The Black Art of Xbox Mods

by Jonathan S. Harbour

The Xbox is an exciting and fun video game console - but that's only half the story. Inside the case, Microsoft placed a customized PC that you can push well past the limits of Halo and NBA Live. In... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0672326833
• ISBN13: 9780672326837
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Sams Publishing
• Length: 317 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The last Xbox book you will ever need!

This book describes how to do anything and everything you could ever want with an xbox. It starts of very simple by describing how to open up the xbox and take out the parts. But by the end of the book you will have covered such things as; -Installing Mod chips on all versions of xbox -Choosing the right dashboard -Learning the Xenium OS -FTP your computer and xbox -Flashing a bios and installing a dash board -Customizing your own dashboard -Replacing the case -Installing hard drives over 137GB's -Custom lighting -Xbox Media Center These are just a few of the many things that fascinated me about this book. A person who has never seen an xbox before could pick up this book and read it and have a completely pimped out xbox in a week. It is FULL of very detailed explanations and it has tons of very useful photographs. I would HIGHLY recommend this for ANY one who is going to open up their xbox.

very handy book

This book is very helpful if you are contemplating making any hardware changes to your Xbox. My primary reason for buying this book was to replace my Xbox DVD drive which started giving me read errors about a year after I bought it. While DVD drive replacement is not one of the topics fully covered by the author, there are sections in the book that will help you get most of the way there and you can find the rest on the web. The author does cover installing a mod chip and upgrading the hard drive, and he does this very well. The book is full of illustrations and step-by-step instructions. Above all, the book helps you get more out of your Xbox while keeping it legal, as piracy is not condoned by the author, nor does he show you how to do anything illegal. This was definitely a good purchase for me.

The Black Art of Xbox Mods

Easy to follow, easy to read, easy to understand especially for a beginner like me.

YOU MUST GET THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!

I recently purchased this wonderful book and let me say if you are into modding and have an Xbox then this is for you. It is aimed toward newbies and it is very detailed without becoming overwhelming. Detailed pictures are provided as is alot of walkthrus on everything from picking the right mod chips to opening your Xbox to finding the right software. Well Done!!!!!!!!

A note from the author

I am a lifelong gamer and programmer, having working with old-school systems like the Commodore PET, Apple II, and so on, so I naturally gravitated toward the Xbox when it was first released, seeing it as a solid, powerful, low-cost "Windows Game PC" with dedicated hardware. The first console I ever disassembled was the Atari 2600--back when I was only 10. I have experience programming games on several platforms, including Windows, Linux, Pocket PC, and Game Boy Advance, so my real forté is in software--and although this book is mainly about modifying the Xbox, I believe it is just as interesting to programmers as it is to gamers--and of course, all of the Xbox fans in the world! If you love your Xbox, and want to get the most out of it, then you need this book. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: The Xbox Demystified 1: Welcome to the Xbox Scene 2: Disassembling Your Xbox 3: Identifying Your Xbox Revision Part II: Mod Chips 4: Introduction to Xbox Modding 5: Installing a Solderless Mod Chip 6: Installing a Soldered Mod Chip Part III: Software Mods 7: The Xenium Operating System 8: EvolutionX Dashboard 9: Avalaunch Dashboard 10: Xbox Media Center Part IV: Hardware Mods 11: Replacing The Xbox Case 12: Upgrading The Xbox Hard Drive 13: Lighting Up The Case 14: Cooling Down Your Xbox INTRODUCTION The Xbox might be described as a powerful, proprietary PC that has been customized exclusively for running games. This book will help you to maximize the potential of your Xbox video game console by showing you how to modify your Xbox in various ways. You will learn how to disassemble your Xbox, right down to the motherboard, and you will learn about each component inside the Xbox case. Several chapters are devoted to the most important part of Xbox modding: choosing a mod chip and then learning how to install it in your Xbox. The mod chip allows you to run third-party software on your Xbox that is normally limited exclusively to licensed retail games. By being able to run customized software on your Xbox, you will be able to transform it into a powerful media center capable of playing music files (such as MP3) and video files (such as MPEG2, Divx, WMV, and Xvid). All of the Xbox mod chips currently available work on the same principles, so you will find the coverage of the material applicable to whatever mod chip you use (or plan to install while reading this book). Although this book addresses several of the major mod chips currently available, it focuses primarily on the Xenium mod chip. I chose this mod chip because it comes with an excellent operating system with features that will assist with upgrading the hard drive and installing your favorite Dashboards and software. All of the mod chips currently on the market are similar, so even if you are using another mod chip (such as SmartXX, Xecuter, X-Bit, X-Chip, or Chameleon), you will find the topics relevant and helpful because the focus is mainly on the Xbox itself, not on