this drive have a minimal disadvantage if it works fine which still has to be tested. maybe this mod will drop the prices of all original drives on ebay

Nice work. Just a few tips/corrections...

As I understand it, the old, "unfixed" flasher does not work AT ALL, with any drives, old or new.

Both of the 5V lines, both of the 12V lines, and all three of the ground lines should be connected up. The cheap, crappy yellow (or brown) wires cannot carry enough current singly so multiple wires are required. Without them the drive may not be able to draw enough current to operate properly (have you noticed any of your wires getting warm? This is why).

Finally, you can cut away the protruding parts at the front of the drive to get the tray to sit flush with the front of the Xbox. That little piece of circuit board that sticks out doesn't have any circuitry that we're using anymore and the metal tabs that form the front part of the case are only there for the PC face plate.

@wenid

you are right with the wires, a y-splitter for example has much stronger wires, but as long MS doesnt need a stronger one (ok, maybe they split up 12v on two wires) and my drives work fine with them (over a few months now) i wont make them stronger. but i will add this advise to my mod.
i know that he front pcb can be cut, but i wanted to present the easiest options, you would also win just 1mm, you would had to cut some metal too to get the 3 mm.

i thaught that the firmware you presented was made to fit on your older drive, as your drive worked fine. as the unfixed one is faulty i will add this too. thanks

wires running power shouldnt get warm. overkill is the way to go when it comes to selecting the size/gauge for wires intended for power. Its safer and more efficient. Wire too small causes excess heat and voltage loss. This is all a bit trivial, I dont think MS used wiring that is 'dangerously' undersized, but using a Y-splitter is a better idea.

This is simply awsome!

My next investment will be in a 8163b, easy!

It would be great with some better pictures for the manual though. Try using the makro function on your camera if you have one

thanks to wenid and TruBB too who have worked very hard on this.

/pablot

my mobile phone and my flatbed scanner dont have a makro feature

better pics will follow

lol =)

well... I'll be waiting =)




/pablot

Indeed for the poor frenchies of gueux.be
we are waiting for better pictures

Hope talk to you soon

Excellent work!

And the drives are dirt-cheap, better than the Samsung 616Ts were, and easier to find...
$23 at Newegg

Will this drive work.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

@pikkon
it should work yes.

Awesome work. Just waiting for pictures to be a bit clearer (maybe the instructions more newbie-friendly) and I'm gonna go pick up one of these drives to replace my DDE Samsung. The drive reads everything else... dvd-r, cd-r, cd, but not xbox originals or dvd movies.

-o

thanks menelik.

great guide.

Hi all,

No more return with this mod ???

tchuss

$23 at newegg.com??? Damn, I don't really need the drive, but I am ordering one just for fun and before MS tries to shut down production of this drive.

if you arent an idiot the pictures are clear enough to make the mod, sure, they could be better, but they should be eough for the moment.
an update with better pics should be done within this week.

thx for the support.....but im still waiting tat anyone confirm this to getb the status official

Hi menelik,

We are all waiting that anyone else could confirm that your mod works
In order to use it
and to have good pictures during this week

thks 4 all

Great work other than blurry photos and thanks for the link perplexer, those are just to cheap for their own good. Super.

Where is the LDCD signal on the 8050l, also, could the same trick be used on the samsung SDG-605F?

Has anyone else bought a drive yet, or tried this, or plan to soon? I'll probably be buying one to try it out within a week, but would hopefully like to see someone else successfully mod one first.

Just did my first one with this new method (2 before the VRCD trick) and it reads all but on type of CD-R, that I own, without any problems. The first two wouldn't read any of them (CD-R's I mean). I also haven't had any problems with 20 or so different original and DVD+/- R and RW discs I have in various brands (Ridata,Verbatum and Optodisc., etc). It, however, will not read one samsung DVD-R Disc that I own (It's about 2 years old) and It will not read any of my Black CD-R's that I own. But since very few people have black bottom (Silver Top) CD-R (Generic Brand) or Samsung DVD-R (4x Speed) that should really pose no problems. I haven't tried any CDRW's yet and I'm not going to. Since CD-R's are like $0.02 I'll throw them away as I use them (not very often) before I use a CDRW. Oh I also have a bunch of the header pins (from Digi-Key) so I installed that instead of cutting up a yellow cable. Now I just Plug-n-Play like and original drive.

Thanks for the great guide.

In short....I did the original mod and it worked for DVD+-R/W and XBOX original, but no CD. Then I connected the RDCD to GND and now it reads the CDs too.

i only had a problem with one cd-r which was green, 4x max speed and anbout 5-6 years old. i recognized a very minimal disadavante on dvds which probably no one will recognize.

@mrkaylor does the samsung dvd-r which make probs work without the cd mod?

@monsteria you connected RDCD to GND as you say...do you mean connected through a resistor? im just asking to be sure.

Confirmed this mod works.

I like that we only need 4 resistors, all the same size.

Here are the media types I tried and worked:

CD-R:
samsung 12x
imation
PNY technologies
prime peripherals

DVD-R (games, movies, custom apps)
maxell
ritek g04
ritek g05

DVD-RW:
princo

CD-RW:
verbatim
maxmedia?



With all the help of the great ppl on xbox-scene, this mod was able to happen. Keep up the good work! I'm ready for the next mod...

This mod simply ROCKS, menelik simply ROCKS.

I have been lurking for a awsome solution like this and Thanks for EVERYONE who contributed! I modded my second one ( we wont talk about the first) and BA-BAM! It reads everything like a champ.I just ordered 4 more drives from newegg, now I need to find the DVD side of the connector so I can hot glue the little receptor right on the drive. No modding of the yellow cable needed at all.

Thanks again!

@queekus

thx and you can use a strip (?) with the grid deimension of 2.0.

im not sure if my vocabulary is right here, this is what i mean, t can be connected to the yellow cable, only problem is that you must not plug it twisted.



btw, people with a original lg drive should be able to upgrade their drive too.

Time to give the thomson a kick up the ass!

Been watching the development of this drive very closely, nice to see it's been perfected.

Should this get a pin?

i mailed a mod for a pin but got no answer yet. moreover a post to the news would be nice; i think that many people are searching for something like this and will never know about it. im afraid that they will recognize the mod when the 8163b isnt available anymore.

hi menelik,

what is the link for your pin connector mod ??

tchusss

Any idea if this would work on the 8163BB version? This is I guess the newer version (16x/52x) and is available everywhere here :-)

Thanks for any help!!

I would also like to know about the original 8050L - would the trick work to enable CD-R on them?

// Stefan

@cube :

8163BB version is th BLACK version of 8163B

Have a good day

@:u_no_fr

Thanks! I found some contradicting info on the LG site, I could only find info on the B version and it said it was a 16x48x drive, through a link at one of the local shops I came at another part of the LG site for the BB, RBB versions and it said 16x/52x so that's where my confusion started

Thanks for your quick reply though, will pick one up tomorrow!

Well i have made the mod to(the extra point VRCD, i have already done 3 drives with Trubb guide) and its reads now cds no problem
I have tried
Verbatim white cd 52x

burned game - it reads it OK
burned cd with mp3 songs- reads its OK

What different the Trubb mod and this mod?
I don't look the photos. Wires is different, bios are 8050L fixed? And read all cd-r?
THX, sorry my hungarian english.
Tutorial photo's to bad.

turho, its not the first time i see you asking stupid questions, sorry, but it seems that you just dont read anything. this tutorial will show you the cd advantage which trubb mod didnt.

@Blast

didnt you see my earlier post on the last page? i made it extra large! maybe it was no clear enough, so here once again, this time in red :


btw, people with a original lg drive should be able to upgrade their drive too.

p.s. just dont wanna trash this topic with double posts

If only this worked on the 605F, I'm sure it would work on an 8050L if we found the VRCD point. Honestly, if the same trick can be used on the new Sammys, I would have many more happy customers and other members.

ok guys,
i uploaded a new version with better pics, now even blinds can mod this drive. i will start more resarch on philips drives soon, cant look on a samsung as i dont have one.

Whats wrong with Philips? There are no firmware lockouts...

how can you say that, afaik there are no proofs on that, moreover i just wanna push the abilities - i have nothing to loose

If Im not mistaken the lens doesnt detect CD-R media,thats why when you drop the pot it picks it up.

Proof? Do a pot tweak, and it reads everything, if ti had a firmware lockout, it wouldn't read CDRs even with a pot tweak. And just as a side note, could you take some pics of the 8050L and put them in your tut, or post them and I'll make a tutorial for getting the original drives to read CDR. That is, if you can find VRCD on them too.

nope, i had all 3 philips versions and every version was able to read most cd-r with pot adjustment. maybe i shouldnt tell anyone my ideas...nevermind guys, just forget it.

Isnt that waht I said Philips drives can read CD's if you adjust the pot...
There was two versions of philips drives and the one could read everything,without a pot tweak, if I read the post correct a while ago.

Oh don't just walk away, sure, we shot down the idea, but, it was still a good one, even if it wasn't fully correct. But thats beside the point, Thomsons are the ones you should look into, those don't have a firmware lockout either, but if you could find an optimal value for them, say 200 ohms off the pot, to get them to read CDRs without burning them, that would be nice. And if you get anyones XBox with a Sammy, take a look at those.

If you can find a way to get the new Sammys to read Cd's I and probebly alot of other people will be greatful,a pot tweak doesnt work on them so...


Sorry if I said the wrong thing at the wrong time just now....