backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 34 comment(s) - last by mars777.. on May 1 at 6:12 PM
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.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
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."

Serves me right for trying to use big words.


RE: More Wii60 fanboyism!
By Scorpion on 4/23/2007 3:55:24 PM , Rating: 2
Lol the fact that we're all getting rated down I find quite hilarious, because it frankly makes no sense. But in essence that is what I was trying to prove. I sarcastically made that comment predicting this exact outcome.

Watch this will get modded down to -1 as well!


RE: More Wii60 fanboyism!
By dome1234 on 4/23/2007 12:51:16 PM , Rating: 3
well one could argue that the entry price point of the ps3 is so steep that without any sweeteners, consumers might find it hard to swallow.

quote:
"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."


meaning the drive needs to survive in the crazy heat and red ring of death?

some real expensive spec sheets there he mentioned, unless the drive is 7200rpm, ata150 (which I doubt the ata100 and ata150 would make a difference in the x360) and official seal of participation in the gates' foundation's drive to cure cancer or something, it's not worth the bleddin' extra bucks.


RE: More Wii60 fanboyism!
By Anthrox on 4/24/2007 1:16:40 AM , Rating: 2
the drive seems to be off the shelf drives to me

this site has pulled one apart
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/news/inside_the_xbox...

here the specs for the Fujitsu MHW2120BH HDD
http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/computing/stora...

and here is a whole heap of places to buy them from starting from $88 USD
http://www.google.com/products?q=Fujitsu+MHW2120BH...

all you need now is a tool to make the drives work in a 360 becasue it only supports WD hdd atm


As Much As I Hate Saying It...
By Verran on 4/23/2007 12:47:08 PM , Rating: 4
This is one category where the PS3 takes the gold. Allowing USB hard drives was a very smart move for Sony (well, good for Sony PR, bad for profits). They must be having a good laugh while they read this "guide".




RE: As Much As I Hate Saying It...
By BZDTemp on 4/23/2007 1:20:49 PM , Rating: 4
Sony is not just allowing USB hard drives!

In fact the manual that comes with the PS3 describes in detail how to exchange the internal SATA 2.5" drive. Basicly it's like swapping out the drive in a laptop except the PS3 will handle the formating for you making it even easier. With the right cable you can even hook up an external SATA disk giving your PS3 a 1 TB disk if so desired :-)

To me the 360 hard drive vs. the PS3 hard drive is just one more place where Microsoft's greed is showing. The PS3 may be expensive but among other things it's an open platform and for example you can use any bluetooth keyboard*, mouse and headset you would like which is a big contrast comparing with the 360 and it's Microsoft taxed accesories.

*You can even use an Apple wireless keyboard.


By EclipsedAurora on 4/23/2007 11:23:24 PM , Rating: 2
PS3 not only allow user to use any Bluetooth keyboard, actually most USB wired or wireless keyboard/mouse are no problem to use in PS3!

I tested my PS3 with 3 different Logitech model mice and found all of them are working fine =>


By encryptkeeper on 4/23/2007 4:56:21 PM , Rating: 2
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.

Trust me, if there's one thing Microsoft knows it's how to market and how to price. NEVER discount software, charge waaaaaaaaaay too much for hardware, and always make sure it's extremely expensive for upgrades, because god forbid they credit you for customer loyalty or something like that. But the PS3 was made and marketed to people who do their own mods to their systems, so it made sense not to have restrictions on changing the drives.




By mars777 on 5/1/2007 6:12:55 PM , Rating: 2
I won't comment on business practices but what i think is that the Xbox is a console suited for the average Joe(which does not mod) that can pass for enthusiasts(if they don't mod).

The sony PS3 is a console that is for enthusiast/modders (until prices fall).


How about an HDMI hack?
By jawgee on 4/23/2007 6:53:43 PM , Rating: 2
I'm more interested in way to upgrade the existing Xbox 360 to be able to output 1080p over HDMI? Anyone create a way to do this yet?

Thanks,
jawgee




RE: How about an HDMI hack?
By EclipsedAurora on 4/24/07, Rating: 0
RE: How about an HDMI hack?
By MrTeal on 4/24/2007 1:07:09 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, it's pretty easy. You just need one of these guys here... http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?... , some crazy glue, some solder and a little wire. No sweat.


Funny thought..
By spartan014 on 4/23/2007 11:22:13 PM , Rating: 4
Maybe its just me, but nobody seems to acknowledge what TheSpecialist managed to do.. Everyone seems concerned with the RROD or that Sony made the PS3 an open system.

Come on guys, he deserves at least a nod of approval..

Well done, TheSpecialist!!




warranty extended
By casket on 4/23/2007 9:59:43 PM , Rating: 3
"In some cases, RROD happened after the warranty expired."
I had an original batch... November 2005.

I got the RROD in February 2007, 1 year and 2 months... or 2 months after the warranty expired.

I called Microsoft and they said they extended the warranty on all xboxes by another year... so it was repaired for free.

They said they extended this warranty on all 360's in January 2007. I guess if you had an original 360 die in November or December 2006... then it was out of warranty... however, i guess they have reimbursed these people.




"Spreading the rumors, it's very easy because the people who write about Apple want that story, and you can claim its credible because you spoke to someone at Apple." -- Investment guru Jim Cramer

DailyTech Poll
Which web browser do you use on your primary personal machine? 






44 Comments









botimage
Copyright 2009 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki