X-Box 360 - Replacing the disk drive.

1399 Views 7 Replies 2 Participants Last post by Laxer, Apr 20, 2011

PK007

Discussion Starter · Apr 7, 2011

My son has brought his old and not functioning x-box 360 to my house.

I am hoping that I can swap out the disk drive and peace and harmony will be restored in the household.

So, I have looked online and there is a miriad of sites offering "helpful advice". However, my question is simple. Is it possible to use any of the three drives which are compatible with the unit?

My son has heard that if you swap the drives, Microsoft is so clever that they will know and therefore lock you out of "x-box live". Clearly the end of the world as we know it!!

Will somebody please a) confirm whether I will require a firmware tweak; b) if so where will I get it; c) any truth in the rumour that Microsoft will know if a disk drive has been swapped out??

Many thanks.

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Laxer

· #2 · Apr 10, 2011

Yes it is possible, No Microsoft will not ban you as long as you use STOCK firmware.

For flashing i use jungleflasher found here: Jungle Flasher - Downloads

A tutorial can be found here(pdf): Hotfile.com: One click file hosting: jftut1.4.0.FINAL 3.pdf

you might need some help setting it up to extract the firmware, if this is the case let me know and i will gladly assist.

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PK007

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 11, 2011

Thank you very much for your help.

I am afraid that I might have jumped the gun slightly. I have done some homework and hope that a swap is still on the cards. The DVD drive in the case is currently a Lite-on. I have ordered a replacement drive from Amazon and hope that a one-for-one swap can still be done as it is a different make/model - detail below.

360 DVD Replacement Drive (Toshiba-Samsung MS28)

I guess that I will need to dump existing information from the Lite-on and somehow get that transferred to the new one. I am a total novice with game boxes but have worked on computers for a while? Is that what the site you have suggested will do?

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Laxer

· #4 · Apr 11, 2011

you will have to "spoof" the sammy drive with your lite-on key.

to do this you need to connect your lite-on to your computer using a sata cable then dump the key from the drive. you will then have to connect the sammy and reflash it using the key from your lite-on.

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PK007

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 11, 2011

Just ordered a SATA/USB cable as I don't want to rip my laptop apart. I will try and flash it that way and ask for your help should I need it. Thank you, once again!

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Laxer

· #6 · Apr 11, 2011

No problem, always glad to help

let me know if you need help later.

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PK007

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 18, 2011

Hi this is Stephen.

Dad has now recieved the new drive and USB SATA cable.
We have downloaded the latest beta version which doesnt appear to be working correctly as it doesn't appear to have recognised that the drive (liteon) is connected via USB.

Will you please advise whether there is something else that we have to do to get the drive to be recognised. Perhaps we do need your help afterall as we are beginners.

Many Thanks.

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Laxer

· #8 · Apr 20, 2011

Now for the fun part.... not really.

In order for the new drive to work you have to extract the "key.bin" file from your old lite-on drive.

Lite-on drives are the most complicated for key extraction, you will either need a ck3 probe or a 1k and 10k resistor and the knowledge of how to solder.

One thing to check, i would look on craigslist and see if anyone locally has the hardware to extract the key. Look for posts about "modding" the disk drive.

I would then send them an email and ask if they can extract for a small fee.

I was able to get my friends old key extracted for $5 before i made a homemade probe.

You can view more information on how to extract the key yourself here: Tutorial: Reading / Extracting Your Lite-on Key - Scenyx Entertainment Community

Please note: I do not recommend flashing modded firmware (MFW) onto your drive, this is against the rules here at TSF and will end up getting your xbox banned from live.

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