Let me start off by telling you my experience with modding. I had someone install an xecuter chip on my original Xbox. He also put a bigger hard drive into it and loaded it up with a ridiculous amount of ROMS. I understood how to transfer files between the Xbox and PC, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Lack of tools and prior experience prevented me from doing it myself and I regret that.

Fast forward a couple of years and now the 360 is in style.

I have three 360's. One is working and two are broken. My broken ones both have the red rings. I've contemplated sending them in for repair at $100 a pop, but I also would like to have a modded 360 and I ask myself is it even worth it? Could I fix my problems while at the same time modding it myself?

What I would like my 360 to do is:

• transfer files from console to pc and back
• play games (and ROMS) that have been put on the hard drive or read from a burned disc
• install a bigger hard drive for the above
• if I could use XBL, that would be a bonus

I don't understand the level of difficulty of modding a 360, but from what I gather it appears to be 10x more complex than the original. I remember being able to do all kinds of awesome stuff on my original Xbox. Stream music and videos, play movies, surf the internet, play ROMS, and etc. I don't expect this sort of functionality with the 360.

Now, I basically just need someone to answer a few questions for me and I would seek out the information in more depth. I really don't know where to begin searching until someone with experience clears up some misconceptions I might have. My questions are as follow:

1. Can I determine the exact cause of my red ring and purchase the right tools fix it for cheaper than $100?
2. Do I have to purchase a modchip or do they not exist for the 360?
3. Could I clear out my hard drive from the original Xbox and use it for the 360?
4. If a modchip is used, do they still have switches to access XBL while turned off?

I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and helping me out in any way. The information out there is overwhelming and I just need someone to point me in the right direction. I would like to do this all myself, but being kinda new to the scene can make things difficult. And I do apologize if this was the incorrect forum or type of thread. I tried to look around before making this.

If anyone can share some thoughtful insight I would much appreciated it.

Well youve come to the right place. There is a wealth of info here.

Answers

1. Most likely. You should go to this link for fixing red ring. http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/ring_...x-clamp_fix.htm

Now with that site it will tell you what you need and what to do to fix it. Depending on the hardware store you have around you you can google the parts list for your store.

We have a home depot here so i googled Red ring repair home depot parts list.

That gave me the exact skus of the stuff I needed. It all costed me under 25 bucks. I had the tools I needed.

You should be aware that your console will most likely not last after 4-6 months repairing it yourself. It is just a temporary fix.

2. The Xbox360 does not use a modchip. The DVD drive firmware is simply flashed. It is very easy to do this yourself, and many tutorials you can use. Depending on your drive youll be in business for under 20 bucks on your own flash.

3. YOu cannot use your hard drive from your xbox1. The xbox360 uses a notebook/Laptop size hard drive, while an xbox uses a PC type drive.

4. Again no mod chip is used. The discs you burn conatin stealth data. But right now we are in the midst of the biggest ban wave. If you flash your box right now and go on live, you will almost certainly be banned.

Take some time and go through the forums. You will be good in no time.

Thank you for the quick reply.

I've been doing some reading and I've noticed that everyone does the 'flashing' but very little talk of modchips. I read that there is only one modchip available for the 360 and it requires some hefty installation to get it working.

I can't remember, but does flashing allow you to put on additional programs onto your Xbox 360? I've been told that I should stick to the original if I plan to do ROMS because the 360 is very limited in what it can do. Apparently it hasn't been 'hacked' like it's predecessor...yet.

I've been looking for a way to transfer files from my 360 to PC, but I don't want to buy a memory unit and a transfer cable just to make this happen. I hope this flashing business can take care of this for me.

First off, you should do some more reading, and make a better attempt to understand what "Flashing" is.


On a different note, no. Flashing your dvd's firmware will not allow you to transfer anything from your computer to your 360. It will let you play pirated 360 games, but thats about it.


You can transfer gamesaves to and from your PC by simply using the SATA port on the 360's hdd and connecting it to your PC. I believe its datel that has a xsata transfer system that puts an extra sata port on the outside of the box, so you don't have to open the HDD case every time.




Regardless, there is no way to pirate DLC, the only transferable thing atm is gamesaves.










-Also, it is possible to play homebrew on your 360 (recently discovered), but it requires an old version of the dashboard and some hefty work. You wouldn't be able to play on live at all, and at this point it is hardly worth it.