I've only worked with NTSC Xbox consoles, so I had no idea PAL consoles weren't HD ready until... Yesterday! Really disappointing, and truly an excellent reason for PAL console owners to at minimum softmod their consoles. Once done, HD works well and to my understanding many PAL games can display at HD/ED settings, they just need to be played on a modded console. Nice sneak peek of your game closet as well! 😄
In PAL TVs component was not a common input until flat screens started to replace the CRTs. They had RGB (in the SCART connector) instead. And while this signal format technically could be adapted to handle HD, there was no standard for it. Thus PAL consoles and games did not support these modes most of the time, unless it was just left there in the odd PAL60hz version. Same thing was also the case for PS2 games and GameCube hardware. Some PS2 PAL games retained the component mode, but it could also be activated even in games locking it out with data alteration systems such as Action Replay.
Yeah, that surprised me too! What a crappy limitation, I figured there must be some weird obscure reason it's like that... Just fyi I've been watching your channel for awhile on my other account, super fun and helpful videos Mr. Mario:)
I life in pal region, its such a shit to see u ntsc guys always got 60hz, correct speed in old games, correct aspect ratio and even hd. In nes oder snes ages pal games are abit slower even the sound slowes down just to fit the 60hz in 50hz pal shit. In ps2 and xbox era games that support hd in ntsc dont get thia option in pal AND in some games the aspect ratio is am bit strached. Like in theory, pal got 576p instead of 480p, so on paper much better quality, more pixeles or lines, but the games wher programmed in 480p so we just got filled the more lines up with black or even strached. To get an ntsc console is easy but for me as a game collector it would be verry expensive to get all games in ntsc here in germany compared to pal games you can buy everywhere. Pal sucks! Thx god modern digital hdmi consoles do not struggle with this pal shit anymore 😁
I used to have Enter the Matrix on PS2 back in the day. I played the hell out of it until encountering the infamous helicopter bug, rendering the rest of the game unplayable. I remember trying again and again to get past that part, feeling absolutely gutted that I couldn't continue. I had no idea that games could be shipped with game breaking bugs on them, such simpler more innocent times 😂
The same thing happened to me, but with POPWW on the PS2. Not only did I defeat an invisible boss, but when I jump to the other side of that stupid gear, my character goes under the floor during the cutscene, and after it finishes, I get the most stupid death in video game history. And I have dedicated lots of time to the game too... 😠
Have yet to finish the video. But I actually still keep my Crystal Xbox around setup just for streaming Original Xbox games from time to time. Has a very timeless design. Prices are going up on them currently from a collectors perspective.
It's funny how the original Xbox can still run modern emulators but it itself hasn't been properly emulated to this day, despite it's age and the fact that it's an x86 system.
heard its because of lack of interest, since its big games (like halo 2) were ported over to pc later on, plus microsoft wanting to attack anyone that uses xbox code on unofficial emulators
@@everythingpony hasn't been great emulation. Xqemu and cxbxr aren't exactly on the same compatibility level as other emulators for consoles of that generation examples like dolphin and pcsx2
Best to always put a soft cloth down on hard surface tables etc when placing xbox console upside down, as otherwise the centre jewel gets scratched as it protrudes very slightly. Pre-cut the two sticker holes for the screws also, this avoids the security stickers lifting badly as in this video. Use a good BGA clear flux and copper braid to desolder the clock capacitor on v1.0 to v1.5 Replace/check the clock capacitor on v1.6 / v1.6b for bulging/leakage. I've had some on 1.6's go. Always a good idea to wear an antistatic wristband while working on the pcb's. They are cheap enough. Change the thermal paste for arctic silver 5 on both cpu and gpu. Think about an 80mm fan mod, buy a quiet fan but set bios to run it at 45% for enough cfm. Be-quiet are good. Use the Startech sata adapter. Maybe fit a hard drive activity LED. It's easy. Use an 80pin IDE cable. Check the 3 caps next to the cpu cooler, they tend to pop and leak also. You can fully hot wash with dishwashing liquid most parts of the console except the electronics of course, I wash them in 99.9% IPA.
I recently bought a component Cabel for my OG Xbox ( PAL ) and was very surprised to see that GTA Vice City still ran in 480i instead of 480p . Changing the EPROM helped , and my PAL Games still run fine
Man, you just resumed in this video everything that I've done for several hours on different days of research, learning and applying everything. Without considering the delay needed to receive the IDE to SATA adapter, 80 wires cable, etc. I never owned a Xbox original and I was amazed be the fact that it's literally is PC. It was fun! The only difference is that I use a 2TB hard drive to allow me to install my backed-up Xbox games without the need of putting the DVD each time.
I also have a PAL Crystal Xbox and modded it the same way last spring. Now it's a joy to play games from all regions installed to a hard drive with a component cable. The games look and sound great with a 4K projector and 5.1 sound!
Great video! While I do love my halo edition green unit I would love to pick up a crystal unit one day. It would look sooo good with the metal shielding revoved and some led strips inside!
My old softmodded Xbox from 2002 suddenly wouldn‘t power on one day. May have been due to the leaking capacitor. Good to see yours is still working after all these years.
im always getting so happy when i see a new video from you. Keep on doing this awesome job you are doing with your videos! i love them sooo much. best youtuber there is.
Go Australia!. Yeah that's where I'm from. I'm heaps surprised to hear you got your Xbox down here. I have a LE Crystal Xbox too that is modded (with a chip I think). I'm trying to chip an old (normal) one I have now also but I'm not finding it easy to do & softmodding even seems harder. I can't seem to get it even with watching most tutorials. It was very interesting for me to see some of the troubles you ran into modding it & just running it up there. Excellent advice on this video btw. You've done some really excellent & cool work with emulators & I admire that alot too. Great work man keep at it & keep it up. I'll subscribe to your channel from now on for sure! Take care & talk soon. Have a nice day too.
So much information in this video. I always wondered about HD options on US Xboxes. I had three in total during the day when I used to live in the UK. Towards the end of their lives they were only $99 with two games - what a bargain. Before we moved to the US, we sold them all - and now I wish I still had one. Thanks for sharing your Crystal Mod :-)
heyo! i have a canada ntsc one of these crystal editions i bought and modded because i borrowed a friends xbox to play JSRF and in short needed my own console. the controllers make using it so worth it and having it modded with custom dashes is something i never would have imagined as a kid. im 17 now playing conker live and reloaded at its recommended age to play too!! haha. thanks for all the tech videos over the years and all your contributions to the tech, modding, and xbox community! grew up on n64 and gamecube then 360 and never got a chance to properly play xbox exclusives until this past year
Just a heads up to anyone looking to mod their console, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4 also has a softmod exploit available. Not that the other 3 are hard to find but if you don't have those just use THPS4.
splintercell and tony hawk the easiest ones for it for real. i found a copy of splintercell at a goodwill for like 3 bucks!!!!!!!!!! blew my MIND n O ONE would know what its power would be. i hacked my xbox with tony hawk but still got the splintercell save on there and looked at it before exiting game and booting the tony hawk park
Greetings my fellow Crystal Xbox owner. Thankfully my Xbox was a later revision that fixed the clock capacitor, it's still going strong at 14 years old
Just wanted to say I really love your channel the quality of content is great, I particularly like when you talk about your time in the emulation/homebrew scene. You deserve way more subscribers than you currently have, not long till you get that play button.
I loved the look of the see-through Xbox, and clear consoles in general, many of my Gameboy's as a kid were clear variants. Really wanted the Master Chief Green Xbox, with it's awesome military green see-through case, so cool. Still want one today, but a working one commands quite a price these days.
Oh my gosh, you’ve helped me solve my exact problem! Since buying the crystal Xbox I’ve been down a rabbit hole figuring out how to mod it to work in NA. I thought it was just swapping to a NA power supply 😅
damn, man! all your xbox content makes me want to dig deeper into my xbox. especially the flash card mod since I already know how to clone hdd's, and softmod a stock xbox console. and yes, I'm the same guy who used to follow (and prefer your versions) your homebrew work.
wooo another MVG video gonna enjoy it. I'm in the pal region and had a black xbox but got myself a crystal one but was disappointed that a handful of games didnt play on it, or they had scrambled images. So i did what i called a lazy case swap with the black xbox that played everything, i just swapped the lid and disc tray front from the crystal to the black, leaving ther black base as it would of been too much work swapping the bases over
Hey Sterling, I hear you about the compatibility issues. You must have got a newer 1.6 revision like me, I was reading that the 1.6 revision used a different video encoder that caused the compatibility problems with some games. I even found a few emulators that have problems with that revision when in hd resolutions:( I hear they have some advantages for modding, not sure quite what they are tho. Also just FYI, it may be fortunate you didn't try swapping the bases on your Xboxes, I read somewhere else that certain hardware revisions have cases that can cause short circuits when swapped with cases from other hardware revisions. It's possible to do but important to insulate a few key areas with rubber tape before swapping the motherboards.
The Lost Boy Yeah it was a 1.6 and I read the same thing about possible short circuits when swapping the cases which made me decide to play it safe and just swap over the lid and tray covers, I'd invested around 10hours probably more in both Xbox's so risking bricking one just wasn't an option
Very cool console. My modded og Xbox gets more playtime than any other console I own. Most recently I revisited one of my favorite games Crimson Skies. Still as fun as I remembered.
I have one of those that I got from Germany and it was the first console I bought with my own money. I don't really have games for it anymore but it still works and it still lives in my shelf even though I do not use it anymore.
great mod , one thing i dont hear so much is something that blew me away as a kid , and the xbox being my first console i bought. was that the games were in 5.1 dolby surround , Project zero was sooo coool !
I have a v1.6 pal crystal xbox in a box somewhere. The 1.6 version had extra steps to install the xecutor2 (i think, its been a while). You had to press a circuit board containing the mod chip down on top of a few connectors on the board and fit a few jump wires. The bloody thing would randomly sort of half pop off or wouldn't make a proper connection causing the console to freeze. Putting a huge hard drive with a massive collection of (allegedly) torrented games in the thing and choosing em from a menu was so cool though. The chip even came with a controller port adapter that converted it to usb, which was nice.
Hi. Great video as always. Love the Original Xbox. The best console of all time. :X:X:X Just wanted to say that you can just partially lift the pads from underneath the console. Lift them just enough so that you can take the screws out. In this way the pads will remain half glued to the XBOX and you will not lose them. Hope this helps :) I already have 4 Original Xbox Consoles in my house, all of them modded with XBMC and CoinOPS. What a wonderful machine. I'm in love with it. Cheers mate, Vlad
Thank you so much for this, and earlier, videos. I have a mod chipped Xbox from early 2003, which I've been using on and off even to this day. You video made me double check for the clock capacitor which turned out to have just started leaking. You saved my favorite console of all time ❤️ Also, it's funny how 007 can be used to softmod both the Xbox and the PS2 😂 The guy who originally modded my Xbox (I wasn't all that old back then) has cut the bottom rubber pads in half. It still stands securely and you can access the screws without destroying the adhesive. Good trick imo.
Damn dude, I didn't even think of using a ide to sd card conversion board. That would save tons of room and be efficient on power and heating. I originally bought my Xbox pre-modded back when it first came out, and recently only replaced the clock capacitor. It was not leaking same as yours, but all the same I replaced it so I wouldn't have to worry and it works wonderfully. I installed a 2TB HDD using a IDE to SATA converter board and loaded up damn near 90% of the Xbox library onto that thing. It was a real chore trying to make all that fit without cutting and being safe, let me tell you! Didn't even know they had a crystal Xbox. If I ever see more Xbox consoles in the wild for cheap, I may just have to build myself up a collection of modded system variants! Surprisingly, I always have a hard time finding good quality Xbox controllers in the wild that work and don't have the rubber on the sticks chewed off.
Watching this brought back memories of taking an Xbox 360 to the Philippines , not knowing their power outlets were different than ours , sitting in a hotel I plugged it up and turned it on and BOOM!!! I threw the breakers on the second floor of the hotel I was staying at . Needless to say it scared the crap out of me and the problem was immediately attended to. Didn’t have to tell me not to hook it up again LOL.
I know this is an old video, My Dad died in 2006 and I just got his crystal Xbox out of my Mam's attic today, It has been up there for 14 years, I plugged it in and it powered straight up, what a machine it is, It is like a tank!
All I with my crystal edition was swap out the internals to a US board/PSU, TSOP modded it, added a 1TB hdd, took out the shielding to make it look nicer and its been working for years perfectly now.
Got my OG XBOX brand new from 2002. Never opened, never modded, never broke down. Played it till the release of the 360 then boxed away for the majority of this time (16 years). I do bring it out a couple of times a year of late to spin it up and play old classics like Manhunt, Halo, KOTOR and Deus Ex. It still rocks on for the duration that I need it for. Mindful not to overdo it because of these comments about motherboard leakage. Surely if my motherboard was dripping in capacitor juice, it wouldn't power up anyway or at least fizz and smoke.
What a trip down memory lane! I should really pull out my clear green Halo console from my garage ... didn't know about that clock capacitor though! Good tip. Hi from Australia :)
FYI the majority of PAL crystals are 1.4. North America are almost exclusively 1.6. There are three power supplies for the xbox not 2. Also the 1.6.xbox should *not* have their clock cap removed
Cool video. I would recommend flashing it with a 480p bios that gets rid of the 480i support. Now i can play Darkwatch in 480p and that alone was worth it to me :)
This looks like fun, and I love the crystal casing. I always wanted an original Xbox, I only had a DC/PSX/PS2 in that era. Ive had (and repaired) several 360s though, and still have my release date Xbox One which still works like when I got it.
Funny I found this.. I got my Crystal last week (I'm in Australia) It's now chipped, changed to NTSC for HD and I use a Xbox HDMI adapter and it's amazing! I have preordered the new internal HDMI mod. Mines a 1.6 though so no clock capacitor.
There are very few game systems I miss, original Xbox is one of them. That system came out at the perfect time for me and I get super nostalgic for it - regretting giving it away ten years ago :( I was doing fine until you showed Dead or Alive 3 at the end. It's probably the only game I REALLY want on Xbox On backward compat. Going to go cry now.
That's an absolute fact. And maybe that's a Tomonobu Itagaki thing. My fingers are crossed for the upcoming DOA 6, dropping in February. Team Ninja has made some good games since the Tomonobu era, I'm praying that they've got a real winner in their upcoming fighter.
I have an early Black Xbox that i bought when first released and a crystal that i got given to me. I did softmod them and put a 400gb hard drive in the black one. The crystal just got soft modded but this reminds me that maybe i should just tsop it sometime soon and take out the clock cap. Nice tutorial, will keep this in mind when i decide to do it.
Remember folks who intend to do a PSU swap especially from 110v to 220/240v or the other way around to be careful where you poke your screwdriver as the capacitors could still be holding a charge and that could hurt you or potentially even kill you. this also applies for opening a PC PSU or a CRT TV
Recently got one for just 4 dlls. It was just the console, but I had everything else. I fired it up and it works fine. There was a surprise game on the disc tray. It was half life 2!! I will be looking into modding it following your tutorial. Yaaay
I use the Chimp method for HDD upgrades. I will check out Hexen. Also, I do an 80mm LED fan upgrade, but you have to break out Dremel. Great vid. I have your SNES emu on mine.
I saw a modded original xbox in a junk shop the other week, someone had sprayed it orange and put the word Atari in the corner with the Atari logo in the middle lol
If it is the real Atari version, then that's a one of a kind console that you won from a contest. It sold in 2011 for 500 bucks on Ebay. But the one you saw was most likely a fake
Love it,my favorite console too.it's a shame the og xbox mod scene is kinda scarce now. It's good we have you to keep the interest up. Maybe someone will port retroarch over.
That was for sure the greatest system of all time, DVD Players were expensive and you could get one for free with XBMP which was far ahead his time and as you said emulation was great, no not only great it was mind blowing !
I read on the Original XBox Group on Reddit that 1.6 versions don't have the clock capacitor problem as that component was changed by Microsoft, so there was no need to remove that clock capacitor.
I did an NTSC conversion on my crystal xbox, I live in the UK, but as you have shown, only with NTSC can you unlock the full power of this amazing console. besides that all but 1 of my pal games worked fine, and in the case of time splitters 2, it was simply a case of downloading an NTSC version of the game.
What I heard was, a certain number of Xbox Zero's(my naming of original Xbox) had that capacity issue, especially the earlier models. I think after 2004, the manufacturers replaced these with better quality ones. I have about 10 black Xbox Zero's that have been donated to me throughout the years & some may suffer these symptoms. It shares a lot of internal connector designs with a PC, I have to call it the first PC, console hybrid.
Awesome! This reminded me of a random idea that I had a while back: I've been curious about converting a console or laptop into a desktop. Like I have pretty good laptop from about 2013 that is functional but cosmetically broken. It'd be fun to build it into a desktop machine with a proper cooler like my hyper 212evo. It would be all custom work.
Great video as always. You should talk about those 720p patches that are online, I´ve had read that some need a modded cpu and ram. Thanks for the content.
So the clock capacitor just has to be removed? That's really good to know, I always assumed it had to be replaced. I haven't cracked open my system to check it yet, but I'll make it a point to do that soon. I would also like to upgrade my hard drive to a CF device, that would be supremely convenient.
it's a good idea after you remove the cap to clean the area with distilled vinegar and a soft toothbrush, then after to wash with isopropyl alcohol. hope this helps!
I've literally just sold one of these today on Facebook that's had less then 1 hours use since new, I bought 2 and used 1 to game on and kept the 2nd unit sealed in the loft for years with the hope of keeping one and selling it for a small profit but years later but it's not worth as much as expected so it's gone to be apart of someone vintage game collection.
I've found that step-up and step-down is always relative to the _wall_ voltage, not the _device_ voltage. I don't have any mnemonic to help remember it, but I'm sure someone does!
A little confusion is understandable as the transformer shown in the video does both. The switch on the top swaps which side is the primary relative to the wall plug.
Loving your videos as always MVG! Its strange but I notice in the UK that we have more 1.6 Crystal Clear machines than we do 1.4. Its so strange to think about mind? :)
I believe all Crystal XBOX's in Canada were Ver. 1.6 which confused me when you mentioned removing the clock capacitor. I guess the Australian release was pre Ver. 1.6.
That Xbox is a real og now
Do you have any sugestion were i choud get PAL spinter cell or agent under fire for softmod
@@ronaldsustinovs7340
There is a website called ebay
@@ronaldsustinovs7340 Mech Assault works as well, i'm assuming it still works.
Isn't it funny how we can use spy games to hack into the Xbox?
i think mechassault was the third game you could use. but yeah thats really funny lol. Splintercell was even an amazing game
Speak Vegan Change next assault 2 was badass
@Khalid Ibn Alwaleed lol
It's no coincidence you even use a spy game to hack/softmod a PlayStation 2
MVG is literally the reason I picked up an Xbox this year. I use it everyday and haven't regretted it.
I've only worked with NTSC Xbox consoles, so I had no idea PAL consoles weren't HD ready until... Yesterday! Really disappointing, and truly an excellent reason for PAL console owners to at minimum softmod their consoles. Once done, HD works well and to my understanding many PAL games can display at HD/ED settings, they just need to be played on a modded console.
Nice sneak peek of your game closet as well! 😄
In PAL TVs component was not a common input until flat screens started to replace the CRTs. They had RGB (in the SCART connector) instead. And while this signal format technically could be adapted to handle HD, there was no standard for it. Thus PAL consoles and games did not support these modes most of the time, unless it was just left there in the odd PAL60hz version. Same thing was also the case for PS2 games and GameCube hardware. Some PS2 PAL games retained the component mode, but it could also be activated even in games locking it out with data alteration systems such as Action Replay.
Yeah, that surprised me too! What a crappy limitation, I figured there must be some weird obscure reason it's like that... Just fyi I've been watching your channel for awhile on my other account, super fun and helpful videos Mr. Mario:)
@@Stoppskylten Wow, that was a great explanation! I figured it would be something obscure and technical like that, thanks for the info:)
I life in pal region, its such a shit to see u ntsc guys always got 60hz, correct speed in old games, correct aspect ratio and even hd. In nes oder snes ages pal games are abit slower even the sound slowes down just to fit the 60hz in 50hz pal shit. In ps2 and xbox era games that support hd in ntsc dont get thia option in pal AND in some games the aspect ratio is am bit strached. Like in theory, pal got 576p instead of 480p, so on paper much better quality, more pixeles or lines, but the games wher programmed in 480p so we just got filled the more lines up with black or even strached.
To get an ntsc console is easy but for me as a game collector it would be verry expensive to get all games in ntsc here in germany compared to pal games you can buy everywhere.
Pal sucks! Thx god modern digital hdmi consoles do not struggle with this pal shit anymore 😁
Yeah that game closet was jammed pack lol
I used to have Enter the Matrix on PS2 back in the day. I played the hell out of it until encountering the infamous helicopter bug, rendering the rest of the game unplayable. I remember trying again and again to get past that part, feeling absolutely gutted that I couldn't continue.
I had no idea that games could be shipped with game breaking bugs on them, such simpler more innocent times 😂
The same thing happened to me, but with POPWW on the PS2. Not only did I defeat an invisible boss, but when I jump to the other side of that stupid gear, my character goes under the floor during the cutscene, and after it finishes, I get the most stupid death in video game history. And I have dedicated lots of time to the game too... 😠
Have yet to finish the video. But I actually still keep my Crystal Xbox around setup just for streaming Original Xbox games from time to time. Has a very timeless design. Prices are going up on them currently from a collectors perspective.
Is NTSC version that uncommon? In Sweden you can find a PAL Crystal almost as easy as a regular black console, they're super common.
Im from the UK, so ya know its fairly common but still going up in price.
I got a clear Xbox in my mother home in the basement and you say they are going for a high price used..
@@RisingRevengeance how much do they go for there ?
there is only region version
pal and ntsc doen't exist on a NTSC console
Thank God for the modding community.
It's funny how the original Xbox can still run modern emulators but it itself hasn't been properly emulated to this day, despite it's age and the fact that it's an x86 system.
heard its because of lack of interest, since its big games (like halo 2) were ported over to pc later on, plus microsoft wanting to attack anyone that uses xbox code on unofficial emulators
XB360 emulation runs better even.
Wtf you talking about? Its been emulated for years
@@everythingpony hasn't been great emulation. Xqemu and cxbxr aren't exactly on the same compatibility level as other emulators for consoles of that generation examples like dolphin and pcsx2
@@aldebaran0_ it was emulated on the xb 360
Best to always put a soft cloth down on hard surface tables etc when placing xbox console upside down, as otherwise the centre jewel gets scratched as it protrudes very slightly.
Pre-cut the two sticker holes for the screws also, this avoids the security stickers lifting badly as in this video.
Use a good BGA clear flux and copper braid to desolder the clock capacitor on v1.0 to v1.5
Replace/check the clock capacitor on v1.6 / v1.6b for bulging/leakage. I've had some on 1.6's go.
Always a good idea to wear an antistatic wristband while working on the pcb's. They are cheap enough.
Change the thermal paste for arctic silver 5 on both cpu and gpu.
Think about an 80mm fan mod, buy a quiet fan but set bios to run it at 45% for enough cfm. Be-quiet are good.
Use the Startech sata adapter.
Maybe fit a hard drive activity LED. It's easy.
Use an 80pin IDE cable.
Check the 3 caps next to the cpu cooler, they tend to pop and leak also.
You can fully hot wash with dishwashing liquid most parts of the console except the electronics of course, I wash them in 99.9% IPA.
💩💩💩
I recently bought a component Cabel for my OG Xbox ( PAL ) and was very surprised to see that GTA Vice City still ran in 480i instead of 480p . Changing the EPROM helped , and my PAL Games still run fine
So much nostalgia! Great video my dude and you're just about to crack 100K!!
Man, you just resumed in this video everything that I've done for several hours on different days of research, learning and applying everything. Without considering the delay needed to receive the IDE to SATA adapter, 80 wires cable, etc. I never owned a Xbox original and I was amazed be the fact that it's literally is PC. It was fun! The only difference is that I use a 2TB hard drive to allow me to install my backed-up Xbox games without the need of putting the DVD each time.
how can someone with so little subs have so good production quality dude you need more subs
MVG. You're a legend. I still have my PAL clear unit here next to me. Love the fact you're rockin the AU unit from so long ago :)
Absolutely amazing video
I also have a PAL Crystal Xbox and modded it the same way last spring. Now it's a joy to play games from all regions installed to a hard drive with a component cable. The games look and sound great with a 4K projector and 5.1 sound!
Great video! While I do love my halo edition green unit I would love to pick up a crystal unit one day. It would look sooo good with the metal shielding revoved and some led strips inside!
Brings back memories of opening up my first Xbox just to change the light ring color. I miss those days.
My old softmodded Xbox from 2002 suddenly wouldn‘t power on one day. May have been due to the leaking capacitor. Good to see yours is still working after all these years.
This is my favorite console ever. I also have a Crystal Xbox (PAL) with 120 GB Maxtor HDD. Cool mod with compact flash card.
im always getting so happy when i see a new video from you. Keep on doing this awesome job you are doing with your videos! i love them sooo much. best youtuber there is.
Go Australia!. Yeah that's where I'm from. I'm heaps surprised to hear you got your Xbox down here. I have a LE Crystal Xbox too that is modded (with a chip I think). I'm trying to chip an old (normal) one I have now also but I'm not finding it easy to do & softmodding even seems harder. I can't seem to get it even with watching most tutorials. It was very interesting for me to see some of the troubles you ran into modding it & just running it up there. Excellent advice on this video btw. You've done some really excellent & cool work with emulators & I admire that alot too. Great work man keep at it & keep it up. I'll subscribe to your channel from now on for sure! Take care & talk soon. Have a nice day too.
The Xbox power on is just magnificent, sweeter still with the EVO X logo.
These videos always make me want to buy an original xbox and play Halo with the duke again, Awesome stuff like usual!
I’ve got to get back into modding my Original Xbox. This video was Awesome!
So much information in this video. I always wondered about HD options on US Xboxes. I had three in total during the day when I used to live in the UK. Towards the end of their lives they were only $99 with two games - what a bargain. Before we moved to the US, we sold them all - and now I wish I still had one. Thanks for sharing your Crystal Mod :-)
Loved it! I hope we could see more in dept the XBOX possible MODs, didnt even know you could use a flash cart.
heyo! i have a canada ntsc one of these crystal editions i bought and modded because i borrowed a friends xbox to play JSRF and in short needed my own console. the controllers make using it so worth it and having it modded with custom dashes is something i never would have imagined as a kid. im 17 now playing conker live and reloaded at its recommended age to play too!! haha. thanks for all the tech videos over the years and all your contributions to the tech, modding, and xbox community! grew up on n64 and gamecube then 360 and never got a chance to properly play xbox exclusives until this past year
i was born the year you bought this console lmao
I've learned so much about one of my favorite video game consoles from this channel. Thank you so much.
Just a heads up to anyone looking to mod their console, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4 also has a softmod exploit available. Not that the other 3 are hard to find but if you don't have those just use THPS4.
splintercell and tony hawk the easiest ones for it for real. i found a copy of splintercell at a goodwill for like 3 bucks!!!!!!!!!! blew my MIND n O ONE would know what its power would be. i hacked my xbox with tony hawk but still got the splintercell save on there and looked at it before exiting game and booting the tony hawk park
Can you make a video of your collection of games ?
didn't think people would be interested but if there's enough interest sure thing. thanks!
It would def be intresting.
@@ModernVintageGamer // Would be interested to see that video.
This
I wanna see it! This video need to be mad..
Greetings my fellow Crystal Xbox owner. Thankfully my Xbox was a later revision that fixed the clock capacitor, it's still going strong at 14 years old
Just wanted to say I really love your channel the quality of content is great, I particularly like when you talk about your time in the emulation/homebrew scene. You deserve way more subscribers than you currently have, not long till you get that play button.
I loved the look of the see-through Xbox, and clear consoles in general, many of my Gameboy's as a kid were clear variants. Really wanted the Master Chief Green Xbox, with it's awesome military green see-through case, so cool. Still want one today, but a working one commands quite a price these days.
Sick video. Those crystal boxes are such gems.
You make some quality videos my dude, keep it up! I really enjoy your content whenever it pops up in my subscription feed👌🏽
Oh my gosh, you’ve helped me solve my exact problem! Since buying the crystal Xbox I’ve been down a rabbit hole figuring out how to mod it to work in NA. I thought it was just swapping to a NA power supply 😅
damn, man! all your xbox content makes me want to dig deeper into my xbox. especially the flash card mod since I already know how to clone hdd's, and softmod a stock xbox console.
and yes, I'm the same guy who used to follow (and prefer your versions) your homebrew work.
also, I'm worried about my xbox's clock capacitor. haven't opened it up since I softmodded it 2 years ago lol
wooo another MVG video gonna enjoy it. I'm in the pal region and had a black xbox but got myself a crystal one but was disappointed that a handful of games didnt play on it, or they had scrambled images. So i did what i called a lazy case swap with the black xbox that played everything, i just swapped the lid and disc tray front from the crystal to the black, leaving ther black base as it would of been too much work swapping the bases over
Hey Sterling, I hear you about the compatibility issues. You must have got a newer 1.6 revision like me, I was reading that the 1.6 revision used a different video encoder that caused the compatibility problems with some games. I even found a few emulators that have problems with that revision when in hd resolutions:( I hear they have some advantages for modding, not sure quite what they are tho. Also just FYI, it may be fortunate you didn't try swapping the bases on your Xboxes, I read somewhere else that certain hardware revisions have cases that can cause short circuits when swapped with cases from other hardware revisions. It's possible to do but important to insulate a few key areas with rubber tape before swapping the motherboards.
The Lost Boy
Yeah it was a 1.6 and I read the same thing about possible short circuits when swapping the cases which made me decide to play it safe and just swap over the lid and tray covers, I'd invested around 10hours probably more in both Xbox's so risking bricking one just wasn't an option
@@Sterling20073 Good call Sterling
@@Sterling20073 Better safe than sorry!
Very cool console. My modded og Xbox gets more playtime than any other console I own. Most recently I revisited one of my favorite games Crimson Skies. Still as fun as I remembered.
Love watching your Xbox content. Really gets me in the mood to power mine up, good thing it's still hooked up ️
I have one of those that I got from Germany and it was the first console I bought with my own money. I don't really have games for it anymore but it still works and it still lives in my shelf even though I do not use it anymore.
great mod , one thing i dont hear so much is something that blew me away as a kid , and the xbox being my first console i bought. was that the games were in 5.1 dolby surround , Project zero was sooo coool !
I have a v1.6 pal crystal xbox in a box somewhere. The 1.6 version had extra steps to install the xecutor2 (i think, its been a while). You had to press a circuit board containing the mod chip down on top of a few connectors on the board and fit a few jump wires. The bloody thing would randomly sort of half pop off or wouldn't make a proper connection causing the console to freeze.
Putting a huge hard drive with a massive collection of (allegedly) torrented games in the thing and choosing em from a menu was so cool though. The chip even came with a controller port adapter that converted it to usb, which was nice.
Hi. Great video as always. Love the Original Xbox. The best console of all time. :X:X:X
Just wanted to say that you can just partially lift the pads from underneath the console. Lift them just enough so that you can take the screws out. In this way the pads will remain half glued to the XBOX and you will not lose them. Hope this helps :) I already have 4 Original Xbox Consoles in my house, all of them modded with XBMC and CoinOPS. What a wonderful machine. I'm in love with it.
Cheers mate,
Vlad
Maybe you could do a Video about Homebrew on the 3ds?
Yeah it’s reaching the end of its lifecycle
Thank you so much for this, and earlier, videos. I have a mod chipped Xbox from early 2003, which I've been using on and off even to this day. You video made me double check for the clock capacitor which turned out to have just started leaking. You saved my favorite console of all time ❤️
Also, it's funny how 007 can be used to softmod both the Xbox and the PS2 😂
The guy who originally modded my Xbox (I wasn't all that old back then) has cut the bottom rubber pads in half. It still stands securely and you can access the screws without destroying the adhesive. Good trick imo.
Great video as always! Congrats on almost 100k! ;)
Damn dude, I didn't even think of using a ide to sd card conversion board. That would save tons of room and be efficient on power and heating. I originally bought my Xbox pre-modded back when it first came out, and recently only replaced the clock capacitor. It was not leaking same as yours, but all the same I replaced it so I wouldn't have to worry and it works wonderfully. I installed a 2TB HDD using a IDE to SATA converter board and loaded up damn near 90% of the Xbox library onto that thing. It was a real chore trying to make all that fit without cutting and being safe, let me tell you!
Didn't even know they had a crystal Xbox. If I ever see more Xbox consoles in the wild for cheap, I may just have to build myself up a collection of modded system variants! Surprisingly, I always have a hard time finding good quality Xbox controllers in the wild that work and don't have the rubber on the sticks chewed off.
Watching this brought back memories of taking an Xbox 360 to the Philippines , not knowing their power outlets were different than ours , sitting in a hotel I plugged it up and turned it on and BOOM!!! I threw the breakers on the second floor of the hotel I was staying at . Needless to say it scared the crap out of me and the problem was immediately attended to. Didn’t have to tell me not to hook it up again LOL.
I know this is an old video, My Dad died in 2006 and I just got his crystal Xbox out of my Mam's attic today, It has been up there for 14 years, I plugged it in and it powered straight up, what a machine it is, It is like a tank!
Compact flash card, didn't even know you could still buy them, had to check the date on the video to be sure it wasn't from 2010.
Lol, loved the vid.
Thank God for notifications lol. Didn't want to miss this!
All I with my crystal edition was swap out the internals to a US board/PSU, TSOP modded it, added a 1TB hdd, took out the shielding to make it look nicer and its been working for years perfectly now.
Got my OG XBOX brand new from 2002. Never opened, never modded, never broke down. Played it till the release of the 360 then boxed away for the majority of this time (16 years). I do bring it out a couple of times a year of late to spin it up and play old classics like Manhunt, Halo, KOTOR and Deus Ex. It still rocks on for the duration that I need it for. Mindful not to overdo it because of these comments about motherboard leakage. Surely if my motherboard was dripping in capacitor juice, it wouldn't power up anyway or at least fizz and smoke.
What a trip down memory lane! I should really pull out my clear green Halo console from my garage ... didn't know about that clock capacitor though! Good tip. Hi from Australia :)
FYI the majority of PAL crystals are 1.4. North America are almost exclusively 1.6. There are three power supplies for the xbox not 2. Also the 1.6.xbox should *not* have their clock cap removed
The crystals ive picked up here in the uk have ALL been 1.6 and ive had about 8....
My experience is the same in the UK. Two crystals both 1.6
And you can't Tsop a 1.6 either, iirc.
@@NIGonzo just do what i did and swap the components. i swaped the 1.6 components from the crystal Xbox and put in a 1.4 revision. works perfectly
back in 2007 i bought a switching psu for my xbox since i was going back and forth between europe and us. that thing still works to these days
That thing is beautiful. Fantastic video as always.
This is so cool! thanks for the upload. i Enjoyed looking at that dang crystal Xbox
Another great video, you've given it a new lease on life. That's a lovely looking machine. Also, kudos on that Nashville shirt!
I love the crystal cases, they are really awesome looking if you take the heat shield off the top and pop some LEDs in
Cool video.
I would recommend flashing it with a 480p bios that gets rid of the 480i support.
Now i can play Darkwatch in 480p and that alone was worth it to me :)
Hi MVG, your videos are absolutely rocking... keep on going bro!!
Damn, I always thought you lived in 'straya!
I have the green transparent Halo Original Xbox but damn that Crystal model sure is a beauty.
This looks like fun, and I love the crystal casing. I always wanted an original Xbox, I only had a DC/PSX/PS2 in that era. Ive had (and repaired) several 360s though, and still have my release date Xbox One which still works like when I got it.
Xbox 1 > Xbox One
happy you have a day one console though thats badass
Nice video. I've got a clear Crystal Xbox as well, but mine is a v1.6 from Japan.
Funny I found this.. I got my Crystal last week (I'm in Australia)
It's now chipped, changed to NTSC for HD and I use a Xbox HDMI adapter and it's amazing!
I have preordered the new internal HDMI mod.
Mines a 1.6 though so no clock capacitor.
There are very few game systems I miss, original Xbox is one of them. That system came out at the perfect time for me and I get super nostalgic for it - regretting giving it away ten years ago :( I was doing fine until you showed Dead or Alive 3 at the end. It's probably the only game I REALLY want on Xbox On backward compat. Going to go cry now.
all the Team Ninja games on the OG Xbox are masterpieces.
That's an absolute fact. And maybe that's a Tomonobu Itagaki thing. My fingers are crossed for the upcoming DOA 6, dropping in February. Team Ninja has made some good games since the Tomonobu era, I'm praying that they've got a real winner in their upcoming fighter.
seeing blinx in the background made me happy
I have an early Black Xbox that i bought when first released and a crystal that i got given to me. I did softmod them and put a 400gb hard drive in the black one. The crystal just got soft modded but this reminds me that maybe i should just tsop it sometime soon and take out the clock cap. Nice tutorial, will keep this in mind when i decide to do it.
Remember folks who intend to do a PSU swap especially from 110v to 220/240v or the other way around to be careful where you poke your screwdriver as the capacitors could still be holding a charge and that could hurt you or potentially even kill you. this also applies for opening a PC PSU or a CRT TV
MVG, please post information about the IDE to CF adapter you’re using! I’ve bought so many off eBay and Amazon and they don’t work!
Startech
Why don't you just get IDE HDD? Much larger ones can be bought for cheap
Hene193 Because IDE HDD’s are old and will start dying soon.
you need to flash a a custom BIOS, a retail BIOS will look for a locked HDD...
You can also buy an IDE to SATA adapter and put a decent sized HDD in there.
Recently got one for just 4 dlls. It was just the console, but I had everything else. I fired it up and it works fine. There was a surprise game on the disc tray. It was half life 2!! I will be looking into modding it following your tutorial. Yaaay
I think you did a great job as always and I went to the flea market and got me some component cables by monster can't wait to see the picture
I use the Chimp method for HDD upgrades. I will check out Hexen. Also, I do an 80mm LED fan upgrade, but you have to break out Dremel. Great vid. I have your SNES emu on mine.
I've been wanting to mod my original xbox and my ps3. Now that cold weather is here I probably will.
yo if you have a fat ps3 or one of the early slim models, it's easy to hack the ps3 especially with the method that came out around a year ago
Another amazing video :D Thanks for the all the great content, it is greatly appreciated!
A game... closet?! Why did I not think of this, thats such a great idea!
I saw a modded original xbox in a junk shop the other week, someone had sprayed it orange and put the word Atari in the corner with the Atari logo in the middle lol
That's a limited edition I think
If it is the real Atari version, then that's a one of a kind console that you won from a contest. It sold in 2011 for 500 bucks on Ebay. But the one you saw was most likely a fake
yess i love seeing that evox symbol on boot, so many memories
Love it,my favorite console too.it's a shame the og xbox mod scene is kinda scarce now. It's good we have you to keep the interest up. Maybe someone will port retroarch over.
That was for sure the greatest system of all time, DVD Players were expensive and you could get one for free with XBMP which was far ahead his time and as you said emulation was great, no not only great it was mind blowing !
Always been my favorite console. Devastated when I accidentally bricked my last one
Thats a sick Looking Machine My Friend, another Great Video...
Wow the 1080i gameplay actually looked really good for a system that released in 2001. Could easily be mistaken for a PS3 or 360 game.
I read on the Original XBox Group on Reddit that 1.6 versions don't have the clock capacitor problem as that component was changed by Microsoft, so there was no need to remove that clock capacitor.
I love your videos. Keep them coming.
I did an NTSC conversion on my crystal xbox, I live in the UK, but as you have shown, only with NTSC can you unlock the full power of this amazing console. besides that all but 1 of my pal games worked fine, and in the case of time splitters 2, it was simply a case of downloading an NTSC version of the game.
What I heard was, a certain number of Xbox Zero's(my naming of original Xbox) had that capacity issue, especially the earlier models. I think after 2004, the manufacturers replaced these with better quality ones. I have about 10 black Xbox Zero's that have been donated to me throughout the years & some may suffer these symptoms.
It shares a lot of internal connector designs with a PC, I have to call it the first PC, console hybrid.
Awesome! This reminded me of a random idea that I had a while back: I've been curious about converting a console or laptop into a desktop. Like I have pretty good laptop from about 2013 that is functional but cosmetically broken. It'd be fun to build it into a desktop machine with a proper cooler like my hyper 212evo. It would be all custom work.
heyo! you ever do this? that sounds badass
Great video as always. You should talk about those 720p patches that are online, I´ve had read that some need a modded cpu and ram. Thanks for the content.
So the clock capacitor just has to be removed? That's really good to know, I always assumed it had to be replaced. I haven't cracked open my system to check it yet, but I'll make it a point to do that soon. I would also like to upgrade my hard drive to a CF device, that would be supremely convenient.
@@TemperatureHot 1.6 doesn't have the clock capacitor fyi so no need to worry about it
it's a good idea after you remove the cap to clean the area with distilled vinegar and a soft toothbrush, then after to wash with isopropyl alcohol. hope this helps!
@@TemperatureHot ah yes a smd cap thx for the correction! iv personally never seen one fail.
I've literally just sold one of these today on Facebook that's had less then 1 hours use since new, I bought 2 and used 1 to game on and kept the 2nd unit sealed in the loft for years with the hope of keeping one and selling it for a small profit but years later but it's not worth as much as expected so it's gone to be apart of someone vintage game collection.
2:55 the other way around
Yep; step-up instead of step-down.
I always get them mixed up !
I'm glad someone noticed that. I got scared for a second, as I've been using a step-up transformer in my set up for imports.
I've found that step-up and step-down is always relative to the _wall_ voltage, not the _device_ voltage. I don't have any mnemonic to help remember it, but I'm sure someone does!
A little confusion is understandable as the transformer shown in the video does both. The switch on the top swaps which side is the primary relative to the wall plug.
It broke my heart when you didn't use a hair dryer or a heat gun to lift the product stickers on the case
Loving your videos as always MVG! Its strange but I notice in the UK that we have more 1.6 Crystal Clear machines than we do 1.4. Its so strange to think about mind? :)
I mod OG Xbox to 128mb and I know exactly what are you talking about!! The greatest console ever.
I believe all Crystal XBOX's in Canada were Ver. 1.6 which confused me when you mentioned removing the clock capacitor. I guess the Australian release was pre Ver. 1.6.
2:55 you meant to say a step up transformer!