I don't really see why it wouldn't work, but hopefully someone here can add some insight. I would like to put a dvd burner in my xbox for burning in linux. I know I won't be able to load xbox originals but I don't have a problem with that.

I have an X3 modded box. If I split the molex and toss in the burner, should I expect it to function? What are the chances of me finding a burner that I can connect to the eject/disk ready/tray in,out lines?

One bump and I'll let this die until I actually try it..

Anyone?

The xbox dvd drives have special firmware. I think...

Try to find the 4 "magic" signals on the drive. Tray In, Tray Out, Eject, and Ready. Eject, in, and out shouldn't be that hard, but ready can be a pain. The box will work without these signals, but it helps to have them fed to it.

Yes, you can use a DVD burner in the XBOX. Burning DVDs in Linux wouldn't perform very well, but it will work. As far as finding one that can be used with the XBOX's IN, OUT, EJECT, & READY signals... I don't know. That is something you would need to try yourself. But the XBOX can use the drive without those signals just fine, so for all that's worth you could just re-wire the XBOX's eject button. (Cut the non-ground lead and solder to the DVD drive's eject button.)

Simply put, you wont find a DVD burner with the M$ connector on it, since its proprietary. However, some circuit boards have the points labelled, and you can also look at the tutorials for an LG drive if you have an LG burner for example. This will give you some insight as to what youre looking for.

Thanks guys.

I'm going to try it...I'll bring this thread back if and when I get everything working.

Yeah, so I got it working. I found the lines needed to get the drive working like a stock one - sort of. I do have eject, tray out, tray in, and ready, but they don't conform exactly to the xbox lines, so XBMC has trouble detecting a new disk, unless I restart it sometimes. Plays everything great, except originals, of course.

The burner works great in linux - the xbox doesn't seem to have any issues keeping up. I used xdsl with scsi emulation for hdb (hdb being the burner) and tkDVD to burn some AVIs from my F drive. If anyone wants anymore in depth info on it let me know.

I really wanted to get Nero working. I was trying to get it working under wine, but it was a big PITA. I might try to get Nero for linux working.

Burner model is in my sig.

Glad to hear that you got it working. I've always wanted to install a DVD burner in my XBOX, but I just can't seem to get rid of the original drive, as I still need it to read original discs. Once upon a time I actually installed a Plextor CD-R drive, and was successful in burning an ISO in linux, but ended up not using it for very long. Not exactly practical, ya know?

Anyway though, glad you got it working. And that is a decent burner too...