Open an Xbox Original
The original Microsoft Xbox may no longer be the platform for many new games, but that doesn't mean the system is obsolete. The machine is the native platform for plenty of its generation's greatest hits, and a thriving mod (console modification) community continues to support the console with amateur software. If your original Xbox needs opening up, be it for repairs or modification, all you need is some basic tools.
Instructions
1. Turn your Xbox upside down and set it, with the logo side down, on a clear, clean work surface.
2. Moisten the stickers on the console's underside with rubbing alcohol and peel them off. The stickers can be removed without rubbing alcohol, but this may leave scraps and gummy residue.
3. Use the Torx 10 to unscrew the two screws revealed by removing the stickers and place the screws to one side.
4. Pry the rubber feet at each corner of the console aside and remove the four screws beneath using the Torx 20 screwdriver.
5. Turn the Xbox logo side up and lift the top shell away from the base of the console.
6. Move the thick gray IDE cable to one side to reveal a screw that can be removed with the Torx 10. Remove this screw as well as the two Torx 10 screws on either side of the DVD drive.
7. Disconnect the IDE cord from the circular hard drive enclosure. Loosen the tricolor cord from the channel alongside the hard drive and lift the hard drive out of the console base.
8. Unplug the two cords from the back of the DVD drive and lift the drive straight up to expose the motherboard.
9. Follow the tricolor cable back to the 11-cable plug attached to the motherboard behind the console's "On" button. Pry this plug away from its jack on the motherboard using needle-nose pliers. Go slowly so as not to damage the cord jack.
10. Remove the two Torx-10 mounting screws from the power supply near the console's fan. Grasp the heat sink atop the power supply and pull forward to detach the power supply from the motherboard. Pull the power supply forward and out to remove.
11. Unscrew a total of 11 Torx-10 screws from the motherboard. Use the needle-nose pliers to remove the five wires still attached to the board.
12. Remove the motherboard by lifting the front edge up and out of the console's shell, then pulling it out of the shell.
Tags: power supply, hard drive, away from, cord from, drive lift, from motherboard, logo side