Xbox 360 Tech Blog

Project Find More Room

Fafhrdd — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:48:00 -0400

Nothing exciting here but I have officially run out of room on my desk due to all the Xbox 360's running. I am currently boosting some games with the need of multiple Xbox 360's/accounts and because of this I need another solution besides setting them on my desk. So I just got done cutting and installing some shelves.

They are not the greatest shelves in the world and defiantly not the prettiest but they function well. Just got some cheap particle board and some L brackets. Once everything is done with them I will have the room and ability to run up to six Xbox 360 consoles that will connect to three different TVs. Very awesome if you ask me!

Here are some pictures. It is still a work in progress. I don't have all my cables and I need a new switch in that room for internet. I only have a 5-port switch and with six consoles, a PC, and a laptop in that room a 5-port switch will not work!

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First Shipment To eBash

Fafhrdd — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:16:00 -0400

Well, after tackling Thanksgiving and a few weeks with the family I decided to try my very best to get some controllers up and working for Zack from eBash. With Christmas around the corner I also wanted to get in his hands a few modded rapid fire controllers to sell at his store. So after long hours, confusing issues, and only one solder burn later the first shipment was sent this week. Below is the image of the rapid fire controllers for this shipment.

We decided to add some customization by adding some color, new buttons, new 360 analog sticks, and a nice 5-mode rapid fire mod. As you can see the colors are blue, red, green, and Halo Olive. Undetectable over Xbox LIVE and works on nearly any first/third person shooter. I even wanted to see if it worked on older games so I used it on Quake 4 (did you know that game has a flashlight?) and they worked like a charm!

I also included a few repaired controllers. This batch was not to hard to repair, I focused on repairing the controllers with minor problems to try and get a few out to the gamers. I repaired eight controllers, one had a wiring issue (guide coming soon) and the others had issues like bad LB/RB buttons and trigger issues. Mostly they just needed a good cleaning. Here is a before and after shot:

The major issues with these controllers are they are very dirty. The picture above does not do justice to just how dirty these controllers are. It just proves, from a technical/maintenance perspective video gaming, sugar, and grease do not mix (from a personal perspective they are the perfect match). Never seen so much hair and dirt (and even seen crumbs of food) inside a controller. Since the original 360 analog sticks have worn completely out on all the controller we decided to purchase new sticks and a D-Pad. Instead of purchasing original sticks we wanted to give the controllers some flair, so I purchased some "crystal green" sticks and D-Pads. At first I was not too impressed with them but after working with them and using them I am really like them now. If they hold up to the abuse I will recommend them but only time will tell.

I have already started to repair more of the damaged controllers (bad wires, bad 360 analog sensors, bad triggers, etc). You can expect more guides in the near future. If you want a modded controller or want to check out the newly repaired controllers stop by eBash and check them out!

Stay tuned for some guides and other updates.

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Xbox - 10 Years of Making Me Happy

Fafhrdd — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:07:00 -0400

I just wanted to wish Microsoft a happy 10th birthday for the Xbox 360! You should check out the dashboard and re-live some old memories, play some trivia, or check out the content that is on sale right now! Enjoy the day, play some Halo CE, and get ready for the next Xbox console!

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Snapdragon S3 Chipset for the Windows 7 Phone

Fafhrdd — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:29:00 -0400

The house that Qualcomm has built seems to continue to gain more ground in the mobile processing world with every product they release. Of course I am talking about the Snapdragon chipset. My biggest criticism to the Windows 7 Phone when it launched was in the tune of hardware. Great innovation of software and user experience package however the hardware was greatly lacking. I was very unimpressed at the launch lineup of phones. This is no longer the case for the new lineup of Windows 7 Phones.

Windows 7 Phone delivers the software innovation while Qualcomm delivers innovation in the hardware realm. This team of hardware and software promises to be the exceptional level of integration between hardware, software, and services. Yeah that was so the sales and marketing version of it but the tech looks very promising.

The generation of the Snapdragon chipset platform (S2) will find its way into every new Windows 7 Phone. This chipset has much to boast about and is self-proclaiming it as a “system on a chip that delivers on unprecedented combination of processing performance and optimized power consumption.” with directly built-in support for Power Management, Multimedia, Radio Frequencies (RF), Software/ High Level Operating System (HLOS), Memory, Connectivity, CPU, GPU, GPS, MODEM, and Digital Signal Processors (DSP). Quite impressive feats from this dual-core processor which proudly represents superior battery and power management.

The integrated Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is by far the item I am most interested in. Like all Snapdragon processors this one has the integrated Adreno Graphics Processor Unit. This chipset will ship with the Adreno 205 GPU chip which boasts impressive 3D graphic numbers and support.

I would hope to see the S3 chipsets in future phones (Q3 and Q4 of 2012) which boasts the Adreno 220 GPU. It also boasts an 88 million triangles per second benchmark. Think about that for a second... This Smartphone GPU can process 147% more triangles then the Wii can, making it by far more powerful than the Wii (in both graphic processing power and CPU power).

What is even more exciting is the next generation of chipsets for Snapdragon. The next generation which will be labeled as the S4 (the chipsets in the Windows 7 Phones initially will be the S2 and we all want the phone to see the S3 chipsets used by the end of 2012). The S4 will be quite impressive according to this whitepaper by Qualcomm. The S4 chipset already has a huge focus on its Adreno 225 and 320 GPU which fully supports DirectX 9.3 for Windows 8. How much you want to bet future lines of Window 7/8 Phones will continue to use Snapdragon chipsets?

The future looks bright.

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Order Has Arrived

Fafhrdd — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:23:00 -0400

What luck do I have? I had a bad day at work today so when I came home I found a great thing, well actually four great things! I unlocked my mailbox to find four packages containing some of the best things in the world. Could my life get any better? Below is a picture of the contents of the packages:

The left most items are thumb sticks, the next item is a line of trigger mods, the middle items are D-Pads, the next bunch of items are analog sensors, and the right most items are the controller shells (I ordered more then 4 but those are the colors I got).

Nothing ground breaking here but I am so excited to get started. Time to break out my soldering iron and T8 torx security screwdriver!

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I Love My Job

Fafhrdd — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 09:23:00 -0400

I love it when I come home from work to a nice large package setting at my door step. I knew someone was going to ship me a few broken controllers to repair so I knew this box was it. Lifting the box (and almost blowing out a liver) I realized I got a little more then a few! After recovering from lifting the box I opened it up and saw this...

It may not look like much from that angle but to just show you what I got, here is another picture...

Yeah, count them, that is 30 wired Xbox 360 controllers! I am so excited to start these repairs. I have already tested them all and have ordered the parts to repair them. The parts should all arrive by Monday so I can start working on these repairs.

If your wondering why anyone would have 30 broken controllers, these came from a gaming center called eBash. You can check them out at their main website here: eBash Video Game Centers. He has many more broken controllers, this is just the first batch.

If your also wondering the controllers have random issues ranging from broken wires, broken 360 analog sticks, broken cases, bad buttons, and some just plain don't work. These controllers take major abuse from the kids and customers that play on them all the time. This gaming center has 50 Xbox consoles and many more controllers!

Will keep you all updated on my progress.

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Happy November!

Fafhrdd — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:41:00 -0400

EDIT: Microsoft is hosting a contest in which they are giving away 10 prizes each day for the next 10 days. You can sign up here.

I am going to love this month. Why you ask? Maybe it’s because of Thanksgiving? While I love to be thankful for what I have and love the food/football that is not it. Maybe it is the trees, leaves, and colder weather that fall brings us? Those are nice indeed but not what I was looking for. What about Black Friday shopping and the rush it gives you after you elbow someone’s face to grab the latest electronic device at 60% off? Nope not it.

What I am talking about does not happen every year. I am talking about the 10th anniversary of the Xbox entertainment system. When November 15th comes around in 13 days we will have reached a total of 10 years since the original Xbox and the Halo franchise started back in November 15th 2001. I wonder if Microsoft would have imagined that they would over power the Sony in number of units sold, number of games sold, and number of online users in the current generation.

I took a moment last month and talked about the past Xbox consoles as a tribute to what Microsoft had accomplished. Now we look to the future of the Xbox console. The rumor mill has been going on for a number of months and the most recent rumors are already stating that the next generation of the Xbox will be here in late 2013 or early 2014 with the official announcement during E3 of 2013. These timelines do not surprise me at all and could very well be true.

I am not trying to spread rumors or claim anything here but a late 2013 launch is quite possible however a late 2014 launch may be more ideal. When the Xbox 360 launched back in November 16, 2005 Microsoft stated that the current plan was to have the Xbox 360 around for 10 years, so at that time they projected the Xbox 360 to be around until 2015. Well that falls perfectly into the next console release in 2013 or 2014.

While I dream up of what could be and what might be we are all left to just wait for that announcement from Microsoft. Until then and in the more immediate future, do you think Microsoft will announce anything big for the upcoming 10th Year Anniversary? Major Nelson stated in his live taping of his podcast at PAX Prime 2011 that the Xbox team is working on some surprises for this date.

I have not heard much on the plans other then Halo: Anniversary and their official Tournament going on over at Xbox.com. Would a limited edition console be of some interest? I would love to see and play with some new hardware. Bring it guys.

Also as a side note, want to mention that the Kinect turned one-year old two days ago!

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Light Modding Xbox 360 Controller Buttons (XYAB)

Fafhrdd — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:27:00 -0400

A bit of a fore warning here. This is not a complete guide on how to install a light mod kit for a controller, there is no reason for a guide, if you buy a light kit it will have instructions. I am just showing you a few adventures I had and a few lessons along the way.

I am not much of a light modder in terms of drilling, gluing, and getting the thing to work. I don't consider myself very creative and I just like to do the under-the-hood type work. A friend of mind asked me to do some lights for him and that is where it all started.

I bought some light kits and the first step is to drill the buttons out so they are hollowed, thinned, and ready for the light. No real tips here, just be careful, use pliers, and some plastic to protect the button from damage by the pliers.

The next step is to solder the lights to a wire so you can connect them to power and neutral. Very easy if you have the proper tools to work with.

Once soldering is done you can place the lights into the button, hot glue them, and connect them to power to test them out. A word of warning to the wise. Before gluing anything ensure you have the proper position for the lights, ensure the button is drilled out enough (so light shines through), and that the wires to the lights are sticking out in the correct direction. Planning is critical before gluing, in which I did plenty of (or I thought) and had to start all over again, after gluing them!

Now it is time to place the buttons back into the controller, wire to a power source, and hope the buttons feel normal :)

After that you can enjoy the glowing wonder of your modding work!

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How to Clean the Xbox 360 Console - Outside [Update]

Fafhrdd — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:25:00 -0400

Just a quick update on this guide. I have decided to change the document "Informational on How to Clean the Xbox 360 Console" to a full fledged guide "How to Clean the Xbox 360 Console - Outside". As you can tell also from the title I have decided to make two separate guides, one for inside the console and one for the outside. I am currently working on the guide for cleaning the inside.

You can find this guide here: How to Clean the Xbox 360 Console - Outside

You can also look inside the How-To Guide section.

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How to Open an Xbox 360 Controller [Hardware Guide]

Fafhrdd — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:52:00 -0400

Hot off the press! Okay I don't really own a press but this guide is my latest. If you are looking to repair, mod, or use a controller for spare parts this is the place to start. The guide's sole purpose is to show you how to open and put back together an Xbox 360 Controller. Most guides show you how to take one apart but never really explain how to put one back together, which is the hardest part for some people. In this guide I have two different methods you can try to put the controller back together. Check it out and comment/share if you liked it!

This guide can be directly found here: How to Open an Xbox 360 Controller or found in the How-To Guides section.

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