Original xbox drive replacement?

mmsadda

Just buy my shit. Seriously. You can call me Susan
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Jan 20, 2009
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OK, so I've got two dead OG Xbox systems, and would like to get one or both working.

One was mine (My second, a late 2003 system) - unsure of the drive maker. The disc tray won't stay closed. Is there a known solution for this?


The other is an early model, manufactured December '01 - it has a Thomson (ugh) which gives a dirty disc error, and I ain't got a dirty disc. ;) I know there were NOS Thomsons floating around a few years ago - I can't find more recent repair threads, or ideas of a plug-and-play replacement drive. Is there a drive I can buy and throw in this?

Probably a stupid question, but I spent like half an hour dicking around on google without any actual solutions (other than replace the Thomson with another Thomson, and clean the other.)
 

aha2940

AH, A, COLUMBIAN!,
Joined
Dec 15, 2013
Posts
2,528
OK, so I've got two dead OG Xbox systems, and would like to get one or both working.

One was mine (My second, a late 2003 system) - unsure of the drive maker. The disc tray won't stay closed. Is there a known solution for this?


The other is an early model, manufactured December '01 - it has a Thomson (ugh) which gives a dirty disc error, and I ain't got a dirty disc. ;) I know there were NOS Thomsons floating around a few years ago - I can't find more recent repair threads, or ideas of a plug-and-play replacement drive. Is there a drive I can buy and throw in this?

Probably a stupid question, but I spent like half an hour dicking around on google without any actual solutions (other than replace the Thomson with another Thomson, and clean the other.)

Hi, I do not know how to fix the drives beyond cleaning them inside (sorry) however, I recently brought one OG xbox back from the dead by rewriting its EEPROM, re flashing the BIOS and installing a new hard drive. It sounds complicated but I assure you it's not. The DVD drive on this is dead as a stone, but it is not needed because all the games are stored in the HDD and installed through FTP. I can link you some youtube videos that guided me on how to do all of it if you want to.
 

Dochartaigh

Edo Express Delivery Guy
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Mar 25, 2017
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Join the OG Xbox group on FaceBook, or go to their forum, they're the go-to people for things like this. Their Facebook group name is:

"Xbox (Original) Modding, Trading, Collecting, Discussion (OGXbox.com)"
 

mmsadda

Just buy my shit. Seriously. You can call me Susan
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Posts
3,067
Hi, I do not know how to fix the drives beyond cleaning them inside (sorry) however, I recently brought one OG xbox back from the dead by rewriting its EEPROM, re flashing the BIOS and installing a new hard drive. It sounds complicated but I assure you it's not. The DVD drive on this is dead as a stone, but it is not needed because all the games are stored in the HDD and installed through FTP. I can link you some youtube videos that guided me on how to do all of it if you want to.
Thanks for the suggestion! That sounds very manageable, so long as none of the chips are surface-mount. Maybe I'll try to repair one, and mod the other like you described.

If you wouldn't mind sending a link, I would appreciate it!

I really just want to be able to play Dino Crisis 3
 

ChuChu Flamingo

We have purposely, trained him wrong, ...as a joke
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Nov 23, 2010
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The drive not staying closed is probably the traces being corroded from the ribbon connector (the one that connectors the power reset and eject buttons to motherboard)or near where the time keeper super capacitor is. Mine does something similar to yours where it stays powered on and can't shut off.

I need to open it up and fix it but i'e just been lazy. Seems to be a common problem
 
Last edited:

aha2940

AH, A, COLUMBIAN!,
Joined
Dec 15, 2013
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Hi! I'm including here all the links I used to revive my xbox. If you have questions, feel free to ask me, I can reply from my own experience. I'd also like to note that I am in no way saying that these videos are perfect, some may contain some questionable practices regarding soldering or other minor stuff, but the info on them helped me and now my xbox boots with a custom BIOS and it has a 320GB HDD filled to the brim with games and other stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcK6nKyKGVQ - How To Make Xbox EEPROM Reader / Writer 2016
Parts required:
- Computer with a real serial port (old ones, it's the 9-pin one)
- SATA or PATA/IDE hard drive upto 1TB.
- sata to IDE converter with the 2 capacitors (kingwin adp-06). Only required if using SATE HDD.
- 2 x 5.1v, 1/2w zener diodes
- 2 x 3.9k, 1/2w resistors
- alligator clip
- dual inline headers
- heat shrink
- db9 female connector
- db9 housing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzrljlHDr9w - How To Extract Xbox EEPROM Easy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIw8k5areQg - Detailed tutorial to flash bios (Uses XTT.exe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLcEAbb2iP0 - How to write a new BIOS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz7JHGkPBu0 - Install replacement drive

Replace hard drive additional links:
https://quade.co/2017/xbox-tsop-flash/ (Uses the hexen iso disc downloaded)
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/259115-original-xbox-replacing-dead-hard-drive-steps/
http://www.xbox-hq.com/html/xbox-tutorials-cid-23.html
https://assemblergames.com/threads/original-xbox-with-dead-hdd.66128/
https://assemblergames.com/threads/original-xbox-with-dead-hdd.53639/
http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?40368-XBOX-original-with-EPROM-replacement-BIOS-question
 
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