Modding an LG GDR 8163B drive for the Xbox (part 1)

@xbox

Published in 

xbox

 · 1 year ago

Introduction

Here is a small (or large) tutorial in which I show you how to mod the PC drive LG GDR 8163B so that you can install it in an Xbox.

After the conversion, DVD-R(W), DVD+R(W), CD-R(W) and even original Xbox games should be read like by no other.

I am not liable for any damage to the drive and the Xbox.

If you don't have the confidence to do the conversion, just ask someone who has some soldering experience, it's not that hard ;-)

Required tools/material

• LG GDR 8163B drive
• soldering iron
• Solder
• Saw or nippers
• stranded wire (I recommend strands of IDE cable)
• 4x 1 KOhm resistor (1/4w), or even better SMD, type 1206 Phillips screwdriver

Table of contents

1. Open the drive and expose the required circuit board.
2. Modding the drive.
3. Fitting the housing for the drive.

The prerequisite is that the drive has already been flashed with the correct firmware ("8050L_FW_Flasher_FIXED.RAR").

1. Open the drive and expose the required circuit board

First of all, the jumper is removed from the drive, because you could forget it later and then error 13 would appear when you start the Xbox.

You can find this jumper on the side where the connector for the IDE cable is. It is simply pulled out and put aside.

Now remove the DVD bezel and the frame. To do this, bend a thin wire and insert it into the emergency eject button.
As soon as the drive sticks out a bit, you can pull it out by hand. The bezel is now pushed up a bit, which will unhook it.

To remove the frame, 3 brackets must be pressed inwards, then you can also press off the frame. The drive is now placed upside down so that the marked screws can be removed.

Once these are out, the cover can be easily removed. The ribbon cables have to be disconnected at the places marked in red, and the pin marked in blue has to be pressed to the right to remove the board.

2. Modding the drive

Now remove the board and place it in front of you so that you can see these points:

Here are the close-ups: +5 volts, GND, GND, + 12 volts

Ground for VRCD

Eject

VRCD

Now it's time for soldering. First connect "VRCD" to "Ground for VRCD". Solder a resistor to the point "Ground for VRCD" and from there a cable to "VRCD". This should look like this:

Now solder one wire each to "+ 5 Volt", "Ground", "Ground", "+ 12 Volt" and to "Eject".

This should be clear, so there is no photo available for this. Now the board is turned over, there must be soldered another 3 contacts.

Now solder a resistor here like on "Ground for VRCD", then solder a cable to it.

This is how it should look then: Tray-In

Tray-Out

Ready