Dissecting the Xbox

A couple months ago, I won an old Xbox in a raffle (no, not a Xbox 360). I'm not much of a video game player, so I decided to take it apart. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

The Xbox is is full of countless goodies just waiting to be extracted for use. Unfortunately, there is more to its armor than meets the eye.



For weeks I tried to break it open without damaging any components using household tools. Eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that it would be impossible to open (without damage) using only your average toolbox. Of course, back then I didn't wield the Ultimate Tool: The Dremel.



Newly armed with a "power drill on steroids" and a plethora of add-ons I could now sand, drill, sharpen, and best of all: cut. I have an assortment of approximately 200 little tools to put at the end of my dremel. The most useful turned out to be the small but powerful diamond cutter, which I bought separately.

First, I gently pulled out the CD holder, which will someday make a beautiful robot chassis. You can already see two grooves at the back, perfect size for a set of geared motors.



Using my probe-like LED light, I peered into where the disc holder used to be. I was delighted to find that the laser diode was safe and comfortable, awaiting its inevitable extraction. Along with the diode, there are a few small motors used to move the laser module around.



So, I embarked on my quest of surgery, one step at a time.



The bottom left corner was giving me a lot of trouble, so I investigated to find the flaw in my plan. As it turns out, you cannot cut around the sides of an Xbox and lift it off like a can of tuna. There are about eight or so thick pegs connecting the roof with the rest of the body. Undoubtedly an attempt at thwarting hackers.



(Above) You can clearly see the holes in the plastic where a peg used to be, before I had to cut it out.

I managed to cut open the front portion just enough for me to peer through. I could then locate the peges, and mark their location. I would cut a bok around them, and then cut out a second box next to it. After the second box had been removed, I placed the blade into the gap and moved it toward the peg until I could slice it in half.

It was a very slow and extremely painful process (my back). Bit by bit, I carefully took off the top covering.



When I finished, I found this intact piece of sheet metal that could be useful for making bars to hold motors, housing mirocontrollers, etc.

When I finally finished I was left with this:



Now what?

Find out in Part II