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EB Games orig. XBOX $49, and a quick question or 2


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Picked up a pre-owned XBOX from EB games last night, was pleasantly suprised to find they are now $49 with 12month warranty :D

 

It came with a weird power plug I have never seen before, it is a Microsoft branded XBOX labelled "doodad" that looks like a GFCI of some sort with a test and reset button.

 

I did some googling, and back in the day it seems that Microsoft had a problem with xboxs catching fire :lol.

 

It looks like the problem really was a poor idea to solder the AC socket to the PS PCB rather than use short pigtails (which would prevent fatigue and cracking of solder joints). So this GFCI is a hack fix, it won't stop the joints from getting damaged, but should make it remain safe if it does go pop.

 

Did any of you guys know about it or have one of these things? I don't really like it, according to the label it pulls 613ma even when doing nothing (and runs warm enough for me to believe it).

 

As I am not planning to shower with my XBOX should I just skip it?

 

Oh, and anyone happy to lend me one of the games you need to soft-mod for a couple of days?

 

Cheers

Jacob

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Hmm, I'm tempted to ask you to pick up a second one for me and soft mod it while you're at it :)

 

That doodad thing sounds lame though. By 'pigtail' do you mean some extra wire in the cord (ie give it some slack) between the rubber grommet in the casing and where the solder points are on the mobo? So the problem is with it being too tight?

 

Btw, I gather that 'softmodding' only works on the HDD you have in the drive , and if you put a larger HDD in you'll need to do it again. As such, you better get your larger HDD before you bother modding, assuming its still got a 10gb in it?

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Hmm, I'm tempted to ask you to pick up a second one for me and soft mod it while you're at it :)

 

That doodad thing sounds lame though. By 'pigtail' do you mean some extra wire in the cord (ie give it some slack) between the rubber grommet in the casing and where the solder points are on the mobo? So the problem is with it being too tight?

 

Pretty much - in the xbox they soldered the socket directly to the PCB, so any time the cord is moved/wiggled it stresses the solder joints on the PCB. If the socket was connected to the PCB with some short wires, the stress would not be transferred to the solder joints on the PCB, but "absorbed" by the flex in the wire.

 

Btw, I gather that 'softmodding' only works on the HDD you have in the drive , and if you put a larger HDD in you'll need to do it again. As such, you better get your larger HDD before you bother modding, assuming its still got a 10gb in it?

 

Yah, if I was opening the case though I would just put in a chip though (done it before, and a bloody easy job compared to other consoles) - In my case this xbox won't be gaming or anything else, it will be running XBMC and hanging off the network, so the size of the internal HDD does not matter, so will stay original.

 

At the moment, I am just trying to avoid opening the case so I can use that 12 month warranty if need be - these units are getting a bit older now (this one was manufactured feb 2003)

 

Cheers

Jacob

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Hi I got an xbox from markets with that doodad and that doodad box is just a circuit breaker/earth leakage detector so you can't get zapped. Tried it on other things and doesn't take much to pop. Must be very low amperage rating.
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So can you just remove the doodad, put a new grommet on the cord and give it some slack? (Resolder the points).

 

Then again, it defeats your goal of not opening it.

 

Nah, easier than that, the doodad is in the middle of the cord... so toss the lot and use a normal "figure 8" cord (as used on heaps of consoles, tape decks etc) and call it done.

 

Just like my old one - which I have not set fire to yet :D

 

The problem is bloody unllikely unless you have the xbox ont he cofee table and love bashing it and the wire with controllers/kids etc.

 

Otherwise, it was a knee-jerk fix by MS as advised by lawyers in the US.

 

I'll post a pic of it later as I haven't found any online that look like the Aus one, just the US one...

 

Cheers

Jacob

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The one I got has the same thing.

 

And yes I'm doing the soft mod on it tonight using "Mega X key" kit run a cat 5 cable and store everything on the file server same as the one I have dome already in the lounge room.

 

I got mine from a mate for $30 and he has used it for a long time with the adapter with no problems. Bit I agree might just use a normal cable as it will up from harms way and will not be touched after installing the IR remote on switch mod.

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Did any of you guys know about it or have one of these things?

 

knew of it, never bothered to chase it up though. Was free issue from MS a while back.

 

As I am not planning to shower with my XBOX should I just skip it?

 

Should be fine so long as it doesn't run 24/7, mine main one has never had an issue

 

Oh, and anyone happy to lend me one of the games you need to soft-mod for a couple of days?

 

If not, you should be able to pick yourself up a pre-owned Splinter Cell easily, and cheap. Very common game.

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yeh its probably worth restating (as mentioned on that link) that you will need dash 5960 for most all softmods to work these days.

 

Using an XBL title will update, I have SVC CHAOS which does this. I believe there are some titles that update you past 5960 (unconfirmed), so be weary of that

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As I age my ability to absorb technobabble is decreasing exponentially.

 

What doesthat limitation you mentioned above mean? Sounds to me like another reason to just chip it and be done with it?

 

I wouldn't mind trying my hand at a hard wired mod... where does one get a mod chip for xbox these days, and is there still 50 different types like with the Wii (I seriously cant keep up).

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ok what is "XBMC"?

 

Xbox Media Centre

 

A nice cheap way to have your divx/mp3 home entertainment centre set up. Either share from network or play off dvd. I've got one setup on each TV.

Use it as your xbox dashboard, great stuff and its still being updated

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Rather than softmodding, If it's a version 1 - 1.5 I prefer flashing the onboard TSOP with a hacked bios, only costs you your time to open, and bridge 2 points. Viola, free 'modchip'

 

I have two of these, absolutely preferably over simple softmod as it makes it much easier to upgrade the HDD. Also very easy to do, but obviously it forces you to open the box.

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As I age my ability to absorb technobabble is decreasing exponentially.

 

What doesthat limitation you mentioned above mean? Sounds to me like another reason to just chip it and be done with it?

 

I wouldn't mind trying my hand at a hard wired mod... where does one get a mod chip for xbox these days, and is there still 50 different types like with the Wii (I seriously cant keep up).

 

I never bothered with the technical 'why' on the dash version, Most of the auto installers will not proceed with the install if a lower version dash is installed. So its just something you need nowdays, afterwards its as simple and starting the installer and kicking back for 10mins.

 

Originally, years ago I softmodded my 1.1 xbox with the AUF (Agent Under Fire) exploit, long before dash 5960 and auto installers. That was a nightmare.

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