prophetik music Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 while perusing the case mod section of overclock.net a few days ago, i came across higgins' great playstationpc thread. i dug around in the pictures a bit, which got me looking around at prices and stats for the new itx standard for motherboard design and the atom 330. which lead to this idea. being an xbox kind of guy as opposed to ps1, my plan is to take an original xbox (broken, they're way cheaper that way) and mod it into an HTPC/conversation piece for my stereo cabinet at home. i might add some adjustable cathode lights along the bottom for effects. i'll add a few fans (likely exhaust under the top logo and intake on the back), replace the controller ports with USB plugs taken from a few old cases i have sitting around, and generally attempt to keep it looking as much the same as the original as possible. i intend to use the original power button. the eject button will likely wind up being used for controlling the lights, if i choose to add them. i will also likely paint the case (my dad's an auto mechanic and has the tools sitting in our garage back home). parts: -used and broken xbox, purchased from ebay -intel BLKD945GCLF2 mini-itx motherboard with included dual-core Atom 330 @ 1.6ghz -picoPSU-90 12V DC-DC ATX power supply -dvd/cd-rw drive from my old school laptop (slim drive) -usb connectors and wiring from extra cases -slim cd-rom to 2.5" IDE adapter -ddr2 667 ram from newegg -80g hard drive from newegg (ideally a notebook drive) what do you think? i'll post pictures as i have them. i'm bidding on a few broken xboxes on ebay as we speak, so i should get one within the next few days. now, i realize that this isn't the norm for stuff that goes here - but i figure that people will think that it's kind of cool. considering that i might sell this when it's done, maybe an idea as to the work that went into it will make people think it's as cool as i do right now when i'm building it. step one: xbox acquired and disassembled. step two: parts purchased, en route till thursday. pics when they're here. thanks (so far) go out to: llamma.com's xbox mod section, www.mini-box.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhsu Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 A softmodded HuegBox is actually a pretty darn good media and emulator box as is. It might not be able to handle HD content, but judging from the Atom specs, it's likely your mod won't either. The big downside is the 4GB hard drive, but there are ways to get around that. Of course, if it's one of those "more about the journey than the destination" type things, then I can understand that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 the journey is a part of it, but i'm thinking about getting a low-profile graphics card to beef up hd content. it wouldn't be transcoding hd content anyways, since i back up all my dvds onto my desktop anyways. this way i can just have it hooked up to the home network and it streams them directly off of my pc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhsu Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Well, just decoding HD isn't a walk in the park either. I had to overclock my C2D to get any sort of decent framerate. But yeah, my college roommate had an X-Box streaming stuff straight from his PC and it worked like a dream. The small hard drive wasn't an issue at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 4, 2008 Author Share Posted October 4, 2008 Well, just decoding HD isn't a walk in the park either. this is why my main desktop system, which is a monster, is going to be doing the grunt work for this. vintage is just going to be a display box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorDevice Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 if you weren't planning on gutting it, I would point out that the Xbox's controller ports are just funny-shaped USB ports (with 1 extra contact fo V-sync, which you would not be using anyway). While the Xbox makes a great media center for SD content, and is also a fantastic emulator box, I wouldn't want to build a new HTPC from the ground up inside one. still, it's a matter of personal preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajax Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Stuffing computers into PC's is somewhat of a popular hobby among computer enthusiasts. I've seen my share of NES pc's, and I think somebody even managed to stuff a PC into a model of the millennium falcon. Anyway, I think the idea of an Xbox PC is pretty cool, especially if you manage to get a keyboard/mouse to plug into the controller ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 5, 2008 Author Share Posted October 5, 2008 there's a hack for windows allowing the 360 controllers to be used as a control device (think arrow keys, enter, escape, and a few others). if possible, i'm doing that =) dd, i was thinking about fooling with a controller and seeing if i could hack it out and make it work in windows, but i'd have to hand-make a driver for it, and i don't think i'm going to have the time for that. xbox acquired (as of tonight), so when i get it i'll start posting pictures of the insides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 10, 2008 Author Share Posted October 10, 2008 i forgot to take pictures of it before i disassembled it, but here's what i found. there's all the case parts in the box, disassembled. all xboxes have two layers to the case - a plastic layer and a thin metal box inside as well. the plastic layer is what i'll mod up - but i will likely use the metal box to help organize everything in the htpc itself. there's a better view of the case parts. i'm still planning on using the front buttons if at all possible. here's the header for the front buttons. i'm going to try to find some wiring diagrams so i can see what button does what. the eject button should be able to stay wired the way it is (the dvd player's power and controls are attached directly to the motherboard with data through an IDE cable, so this should be easy to continue using). the power button will get a bit rewired, and i'm going to use it like a standard momentary switch with the picopsu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 10, 2008 Author Share Posted October 10, 2008 here's the internals in the metal casing that's inside of the plastic case. i'm probably going to install the internals into either a handbuilt case or an old 386 desktop case i've got sitting around for the lulz. with an expanded hard drive, of course. i might just chop up a broken 360 to run backups and xbox originals instead, i haven't decided if it's worth the time getting the software to run backups off of the (also hacked) hard drive. here's a better picture of the motherboard and psu of the xbox. most of this is coming out, of course. a worthy item to note is that the front controller ports are connected through a header card to the motherboard...but they're almost exactly the same as standard usb. i might even be able to reuse the header, we'll see. i'll probably just wind up using those brackets to hold reused usb ports. that's all for now. when my next computer job comes in, i'll buy the parts and get the interior set up. because all of my case mod tools are at the house i grew up in, i'll have to wait till i go home for christmas to do the case modifications. i should be able to set everything up now, though, assuming there aren't any huge issues with space inside the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 so, i've started attempting to get some sponsors for the system from smaller mod organizations that might want to get some advertising out of it. oh, and on a whim i contacted Stardock about a copy of their WindowBlinds skinning utility for the UI once it's done. we'll see what happens =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajax Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 dd, i was thinking about fooling with a controller and seeing if i could hack it out and make it work in windows, but i'd have to hand-make a driver for it, and i don't think i'm going to have the time for that. If i remember correctly, all you have to do is cut open a USB cable, cut open an Xbox cable, connect the colored wires, and plug it in, I believe that it doesant even need a driver. Yeah, I was right, Check it out i also know that there are programs out there that will take any game controller input and map joystick axises to mouse axises. Should be a walk in the park to wire a USB hub to those Xbox ports for four player action! Wait... it does need a driver, but one is provided in that link I gave you. EDIT: also in my previous post i said "stuffing computers into PC's" when I meant "stuffing computers into videogame consoles" Took me a week just to notice that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 yeah i just figured you were mistaken or something. i'm going to try that controller-to-usb mod once i get a little farther along with my setup. i'm also going to attempt to find the info on a n64-controller-to-usb mod, cause i KNOW i've see them and i don't own an n64 anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 so, officially, here's the current parts list. from mini-box.com: D945GCLF2 motherboard/cpu (89$) molex splitter cable (allows for fans, hard drive, and dvd drive) (2$) 4-pin p4 cable (needed for this system board) (2$) picoPSU-120 power kit (cord, transformer, and psu) (55$) from newegg: wd caviar blue 80g hard drive (40$) dvd rom, since i don't need to burn discs on this machine (23$) ddr2-gg7 pc5300 ram, one stick, 2 gb (30$) including the 25$ for the box originally, that puts me at a total of 266 or so, assuming my math is right (148+93+25). pretty awesome, all told. i might still get a video card, which would necessitate another psu, but that's just a possibility. a usb video card might be in the works too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 so, i bought some green plexi today to back the nameplate that's going on the top of the case, as well as some LEDs and the accompanying resistors i'll need to light it up. i also picked up an electrotwister set (illuminated wire) that's going to rim the bottom of the case. gollgagh set me up with a sick titletext that i'll carve into the top of the box and backlight with said leds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 You should be easily able to get away with one 120mmm fan and some creative ductwork for cooling. Hell, even a low speed 92mm would work. In terms of noise, I think your biggest problem is going to be that whiny chipset fan. Why Intel chose to use such a hot and inefficient chipset with such a low power processor is beyond me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 so they didn't have to develop another one? that's what i'm thinking. i might just go with one fan to leave the jewel intact - i'm more worried about heat from the lights and the hard drive than anything from the board itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 so they didn't have to develop another one? that's what i'm thinking. probably, but it sort of defeats the point of a fanless processor when the chipset makes more heat than three of them combined i might just go with one fan to leave the jewel intact - i'm more worried about heat from the lights and the hard drive than anything from the board itself. The lights shouldn't really heat up that much, and as long as their is some airflow(direct or not)the hard drive should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 the fan is actually quite quiet. i'm planning on undervolting/lowering the speed of the other fans as well anyways, too, so it should be fine. parts came in today, and it seems to run xubuntu pretty well. anyone know imedia linux at all, though? i installed it, and it went fine - but it went to a grub boot loader after that, and i don't know squat about grub or how to tell it to boot. anyone know anything about linux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 cpu/mobo combo. you don't really realize how small this thing is until you compare it to something basic. psu. terrible picture, sorry guys! other assorted crap - inverter, power cord, y splitter, and p4 cord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 here's what came with the mobo. i kludged it together to start testing the components - everything works, but for goodness sake, it's on the floor! =) it runs really quickly, all told. too bad i can't get imedia to work because i don't know linux for shizz. note the sizes - the drive is almost as big as the board itself. as for a wiring diagram, the psu has one legacy 4-pin, one molex, and one sata connector. both drives are sata, but the caviar blue has a molex on it, so here's how i did it. psu: molex sata y splitter dvd drive p4 hard drive i just can't add anything else that needs power now until i get another splitter, or make one. i know that the electro twister illuminated wire i'm using for along the bottom of the case needs one molex - same with the fans - but i'm curious as to if they're piggyback plugs or if they're just terminal plugs. we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 the fan is actually quite quiet. maybe, but methinks with some clever ducting and fan removal it could be completely silent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 i recently acquired some green 4-inch cold cathodes for lighting the inset name of the box, as well as some green electro twister el wire for 'ground effects' around the bottom of the system. i'm planning on working on this with my dad this weekend (hint: he has tools and a workbench, i've got a countertop) so i should have some more pictures by tuesday or wednesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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