Ok, I'll attempt to make some sort of a guide to save future users some money.
First Off here's most likely the process your going to try when flashing your drive. Buy stuff, open 360, flash drive with ixtreme 1.2c fast with the iprep software, test burn a game with dvd+r dl, reassemble.
Complete 360 Mod Cost:
1. $10 xcm opening kit
2. $25 rosewill rc212 sata card
3. *optional* $20 power supply/ hitatchi drive adapter
4. $5 bootable usb
5. $20 Dvd+r DL 10pc $40 for 25pc
6. $35 Dvd burner with bitsetting for +R DL
7. $45-$50 kreon firmware pc drive
8. $2 croc clips
1. Opening kit, I'd would strongly recommend the xcm opening tool, but it's optional some people on youtube get by with a small screwdriver for the latches, and a cut cd case for the back prongs. Do what you wish but the tool helps a lot and speeds up the process.
2. Almost required, I'd say 80% of people out there use the via 6421 chipset, and this card supports it. I bought a syba card originally and it broke half way through. Other chipsets such as nforce work, but not for the ms28, and don't really have a lot of support.
3. $20 xeno power adapter/ hitatchi drive works great, but it is not really required, a lot of people just use the power from the xbox, but there is a potential chance of MS finding out you modded your xbox this way, since the xbox gets a report saying no drive is connected when it is plugged in to your computer, very slim chance though (are there any known bans?)
4. If you have a usb stick laying around it will probably work , you only need like a 32mb stick, a floppy disk could work, but it can brick your drive from a bad read, and this will just create years of trouble. I'd do the usb way just make sure your mobo supports booting from usb first. Google your board and usb boot and see what happens, if you don't know if it does.
5. It's recommended to buy verbatim, make sure they are +R DL, not dash. I'd recommend to buy a sample first to see if it works, but do what you want. I read somewhere once both work but that was completely false. Only +r DL will work with the 360 since you must have bitsetting to burn the disk properly.
6. Most pioneer drives have firmware upgrades to add bitsetting support, if your in the market I'd buy a pioneer 111 or 112 but even my old 108 could be crossflashed to support bitsetting.
7. Only needed if you want to backup 360 Games, if all you plan on doing is downloading and burning them you don't need this drive.
8. I personally don't recommend these but everybody else in the world does for the rare chance of ESD when you are flashing your drive. You can buy them practically anywhere it's simply just a metal wire you can connect to your chasis of your computer with the other to your drive. Some people have lost there drives this way so it's not a bad idea, just more of a nuissance.
So if you just skipped down this far. To save money all you need to mod your 360 is:
1. $10 Opening tool (xcm or screwdriver and cd case)
2. $25 Sata Card Via 6421 chipset
3. $5 usb drive (32 mb is fine, you should have one already)
4. Computer (must be able to boot usb)
Now to burn games you need.
1. $35 Compatible Bitsetting Dvd Burner
2. $1-$2 a piece, Dvd +r DL's of good quality
To backup games you need.
1. A $45 kreon drive
2. 10gb or so of hdd space
As a final note before I did this I wish I would have looked a little more into hardmods before I dedicated myself to a softmod. Maybe you should do some research too, if you have any questions feel free to ask, I'll be glad to do what I can.
Sites to Buy Stuff From
Newegg.com- sata card
Meritline.com- good place to find cheap or quality dvd media
ebay.com
First Off here's most likely the process your going to try when flashing your drive. Buy stuff, open 360, flash drive with ixtreme 1.2c fast with the iprep software, test burn a game with dvd+r dl, reassemble.
Complete 360 Mod Cost:
1. $10 xcm opening kit
2. $25 rosewill rc212 sata card
3. *optional* $20 power supply/ hitatchi drive adapter
4. $5 bootable usb
5. $20 Dvd+r DL 10pc $40 for 25pc
6. $35 Dvd burner with bitsetting for +R DL
7. $45-$50 kreon firmware pc drive
8. $2 croc clips
1. Opening kit, I'd would strongly recommend the xcm opening tool, but it's optional some people on youtube get by with a small screwdriver for the latches, and a cut cd case for the back prongs. Do what you wish but the tool helps a lot and speeds up the process.
2. Almost required, I'd say 80% of people out there use the via 6421 chipset, and this card supports it. I bought a syba card originally and it broke half way through. Other chipsets such as nforce work, but not for the ms28, and don't really have a lot of support.
3. $20 xeno power adapter/ hitatchi drive works great, but it is not really required, a lot of people just use the power from the xbox, but there is a potential chance of MS finding out you modded your xbox this way, since the xbox gets a report saying no drive is connected when it is plugged in to your computer, very slim chance though (are there any known bans?)
4. If you have a usb stick laying around it will probably work , you only need like a 32mb stick, a floppy disk could work, but it can brick your drive from a bad read, and this will just create years of trouble. I'd do the usb way just make sure your mobo supports booting from usb first. Google your board and usb boot and see what happens, if you don't know if it does.
5. It's recommended to buy verbatim, make sure they are +R DL, not dash. I'd recommend to buy a sample first to see if it works, but do what you want. I read somewhere once both work but that was completely false. Only +r DL will work with the 360 since you must have bitsetting to burn the disk properly.
6. Most pioneer drives have firmware upgrades to add bitsetting support, if your in the market I'd buy a pioneer 111 or 112 but even my old 108 could be crossflashed to support bitsetting.
7. Only needed if you want to backup 360 Games, if all you plan on doing is downloading and burning them you don't need this drive.
8. I personally don't recommend these but everybody else in the world does for the rare chance of ESD when you are flashing your drive. You can buy them practically anywhere it's simply just a metal wire you can connect to your chasis of your computer with the other to your drive. Some people have lost there drives this way so it's not a bad idea, just more of a nuissance.
So if you just skipped down this far. To save money all you need to mod your 360 is:
1. $10 Opening tool (xcm or screwdriver and cd case)
2. $25 Sata Card Via 6421 chipset
3. $5 usb drive (32 mb is fine, you should have one already)
4. Computer (must be able to boot usb)
Now to burn games you need.
1. $35 Compatible Bitsetting Dvd Burner
2. $1-$2 a piece, Dvd +r DL's of good quality
To backup games you need.
1. A $45 kreon drive
2. 10gb or so of hdd space
As a final note before I did this I wish I would have looked a little more into hardmods before I dedicated myself to a softmod. Maybe you should do some research too, if you have any questions feel free to ask, I'll be glad to do what I can.
Sites to Buy Stuff From
Newegg.com- sata card
Meritline.com- good place to find cheap or quality dvd media
ebay.com