46 CHAPTER 2 Disassembling Your Xbox Removing the Motherboard Power Supply Connector Next, let's focus our attention on the power supply connector for the motherboard. This connector comes from the power supply, which is located on the right side of the motherboard, screwed into the case. I will explain how to remove the power supply in Chapter 11 (on replacing the case). Be very careful around the power supply supply (as well as the CPU and CPU heatsinks) if you have recently operated your Xbox because the power supply components will be extremely hot! Locate the power supply connectorby referring to Figure 2.45. You remove the power supply con- nector by pressing the clip tab with your finger while pulling upward on the connector that is mounted to the motherboard fitting. This is identical to an ATX motherboard power connector in a PC (see Figure 2.46). FIGURE 2.45 Locating the power supply connector on the motherboard. After you have disengaged the motherboard power supply connector, lay it aside so the mother- board can be removed, as shown in Figure 2.47. Removing the Motherboard 47 FIGURE 2.46 Removing the motherboard power supply connector. FIGURE 2.47 Moving the motherboard power supply connector aside. 48 CHAPTER 2 Disassembling Your Xbox Removing the Motherboard Screws Eleven Torx screws are used to mount the motherboard to the case. Refer to Figure 2.48 for the location of all the screws and then remove all 11 screws using your Torx tool. Figure 2.49 shows a close-up image of the motherboard with the screws already removed. FIGURE 2.48 The location of the 11 screws holding down the Xbox motherboard. Unplugging the Controller Port Cables Two connectors each handle two of the controller ports on the front of the Xbox, as shown in Figure 2.50. The controller ports are connected to the motherboard using two small plugs at the inside front side of the Xbox. The four controller ports. First, locate the controller port connectors on the motherboard, as shown in Figure 2.51, and gen- tly pry them free with your fingers, as shown in Figure 2.52. The final result is shown in Figure 2.53. Note the screws are loosened but not yet removed. Be careful when removing the screws by hand because you do not want to damage the motherboard Removing the Motherboard 49 with an electrostatic discharge, which can occur especially ifyou are standing on carpet or other static-inducing material. FIGURE 2.49 Close-up of the Xbox motherboard, showing the screws that have been removed. 1 2 3 4 FIGURE 2.50 The four controller ports. You should wear an antistatic wrist strap or ground yourself repeatedly while working with any electronics. You can ground yourself by touching a large (preferably unpainted) metal object, although just using an antistatic wrist strap is safer. Be sure to store the screws in a safe place so that they won't get lost! See Figure 2.54. 50 CHAPTER 2 Disassembling Your Xbox FIGURE 2.51 The controller port plugs on the motherboard. FIGURE 2.52 Removing a controller plug from the motherboard. Removing the Motherboard 51 FIGURE 2.53 The Xbox motherboard is mostly stripped and almost ready to be removed. FIGURE 2.54 The 11 motherboard screws should be stored in a safe place. 52 CHAPTER 2 Disassembling Your Xbox Removing the Case Fan The Xbox case fan is powered by a small power cable that attaches to the motherboard, as shown in Figure 2.55. Simply pull up on the fan power wires to remove the connector from the mother- board. FIGURE 2.55 The Xbox case fan must be removed prior to removing the motherboard. Removing the fan itself is a bit more tricky. Take a look at Figure 2.56. The easiest way to get the fan out is to use a screwdriver to pry the fan mounting tabs away from the fan and then gently remove it using a back-and-forth motion. You will have to switch the screwdriver from one side of the fan to the other to free the fan of both tabs. Removing the Motherboard You are now (finally!) ready to lift the motherboard out of the case. Simply grab hold of the CPU heatsink and lift the motherboard. I advise against using a screwdriver or any other tool on the motherboard itself because a simple twitch of the hand can cause the tool to scratch the leads on the motherboard, rendering it unusable. So, be careful at this point! See Figure 2.57. Removing the Motherboard 53 FIGURE 2.56 Pry the fan mounting tabs away from the fan to lift it out of the case. FIGURE 2.57 Lifting the motherboard out of the Xbox case. 54 CHAPTER 2 Disassembling Your Xbox You will quicldy notice that the motherboard needs to be pulled toward the front of the Xbox to clear the video and network ports on the back of the Xbox. Simply lift the motherboard while pulling it toward the front of the Xbox. If all goes well, your Xbox should look like the one shown in Figure 2.58. FIGURE 2.58 The motherboard has been removed from the Xbox case. Figure 2.59 shows the Xbox motherboard after it has been removed from the case, and Figure 2.60 shows the bottom side of the motherboard. You will get to know the motherboard layout more personally if you have a late-model Xbox (which requires a soldered mod chip-more on that in Chapter 6). Removing the Motherboard 55 FIGURE 2.59 The Xbox motherboard is dominated by the CPU/CPU heatsinks. FIGURE 2.60 The bottom side of the Xbox motherboard. [...]... why they sold the Xbox in the first place) Here is how you can decode the hardware serial number if it is available: LNNNNNN YWWFF where • L is the number of the production line within the factory • NNNNNN is the number of the Xbox produced during the workweek • Y is the last digit of the production year • WW is the number of the week of the production year • FF is the code of the factory where the Xbox. .. of an Xbox is just a "suggestion" for the revision The manufacturing date is printed on the serial number label on the bottom of the Xbox You can see this label through a hole in the retail box (used for scanning the serial number at the cash register), so you can try to identify the revision without even removing an Xbox from the box (although a used Xbox is probably lacking a retail box in the first... 6 People's Republic of China 7 Unused 8 Airlines and cruise ships How Does a Mod Chip Work? When you power up your Xbox with a game in the DVD-ROM drive, the Xbox boots up and then performs a validation check on the game disc to ensure it is a licensed game, produced by an official Microsoft licensee Before the game starts running, the Xbox authenticates the disc by searching for the correct boot information... found, the Xbox will refuse to play the disc (either a game or movie) because the correct information is not available The mod chip kicks into action at this point A mod chip such as Xenium will cause the Xbox to ignore the boot information and just start running whatever is on the disc The mod chip will boot either a game or DVD movie import An interesting side effect of the change effected by the mod... used the preceding two checks to narrow down what you think your Xbox revision is, the next two steps will really give you a concrete answer to the question Assuming you have already opened your Xbox per Chapter 2, "Disassembling Your Xbox, " you should look for the video chip It is located on the motherboard, directly below the video output port on the back of the Xbox (see Figure 3.8) This is another... 3.9 The Halo Special Edition Xbox There are rumors that a more recent manufacture of the Crystal Xbox has taken place, and if this is true, then it's possible there might be some of these units with a 1.6 revision motherboard Additional Exceptions FIGURE 3.10 The Limited Edition Crystal Xbox I have encountered some very strange exceptions to the guidelines presented in this chapter, where a motherboard... rented, then you must purchase the license outright from the rental store The store cannot simply make a copy to replace the one that was lost because you were granted ownership of the license for a short period of time Failure to return it incurred the cost of purchasing the product That is the reason it is illegal for a store to rent a copy of a DVD to you; doing so results in two copies of the licensed... enjoy the products you have purchased without breaking the law Microsoft has every right to modify the architecture of the Xbox to thwart the activities of mod chip makers, which, in turn, have every right to modify their mod chips to suit An automobile manufacturer has the same right to modify an engine to thwart the aftermarket car performance industry (although manufacturers usually support the aftermarket)... your Xbox hard drive and play them using custom Xbox software, and these practices are also legal Why, if these activities are legal, do so many companies object to these practices? Because obeying the law is a voluntary matter, many companies in the movie and video game industries 73 74 CHAPTER 4 Introduction to Xbox Madding prefer to enforce the law by limiting your use of their products in the first... meaning they can be burned once, and after that, these chips are permanently fixed with a BIOS There is no single method of identifying your Xbox revision with 100% accuracy, but by using three well-tested methods together, you will be able to determine the version of your Xbox with certainty The methods are as follows It is best to perform all of these tests because Microsoft doesn't print the revision . factory. • NNNNNN is the number of the Xbox produced during the workweek. • Y is the last digit of the production year. • WW is the number of the week of the production year. • FF is the code of the factory. from one side of the fan to the other to free the fan of both tabs. Removing the Motherboard You are now (finally!) ready to lift the motherboard out of the case. Simply grab hold of the CPU heatsink. case. 54 CHAPTER 2 Disassembling Your Xbox You will quicldy notice that the motherboard needs to be pulled toward the front of the Xbox to clear the video and network ports on the back of the Xbox. Simply lift the motherboard