** Connect 3.5" HDD directly to DVD SATA cable on 360 mobo? **

[makks]

greetz to all helpful experts on here,


I'd like to use a 3.5" SATA hard drive as primary storage with a JTAG 360. I understand but don't wish to use the external USB (16mb speed cap) or soldering options (which I'm poor at).

What options do I have? Is it possible to connect 3.5" HDD directly to DVD drive SATA cable on 360 mobo?

Of course then there will be no DVD drive connected (but I've read that Xell boots fine, without DVD, drive as long as the black DVD power cable is connected to the mobo).

Can that work? Or will I have to get an official 360 hard drive case, open it and use the SATA-data connector inside?

Thx in advance

 

[manwithoutname]

In theory it is doable, however I'm unware of any successfull attempts for doing this so far. You have 2 issues to sort out before this works out for you:

1. The kernel expects to see the DVD drive there and the tray in, if not you'll end up with xell booting every time. Saying that, if you managed to get into the dash it self you will still have the centre light blinking on as the console still can't detect the DVD drive.

2. I'm not sure if the console will read a HDD from the DVD SATA straight forward without some kind of an app/driver but I might be wrong on this.

Practically, it's better to get the HDD case and just use any capacity size 2.5" HDD. 500/750gb on 2.5" is more than enough to start with. I still don't know what to fill my remaining 577gb with !!! Probably because all I place on my HDD is XBLA games.

 

[makks]

thx for the speedy reply, manwithoutname (what am I supposed to call you then?

1. The kernel expects to see the DVD drive there and the tray in, if not you'll end up with xell booting every time. Saying that, if you managed to get into the dash it self you will still have the centre light blinking on as the console still can't detect the DVD drive.

I'm aware of the ROL blinking when DVD drive is not connected. So does that stop the 360 from rebooting into Freeboot / custom kernel?

2. I'm not sure if the console will read a HDD from the DVD SATA straight forward without some kind of an app/driver but I might be wrong on this.

I'll wait for a definite answer on this then ;p

Practically, it's better to get the HDD case and just use any capacity size 2.5" HDD. 500/750gb on 2.5" is more than enough to start with. I still don't know what to fill my remaining 577gb with !!! Probably because all I place on my HDD is XBLA games.

Good advice. However, my plan B is to only use the SATA connector (from the 360 hard drive case cable), while powering the 3.5" HDD (7200rpm & higher areal density ftw) with external adaptor. This will work fine right?

 

[manwithoutname]

Yes, if no drive is connected or the tray is open then the console won't reboot into Freeboot but instead will load up xell.

Yes a 3.5" connected to an external power source and using the internal HDD connector would work. But are you aware that the USB external HDD has been tested with drives of up to the capacity of 2TB? So you are no longer restricted to 16gb only, as long the device is formatted as FAT32 you can go as big as you want via USB external storage.

 

[makks]

Yes, if no drive is connected or the tray is open then the console won't reboot into Freeboot but instead will load up xell.

So having a connected DVD drive is a requirement of a rebooter then?

Yes a 3.5" connected to an external power source and using the internal HDD connector would work. But are you aware that the USB external HDD has been tested with drives of up to the capacity of 2TB? So you are no longer restricted to 16gb only, as long the device is formatted as FAT32 you can go as big as you want via USB external storage.

Correct me if I'm mistaken - but I wanted to avoid USB since the maximum read speed for 360 USB is just under 16mb/sec, according to this article:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/xbox-360-storage-update-the-flash-factor-article?page=2

Apparently 360 DVD drive also max out at 15.85mb/sec (12x), so SATA(100mb+/sec) seems the only way to go.

 

[manwithoutname]

In my personal opinion it's pointless going for speeds beyond 15-20mb/s. After all this will be a personal preference and also there will be other factors. Mainly where you will be transfering the data to the HDD from in the first place.

As I transfer most of my files from my PC via FTP, the fastest I achieved was 12mb/s (apporx 98mbit/s) so to me this was good enough considering it was being transferred over a router that handles 2 xbox's, 2 PC's and 1 wireless netbook.

 

[jfelding]

Yes, if no drive is connected or the tray is open then the console won't reboot into Freeboot but instead will load up xell.

Unless i misunderstood, what you are saying isn't correct. Freeboot will boot just fine with no dvd drive connected?

 

[BGAMods]

ive got no dvd drive connected and boot to freeboot no problem.

 

[manwithoutname]

Probably, like I said I might be wrong. I'll test with the next console I JTAG, can't go through trouble of opening my only working JTAG at the moment to test this.

But, there's the other question. Will Freeboot see an attached HDD to the DVD SATA connection and will one be able to read/write from and to it?

 

[M AzeeM K]

Probably, like I said I might be wrong. I'll test with the next console I JTAG, can't go through trouble of opening my only working JTAG at the moment to test this.

But, there's the other question. Will Freeboot see an attached HDD to the DVD SATA connection and will one be able to read/write from and to it?

Ahh...No, freeBOOT won't recognize an HDD connected to the DVD SATA connection.

Anyone care to prove me wrong?

 

[smokeman]

I can vouch for this, just tried...going to do the sata solder mod to install a 3.5" internal

 

[coolshrimp]

Try using Jtag Tool to create freeboot with NO DVD Drive Option..
then for power sipmly get a Sata Power and solder to points or splic into DVD Power Cable
or
even to make internal Splice sata cable and solder it to MOBO HDD Connector Pins.
i have pinouts if you need.

 

[syst3merror]

I know this topic is old, but instead of making a new thread for the same thing, I figured I would just ask in this one and bump it up. (I apologize in advance if this aggravates anyone)

Has internalizing a 3.5" hdd ever went anywhere? Or is it still the same old soldering of a sata cable inside and then soldering a molex to the 3 points on the board?

Does the current dvd drive receive ground, 5v, and 12v power? If so, I will just splice the existing dvd drive power cable for my power to the HDD. I know all the solder points for the sata cable but would like to use the existing dvd drive power cable if possible.

Thanks guys!