Upgrading an Xbox's HDD

[LentFilms]

I know I posted a similar topic about this before about installing a SATA laptop HDD into an Xbox. However I more or less gave up on trying to do that and I’m now shifting my focus more towards finding the best 3.5 HDD to use and the best way to install it.

After searching around for a suitable replacement HDD I realized that IDE drives are significantly more expansive then SATA. I’m guessing this is because their becoming extinct? For example compare the price from this Western Digital SATA 1TB Drive with this Western Digital IDE 500GB Drive; night and day.
Of course you would also need to use a SATA2IDE bridge to use the SATA. From what I’ve heard this is the best bridge to use: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/sata-to-id ... card-12537

The only drawback to using a SATA drive is that the boot-up is slower because of the bridge. Though if that’s the only problem then I guess the extra space and a cheaper price tag make up for its short comings.

The question I have is how would you go about locking this drive to use in a softmodded Xbox? I would like to use something like Chimp to lock the drive but from what I understand you need to be able to set your hard drive to slave using the jumpers, but SATA drives can’t do that…or can they?

[gtmtnbiker]

The only drawback to using a SATA drive is that the boot-up is slower because of the bridge. Though if that’s the only problem then I guess the extra space and a cheaper price tag make up for its short comings.

Do you know how much slower it is?

[LentFilms]

Yeah, this guy shows his Xbox booting up after he installed his new SATA HDD.

It seems bearable.

[D.D.D.]

Good idea. I've heard of several people doing that ide>sata.
But damn, stay away from DX. You gotta be able to get that adapter from somewhere else.

[LentFilms]

But damn, stay away from DX. You gotta be able to get that adapter from somewhere else.

Why? Does dealextreme have crappy service? (I've never shopped there)

[D.D.D.]

But damn, stay away from DX. You gotta be able to get that adapter from somewhere else.

Why? Does dealextreme have crappy service? (I've never shopped there)

I didn't have a good shopping experience with them and I know several people have too.
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... al+extreme

[barronwaffles]

All the sata-pata adapters I've encountered have either had jumpers or solder pads for selecting slave/master/CS, but not all provided documentation on what pad/jumper did what...

I do recommend using CHIMP however, fantastic tool for installing a larger HDD on consoles that are already softmodded.

[LentFilms]

Alright, so I ended up not going the SATA root becuase I heard it's very hit or miss on what drives will even work, let alone ones that will work with no problems.

I bought a new IDE drive on ebay and it just arrived in the mail (Seagate Barracuda 120GB ST3120026A) and when I attempted to load Chimp to clone/lock the drive the screen just flickers for a second and then the signal gets lost on my TV! I'm launching it by going to the apps section using XBMC4Xbox and launching "LPartx" which is oddly not labeled chimp (Sorry if I'm missing something, I'm very new to Xbox softmodding).

I'm using a v1.6 Xbox (which the latest chimp shouldn't have issues with) with component cables on my SDTV (480i).

Please can someone lend me a hand with this, I'm at my wits end!

[barronwaffles]

Sounds like you might be using an old version - try out your composite cable, if you have one. I remember reading that the older versions had issues running via component.

I'm having trouble getting on the xbox scene forums right now, but take a look on there to find the latest version + the guide I used for chimp. I'll post the link myself if I manage to get on there soon.

[LentFilms]

Well I got it working!

It turns out Chimp just doesn't like it when you use a 480i setup with component cables I tried plugging it up to my HD TV and it worked like a charm and my HDD is now formatted and locked!

Thank for the support everyone!