DIY Extender from an old XBOX 360?

[blueiedgod]

I have been toying with the idea of building my own extender. Yes, I am aware that it can't be done easily in the true sense, but I came across a busted up XBOX 360 that someone took apart and didn't know how to put it back together. I ended up acquiring it for nothing.

So, here is my thought, can I mount the XBOX motherboard into an old VCR case? I kind of wish my parents didn't throw out the top loading VCR from the 80's. That would have been really cool!!!

I thought about DVD player, but they are too skinny. It would be nice to have the DVD drive to play DVD's, but I think I can line up the DVD rom with the VCR door, and just glue it to the tray.

My question is, how much freedom do I have before Microsoft bans the XBOX. I am reading conflicting reports online. I understand that I have to use the orginal DVD-ROM to play games, but can I use a replacement DVD-ROM to just play movies? Will it trigger the ban?

The original is busted, and I have a bunch of them regular PC DVD-ROMs laying around. I am not too keen on messing with transplanting the controller board. Also, if I install a slot loading drive, I can machine a slot in the VCR door.

Another "rumor" out there is that if I replace the 2 fans in the back, I will trigger the ban. I would like to replace the original heatsinks with slimmer design, possibly a heat pipe laptop unit, and replace the fans with standard fans (modify the plug to connect to the motherboard).

I realize that Niveus did just that, but maybe they had more freedom from Microsoft, or actually understood what they did, which I do not claim I do. I am looking at it as "this is just another PC"

I am also in the process of building an HTPC into an old Sony receiver case.

[adam1991]

so, you have a free motherboard to play with. It will cost you zero to experiment, so what's the holdup?

[blueiedgod]

so, you have a free motherboard to play with. It will cost you zero to experiment, so what's the holdup?

My questions, for people who are more familiar with XBOX 360, are:

1) Will generic PC DVD-ROM trigger the ban? (I don't care for the inability to play games, just DVD's, but, don't want to get banned from Live)

2) Will fan replacement trigger the ban?

[epayson85]

Microsoft detects / reads the drives firmware so most likely you will get banned. However if they can't read a different drives firmware it might just get read as a non working drive so you could be fine. Another option is finding one of the old hddvd drive addons. Then you don't have to worry about being banned. Why do you want access to live? Netflix? The fans shouldn't get you banned that's crazy talk. I have two 360s I hacked and I have done tons of modifications. None of them banned.

[blueiedgod]

Microsoft detects / reads the drives firmware so most likely you will get banned. However if they can't read a different drives firmware it might just get read as a non working drive so you could be fine. Another option is finding one of the old hddvd drive addons. Then you don't have to worry about being banned. Why do you want access to live? Netflix? The fans shouldn't get you banned that's crazy talk. I have two 360s I hacked and I have done tons of modifications. None of them banned.

I mainly want to maintain Live access for the media pack to work, but if I come across a really low cost Live Gold, then I would also use it to get Netflix.

[UCBearcat]

Replacement of the DVD drive will most likely trigger a ban. It was my understanding that there was a daughterboard that scanned specific DVD drive models and their firmware version...
I think over the life of the white 360, there were about 3 different DVD drive models used. If you needed to replace the drive, you had to purchase the same exact model and flash it to match up w/ the daughterboard. Or, get a DVD drive and matching daughterboard.

MS really tried their best to lock down the hardware to prevent any modding... well, you can mod all you want, but expect a ban from Live. Unfortunately, you can't look at the 360 as "just another PC," and switch out DVD components, etc.
As for the fans - I agree with epayson85 - there isn't anything special on those. Just a pair of 12v fans (that are really really loud). I think it is safe to replace those, as I believe a lot of modders do first thing.