Insomniac80

Hello everybody I am new here and new with Xbox at all i just get xbox crystall ( belive its 1.5 or 1.6 have no idea how to check it without opening) and i thought that i wana softmoded it (for a start) my colegue said i gona find help here so i try can annybody give me some clues how to check is my xbox 1.5 or 1.6 or 1.6b how to start ( i found that i need a special cable for usb stick and splinter cell game for special save) is that the only one way to soft mod? it so many diferent videos (i am not a lazy i star reading about it seen some video but hope maybe sb here give me a helpfull hand) Thanks.