Xbox Corroded Traces & DVD Pot Tweak (Part 2) - Retro Console Restoration

[@ripleysmith7583]

Congratulations on your first Xbox, as for the clip you handled that perfectly like my old boss used to say sometimes training cost money, keep up the good work and I’m gonna keep watching, thanks

[@BorderlineOCD]

Thanks man, I'm really excited to have it. I can't wait to experience some old games on it. So many great games I missed out on.

[@Norrecito]

Great job, keep it up! :) My Xbox 1.0 is quite a bit noisier than my other ones. I always thought that this is because of the GPU fan which has been removed in the later revisions...but after watching your video I have realized that I have forgot to replace the thermal paste. Some games (like Kingdom Under Fire) tend to fall apart after playing them for more than 30 minutes on the Thompson drives I got but I might be just unlucky :) Still, the 1.0 is considered to be the most mod-friendly revision and the original Xbox is such a great system.

[@BorderlineOCD]

Thank you! I was a little surprised at how hard and dry the GPU paste was. Worse than any compound I've reapplied over the years (including laptops, desktops etc.) Definitely a likely culprit of overheating. I'll be able to monitor temps once I mod the system to get a good idea how its performing with the new compounds.

[@juancarlosvillalobos5693]

Your content is really amazing, i can't wait for more videos.

[@BorderlineOCD]

Thank you!

[@realgroovy24]

I've done the same to an Xbox of mine, lowering the resistance of the potentiometer, it did work for me. I did it only as a temporary fix to modchip/HDD upgrade and use the Hexen 2018 disc so I can FTP games. Edit: the pot on the left as seen from around 0:51 is the only one that should be tweaked which is the laser intensity. IIRC the other is for focusing.

[@barthanes1]

You went way farther with that busted DVD ROM than I would have bothered. When I saw the components fall out I thought yeah it's done.

[@SpartanX360]

Once you applied new fresh thermal paste (factory paste gets hard after decades) and it runs/loads much faster!

[@LemmeSquish]

Samsung drives are basically impossible to fix without having a spare compatible laser. When a Samsung drive doesn't work, it won't work unless replacing the laser. I've done pot tweaks to so many Samsung lasers and it does nothing. If you want (and if you have the money) I would stock up on some Samsung lasers. There are 3 types. SOH-D12's, SOH-D16's, and SOH-DX1's. Male sure that those lasers are the same as the one you are replacing! Hope this helps.

[@BorderlineOCD]

Thanks for the tip. Always great to get advice from folks with deeper knowledge of the various revisions the system had. Damn, those Samsung pickups are expensive. I've completed a couple of Xbox builds since this video so I'm happy to have several working units (both stock and modded). I think a large hard drive would be great in the "parts" unit. Once its all set up there's less use for the optical drive and I can always borrow one from another system if I need to.

[@stevenbenson9976]

⁠a bit dated here but thought I should mention this of you still have the DVD drive around but I'm wondering if new caps would sort this. I believe one of them may have also been facing the wrong direction. The last one put on in the first video may not be facing the right way.

[@philipdahl8767]

your videos are so great, even compared to other people with similar content. I think it's because you use the meters more and also take suggestions from the comments so the next video is an improvement of what you were doing before but the content and delivery are usually top notch no matter the outcomes of the parts. I hope you make more videos, I have an iMac and a Cinema Display that I've been meaning to open up and fix but just never did. But this is making me consider opening them up and tinkering about in them.

[@u38xtvjs13]

Great video! Looking forward to see the other consoles of your list

[@BorderlineOCD]

Thank you! Always the hardest part to pick my next project, but basically two large bins full of consoles and handhelds. My first upload to KZbin was an unboxing of my first bulk purchase if you want an idea which systems are in the backlog but I've made a few purchases since as well.

[@ИванГешторовичъ]

Waited so much! I like your content :)

[@BorderlineOCD]

Happy to hear that!

[@dazamad]

What applications/jobs use conductive thermal paste. I think i learnt something new today. Thanks

[@RDJ134]

Plot twist ;) Great video.

[@BorderlineOCD]

Haha thanks, yep somehow it all worked out in the end.

[@migue647]

Genial, ojalá pronto subas más videos

[@BorderlineOCD]

Absolutely, more videos on the way!

[@tHeSeCretx21]

i find it a tad easier getting the clamps off the heat sinks if you push one side allowing a little bit more space to pry the other side over the hump

[@BorderlineOCD]

Hmm, do you mean push it horizontally (e.g. left to right) so that one of the clips isn't as deeply latched? Hope that makes sense. I've since refurbished another Xbox and prying it off with my fingers seems to do the trick and give me good feel for the pressure I'm applying. But if theres a better method I'd love to know!

[@chepe263]

That was a nice resolution to the xbox repair journey. I wonder if heating the click that broke would had helped to losen it. How did you learn about electronics?

[@BorderlineOCD]

Yep I'm glad it worked out in the end. I don't know if heat would have helped with the removal of the tab because of the shape it needs to keep to deliver downward pressure to the heatsink. I did see videos however of folks running their Xboxes for a while before removing the heatsink specifically, which loosened the old thermal paste and helped the heatsink separate from the chip. I didn't do that in this video but I thought it was a good idea and would consider taking that extra step in future.

[@BorderlineOCD]

To your second question, I started doing it as a hobby out of interest and curiosity. Bought the cheapest soldering iron and multimeter I could find and started repairing easy things (like a broken power cord on a kitchen appliance). Gradually got better, continued to really enjoy doing it. Lots of great educational content on Google/KZbin. I've broken a few things along the way. It's frustrating but part of the process. I feel better prepared for the next repair after each project. It's a great hobby I'm loving it.

[@JonnyBoyUltra161]

The Thomson drives definitely have a bad reputation for being the WORST drives for the original Xbox, but I've actually had decent luck with them(so far).

[@casualghoul]

I really enjoy your content! Glad you got a nice working Xbox! I have an original Xbox that turns on but won’t output video. I don’t where to start with using a multi-meter and testing components. Any advice on how to get started? I’m new to tinkering/repair

[@BorderlineOCD]

Glad you’re enjoying the content. Has this unit worked in your possession or did you acquire it like this? Does your Xbox output sound or no audio/video? I’m going to state the obvious but consider checking the video cable. You’d think that’s not a likely culprit but I’ve experienced an issue with a PS3 sputtering video and hours of messing with it only to realize it's HDMI cable had gone faulty.

[@CraigyGInDaHut1993]

Is there any easy way of knowing what version of Xbox you have as might need to do the clock capacitor myself. Enjoying you're videos. I bought thermal paste and grease for the drives after watching you're videos and fixed my ps3 slim which stopped reading discs after I started watching you're videos. So took it apart and cleaned it, new thermal paste, cleaned the disc drive and greased it. Only ever went into the drives on consoles before. Never wanted to do thermal paste till I watched you're videos.

[@BorderlineOCD]

Glad you are finding the content useful. There are guides you'll find on google on determining the version using the serial number etc. but its not perfect. The only sure way is to open it up and look at the board.

[@CecilTheDarkKnight234]

Whew these consoles have alot of issues, I'm just lucky "very luck" to have picked up a used rev 1.6 unit for 15$ CIB 6-7 yrs ago. The DVD Drive does need some work now, it's giving me the disc read error for alot games that used to work. Still thanks to another video the issue is most likely has to do with the gears and lens being dirty, again thank you for that how to as well.

[@BorderlineOCD]

Glad you found it helpful.

[@onasazi]

You can use any dvd drive (from xbox) in any xbox! The drive is not married to board!

[@P33b4Ugo5omwh3r3]

Next time try to put the caked heat sink into a boiling water and keep in for few minutes. Should come off easier. When I see you doing it in the video I really thought you will injure your self, glad it didnt happen :D

[@BorderlineOCD]

Logical and makes sense! Wish I’d thought to do that. Rubbing alcohol was slow and even a plastic pry tool caused some minor scuffing on the soft aluminum.

[@cooldiysandrecycling7144]

awesome video

[@BorderlineOCD]

Thanks man, appreciate it.

[@berm11]

Love the videos! Do you have a CRT tv? Try fine one for retro games are Amazing the change.

[@berm11]

*find

[@BorderlineOCD]

I’d like to find a small Trinitron but the couple I’ve seen over the years have been quite expensive. Would love to have one yes :)

[@mscrnicco_2277]

Nice vid! I've waited it!

[@BorderlineOCD]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

[@MathiasVen]

On the first DvD Drive. Why you dont check on another working one the values for the capacitors

[@BorderlineOCD]

I have 4 Xboxes and only this first console had a Samsung drive. The others were either Thompson or Philips. If I come across another Samsung drive I can try swapping parts to see if its the laser or the board thats the issue.

[@sparky172839]

Awesome videos just recently found your channel and been watching a few so far. I have an xbox crystal which shows no picture or sound and get a flashing green red light, tried opening it to fix so reapplied thermal paste cleaned it up but no idea what the issue is as my soldering skill are nada at the moment. You want it for a project haha

[@BorderlineOCD]

Glad you're enjoying the content! Thank you for the offer. If you'd like to get in touch about it feel free to reach out via email (you'll find it on the About page of my KZbin channel). Cheers.

[@74bobby]

Was wondering why you didn't recap the whole Board. Is the clock cap the only one that goes bad on these earlier Xboxs? Love the Vids.

[@BorderlineOCD]

Thank you! Yep as far as I've gathered the main premature component failure on these motherboards is the clock capacitor. Perhaps all electrolytic caps will give out eventually but the quality of the clock caps on boards v1.0-1.5 is documented to have been inferior and was only replaced by Microsoft in time for the v1.6 revision.

[@LarryKnox]

Good work. Was it just me or is the audio really low on this one? AD CAME UP & BLEW MY EARS OUT. ;)

[@BorderlineOCD]

It was probably low audio. My editing has improved a bit over the months so things should be more level now.

[@jamesdavies686]

Should have used the passive heatsink from the bodge wire board on the 1.0 board. That fan on the GPU is awful

[@trunksviper6583]

my band new Xbox came with the plastic retainer broken and it lasted for years and I only knew that is was broken because my dvd drive stop working

[@BorderlineOCD]

Sounds like you got lucky with that one. The heat sink must have still managed to make good contact with the CPU.

[@TechniqueSan]

Did the DVD drive work after the pot tweak?

[@BorderlineOCD]

It did not. I ended up using another system for this restoration. I still have the drive though, and plan to revisit it at some point, possibly using an oscilloscope to monitor the RF output rather than measuring the resistance across the potentiometer. Although I think this laser might just be dead.

[@nicolasflorezmedina4871]

Hello