Xbox 360 Flashing Usability

Hey guys,
I’m gonna buy myself an Xbox 360 Elite in the next months and I’m thinking on flashing it. I already did some research on this topic, so I know how to do it basically.
My concern is in the usage of the flashed Xbox. On some websites I read about all kinds of difficulties – patched DVDs, Xbox-Live-banning etc. –
I could really use some input from you guys concerning these problems.
I’m a Mac OS X user, but I have a PC around. So flashing the harddrive won’t be a problem, but does burning the DVDs work with Mac OS X easily? I heard about the app “iBurn360” that can burn 360 games on a Mac. Did you have good experiences with it? Is there anything in particular I need to keep in mind when I want to burn for example game iso’s I downloaded here at wbb? Do they need to be “patched” in any way to work? Will Microsoft recognize my flashed Xbox and ban me?
Me biggest concern actually is the usability. I really have no interest in spending hours on burning DVDs, experiencing problems in playing etc. – if this would be the case, I’d rather buy the original games.
I really couldn’t find any website that contained all the answers from a professional point of view, so I would be so happy if you guys could help me on this.
Thanks a lot!
Answer #1
Honestly, if your buying a new system. Then your going to have the highest chance of getting a Lite-On drive. Which as of now isn’t flashable. You can grab the key/spoof details if you are good with soldering and have a spare LVTTL-RS232 converter or know how to make one.
As for burning the Dvd’s its easy….easier on a pc since more of a user base uses pcs so more s/w is designed to be run on them. Though be warned in the case of Dual layer disks you get what you pay for. Verbatiums are the recommended disks but their also the most expensive. There is a chance for being banned but if you flash it with the latest Ixtreame and run non- reviewer/from familiar release groups you’ll be fine. Unless you want to rip your own games(much safer but costs more). Flashing a drive really depends on what drive you get. If Lite-On then only key/spoof reading. If benq-special sata card is required or good soldering skills. Samsung- same as benq though if you dont mind flashing your drive a couple times then you can backup your games easily. Hitachi-Well again depends on the version.
Answer #2
Hi,
thanks for the infos. All sounds pretty complicated. I also thought about sending the Xbox to a hardware store for flashing. I already heard the Lite-On drives are not flashable at the moment … but does the chance exist I’ll get an Xbox Elite with a Benq/Samsung drive or is it really really little?
All in all this sounds exactly as I imangined – very complicated … I’ll have to think about flashing the box again.
Thanks again for your reply.
Answer #3
You can buy new drives, get some code off the old drive, do something with the new one and it will run normally. I honestly don’t have a clue how to do any of what I have just said since I was lucky enough to have a Samsung M25 drive in my 360
Answer #4
First of all, you don’t flash the hard drive. In fact, it doesn’t even matter if the console you’re trying to flash has one or not.
Secondly, you have to have a certain CPU chipset compatible with flashing the 360’s drive. Not just any PC will work, and unless your chipset is compatible, you’ll have to buy a SATA card that is. Lastly, it doesn’t matter what OS you’re on when you burn games. As long as the burning program you’re using is capable of burning images to discs at low speeds, then that’s all that matters.
Answer #5
Hi,
thanks for the infos. All sounds pretty complicated. I also thought about sending the Xbox to a hardware store for flashing. I already heard the Lite-On drives are not flashable at the moment ... but does the chance exist I'll get an Xbox Elite with a Benq/Samsung drive or is it really really little?
All in all this sounds exactly as I imangined - very complicated ... I'll have to think about flashing the box again.
Thanks again for your reply.
It really depends on what console you get. Not sure how it is for you but over here we still have consoles that are over a year old. Just grab the oldest console(or min a year if you want the benq) you can find and mod that. Its not little as long as older consoles still exist.
Almost as said you need certain “SATA” chipsets VIA ones being the easiest to mod(samsung(real easy),benq, and in a pinch hitachi).
But ya its not hard though you will need a knife when you flash the drive to create a common groung(ie connect metal knife to metal cases of the pc and 360)
If you need help just post here or pm and i’ll walk you through it.
Answer #6
you will need a knife when you flash the drive to create a common groung(ie connect metal knife to metal cases of the pc and 360)
I used some croc clips and wire I “aquired” from school to ground mines lol