Frontside LAN Link L.E.D.

 

This mod will put a LAN Link L.E.D. on the frontside of your Xbox. One very nice thing

about this is that it can be done on any modded or un-modded Xbox (v1.6 untested).

 

ANY DAMAGED THAT MIGHT COME ABOUT AS A RESULT OF FOLLOWING THIS TUTORIAL

IS STRICTLY THE END USERS FAULT/RESPONSIBILITY, I WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR OTHERS MISTAKES!

 

 

Parts & Materials list:

1. Soldering Iron - if you are not very good at soldering, try to use a lower wattage iron (20 watt)

2. Solder - if you use a rosin core solder, no flux will be required to clean the connection prior to the soldering

3. Small gauge wire - 18 or 20 awg wire will work fine, as not much power will be traveling through it

4. Drill & 1/4 inch drill bit

5. L.E.D. aka light emitting diode - I used this one since it has a very nice, clean professional look. If you choose another stay around the 3 volt range

6. 220 ohm resistor - I used these, very standard

7. Torx bits or drives #10 & #20 - for taking the Xbox case apart and removal/installation of motherboard & drives

8. Small utility knive - for cutting wire casing for power splicing

9. Electrical tape and/or shrink tube - for covering connections to prevent shorts

 

 

Step 1

Use your #20 Torx bit/drive to remove the six (6) screws that hold the xbox case together

Step 2

Remove hard drive & DVD drive from the case - Unplug all power and IDE connections from both devices, DVD drive is held down with two (2) Torx #10 screws

Step 3

Unplug IDE cable from motherboard, Unplug power supply connection to motherboard, and all other connections to the motherboard (i.e. controller ports, fan, etc.)

Step 4

Use Torx bit/driver #10 to remove all eleven (11) screws mounting the motherboard to the Xbox case

Step 5

Remove motherboard from case and flip over - when flipped over the ethernet port should be on the upper right hand side

 

Step 6

Solder one length of your wire to this point on the motherboard - the connection you need is directly above point R7M2. This lead is your signal

Step 7

Splice another length of your wire to the red wire (positive lead) on your hard drive power connector - use shrink tube or electrical tape to cover connection, this is the power lead

Step 8

Drill a 1/4" hole in the case for mounting - I put mine here for ease and the fact that there was plenty of room. Also, I pulled back some of the metal shielding around the hole

Step 9

Solder your 220 ohm resistor (can be put on facing either direction) to the longer (cathode) lead on your L.E.D.

 

Step 10

Mount the L.E.D. in the hole your drilled and tighten down

 

Step 11

Making sure you gave yourself enough wire to route under the motherboard, solder your signal wire to the shorter (anode) lead on the L.E.D.

 

Step 12

Again making sure you gave yourself enough wire to work with, solder your power wire to the end of your 220 ohm resistor which is connected to the cathode side of the L.E.D.

Step 13

Installation of the parts is the reverse of removal - when it is all done and back together it should look something like this depending on where you mounted your L.E.D.

Step 14

Make a network connection and if you installed the L.E.D. correctly it should flash with network activity :)

 

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A NETWORK CONNECTION BEFORE

YOU ASSUME THAT YOU SCREWED UP IF YOUR LIGHT DOESN'T WORK!!

 

 

tuturial by: neonhum