icanswim70

I’ll jump at whatever project you invision. I suspect this will take awhile either way. I’m willing to assist anyone anyway possible, but I need more than just me (and @Bowlsnapper lol). Instead of shutting down possibilities we need to be brainstorming ideas like I’m trying and get a plan in place. I can rip drives apart, clean them, reassemble, and repeat till the sun sets, but with more brains attacking this, we can get a possible solution started, whether thats reverse engineering, rewiring, modding, etc. Reverse engineering would take constant communication so I’d suggest if a group is willing, we put together a chat somewhere and start working.

Getting back to the task here. I’m not really looking to discuss modchips, they already exist and are well documented and most can figure it out. The entirety of this is to find a way to play legitimate OG Game discs. The 2 candidates I’m thinking could work are the 360 drive, and my original thought of a brand new dvd drive from on of the big 3, wired and flashed. We have the flash, using the wiring knowledge we have, I’m still leaning towards this scenario. Since mechanically drives are pretty similar, finding the solder points for the power connector and the SATA problem is where my brain is going… Maybe a simple modchip can be created to bridge the gap between sata and ide to avoid breaking it… or this is where a pi controller could be coded to bridge the gap?

Next thought. Modifying the 360 OS to include all OG titles. It seems our best bet is using the 360 drive.

My other theoretical while I’m thinking about it: flashing a 360 DVD drive with the OG Firmware.

On that logic, shouldn’t a simple rewire work then? Or as I’ve said, a sata to ide adapter. If the detection already happens, sending that into to the OG Xbox should theoretically work… after flashing the number locking the drive to its partner..

My thinking is if we have a legitimate 360 drive, we should use it. Most number of authentic parts. We have the firmware, and we know 360 can already read some OG Discs. I was researching yesterday about how backwards compatibility works as my thinking is we can exploit that in the firmware and “trick” the DVD drive into thinking all OG games are backwards compatible. I’m away from my computer at the moment but I’m gunna dissect the firmware best I can to see how the backwards compatibility works. I’m not sure if it’s a “list” built into the firmware or a series of unique identifiers for each game, or some other sequence that can be changed. Once that’s figured, I’m thinking it’s fairly straightforward to find like you say, the solder points for IDE conversion, hook it up, and away we go. BEST FLIPPING PART? Replacement lasers are EVERYWHERE

Spread the word. Let’s get this done!

You raise an interesting point. They already read some OG games so they must have a form of the firmware already. Question is, can it be modified to recognize all OG discs? Is a copy of the firmware available?

I think with enough momentum we can get this done. gotta get the word out… someone somewhere has the knowledge.

Man I love that this stuff is running through peoples minds. The most buzz I’m hearing and personally wanting is to use my legitimate Xbox discs. With those setups, assuming the OG drive is dead, there is no way for the pi to recognize the discs. The whole issue with the pc dvd drive. Which is why my thinking is going down the path of: modify firmware , flash new drive, use OG discs. I don’t have the firmware knowledge for this step though… If a replacement drive is acquired from an OG manufacturer where the firmware already exists, I think the success rate of reading a disc increases since you’re only modifying firmware rather than writing brand new firmware. A possible problem is the sata to ide conversion that would be needed. The conversion could harm the drive…

I am trying to solve this problem. If anyone with knowledge or knows anyone with knowledge of firmware modifications, this is being revived here: There is buzz on Reddit as well: If enough band together, we preserve not only this beautiful machine, but also all our physical game collections. I also created a community on Reddit to hold all the information as I gather it https://www.reddit.com/r/OGXboxDVDDriveRevival/ Lets save the console!

You’re my kinda guy. Let’s get this going!!! There are games to be played.

I’m not touching that one lol. my want as I mentioned above is to use a drive that can be flashed to read original discs. Not burnt discs. The only unique thing about the OG drives is the firmware and maybe a couple wires. We have access to the firmware already. So using a brand new drive flashed with the OG Firmware should theoretically work. Which brings me to my theoretical example above.

Alright, I know I’m missing something huge, but it’s just not clicking as why only 4 drives would work(that we know of). Im gunna post my theoretical for you to direct and poke holes in: just your average run of the mill new LG drive from Amazon. flashing and hardware rewire from here: Sata to IDE Converter. Also flashing instructions here: https://consolemods.org/wiki/Xbox:DVDROM_Flashing Rewiring would need to pull voltage for dvd drive connector on the physical Xbox to match OP diagram. Could a chip perhaps be created to achieve this?

This is exactly why I wanna revive this idea and get modding. We all have stacks of games begging to be played for years to come. If this can be a central resource for acquiring new drive, a HUGE problem will be solved. The drives you are referring to are the LG 8163, Samsung 616T and there’s one other that escapes my mind at the moment, right? I’m wanting to mod a brand new drive so a failure is not a concern, bringing me back to my original idea. On older drives, rerouting and adding resistance gets the drive behaving as an Xbox drive did, but could the same concept be applied to a new drive from 2023? The drive speed would have to be SEVERELY reduced in addition to the rerouting. Could a modified flash do the trick?

Great info. I’m a pretty good solder hand and have been restoring consoles, computers, iPods, pinball machines, and anything else I can find for about 15 years now. I’m also an IT Technician by trade (certified) so I figure this is a great project, hence why I’m trying to get all the info. since we know Phillips, LG, and Samsung are what came with the consoles originally. Getting a brand new drive of those brands may have an advantage since they are original manufacturers, and firmware is already available for LG and Samsung. Is there a schematic somewhere that would indicate what wires need to do what alongside OPs post.

Thanks for the welcome! im trying piece together as much information as i can on the topic. I want to find a reliable solution as it tears my heart to think that one day my collection of OG Xbox Games will become paper weights. I literally remember getting the OG Brand new back in the day. SO, what are the limitations? We have the firmware needed to flash candidates, and I see the wire diagram above. Is it a wiring issue, voltage issue, etc? If all limits are known, a starting point can be established. I’d like to start my research with a brand new drive to maximize life of the replacement.

Like OP, I am extremely interested in finding a solution to “no more drives”. I feel like new drives can do so much more now, so making a better machine perform a simpler task must be possible somehow.