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Turn an old into a $200 Multimedia Player by Julian Edgar T At the other end of the spectrum, you can do it all he Microsoft X-Box gaming console has been yourself. However, you’ll need to plough through lots of replaced with the X-Box 360 . . . and that makes very geeky instructions from a number of web sources, secondhand X-Boxes very cheap indeed. do a very big web download and be familiar with open And now you can fit a ‘mod chip’ that allows the X-Box source software. to become a full multimedia centre – at a lower price than Doing it yourself also means it’s possible to make big sourcing a used PC – and with an end result that looks far enough mistakes in the software installation to completely more at home in your lounge room, not to mention workdisable your X-Box. ing seamlessly with your TV. We chose a middle road of buying and installing the mod It’s also possible to fit a large hard drive which will chip and then having someone else install the software and give you an almost endless source of multimedia enterconfigure it for our home PC network. tainment. And since the XThere are several apBox was being used proaches that can be • Cheap multimedia pla solely as an MP3 taken to X-Box modifiyer • Handles nearly every for music player, we also cation. mat of sound and video kept the standard One approach is to files • Networks to your PC 8GB hard drive. If take your X-Box to a • Plugs straight into yo ur TV required, it can be specialist who will fit • Expandable to large upgraded later. the mod chip, load the hard disc Overleaf, we show new software, upgrade • Free multimedia softw are each step required the hard drive capabil• Better looking in your lounge room than a PC! – it’s not hard to do ity and even convert • Infrared remote avail as long as you’re methe output to suit HD able thodical. TVs. Features siliconchip.com.au September 2006  9 X-BOX DISASSEMBLY A A The first step is to undo the six Torx T10 screws that hold the case halves together. There’s a screw under each of the feet (just peel them off to gain access) and two under labels. A A A You can now see the motherboard and power supply in all their glory. 10  Silicon Chip A The next step is to remove the DVD drive. Disconnect the IDE cable… The HDD can then be lifted out and the power cable disconnected. A With the top removed, you’ll be able to see the DVD drive (left) and the hard drive (right). These must both be removed to gain access to the motherboard which lies beneath. A The motherboard needs to be removed so pull the power supply plug… siliconchip.com.au A Remove the IDE cable from the back of the hard drive... …and then use a T20 bit to remove this screw that holds the HDD plastic tray in place. A … and then use the T20 bit to undo this and another screw on the other side of the DVD drive. A The DVD drive can then be lifted out and its power cable disconnected. A .. and these two connectors… siliconchip.com.au A A A A A ..and this one… September 2006  11 X-BOX DISASSEMBLY . . . cont A A A With the plugs all pulled, you can then undo the 11 screws that hold the motherboard in place, allowing it to be completely removed. …and not forgetting the power feed to the fan. INSTALLING THE MOD CHIP A A The first step in the mod chip installation is to solder into place the header pin. The holes are already provided on the PC board but note that four holes are unused. Kangamail has photo instructions on their web site, although they don’t include installation of the daughter board (covered in a moment). A Two flying leads must be connected to the mod chip board. The solder pad marked ‘DO’ is connected to…. 12  Silicon Chip So that this daughter PC board can later be placed over the top, the header pins are soldered into place using only a little solder. In addition to being soldered to the header pins, the PC board is also soldered at the circled points. Pre-tinning these PC board pads should be done before the daughter PC board is placed on the main board. A A … the DO pad on the daughter board on the other side of the main PC board. This wire can wrap around the edge of the main PC board – there’s plenty of clearance when the main PC board is back in the case. siliconchip.com.au tinued A A variety of X-box modification chips is available. This one is the Duo-X 2, produced by www.duomodchip.com. It was purchased online from www.kangamail.com which is located in Australia. This mod chip suits all versions of the X-Box (see ‘Which Version?’ panel) Remote Control A A The modified X-Box working as a lounge room MP3 player. The XBMC software is shown disp layed on the TV, with from the top of the equipment stac k downwards: the X-Box, satellite TV receiver, DVD player, digital video recorder and amplifier. And to think I don’t even watch much TV! The mod chip board can then be soldered to the header pins. Note the two position switch (circled). Depending on the X-Box version, this switch must be in either this or its other position. In V1.6 X-Boxes, it should be in the other position. A A The BT pad on the mod chip is connected to this terminal on the back of the EJECT button. This connection is made when the main PC board has been reinstalled in the case. siliconchip.com.au It’s quite possible to completely operate the X-Box Media Center software using the games hand controller. However, as well as looking a bit clunky, it’s a wired remote. But an infrared remote is available for the X-Box – it’s usually called the DVD Remote. The receiver plugs into one of the front ports and the remote then operates like any other remote control. But note that in the overall cost of things, the remote and receiver are quite expensive – a no-name brand will set you back about $40 and the Microsoft one about $50. As always, a secondhand unit will be cheaper than buying new. The finished job, prior to the DVD and hard drives being reinstalled. September 2006  13 The X-Box fits in neatly above the Austar receiver. Note the remote control receiver plugged into one of the front ports – a remote allows full operation of the X-Box in multimedia form. Testing With the mod chip installed, it’s time to see if everything works as it should. Connect the X-Box to power, the AV leads to the TV and the hand controller to the X-Box. (Note: the following instructions refer to the Duo-X 2 mod chip and Version 1.6 X-Box – check the documentation for other mod chips and/or other X-Box versions.) Power-up the X-Box by pressing the Eject button. The normal green star should appear on the TV screen with ‘XBOX’ in green beneath it and ‘Microsoft’ in smaller writing in white beneath that. Shut the system down by powering it off and then start it up again, this time by pressing the Power button. This time an additional shield-shaped object should appear in the top-left corner with ‘Evo X’ written on it. Therefore, the X-Box can be booted in normal mode (by pressing Eject) or in mod chip mode (by pressing the Power button). If the X-Box fails to boot, try the mod chip switch in the other position and check your soldering very carefully with a magnifying glass and strong light. Center) and is freely available on the web – see http://www. xboxmediacenter.com/info_project.htm. The installation and network configuring took about 30 minutes. The network set-up is fairly straightforward but if you’re at all unsure of networking, follow the following sequence to obtain the information the software installation person will need about your system: On your PC go to Start, Run then type cmd and at the command prompt ipconfig/all. Software Installation As indicated earlier, we chose to take the modified XBox to a third party to have the software installed and the network access set up. The open source software is called XBMC (X-Box Media Which Version X-Box? ntification Box were produced. Ide Eight versions of the Xct mod rre carried out if the co .com/ of the version must be ene -sc ox d installed. http://xb fying chip is to be selected an nti ide to ide gu step by step ible ss versions_0.php gives a ce ac lly na ter ex with the the versions, starting x. n moving inside the bo serial number and the 14  Silicon Chip X-Boxes in excellent condition can now be bought for as little as $100. This one was purchased from a secondhand store for $120, complete with a 30-day warranty – an assurance it wouldn’t be dead on arrival. siliconchip.com.au Note that (of course!) the X-Box must be switched on from the start of this whole process! Using XBMC There is a users’ guide for XBMC at http://manual.xboxmediacenter.de/wakka. php?wakka=Index but as with the soft- ware installation, it’s really designed for people heavily into computer software and hardware. In other words, it’s incomplete, not particularly well written and should be best used only when you get stuck! (Note: that’s the manual; the software itself works fine and is easy to use.) As with most computer software, the quickest way of getting a feel for XBMC is to play with the hand controller. In five or 10 minutes you’ll soon learn where the ‘back’ and ‘select’, ‘fast forFTP software is needed to transfer files to the X-Box. At left is the local site (ie ward’ and ‘rewind’ keys are – we must your PC) and at right is the remote site (ie the X-Box). Transferring files is as admit that we didn’t try too hard in this easy as clicking and dragging. area because we almost straightaway Then print this screen to an image viewer (ie, press the went to the infrared remote, on which the keys are self Print Screen key and then paste it into the image viewer) explanatory (see the ‘Remote Control’ panel). and print it out. Take along (or send) this piece of paper Conclusion with the X-Box. It’s important that you obtain the IP address for the XAs secondhand X-Boxes continue to fall in price taking Box from the person who sets up the network, otherwise this approach will become increasingly attractive. Already you won’t be able to send files to the X-Box. This assumes it can put a whole new world of entertainment in your that – as with most households these days – you have a lounge room! PC network set up in your home. Costs File Transferring To transfer files to the modified X-Box you’ll need to use an FTP program and the X-Box will need to be connected to your computer network. FileZilla is freely available and works fine: go to http:// prdownloads.sourceforge.net/filezilla/ FileZilla_2_2_24a_setup.exe?download for the download. To transfer files to the X-Box using this program, type the IP address of the X-Box in the ‘Address’ window, xbox into the User box and xbox into the password box. When the program has successfully connected to the X-Box, text indicating success in connection will appear on FileZilla screen. Furthermore, the hard drive letters of the X-Box (eg C, D, E, F) will then appear in the Remote Site box. Moving files is as simple as highlighting them in the Local Site box and clicking and dragging them across to the location you want them to be in the X-Box. For example, that could be in /E/ Music or /E/Video. Files can be deleted from the X-Box by right-clicking on them and selecting Delete. siliconchip.com.au Cost will vary greatly on how well you bargain, whether you choose to fit a larger hard drive, whether you use the wired game controller or an infrared remote and so on. As SC a guide, this table shows the actual prices we paid. Item Supplier Cost X-Box with power cord, hand controller and AV leads Cash Converters, Runaway Bay, Gold Coast, Queensland $120 X-Box infrared remote and receiver Cash Converters, Toowoomba, Queensland $25 Duo-X 2 Mod Chip www.kangamail.com - supplier http://www.duomodchip.com/english/ install.htm - support $35 including freight XBMC software supply and install www.mod-store.com.au Gold Coast: 0422 450 665 $30 Cat 5E network cable Harvey Norman, Arundel, Gold Coast, Queensland $15 FTP client software http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ filezilla/FileZilla_2_2_24a_setup. exe?download Free Total $225 September 2006  15