OliveJannard

Seems ok to me, I would not risk touching it. Here's a picture. Did Microsoft use 10gb Western Digital HDD at some point for their Xboxes, and don't you think it's odd that it was made in 2000? I really can't remember if this one is original. The info I find online mostly say they used 8gb Western Digital, the 10gb ones were from Seagate.

I tried swaping the disc drives and it didn't help. Does cleaning those parts of the HDD can mess up something? I don't think I'm equiped to do a backup

It flashes red/green 50/50. But it really doesn't always flash, it works normally most of the times (except the fact I can't play half of my games). When it's working it's a solid orange but I think it's because it's modded. It's unclear if the hard drive is original. I have a vague memory of changing it, maybe putting the one that was in my cousin's Xbox thinking it could fix the problem. It's a 10gb Western Digital made in 2000. I'm not even sure if Xboxes had 10gb Western Digital at some point, and why would it be made in 2000? Well, if we did replace the hard drive back then, it did not fix the issue and most likely did not cause it. I did not swap the DVD drives as I did not think it would make any difference, but it's the next thing I'm gonna try. Could the DVD drive really cause issues when launching the console without any game inside?

So I actually bought a working Xbox 1.0 for only 25$ to take it's power supply instead of doing all those tests I wasn't sure I'd be comfortable with (I also don't have a multimeter yet). Turns out it doesn't change anything. My Xbox still has the same symptoms. I don't know what I should be looking for next. Does replacing the thermal paste could be worth a try? Any other things I could check? Thanks!

Here's an update on my observations. When I first start the Xbox after letting it unplugged for a moment, it's gonna have a hard time getting started, even briefly shutting down then turning back on on it's own, then the famous green and red light will flash. It's quickly doing fine, maybe 1 minute after, until I play a game and it freezes. Then I can still open the CD tray to come back to the main menu. The fact that it's acting strange especially after being left unplugged tells me it could be power supply related. Next thing I'm gonna do is take it ou and inspect it. Any thoughts on that? It's a "Delta 1 row" power supply we're talking about in case there's something to know. Here's a photo I took when I opened it.

I put everything back together after cleaning, even cleaned the disc drive eye, and now I'm having a weird problem. Everything seems to work fine, but half the games won't play. If the game is playable it's gonna play totally fine. The other half is gonna freeze when you try to skip the introduction video of the game itself. Also, I've noticed a high pitch sound which tend to oscilliate a lot, is this the disc driver having a hard time reading? Btw all the discs are in good condition. Working games: Sega GT, 2002 and JSRF, original The Simpsons Road Rage, original Need for speed Carbon, original Mx Unleashed, original Def Jam fight for NY, burned Freezing games: Forza Motorsport, burned Toca race driver 3, original NHL 2K7, original I could test some more but I can't see a clear pattern there. I have a second 1.6 Xbox so I'm thinking swaping the disc drives to see if that's it. However, even if both have Philips drives, will they be interchangables considering my "broken" Xbox is a 1.0? Are all Xbox drives compatibles if I'm looking to buy another one? Thank you for helping me save this console again!

Seems alright. Is corrosion always really dark like in the photo you posted?

This is the other side of the board and the section you mentioned is actually not corroded! The part looking weird is just gunk from the little sticker square that was there. It all came off. Any other common place worth giving attention? I'm planning on cleaning all of the rest but I'm gonna wait until I see if it's fixed before considering replacing the thermal paste. Thanks again!

Thanks! So I'll remove the board completely and clean both sides of it with IPA as you said. Should I try to wipe the excess of IPA or is it just ok to let it evaporate, even when there's a big amount? I'll have a look at those traces and pray that cleaning will do the job. For soft modding, I was asking if it could lead to problems, but thanks for telling me about it's efficiency

Hello! I decided to open up my softmodded Xbox made in july 2002. It has partially stopped working around 2008 and I remember replacing the hard disk did not help it back then. I dont remember the exact symptoms it had, but I remember considering it broken so I bought another one for cheap and stored this one for 15 years. So I wanted to give a try of repairing it today after learning about the clock capacitor problems, considering the fact that the console is still very clean globally and even have the OG box. When I first tried to turn it on, I had nearly no image showing on the screen, except a very dimmed and freezed green circle in the middle. I turned it back on and everything seemed fine, I was able to play a game with no problem for 5 minutes before deciding to turn it off and open it to have a look. Here is all the photos I took. The clock capacitor obviously leaked, but I can't quite tell how far the acid went as the whole board seem covered in dust. I plan on cleaning the surrounds with vinegar and then with IPA, but I don't know a lot about electronics so I wonder if there was anything you would do or avoid to do in this case. Also, can the softmod mess up something or has it likely absolutely nothing to do with potential failures? I must have played the console 1 or 2 years with the softmod without problems before it broke. Thank you all for your precious help!