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New tool allows you to make your own 120GB Xbox 360 Hard Drive

When Microsoft pulled the wraps off its Xbox 360 Elite console last month, the company also announced that a long-rumored hard drive upgrade would also be available for existing owners. The 120GB hard drive offers a substantial increase in capacity over the original HDD but it also comes with a $179 price tag.

Many owners of the original Xbox 360 have balked at the relatively high price considering that external USB 2.0 120GB 5400RPM SATA 2.5" hard drives can be had for under $100. Microsoft on the other hand seems justified in placing the $179 price tag on its hard drive.

"I know it sounds expensive to a lot of consumers but we are comparable to those types of drives and also we have to go through a lot more testing and security," said Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg earlier this month. "When we buy from suppliers we require a lot more spec reports and tests because that drive has to be able to perform at specific speeds all the time in order to support our environment and our gameplay experiences. Those are not the same specs that they are able to deliver to with off-the-shelf drives."

It looks like Xbox 360 owners have another way to get 120GB of storage on their consoles -- with some caveats of course. Those wishing to perform the mod must purchase a Western Digital SATA BEVS-LAT hard drive (no other hard drives will work). Using the Hddhacker v0.90 tool provided by TheSpecialist, you only need to dump your hddss.bin firmware file from your 20GB hard drive onto a floppy and then flash your new 120GB hard drive with the firmware.

All the while, Sony PlayStation 3 owners are probably looking at all of this trickery and scratching their heads. Sony has made its PlayStation 3 and open platform and users can add any 2.5” hard drive they like to their console without the fear of voiding the console’s warranty.

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RROD Still Unsolved
By EndPCNoise on 4/23/07, Rating: 0
RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By thebrown13 on 4/23/07, Rating: 0
RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By EndPCNoise on 4/23/2007 1:04:13 PM , Rating: 5
You may not find out right away. In some cases, RROD happened after the warranty expired.

Please read these articles and forums:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6811

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6625
quote:
...Xbox 360 consoles dropping like flies...The real issue here is that the Xbox 360 hardware is terribly, horribly and utterly unreliable. Microsoft beefing up its customer care to better help customers is a clear testament to the fragility of its the hardware.


In my humble opinion, I don't believe this issue has been solved. I hope the shrink to 65nm will correct this issue.


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 4/23/2007 1:57:51 PM , Rating: 1
RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By EndPCNoise on 4/23/2007 2:45:34 PM , Rating: 2
Read the entire forum before you post something like this.

Been there, done that.


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By bldckstark on 4/23/2007 12:45:08 PM , Rating: 4
I haven't had a problem with it, and I keep mine in an enclosed TV stand. The power brick is outside though.

I don't know anyone who has had a RROD problem, although I know they exist out there somewhere.

How much longer are you going to wait until you decide the risk is worth it? Maybe when they come out with a 360Lite slimline? Then it will be a new manufacturing process and may have new problems.

This is why they have a warranty.


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By Puddleglum1 on 4/23/2007 12:48:27 PM , Rating: 2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907534
quote:
I don't believe M$oft has come up with a solid fix for this problem yet.
The RRoD doesn't need a fix, nor is it likely that there is one specific part that is causing this for all of the RRoD victims.

The issue can be caused by any sort of hardware failure, ranging from the electronics becoming detached, like you said, or even that it overheated, the power-supply is broken, etc.

Nonetheless, you have the right to have reservations before plunking down $300-480, but if you're just not interested enough in the system, I'd leave it at that.


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By Tsuwamono on 4/23/2007 12:54:49 PM , Rating: 2
all the chips in the 360 use BGA which require alot more heat then what the 360 can produce to cause the solder to come lose to allow the chip to come off the board. i believe its something like 96.8C and thats for the entire board. It must heat evenly or the board will simply fry and you will be LUCKY if you get the red ring at all. PS BGA stands for Ball Grid Array


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By EndPCNoise on 4/23/07, Rating: 0
RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By MrTeal on 4/23/2007 1:31:55 PM , Rating: 2
You don't have to get the board hot enough to reflow the solder. You only need to get it hot enough that the board flexes, breaking the contact between the ball and the pad on the chip.

That brings up an interesting idea. Has anyone with a RROD 360 out of the warranty period tried reflowing the chip to see if that solves the problem?


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By MrTeal on 4/23/2007 1:38:12 PM , Rating: 2
Sorry bout that, I meant the pad on the mb. I suppose I really should preview when it tells me to.


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By AmbroseAthan on 4/23/2007 2:21:41 PM , Rating: 3
Just to add my voice to others who have not had a problem. I own a 360, and have had it since release (yes, I got it on November 22, '05). I had it in an enclosed TV space with the powerbrick on the floor behind, and more recently in an open TV case, powerbrick on the floor behind.

I have not had a problem in 1.5 years. Maybe it will be inevitable to happen, but I believe I am covered for life:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4263

Anyone know if they placed a time-limit on that?


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By Hotdogah on 4/23/2007 2:37:14 PM , Rating: 2
Mine has a manufacturing date of nov 17 2005 so Im not sure, it would be cool if it had a forever warranty microsofts wording is a little vauge here. Mine started overheating so I took it apart and cleaned the lint off of the heatsink fins and its as good as new running in my tv console for hours on end.


RE: RROD Still Unsolved
By EndPCNoise on 4/23/07, Rating: 0
By Chris Peredun on 4/23/2007 11:17:37 AM , Rating: 4
Can't have that external cage still saying "20GB" when you've gone to all that trouble for the DIY upgrade, now can we?




By BigLan on 4/23/2007 11:27:12 AM , Rating: 5
Get a sharpie and add your own 1. Problem solved.


By ObscureCaucasian on 4/23/2007 11:42:37 AM , Rating: 3
The original hard drives just say "HDD" I believe


More Wii60 fanboyism!
By Scorpion on 4/23/07, Rating: 0
RE: More Wii60 fanboyism!
By Rotkiv on 4/23/2007 11:57:02 AM , Rating: 1
Resit the urge, Resist the urge...


RE: More Wii60 fanboyism!
By Chris Peredun on 4/23/2007 12:10:18 PM , Rating: 2
Given the already plummeting rating of that comment, you probably should have put the encapsulated your entire post in the <SARCASM> tag.


RE: More Wii60 fanboyism!
By Chris Peredun on 4/23/2007 12:11:19 PM , Rating: 2
... And I should have used a little more Backspace key and deleted either "put the" or "encapsulated."