Xbox One Teardown


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It's more of a pain to get to but if you really want to replace the hard drive it looks like you can.   Now the question is weather or not the system is hard coded to specific drive sizes like the 360 used or not?   We do have the firmware/OS files from the other thread so I'm thinking it should be possible to put in a bigger 2.5" HDD or a SSD if you want unless, again, it's size locked.

It's more of a pain to get to but if you really want to replace the hard drive it looks like you can.   Now the question is weather or not the system is hard coded to specific drive sizes like the 360 used or not?   We do have the firmware/OS files from the other thread so I'm thinking it should be possible to put in a bigger 2.5" HDD or a SSD if you want unless, again, it's size locked.

 

Not worth it if there is a warranty sticker, at least not within your first year.

so?

Err, it's what caused the RROD issues on the 360.  Heat Cycling + X-Clamps = warping = RROD.

The homebrew remedy was to rip off the x-clamp, heat up the solder joints, and put in $0.25 in screws and nuts with even torque.

 

It will probably be fine since they have a big fan to dissipate the heat, but in the occasion it gets hot as hell, they are asking for trouble with that stupid x-clamp.

Not worth it if there is a warranty sticker, at least not within your first year.

 

If you're the type to go through all that trouble to change it you probably don't care enough about the warranty.  

So the hard drive is replaceable? If so that is good news. I am happy to void my warranty haha.

 

Replacable yes, but probably not compatible. MS locked HDDs in the 360 with firmware and it'll likely be the same for X1. In 360's case, even when you put a larger HDD in it would only register the maximum size according to MS's specs. The rest was unused.

 

You'd be better off waiting for ext HDD support next year.

Err, it's what caused the RROD issues on the 360.  Heat Cycling + X-Clamps = warping = RROD.

The homebrew remedy was to rip off the x-clamp, heat up the solder joints, and put in $0.25 in screws and nuts with even torque.

 

It will probably be fine since they have a big fan to dissipate the heat, but in the occasion it gets hot as hell, they are asking for trouble with that stupid x-clamp.

xclamps didn't have to do with anything. still used to this day in the slim,and now xbox one. too much heat will warp any mobo. homebrew fixes are dumb because the board needs a little play in it to prevent it from cracking when heating and cooling.

xclamps didn't have to do with anything. still used to this day in the slim,and now xbox one. too much heat will warp any mobo. homebrew fixes are dumb because the board needs a little play in it to prevent it from cracking when heating and cooling.

Sure they fixed the issue in the 360 by redesigning the board to produce less heat.  The x-clamps were still the root cause of the issue.

 

What you said about the homebrew fixes makes no sense.  The board gets it's play from expansion of the components due to heat.  Everything expands and shrinks due to heat, so having an x-clamp doesn't magically make it more efficient.  It's a bad idea because if one corner is hotter than the other and expands, it will induce an unnecessary torque on the other 3 corners.  That torque is what caused the solder joints to crack leading to the RROD.  Using screws is no different than the method used to hold down a PC CPU fan.  Each corner is held in by its own individual post.  I don't see why Microsoft has to reinvent a method that's been working fine for decades.

Sure they fixed the issue in the 360 by redesigning the board to produce less heat.  The x-clamps were still the root cause of the issue.

 

What you said about the homebrew fixes makes no sense.  The board gets it's play from expansion of the components due to heat.  Everything expands and shrinks due to heat, so having an x-clamp doesn't magically make it more efficient.  It's a bad idea because if one corner is hotter than the other and expands, it will induce an unnecessary torque on the other 3 corners.  That torque is what caused the solder joints to crack leading to the RROD.  Using screws is no different than the method used to hold down a PC CPU fan.  Each corner is held in by its own individual post.  I don't see why Microsoft has to reinvent a method that's been working fine for decades.

 

Agreed. I have repaired more 360's than I care to count and 9 times out of 10 removing the x-clamps alone was enough to fix them.

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Its nice to see MS is using Samsung Spinpoints for hard drives. I've had great luck with that series. They perform well and are also very quiet.

It'll be interesting to find out if the hard drive is locked down in some way. I know everyone assumes it will be like it was for the 360, but I'm not so sure.

This is a totally different system, running with a standard Windows core and NTFS formatting. It would not shock me if there are no firmware or other restrictions this time. Also remember that MS was actually selling hard drive replacements for the 360, so that block would also serve as a deterrent to those wanting to get around that purchase. The X1 has no such thing. MS is not selling expanded storage, so there is even less motivation for them to make the effort to create any blocks on replacing the hard drive.

Its nice to see MS is using Samsung Spinpoints for hard drives. I've had great luck with that series. They perform well and are also very quiet.

It'll be interesting to find out if the hard drive is locked down in some way. I know everyone assumes it will be like it was for the 360, but I'm not so sure.

This is a totally different system, running with a standard Windows core and NTFS formatting. It would not shock me if there are no firmware or other restrictions this time. Also remember that MS was actually selling hard drive replacements for the 360, so that block would also serve as a deterrent to those wanting to get around that purchase. The X1 has no such thing. MS is not selling expanded storage, so there is even less motivation for them to make the effort to create any blocks on replacing the hard drive.

That is a valid point, but maybe that wasn't the only reason they locked them down?

Here's hoping.

Replacable yes, but probably not compatible. MS locked HDDs in the 360 with firmware and it'll likely be the same for X1. In 360's case, even when you put a larger HDD in it would only register the maximum size according to MS's specs. The rest was unused.

 

You'd be better off waiting for ext HDD support next year.

 

We can't say for sure yet though, there are a few differences between this and the 360 HDD setup.  MS isn't selling XB1 HDDs like they did with the 360, so no incentive to lock it to a specific size like back then.   Also we now have the firmware/OS images that we can use to flash/reinstall the OS on a XB1.    I'll wait and see how it goes as I'm sure someone will try this out but I have a feeling that it could go either way at this point.  If it's not locked to specific sizes and you can put in any 2.5" drive and then reinstall the OS from the images it sounds good to me.

We can't say for sure yet though, there are a few differences between this and the 360 HDD setup.  MS isn't selling XB1 HDDs like they did with the 360, so no incentive to lock it to a specific size like back then.   Also we now have the firmware/OS images that we can use to flash/reinstall the OS on a XB1.    I'll wait and see how it goes as I'm sure someone will try this out but I have a feeling that it could go either way at this point.  If it's not locked to specific sizes and you can put in any 2.5" drive and then reinstall the OS from the images it sounds good to me.

 

But you have to break your warranty seal to upgrade the internal HDD also, which clearly MS don't want you to do. It's not user swappable like PS3/4.

 

I wish it wasn't the case, and even if it is possible to swap, doesn't mean you won't have T&C's thrown at you from Enforcement.

Sure they fixed the issue in the 360 by redesigning the board to produce less heat.  The x-clamps were still the root cause of the issue.

 

What you said about the homebrew fixes makes no sense.  The board gets it's play from expansion of the components due to heat.  Everything expands and shrinks due to heat, so having an x-clamp doesn't magically make it more efficient.  It's a bad idea because if one corner is hotter than the other and expands, it will induce an unnecessary torque on the other 3 corners.  That torque is what caused the solder joints to crack leading to the RROD.  Using screws is no different than the method used to hold down a PC CPU fan.  Each corner is held in by its own individual post.  I don't see why Microsoft has to reinvent a method that's been working fine for decades.

 

no. the xclamp like I said has nothing to do with it. the homebrew screws allow more flattening of the board so it isn't as warped anymore, because the metal under the motherboard is so rigid, thus solder could then make contact with the copper pads, that's why sometimes it makes the system work again, it doesn't mean it was the xclamps fault that it warped. it warped from heat,plain and simple. the xclamp is just like the industry standard clamps, where you have some type of aluminum on the backside of the board,which is has a flex to it,which allows the board to flex with varying temperatures.  if the clamp didn't allow any amount of board flex, it would crack under temperature cycles.  the fact that the xclamp is still used to this day with not being a problem is logical enough that it doesn't need explanation about it not being the culprit.

But you have to break your warranty seal to upgrade the internal HDD also, which clearly MS don't want you to do. It's not user swappable like PS3/4.

 

I wish it wasn't the case, and even if it is possible to swap, doesn't mean you won't have T&C's thrown at you from Enforcement.

 

What sort of enforcement?   Voiding the warranty is your choice and unless you're playing some pirated game (if they can even tell you are) then I don't see what can be done about it.    I'm sure people will try this soon to see if it works and how it turns out so we'll know then.

What sort of enforcement?   Voiding the warranty is your choice and unless you're playing some pirated game (if they can even tell you are) then I don't see what can be done about it.    I'm sure people will try this soon to see if it works and how it turns out so we'll know then.

 

Modding the hardware such as custom hard drives is against the Xbox T&Cs. They never banned 360 users for custom HDDs but they have every right to if they wanted.

 

To be clear, this doesn't apply to external storage. I'm specifically talking about internal HDDs (or in 360's case the HDD bay).

Modding the hardware such as custom hard drives is against the Xbox T&Cs. They never banned 360 users for custom HDDs but they have every right to if they wanted.

 

To be clear, this doesn't apply to external storage. I'm specifically talking about internal HDDs (or in 360's case the HDD bay).

 

I don't know what the XB1's T&Cs are, the Xbox 360 having that makes sense though because they sell you HDDs, much rather you actually buy their drive than make your own.    Are they the same T&C?  When you get yours I suppose you can check.

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