This project is not for the procrastinators who are faint hearted.
In doing this project the DIY'er holds all responsibilty for any type of damage. Whether it physical, mental, or property.
The brain of the project is a Xbox softmodded with linux running XBMC (Xbox Media Center) and a 250gb hard drive. There will be no section in this tutorial on how to softmod or instal XMBC on your Xbox. There is more than enough information already out under that subject. This project will show how you can take an Xbox and have the on/off, eject/close buttons, and the dvd drive in the center console for your convenience. It seems like a silly idea but imagine carrying your entire itunes library and any shows or movies you would like to watch on a long drive (as long as your not driving, Dangerous!!).
In this project I handled all the hardware situations but the software installations was all my friend BJ (so thank you, sorry missed halloween)
In doing this project the DIY'er holds all responsibilty for any type of damage. Whether it physical, mental, or property.
The brain of the project is a Xbox softmodded with linux running XBMC (Xbox Media Center) and a 250gb hard drive. There will be no section in this tutorial on how to softmod or instal XMBC on your Xbox. There is more than enough information already out under that subject. This project will show how you can take an Xbox and have the on/off, eject/close buttons, and the dvd drive in the center console for your convenience. It seems like a silly idea but imagine carrying your entire itunes library and any shows or movies you would like to watch on a long drive (as long as your not driving, Dangerous!!).
In this project I handled all the hardware situations but the software installations was all my friend BJ (so thank you, sorry missed halloween)
Step 1: Opening the Xbox
First we will open the Xbox and get comfortable with what lies inside. To see how to open the Xbox LLama.com or Xboxscene have excellent tutorials. After opened use Xboxscene to decipher which version the box is. If you have V1.0 to 1.5 you can use Sickmods.net's atx to xbox psu converter.
I unfortunately did not have version 1.0 to 1.5 so i do not know exactly how to but you can use the converter to take the power from the car (12v) and use it to power the xbox directly. I had to use an old fashion inverter, which isn't bad but it would of made the project so much cleaner, more built in, if you will.
Well this is what my boxed looks like now. Pretty simple stuff. The bottom left is the two inputs for the 4 controller ports. Top right (bigger box) is the Ide cable which I kept as the flat ribbon style. I definitely think it is possible to get the rounded type of Ide cable for this project but I have not tried it. The small top right box is the power to the dvd drive, incredibly small wires. The mid right is the fan which I thought I should keep in there since it will be under a hot seat with not a whole lot of ventilation. The big middle box is the power cables to the hard drive, pretty self explanatory.
I unfortunately did not have version 1.0 to 1.5 so i do not know exactly how to but you can use the converter to take the power from the car (12v) and use it to power the xbox directly. I had to use an old fashion inverter, which isn't bad but it would of made the project so much cleaner, more built in, if you will.
Well this is what my boxed looks like now. Pretty simple stuff. The bottom left is the two inputs for the 4 controller ports. Top right (bigger box) is the Ide cable which I kept as the flat ribbon style. I definitely think it is possible to get the rounded type of Ide cable for this project but I have not tried it. The small top right box is the power to the dvd drive, incredibly small wires. The mid right is the fan which I thought I should keep in there since it will be under a hot seat with not a whole lot of ventilation. The big middle box is the power cables to the hard drive, pretty self explanatory.
Step 2: Layout
Before you extend the wires or get busy buying wire you must figure out where the items will be setup. You can literally put any item anywhere you would like, given functionality and style, except the Ide cable. The Ide cable has a limit on how long it can be while still functioning correctly. I bought my custom cable from stone wall. Order a cable with the longest distance being from the motherboard to the hard drive because then you can tuck the hard drive under the carpet or anywhere incognito. Unless your seat is high enough to house the Xbox with the hard drive in it. You should figure out where you want the dvd drive and the Xbox, make sure it is not more than 48 inches and somewhere in the 48 inches plan where to put the hard drive. Anything else can go wherever you would like. Ports built into the console or in a cubby in the car. Whatever you want but be creative and buy a dremel to make precise cuts.
Don't Forget: This picture does not included the A/V cable.
Don't Forget: This picture does not included the A/V cable.
Step 3: Modding the car
Now that you have fiugred out how the Xbox will lie in the car. Where the dvd drive will pop out from and where the hard drive and controller ports will stay out of site. It is time to measure twice and cut once. Measure the place for the Dvd drive make sure it fits. If cutting needs to be applied be careful and make sure measurements are accurate and that the ide cable will reach that far with the hard drive attached. Take out any necessary parts like the center console, seats, glove compartment, stereo, molding, and anything that could hide wires or any hardware. In the TC I took out the cenbter console by taking the shifter top off. Then prying up the piece of plastic that attaches to the boot and don't move it too fast because there will be a wire to unhook.. Then the cup holder piece and finally the stereo piece. Then unscrew the two phillip head screws. Then in the bottom of the center console cabinet is two bolts. When bolts are removed Put the stick shift in the farthest position to the back. Also undo The console is a power cable for the power outlet, undo that. Take the farthest back part of the console and pull towards the rear of the car. When it comes away from its screw spots in the front just remove carefully out the door. Probably have to trim a bit of the front corners for the dvd drive opening. Just measure and be careful with the dremel.
Step 4: Tedious Work.
Alright everything has its place but no power or information to make it work. This is the part that I messed up on and you can improve. I used single wires for each individual wire of each individual piece in this project. All you have to do is find out how many wires one cable has and find cable in Home Depot or Lowes or the Internet with that many conductors in it. Not too thick though, try to match the gauge. Cut a wire at a time and solder it. Keep doing this until all the wires are the lengths you need to fulfill the projects demand.
At this time you should also be waiting for your ide cable to come in the mail.
Now it is time to cut the Xbox down to size (only if your seat can not accommodate the height of the Xbox). Remove everything such as the mother board and the tin if it comes off. I had trouble removing mine.
I chopped the Xbox at the point of the middle of the vents. I cut the tin inside but be careful it sharp. Wear some gloves if you can. With no hard drive, dvd drive, buttons, or usb ports. You can chop it down tremendously.
When it is all said and done should fit quite nicely under a seat in your car.
At this time you should also be waiting for your ide cable to come in the mail.
Now it is time to cut the Xbox down to size (only if your seat can not accommodate the height of the Xbox). Remove everything such as the mother board and the tin if it comes off. I had trouble removing mine.
I chopped the Xbox at the point of the middle of the vents. I cut the tin inside but be careful it sharp. Wear some gloves if you can. With no hard drive, dvd drive, buttons, or usb ports. You can chop it down tremendously.
When it is all said and done should fit quite nicely under a seat in your car.
Step 5: Removing items for work room
The seats, center console should be removed, and anything else in the way that could hide wires or objects. The seats in my car was five bolts. Three in the back covered in two plastic pieces that pop right off. Take the 5 bolts out and tip back the chair, but do not pick up. There should be a couple of wires to undo. Undo them and fold the chair up and carefully remove it.
Step 6: Finishing up
Wires and controller (if thats what you want) are tucked away. Buttons are in place and tight. The power is hooked up and all the cords are plugged into its respective place in the motherboard. Now start it up. Does the xbox logo come up and then the Microsoft under xbox pop up? If it doesn't and the lights are flashing red. You may have not connected the a/v cable. If you get that far and an era code comes up. Google the era code and it will tell you what is wrong. Then fix accordingly. If you are running normal xbox I hope your game, dvd, or cd played. If your are running XBMC I hope the home page popped up. Congrads on a ridiculous (in a good way) project.
Step 7: Transfer Files.
This took me forever. I used the wireless router for xbox but that sucked and the speed was unbelievably slow. So I just bought a long Ethernet cable and plugged one end into my router and the other end into my Carbox. I downloaded FTX which is a program that can manually connect you to a computer. In XBMC set the network connection to static and put in the address and port number, name and password. Remember them and then put them up in FTX and do connect. It should show all the drives on the hard drive. It is as easy as taking a file, be it a movie, music, or show and dragging it over to the xbox drive you desire. Also with the dvd drive You can burn dvd data disks of music and play 4gb of music off of that or even transfer the music from the dvd to the xbox hard drive.
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