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I want to mount an XBOX into my trunk. I was planning on going with a MiniITX/NanoITX setup but I added up the cost of parts I needed and it became far too great (especially how my university tuition went up again this year). So I soon discovered the wonders of a modded XBOX, since i can get an XBOX for dirt cheap and the mod chip is readily available. As well, i have a larger harddrive to swap in. The modded XBOX will be more than adequate for my intentions, ie. mp3 player w/visualizations, divx player, a full featured media player, picture viewer, as well as xbox imaged games (maybe even wifi when i'm parked in my garage).

Anyways, since this bad boy is far too large to mount stealthly within the cabin, i've decided to mount it in the trunk. I'll take power/ground from my amp wiring (use the 12V signal wire and wire it into a relay so that it needs the signal to have the juice), video wire is easy to run up front. As well, since you can buy extension cables for the xbox controller, I'll run a pair up there and rig it into my centerconsole. Thus, i can have a plugin for the IR remote and a plugin for the game controller. As for on/off control, i'll just physically tap into the XBOX console.

The problem is, the XBOX is a big *** ****. I'm thinking of mounting it vertically on the left side of my trunk. I thought about mounting it flat on my false floor but it might look weird. In addition, would it be worthwhile to do a little fibreglass enclosure for the XBOX with a piece of plexiglass covering it (lit up ofcourse)?


This is how my setup looks like, although it's a bit different now (with more goodies and dyed side carpeting):

 
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so basically when ever u want to turn on ur xbox u have to go through the trunk. . .

i made a little stainless steel box that goes on the bottom of the passenger floor in the front seat. I cut little holes in front and the back so the wires can go through. I also made a lid that flips up like a nintendo so i can change games or turn on the X.

I'll try to get pics up as soon as i take any.

 
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no no, if i want to turn it on i'll have a switch up front. I'll just tap the on/off switch from the XBOX and place a switch on the dash.

I'd like to avoid the front mainly because it's quite obtrusive. And i won't be needing to change discs or play any discs, since it'll be a hacked xbox. All the games will be playing off the harddrive. Plus I'm not really into games, I just wanted a media center.

 
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sounds like a pretty good setup, a fiberglass enclosure is gonna look good if you do it right so i say go ahead its worth a try the outcome will be much better then the work involved

 
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dood, dont go XBOX, get a PS2. XBOX's are heavy and will slow your car down dramatically

 
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LMAO....did you not see his system setup already? Your worried about a couple pound that a xbox has over a PS2!?!?

 
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I was thinking of doing the same thing but not sure which chip to get.
The xbox is very similar to a computer so you can actually remove the whole cd drive and relocate it to the dash under an in-dash monitor or whatever the case may be, all you need is a longer ribbon cable to run from the hard drive to the cd drive then just hide the xbox internals somewhere out of the way(you just need extensions to run the controllers and power button up front somewhere convienient and CLEAN) thats what my buddy did in his NSX he put an in-dash ALPINE TME-M760 7"widescreen and an XBOX disc drive beneath the monitor
(it looks really good and clean he has black and silver interior so it goes well to with the XBOX writing on the disc drive he has no chip though so he had to put it somewhere convienient

AzNBonD-what chip are you looking at getting and where do you plan on getting yours?

 
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if your going to be taking it apart and working with the internals, why wouldnt you just custom install the drive in your dash (below the HU like ^^^) and just hide the internals in your dash somewhere and ditch the box.....you could make it work if you could find a little extra space to hold the internals still. Also you wouldn't need all the extension cord then

 
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buying IDE cables long enough to span the car length will not work. The cables are very suspectible to interference. I saw on some other site where 5 lengths of cat5 was used to elongate a standard IDE cable. This method will work because the Cat5 is twisted in pairs to reduce the interference.

 
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Check this link for everything you need to know about modding your xbox Im also doing this.

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/h...420568,00.html

 
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Well you can't really hide it, cause the internals of the XBOX are huge. It's basically crammed into the XBOX, that's why I want it in the trunk.


And no to PS2, you can't mod it to a media station. I don't want to play those crap games.

 
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where can you get one of these mod chips?? I dont know if they are illegal or not, but I dont see any of them on Ebay....

 
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you CANNOT run IDE cables long! I know about computers, and the length of an IDE cable determined how long info will take, they are a set length and CANNOT be any longer or any shorter. You can try it if you want, but it won't work.

 
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and for the mod chips... www.modchip.com ...hehe

 
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Don't forget to keep the system ventilated!!! IT NEEDS AIR!!!

 
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length doest affect the data transfer rate significantly. electricity travels at such a great speed that it wont matter if the cable is 12 inches or 204 inches. cables come in varying length. Ive worked on microcomputers that have about an inch long IDE cable to a server that has a cable that is 4 feet long. the limitation to IDE cables is the interference. The wires are right next to each other shielded just enough to prevent the wires from transmitting each other's signal, but their very suspectible to EMI.

 
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all i know is that in my computer, i needed a longer IDE cable to reach the top bay in my case, but I couldn't get a longer one b/c that would not work. That's just my $0.02, do whatever you like.

 
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For CD-Roms, IDE cables longer than 2' won't work. There's too much data loss.

For those who don't know about the XBOX mod, you can replace the harddrive with any size you want. Say an 80GB drive, you can load it up with XBOX games, dvd rips, music, and photos. Loading is quick and the dedicated processor/video processor works awesome.

 
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XBOX SUCKS ***!!! buy a GameCube.. thats where it's at

 
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The only good thing about GAMECUBE is its size and the only thing good about PS2
is GTA:VICE CITY (which will be available on XBOX soon) so anybody in there right mind
knows XBOX is #1, the MOD chips, larger hard drives, media players, and the ability to copy games onto the Hard drives are just the fringe benefits of making the smarter and better chioce by buying an XBOX.

just my .02

 
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So I can put the internals in the trunk and the disk drive in the dash as long as I insulate the
IDE cables better(or do you know if you can get them with better protection from
somewhere)?

 
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Thanks alot, just what I was looking for.

 
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It depends on where you are living, but who cares if its illegal or not knowone but the people you tell will know you have it, I mean its not like a cop or Bill Gates is going to come to your house and say "YOUR UNDER ARREST FOR MODDING YOUR XBOX" LOL

Some people are just TOO paranoid, you all need to relax go smoke some pot or something.

 
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So what about DVD's dont you wanna be able to just throw it in the dash?
Put the internals under your passenger seat if more then 2' is too long,

oh yeah and let me know how well it fits.

 
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NOPE!!!!

because i can literally copy the entire DVD on the drive and play it as is. same ****. I'll just slap a 80GB drive i have lying around... shazam... copy over 20-30 games, 10-15 movies, a couple hundred mp3s, and some backgrounds for looks to match my interior. Shazam.. all in one. As for all you PS2 and Gamecube advocates, you're clearly missing the purpose of this. I don't intend to use this for gaming, it's a cheap and simple way to add a media center into my car.

I'm not gonna bother with the cd drive on the XBOX, i don't want any skipping. As well, if i mount vertically, i'll be less prone to harddrive damage on bumpy roads.

And if i need to play a music CD i'll just pop it in the deck, but it's just as easy to load it onto the XBOX.


BTW.. the most supported modchip is the XECUTE II Lite. Make sure you get the Liter version, apparently it comes preflashed whereas the standard does not. Then you pop in a new harddrive, install the EvolutionX OS... SHAZAM... instant kool stuff.

 
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I got a modded box with a 160 Gb Hard Drive and a ton of games on it . . . i wouldn't bother with the internals cuz the motherboard is pretty big on it and if the d0 point gets scratched up even a lil it makes the box frag everytime.

And i got the Chameleon because of the stealth mode so that you can still play on Xbox Live (even though i don't). It's pretty easy to add an external on/off switch for which bios you are running as well, i got mine hooked up with a blinking light to show when the mod is on so that i don't get booted off Xbox Live on accident whenever i do get on it.

 
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Where are grabbing your EvoX dashboard from filesharing or you gonna buy it?

So the chameleon chip cant be detected on live but the excecuter chips
can?

 
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hey man did you custom make that sub box? if not where did you get it? as far as the xbox, im thinking about it too and i thought the trunk was the best place as well. just get extensions for the controllers and have them planted in you center console or elsewhere so you can plug the controller in and take them out whenever you want to.

 
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read the link i posted any and every link to all the resources to mod a xbox is included in there as with tutorials and videos

 
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LOL man, i couldnt have said it better myself.