Modding 360

I know these threads pop up a lot and I sincerely apologize for my adding to it. I just need a place to get ‘personal’ step by step progressing help in my endeavor to mod my Xbox 360.
From what I could gather on my own:
I have a Lite-On drive. I got my Xbox 360 Arcade in March of 2009. I have the Kinect Dashboard. The last time my 360 firmware may have been updated is “June 15, 2011.”
I have no interest in Xbox Live anymore. And I would like to play my games off of a HDD.
Now, where do I start from here? What do I need? What method is best for this?
Answer #1
Jtag it mate.
I don’t own one personally, but my cousin did it.. it worked.
There is another way… but that has ended – microsft got wise and stopped it…
Answer #2
I’m going to need a little more to go off of than that. If J-tagging is the best method is it compatible with my current 360 status? Can I play games off a HDD?
Answer #3
If you’ve got the Kinect dash, you won’t be able to do the JTAG hack. You should update to the latest dash and then install the newest iXtreme ODD firmware for your drive (should be LT+ 2.0 which supports the new AP2.5 rollout and XBGD3), this will allow you to play backups. Check out these links:
http://www.ixtreme.net/ - Get the firmware here
http://jungleflasher.net/ - The standard ODD flashing software package, download the latest version and follow the instructional PDF, it tells you exactly what to do.
I cannot stress this enough, read though the process and work out everything that you will need to do before you start! There are heaps of guides available but make sure you know what you are going to do before you jump in and end up doing something wrong.
Answer #4
Ok I’m looking at the PDF for what I’ll need for modding. It looked fine till I got to “Soldering Iron & other paraphernalia, solder, flux, braid, Xacto-Knife” I’m not really comfortable with this part. I’ve never done anything like this before. Is there no other way?
Answer #5
That depends on your exact drive. I have a Lite-On 78 series and I did not need to cut or solder anything on my drive. I did need to use a probe from Team Xecuter to dump the drive key which required me to pull the cover off the drive but nothing else.
If you are not comfortable doing that stuff yourself, you should look into paying someone to do it. You can find all sorts of places online that will do it (and there is usually someone in your local area) via Google.
Answer #6
How do I find out which Lite-On series I have? If I don’t have to cut or solder anything then I’m a bit more comfortable. And what is this probe? Is it software or hardware?
Answer #7
It is a small hardware device that Team Xecuter sell. I picked up one of their CK3 Blaster kits as it has been insanely useful. I can reflash my drive without even taking apart the chassis anymore.
There should be steps to identify which drive you have in the JungleFlasher PDF or one of the Lite-On tutorials at the iXtreme forums.
Answer #8
Okay this is all looking way too technical for me. How do I go about searching for a professional modder in my area? I tried Google but I keep getting old 2006 forum posts. Do you have some sites you recommend?
EDIT: Or having someone talk me through this via skype would speed this along and be a great help.