I got an Xbox for Christmas. The only reason I got it was because I mentioned to my parents that one of the games has a Viggen in it (Rallisport Challenge).

I am not really a gamer, but I am hooked. Xbox rocks! I just hooked up the High-Def cable with Toslink, and I am stunned at the graphics even more so than before. So, now that it seems Xbox will be a permanent fixture in my home theatre, I want to max out its potential. And it seems to have great potential.

Right now, I am using an Audiotron to stream MP3s from my server to my stereo. It turns out that the Xbox can do this too with Xbox Media Player. My first issue is getting the binary to this program. Searching on Kazaa turns up nothing of substance.

The other (slight) issue is that doing any extracurricular activites with the Xbox requires a modchip. I have installed plenty of modchips into original Playstations, so this is not a real biggie. The modchip I am most interested in is Cheapmod. Not because I'm cheap, but because it looks like a clean install.

So, has anyone here modded their Xbox? What features are lost? The two features I hear you lose is native DVD playback and Xbox Live support. Anything else that would make me not want to screw around with my new toy? Any opinions of that modchip? Anyone know where to get the binary for the Media Player? Thanks guys!

I bought an xbox this past week for 2 reasons, one is because I LOVE Halo and some of the games for it are simply amazing. The 2nd reason I bought it was to put xbox linux (Mandrake 9.0) on it.

The modchip I have my sights set on is the X-ecutor 2 Lite from this site. From what i'm reading, you don't lose native DVD playback and there is actually a switch to shut the modchip off so as not to alarm Xbox Live.

check out #xbins on irc.efnet.org

Yeah #xbins is the spot on efnet. You also might want to checkout www.xbox-scene.com All kinds of good tutorials and what not.

The X-ecuter 2 Lite modchip is the best IMO out right now. The pro version will be coming out soon. Only difference is you can flash the bios via LPT.

Here are pics of my xecuter 2 install. Was pretty simple.
http://belozero.slacknet.net/x2liteinstalled.jpg

http://belozero.slacknet.net/moboback1.jpg

www.extreme-mods.com is a good source for the xecuter 2 as well.

Oh.. and you don't lose Xbox Live support with all modchip installs. You can install a spst toggle switch to turn off the mod. you just have to be careful and remember to turn it off each time you want to use the live service.

www.xbconnect.com - (like xbox live but no headset and its FREE)

Hello Rob,

I bought also an X-Mas Xbox Bundle a cupple of days before and made the modification with the LPC V2.0 Pro Modchip! It works great with Evolution-X and it's mutch easier to solder than the Illumainated Buttons for the Empeg. I did also change the HDD with a 120GB one.

Now the Box is really an excellent toy and have mutch more features.

bye

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will probably order a modchip once I get back from CES and NAMM... Just have to choose which one. It seems that it doesn't matter too much.

From what I can gather, it seems the features of each one are pretty similar. The main differences being if you can reprogram the flash chip externally or not and how easy it is to solder/wire it in. The actual firmware is whatever you want to put on it.
If you're not going to be writing your own firmware then the ability to easily reprogram the flash memory with an external connection isn't going to be that important for you. It's only used if you write a dud firmware into it and then need to recover. The XBox itself would be able to reflash normally.

- Trevor

So I've been poking around and really haven't found an answer, do any of these mods allow you to play DVD's with having to have that silly little usb dongle thing?

Also, do all the mod chips have to have a switch installed to turn them off? Are there any that have features to allow doing this without installing a switch?

lopan -
Most of the modchips allow dvd playing without buying the dvd remote.The app is called xdvd I think.

Right now there is no chip out where it can be turned off without a switch installed. Switch installation is easy though.

It's not so much the ease of installation, it's having the switch hangin out the xbox... I guess I can deal though

yes, some have the ability to turn off by resetting the xbox. you would put in a real game disc, let it load, then hit the open button. it will then boot the original bios. my matrix does this.

So the only difference between the matrix and the executioner2 is the flashable bit and the matrix being able to use the xbox bios as well? You can still load all the same software and stuff on either? I know it's been discussed, just making absolutely sure, being that I'm getting ready to click "BUY"