Outside cleaning

Cleaning the outside of your XBOX, i.e. the case, the ports and the wiring, can have numerous benefits. Not only will you get an XBOX looking like it was newly bought, but you will also ensure the case looks good in the future. If you keep the openings to the fans clean, you will also make sure that less dust enters the inside of your XBOX meaning you’ll have to clean it less often.
When cleaning the case and the ports, you’ll want to use a moist cloth and some window-cleaning or other chemical. Avoid using too much water and too strong chemicals here – you just want to get rid of the dust and any fat or other dirt. Make sure no water enters the inside of the case as it might cause you trouble later on. Keeping the room you’re working in well-lit and subjected to sunlight is a good idea since it will speed up the drying process.

Inside cleaning

Cleaning the inside of your XBOX is a delicate process since you’re suddenly dealing with electronic parts that are easily broken by moist or bad handling. Not only is it delicate, but it is also probably the most important part of keeping your XBOX in good shape – if you do this part right you will prevent hardware malfunction, prolongue your XBOX’s life and make sure it runs cool and stable.

Opening your case will void your warranty!

Start off by disconnecting your XBOX’s cables (all of them) and unscrewing your case (read more about how to do this in our massive XBOX hardware-guide) and removing it. The reason you don’t want the XBOX plugged in when doing this is fairly obvious – if something goes wrong and the power is on you’re facing serious trouble. What you now have in front of you is the XBOX’s inner workings, and it sure looks dusty. The best way to clean it from all the dust is to use canned air (or any other compressed air). Canned air can be bought at most computer-stores and is a great tool to use whenever removing dust from something delicate. There are, however, a number of things you have to keep in mind to avoid problems:

1. Preferably don’t touch anything unless you have to. You don’t want to apply unnecessary fat and dirt, do you?
2. Do not let any water or moist whatsoever enter. If it’s not 100% dry when you turn it on again, something will break.
3. Do not directly blow air into a fan – if it spins up beyond its regular speed chances are it will break.
4. Do not blow too much air too close to the XBOX. You’re much better off blowing air from a distance than being too close and risking breaking something.

Whilst cleaning, you’ll want to keep the room you’re working in well ventilated. Keep a window open or have a fan blow fresh air around the XBOX – this way the dust you remove won’t settle back down in the XBOX but instead be sent off somewhere else.

Controller cleaning

Cleaning the XBOX controllers is something most of us need to face at least once. Perhaps you’ve spilt some liquid on the buttons or the controller simply feels slow and sticky – giving it a good rinse once in a while is a good idea!
What you want to do is to open the controller, wash the buttons and remove dust from the inner chips. Again, you want to watch out for moist entering the electronic parts as well as blowing too much air too close to the controller. The Llama, a well-known XBOX guru, has an extensive guide on how to clean your controllers, I suggest you check it out!

Maintaining the harddrive

Maintaining the harddrive does not require you to physically handle the harddrive, you should have closed and fastened the case by now. What we want to accomplish here is some slight extra performance and some extra space.
After having had an XBOX for a long time, you’re bound to have your harddrive filled with a lot of files. Some of these are files you need, some are not. What you’ll want to do is go through the files on your XBOX and delete those you don’t need. You will not be able to delete a lot, but you will surely find at least a couple of files which you can delete – the more the better!
Checking the file-system (advanced users only) (Avalaunch dashboard only)
The ultimate way of maintaining your XBOX harddrive is to check its filesystem now and then. Running a check gives you a wealth of information about the health of the drive – you can easily spot errors and prevent data-loss before it occurs. This requires you to run Avalaunch as your main XBOX dashboard – installing Avalaunch is most easily done using the Auto-Installer Deluxe package.
Inside the Avalaunch dashboard you will find a “scandisk” option – it’s an experimental feature with limited capabilities, however it is your only option in this case. No software available for the PC can handle the XBOX’s filesystem (FATX) – a very limiting factor.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article gave you some insight into how you best should clean and maintain your XBOX. Cleaning the XBOX is an art you should practice because the more you practice, the better and more efficient your cleaning will be!

As stated before, this guide requires an XBOX with a modchip installed!

If you’d like to play DVD’s on your XBOX, without having to buy the remote or dongle, you have several different options. I will outline them below and elaborate on which is the best to use.

XBOX Media Center’s built-in DVD player

If you’re using XBOX Media Center (XBMC) as your dashboard or just as a program, you will have found that it includes a DVD-player – just like you’d expect. It works flawlessly and enables you to view smooth and clear video. Also, if your TV or display supports it (and if you have the correct video and audio cables), XBMC allows you to output digital audio in either AC-3, Dolby Digital or DTS quality.

DVD-X

Dongle-Free DVD-X Region-Free is a small, simple, extensible and basic DVD-player that does exactly what it says it does.

Play all region DVD movies without the expensive dongle/remote. ALL controls can be accessed via your XBOX game controller. Sub Menu system features identical to stand alone DVD player.

It supports digital audio, similar to XBMC, and it has its controls documented inside the program. This makes using and understanding the program a lot easier. Installing DVD-X is easiest done by burning and running the Auto-Installer Deluxe DVD as the DVD-X software is included.

Which program you choose to use is up to you. If you’re already using XBMC on a regular basis, there is no reason to switch to DVD-X as it lacks all the extra features of a media-center.

This requires an XBOX with a modchip installed! However, much of the folder structure of a retail XBOX is the same as that of a modchipped XBOX.

What in a PC is simply opening Explorer, is in an XBOX simply opening one file-manager of choice. You have a lot to choose from, I’ve outlined the most common below.

XCommander

The XCommander software is the default file-manager on many dashboard-packages. It doesn’t sport fancy graphics or intuitive buttons, but it does what it’s supposed to. The main window is split in two to enable copying between two places. The controls take some time to learn, as with most managers out there. XCommander is capable of connecting to network shares as well as other sources. Also, it can copy games from the DVD-drive to the hard-drive. I have already covered the topic of copying games to the hard-drive, however with another piece of software.

boXplorer

As I haven’t used this program myself, I will briefly just tell you what it’s about. It’s just like XCommander, a file-manager with the standard features. However, what boXplorer also can do is to play .xbe files (executables) and .wmv files, which together with its more intuitive interface makes it the better choice when compared with XCommander, in my opinion. The controls take some time to learn, as mentioned before, but they are mostly the same as in XCommander.

XBOX Media Center

In a previous article I briefly introduced XBOX Media Center (XBMC) and went through how to install it. Among the file-managers out there, the XBMC file-manager is my favorite. It shares the same sleek graphics as XBMC itself and has a clear and intuitive user interface.

Terminology

Before you start, I will go through some basic terminology that I will use. A time server, NTP server or SNTP server is a server (usually running Linux) that is in some way or another connected to an accurate source of time. It is usually reachable simply by an IP-address or a hostname, and you have around 2000 servers to choose between as an end-user. An NTP server can either be stratum-1, stratum-2 or stratum-3 (the latter being very rare). This is an indication of how far away the server is from the most accurate measurement of time (called stratum-0). A stratum-0 server can be a GPS receiver or some other type of signal receiver – it is not accessible from the internet but instead is connected directly to a computer which acts as a stratum-1 server. A stratum-2 server is then a server that queries a stratum-1 server – a stratum-3 server queries a stratum-2 server, et cetera.
The NTP pool is a collection of people who voluntarily share their NTP servers in a big pool (currently consisting of roughly 1800 servers). These servers are perhaps not as accurate as professional NTP servers such as the NIST servers, however they are good enough for the regular user! NIST, the National Institute of Technology and Standards, is an US agency that makes measurements and sets standards for various things (such as time).

Choosing an NTP server

Choosing an NTP server is really not a big issue. Either you choose to go with pool.ntp.org or with one of the NIST servers. I suggest the pool, as this promotes a “reliable easy to use NTP service for millions of clients without putting a strain on the big popular time-servers“. There’s virtually no difference, time-wise, between the various servers, as they all in the end are connected to stratum-0 instances.

Right, now let’s dig into our settings…

I will be showing you how to enter the correct settings in the Evolution-X dashboard and the XBOX Media Center software. In both cases it involves accessing the settings-menu – therefore it seems reasonable to assume that it will work on most, if not all, dashboards.
In XBMC (XBOX Media Center), go to Settings and press Appearance. On the left-hand side, go to Region and input your chosen NTP server in the Time server host dialog. Also, make sure Enable Internet time synchronization is checked!
In Evolution-X, go to System Utilities and select Settings (depending on your menu-structure) and scroll down to Clock. Enter the IP to your chosen NTP server as Evolution-X does not support hostnames!

The IP in the picture is the IP-address to time-a.nist.gov. I chose this as I couldn’t find the IP-address pool.ntp.org resolved to.

Final remarks

Now, after either rebooting the XBOX or just waiting a couple of seconds, your dashboard should have picked up the correct, synchronized and new time. Doesn’t it feel nice :) ? Usually you only need to set your time in one dashboard and it will write the time to the BIOS – thus all dashboards and applications will use the synchronized time.
I hope this helped you!

You will first need to find out whether you have the videomode switchdisc installed. Go to your Programs, Applications, Apps or whatever the name of your application-menu is and browse through what you have installed. If you see an Enigmah-X PAL-NTSC Video Selector or just Enigmah Videomode Switchdisc you’re good to go and can skip to the last section. Otherwise, you must obtain this software first.

Downloading XBOX applications is usually a pretty pesky business – you won’t find them publicly listed anywhere as having them up for download is by many considered to be illegal. There are several ways of acquiring it, you could get it from Xbins FTP, XBOX-HQ or perhaps even from MegaGames. But, I’ll take the risk of uploading it myself – click here for Thy Old XBOX’s uploaded Enigmah-X PAL-NTSC Video Selector! Extract the contents of this .rar-file to anywhere you’d like and copy it to your XBOX using FTP. Put it preferably in E:\Apps to keep your applications and overall folder structure organized!

If anyone objects to my uploading of this, please notify me and I will remove the file. Thank you.

Doing the magic

Open your newly installed program and you will be greeted by the following screen. Now, all you have to do is to either press A to send your video in PAL format or B to send it in NTSC format! After selecting the appropriate format, simply restart your XBOX and you’re good to go!

To watch audio and video streams on your XBOX you will need, as mentioned previously, the XBOX Media Center suite. Thus you also need a chipped XBOX – and hey, why not get a modchip to your XBOX? The stream you would like to watch needs to stream at a codec supported by XBMC – either it works or it doesn’t, you’ll notice! And also, you will need a working internet connection ;) !

Begin by getting the URL of the stream you would like to connect to. If your stream consists of an .pls or .m3u file, simply rename the extension to .strm and you’re good to go! If you just have the URL to the stream, whether it’s with an mms://, rtsp:// or http:// protocol, copy it into an empty Notepad window and save it with an .strm extension. Copy the .strm file to a place accessible by the XBOX – it can be on a shared computer inside a shared folder, on the XBOX harddrive or somewhere else.

Now, go into the Videos or Music menu (depending on what stream you want to watch) and open the file! If you can’t find it, click Add source, browse for the correct folder or share and press OK. If the stream is online and the codec is supported by XBMC, you should be looking at (or hearing) your first streamed show on the XBOX!

Below I have compiled a list of good stream-resources for the XBOX, if you’re out of luck finding streams that work for you:

• http://code.google.com/p/xbmc-strm-collection/ – a little collection of broadband (200k+) LIVE video streams that are tested and ready to use for XBMC
• http://www.op9.net/latest/194/xbmc-tv-round-vii-slimline – 407 streaming TV feeds from 90 countries around the world
• http://xbmc.org/wiki/index.php?title=HOW-TO:_Play_Internet_Streams – on the bottom of the page are a number of BBC radio and video streams

Good luck!

A modchip is simply a replacement for the original Microsoft BIOS used in the XBOX. The BIOS is the code that first runs when booting a computer or XBOX, and it runs a number of checks on hardware among other things. Once these tasks are completed, it proceeds to load the operating system (the dashboard). Installing a modchip is essentially replacing the BIOS with an altered version, making a lot of things possible, as we shall see below.

Hardware-related

• The ability to successfully change the hard-drive is only made possible if one is able to boot from a custom DVD
• Native HD-resolutions inside some applications are only available through using a modchip

Network-related

• Accessing Windows networks and shares is only made possible through the use of a modchip
• The process of copying files between a computer and an XBOX through FTP is only possible with a modchip
• Alternatives to XBOX Live are made available through a modchip (although the original XBOX Live still works)

Software-related

• Running unsigned code (such as backed up or copied games) is made possible through a modchip
• Using packages such as the Auto-Installer Deluxe enables the installation of a host of different tools and applications
• Running Linux on your XBOX is possible with a modchip (although it also is possible without)

The bottom-line is that there really are not disadvantages to installing and using a modchip. As chip-installations are fairly cheap today, you can very easily send your XBOX to a company and get it chipped without having to pay a lot.
The possibilities are endless with a modchip, go get your XBOX chipped now :) !

What we will be creating in this short guide is a soft network bridge (i.e. not one based on hardware), fusing two network cables into one. Your computer will act as a sort of switch for the XBOX and everything will be just as if you’d plugged it into a regular switch – except your saving yourself one switch! This does, however, require that you have two network inputs on your computer!

Begin by connecting your computer (the one hosting the bridge) to a network and your XBOX to this computer. As Windows thinks your XBOX is a network, it will try to identify itself and search for other shared computers – don’t worry, this will not mess anything up. You’re going to need to access your adapter settings – in Windows 7 and Vista this is done by going to the Network and Sharing Center and clicking on the appropriate link in the left sidebar; in Windows XP this is found in your Control Panel (perhaps with a slightly different name). Once inside your adapter settings, select your two connected networks and right-click on them. This brings a neat little menu up – select Bridge and let Windows do its magic! After a good thirty seconds or so a Network Bridge will appear beside your two network connections.

You have now successfully bridged two networks together (in this case, one network and one XBOX) and you’re ready to use the internet with the XBOX! The possibilities are endless, but you must remember that in order for the bridge to work, the host computer must be turned on!

This requires an XBOX with a modchip installed!

The program we will be using in this guide is the Dvd2XboX, an easy-to-use and modern way of copying contents of discs to a hard drive. This program is included in the Auto-Installer Deluxe installation, but you can also download the program separately and simply copy it to your XBOX using FTP. If you’re planning to copy a lot of games to your hard drive, you might want to consider switching your XBOX hard drive to something bigger!

Copying the DVD

After having somehow acquired the Dvd2XboX program and opened it, you should be looking at the main menu. Insert the DVD you would like to copy and press Copy DVD/CD to Harddisk. In the next window you are allowed to choose to which path you would like to save the content. I recommend not copying it to the C: drive, as it has too little space, but instead copying it to E:\Games or F:\Games. Make sure you’re copying it to an empty folder, or else it might get mixed with other content and you might lose data.

Press START and let the program do its magic – it should, at the most, take around 20 minutes. The wonderful bit about Dvd2XboX is its versatility. It can be configured to run an FTP-server, it can rip MP3’s, it has a built in file manager, it can copy DVD’s directly to other networked computer, and a lot more. Have a look around the Settings, chances are you’ll find something you did not know the program could do!

Although perhaps there are some really good tips and tricks out there, let me bring you the bad news – you only have two options.

1. Practice, practice, practice…
2. Purchase an XBOX USB cable

Practicing is simply a matter of practice, buy first-person-shooter games like Halo, Black, Counter-Strike and just play them a lot. First, try to aim between targets quickly. Then, try doing the same whilst strafing or walking – you will eventually get into it!
A XBOX to USB cable is the cheap way of doing it – you can simply connect your regular PC mouse to the XBOX and just fire away. I’ve found one on eBay, you can probably find more out there. It will most likely not work in most games, however, so your best bet is the former option – practice, practice and practice!