I bought a used xbox (mfg: feb 2003) yesterday and the previous owner happened to have an unused Spider chip which he gave me. I wanted to do a soft mod using Splinter Cell exploit so I can run XBMC and use the xbox in my entertainment center.

The only thing I don't have for doing a soft mod is the Action Replay card reader and the memory card. Alternatively I can order a female USB adapter cable and transfer the game save using a USB Flash drive.

On the other hand, I have everything for the chip mod and I am thinking about trying that first. However, I need some held with that:

- How do I find my XBOX version without opening it first?
- Where do I get the firmware for the mod chip? All the links provided in old posts are dead/404 now.
- Is there any benefits to doing one or the other? Is chip mod risky?
- Since Spider chip is discontinued, would it be advisable to use it?

Forget the spiderchip, do a softmod with splinter cell. Once done it works the same as a chip !

Much better than a spider actually !

Spider chip is one of the worst chips made for the xbox. It will be handy to use if your softmod messes up, but otherwise just use the softmod.

(sorry i know this post is old but i thought it would help)