Joined: May 22, 2003 Posts: 23945 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:09 pm Post subject: XPOD Detailed Info and Specs (sorta tutorial)
Hi all,
Superman has sent me some more pics and info.. There not exactly alot of info on it right now but rest assured once he has the time he will release it to all our HQ members..
Hopefully he will release enough info for all you guys who want to mod your own xbox..
HERES SOME MORE INFO on the XPOD (Portable XBOX):
XPOD
BY SUPERMAN
HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE SUPERMAN XPOD. THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN UNDER
DEVELOPMENT FOR SOME TIME BY MYSELF. I AM JUST AN ENTHUSIAST LIKE MANY
OF YOU. I AM NOT MASS PRODUCING THEM FOR SALE OR PROFIT IN ANY WAY. I AM
SHARING MY KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE WORKING ON THIS PROJECT TO HELP
OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY. WHAT IS THE XPOD? IT IS THE WORLDS FIRST PORTABLE
XBOX. COMPLETELY PORTABLE. NO WIRES HERE! IT RUNS ON BATTERY POWER WITH
CAPABILITY OF 12VOLT D/C ADAPTER AS WELL. YES, THIS MEANS THE XPOD WORKS
EVERYWHERE! AT HOME, THE CAR AND WHERE EVER YOU DECIDE TO TAKE IT. AT
THE MOMENT THE ONLY ONE IN EXISTENCE IS THE PROTOTYPE.
THERE ARE MANY PLACES TO FIND DIRECTIONS ON BIOS AND MOD CHIP INSTALLS
INCLUDING XBOX-HQ.COM SO I WILL NOT BE COVERING THAT HERE. WHAT I WILL COVER
IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF HOW IT CAME TO BE. I HOPE THIS HELPS BRING NEW IDEAS
AND PROJECTS TO LIGHT IN THE FUTURE. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE WHAT OTHERS CAN
DESIGN AND SHARE WITH THE COMMUNITY.
THE CASE WAS SUB-CONTRACTED TO A FRIEND, BEN. I WILL LATER POST A LINK TO HIS
SITE WHEN HIS PORTION OF THE CASE CUTTING WRITE UP IS FINISHED. BEN IS UNABLE TO
ANSWER OR HELP WITH ANYTHING EXCEPT THE CNC MACHINING OF THE CASE ITSELF.
ANYTHING OTHER THAN EXTERNAL CASE QUESTIONS/HELP WILL BE HANDLED HERE.
WE WILL START WITH NEEDED COMPONENTS: 1 XBOX, A LAPTOP HDD, AN ADAPTER
FOR THE LAPTOP HDD TO CONVERT TO IDE INTERFACE, AN LCD OF YOUR CHOICE TO WORK
WITH (I CHOSE A PSONE 5 INCH LCD), A MINI CONTROLLER (NO WIRELESS CONTROLLERS),
A MOD CHIP OF YOUR CHOICE (I CHOSE XENIUM), A VARIABLE VOLTAGE INPUT MINI 12 VOLT
DC TO DC PSU (TYPE USED FOR MINI ITX UNITS), VARIOUS (DIODES, REGS FOR PSU), WIRING,
SOLDER, BATTERY PACK(S) OF YOUR CHOICE, ( I CHOSE SONY CAMCORDER BATTERIES) AND
TONS OF TIME! THIS IS NOT A PROJECT FOR THE INEXPERIENCED. I WOULD ONLY RECOMMEND
THIS PROJECT FOR CONFIDENT AND EXPERIENCED ENTHUSIASTS IN THE ELECTRONICS AREA.
WHILE I HAVE DONE ALL THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON THIS AND AM QUITE
COMFORTABLE WITH ELECTRONICS IN GENERAL, IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TO PERMANENTLY
DAMAGE ANY OR ALL OF THE ABOVE ITEMS! THE ENCASEMENT CAN BE WORRIED ABOUT
LATER. I HOPE I HAVENT LEFT ANYTHING OUT HERE.
I RECOMMEND MODDING THE XBOX FIRST TO AVOID CONFUSION LATER AND HAVING
TO DIAGNOSE BETWEEN A MODDING PROBLEM AND A HARDWARE PROBLEM. AFTER
YOU HAVE A MODDED XBOX THAT IS ABLE TO FUNCTION WITHOUT THE USE OF A DVD
DRIVE WE ARE READY TO BEGIN. REMEMBER, THIS UNIT (UNLESS YOU DECIDE TO
DESIGN XPOD WITH A DVD) WILL NOT HAVE A DVD DRIVE, SO INSTALL ALL SOFTWARE
BEFORE TEAR DOWN/DIS-ASSEMBLY. OTHER WISE YOU WILL NEED TO LOAD ALL SOFT
THROUGH FTPING. WHILE ON THIS SUBJECT I WOULD LIKE TO STATE IT IS POSSIBLE TO
USE A SLIM LAPTOP DVD WITH AN XBOX. I HAVE READ MANY TIMES IT IS NOT POSSIBLE
TO PLAY ORIGINAL SOFTWARE WITH ANYTHING BUT AN ORIGINAL XBOX DVD........ THIS
IS NOT CORRECT. IM WORKING ON SECOND XPOD WITH SLIM DVD FOR THE FUTURE. IT
IS POSSIBLE TO USE ANY DVD ROM WITH XBOX GAMES. IT IS DIFFICULT TO DO. YOU
WILL NEED TO USE THE XBOX'S ORIGINAL DVD DRIVES DAUGHTER BOARD IN UNION WITH
YOUR CHOICE OF DRIVES. I WILL NOT COVER THIS TUTORIAL NOW DUE TO PRESENT UNIT
DOES NOT HAVE/REQUIRE DVD.
THE M/B : THE ONLY PIECE OF THE ORIGINAL XBOX BEING USED IS
THE MOTHER BOARD. REMOVE M/B FROM HOUSING AND DO WHAT YOU WILL THE REST.
DO SAVE ALL CABLING FROM M/B. WE WILL BE USING IT TO CONNECT DRIVES, PORTS,
CONTROLLER BOARD AND THE LIKE. AFTER REMOVAL OF M/B WE WILL NEED TO
REMOVE THE CPU HEAT SINK...... ITS HUGE! I RECOMMEND REPLACING WITH SMALLEST
AVAILABLE AND AN ATTACHED FAN. I CHOSE A BASIC 586 HEAT SINK, MODIFIED FINS AND
INSTALLED MINI FANS RUNNING PAST FANS. RUNNING PAST THE FINS WILL COOL MUCH
BETTER THAN DIRECT TOP MOUNT ON THIS MODEL. WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE THINNEST
UNIT POSSIBLE. NEXT YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF CASE YOUR LOOKING
FOR. THE THINNER/MORE COMPACT THE INERTS, THE THINNER THE OVER ALL UNIT
WILL BE. WITH MY CASE I HAD TO "FLATTEN" CONSIDERABLY. BY FLATTENING, I MEAN
REMOVING CAPACITORS AND THE LIKE, LYING THEM FLAT TO M/B AND RE-SOLDERING
ACCORDINGLY. THE A/V OUT CONNECTOR CAN BE CAREFULLY REMOVED AT THIS POINT,
ALONG WITH POWER CONNECTOR AND ANYTHING ELSE SURFACE MOUNTED THAT WILL
INTERFERE WITH YOUR PERSONAL CASE DESIGN. YOU WILL NEED TO HARD WIRE AND
SOLDER ALL CONNECTIONS ANY WAY FOR SCREEN AND PSU. SEE ATTACHED A/V
DIAGRAM FOR PIN-OUTS. ONCE AGAIN CHOICE OF CONNECTION/LCD IS YOURS.
I CHOSE THE PSONE BECAUSE OF ITS MANY EASY AVAILABLE INPUTS. IT WILL EVEN
ACCEPT RGB AND EASILY MODDED WITH LEDS TO ELIMINATE HIGH POWER USAGE
FOR BACK LIGHTING.
THE CONTROLLERS : I CAN NOT STRESS ENOUGH THAT THE SMALLER THE
PARTS BEING USED THE SMALLER THE END RESULT. I HAVE FOUND THE NEWER
SMALLER CHEAPER WIRED CONTROLLERS WORK WELL. THEY SEEM TO BE A BIT
EASIER TO DE-SOLDER AND WORK WITH. AND IF YOU FRY ONE, ITS A BIT EASIER TO
SWALLOW DIGGING INTO POCKET FOR A REPLACEMENT. AFTER CAREFULLY
REMOVING ALL BUTTONS/SWITCHES AND TRIGGERS YOU SHOULD BE LEFT WITH A
NICE FLAT I/C BOARD TO WORK WITH. GIVING YOURSELF ENOUGH LENGTH WIRE TO
WORK WITH (WILL VARY WITH CASE DESIGN), JUST MAKE "EXTENSIONS" OF
CONTROLS FROM CONTACT POINTS ON I/C TO ALL BUTTONS/SWITCHES AND TRIGGERS.
THIS IS VERY TIME CONSUMING AND TEDIOUS. AFTER WIRING/SOLDERING THE I/C END
OF WIRING YOU CAN MOUNT THE I/C BOARD TO THE M/B. I DONT RECOMMEND SOLDERING
ANY OF THE SWITCHES/BUTTONS/TRIGGERS AT THIS POINT. THAT CAN BE DONE LATER
WHEN CASE IS BEING WORKED ON AND CONTROLS MOUNTED. NOW WE NEED TO
SHORTEN THE INTERFACE CABLE TO XBOX AND SOLDER CONNECTION TO M/B. THIS IS
PRETTY BASIC.
THE PSU : THIS WAS MOST COMPLICATED PART OF MOD. UNFORTUNATELY THERE
IS NOTHING AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE "PLUG AND PLAY". I MUST HAVE SPENT $470 OR
BETTER ON DESIGNING A WORKING PSU. I WONT GO INTO THE FAILURES AT THIS TIME.
THERE ARE NICE MINI ITX DC TO DC UNITS AVAILABLE. I LIKE THE NEW DSATX. IT IS
CAPABLE OF 220 WATT OUTPUT AND EXCEPTS 6 TO 24 VOLT INPUT! VERY NICE FOR
MANY REASONS. YOU WILL NEED TO MODIFY THE PSU. DO NOT JUST PLUG INTO
YOUR 1.2 TO 1.6 XBOX (THE CONNECTOR LOOKS THE SAME) OR YOU WILL FRY IT! I HAVE
INCLUDED PICS WITH PIN-OUTS AND USEFUL DIAGRAMS OF NEEDED MODIFICATIONS TO
THE DSATX FOR XBOX USE. KEEP IN MIND THE (POWOK) OR POWER OK VOLTAGE VARYS
ON XBOX MODELS. ALWAYS CHECK/PROBE YOUR MODEL TO BE SAFE! IMPROPER
VOLTAGE COULD DAMAGE M/B. AN XBOX'S POWER ON SIGNAL IS INVERTED TO THAT
OF AN ATX SUPPLY. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO SWITCH THE ATX PSU ON EXTERNALLY, OR
BUILD A CIRCUIT TO INVERT THE SIGNAL.
I IN NO WAY ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE DAMAGING
THEIR EQUIPMENT! WITH ALL MY EXPERIENCE, I STILL MANAGED TO
DAMAGE 3 M/BOARDS, 2 FACTORY PSU'S AND 2 DC TO DC PSU'S. IF YOUR
NOT EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE WITH ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING,
SOLDERING/DE-SOLDERING, WIRING AND HAVE A GOOD WORKING
KNOWLEDGE OF XBOX MODDING, PASS THIS PROJECT BY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! _________________ HQ Network:
www.xbox-hq.com | www.xboxone-hq.com | www.360-hq.com | www.c64-hq.com
TheRealHypnotiX Moderator
Joined: Feb 01, 2006 Posts: 2508 Location: Pensacola, FL
i havent read the whole thing, but i bet there is motherboard splitting. Can you do it without spliting the motherboard at all?
although, its gonna look like the old hue xbox, but still... _________________
exyBoxy Xbox-HQ Member Xbox Version: Not Sure Modded: UnleashX
what the hell was i thinking. I havent even opened my xbox yet, so i think this thing is way too advanced for me. Ill contact my dad about this, he might be able to help me out building my own frikin xpod _________________
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