pc dvd drive conversion

[sinclairuser]

Edited February 18, 2021 by sinclairuser

[sinclairuser]

for some reason my text vanished above, anyway this is the drive i have been converting for xbox, the two mosfets added to the board are bs 170's one on the tray in line and one on the tray out line, this is due to this drive having the opposite state on those lines i had to add basic inverters to make them low going high.

2n7000 can be used for this as well as bs170, though from tests i have done with different drives its more common to be as the xbox expects(low going high), not the other way round, i'm currently waiting for some 74 logic chips as i dont have any as soon as those come i will fit the drive, but apart from that every signal on the xbox dvd power connector is as the xbox expects, at this stage i just want the drive working correctly it will read all media cd-r, cdrw, dvd-r, dvd+r, dvdrw(- and+).

the only discs it wont read are xbox game discs, but until my mate who works with firmwares comes good its ok, i decided to make a new topic for this so i can add bits as i progress.

one extra thing i discovered in the original sources on the net for doing this modification is that the data pin that is labeled as "serial DATA not used by xbox " is in fact a  kick back line, its function is to tell the drive to keep spinning but it only matters on early thomson drives, all other xbox drives including the later tommy drives dont spin down, the majority of ide drives of that era dont spindown either, they slow down which is ok what you dont want is the drive to stop, because we have no way to kick it back up and the data stream would stop.

there is no problem just leaving that pin floating, i tried both pulling it down and up and in both cases it had strange behaviours so just ignore it and leave it alone.

leaving a line floating is not something i would normally do but here its ok, i will add more as i progress.

thanks,

aly.

p.s. i know it looks rough and ready but this is only an experiment anyway, also ignore the date stamps on the photos i could not be bothered to set the clock on the potato sorry camera.

 

fetch.pdf

[MadModders]

i have the firmware for the lg drives i also have a custom pcb that fits nicely to the drive 

[sinclairuser]

that's great, i'm trying to find other drives that will work, i have never been convinced that there are only two, there must be others, as for firmware have you ever noticed just how many different pc dvd drives use basically the same firmware?.

there are others, i just need to find them, the ultimate aim is to get an ode running on the ogxbox.

years ago people said "why bother messing around with dvd drives just fit another xbox drive" they used to say the same about drive emulation but the amount of good xbox drives gets lower all the time.

another drive i intend to investigate is the ihas lite on drive, that was used to rip xbox and 360 discs, those can actually read the media, there is a version that is ide though they will be old now so a sata board like we use on harddisks may be needed, i have ordered a new one from Malaysia though between the pandemic and overseas mail only god knows when it will turn up.

[MadModders]

 glad  someone is still trying it is needed tbf it is near impossible to find a replacement laser for any of the drives in the uk 

[KaosEngineer]

4 hours ago, MadModders said:

 glad  someone is still trying it is needed tbf it is near impossible to find a replacement laser for any of the drives in the uk 

And, I'm not convinced that the lasers are dying but some other electronic component on the controller board, trace corrosion/rot on the controller PCB, or bad electrolytic caps.

[MadModders]

i think its a bit of both tbf 

 

[KaosEngineer]

On 2/21/2021 at 7:14 PM, sinclairuser said:

that's great, i'm trying to find other drives that will work, i have never been convinced that there are only two, there must be others,

Check out this post archived by the Wayback Machine from the xbox-linux.org site if you haven't already:

Connecting a PC-DVD drive to the Xbox

and the PDF document linked on that page.

Even though this PC DVD drive could be used to read burned discs (modded console required), it could not read original game discs:

Toshiba SD-M1302

[icanswim70]

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. 

[Bowlsnapper]

1 hour ago, icanswim70 said:

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. 

Welcome to the forum!

Yeah, the optical drive issue is an interesting one for me. I LOVE being able to just throw in a disc and rip data... preferrably at a higher speed than the stock drives cuz DAMN those things are slow. 8x is a ridiculous spec for ANY DVD-ROM drive from 2001. Also, all our drives are starting to die, so any research into coming up with a replacement solution is welcome.

[icanswim70]

21 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Welcome to the forum!

Yeah, the optical drive issue is an interesting one for me. I LOVE being able to just throw in a disc and rip data... preferrably at a higher speed than the stock drives cuz DAMN those things are slow. 8x is a ridiculous spec for ANY DVD-ROM drive from 2001. Also, all our drives are starting to die, so any research into coming up with a replacement solution is welcome.

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.

[Bowlsnapper]

10 minutes ago, icanswim70 said:

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.

Well, every drive is a little bit different as far as PCB layout. The functions are all mostly the same. It's just a matter of finding a place to solder all the wires to. When it comes to firmware, I think it's a modified version of an Xbox drive firmware... or a modfied version of a certain dvd-rom drive firmware with the ability to read xbox originals added to it. I don't know which, or how it was accomplished, but I think the firmware that was available and that was tweaked for a certain few drives only worked with a certain chipset. Plus, there just wasn't a lot of research into finding every drive that could possibly be modified. They found a few and focused on those ones, if I were to guess.

[icanswim70]

14 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Well, every drive is a little bit different as far as PCB layout. The functions are all mostly the same. It's just a matter of finding a place to solder all the wires to. When it comes to firmware, I think it's a modified version of an Xbox drive firmware... or a modfied version of a certain dvd-rom drive firmware with the ability to read xbox originals added to it. I don't know which, or how it was accomplished, but I think the firmware that was available and that was tweaked for a certain few drives only worked with a certain chipset. Plus, there just wasn't a lot of research into finding every drive that could possibly be modified. They found a few and focused on those ones, if I were to guess.

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. 

[Bowlsnapper]

Well there are a few drives that can be used. They require their own respective wiring mods and firmware versions. I'm not sure what drive the OP is using since he didn't actually specify. One way to be able to tell is the components that he had to add, like the MOSFET. I'm sure that's unique to a specific model.

Wish there was more documentation available on this. The documents are buried on the OGXBOX installer disc and the wayback machine. Lol.

[icanswim70]

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?

[Bowlsnapper]

2 hours ago, icanswim70 said:

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?

The drives can be fast. The 8163 reads WAY faster than a stock drive. Same with a 616T. The read speed doesn't have to be slowed down. I'm sure somebody could modify the firmware of a current drive to read discs, but it would probably take a bit of work, since the drives that are out now are not as similar to the xbox drive as those few that were used were. Like I said, different chipsets and such. I'm sure the firmwares between those few drives were a hell of a lot more similar also. But I don't doubt it can be done, just somebody willing to put in the time and who has an understanding of this area.

 

As a side not, I have 3 616T drives waiting to be modded. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[sweetdarkdestiny]

• LG 8163
• LG 8164
• Samsung 616T
• Toshiba SD-M1302

 

EDIT: Snappy is backkkkkkkk.

Edited February 9, 2023 by sweetdarkdestiny

[Bowlsnapper]

6 hours ago, sweetdarkdestiny said:

• LG 8163
• LG 8164
• Samsung 616T
• Toshiba SD-M1302

 

EDIT: Snappy is backkkkkkkk.

Indeed, the self-proclaimed snapper of bowls has returned.

Thanks for the list. I was unaware of the Toshiba. First time I'm seeing that one ever. 

Man, I had a Talismoon kit for an 8164 that would've been so cool to use, and I lost it moving. I'm so PISSED...

[icanswim70]

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? 

 

[sweetdarkdestiny]

These 4 can read original xbox games. How ever, if you don't care about that, you can use any PC dvd drive that uses IDE. You would however need to find a way to connect the eject, status (Tray in/out, disk rdy, no disk ect.) to it.  For a temp use of a dvd drive you can leave the original xbox drive connectet with the yellow cable but thats just a temporary solution like getting drunk before you go home to your wife.

 

[icanswim70]

1 hour ago, sweetdarkdestiny said:

These 4 can read original xbox games. How ever, if you don't care about that, you can use any PC dvd drive that uses IDE. You would however need to find a way to connect the eject, status (Tray in/out, disk rdy, no disk ect.) to it.  For a temp use of a dvd drive you can leave the original xbox drive connectet with the yellow cable but thats just a temporary solution like getting drunk before you go home to your wife.

 

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. 

[Bowlsnapper]

4 hours ago, icanswim70 said:

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. 

Unfortunately, I doubt it will be that simple. Without knowing really anything about optical drives, I believe there will be differences between IDE and SATA drives that would break the firmware. Also, I think newer drives may potentially be so different from 20 years ago, that it would necessitate a modification of the firmware that is currently available for them, rather than flashing them with an old firmware and calling it a day. This would probably be a project... not to mention you will have to reverse engineer the drive's PCB and find a way to wire it up. However, it's still worth doing, as long as somebody with the required expertise is willing to contribute. Besides, those 4 drives are getting harder to find and are way more expensive than they should be. It is time for a new DVD-ROM drive, all. Lets do it!

[icanswim70]

48 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Unfortunately, I doubt it will be that simple. Without knowing really anything about optical drives, I believe there will be differences between IDE and SATA drives that would break the firmware. Also, I think newer drives may potentially be so different from 20 years ago, that it would necessitate a modification of the firmware that is currently available for them, rather than flashing them with an old firmware and calling it a day. This would probably be a project... not to mention you will have to reverse engineer the drive's PCB and find a way to wire it up. However, it's still worth doing, as long as somebody with the required expertise is willing to contribute. Besides, those 4 drives are getting harder to find and are way more expensive than they should be. It is time for a new DVD-ROM drive, all. Lets do it!

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

[Bowlsnapper]

51 minutes ago, icanswim70 said:

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

Now if somebody out there who has experience in firmware and optical drives could chime in, that would be a good start.

[Fringle]

I know this is an old thread but what about using an Xbox 360 drive?  The firmware already reads Xbox discs and the connector to is almost identical to the original Xbox.  Is there maybe a way to splice the connectors together and have it work with an ide to sata adapter like this one? https://www.sybausa.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=352  In theory, I'm thinking it should be possible maybe with an 0800 firmware flashed.  I just found a thread on reddit posted yesterday where they say it's not possible but I don't know.  Guess I'm not the only one who thought of it.