Discuss: DIY Xbox 360 HDD upgrade (20GB-to-120GB)

[Acert93]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/150970/upgrade_your_xbox_360s_hard_drive_on_the_cheap.html

Someone recommended this link to me as an affordable way to upgrade the 360 HDD. has anyone attempted this? Thoughts and Concerns? Obviously this would void the 360 HDD warranty, could it cause other issues and/or be detectable?

 

[liolio]

interesting it doen't look that tough. I have a 60 GB HDD if I where do this I would want to upgrade to a 250-320GB HDD, I wonder if the system woulod accept it.

 

[NRP]

Might get perma banned from Live if MS has a way to detect whether you did this.

 

[Acert93]

Might get perma banned from Live if MS has a way to detect whether you did this.

I haven't had the time to dig into this much yet, but if you only do a 120GB upgrade is it even possible? Is there some sort of ID or whatnot? on the board?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I guess if the firmware is the same and the size is the same, it should be a transparent upgrade, assuming no chip on the board that communicates expected HDD size. It wouldn't be hard for MS to find unsupported HDD capacities and crum them though

 

[liolio]

I don't have a jasper thus voiding the guaranty might very well not be the wisest choice... And I didn't think about the LIve Ban even as silver member I enjoy what it offers
If anything Ms had to upgrade HDD size 250GB are cheap now 320GB ones are close and 120 GB is not enough for their new 'Game on demand' service.

 

[BoardBonobo]

I never got the whole non-upgradable HD thing with MS. They can't be that tight in wanting to squeeze every cent out of their user base can they?

I've just put a 500Gb in my PS3 in order to cope with the vastly increased amount of HD media it's handling. Being able to do that makes sense to me.

 

[BRiT]

I've been running this on a system since November timeframe. It's working great. Just make sure you have a Torx #6 screwdriver for the internal screws. It really is quite simple. I'm about to do another set for a friend.

As for warranty concerns, you never ever send in the hard-drive so it's of no concern.

However, that guide does not work out how to get xbox-1 backwards compatability going. It's simple to do, but requires a few more steps. (From this post)

1) Used Xport 360 to make an image backup of my original 20gig HDD.
2) Used HDDHackr to install 120gig SS to new WD Bevs drive
3) Used Xport 360 to do a FULL image restore of the 20gig bin image to the 120 gig drive. (Ignore every guide out there that tells you to not todo this) Yes, this will make the drive 20gigs, but only temporarily.
4) Use HDDHackr a second time, and once again apply the 120gig SS to the WD Bevs. This will corrupt the last partition with the 360 save data, but the other partitions including the backwards compatibility section will function 100%
5) Connect WD Bevs to Xbox 360, and use the System menu to format the HDD. This will ONLY format the last partition with the 360 content. It will not touch anything else.
6) Connect the WD Bevs to your Windows machine again. Manually extract all your 360 content from your 20gig bin image, then manually inject it back into your now freshly formatted partition of the new WD Bevs. Alternatively, if you have it, use the official M$ 360 Transfer Kit to transfer from the 20gig to the 120gig at this stage, since it only transfers that one partition also. This saves some time since it transfer the data in one shot.

Yes you have to jump through hoops, but it does solve the problem. Hope these instructions were clear.

Here's the tools you should use: HDD Hacker 1.00.

And you will need to locate the 120GB HDDSS.BIN (torrent/google search) file to flash sectors 16-19 onto the new drive.

 

[grandmaster]

From what I understand, if Microsoft wanted to detect these drives, they could, as they use a single ID that must have been cloned many times over now. At worst, you'd get banned from Xbox Live. However, bearing in mind that there must be tons of Chinese clone drives sold based on the principles of this work, and sold to unsuspecting customers no less, I doubt it's going to happen.

 

[Gerry]

interesting it doen't look that tough. I have a 60 GB HDD if I where do this I would want to upgrade to a 250-320GB HDD, I wonder if the system woulod accept it.

Nope. You're limited to 120GB, and indeed have to use the exact model described in the link.

I have to admit I'm disappointed with the way MS have handled the hard disk issue with the 360 so far. Whilst the upgradability of the PS3 would be nice, I wouldn't be too concerned with the proprietary route that MS take if only they kept on top of prices and capacities. It just seems odd that they haven't been more competitive with HD pricing and offering larger 320GB/500GB disks. It's in their interest for customers to have lots of hard drive space available so that they can download lots and lots of (paid-for) content.

 

[liolio]

Nope. You're limited to 120GB, and indeed have to use the exact model described in the link.

I have to admit I'm disappointed with the way MS have handled the hard disk issue with the 360 so far. Whilst the upgradability of the PS3 would be nice, I wouldn't be too concerned with the proprietary route that MS take if only they kept on top of prices and capacities. It just seems odd that they haven't been more competitive with HD pricing and offering larger 320GB/500GB disks. It's in their interest for customers to have lots of hard drive space available so that they can download lots and lots of (paid-for) content.

Indeed I agree ith you and Boardbonnobo. Ms accessories pricing politic have it bright sides as I guess it allow them to sell the system for cheap and make up for some possible loss but clearly HDD should be kept up to date. They have to move from 120GB HDD while maintaining the same price.

 

[manux]

Nope. You're limited to 120GB, and indeed have to use the exact model described in the link.

I have to admit I'm disappointed with the way MS have handled the hard disk issue with the 360 so far. Whilst the upgradability of the PS3 would be nice, I wouldn't be too concerned with the proprietary route that MS take if only they kept on top of prices and capacities. It just seems odd that they haven't been more competitive with HD pricing and offering larger 320GB/500GB disks. It's in their interest for customers to have lots of hard drive space available so that they can download lots and lots of (paid-for) content.

Cynic would say that is to reap maximum benefit. Those who need the bigger capacity will fork the money now to buy 120GB model and will be paying premium again once there is a 250GB solution out and again for that 500GB solution. Good business as long as users keep approving(buying).

 

[Grall]

I never got the whole non-upgradable HD thing with MS. They can't be that tight in wanting to squeeze every cent out of their user base can they?

Of course they can. And they are.

Why else would they price the stand-alone 360 hand-held mic at US$50? It's a $2 value in components, if that much, and the rest is Microsoft tax. One more reason I'm just not going to ride the 360 bandwagon anymore.

 

[orangpelupa]

so is there anyone got banned for doing this?

im kind of confused to do this mod or not. the risk seems high. microsoft can easily Ban anyone doing this. but it seems they choose not to ban. (for now)

and hddhackr already out for a few years, and i can't find anyone reporting getting banned for this.

my 20gigs HDD almost full, BUT when full, i usually just copy the downloaded videos to PC HDD.
and copy the games/demos to PC then burn to DVD to play it on xbox 360.
so my 20GB HDD feel like have unlimited free-space

so, do you think i should do hddhackr mod? or i should just stick to 20GB.

thanks.

 

[Rangers]

Indeed I agree ith you and Boardbonnobo. Ms accessories pricing politic have it bright sides as I guess it allow them to sell the system for cheap and make up for some possible loss but clearly HDD should be kept up to date. They have to move from 120GB HDD while maintaining the same price.

Well, other than the fact Sony allows you to upgrade to non-proprietary of course, the MS/Sony HDD sizes have been similar. The current standard SKU's are 60 and 80GB, respectively. Or you could even look at it for 399, MS has a 120GB sku while Sony offers 80 at that price point.

I'm just noting that OTHER than the caveat, MS hard drive sizes have been in keeping with console standards. Nobody is offering a 320GB or 500 GB HDD.

Anyways, theres a new Ars Technica rumor mole saying the 360 Pro is being eliminated and the Elite will become the new pro. So this fall the standard 360 HDD (and PS slim) sizes will be 120GB, further alleviating any size concerns.

Although the vast, vast, majority of people will never use even 1/4 of that imo, so larger HDD's just mean ever more cavernous waste to most people really, that's another topic.

Of course I agree MS HDD prices could use major realigning. I would assume if the Elite drops to 299 as per the mole, then the 120GB HDD will have to be cut to around 99. It would also be nice for them to offer a 320GB+ addon, though at the prices they charge and with 120 the coming standard I suppose it would have marginal sales potential.

 

[liolio]

I hate this rumor 120GB is not enough for "game on demand" plus old games instals+ Demo. 160GB is 5 more games it's not negligeable. I woould not upgrade from 60 to 120, I know how a HDD cost and I would feel like I got owned...
Anyway my choice would be to wait till a slim version is available discontinue all three SKU, introduce a new one >200euros/$with 16GB of flash rom, and sell diffrent size of HDD. But in the mean time they have to somehow match sony offering.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Anyways, theres a new Ars Technica rumor mole saying the 360 Pro is being eliminated and the Elite will become the new pro. So this fall the standard 360 HDD (and PS slim) sizes will be 120GB, further alleviating any size concerns.

Only for buyers of new consoles This thread exists for those who already have XB360 and want a larger HDD without paying the huge premium. No new SKU is going to solve that.